holocene environmental changes recorded at high mountain

Transcription

AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Pisa
Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse-CNR
Società Toscana di Scienze Naturali
THE TRANSITION FROM NATURAL TO ANTHROPOGENIC-DOMINATED
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN ITALY AND THE SURROUNDING REGIONS SINCE
THE NEOLITHIC
Pisa
15-17 February 2012
Venue: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, via S. Maria 53, Pisa
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
February 15-17 Pisa, Italy
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AIQUA CONGRESS 2012:
THE TRANSITION FROM NATURAL TO ANTHROPOGENIC-DOMINATED
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN ITALY AND THE SURROUNDING REGIONS SINCE
THE NEOLITHIC
Organizing Committee
Zanchetta Giovanni Università di Pisa
Adele Bertini Università di Firenze)
Monica Bini Università di Pisa
Giovanni Boschian Università di Pisa
Edi Chiarini ISPRA-Roma
Mauro Cremaschi Università di Milano
Ilaria Isola INGV-Pisa
Biagio Giaccio CNR-IGAG Roma
Laura Sadori Università la Sapienza, Roma
Stefano Furlani Università degli Studi di Padova
Adriano Ribolini Università di Pisa
Scientific Committee
Carlo Baroni Università di Pisa
Fabrizio Antonioli ENEA-Casaccia
Dario Camuffo CNR – ISAC, Padova
Alberto Carton Università di Padova
Raffaello Cioni Università di Cagliari
Paola Del Carlo INGV Pisa
Mauro Antonio Di Vito INGV Osservatorio Vesuviano
Russell Drysdale University of Melbourne
Letizia Gualandi Università di Pisa
Antonio Longinelli Università di Parma
Michel Magny CNRS-Besancon, France
Paolo Mozzi Università di Padova
Giuseppe Orombelli Università di Milano
Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo Università dei Paesi Baschi
Cesare Ravazzi CNR-IDPA Milano
Giuseppe Siani CNRS-Université Paris-Sud XI, France
Roberto Sulpizio Università di Bari
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Under the auspices: Associazione Italiana di Geografia Fisica e Geomorfologia (AIGEO),
Associazione Italiana per la Vulcanologia (AIV), Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, Regione Toscana
Sponsorships: Beta Analytic-Radiocarbon dating
Oral presentations: English recommended, total 15 min, 10-12 minutes presentation
+ 3-5 min questions
Poster session: posters can be hanged for all the congress period, Authors should stay
at the poster accordingly to the timetable. Recommended poster sizes: 0.8 m (wide) x
1.2 m (height). English recommended.
Question times: additional time for a short final discussion of the sessions managed
by the chairmen
Meeting conclusion (Friday 17, 11.00-12.00): final discussion about the main topics
emerged during the sessions.
AIQUA Assembly (Friday 17, 12.00-13.30): annual assembly of AIQUA
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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PROGRAM
ORAL AND POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Wednesday 15
11.00-12.00 Congress introduction
14.00- 16.00 Session Marine proxies (Chairmen: Fabrizio Lirer, Lucilla
Capotondi)
14.00-14.15 - Budillon F., Senatore M., Ferraro L., Insinga D.D., Iorio M., Lirer. F., Lubritto C.:
THE INNER SHELF STRATIGRAPHIC RECORD IN THE SALERNO GULF (SOUTHERN TYRRHENIAN SEA):
AN ARCHIVE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES ALONG THE COAST OVER THE LAST 3 KY.
14.15-14.30 - Correggiari A.: NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACT ON ADRIATIC SHELF
DEPOSITION DURING LATE-HOLOCENE
14.30-14.45 - Sprovieri M., Sannino G., Sabatino N., Sprovieri R., Ribera d’Alcalà M., Artale V.,
Mazzola S.: SAPROPELS AND THE ACHILLE’S HEELS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
14.45-15.00 - Caruso A., Cosentino C., Pierre C.: PALEOENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATIC
CHANGES DURING THE LAST 25 KY ALONG A W-E TRANSECT ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
15.00-15.15 – Negri A., Venuti A., Colombo A., Sabbatini A., Morigi C., Capozzi R., Dinelli E.,
Spagnoli F., Florindo F., Vigliotti L.: THE LAST 12 KYR OF PALEOCLIMATIC AND
PALEOCEANOGRAPHIC CHANGES AS RECORDED IN TWO DEEP CORES FROM THE ADRIATIC SEA
15.15-15.30 - Di Donato V., Forlano S., Martín-Fernández J.A., Russo Ermolli E.:
COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF PLANKTIC FORAMINIFERA AS A TOOL FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF
MIDDLE TO LATE HOLOCENE CLIMATE CHANGES IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN.
