Recent evolution and the present-day conditions of the Campanian Coastal plains (South Italy): the case history of the Sele River Coastal plain

The low coasts of the Campania are generally located in the main alluvial coastal plains of the region. These coasts have been affected, during late Quaternary, by strong progradation and more recently by erosion and episodic flooding particularly during storm events. The causes are essentially to be sought in the decrease in sedimentary discharge due to forest hydraulic engineering works but especially to the construction of many artificial dams along the main rivers, coupled whit subsidence and or increases in sea levels. Such events generally occur in coastal plains where the sectors close to the present-day dune ridge are morphologically lower (in general no more than 1–3 m a.s.l.). The main goal of this study was to provide a synopsis of the coastal vulnerability and present a new semi-quantitative method to assess coastal erosion. Eight factors describing the current system state of the beaches and the effects of the wave climate and human activity were combined to assess the potential erosion of the Sele River coastal plain. The method shows the high erosion potential at the mouths of the Sele, Picentino and Tusciano Rivers, while the areas south of the Sele river mouth and the zone stretching from Lido Lago to the Asa channel showed low hazard levels.