The scientific workshop was held yesterday "Large-scale mapping of subsoil resources functional to knowledge, management and protection of the territory".
The scientific meeting saw the participation of Alan Yusen Ley-Cooper of the Australian Geological Survey (Geoscience Australia) who presented the results obtained so far within the AusAEM project, the world's most extensive aerial electromagnetic survey (AEM) undertaken to date.
The mapping of underground water resources, mineral resources and geological structures down to depths of the order of 400 meters over a vast portion of the Australian territory constitutes the heart of the project that the ambition to investigate the whole of Australia and to continue to provide valuable information to the various public and private subjects involved in the mapping and management of natural resources.
For Italy, Matteo Gisolo and Luca Spagnoli from A2A SpA spoke and illustrated the results obtained from a recent AEM application in Italy, more precisely a vast area west of Lake Garda, in the Province of Brescia.
Thanks to accurate geological modelling, the result of the interpretation of AEM geophysical data, it was possible improve the geological and hydrogeological knowledge of the area, so as to arrive at a representation which constitutes the fundamental fulcrum for correct planning of water resources.
These issues are highly topical given the period of profound water crisis that has affected the entire national territory.
The results of the AEM prospecting have also been a valuable aid for the analysis of the vulnerability of underground aquifers and for the identification of deep aquifers not yet exploited and which, therefore, are of strategic importance for the future.
Having spatially continuous subsurface information, with high lithostratigraphic detail, up to depths of 300-400 meters represents a considerable advantage. Furthermore, the large-scale geophysical exploration campaigns with AEM techniques, precisely because of the way in which they are conducted, return the results in a very short time, therefore absolutely compatible for planning land management interventions, both in the short and long term .
The hope is that, following the example of other countries such as, for example, Denmark, the USA and Australia, these technologies will also be used in Italy in the field of exploration and characterization of the territory on a large scale. These sophisticated prospecting techniques by now consolidated are a valid support not only for hydrogeology, but also for the study of geological hazards such as, for example, the mapping of active faults or the reconstruction of geometries buried in seismically active basins, landslides , marine intrusion along the coasts and groundwater contamination phenomena.
Everything is therefore aimed at a better understanding and mitigation of natural risks in our area.
Photo - In the foreground, on the right, Dr. Matteo Gisolo (A2A SpA) and on the left, Dr. Alan Yusen Lay Cooper (Geoscience Australia) together with the team of researchers working in the AEM sector.