15.30-15.45 - Taricco C., Alessio S., Vivaldo G., Ghil M., : CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN THE LAST
MILLENNIA REVEALED IN A CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN CORE
15.45-16.00 Question Time
16.00-16.15 Coffee-Break
18.00-19.00 Poster session
- Cosentino C., Caruso A., Pierre C., Sulli A.: SEA-LEVEL AND CLIMATIC CHANGES DURING THE
LAST 41,000 YEARS IN THE OUTER SHELF OF THE SOUTHERN TYRRHENIAN SEA: EVIDENCE FROM
FORAMINIFERA AND SEISMOSTRATIGRAPHIC ANALYSIS
- Lirer, F., Sprovieri, M., Vallefuoco, M., Ferraro, L., Cascella, A., Capotondi, L.: HOLOCENE
CLIMATIC PHASES RECORDED IN THE SHALLOW WATER SOUTHERN-EAST TYRRHENIAN SEA
MARINE SEDIMENTS
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16.30-18.00 Session: Volcanic impact on ancient societies, tephrostrastigraphy and
correlation and synchronization of archives (Chairmen: Biagio Giaccio, Raffaello
Cioni, Mauro Di Vito)
16.30-16.45 - Smith V.C., Isaia R., Pearce N.J.G.: TEPHROSTRATIGRAPHY AND GLASS
COMPOSITIONS OF POST-15 KYR CAMPI FLEGREI ERUPTIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ERUPTION
HISTORY AND CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC MARKERS
16.45-17.00 - Caron B., Siani G., Sulpizio R., Zanchetta G., Paterne M., Santacroce R.: LATE
PLEISTOCENE-HOLOCENE TEPHROSTRATIGRAPHIC RECORD OF CORE MD90-918 (IONIAN SEA):
INSIGHT FOR ACTIVITY OF ITALIAN VOLCANOES AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION.
17.00-17.15 - Damaschke M., Wagner B., Zanchetta G., Sulpizio R., Aufgebauer A.:
TEPHROSTRATIGRAPHIC STUDIES ON A SEDIMENT CORE FROM LAKE PRESPA
17.15-17.30 - Giordano R., Sulpizio R., Caggianelli A. : MINERAL PHASES AS A TOOL FOR ROBUST
CORRELATION OF PROXIMAL-DISTAL ASH DEPOSITS IN THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN AREA.
17.30-17.45 - Di Vito M.A, Castaldo N., de Vita S., Piochi M., Zanella E., Vecchio G., Lanza R.,
Tema Evdokia T.: HUMAN COLONIZATION AND VOLCANIC ACTIVITY IN THE EASTERN CAMPANIA
PLAIN (ITALY) BETWEEN EARLY BRONZE AGE AND 79 AD.
17.45-18.00 Question time
- de Vita S., Di Vito M .A., Gialanella C. : THE IMPACT OF THE 5TH CENTURY BC “ISCHIA PORTO
TEPHRA” ERUPTION (ITALY) ON THE GREEK COLONY OF PITHEKOUSSAI.
Thursday 16
9.00-11.00 Session: Holocene environmental changes recorded at high mountain
sites (Chairmen: Carlo Baroni, Cesare Ravazzi)
9.00-9.15 - Orombelli G. : FLUCTUATIONS OF THE ITALIAN GLACIERS SINCE THE MID-HOLOCENE
9.15-9.30 - Schwörer, C., Berthel, N., Glur, L., Rey, F., Tinner, W.: HOLOCENE CLIMATE, FIRE AND
VEGETATION DYNAMICS AT THE TREE LINE IN THE SWISS ALPS
9.30-9.45 - Pini R., Aceti A., Maggi V., Orombelli G., Raiteri L., Ravazzi C. : HOLOCENE FOREST
HISTORY AND TIMBERLINE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL ALPS: THE ROLE OF
CLIMATIC FACTORS AND MEN.
9.45-10.00 - Coppola A., Leonelli G., Salvatore M.C., Baroni C., Pelfini M.: CLIMATE CHANGE
AND LAND-USE CHANGE IMPACTS ON TREELINE ALTITUDE AND ON TREE-RING CHRONOLOGIES
FROM ALPINE SITES.
10.00-10.15 - Zennaro P., Kehrwald N., Zangrando R., Barbaro E., Gambaro A., Barbante C. :
FIRE IN ICE: DETECTING BIOMASS BURNING USING ICE CORES
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10.15-10.30 - Maggi V., Stefano Turri S., Bini A., Perşoiu A., Onac B., Stenni S., Udisti R.:
NATURAL TO ANTROPOGENIC EFFECTS IN THE LAST 2000 YEARS OF FOCUL VIU ICE CORE.
