Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Historical and recent changes of the Sele River coastal plain (Southern Italy): natural variations and human pressures

  • Land Sea Interaction in Campania (Italy)
  • Published:
Rendiconti Lincei Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As in other alluvial coastal plains in Italy, the Holocene evolution of the Sele River coastal plain was strongly controlled by the events occurring after the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 19 ky) when, because of progressive sea-level rise, marine transgression affected the outer portion of the present plain. From the Middle Holocene (ca 5.0–6.0 ky BP), the decrease in the sea-level rise led to coastal progradation testified by the building and the seaward migration of a barrier-lagoon system formed by the composite Sterpina–Laura beach-dune ridge system and the back-ridge flat area behind it, characterised by lagoonal to marsh environments. The present paper deals with the reconstruction of the coastal evolution focusing on the last 3,000 years. Geomorphological and geoarchaeological data were used to constrain the evolution of the area in remote times, while the analysis and comparison of historical and recent topographic maps, orthophotographs and aerial photographs allowed to highlight the shoreline trends in recent centuries. The coastline changes that occurred along the Sele River coastal plain during the last 3,000 years highlight two main evolutionary trends in time: firstly a coastal progradation and then a coastal retreatment which has recently been followed by a phase of substantial coastline stability. The coastal progradation (up to 500 m ca.) was favoured by the increased amounts of fluvial sediments delivered to the Sele coast because of the increase in agricultural activity and of periods of climate deterioration (the last being the Little Ice Age). During the last 150 years the Sele coast has been affected by prevailing erosion. From 1870 to 1984 the shoreline progressively retreated, reaching the highest erosion rates around the main river mouths. This shoreline retreatment can mainly be related to human activities (land reclamation, dam building, urbanisation) that reduced the quantity of sediment delivered to the coast. Due to this recent shoreline retreatment, even the historical dune system was locally affected by erosion too. Since 1984 the shoreline has been fairly stable while the Sele mouth zone has experienced erosion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alberico I, Amato V, Aucelli PPC, D’Argenio B, Di Paola G, Pappone G (2011) Historical shoreline evolution and recent shoreline trends of Sele Plain coastline (Southern Italy). The 1870–2009 time window. J Coast Res. doi:10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-10-00197.1

  • Amato V (2006) La risposta di alcuni tipici sistemi morfodinamici della Campania (Italia meridionale) alle variazioni climatiche oloceniche. Tesi di Dottorato in Scienze della Terra per il Territorio (XVI ciclo) Università degli Studi “Federico II” di Napoli, 2006. http://www.fedoa.unina.it

  • Amato V, Avagliano G, Cinque A, Cipriani M, Di Paola G, Pontrandolfo A, Rosskopf CM, Santoriello A (2009) Geomorphology and geoarchaeology of the Paestum area: modifications of the physical environment in historical times. Mediterranée 112:129–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Amato V, Aucelli PPC, Cinque A, D’Argenio B, Di Donato V, Russo Ermolli E, Pappone G, Petrosino P, Rosskopf CM (2011) Holocene palaeo-geographical evolution of the Sele river coastal plain (Southern Italy): new morpho-sedimentary data from the Paestum area. Il Quat 24:5–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Amorosi A, Milli S (2001) Late Quaternary depositional architecture of Po and Tevere river deltas (Italy) and worldwide comparison with coeval deltaic successions. Sed Geol 144:357–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amorosi A, Bracone V, Di Donato V, Rosskopf CM, Aucelli PPC (2009) The Plio-Pleistocene succession between Trigno and Fortore rivers (Molise and Apulia Apennines): stratigraphy and facies characteristics. GeoActa 8:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonioli F, Baroni C, Camuffo D, Carrara C, Cremaschi M, Frisia S, Giraudi C, Importa S, Magri D, Margottini C, Orombelli G, Silenzi S (2000) Le fluttuazioni del clima nel corso dell’Olocene: stato dell’arte. Il Quat 13(1):95–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonioli F, Bard E, Silenzi S, Potter EK, Improta S (2004) 215 KYR history of sea level based on submerged speleothems. Glob Planet Chang 43:57–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antonioli F, Ferranti L, Fontana A, Amorosi A, Bondesan A, Braitenberg C, Dutton A, Fontolan G, Furlani S, Lambeck K, Mastronuzzi G, Monaco C, Spada G, Stocchi P (2009) Holocene relative sea-level changes and vertical movements along the Italian and Istrian coastlines. Quat Int 206:102–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aucelli PPC, Iannantuono E, Rosskopf CM (2009) Evoluzione recente e rischio di erosione della costa molisana (Italia meridionale). Ital J Geosci (Boll Soc Geol It) 128(3):759–771

    Google Scholar 

  • Bamonte G (1819) Le Antichità Pestane. Napoli, p 74

  • Barra D, Calderoni G, Cinque A, De Vita P, Rosskopf C, Russo Ermolli E (1998) New data on the evolution of the Sele river coastal plain (Southern Italy) during the Holocene. Il Quat 11(2):287–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Barra D, Calderoni G, Cipriani M, De La Geniere J, Fiorillo L, Greco G, Mariotti Lippi M, Mori Secci M, Pescatore T, Russo B, Senatore MR, Tocco Sciarelli G, Thorez J (1999) Depositional history and palaeogeographic reconstruction of Sele coastal plain during Magna Grecia settlement of Hera Argiva (Southern Italy). Geol Romana 35:151–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartole R, Savelli C, Tramontana M, Wezel F (1984) Structural and sedimentary features in the Tyrrhenian margin of Campania, Southern Italy. Mar Geol 55:163–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellotti P (2000) Il modello morfo-sedimentario dei maggiori delta tirrenici italiani. Bollettino della Soc Geol Ital 119:777–792

    Google Scholar 

  • Brancaccio L, Cinque A, D’Angelo G, Russo F, Santangelo N, Sgrosso I (1987) Evoluzione tettonica e geomorfologia della Piana del Sele (Campania, Appennino meridionale). Geogr Fis Dinam Quat 10:47–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Brancaccio L, Cinque A, Russo F, Santangelo N, Allegri L, Alessio M, Improta S, Belluomini G, Branca M, Delitala L (1988). Nuovi dati cronologici sui depositi marini della piana del sele e della costa settentrionale del Cilento (Campania). Atti 74° Congresso Società Geologica Italiana, vol 1, pp 55–62

  • Bulifon A (1692) Campania—Mappa Terra di Lavoro, Napoli

  • Cocco E, De Magistris MA (1988) Evoluzione storica e recente del litorale di Paestum. Mem Soc Geol I 41:697–702

    Google Scholar 

  • Cocco E, Iuliano S (1999) L’erosione del litorale in sinistra foce Sele (Golfo di Salerno): dinamica evolutiva e proposte di intervento a difesa e tutela della spiaggia e della pineta litoranea di Paestum. Il Quat 12(2):125–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Coltorti M (1997) Human impact in the Holocene fluvial and coastal evolution of the Marche Region, Central Italy. Catena 30:311–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Acunzi G, De Pippo T, Donadio C, Peduto F, Santoro U, Sessa F, Terlizzi F, Turturiello MD (2008) Studio dell’evoluzione della linea di costa della piana del Sele (Campania) mediante l’uso della cartografia numerica. Studi Costieri 14:55–67

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Argenio B, Amato V, Anzalone E, Aucelli PPC, Cesarano M, Cinque A, Da Prato S, Di Paola G, Ferraro L, Pappone G, Petrosino P, Rosskopf CM, Russo Ermolli E (2011) Holocene palaeo-geographical evolution of the Sele river alluvial-coastal plain: new morphosedimentary data from Poseidonia-Paestum area. Volume Mare del CNR

  • del Pozo JAM, Anfuso G (2008) Spatial approach to medium-term coastal evolution in south Sicily (Italy): implications for coastal erosion management. J Coast Res 24(1):33–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson ME, Walkden MJ, Hall JW (2007) Systemic impacts of climate change on an eroding coastal region over the twenty-first century. Clim Change 84(2):141–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolan R, Fester MS, Holme SJ (1991) Temporal analysis of shoreline recession and accretion. J Coast Res 7(3):723–744

    Google Scholar 

  • Downs PW, Gregory KJ (2004) River channel management. Towards sustainable catchment hydrosystems. Arnold, London, p 395

    Google Scholar 

  • El Banna MM, Frihy OE (2009) Human-induced changes in the geomorphology of the northeastern coast of the Nile delta, Egypt. Geomorphology 107:72–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan H, Huang H, Zeng T (2006) Impacts of anthropogenic activity on the recent evolution of the Huanghe (Yellow) River Delta. J Coast Res 22:919–929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FerranteV, Budillon F, Iorio M, Lubritto C, Monaco M, Pugliese Carratelli E, Russo SD, Vicinanza D (2011) Tracing possible offshore sand movement during extreme sea storm events: an example from the Salerno Bay (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) by comparing field data with numerical model results. Volume Mare del CNR

  • Guy M (1990) La costa, la laguna e l’insediamento di Poseidonia-Paestum. In: Paestum—la città e il territorio. Quaderno di documentazione dell’Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, pp 67–77

  • Hapke CJ, Reid D, Richmond BM, Ruggiero PJ (2006) List, national assessment of shoreline change part 3: historical shoreline change and associated coastal land loss along sandy shorelines of the California coast. US Geological Survey Open File Report 1219, p 79

  • Ippolito F, Ortolani F, Russo F (1973) Struttura marginale tirrenica dell’Appennino Campano: reinterpretazione di dati di antiche ricerche di idrocarburi. Mem Soc Geol It 12:227–250

    Google Scholar 

  • ISPRA (2009) Note illustrative della Carta Geologica d’Italia alla scala 1:50.000 foglio 486 Foce del Sele. Parte I. ISPRA—Servizio Geologico d’Italia, p 83

