The Mo.S.E. System and the Morphological Evolution of Lagoons and Sandbanks
06.12.2021
The sediment supply of the Venice Lagoon that allows salt marshes to maintain rising sea levels mainly accumulate during high water storm events. While temporarily resolving problems related to high water and protecting the city of Venice, Mo.S.E. Systems affect the morphological evolution of the Venice Lagoons, and in particular, salt marsh areas.
The Mo.S.E. System prevents widespread flooding of the city by closing the three inlets connecting the Venice Lagoon to the Adriatic Sea when water levels reach about 80 cm above the current average sea level (the official activation level is 110 cm). Since the Mo.S.E. System can block tides over 110 cm high and will significantly reduce the growth rates of the salt marshes with worrying consequences for the conservation of the lagoon ecosystem.
A University of Padua research team monitored various salt marsh areas in the Venice Lagoon between 2018 and 2021, publishing their finding in the Nature Geoscience article Marsh resilience to sea-level rise reduced by storm-surge barriers in the Venice Lagoon. Professors Luca Carniello of the ICEA Department and Andrea D'Alpaos of the Department of Geosciences of the University of Padua coordinated the research with the collaboration of the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (ICEA), the Department of Geosciences, and the Interdepartmental Center for Lagoon Hydrodynamics and Morphodynamics (CIMoLa).
The research is part of the Venezia2021 Research Programme, funded by the Provveditorato for the Public Works of Veneto according to the concessionary of State Consorzio Venezia Nuova and coordinated by CO.RI.LA (Consortium for the coordination of research activities concerning the Venice lagoon systems).
The research provides a study perspective pertinent to other lagoon and coastal systems with mobile barriers by quantifying the effects of high water events on the growth of salt marshes against the resulting modification by the Venetian Mo.SE.System
