Freshwater travertine deposition in mountain area: examples of climatic and neotectonic interaction from central Apennine (Italy)

The present work aims at evidencing the significant contribution provided by the in-depth study of buildings and human works deformations (as bridges, tunnels, monuments, archaeological areas etc.) for the comprehension and the arrangement of geological models (sometimes numerical) in relation to landslides phenomena affecting the slopes or their portions. Morphodynamic analyses and interpretations of historical and technical documents (maps, reports, remedial works etc) allowed us to define the kinematics of human works displacements (fractures, tilting, etc) and their chronology. Detailed geological, hydro-geomorphological and geophysical analyses (implemented by large-scale stratigraphic logs) allowed to reconstruct, with adequate precision, the geological setting of the single works, mainly constituted by soft terrains and/or rocks. Such large-scale geometries evidenced several morphological anomalies (trenches, counterslopes and regularized scarps), corresponding to the most characteristic features of mass movements. The intersection between deformation elements of the human works and the above mentioned geomorphological features, let us to define, in space and time, the fundamental slope dynamics (past, recent and present); moreover, the most probable kinematics, essential for the comprehension of future evolutional trends and therefore particularly useful for site remediation planning, have been defined. For each built-up area, a detailed geomorphological map (with specific legend) which takes into particular account the presence of anthropic features, has been edited. The final products (papery and numerical) have been realized using easy-to-read representative criteria and simple dialetic interpenetration among different professional figures (geologists, engineers, architects etc.), in charge of the planning and the management of the territory.