Abstract
Large agricultural areas reclaimed in the past century, south of the Venice Lagoon, have experienced significant land subsidence due to oxidation of peat organic soils. This has exposed the region to flood hazard particularly during severe storms and has contributed to increase the marginal management cost of the infrastructures (ditches, levees, pumping stations) designed to operate the drainage system. Direct measurements and indirect evidence from the channel network suggest a land settlement between 1.5 and 2 m over the past 70 years. This paper provides an overview of the problem with important information on its most recent evolution.
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Acknowledgments
This work was funded by CoRiLa, Consorzio Venezia Nuova—Servizio Informativo, Consorzio di Bonifica Adige-Bacchiglione, Cavarzere, Chioggia, and Cona Municipalities. Te.Ma S.n.c. (Faenza, Italy) is gratefully acknowledged for supporting the DGPS measurements. ERS SAR data analysis supported by the ESA Data User Program (DUP) “Venezia”, processing Gamma Remote Sensing (Bern, Switzerland).
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Gambolati, G., Putti, M., Teatini, P. et al. Subsidence due to peat oxidation and impact on drainage infrastructures in a farmland catchment south of the Venice Lagoon. Environ Geol 49, 814–820 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0176-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0176-6