Different hydrogeological characters recognized in the same Mesozoic limestone platform of Apulia region

Apulia region (Southern Italy) is limited by Adriatic and Ionian sea and its coasts have a total length of 800 km. From the geological point of view its framework is a calcareous Mesozoic platform. This platform has a thickness of several thousand of metres and form the Murgia area and Salento peninsula where is located and important coastal karst aquifer. Although this platform is quite uniform from the lithological point of view and it has not been subject to really severe tectonic history from the hydrogeological point of view there are different characters from zone to zone. Some of that characters are quite peculiar and gives to the coastal karst aquifer a different vulnerability to sea water intrusion and to pollution due to human activity. Using the of permeability and flow tests, temperature measurement water chemical analysis and thermal and saline log carried out on several hundred wells, some of which are deep more than 1000-1200, until 900 under the sea level, it has been possible to recognise the peculiar characters of this aquifer. Particularly have been reconstructed the isopiezic, isohaline and isothermal lines, the geometrical and hydrodynamic characters of the aquifer, flow modality and the preferred direction of groundwater flow and the amount of salt water intrusion. At the same way it has been possible to understand that the variation of the hydrogeological characters of the same limestone in the same platform is due to a different evolution of karsts phenomena connected to tectonic events.