A multidisciplinary approach in sinkhole analysis: The Quinis village case study (NE-Italy)

During the last recent years, in Quinis, a small village sited in the Alta Val Tagliamento valley (Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, NE Italy), the inhabitants faced with instability phenomena related to the presence of soluble rocks in the subsurface. The evaporite bedrock is mainly mantled, in fact, by high thickness deposit This paper explains the methodological approach that we used to identify the instabilities in a very complex geo-structural environment where the urbanization limits the applicability of several investigation techniques. Different methods were used to define the bedrock morphology, to characterize the mantling deposits and to identify the processes behind. What emerged from the study is a mandatory multidisciplinary approach to characterize the subsoil, because each technique is not able individually to take to a unique result. The data collected allowed to draft a geo-hydrogeological conceptual model of the Quinis village. The lessons learned, even if with some site-specific dependency, demonstrate the importance of broad-spectrum investigations, which are essential to understand the subsurface characteristics avoiding relevant socio-economic impact and supporting an adequate future territorial planning. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.