The Morainic Amphitheatre Environment: A Geosite to Rediscover the Geological and Cultural Heritage in the Examples of the Ivrea and Rivoli- Avigliana Morainic Amphitheatres (NW Italy)

The Ivrea Morainic Amphitheatre (IMA), at the Aosta Valley outlet, and the Rivoli-Avigliana Morainic Amphitheatre (RAMA), at the Susa Valley outlet, are the two main and well-preserved Pleistocene end moraine systems of the North-Western Italian Alps. These two morainic amphitheatres are geosites containing high environmental, naturalistic, landscape and cultural values. The comparison between the geological and geomorphological features of the two amphitheatres evidenced that they can be considered a unicum and a “not renewable resource”. Analyses of the relationships between man and the morainic environment put in evidence synergies and conflicts, exploitation and conservation in relation to geodiversity. A deeper knowledge of the territory within a holistic approach allows to increase a sense of responsibility towards it, to favour better perception of the environmental problems and to develop proper engineering solutions for territorial planning.