10.30-10.45 - Samartin S., Oliver Heiri O., Elisa Vescovi V., Tinner W. : CHIRONOMID-INFERRED
RECONSTRUCTIONS OF LATE GLACIAL AND HOLOCENE TEMPERATURES FROM TWO NEW SITES IN
THE NORTHERN APENNINE OF ITALY
10.45.-11.00 Question time
11.00-11.15 Coffee-Break
- Isola I., Regattieri E., Zanchetta G., Dallai L., Baneschi I., Hellstrom J.C., Drysdale R.N., Magri
F., Giraudi C., Ribolini A., Monegato G.: HOLOCENE CHRONOLOGY, STRATIGRAPHY AND STABLE
ISOTOPE RECORD OF RIO MARTINO CAVE (ALPI MARITTIME, NORTHERN ITALY).
- Martinelli E., Motella S., Michetti A.M., Höbig N., Livio F., Tinner W., Reicherter K., Castelletti
L. : ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE BETWEEN LATE GLACIAL AND HOLOCENE: NEW DATA FROM THE
COMO - PIAZZA VERDI DRILLING (N-ITALY, SOUTHERN ALPS)
- Ponza A., Picotti V., Simoni A., Berti M., Dinelli E. : ACTIVE EARTHFLOW SEDIMENT
PRODUCTION AND HOLOCENE SEDIMENT RECORD IN THE RENO CATCHMENT (NORTHERN
APENNINES).
- Zhornyak L., Zanchetta G., Regattieri E., Drysdale R.N., Piccini L., Hellstrom J.C., Isola I., Dallai
L. : STRATIGRAPHY, CHRONOLOGY AND STABLE ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY OF RENELLA CAVE
FLOWSTONES (APUAN ALPS, CENTRAL ITALY) FROM YOUNGER DRYAS TO HOLOCENE
11.15-15.00 Session: Environment, climate and human impact: the archaeological
evidence (Chairmen: Mauro Cremaschi, Letizia Gualandi, Adriana Moroni)
11.15-11.30 - Cadeddu, F., Balvis, T., Muntoni, F. : SETTLEMENT STRATEGIES AND ENVIRONMENT:
A GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE SARDINIAN BRONZE AGE CONTEXT
11.30-11.45 - Cremaschi M., Nicosia C., Zerboni A. : SUB-BOREAL AGGRADATION ALONG THE
APENNINE MARGIN OF THE CENTRAL PO PLAIN: GEOMORPHOLOGICAL AND GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL
ASPECTS
11.45-12.00 - Cremonini S., Labate D., Curina R : INSIGHTS INTO LATE-ANTIQUITY
GEOENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS: DATA FROM THE EMILIA REGION (ITALY)
12.00-12.15 - Fontana A., Mozzi P., Gelichi S., Negrelli C., Piovan S. : GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
AND WRITTEN SOURCES OF THE MEDIEVAL “DILUVIUM”: A STRONG NATURAL PHASE AFTER THE
ROMAN ANTHROPOGENIC PERIOD?
12.15-12.30 - Masi A., Baneschi I., Sadori L., Zanchetta G. : CLIMATE AND HUMAN IMPACT IN
EASTERN ANATOLIA: THE STUDY OF STABLE CARBON ISOTOPE ON PLANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL
MACROREMAINS
12.30-12.45 - Mercuri A.M.: HUMAN IMPACT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AS SHOWN BY
POLLEN FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES (HOLOCENE, CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN).
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12.45-14.00 Lunch break
14.00-14.15 - Pasquinucci M., Menchelli S., Genovesi S. : CLIMATE CHANGES, ENVIRONMENT AND
HUMAN AGENCIES: TYRRHENIAN COAST CASE STUDIES AND THE MEDITERRANEAN FRAME
14.15-14.30 - Romano P., Detta F., Liuzza V., Ruello M.R., Di Vito M., Giampaola D., Bartoli C.,
Boenzi G., Di Marco M., Giglio M., Iodice S. : ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES ALONG THE COASTAL
SECTOR BETWEEN PARTHENOPE AND PAUSILYPON DURING THE LAST 5000 YEARS (NAPLES, ITALY)
14.30-14.45 - Zanon M., Badino F., Perego R. : FOREST COVER, RURAL LANDSCAPE
DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE FROM THE LATE NEOLITHIC TO THE EARLY IRON AGE IN
THE GARDA AREA AND THE CENTRAL PO PLAIN
14.45-15.00 - Saccoccio F., Marzocchella A., Vanzetti A. : GRICIGNANO D’AVERSA (CE) AND THE
AGRARIAN IMPACT IN THE PIANA CAMPANA AROUND 2.000 BCE
- Amato V. , Longo F., Rossi A., Ghilardi M., Psomiadis D., Sinibaldi L. , Colleu M. : HOLOCENE
PALAEOGEOGRAPHICAL AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTIONS OF THE MESSARA
ALLUVIAL-COASTAL PLAIN (SOUTHERN CRETE, GREECE): THE FESTOS AND DIKIDA GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECTS.
