TRHAM PROJECT: Relation between 3D Thermo-Rheological model and seismic HAzard for the risk Mitigation in the urban areas of Southern Italy

In Southern Italy, many natural disasters have induced significant human and material losses. The extensive damages caused by seismic events have highlighted the impelling need to improve the analyses of the risk assessment and the related planning of the economic resources for a proper environmental management. In this scenario, the most important scientific issue is the definition of a seismic hazard model using the most advanced data availability in order to include updated kinematic and thermo-rheological conditions.

This contribution describes the activities that will be developed during the Italian PRIN2022 PNRR project “funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU”. The project, entitled “Relation between 3D Thermo-Rheological model and seismic HAzard for the risk Mitigation in the urban areas of Southern Italy” (TRHAM), aims at proposing a new map of the seismic hazard of peninsular Southern Italy in order to provide a significant contribution for the seismic risk management. This newly devised map will be accomplished through the analysis and the integration of several pieces of information, including the 3D crustal, thermo-rheological, and kinematic models. In particular, the activities of the THRAM project will be organised in four Milestones (ML): the topic of ML1 is “Scientific Management and Dissemination”; the ML2 involves the definition of an integrated “3D crustal model from geophysical data”, while the retrieval of a “Thermo-Rheological model for Brittle/Ductile transition”, integrated with the kinematic one, is the main output of the ML3. Finally, the activities of the ML4 provide the “Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis”, both at regional and local scales. Indeed, the computation of exceedance hazard curves for the urban zones of Abruzzo, Campania and Basilicata regions is an important output of the project. Three Research Units (RU) will collaborate for the activities of the THRAM project, whose multidisciplinary nature strongly emerges from the skills of the ten researchers constituting the RUs. The expertise of the team covers a wide spectrum of competencies within the geological and geophysical fields, including Thermo-Rheology, Seismology and Potential Fields, and Seismic Hazard and Crustal Kinematic model.

In conclusion, several intriguing and impacting features characterise the THRAM project. Specifically, the definition of a new seismic hazard map in Southern Italy will be relevant for exploring new paths in seismic risk assessment, and for increasing the awareness in the management of environmental resources. At the same time, the planned thermo-rheological studies are fundamental in the framework of the green energy exploitation of Southern Italy, as well as their integration with the kinematic data contributes to the increase in our comprehension of the Southern Apennines geodynamics, still poorly understood.