The PianosAquifer project was activated by IGG-CNR in 2014 and it envisages the quantitative and qualitative (chemical-physical and isotopic characteristics) monitoring of the various components of the hydrological cycle on the Pianosa Island, with particular reference to those that condition the peculiar groundwater system hosted here.
The general aim is to verify the effects of climatic trends on groundwater resources in an island environment with water stress conditions that are representative of the hydro-climatic framework of the Mediterranean region.
More specific objectives concern the quantitative characterization of the processes and mechanisms that regulate the water availability for the ecosystems and the habitability of the island, including issues related to marine intrusion and the presence of undesirable substances, such as nutrients, linked to the agricultural activities of the ex-penal colony, and some trace elements present in the deeper parts of the aquifer system.
On the island, a thermo-pluviometric station and an experimental lysimeter allow the monthly monitoring of rainwater and infiltration water in terms of quantity and chemical and isotopic characteristics. There is also a network for the continuous monitoring of piezometric levels, temperature and electrical conductivity of groundwater. The hydrological-hydrogeological monitoring network is being implemented by means of automatic systems for the acquisition of meteorological, geophysical and hydrodynamic data in unsaturated areas and in wells, as part of the CNR initiative on the enrichment of instrumental infrastructures.
Hydrodynamic data, physical-chemical measurements and water samples collection are carried out periodically. These are then analysed at the IGG-CNR laboratories for major, minor and trace chemical elements, as well as for isotopic ratio.
The activities carried out have allowed us to outline a conceptual hydrogeological model that is sufficiently representative, although it is still being refined on the basis of further geological, hydrogeological, geophysical and geochemical-isotopic investigations still in progress and/or planned. In addition, a preliminary flow model of the aquifer system has been implemented and will be further refined and validated on the basis of new data and new knowledge acquired.
Further investigations are planned using geophysical instruments but also drone or satellite observations, and will concern, for example, the verification of freshwater outflows into the sea, or the hydrostructural structure of the island and any relationships with large-scale geological structures such as possible sites of regional circuits. Another development of the project will concern the implementation of eco-hydrological models on the Earth-Critical-Zone.
The project has enjoyed and enjoys the collaboration of the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Pisa, as well as the support of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park Authority and the Province of Livorno.
IGG-CNR Project Responsible: Marco Doveri
Publications
• MENICHINI, Matia, DOVERI, Marco, GIANNECCHINI, Roberto, GALANTI, Yuri, PASQUALETTI, Greta, SAPIA, Vincenzo, MENGHINI, Antonio (2019). A multi-tool approach for developing conceptual and groundwater flow numerical models of the Pianosa Island aquifer system (Tuscan Archipelago, Italy). IAH-International conference, Malaga, Settembre 2019.