Stratigraphic architecture and anthropic impacts on subsoil to assess the intrinsic potential vulnerability of groundwater: the northeastern Campania Plain case study, southern Italy

Abstract

This study attempts to assess the aquifer vulnerability in the northeastern sector of the Campania Plain (southern Italy). The area is a highly populated region with anthropic impacts caused by rapid urban growth, quarrying, agricultural and industrial activities and uncontrolled waste storage. The main geologic feature of this plain is the alternation of alluvial/transitional and volcaniclastic deposits of Late Pleistocene–Holocene age. The study was performed integrating different sets of geologic and environmental data to restore the stratigraphic architecture and to assess anthropic impacts on subsoil. The reconstruction of stratigraphic subsurface architecture was based on remarkable geodatabase, concerning well log stratigraphies. Specific insights have been delineated on the volcaniclastic lithofacies heteropies across the entire area of study to highlight the differences in lithification degree and permeability. The contribution of pedogenesis on the reconstruction of the stratigraphic setting was also considered for the relative implications on groundwater quality concerns, as paleosols are usually regarded as aquitards. All of this information has been managed into a GIS project to produce a detailed 3D geological reconstruction, integrated with hydrogeological information to provide a model of the aquifer under study, highlighting sites of greater vulnerability to pollution. The anthropic impacts on subsoil were assessed by evaluating land-uses and overlaying the ANHI (Agricultural Nitrate Hazard Index) Map. The integration of the above datasets has allowed to check the reliability of the previsional empirical model with respect to the hydrostratigraphic model based on a thorough stratigraphic model and to verify the real potential of contamination.