Hydrogeological flow in gypsum karst areas: some examples from northern Italy and main circulation models

Autor: Bartolomeo Vigna, Ilenia M. D'Angeli, Adriano Fiorucci, Jo De Waele
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Speleology, Vol 46, Iss 2, Pp 205-217 (2017)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1827-806X
0392-6672
DOI: 10.5038/1827-806X.46.2.2095
Popis: A Messinian succession containing gypsum beds crops out in northern Italy, mainly in Piedmont and along the northern flank of the Apennine mountains in Emilia-Romagna. These gypsum bodies have been extensively quarried at the surface, in outcrops, and through underground quarries. In Emilia-Romagna these gypsum outcrops can be rather extensive, several km long and up to 1 km wide, while in Piedmont they are mostly covered by silty-marly deposits of Upper Messinian and Pliocene age and show only sparse and small outcrops. The underground quarrying of these evaporite bodies in Piedmont has allowed studying in detail their hydrogeology, and the ways in which water flows through these karst rocks. In contrast, in Emilia-Romagna the hydrogeology of these aquifers has been studied with traditional spring water monitoring and speleological methods. On the basis of the results it has been possible to define three conceptual models regarding the water circulation in these evaporites, similar to the models existing for carbonate aquifers. The models represent aquifers with decreasing vulnerability to pollution, from the more vulnerable system with dominant conduit drainage, characterizing most of the known gypsum aquifers, to those with interconnected conduit drainage and with dispersive circulation.
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