- Bini M., Fabiani F., Giacomelli S., Gualandi M.L., Pappalardo M., Rossi V., Ribolini A., Sarti G.
TESTS OF A NEW LANGUAGE CODE TO FOSTER SCIENTIFIC EXCHANGE BETWEEN ARCHAEOLOGISTS,
GEOMORPHOLOGISTS AND SEDIMENTOLOGISTS: CREATING A NEW LOG STYLE TO REPRESENT
GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL RAW DATA FROM CORING
- Buonincontri M., Di Pasquale G. : CLIMATE VERSUS HUMAN IMPACT FROM THE 6th C. BC TO THE
13th C. AD: ANTHRACOLOGICAL DATA FROM THE SOUTHERN TYRRENIAN TUSCANY
- Buonincontri M., T. de Grummond N., Cini F., Di Pasquale G. : THE CHIANTI FOREST COVER
(CENTRAL ITALY) IN THE 3rd MILLENNIUM BP: THE CHARCOAL RECORD OF CETAMURA (GAIOLE IN
CHIANTI, SIENA)
- Cocchiararo A., Pacciarelli M., Di Pasquale G. : A MIXED FOREST OF DECIDUOUS OAK, SILVER
FIR AND BEECH IN THE 1RD MILLENNIUM B.C: THE CASE OF THE UPPER TIBER VALLEY (TREBBIO,
SANSEPOLCRO – AR)
- Dini M., Tozzi C., Zanchetta G. : LATE GLACIAL AND EARLY-MIDDLE HOLOCENE SETTLEMENT IN
THE APUAN ALPS AND NORTHERN APENNINE (CENTRAL ITALY) AND RELATION WITH CLIMATE
CONDITIONS.
-
Florenzano A. : POLLEN AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES OF BASILICATA (SOUTHERN ITALY)
RECONSTRUCTION
FROM
- Forno M. G., Gattiglio M., Gianotti F., Raiteri L., Guerreschi A. : GEOLOGICAL AND
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IN THE BECCA FRANCE RIDGE (VALLE D’AOSTA, NW ITALY).
- Pacciarelli M., Romano P., Cella F., Cicala L. , Di Donato V. , Di Pasquale G., Russo Ermolli E. ,
Scarciglia F., Filocamo F. ,
Pelle T. , Ruello M.R. , Tardugno M.L. FORTIFIED CENTERS,
SETTLEMENTS SYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES IN TYRRHENIAN CALABRIA FROM THE
SECOND TO THE FIRST MILLENNIUM B.C.: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH.
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- Pelle T., Scarciglia F., Natali E., Tiné V. RECONSTRUCTION OF LATE PLEISTOCENE TO MIDHOLOCENE PALEOENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AND HUMAN IMPACT: THE CASE STUDY OF “SAN
MICHELE CAVE” OF SARACENA (NORTHERN CALABRIA).
- Pelle T., Scarciglia F., Allevato E., Di Pasquale G., Natali E., Tiné V., Donato P., Zanchetta G.,
Terrasi F. : MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE
PALEOENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AND HUMAN IMPACT IN THE ARCHAELOGICAL SITE OF PALMI
(SW CALABRIA).
- Pepe C., Giardini G., Giraudi C., Masi A., Mazzini I., Sadori L. : MULTIDISCIPLINARY
RESEARCHES IN THE AREA OF PORTUS CLAUDII AND PORTUS TRAIANI (FIUMICINO, ROMA)
- Pescio S., Trombino L., Maffi M. , Bernabò Brea M. , Beeching A. : HOLOCENE CLIMATIC VS MANINDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN VAL TREBBIA: FIRST EVIDENCES FROM TRAVO S. ANDREA
NEOLITHIC SITE.
- Petruso D., Sineo L. : HUMAN INFLUENCE ON FAUNAL TURNOVER DURING EARLY HOLOCENE IN
SICILY.
- Poggiali F., Martini F., Buonincontri M., Di Pasquale G. : CHARCOAL DATA FROM ORIENTE
CAVE (FAVIGNANA ISLAND, SICILY)
- Quirós Castillo J. A., Murelaga X., Baneschi I., Larraz Mariano, Ortega L. Á., Zanchetta G. :
MIDDLE AGE STABLE ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY OF ORGANIC REMAINS AND LAND SNAIL SHELLS
FROM THE BASQUE COUNTRY: PRELIMINARY DATA.
- Rolfo M.F., Isola I., Salari L., Zanchetta G. - STRATIGRAPHY, ARCHEOLOGY AND PALEOCLIMATE
OF CAVORSO CAVE (CENTRAL ITALY): PRELIMINARY DATA.
