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AMMINISTRAZIONE TRASPARENTE

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COLLEZIONE FIZPATRICK

Centro di Ricerca Interdipartimentale sulla "Earth Critical Zone" per il
supporto alla Gestione del Paesaggio e dell'Agro ambiente

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Categoria: Pubblicazioni Scientifiche

Categoria: Pubblicazioni Scientifiche

Pedological investigation of an early Bronze Age site in southern Italy

Vingiani, S., Minieri, L., Albore Livadie, C., Di Vito, M., Terribile, F. (2017). Geoarchaeology – An International Journal. DOI: 10.1002/gea.21625. Archaeological excavations over the last 40 years in Campania (southern Italy) confirm intense human occupation since the early Bronze Age (EBA). A pedological analysis of a ∼9 m deep pedostratigraphic sequence at Palma Campania (Naples) provides insights into fertility, rates of soil formation, and environmental conditions over the past 10 kyr. Fourteen volcanic soils formed in parent materials from Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei volcanic eruptions were analyzed. Results show that soils differ markedly in terms of thickness, andic properties, chemical fertility, and degree of development. Chemical properties, along with specific soil micromorphological features (such as silt coatings, laminar structure, iron segregations), are interpreted in terms of pedogenetic processes and used to reconstruct past environmental conditions. The degree of soil development, evaluated on the basis of organic matter content and some andic properties, proved more indicative of climate and geomorphological stability than duration of pedogenesis. Since the excavation also revealed an extensive EBA paleosurface and soil, targeted analyses were carried out to gain a better understanding of the impact of human activities and domestic animals on soil properties

Genetic and geochemical signatures to prevent frauds and counterfeit of high-quality asparagus and pistachio

Zannella, C., Carucci, F., Aversano, R., Prohaska, T., Vingiani, S., Carputo, D., Adamo, P. (2017). Food Chemistry 237, 545–552. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.05.158. A fingerprinting strategy based on genetic (simple sequence repeat) and geochemical (multielement and 87Sr/86Sr ratio) analysis was tested to prove the geographical origin of high-quality Italian products “White Asparagus from Bassano del Grappa” and “Green Pistachio from Bronte”. Genetic analysis generated many polymorphic alleles and different specific amplified fragments in both agriproducts. In addition, a core set of markers was defined. According to variability within production soils and products, potential candidate elements linking asparagus (Zn, P, Cr, Mg, B, K) and pistachio (Mn, P, Cr, Mg, Ti, B, K, Sc, S) to the production areas were identified. The Sr isotopic signature was an excellent marker when Italian asparagus was compared with literature data for Hungarian and Peruvian asparagus. This work reinforces the use of Sr isotope composition in the soil bioavailable fraction, as assessed by 1 mol/L NH4NO3, to distinguish white asparagus and pistachio originating from different geographical areas.

An integrated approach to studying the genesis of andic soils in Italian nonvolcanic mountain ecosystems

Mileti, F.A., Vingiani, S., Manna, P., Langella, G., Terribile, F. (2017). Catena 159, 35–50. DOI: 10.1016/j.catena.2017.07.022 Over recent decades, andic soils have been increasingly found in non-volcanic mountain ecosystems (NVME) in many parts of the world. In Italy, this type of soil has proved to be greatly affected by aeolian deposits and to be widely distributed geographically. However, there are still many open questions, especially regarding the genesis of these soils. This paper focuses on five representative pedons taken from NVME. Soil forming processes and relationships between soil and underlying bedrock were investigated by using an integrated approach including geochemical, magnetic, mineralogical, micromorphological and particle size distribution (PSD) analysis. The 5 pedons showed andic character and similar morphology and micromorphology (e.g. silt illuviation, pedorelicts), as well as large differences in terms of soil reaction and clay mineralogy. The analysis of the vertical distribution of C, Al and Fe extracted in pyrophosphate along with related geochemical indices (e.g. Cp/Alp) enabled us to indicate andosolization as the main process of soil formation and to exclude podzolization. With respect to the soil-bedrock relationship, 2 soils showed great similarity to the underlying bedrock along with a clear aeolian particle size distribution footprint, whereas, in the remaining 3 soils, there was a clear soil-bedrock discontinuity and an evident volcanic fingerprint. Some of the soil-bedrock differences related to the geographical settings and latitude.

Soil Sealing: Quantifying Impacts on Soil Functions by a Geospatial Decision Support System

Manna Piero, Basile Angelo, Bonfante Antonello, D’Antonio Amedeo, De Michele Carlo, Iamarino Michela, Langella Giuliano, Mileti Antonio Florindo, Pileri Paolo, Vingiani Simona, Terribile Fabio. 2017. Land Degrad. Develop. (2017). Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2802 Soil sealing is considered among the most dangerous of land degradation processes on global, European and national scales. Despite important policy documents aiming to mitigate this soil threat, it currently shows no signs of abating, and current efforts often do not result in appropriate implementation of soil sealing mitigation in spatial planning, which represents the subject area governing soil sealing. In this paper, we show a spatial decision support system – based on a Geospatial Cyberinfrastructure – with the aim of applying it as an operational instrument aiming towards soil sealing mitigation. The system has the ambition to impact on those who take decision over soil sealing; typically, these are not agriculture experts but rather spatial planners. This tool, focusing on mitigating such crucial land degradation, allows the users – via the Web – to produce ‘what-if’ land planning scenarios thanks to the ‘on-the-fly’ modelling engines. Therefore, integrated geospatial quantitative data and procedures may be directly and freely used by planners. The tool has been applied to and tested in an area in the South of Italy. Results from two applications are reported: one addressing municipal planning and the other on a more detailed spatial scale. Furthermore, results include quantification of rural fragmentation, loss of soil ecosystem services and an estimate of soil sealing evolution over time.