The Lagoon of Venice: guide of the fieldtrip

Abstract

The lagoon of Venice is located on the eastern side of the Po plain. It is about 55 km long and 13 km wide. The delta systems of Po, Adige and Brenta rivers limit the lagoon to the south, whilst Sile and Piave rivers to the north. The lagoon is closed by two barrier islands: Lido and Pellestrina. Inside the lagoon several typical forms of this peculiar environment can be seen: isles, channels, salt marshes, tidal flats, fluvial deltas and also man made forms as landfills (casse di colmata). In the fieldtrip the basin behind the Pellestrina barrier island is visited. Here Brenta has been the dominating river sweeping this territory with a lot of branches as can be shown by geological and geomorphological evidences along with archaeological and historical data. In the island of Pellestrina the coastal defences built up by Venetians are found. Here few years ago a huge renourishment has been made to enlarge the beach. Inside the lagoon a morphological interesting element are the landfills of Porto Marghera, which altered the normal flood of the tides but in one case (old industrial zone) became oasis of natural interest.