Abstract

The study of Google Earth images of an area located in a southern part of the Marche Region in Central Italy, has revealed a circular feature consisting of a ring system of hills and valleys, both concentric with a central elevation. This morphology was also characterized by different colors of vegetation in cultivated land, and by its hydrographic network. Maps and geological data of the Marche Region were investigated, and a morphometric study showed its main rim to be elliptical, with the long axes oriented about SW-NE. Specifically, the main rim is 373 m high on average, with an average diameter of 3.75 km, and an internal area of 10.5 km2. Four possible processes which could have generated this morphology are investigated: impact cratering, hydrographic organization, brachyanticline, and diapirism. A morphological analysis was performed from the shape indices. The hydrographic parameters do not satisfy Hack's law, excluding a hydrographical origin. Likewise, the available geophysical surveys are not in agreement with the origins from an impact crater and a brachyanticline. The presence of mud extrusions in the area suggests some evidence of a clayey diapiric origin of the structure.

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