Page 1 - Geomorphological_2020

JOURNAL OF MAPS
https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2020.1866699
SCIENCE

Geomorphological features of Favignana Island (SW Italy)

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Marta Pappalardo , Arianna Bevilacqua , Marco Luppichini and Monica Bini a
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Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY
We present a large scale (1:10,000) geomorphological map of Favignana Island, in which Received 26 February 2020
landforms were recognized and genetically categorized based on analysis of stereoscopic Revised 24 November 2020
aerial photographs and freely available satellite images, complimented by a few validation Accepted 7 December 2020
tests performed in the field. The map was created following the guidelines of the Italian KEYWORDS
Geomorphological Working Group for landforms symbolic representation. This includes an
Geomorphology;
immediate visual differentiationof the genetic character and the state of activity of geoconservation; karst
landforms. Favignana, belonging to the Egadi Archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea (SW Italy), action; Egadi Islands
2
is a mid-sized (ca. 20 km ) mostly carbonatic island. The marine protected area surrounding
the island represents the main attraction for tourists. Through this map, it was possible to
highlight the richness and diversity, in terms of abundance and peculiarity of landforms,
that characterizes the Island. This peculiarity makes of Favignana an excellent candidate for
the exploitation of its geoheritage for touristic purposes.

1. Introduction adopted outside Italy, they represent an exceptional
tool to produce scientifically significant thematic car-
Small islands in the Mediterranean Basin represent a
tography that is also easily understandable by end-
cue of its environmental and ecological richness (Fur-
users such as urban planners and landscape engineers.
lani et al., 2014; Woodward, 2009).
Another type of application of geomorphological
Geomorphological mapping of small islands is
maps is in the exploitation of geological heritage
a valuable tool for the management of their territories,
(2016).
like case-studies from Italy and Malta show (Biolchi
In this work a large scale geomorphological
et al., 2014; Devoto et al., 2012; Graciotti et al., 2008;
map (Main Map) of the Island of Favignana (SW
Miccadei et al., 2012). In fact, these fragile territories
Italy, Figure 1) is presented. The economy of the
are occupied by small communities of permanent
Island has traditionally been based on its marine
dwellers frequently facing economic and environ-
resources, such as fishing and touristic activites
mental issues. These communities need to be sup-
oriented towards the sea (e.g. sailing, diving, etc.).
ported, in that they preside a land that would
Favignana is, in fact, included within a marine pro-
otherwise represent a management issue for the
tected area (http://www.ampisoleegadi.it), the aim of
country. Geomorphological mapping on one side is
which is the protection of marine biodiversity and
a basic tool to understand critical environmental
the sustainable management of coastal areas of the
issues that need to be addressed in order to avoid geo-
Egadi Archipelago, of which Favignana is part. The
logical hazards, on the other is a tool to understand
richness and diversity of landforms that shape the
which are the territory natural features that deserve
Island’s coastal profile but also its inland territory,
to be exploited in terms of geoheritage (2016).
suggest that also local economic activities based on
The Italian Geomorphological community has a
the touristic exploitation of its geoheritage can be
long lasting tradition of Geomorphological mapping,
developed.
based on specific criteria worked out in the 1980s
and established in the 1990s (Brancaccio et al., 1994)
and recently revised (Campobasso et al., 2018) specifi-
cally for the coastal morphological agent (Mastronuzzi 2. Study area
et al., 2017). These criteria are based on the use of Favignana is an island within the Egadi Archipelago
different colours to differentiate forms, deposits and (Figure 1(B)).Thisisformedby threemajorislands,
processes due to different morphological agents and Levanzo and Marettimo apart from Favignana itself,
different tonalities within the same colour to highlight and two minor islands (Formica and Maraone).
their state of activity. Although these criteria are not The Egadi Archipelago is located in the Southern
CONTACT Marta Pappalardo marta.pappalardo@unipi.it Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Via S. Maria, 53, I56126 Pisa, Italy
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of Journal of Maps
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrest-
ricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.