  • Jabaloy-Sánchez A, Lobo FJ, Azor A, Bárcenas P, Fernández-Salas LM, del Río VD, Pérez-Peña JV (2010) Human-driven coastline changes in the Adra River deltaic system, southeast Spain. Geomorphology 119:9–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambeck K, Antonioli F, Purcell A, Silenzi S (2004) Sea level change along the Italian coast for the past 10, 000 years. Quat Sci Rev 23:1567–1598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lionello P, Sanna A (2005) Mediterranean wave climate variability and its links with NAO and Indian monsoon. Clim Dyn 25:611–623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magini GA (1606) Campania Principato citra olim Picentia. Bologna

  • Martucci G, Carniel S, Chiggiato J, Sclavo M, Lionello P, Galati MB (2010) Statistical trend analysis and extreme distribution of significant wave height from 1958 to 1999 an application to the Italian Seas. Ocean Sci 6:525–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Messerli B, Grosjean M, Hofer T, Nunez L, Pfister C (2000) From nature-dominated to human-dominated environmental changes. Quat Sci Rev 19:459–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orombelli G, Ravazzi C, Cita MB (2005) Osservazioni sul significato dei termini LGM (UMG), Tardoglaciale e postglaciale in ambito globale, italiano ed alpino. Il Quat 18(2):147–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Patacca E, Sartori R, Scandone R (1991) Tyrrhenian basin and Apenninica arc: kinematic relation since Late Tortonian times. Mem Soc Geol It 45:425–451

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirazzoli PA (1996) Sea-level changes. The last 20,000 years. Wiley, Chichester, p 211

    Google Scholar 

  • Piva A, Asioli A, Trincardi F, Schneider RR, Vigliotti L (2008) Late Holocene climate variability in the Adriatic Sea (Central Mediterranean). Holocene 18(1):153–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pranzini E (2001) Updrift river mouth migration on cuspate deltas: two examples from the coast of Tuscany (Italy). Geomorphology 38:125–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rizzi-Zannoni GA (1808) Atlante geografico del Regno di Napoli, Napoli

  • Romagnoli C, Mancini F, Brunelli R (2006) Historical shoreline changes at an active island Volcano: Stromboli, Italy. J Coast Res 22(4):739–749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosskopf C, Cinque A, Ferreli L, Michetti AM, Vittori E (1995) Strutture da liquefazione interpretabili come sismiti in sedimenti litorali storici della Piana del Sele (Campania). Stud Geol Camerti 2:387–395

    Google Scholar 

  • Russo F, Belluomini G (1992) Affioramenti di depositi marini tirreniani sulla Piana in destra del Fiume Sele (Campania). Boll Soc Geol It 111:25–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Simeoni U, Corbau C (2009) A review of the Delta Po evolution (Italy) related to climatic changes and human impacts. Geomorphology 107:64–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thieler ER, Himmelstoss EA, Zichichi JL, Miller TL (2005) Digital shoreline analysis system (DSAS) version 3.0: an ArcGIS© extension for calculating shoreline change, US Geological Survey Open-File Report 1304

  • Vallefuoco M, Lirer F, Ferraro L, Sprovieri M, Capotondi L, Bellucci L, Albertazzi S, Giuliani S, Angelino A, Iorio M, Iavarone M (2011) Evidences of natural environmental changes and human impact reflected by Foraminifera in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea for the last 520 years. Volume Mare del CNR

  • Valiela I (2006) Global coastal change. Blackwell, Oxford, p 368

    Google Scholar 

  • Violante C, D’Argenio B (2000) I travertini all’origine e nel declino dell’antica città di Poseidonia-Paestum (2500-1000 anni prima del presente). Atti del Convegno GeoBen 2000, Torino, Pubblicazione CNR (GNDCI), vol 2133, pp 841–848

  • Vita-Finzi G (1969) The Mediterranean valleys: geological changes in historical times. Cambridge University

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank M. Tramontana and an anonymous reviewer, whose suggestions greatly improved the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca Ambiente, Università degli Studi “Federico II” di Napoli, Via Mezzocannone 16, 80134, Naples, Italy

    Ines Alberico

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie per l’Ambiente e il Territorio, Università del Molise, C.da Fonte Lappone, 86090, Pesche, IS, Italy

    Vincenzo Amato, Gianluigi Di Paola & Carmen Maria Rosskopf

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze per l’Ambiente, Università di Napoli Parthenope, Centro direzionale, isola c4, 80143, Naples, Italy

    Pietro Patrizio Ciro Aucelli & Gerardo Pappone

Authors
  1. Ines Alberico
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vincenzo Amato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pietro Patrizio Ciro Aucelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Gianluigi Di Paola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gerardo Pappone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Carmen Maria Rosskopf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ines Alberico.

Additional information

This paper is an outcome of the FISR project VECTOR (Vulnerability of the Italian coastal area and marine Ecosystem to Climate changes and their role in the Mediterranean carbon cycles), subproject VULCOST (vulnerability of coastal environments to climate changes) on: land sea interaction and costal changes in the Sele River plain, Campania.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Alberico, I., Amato, V., Aucelli, P.P.C. et al. Historical and recent changes of the Sele River coastal plain (Southern Italy): natural variations and human pressures. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 23, 3–12 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-011-0156-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-011-0156-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation