The present work was focused on the study of the shoreline evolution of the coastal area between Pozzallo (RG) and Santa Maria del Focallo (RG), in Southern Sicily (Italy) and on the image detection of the environmental changes occurred between 1880 and 2016. The findings were used to identify which events triggered the erosional phenomena and to plan better solutions to mitigate the negative effects. The study combined the grain-size analysis of the beach sediments and the diachronic analysis of shoreline position detected in historical and technical maps, aerial and satellite photographs. The 1928 shoreline was used as baseline and 14 transects were cast orthogonal to the 1928 baseline. The shoreline rates of change were computed thanks to the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), application that works in GIS environment. Natural (dune systems, coastal quagmires) and coastal infrastructures were identified in each available cartographic dataset and mapped for each year. The diachronic analysis highlighted a shift line speed between 2,6 m/y and -2,6 m/y and a range of shoreline movement between -130,5 m and 107,3 m. It was worthy to note that the Pozzallo port trapped the longshore sediment transport and shoreline has been significantly increasing of several meters over last decades. However, eastward the Pozzallo port, Santa Maria del Focallo beach has been affected by severe erosion, both due to the Pozzallo port, which acted as sediment trap blocking the longshore drift from the west, and to the loss of the dune system, replaced by holiday houses or greenhouses. Moreover, the coastal ecosystem has been even affected by the loss of the natural coastal quagmires and the implementation of the coastal road (SP 67) few meters nearby the shore. The increasing urbanisation and anthropization significantly changed the dynamic balance of the shore. Clear guidelines on the approach to tackle the problem are provided by the European Parliament in the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (GIZC) in Europe (European Council, 2002), which advises the need, on one hand, to promote integrated use of the coast, decreasing unauthorised building, and, on the other hand, to restore natural shore refilling, furthered by renaturalization of the dunes.
The north-eastern Sicilian continental shelf: a tidal-shelf in the Messina Strait approach
Di Stefano Agata.
;Distefano Salvatore;Borzì Laura
2021-01-01
Abstract
The present work was focused on the study of the shoreline evolution of the coastal area between Pozzallo (RG) and Santa Maria del Focallo (RG), in Southern Sicily (Italy) and on the image detection of the environmental changes occurred between 1880 and 2016. The findings were used to identify which events triggered the erosional phenomena and to plan better solutions to mitigate the negative effects. The study combined the grain-size analysis of the beach sediments and the diachronic analysis of shoreline position detected in historical and technical maps, aerial and satellite photographs. The 1928 shoreline was used as baseline and 14 transects were cast orthogonal to the 1928 baseline. The shoreline rates of change were computed thanks to the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), application that works in GIS environment. Natural (dune systems, coastal quagmires) and coastal infrastructures were identified in each available cartographic dataset and mapped for each year. The diachronic analysis highlighted a shift line speed between 2,6 m/y and -2,6 m/y and a range of shoreline movement between -130,5 m and 107,3 m. It was worthy to note that the Pozzallo port trapped the longshore sediment transport and shoreline has been significantly increasing of several meters over last decades. However, eastward the Pozzallo port, Santa Maria del Focallo beach has been affected by severe erosion, both due to the Pozzallo port, which acted as sediment trap blocking the longshore drift from the west, and to the loss of the dune system, replaced by holiday houses or greenhouses. Moreover, the coastal ecosystem has been even affected by the loss of the natural coastal quagmires and the implementation of the coastal road (SP 67) few meters nearby the shore. The increasing urbanisation and anthropization significantly changed the dynamic balance of the shore. Clear guidelines on the approach to tackle the problem are provided by the European Parliament in the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (GIZC) in Europe (European Council, 2002), which advises the need, on one hand, to promote integrated use of the coast, decreasing unauthorised building, and, on the other hand, to restore natural shore refilling, furthered by renaturalization of the dunes.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
