, and Choudhury and Saha have performed geoelectrical surveys in different coastal area around the world. Moreover, Urish and Frohlich, Ebraheem et al. carried out vertical electrical sounding in the coastal plain of Acquedolci (Northern Sicily- Italy) to assess seawater intrusion, while Khalil applied a direct current resistivity geoelectric technique to delineate salt water intrusion from the Gulf of Suez. ERT, moreover, was applied to monitor seawater intrusion by Kruse et al. characterized the hydrogeology of a coastal aquifer using geophysical measurements and, in particular, electrical tomography. applied electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to map the salinity distribution in the subsurface in the Okavango Delta, a large inland delta in Botswana while Koukadaki et al. have applied a combination of geophysical techniques at the Muravera plain in southern Sardinia, Italy, which has been significantly affected by water salinization Batayneh used electrical resistivity methods for detecting subsurface fresh and saline water in the eastern Dead Sea coastal aquifers in Jordan Bauer et al. The geophysical methods for the subsurface exploration can contribute to the different phases of coastal environment characterization. Nowadays great attention is focused on innovative geophysical methods for solving hydrogeological and environmental problems. For example, many authors have employed geochemical methods based on measures of electrical conductivity, of chloride concentration, and other cation and anion concentrations, parameters which generally highlight seawater contamination.
Different approaches have been adopted to estimate seawater intrusion. Coastal plains are often contaminated by salt waters and the process associated to the marine water entering an aquifer is generally called seawater intrusion. Post has defined coastal aquifers as the subsurface equivalents of coastal areas where continental fresh groundwater and seawater meet.
Such actions have to be based on an ecosystem perspective for preserving coastal environment integrity and functioning and for planning sustainable resource management of both marine and terrestrial components (EU Recommendation on Integrated Coastal Zone Management-ICZM-European Commission EC/413/2002). Therefore, the implementation of suitable monitoring and protection actions is fundamental for their preservation and for assuring future use of this resource. IntroductionĬoastal areas are of great environmental, economic, social, and cultural relevance. Furthermore, our integrated study represents a contribution to the future programs for the protection, planning, and management of the terrestrial and marine resources in this coastal area. The results have disclosed the way to identify and discriminate large areas affected by intensive soil salinization and high resolution electrical images of the subsurface electrical resistivity plays a key role in delineating the saltwater intrusion front in coastal areas. Geoelectrical survey, supported by laboratory analysis of soil and water samples have revealed the presence of a process of saltwater in coastal Forest Reserve of Metapontum, which have caused the decline of the existing pine forest with the consequent erosion and desertification problems. To complete and integrate the geophysical data, soil and groundwater samplings, seventeen and five, respectively, were analyzed using chemical physical techniques. In particular, three electrical resistivity tomography, all orthogonal to the coastline, in the investigated area were carried out. In this work we used the method of two-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography for obtaining high-resolution electrical images in the investigated site. A geoelectrical survey was carried out in the Metapontum Forest Reserve located along the Ionian coast of the Basilicata region (Southern Italy).