The Piatenette plain was formed by a sequence of tectonic and karst processes. The plain first originated from a phenomenon associated to a fault segment of Mount Alvagnano in the area of Costa delle Cavalle, active since late Pleistocene. This caused the fall of the Maiolica rock formation which constitutes the elevation of the Piatenette altitude. The morphological expression of this fault segment is visible halfway up the mountain slope, with a series of aligned rock escarpments.
Once the depression was formed, it was modeled by meteoric waters, which passing through calcareous rocks cracked by tectonics, partially caused its dissolution, and the formation of red earth, which partially filled the depressions caused by the dissolution.
The Piatenette area is characterized by a prairie that displays beautiful orchid blooms in spring.