Abstract
An outstanding variety of landscapes and landforms are present in Italy due to its complex geological history, repeated climate changes and increasing human impact through time. This chapter highlights the reasons for the geological and geomorphological diversity of the country by illustrating its geological evolution since the Mesozoic, outlining the paleogeographic changes that occurred as a consequence of Quaternary climate variations, and tracing the unique human civilization history that has so strongly influenced landscape evolution since the Neolithic . Special attention is devoted to the complex history of the country, where peoples coming from different geographical areas met each other contributing to make Italy a compendium of cultural diversity capable of attracting travellers from all over the world. Landscape conservation and protection are finally taken into account.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Antonioli F, Vai GB (eds) (2004) Climex Maps Italy—explanatory notes. Museo Geologico Giovanni Capellini, Bologna, 80 pp
Aucelli PPC, Brancaccio L, Cinque A (2017) Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei: Volcanic History, Landforms and Impact on Settlements. In: Soldati M, Marchetti M (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Italy. Springer, Cham, pp 389–398
Bollati I, Pelfini M, Pellegrini L (2012) A geomorphosites selection method for educational purposes: a case study in Trebbia valley (Emilia Romagna, Italy). Geogr Fis Dinam Quat 35(1):23–35
Bosellini A (2005) Storia geologica d’Italia. Gli ultimi 200 milioni di anni. Zanichelli, Bologna, 183 pp
Bosellini A (2017) Outline of the geology of Italy. In: Soldati M, Marchetti M (eds) Landscapes and landforms of Italy. Springer, Cham, pp 21–27
Brandolini P (2017) The outstanding terraced landscape of the Cinque Terre coastal slopes (Eastern Liguria). In: Soldati M, Marchetti M (eds) Landscapes and landforms of Italy. Springer, Cham, pp 235–244
Corona G (2015) Breve storia dell’ambiente in Italia. Il Mulino, Bologna, 140 pp
Del Monte M (2017) Aeternae Urbis Geomorphologia—Geomorphology of Rome, Aeterna Urbs. In: Soldati M, Marchetti M (eds) Landscapes and landforms of Italy. Springer, Cham, pp 339–350
De Pippo T, Valente A (2008) Lagune e stagni costieri. In: Grillotti Di Giacomo MG (ed) Atlante Tematico delle Acque d’Italia. Brigati, Genova: 71–74
Federici PR (2000) La varietà dei paesaggi naturali. In: Touring Club Italiano (ed) Il Paesaggio Italiano. Touring Editore, Milano: 11–26
Federici PR (2008) Le bonifiche. In: Grillotti Di Giacomo MG (ed) Atlante Tematico delle Acque d’Italia. Brigati, Genova: 103–108
Fontana A, Mozzi P, Marchetti M (2014) Alluvial fans and megafans along the southern side of the Alps. Sed Geol 301:150–171
Fratianni S, Acquaotta F (2017) The climate of Italy. In: Soldati M, Marchetti M (eds) Landscapes and landforms of Italy. Springer, Cham, pp 29–38
Fredi P, Ciccacci S (2017) A route of fire in central Italy: the Latium ancient volcanoes. In: Soldati M, Marchetti M (eds) Landscapes and landforms of Italy. Springer, Cham, pp 303–315
Fredi P, Lupia Palmieri E (2017) Morphological regions of Italy. In: Soldati M, Marchetti M (eds) Landscapes and landforms of Italy. Springer, Cham, pp 39–74
Fredi P, Pelfini M (2008) I laghi d’Italia. In: Grillotti Di Giacomo MG (ed) Atlante Tematico delle Acque d’Italia. Brigati, Genova: 59–64
Furlani S, Antonioli F, Biolchi S, Gambin T, Gauci R, Presti VL, Anzidei M, Devoto S, Palombo M, Sulli A (2013) Holocene sea level change in Malta. Quatern Int 288:146–157
Giardino M, Mortara G, Chiarle M (2017) The glaciers of the Valle d’Aosta and Piemonte regions: records of present and past environmental and climate changes. In: Soldati M, Marchetti M (eds) Landscapes and landforms of Italy. Springer, Cham, pp 77–88
