Le grotte della fascia costiera: geositi nel salento leccese
Abstract
It
Lungo la fascia costiera del Salento Leccese diverse sono le cavità ipogee che rivestono un ruolo importante nella ricostruzione dell’evoluzione paleogeografica della regione tra il Pleistocene medio e l’Olocene e per la comprensione di eventi climatici a scala mondiale; altre conservano vestigia della storia dell’uomo ed altre ancora hanno elevato valore ecologico. Tuttavia solo alcune di esse hanno un ruolo rilevante nell’economia turistica della regione. Il riconoscimento delle più importanti cavità e la definizione del loro indice di valore (IV) in base all'insieme delle caratteristiche di conservazione (SC), geologiche s.l.(VSG), paesistiche (VP), ecologiche (VE) ed alle potenzialità turistiche (PT) permette di individuare in esse geositi. Essi, raggruppati in distretti geomorfologici, ognuno con proprio IV, consentono di ipotizzare per il Salento la definizione di Sito di Speciale Interesse Scientifico. Articolato in percorsi ed organizzato con strutture ricettive – museali, esso contribuirebbe ad aumentare il bilancio turistico dell’intera regione.
En
The coastal landscape of Salento Peninsula is marked by numerous sea caves, opening both at the submerged and emerged part of the coast. Notwithstanding they are well known to speleologists, archaeologists and biologists, they have been neglected by geologists, so far.The abundance of fossil remains as well as of prehistoric and historic wares preserved allowed archaeologists to partly reconstruct the human colonization of this region. The submerged caves are famous for typical biocoenosis. Some of these caves are marked by marine/continental sequences characterised by beach levels, algal rims and lithophaga boreholes interbedded to slope debris, colluvial deposits and flowstones. The study of these sequences performed with modern techniques of analyses could allow the reconstruction of the palaeogeography of the region in relation of climate change and geodinamic history since the Middle Pleistocene. At present, detailed geomorphological surveys of caves have been carrying on aiming to reconstruct sea-level changes in the Late Quaternary. Notwithstanding some of these are very important from the scientific point of view, few scientific data have been published; only few caves can be visited by tourists and play an important role in the economy of region. Their value could be greatly increase by the realization of an interdisciplinary scientific-educational network.Sites of primary importance for the understanding of the geological processes are identified and defined as geosite on the base of their peculiar geological/geomorphological features. The geological s.l. value represent a joint value along with archaeological, ecological and landscapical values. The network of these geosites define three different geomorphological districts near Otranto, Capo Santa Maria di Leuca and Santa Caterina al Bagno. Together, they could permit to identify in the Salento peninsula a Site of Special Scientific Interest which constitutes a joined value in the cultural tourism and in the economy of the region.
Lungo la fascia costiera del Salento Leccese diverse sono le cavità ipogee che rivestono un ruolo importante nella ricostruzione dell’evoluzione paleogeografica della regione tra il Pleistocene medio e l’Olocene e per la comprensione di eventi climatici a scala mondiale; altre conservano vestigia della storia dell’uomo ed altre ancora hanno elevato valore ecologico. Tuttavia solo alcune di esse hanno un ruolo rilevante nell’economia turistica della regione. Il riconoscimento delle più importanti cavità e la definizione del loro indice di valore (IV) in base all'insieme delle caratteristiche di conservazione (SC), geologiche s.l.(VSG), paesistiche (VP), ecologiche (VE) ed alle potenzialità turistiche (PT) permette di individuare in esse geositi. Essi, raggruppati in distretti geomorfologici, ognuno con proprio IV, consentono di ipotizzare per il Salento la definizione di Sito di Speciale Interesse Scientifico. Articolato in percorsi ed organizzato con strutture ricettive – museali, esso contribuirebbe ad aumentare il bilancio turistico dell’intera regione.
En
The coastal landscape of Salento Peninsula is marked by numerous sea caves, opening both at the submerged and emerged part of the coast. Notwithstanding they are well known to speleologists, archaeologists and biologists, they have been neglected by geologists, so far.The abundance of fossil remains as well as of prehistoric and historic wares preserved allowed archaeologists to partly reconstruct the human colonization of this region. The submerged caves are famous for typical biocoenosis. Some of these caves are marked by marine/continental sequences characterised by beach levels, algal rims and lithophaga boreholes interbedded to slope debris, colluvial deposits and flowstones. The study of these sequences performed with modern techniques of analyses could allow the reconstruction of the palaeogeography of the region in relation of climate change and geodinamic history since the Middle Pleistocene. At present, detailed geomorphological surveys of caves have been carrying on aiming to reconstruct sea-level changes in the Late Quaternary. Notwithstanding some of these are very important from the scientific point of view, few scientific data have been published; only few caves can be visited by tourists and play an important role in the economy of region. Their value could be greatly increase by the realization of an interdisciplinary scientific-educational network.Sites of primary importance for the understanding of the geological processes are identified and defined as geosite on the base of their peculiar geological/geomorphological features. The geological s.l. value represent a joint value along with archaeological, ecological and landscapical values. The network of these geosites define three different geomorphological districts near Otranto, Capo Santa Maria di Leuca and Santa Caterina al Bagno. Together, they could permit to identify in the Salento peninsula a Site of Special Scientific Interest which constitutes a joined value in the cultural tourism and in the economy of the region.
DOI Code:
10.1285/i15910725v26supp121
Full Text: PDF
