University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health 2018 Discovery of ancient Roman "highway" reveals geomorphic changes in karst environments during historic times Federico Bernardini The 'Abdus Salam' International Centre for Theoretical Physics,
[email protected] Giacomo Vinci The 'Abdus Salam' International Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Udine Emanuele Forte University of Trieste Stefano Furlani University of Trieste Michele Pipan University of Trieste See next page for additional authors Publication Details Bernardini, F., Vinci, G., Forte, E., Furlani, S., Pipan, M., Biolchi, S., De Min, A., Fragiacomo, A., Micheli, R., Ventura, P. & Tuniz, C. (2018). Discovery of ancient Roman "highway" reveals geomorphic changes in karst environments during historic times. PLoS One, 13 (3), e0194939-1-e0194939-19. Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library:
[email protected] Discovery of ancient Roman "highway" reveals geomorphic changes in karst environments during historic times Abstract Sinkholes are a well-known geologic hazard but their past occurrence, useful for subsidence risk prediction, is difficult to define, especially for ancient historic times. Consequently, our knowledge about Holocene carbonate landscapes is often limited. A multidisciplinary study of Trieste Karst (Italy), close to early Roman military fortifications, led to the identification of possible ancient road tracks, cut by at least one sinkhole. Electrical Resistivity Tomography through the sinkhole has suggested the presence of a cave below its bottom, possibly responsible of the sinkhole formation, while Ground Penetrating Radar has detected no tectonic disturbances underneath the tracks.