MORPHOSTRUCTURAL EVOLUTION AND RELATED KINEMATICS OF ROCKFALLS IN CAMPANIA (SOUTHERN ITALY) - A CASE-STUDY

On the southern slope of the Sorrentine peninsula there are many subtr iangular depressions in which the main towns of the area are located; the depressions are linked to block-rotation during strike-slip fault activity and are often marked by high subvertical cliffs and related r ockfall phenomena with consequent damage to the underlying towns. On t he basis of back analyses carried out using Hoek's method, an in-depth study of some of the rockfalls enabled us to define for one of these towns the most suitable shock restitution coefficients of the detritic al pyroclastic deposits present on the terraces situated at the foot o f the cliffs. On the basis of the main kinematic parameters of actual rockfalls and approximately 6600 simulated rockfalls, a planning of th e high-level rockfall risk valley bottoms was drawn up. The size of th e high-level rockfall risk sites depends above all on the presence, nu mber and size of the terracings where citrus fruit trees are cultivate d. The calculation method suggested by Paronuzzi was also adopted in o rder to make a detailed evaluation of the role the terraces play in mo difying the trajectory height, the translation velocity and the endpoi nt of the boulders. Although there are methodological and statistical differences between the two methods, results from both studies showed sufficient correlation, in particular concerning the trajectories' end points.