Controlling Factors of Badland Morphological Changes in the Emilia Apennines (Northern Italy)

Abstract

Badlands are typical erosional landforms of the Apennines (Northern Italy) that form on Plio-Pleistocene clayey bedrock and rapidly evolve. The present study aimed at identification and assessment of the areal and temporal changes of badlands within a pilot area of the Modena Province (Emilia Apennines), where no previous detailed investigation has been carried out. For this purpose, a diachronic investigation was carried out to map the drainage basin and the drainage networks of the linear erosion features in the study area during the last 40 years, and to evaluate changes in badlands drainage basins morphometry and surface, land use and pluviometry. The investigation carried out indicated a general stabilisation trend of the badlands in the study area. In fact, a reduction in the bare surface area from 6187.1 m2 in 1973 to 4214.1 m2 in 2014 (31%), due to an intensified revegetation process around the badland areas, has been recorded. This trend, in line with the results of research carried out in other sector of the Northern Apennines, is mainly due to intensive land use changes, mostly the increase in forest cover and the reduction of agricultural land, that occurred in the study area from the 1970s onwards.

Denudation and geomorphic change in the Anthropocene; a global overview.

“…The important role of human activity (LULC changes) on the recent landscape evolution of these areas is confirmed by the evolution of badlands observed during the last decades. For instance, in some areas of Italy, a reduction of badlands due to land levelling related to cropland abandonment and grazing changes has been observed (Aucelli et al, 2016;Amici et al, 2017), or to land use changes related to an increase in forest cover as a consequence of reduction of agricultural land (Coratza and Parenti, 2021). These processes are apparently not related to climate changes (Giaccone et al, 2015), but rather human-driven LULC changes.…”

“…On the other hand, land levelling of badland areas in several parts of the world, as reported by Poesen (2018), has reduced erosion and soil loss. A recent trend towards reduction of hillslope denudation has been highlighted in different Mediterranean badlands, such as in the Central Pyrenees (Llena et al, 2019), Northern Apennines (Bosino et al, 2019;Coratza and Parenti, 2021) and in Central and Southern Italy (e.g. Piccarreta et al, 2006;Aucelli et al, 2016;Amici et al, 2017).…”

Soil Water Erosion

“…The third article related to gully erosion identified and assessed the areal and temporal changes of badlands in Italy [6]. The case study area was in the Modena Province (Emilia Apennines), which was important because there was no previous detailed investigation.…”

Advances in Geoheritage Mapping: Application to Iconic Geomorphological Examples from the Italian Landscape

“…According to Reynard [61], active geosites can be defined as those "allowing the recognition of geological and geomorphological processes in action": for example, mobile dunes, landslides, glacier forefields, fluvial systems. There are many examples of these kinds of landforms in different geomorphological contexts: Badlands are typical erosional [116], constantly changing forms with a high scenic value related to the presence of soft-rock terrain on steep slopes and to rainfall intensity exceeding infiltration capacity [73]. Inactive or relict geosites can be defined as inherited landforms, which testify past processes (e.g., [68,73]).…”