Rip currents are one of the most significant environmental hazards for beachgoers and are of interest to coastal scientists. Several studies have been conducted to understand rip current dynamics, and several approaches for rip hazard assessment have been proposed. In general, the purpose is to provide knowledge and tools to support authorities and lifeguards in rip current risk prevention. This study proposes the application of an expeditious methodology to evaluate rip current hazard and risk, based on probability theory. The tested area was located along the Alassio beach, a renowned tourist destination located on the western Ligurian coast (NW Italy). A coastal video-monitoring system was used for rip currents individuation, whereas wave data were collected thanks to an oceanographic buoy managed by Regione Liguria. In detail, a yearly analysis was performed to identify the correspondence between rip currents and wave parameters data. The results showed that rip currents occur, in the study area, under moderate wave conditions ($$0.5 \le H_s \le 1.34$$
0.5
≤
H
s
≤
1.34
m; $$4.7\le T_m \le 7.0$$
4.7
≤
T
m
≤
7.0
s; $$150^{\circ }\,\hbox {N} \le \theta _m \le 227^{\circ }$$
150
∘
N
≤
θ
m
≤
227
∘
N). Based on this analysis, an easy application of the probability theory was applied to evaluate the level of hazard. Moreover, considering the official tourist data, we also perform an expeditious rip currents risk evaluation. The results showed that the hazard level is considered high at annual time scale and moderate during the tourist season; the risk is related to seasonal presences. The study can propose a tool to support authorities and lifeguards in water safety planning and management.
Tana di Badalucco cave is located in Imperia (Liguria, Italy), not far from the French border. This site is scarcely known and it has never been studied accurately, even though different archaeological excavations have returned really important elements, both in the archaeological and the paleoenvironmental aspects. Its stratigraphy ranges from Middle Paleolithic to Metal Ages, thus it has registered important climate and environmental variations specific to the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene. From 2012, the Soprintendenza Archeologia della Liguria, the Museo di Archeologia Ligure, and DiSTAV (University of Genova) have been collaborating in order to finally study this promising and complex stratigraphy, trying to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental context of the region. In this work, we present what we were able to assess thanks to the use of micromorphology, the study of undisturbed thin soil sections. This technique has proven useful in recognizing the alternating of cold and warmer conditions during the Quaternary, as well as in identifying primitive signs of human and animal occupation.
The Late Pleistocene has been characterised by frequent and intense climatic oscillation, well recorded in the Caverna Generosa cave deposits. In this work, micromorphological analyses have been performed on samples from the cave where the stratigraphy is particularly well exposed and complete, in order to obtain temporal and spatial information on climate-and human-related processes during MIS3 and 4. The older layers (more than 50 ka Before Present -BP-) record a very cold time interval, where ice did not melt during the warmer season, and with little or no vegetation outside the cave. During this cold stage, probably, humans spent a short period in the cave, using bones to light the fire and, later, cave bears dug their hibernation beds in the innermost room. Subsequently (between 50 ka BP and 40 ka BP) a relatively brief climatic amelioration should have occurred, leading to the onset of ice melting during the summer season.Between 40 ka BP and 30 ka BP, loess deposited in the cave entrance, indicating cold and arid conditions in the area. After loess deposition, recovered wet conditions have re-established with freeze and thawing processes influencing the sediments.
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