VENEZIA 2021

Subsidence of the Venice lagoon and morphological evolution connected to erosive and depositional processes combined with Relative Sea Level Rise

The loss of elevation above mean sea level is one of the processes with the greatest potential impact on lowland coastal areas. Today, more than ever, it is necessary to continuously update our understanding of subsidence, which is particularly complex in the Venice area due to the specificity of the transitional environment and the variability of the subsurface. Although not as significant in magnitude as in other areas worldwide, subsidence in the area surrounding the Venice lagoon is nevertheless very concerning given the elevation of the land well below mean sea level and the unique nature of the lagoon environment. This research aims to quantify the natural and anthropogenic subsidence of the Venice lagoon, characterizing its geological drivers to simulate the evolution of lagoon environments, taking into account erosional/depositional and geomechanical processes combined with relative sea level rise (RSLR).
Line 3.1 is coordinated by IGG-CNR and is structured as follows:
– WP 3.1.3 University of Padua – Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering University of Padua: “Geomechanical behavior of lagoonal deposits, modeling and development of forecast scenarios for Holocene natural subsidence”
– WP 3.1.1 National Research Council – Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources: “Analysis of subsidence and vulnerability to Relative Sea Level Rise”
– WP 3.1.2 OGS - National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics: “Architecture of Late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits”