Geomorphological evolution of the southern catchment of the Venice Lagoon
(Italy): The Zennare Basin
F. Rizzetto, L. Tosi, M. Bonardi, P. Gatti
Istituto per lo Studio della Dinamica delle Grandi Masse, CNR, Venezia,
Italy
A. Fornasiero, G. Gambolati, M. Putti, P. Teatini
Dept. Mathematical Methods and Models for Scientific
Applications, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
ABSTRACT
The investigated area is the Zennare Basin, located in the southern catchment of the
Venice Lagoon (Italy). This zone was completely reclaimed in the 1930's for
agricultural purposes.
It is a subsiding basin that lies up to 4 m below sea level, characterized by the
presence of bogs with peat layers generally less than 2 m thick which provide
evidence of ancient swamps.
Within the VOSS Project (Venice Organic Soil Subsidence) a detailed
geomorphological study of the Zennare Basin was carried out using data derived
from aerial photograph interpretation, field surveys, stratigraphic analyses of the
deposits and altimetrical investigations. The sedimentological and
geomorphological studies allowed reconstruction of the main geological features of
the basin, i.e. paleo-river beds, which constitute part of the input for the subsidence
simulation model.