Giovagnoli MC (2017) Geoheritage in Italy. In: Soldati M, Marchetti M (eds) Landscapes and landforms of Italy. Springer, Cham, pp 491–500
ISTAT—Italian National Institute of Statistics (2015) Italy in Figures. Dissemination and Communication of Statistical Information Directorate, Rome, 33 pp
Lambeck K, Antonioli F, Anzidei M, Ferranti L, Leoni G, Scicchitano G, Silenzi S (2011) Sea level change along the Italian coast during the Holocene and projections for the future. Quatern Int 232(1):250–257
Marchetti M (2008) Corsi d’acqua e bacini idrografici. In: Grillotti Di Giacomo MG (ed) Atlante Tematico delle Acque d’Italia. Brigati, Genova: 47–58
Marchetti M (2002) Environmental changes in the central Po Plain (Northern Italy) due to fluvial modifications and man’s activities. Geomorphology 44(3–4):361–373
Miccadei E, Piacentini T, Esposito G (2011) Geomorphosites and geotourism in the parks of Abruzzo region (Central Italy). Geoheritage 3(3):233–251
Muttoni G, Scardia G, Kent DV, Morsiani E, Tremolada F, Cremaschi M, Peretto C (2011) First dated human occupation of Italy at~0.85 Ma during the late Early Pleistocene climate transition. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 307(3):241–252
Orombelli G, Ravazzi C (1996) The Late Glacial and Early Holocene: chronology and paleoclimate. Il Quaternario – Italian Journal of Quaternary Sciences 9(2):439–444
Panizza M, Piacente S (1993) Geomorphological Assets Evaluation. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie NF, Suppl Bd 87:13–18
Paolucci A (2000) Il paesaggio come ritratto dell’Italia antica. Il Paesaggio Italiano. Touring Club Italiano, Milano, 147–158 pp
Peretto C, Arnaud J, Moggi-Cecchi J, Manzi G, Nomade S, Pereira A, Falguères C, Bahain JJ, Grimaud-Hervé D, Berto C, Sala B, Lembo G, Muttillo B, Gallotti R, Thun Hohenstein U, Vaccaro C, Coltorti M, Arzarello M (2015) A human deciduous tooth and new 40Ar/39Ar dating results from the middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Isernia La Pineta southern Italy. PLoS ONE 10(10):e0140091
Pica A, Vergari F, Del Monte M (2016) The Aeterna Urbs geomorphological heritage (Rome, Italy). Geoheritage 8(1):31–42
Pinna M (1996) Le Variazioni del Clima. FrancoAngeli s.r.l, Milano, 214 pp
Reynard E, Coratza P (2013) Scientific research on geomorphosites. a review of the activities of the IAG working group on geomorphosites over the last twelve years. Geogr Fis Dinam Quat 36:159–168
Smiraglia C, Diolaiuti G (eds) (2015) The new Italian glacier inventory. Ev-K2-CNR, Bergamo, 400 pp
Soldati M (2010) Dolomites: The spectacular landscape of the “Pale Mountains”. In: Migon P (ed) Geomorphological landscapes of the world. Springer Science + Business Media BV: 191–199
Stefani M (2017) The Po Delta region: depositional evolution, climate change and human intervention through the last 5000 years. In: Soldati M, Marchetti M (eds) Landscapes and landforms of Italy. Springer, Cham, pp 193–202
Vai GB, Cantelli L (eds) (2004) Litho-palaeoenvironmental maps of Italy during the last two climatic extremes. Litografia Artistica Cartografica, Firenze
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Marchetti, M., Soldati, M., Vandelli, V. (2017). The Great Diversity of Italian Landscapes and Landforms: Their Origin and Human Imprint. In: Soldati, M., Marchetti, M. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Italy. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26194-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26194-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-26192-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-26194-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)