Investigating uplift in Lesina Marina (Southern Italy) with the aid of persistent scatterer SAR interferometry and in situ measurements

We apply persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) techniques to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from ERS and ENVISAT satellites on the Lesina Marina area, a coastal tourist village in Apulia, Southern Italy, where the excavation of a canal exposed grey micro- and meso-crystalline gypsum which is now showing a high density of cavities and sinkholes due to gravitational collapse processes. We observe PS objects undergoing displacements, along the sensor line of sight, forming the same relatively smooth pattern in all the processed data stacks. Vertical displacement rates, derived through integration of ascending and descending geometries, reach about 4 mm/year on locations adjacent to the canal, gently decreasing towards the western end of the built-up area. High-precision leveling measurements, performed in 1999 and 2010, reveal a substantial agreement with the ENVISAT PSI data, taking into account a small bias due to the choice of the leveling reference point. The dataset, thus validated, suggests the presence of an uplift phenomenon going on steadily for the entire timespan covered by the SAR observations (1992–2009). These observations, supported by petrographic data and in situ investigations, seem only in part compatible with a residual diapirism, and hint instead to more complex processes, such as a combination of diapirism and the hydration of the residual anhydrite in the core of the gypsum mass. These results confirm the importance of the integration between in situ, geologic and geophysical, remotely sensed investigations, as the latter often represent an essential tool to infer whether a given phenomenon, which can be hypothesized by the former, is presently under development.