Geomorphology and Sedimentology of Ephemeral Streams of Calabria, Southern Italy
https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2025-3704
Abstract
In southern Italy, especially in Calabria, rivers are dry for most of the time, but intense rainfalls may turn them into roaring monsters, causing devastating floods. These rivers, locally known as “fiumaras”, are poorly studied though they play an important role in landscape shaping and pose serious threats to the local infrastructures and urban settlements. Basic catchment and channel geomorphic data of several rivers were collected from the literature and in the field. A comparison is made with river catchments of similar size in more humid environments to demonstrate that local physiography, watershed geomorphology, and channel characteristics may exacerbate the risk of flooding. The sedimentology of the study rivers is investigated to verify if fiumaras have specific bedform associations or stratigraphic arrangements that can be used to interpret ancient sandstones and conglomerates as deposited in an active tectonic setting under the Mediterranean climate. Four representative rivers were selected for investigation on the alluvium architecture, and field campaigns were carried out to collect bed material samples and to identify the occurrence of coarse and fine-grained bedforms. The fiumaras have a braided morphology, but the longitudinal bars do not have a fine tail and result from dissection processes rather than large bedform deposition and downstream migration. The braid bar characteristics, the poor internal organization of the tabular beds, and the occurrence of the largest boulders on top of the bars indicate the prevalence of high deposition rates from hyperconcentrated flows.
About the Authors
Paolo Billi
International Platform for Dryland Research and Education, Tottori University ; Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Università di Ferrara
Italy
Italy
1390 Hamasaka, Tottori, 680-0001 Japan
Via. G. Saragat, 1, Ferrara, 44122, Italy
Antonio Biamonte
Politiche Ambientali, Energia e Cambiamenti Climatici
Italy
Italy
Regione Toscana, Via di Novoli, 26, Firenze, 50127
References
1. Abdullatif O.M. (1989). Channel-filland sheet-flood facies sequences in the ephemeral River Gash, Kassala, Sudan. Sedimentary Geology, 63:171–184.
2. Biamonte A. (1993). Sedimentologia delle fiumare calabre. Unpublished thesis, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, Italy.
3. Bill P. (1987). Sediment storage, bed fabric and particle features of two mountain streams at Plynlimon (mid- Wales). Institute of Hydrology Report No.97, 39 pp.
4. Billi P. (1988). A note on cluster bedform behaviour in a gravel-bed river. Catena, 15: 1-9.
5. Billi P. (2008). Flash floods, sediment transport and bedforms in the ephemeral streams of Kobo basin, northern Ethiopia, CATENA, 75 (1): 5-17. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2008.04.002
6. Billi P. (2011). Flash flood sediment transport in a steep sand-bed ephemeral stream. International Journal of Sediment Research, 26(2), 193-209.
7. Billi P. (2016). Channel processes and sedimentology of a boulder-bed ephemeral stream in the Western Afar margin, Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, 60 (1): 35-52.
8. Billi P. (2022) Fluvial landscape of the Daban Basin, Northern Somalia. In: Billi, P. (ed.) Landscape and landforms of the Horn of Africa: Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia. Springer, Cham, Switzerland, 265-280.
9. Billi P. and Biamonte, A. (1995). Trasporto solido e dinamica morfologica d’alveo. Studi ed esperienze su due fiumare calabre: il T. Scilotraco ed il F. Simeri (Prov. di Catanzaro). In: Bonardi, G., De Vivo, B., Gasparini, P., Vallario, A., “Cinquanta anni di attività didattica e scientifica del Prof. Felice Ippolito”, Liguori Editore, Napoli, 27-47.
10. Billi P., Preciso E. and Salemi, E. (2014). Rhythmic roughness elements and channel morphology of gravel bed rivers. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, 58(3): 337-366. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0372-8854/2013/0127
11. Billi P., Demissie B., Nyssen J., Moges G., and Fazzini M. (2018). Meander hydromorphology of ephemeral streams: similarities and differences with perennial rivers. Geomorphology, 319: 35-46.
12. Bluck B.J. (1982). Texture of gravel bars in braided streams. In: Hey R.D., Bathurst J.C. and Thorne, C.R (Eds.), Gravel-Bed Rivers, Wiley, Chichester, 339-355.
