Human impact in the Apennine area of the Municipality of Fiorano Modenese (Northern Italy).

Morphological, man-induced landscape changes, occurring from the mid-20th century to date in an area located in the western sector of the Modena Apennine margin, have been investigated. The study area has elevations ranging from about 100 to about 400 m a.s.l. From a lithological standpoint, only marine silt-clay soil types (Plio-Pleistocene in age) are exposed. The area belongs to the Municipality of Fiorano Modenese which lies in the ceramic district where hundreds of factories were built after World War 2 for the production of ceramic tiles. The materials utilized are taken from soil pits dug in the clays cropping out in the Northern Apennines. The most evident natural morphological features to be observed on the slopes are badland landforms, slide and earth flow-type landslides. This research was carried out according to traditional survey as well as digital processing methods on maps and aerial photographs. It led to the elaboration of schematic geomorphological maps related to changes occurried from 1954 to 2012. Soil excavation began in an improvised, makeshift way in the 1930s. By the 1960s, though, excavation was carried out in a more organized, industrial way. The place with the most evident human impact is the Torrent Corlo valley, but several other soil pits are found. In the study area the exploitation of clayey soil for the ceramic industry ceased completely in 2008. As concerns the hydrographic features, tens of small artificial ponds were excavated in the 1960s for irrigation purposes as well as for quarrying activities. Since the 1990s, though, they have lost their function and are now abandoned. As a consequence, many of them evolved in a natural way: some have turned into swamps whereas others have been filled by palustrine deposits. Finally, the role played by man as a morphogenetic agent and the impact of anthropogenic activities on the natural landscape evolution are highlighted.