The Geological Heritage of Salento Leccese Area (Apulia, southern Italy)

Abstract

The Salento peninsula is a well-known Apulian tourist area. Its peculiar geological and geomorphological features also have attracted numerous researchers during the last 150 years. The importance of the Salento geological heritage and identification of key sites was determined by literature review, assessment of the records of field trips in and around the Salento area during scientific geological meetings, and conferences over the last 30 years, using a geographical information system. Furthermore, these sites identified are the Otranto-Castro and Gallipoli-Porto Selvaggio coastal areas, the area of Leuca as well as the area between Cursi and Melpignano. The Otranto-Castro area contains Late Cretaceous Rudist reefs and Ammonites, an Upper Oligocene reef complex, as well as Lower Pleistocene calcarenites containing slumps and erosional features. The coastal landscape is marked by boulder accumulations produced by a historical tsunami. The Gallipoli-Porto Selvaggio area is noted for its abundant remains of Strombus bubonius Lamarck. In Porto Selvaggio, there is a rich fossiliferous association with abundant taxa of fish found in Cretaceous dolomitic and calcareous layers, with the rocks showing thin chert layers and spectacular slump features that had been triggered by tectonic activity. The Leuca area is the location for the stratotype of the Leuca Formation and by the occurrence of Grotta del Diavolo, a coastal cave that exhibits polycyclic evolution in the Middle Pleistocene. Finally, the Cursi-Melpignano area is important for its numerous quarries of Pietra Leccese Formation that have yielded numerous fossils of Miocene marine vertebrates. The results from the analysis point to the valuable geological heritage of the Salento area which is still completely unexploited by the local tourist industry. Data reported in this paper could be usefully integrated in plans aiming to build a cultural tourist attraction in Salento area.