Relief, intermontane basins and civilization in the Umbria-Marche Apennines. Origin and life by geological consent

The landscape of the Umbria-Marche Apennines (Central Italy) shows a rhytmic sequence of "whaleback" anticlinal ridges separated by longitudinal synformal valleys. In this topographic arrangement, flat-floored tectonic depressions appear which enclosea wide range of landforms, and witness the continuous balance bettween tectonic forces, quaternary climatic phases and drainage network adjustement. Fault scarps and triangular facets characterize the bordering slopes where thick talus deposits and landslides highlight the gravitational component. Karstic landforms as dolines and caves and fluvial features testify to the action of water. The resulting landscape is, for a visitor, like an incomparable geological handbook.