CENAS

The Upper Adriatic Sea basin comprises a very precarious coastal environment subject to continuous changes which prove appreciable not only over the geological scale but also in historical and modern times. According to some Authors the Venice Lagoon was formed 2000-3000 years ago, and other lagoons (e. g. the Grado Lagoon in the northernmost part of the Adriatic) are even more recent. In addition to lagoons, the Upper Adriatic coastal area includes salt and fresh-water marshes and reclaimed land separated by several watercourses originating from the Alpine and Apennine ranges with a ground elevation not exceeding in many places 2 m above the mean sea l. evel (msl). A significant fraction of this lowland is already now below msl because of natural and anthropogenic land subsidence, land reclamation and sea level rise occurred over the last century. Natural land subsidence is still under way as a result of deep downward tec­ tonic movement and consolidation of soils deposited in the most recent time. An­ thropogenic subsidence is primarily due to groundwater pumping for agricultural, industrial, civil, and tourist use, and to gas withdrawal from a large number of gas fields scattered through the Upper Adriatic basin, and may still continue, al­ though at a reduced rate, in the years to come. At the same time msl is expected to rise in the next century due to global climate change, mainly because of the greenhouse effect.

Inhalt

Foreword. 1. Coastal Evolution of the Upper Adriatic Sea Due to Sea Level Rise and Natural and Anthropic Land Subsidence; G. Gambolati, et al. 2. Prediction of Mean Sea Level Rise in the Upper Adriatic Sea; I. Betti, M. Morelli. 3. Collection and Analysis of Historical Data on Shoreline Evolution at the Sites of Ravenna, Cesenatico and Rimini; M. Morelli. 4. Numerical Modeling of Natural Land Subsidence over Sedimentary Basins Undergoing Large Compaction; G. Gambolati, et al. 5. Numerical Analysis of Land Subsidence Due to Natural Compaction of the Upper Adriatic Sea Basin; G. Gambolati, P. Teatini. 6. Simulation of Land Subsidence Due to Gas Production at Ravenna Coastline; P. Teatini, et al. 7. Prediction of Land Subsidence Due to Groundwater Withdrawal Along the Emilia-Romagna Coast; M. Gonella, et al. 8. Wave Refraction in the Upper Adriatic Sea; C. Decouttere, et al. 9. Storm Wave Simulation in the Adriatic Sea; C. Decouttere, et al. 10. Storm Surge Simulations in the Adriatic Sea; C.S. Yu, et al. 11. Coastal Morphodynamics in Subsiding Areas; B. Elfrink, et al. 12. Local Morphological Evolution of the Coast in the Upper Adriatic Sea. Design and Management Strategies to Control Coastal Erosion; B. Elfrink, et al. 13. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Data Management and Retrieval System (DMRS) in the CENAS Project; A. Dante, et al. 14. Flood Risk Analysis in the Upper Adriatic Sea due to Storm Surge, Tide, Waves, and Natural and Anthropic Land Subsidence; M. Gonella, et al. Author Index. List of Contributors. Color Plates.