- Sarti G., Rossi V., Amorosi A., Bertoni D., Ribolini A., Sammartino I., Zanchetta G. : THE
MAGDALA SITE (KINNERET
LAKE, ISRAEL) AND ITS HARBOUR HISTORY: EVIDENCES OF
ANTHROPOGENIC AND TECTONIC-CLIMATIC SEDIMENTATION CONTROL DURING THE LATE
HOLOCENE.
- Sevink J., van Leusen M., Feiken H., van der Plicht J., Bakels C.C. : THE HOLOCENE OF THE AGRO
PONTINO GRABEN: RECENT ADVANCES IN ITS PALAEOECOLOGY, TEPHROSTRATIGRAPHY AND
ARCHEOLOGY
15.15-18.00 Session: Continental Proxies (Chairmen: Laura Sadori, Giovanni
Zanchetta)
15.15-15.30 - Camuffo D., Bertolin C.: DOCUMENTARY PROXIES AND EARLY INSTRUMENTAL
TEMPERATURE OBSERVATIONS IN NORTHERN-CENTRAL ITALY
15.30-15.45 - Piovesan G., Biondi F., Di Filippo A., Maugeri M. : TREE-RINGS AND CLIMATE
VARIABILITY: THE CASE OF THE ITALIAN OLD-GROWTH BEECH NETWORK
15.45-16.00 - Colonese A., Zanchetta G., Fallick A.E., Manganelli G., Saña M., Alcade G., Nebot J.
: STABLE ISOTOPE PALAEOECOLOGY OF EARLY-MIDDLE HOLOCENE LAND SNAIL SHELLS FROM
WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN: DATA FROM BAUMA DEL SERRAT DEL PONT (SPAIN).
16.00-16.15 - Moser D., Allevato E., Pelle T., Scarciglia F., Di Pasquale G., Nelle O. :
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AT CECITA LAKE (SILA MASSIF, SOUTHERN ITALY) BETWEEN 3000 AND
2000 BP: NEW DATA FROM SOIL CHARCOAL AND PEDOLOGICAL ANALYSES.
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16.15-16.30 - Roskin J., Tsoar H., Porat N., Blumberg D. : THE LATE HOLOCENE DUNE ACTIVITY
IN THE NORTHWESTERN NEGEV, ISRAEL: A RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE OR ANTHROPOGENIC
PRESSURE?
16.30-16.45 Coffee break
16.45-17.00 - Brugiapaglia E., Bernardo L., de Beaulieu J.-L., Joannin S., Magny M., Peyron O.,
Vannière B., Zanchetta G.: HOLOCENE BIOCLIMATIC OSCILLATIONS IN A CALABRIAN MOUNTAIN
SITE: LAGO TRIFOGLIETTI.
17.00-17.15 - Magny M., Peyron O., Sadori, L., Ortu, E., Zanchetta, G., Vannière B., Tinner W. :
CONTRASTING PATTERNS OF PRECIPITATION SEASONALITY DURING THE HOLOCENE IN THE SOUTH-AND
NORTH-CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN.
17.15-17.30 - Wagner B., Aufgebauer A., Panagiotopoulo, K., Damaschke M., Zanchetta G.,
Sulpizio R. : HOLOCENE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN THE BALKAN REGION: EVIDENCE FROM
LAKE SEDIMENTS.
17.30-17.45 - Ortu E., Peyron O., Sadori L., Vannière B., Desmet M., Magny M., Baneschi I.,
Termine R., Zanchetta G. : STABLE ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY AND POLLEN ANALYSES OF THE LAST
6 MILLENNIA AT LAKE PERGUSA (CENTRAL SICILY, ITALY)
- Anzalone E., D’Argenio B., Ferreri V. : TRAVERTINES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ITALY. SOME
PALEO-CLIMATIC CONSIDERATIONS.
- Baneschi I., Vannière B., Zanchetta G., Magny M. : STABLE ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY OF
ORGANIC MATTER AT LAGO DI LEDRO (NORTHERN ITALY) DURING THE HOLOCENE:
PALEOLIMNOLOGICAL AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
- Dotsika E., Lykoudis S., Poutoukis D. Raco B. : POSSIBLE PALEOENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON
THE STABLE ISOTOPE SIGNATURE (15N, 13C) OF HUMAN BONES FROM GREECE
- Francke A., Wagner B., Leng M., Aufgebauer A., Weber M. : PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM A NEW
HIGH-RESOLUTION HOLOCENE RECORD FROM LAKE DOIJRAN (MACEDONIA, GREECE).
- Mariotti Lippi M., Bellini C., Benvenuti M. : DISCRIMINATING CLIMATIC EVENTS AND HUMAN
ACTIVITY IN A SOUTH ARABIC ANCIENT TOWN.
