Alternative Title
NCKRI Symposium 2: Proceedings of the Thirteenth Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst
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Publication Date
May 2013
Abstract
Among the many different types of geological hazards affecting the Italian territory, sinkholes have often been underestimated (if not neglected entirely), and only in some sectors of the country have they been effectively considered in hazard and risk analysis. Nevertheless, sinkholes affect large parts of Italy, covering the whole territory with a variety of typologies, and exhibit both natural and anthropogenic origin. The latter clearly originate from the long history of Italy, with the complex historical vicissitudes that have characterized this territory, during which different types of artificial cavities have been realized underground for different purposes in different epochs. Over time, many of these cavities have been abandoned, and the consequent loss of memory resulted in their inclusion in newly developed parts of towns, thus creating a serious risk to the built-up environment above. Starting from these considerations, an archival research was started to collect information about the occurrence of sinkholes in Italy, with particular attention to their precise site and date of occurrence, in order to make an effort in assessing, respectively, the susceptibility and the hazard related to the particular phenomenon under study. As concerns date of occurrence, the accuracy of the information is provided (depending upon the amount of available data), with the highest quality when hour, day, month and year of occurrence are indicated, and a decrease in quality when one or more of these data are lacking. In order to be included in the database, at least some kind of temporal reference (even if general) of the sinkhole has to be known. The present article illustrates the first results of this study, describing the catalogue obtained so far which consists of more than 650 sinkhole events for which at least some information about temporal occurrence of the event have been found. The data, even though not definitive, represent a good starting point for analysis of the sinkhole hazard at a national scale, aimed at increasing the level 2of attention by scientists, practitioners and authorities on this subtle hazard. -- Authors Open Access - Permission by Publisher See Extended description for more information.
Type
Conference Proceeding
Publisher
University of South Florida
Identifier
K26-00122
Recommended Citation
Parise, Mario and Vennari, Carmela, "A chronological catalogue of sinkholes in Italy: The first step toward a real evaluation of the sinkhole hazard NCKRI Symposium 2: Proceedings of the Thirteenth Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst" (2013). KIP Talks and Conferences. 30.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_talks/30
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