A multidisciplinary approach to earthquake research: Implementation of a geochemical Geographic Information System for the Gargano site, southern Italy

A priority task for correct environmental planning is to evaluate Natural Hazards, especially in highly populated areas. In particular, thorough investigations based on different Earth Science techniques must be addressed for the Seismic Hazard Assessment (SHA) in tectonically active areas. Not only the management but also the multidisciplinary analysis of all the SHA-related data sets is best performed using a Geographic Information System. In this paper we show how a research-oriented GIS is built and used in a practical case. The Geochemical Geographic Information System (G(2)IS) was developed and applied to the Gargano promontory (southern Italy) in the framework of an EC research project, the Geochemical Seismic Zonation (GSZ) Project. This multidisciplinary - multiscaling powerful tool is described in its structure, updating procedures and manipulation techniques. Preliminary results are presented on the detection of geochemically active fault zones and their correlation with remote sensing data and other evidences of seismogenic structures.