Zeitschrift für Geologie und Geophysik
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Hypogeal Climate Changes: 10 Years of Reliefs at Grotta a Male, Assergi, L'Aquila (Italy)

Petrucci Emiliano*, Vincenza Cofini, Barbara Pizzi, Gioele Marrocco, Gianmaria Ceccaroni, Stefano Necozione, Franco Marinangeli

Global warming is a present reality, destined to progress inexorably. The underground environments appear as a complex interface between the atmosphere-lithosphere and the hydrosphere and, in general, the underground temperatures tend to have oscillations linked to the morphological and geological characteristics of the cavity. In Italy, ISTAT data relating to meteo-climatic statistics for the years from 1971 to 2016 show a generalized upward trend thermal. To evaluate any means for the conservation of the present ecosystems and the possible effects deriving from the processes of climate change, we monitored climatic and environmental parameters inside the Grotta a Male (a fossil sinkhole near L'Aquila, Italy, latitude: 42°26′00.5″ North; longitude: 13 °28′26.42″ East), to identify signs of hypogeal climate change, in relation to the current thermal anomalies recorded in the Abruzzo capital. The following assessments were carried out: temperature (°C) at the entrance; temperature at the edge of the well (°C); relative humidity (%) at the entrance and at the edge of the well; the variation of the level (m³) and of the temperature of the water in the lake of the Francesco De' Marchi room (°C). The surveys were carried out from 2012 to 2022 with 4 annual evaluations for the months of March-April, June-July, September-October and December-January. Our data show an increase in the average temperature in the cave of approximately 0.3°C-0.4°C per year, with a simultaneous increase in internal relative humidity of approximately 2%-3% per year.