Suolo - 2003 - A Field Guide to the Soil-landscapes of the Piemon

European Summer School on Soil Survey
4 STOP 1: The River Sesia Northern Plain
4.1 The Landscape
The area is almost triangular, with vertices into the urban centres of Ghemme, Briona and
Carpignano Sesia. It has the river Sesia as the western limit and the old terrace slope as
the eastern limit. The soils are developed from recent deposits (Wurm) of the river Sesia,
constituted by sands and gravels.
Agricultural uses in this area are limited by climatic and pedological characteristics.
The presence of cold winds from the Sesia high valley reduces the possibilities of maize
production to late cultivars and stops rice-growing. High permeability and diffuse
presence of gravel and coarse sands also in the profile head reduce available water
capacities and often workability is conditioned. Intensive cereal production and also
forage yields are not profitable.
Mixed woodland is diffuse, both along the riverbanks and in the middle of the plain
(Versorella woods), where locust-trees are dominant but, more sporadically, oak, chestnut
and maple are also present. Poplar cultivation is very common, especially on the most
recent alluvial deposits. Orchards and vineyards, witness of an ancient frame of rural
arrangements, are scattered all over the landscape.
The weak altimetrical gradient has a north-south direction, due to the Sesia alluvial cone.
The most characteristic landscape element is the absence of a homogeneous rural pattern
and, consequently, a discontinuity in the field arrangements and in the pedo-landscape
units. The highway traces this appearance, cutting the plain into two parts.
Another negative factor is the chaotic urbanisation of the main urban centres, especially
Carpignano Sesia, but also, in general, the diffuse presence of industrial settlements
scattered on the land.
Also relevant is the network of canals drawing water from Sesia River for irrigation, even
where these systems are not completely in working order, because of lack of maintenance.
A large band of locust-tree woods covers the eastern artificial bank of the Sesia River;
these trees grow vigorously on fine sands, included among coarser deposits, and are
supplied by shallow groundwater. This area, called Scimbla park, extends from Ghemme
to Carpignano. It constitutes an important landscape that is now protected.
A Field Guide to the Soil-landscapes of the Piemonte eastern plain 13