13. Bryashaw A.C. (1984). Characteristics and origin of cluster bedforms in coarse-grained alluvial channels. In: Koster, E.H. and Steel, R.J. (Eds.), Sedimentology of Gravels and Conglomerates. Canadian Soc. Petrol. Geol., Memoir 10: 77-65.
14. Carling P., (2017). Catastrophic deposition of gravel from outbreak floods. In: Tsutsumi D. and Laronne J.B. (Eds.) Gravel-Bed Rivers: Processes and Disasters. Wiley, 299-327.
15. Carlston C.W. (1963). Drainage density and streamflow. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 422-C
16. Church M.A., McLean,D.G. and Wolcott, J.F. (1978). River bed gravels. Sampling and analysis. In: Thorne C.R., Bathurst J.C. and Hey, R.D. (Eds.) Sediment transport in gravel-bed rivers. Wiley, Chichester, 43-88.
17. Cirrincione R., Fazio E., Fiannacca P., Ortolano G., Pezzino A. and Punturo, R. (2015). 2015PM0446The Calabria-Peloritani Orogen, a composite terrane in Central Mediterranean; its overall architecture and geodynamic significance for a pre-Alpine scenario around the Tethyan basin. Periodico di Mineralogia, 84 (3B): 701-749. DOI: 10.2451/2015PM0446
18. Demissie B., Billi P., Frankl A., Haile M. and Nyssen, J. (2017). Excess river sedimentation at bridges in the Raya Graben (Northern Ethiopia). Land Degradation and Development, 28: 946–958. DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2572
19. Dietrich W.E., Kirchener J.V., Ikeda H. and Iseya, F. (1989). Sediment supply and the development of a coarse surface layer in gravel bedded rivers. Letters to Nature, 340:215–217.
20. Dunkerley D.L. (1992). Channel geometry, bed material and inferred flow conditions in ephemeral stream systems, Barrier Range, western N.S.W, Australia. Hydrological Processes, 6: 417–433.
21. ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) - www.ecmwf.int/en/forecasts/datasets.
22. Ferrari E., Gabriele S. and Versace, P. (1988). L’analisi dei massimi idrologici in Calabria. Previsione e prevenzione degli eventi idrologici estremi e loro controllo. Report 88, GNDCI, CNR, Roma.
23. Ferro V., Porto P. (2011). Predicting the equilibrium bed slope in natural streams using a stochastic model for incipient sediment motion, Earth surface processes and landforms 36, 1007-1022, ISSN: 0197-9337.
24. Ferro V., Porto P. (2012). Identifying a dominant discharge for natural rivers in southern Italy. Geomorphology, 139-140, 313-321.
25. Foti G., Barbaro G., Bombino G., Barillà G.C., Mancuso P., Puntorieri P. (2022). River transport in Calabrian rivers. In: Calabrò F., Della Spina L., Piñeira Mantiñán M.J. (eds) New Metropolitan Perspectives. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 482. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06825-6_7.
26. Gavrilovic, S. (1972). Inzenjering o bujicnim tokovima i eroziji. Izgradnja. Beograd. (in Serbian).
27. Grant G.E., Swanson F.J. and Wolman, MG. (1990). Pattern and origin of stepped - bed morphology in high - gradient streams, Western Cascades, Oregon. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 102(3): 340-352,
28. Hassan M.A. (2005). Characteristics of gravel bars in ephemeral streams. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 75: 29–42.
29. Hassan M.A., Church M., Lisle T.E., Brandinoni F., Benda L. and Grant, G.E. (2005). Sediment transport and channel morphology of small, forested streams. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 41(4): 853-876.
30. Horton R.E. (1932). Drainage basin characteristics. American Geophysical Union Trans 13:350–361.
31. Laronne J.B. and Shlomi, Y. (2007). Depositional character and preservation potential of coarse-grained sediments deposited by flood events in hyper-arid braided channels in the Rift Valley, Arava, Israel. Sedimentary Geology, 195: 21–37.
32. Leopold L.B. (1970). An improved method for size distribution of stream bed gravels. Water Resources Research, 6(5): 1357-1366.
