Relationship Between Natural Hazards and Geological Heritage: the Case of Cretaccio Island (Tremiti Archipelago, Southern Italy)

The Tremiti Archipelago is a marine reserve within the Gargano National Park in the Apulian region of southern Italy. The Tremiti Archipelago comprises the islands of San Domino, San Nicholas, Capraia, Cretaccio and Pianosa and includes some of the most beautiful and interesting natural habitats of the Mediterranean Sea. All the islands should be considered in any regional geoheritage inventory as they have a great geological, environmental and touristic value. This papermainly aims to define a hazard susceptibility assessment for Cretaccio Island, the smallest of the archipelago and where, due to its climatic and location, weathering and erosional processes act on weak and poorly cemented carbonate rocks that have been morphologically and structurally controlled by the geodynamic evolution of the area. These processes can have a negative impact on aspects of the conservation and, more generally, the future socioeconomic life of the whole archipelago. This study aims to establish a background for the design of possible engineering works to stabilise some of the coasts.