- Regattieri E. , Zhorniak L., Zanchetta G., Drysdale R.N., Hellstrom J.C., Isola I., Piccini L.,
Fallick A.E., Dallai L. : EARLY MIDDLE HOLOCENE CLIMATIC CHANGES INFERRED FROM A
MULTIPROXY RECORD OF A FLOWSTONE FROM RENELLA CAVE (APUAN ALPS, CENTRAL ITALY)
- Roskin J., Tsoar H., Blumberg D., Porat N., Rozenstein O. : SAND RUBIFICATION WITH TIME?
THE CASE OF THE SINAI-NEGEV ERG.
- Zanchetta G., Bar-Matthews M., Drysdale R.N., Lionello P., Ayalon A., Hellstrom J.C., Isola, I.,
Regattieri E. : CORCHIA AND SOREQ CAVES STABLE ISOTOPE RECORD: COEVAL DRY EVENTS AT 5.2
AND 5.6 KYR
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- Zhornyak L.V., Zanchetta G., Regattieri E., Drysdale R.N., Hellstrom J.C., Fallick A.E. :
MULTIPROXY RECORD FROM A MID-HOLOCENE STALAGMITE
(KRASNOYARSK, RUSSIA): PALAEOCLIMATE IMPLICATIONS.
FROM
SOUTHERN
SIBERIA
Friday 17
9.00-10.30 Session: Sea level and Coastal evolution (Chairmen: Fabrizio Antonioli,
Giovanni Sarti, Giuseppe Mastronuzzi)
9.00-9.15 - Di Fiore V., Aiello G., D’Argenio B., Marsella E. :
POTENTIAL SUBMARINE
LANDSLIDES TSUNAMIS EVENTS IN THE NAPLES BAY (SOUTHERN-EAST TYRRHENIAN SEA)
9.15-9.30 - Furlani S., Moses C. : PRESERVATION OF TYRRHENIAN LIMESTONE COASTAL
MORPHOLOGIES USED AS SEA LEVEL MARKERS
9.30-9.45 - Maselli V., Trincardi F. : HUMONGOUS INCISED VALLEY FROM A SMALL CATCHMENT
BASIN. INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE AND SEDIMENT SUPPLY FLUCTUATIONS.
9.45-10.00 - Morhange C., Marriner N. : RELATIVE SEA-LEVEL CHANGES VERSUS COASTAL
DEFORMATION GEO-BIOLOGICAL DATA FROM ANCIENT HARBOURS MARSEILLE, FREJUS, CUMA,
PUTEOLI, NAPOLI
10.00-10.15 - Lo Presti V., Antonioli F., Ronchitelli A., Scicchitano G., Spampinato C., Anzidei M.,
Ferranti L., Auriemma R., Monaco C., Mastronuzzi G., Sulli A., Iannelli M.T. : MILLSTONES
COASTAL QUARRIES AS INDICATOR OF RELATIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES
10.15-10.30 - Amorosi A. : INFLUENCE OF EARLY HOLOCENE SEA-LEVEL RISE ON THE
DEVELOPMENT AND DECLINE OF CARDIUM POTTERY (MEDITERRANEAN NEOLITHIC).
10.30-10.45 - Marturano A., Aiello G., Barra D., Fedele L., Morra V. : SEA LEVEL AND COASTAL
EVOLUTION IN VOLCANIC AREAS: THE CASE OF THE SOMMA-VESUVIUS
10.45-11.00 - Question time
- Maselli V., Eric W. Hutton E.W., Albert J. Kettner A.J., Syvitski J.P.M., Trincardi F. : SEA LEVEL
AND SEDIMENT SUPPLY FLUCTUATIONS DURING THE BÖLLING-ALLERØD TO YOUNGER DRYAS
TRANSITION REVEALED BY A 2D NUMERICAL MODELING OF THE CENTRAL ADRIATIC
TRANSGRESSIVE RECORD.
- Biolchi S., Furlani S., Cucchi F., Stuper N. : COASTAL CAVES AND SEA LEVEL CHANGE IN ISTRIA
- Guarino P.M., Schiattarella M. : LATE QUATERNARY MORPHO-EVOLUTION OF THE BAY OF
FORMIA COASTAL BELT, CENTRAL ITALY
- Aiello A., Canora F., Spilotro G. : NATURAL VERSUS HUMAN-INDUCED COASTAL CHANGES: TWO
STUDY CASES FROM SOUTHERN ITALY
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11.00-12.00 Meeting conclusions
12.00-13.30 AIQUA Assembly
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
13
MARINE PROXIES
Chairmen: Fabrizio Lirer and Lucilla Capotondi
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
14
Oral Presentation
Session: Marine proxies
THE INNER SHELF STRATIGRAPHIC RECORD IN THE SALERNO GULF (SOUTHERN
TYRRHENIAN SEA): AN ARCHIVE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES ALONG THE
COAST OVER THE LAST 3 KY
Budillon F.1, Senatore M.2, Ferraro L.1, Insinga D.D.1, Iorio M.1, Lirer. F.1, Lubritto C.3
1
Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero, CNR, Calata Porta di Massa 80, 80133 Napoli, Italy
Dipartimento di Scienze per la Biologia, la Geologia e l’Ambiente, Università degli Studi del Sannio, Via
Dei Mulini 59A, 82100, Benevento, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Seconda Università di Napoli, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100, Caserta, Italy
2
We regard the inner shelf sedimentary record as a natural archive of the major depositional and
erosional events that have impacted along the coastal areas.