33. Leopold L.B., Wolman M.G. and Miller, J.P. (1964). Fluvial processes in geomorphology. Freeman, San Francisco.
34. Maizels J. (1993). Lithofacies variations within sandur deposits: the role of runoff regime, flow dynamics and sediment supply characteristics. Sedimentary Geology, 85: 299-325.
35. Manville,V. and White J.D.L. (2003). Incipient granular mass flows at the base of sedimentladen floods, and the roles of flow competence and flow capacity in the deposition of stratified bouldery sands. Sedimentary Geology, 155: 157–173.
36. Montgomery D.R. and Buffington, J.M. (1997). Channel-reach morphology in mountain drainage basins. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 109(5): 596-611.
37. Nyberg B., Gawthorpe R.l., and Helland-Hansen, W. (2018). The distribution of rivers to terrestrial sinks: Implications for sediment routing systems. Geomorphology, 316: 1–23.
38. Parker G., and Klingeman P.C. (1982) On why gravel bed streams are paved: Water Resources Research, 18: 1409–1423.
39. Picard M.D. and High, Jr. L.R. (1973). Sedimentary structures of ephemeral streams. Developments in Sedimentology,17. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
40. Ravi Shankar M.N. and Mohan, G. (2006). Assessment of the groundwater potential and quality in Bhatsa and Kalu river basins of Thane district, western Deccan Volcanic Province of India. Environmental Geology, 49: 990–998. DOI 10.1007/s00254-005-0137-5
41. Rinaldi M., Gurnell A. M., Gonzalez del Tanago M., Bussettini M. and Hendrik, D. (2016). Classification of river morphology and hydrology to support management and restoration. Aquatic Sciences, 78: 17–33. DOI 10.1007/s00027-015-0438-z
42. Rosgen D.L. (1996). Applied river morphology. Wildland Hydrology, Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
43. Sabato L. (1989). Sedimentazione attuale in alcuni fiumi a breve corso fra le piane di Metaponto e Sibari (confine calabro-lucano). Memorie della Società Geologica Italiana, 42: 269–285.
44. Sabato L., and Tropeano M. (2004). Fiumara: a kind of high hazard river. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 29: 707–715.
45. Schumm S.A. (1956) The evolution of drainage system and slopes in Badlands at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 67: 214–236.
46. Servizio Idrografico, 1916-1998. Annali Idrologici. Parte II. Ministero dei Lavori Pubblici, Roma.
47. Shepherd R.G. (1987). Lateral accretion surfaces in ephemeral-stream point bars, Rio Puerco, New Mexico. In: Ethridge F.G., Flores R.M. and Harvey M. (Eds.), Recent Developments in fluvial sedimentology. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Special Publication No.39, Tulsa, OK, pp. 93–98.
48. Sohn Y.K. (1997). On traction-carpet sedimentation. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 67 (3): 502–509.
49. Thomas J., Joseph S., J. and Thrivikramaji, K.P. (2010). Morphometric aspects of a small tropical mountain river system, the southern Western Ghats, India. International Journal of Digital Earth, 3(2): 135-156.
50. Versace P., Ferrari E., Gabriele S. and Rossi F. (1989). Valutazione delle piene in Calabria. CNR-IRPI, Geodata, Cosenza.
51. Versace P., Ferrar, E. and Cruscomagno F. (2017). Le fiumare della provincia di Reggio Calabria. University of Calabria, Civil Protection of the Calabria Region.
52. Whiting P.J., Dietrich W.E., Leopold L.B., Drake T.G. and Shreve, R.L. (1988). Bedload sheets in heterogeneous sediment. Geology, 16: 105–108.
53. Williams G.E. (1971). Flood deposits of the sand-bed ephemeral streams of central Australia. Sedimentology, 17:1–40.
54. Zimmermann A., Church M. and Hassan, M.A. (2010). Step-pool stability: Testing the jammed state hypothesis. Journal of Geophysical Research, 115: F02008. doi:10.1029/2009JF001365
Review
For citations:
Billi P., Biamonte A. Geomorphology and Sedimentology of Ephemeral Streams of Calabria, Southern Italy. GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY. 2025;18(2):150-163. https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2025-3704
Views:
90
Email this article 