Karst terminology in Apulia (southern Italy)

Apulia region, in southern Italy, is one of the classical karst areas of the Italian peninsula, being underlain for most of its extension by intensely karstified carbonate rocks. The landscape presents essentially landforms of karstic origin, which have been the object of specific studies for a long time. The three main geographical sub-regions into which Apulia is generally divided (from north to south, the Gargano Promontory, the Murge plateau, and the Salento peninsula) have been characterized in the past centuries by complex and different social and historical events. These resulted in the development, from a linguistical point of view, of very distinct dialects in different parts of Apulia. The terms used to describe the karst landforms, both at the surface and underground, had subsequently been, and still are, extremely variable throughout the region. This paper illustrates some terms used in Apulia to designate and describe the main geomorphological manifestations of the karst landscape. An attempt is made to analyze the terms on the basis of: i) geographical distribution; ii) etymology, with reference to the local dialects; iii) morphological features and genesis of described landforms. Some cases of misuse of terms in the Apulian karst, even in recent times, are also pointed out.