A qualitative indicator of the environmental changes and/or human interference in stable areas (at
the same sea level conditions) is the variation of coarse-grained sediment availability along the
coast. Indeed, the change in the amount of sand along the shore (Bird, 2008) seems to be quickresponsive both to natural forcing factors, for instance to regional changes in the vigour and pattern
of atmospheric processes (Dawson et al., 2004), and anthropogenic disturbance (in particular due to
extensive deforestation or river damming). The interplay between these two forcing factors produce
a complex cause-effect-related phenomena, and feed-back processes that may be recorded in the
shallow marine sedimentary record, but whose component signals can be hardly disentangled (Vis
et al., 2010). However, one of the macroscopic and meaningful element to evaluate the
environmental changes through the time of a coastal area is the presence/absence of sand-sized
deposits in the stratigraphic record of the inner shelf.
The inner shelf record off the Salerno coast (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) has been investigated by
using cored marine sediment and very high resolution (VHR) seismic data, with the aim to learn
more about the meaning of the sedimentary signatures at the beach-shelf boundary on the long-term
period. The presence of sand beds and other stratigraphic and sedimentary features (hiatuses,
erosional and toplap surfaces, tephra, burrowed levels…) has been evaluated in order to define the
periods of low versus high morpho-dynamics along the coastal area and the modifications of the
shallow marine environments since the sea level mainly attained the present position (about 5-3 ky).
Bird, E., 2008. Coastal Geomorphology: An Introduction, Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd,
pp. 411.
Dawson, S., Smith, D.E., Jordan, J., Dawson, A.G., 2004. Late Holocene coastal sand movements
in the Outer Hebrides, N.W. Scotland. Marine Geology 210: 281–306.
Vis, G.-J., Kasse, C., Kroon, D., Jung, S., Zuur, H., Prick, A., 2010. Late Holocene sedimentary
changes in floodplain and shelf environment of the Tagus River (Portugal). Proceedings of the
Geologists’ Association, 121: 203-217.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
15
Oral Presentation
PALEOENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATIC CHANGES DURING THE LAST 25 KY
ALONG A W-E TRANSECT ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Caruso A.1, Cosentino C.1, Pierre C.2
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, Università di Palermo, via Archirafi 22, 90123 Palermo,
Italy
2
LOCEAN, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (PARIS 6), France
A micropalentological and isotopic study was carried out with a high resolution on the upper
Pleistocene-Holocene sediments, along a West-East transect across the Mediterranean Sea from
Central Mediterranean to Levantine Basin (ODP Site 969).
The studied cores were sampled every 2 cm providing 243 samples that were analysed for micro
paleontological and geochemical analysis. Stable isotopic analyses were performed on the species
Globigerinoides ruber at the Laboratoire d’Oceanographie et du Climat (LOCEAN) of the
University Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris, France). The age model of the core was based on
radiocarbon chronology and on oxygen isotope stratigraphy. Radiocarbon ages were determined by
accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) of foraminiferal test at the Laboratoire de Mesure du Carbone
CEA, (Saclay, France). The chronology of the core was supplemented by identifying some welldated climatic events by comparing the δ18O curve with the δ18O records of the NGRIP ice core. In
the studied cores the uppermost Pleistocene showed δ18O mean values of 2.5‰ still indicative of
low temperature and high salinity. During the Holocene oxygen isotopic values were lower of 2‰
than Pleistocene, tied to warmer climatic conditions. Difference of more than 1.5‰ was measured
in the same time interval between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Levantine Basin. These differences in
δ18O values were essentially due to the increase of salinity from West to East in the Mediterranean
Sea surface waters. Planktonic foraminiferal fluctuations well highlight differences in ecobiozones
between the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. In particular high percentages of Globigerinoides
ruber var. rubra was recognised in the Eastern Mediterranean while was rare in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
During the Holocene, five slight shifts of δ18O values were recognised at 8.2, 7.4, 6, 3.5 and 1.7-1
kyrs BP, probably tied to cool humid periods.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
16
Oral Presentation
NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACT ON ADRIATIC SHELF DEPOSITION
DURING LATE-HOLOCENE
Correggiari A.
