Analysis of mountain springs discharge time series in the Tennacola stream catchment (central Apennine, Italy)

The mountain portion of the Tennacola streambasin, which is located in the northeast sector of theSibillini Mountains (Central Apennines, Italy), has a largenumber of springs exploited for drinking water. The pres-ence of lithotypes with different hydraulic conductivityallowed the formation of two main groups of springs withdifferent discharge and regim e. This paper aims to providenew insights about the groundwater circulation withincarbonate and karst complexes. In detail a study based onspring hydrograph analysis using the MRC method and onthe main statistical parameters has been carried out, inorder to evaluate the main features related to the flow pathsand the main hydrogeol ogical properties of the aquifersstudied. The results allowed to characterize the mainhydrogeological features of the aquifers and to evaluate thedimension of the recharge areas.