Istituto di Scienze Marine - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Uos di Bologna, Via Gobetti 101 40129
Bologna Italy
Quaternary continental shelves and coastal areas records the impact of relative sea-level changes as
well as the influence in sediment supply. Detailed and well-dated paleoclimate records show that
Holocene climate was punctuated by several widespread cooling events, which persisted for many
centuries and recurred roughly every 1500 ± 500 years. Sediment discharge responds both to the
impact of humans and to changes in climate. Defining the timing and magnitude of human-induced
sediment flux is a complex result and its impact remains under-appreciated (Syvitski & Kettner
2011). An example of changes to natural sediment patterns and pathways caused by human
activities is the Po delta and Adriatic prodelta system which has been studied in the last decade. The
Po river prodelta units (modern delta younger than 1500 AD) evolved under the impact of shortterm climate change, river avulsion and delta lobe switching as well as increasing anthropogenic
forcing (diversions, coastline erosion deforestation, effects of: reservoirs and dams, channel levees,
water extraction, discharge focusing etc). The study of modern prodeltas offers the unique
opportunity to conduct integrated research from processes, to “events” of rapid deposition or
erosion to the formation and preservation of strata. To achieve the maximum resolution however it
is necessary to have a detailed knowledge of the complex stratigraphy and the succession of growth
and erosion patterns of prodeltas. Integrating very-high resolution seismic reflection profiles and
sediment cores in shallow water and ancient cartography a refined chronological framework can be
defined. Comparisons of sediment cores with river discharge measurements allows the recognition
of the flood events in the stratigraphic record, their recurrence, depositional impact and preservation
potential. Prodeltas could be considered ideal archives where look for “Anthropocene” signal.
Syvitski, J. P. M. and Kettner, A., 2011. Sediment flux and the Anthropocene. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society A—Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences,
369(1938): 957-975, doi: 10.1098/rsta.2010.0329
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
17
Oral Presentation
COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF PLANKTIC FORAMINIFERA AS A TOOL FOR THE
INVESTIGATION OF MIDDLE TO LATE HOLOCENE CLIMATE CHANGES IN THE
WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN
Di Donato V. 1, Forlano S.1, Martín-Fernández J.A.2, Russo Ermolli E.3
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Largo S. Marcellino 10 ,
80138 Napoli, Italy
2
Dept. d’Informàtica i Matemàtica Aplicada, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, Edif. P-4, 17071Girona, Spain
3
Dipartimento di Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia vegetale - Università degli Studi di
Napoli “Federico II”, Via Università 100, Portici (NA), Italy .
In the last few decades, several studies based on paleontological proxies have been carried out in
the Mediterranean area with the aim of reconstructing the Holocene climate changes. However,
despite the fundamental progresses gained by the statistical analysis of compositional data (CODA),
relatively few studies adopted an approach coherent with the fact that paleontological data are
recorded as closed data (Buccianti and Esposito, 2004; Di Donato et al., 2008; 2009; Di Donato and
Martín-Fernández, 2008).
The planktonic foraminifera of G93-C9 core, recovered in the central Tyrrhenian Sea, were
analyzed in order to reconstruct Holocene paleoclimatic changes in this sector of the Mediterranean.
The foraminiferal record was analyzed by means of CODA, with the main aim of reconstructing the
changes occurred during the mid-Holocene. Several studies indicate that from the mid-Holocene to
the present the Mediterranean region has been characterized by drier condition and the
establishement of the present-day Mediterranean climate (Jalut et al., 2000, Davis et al., 2003),
however there is still debate on the anthropical contribution to such changes (i.a. Roberts et al.,
2011). The reconstructions obtained from CODA of the G93-C9 core were compared with
continental records of the western Mediterranean area in order to evaluate if changes in the marine
and continental environment occurred simultaneously.
Buccianti A., Esposito P., 2004. Insights on Late Quaternary calcareous nannoplankton assemblages
under the theory on statistical analysis for compositional data: an application example.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 202, 209–227.
Davis B.A.S., Brewer S., Stevenson A.C., Guiot J., 2003. The temperature of Europe during the
Holocene reconstructed from pollen data. Quaternary Science Reviews 22, 1701–1716.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
18
Oral Presentation
THE LAST 12 KYR OF PALEOCLIMATIC AND PALEOCEANOGRAPHIC CHANGES AS
RECORDED IN TWO DEEP CORES FROM THE ADRIATIC SEA
Negri A.1,Venuti A.2, Colombo A.1, Sabbatini A.1, Morigi C.3, Capozzi R.4, Dinelli E.4, Spagnoli
F.5, Florindo F.2, Vigliotti L.6
1
2
Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Roma
3
GEUS Denmark
4
Universita’ degli studi di Bologna,
5
ISMAR CNR Ancona
6
ISMAR CNR Bologna
Climate changes which occurred in the past can be identified by studying marine sediments and in
particular the highest is the sediment accumulation the highest is the stratigraphic resolution of the
sedimentary archive. The aim of this work is the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the past
12000 years using a multiproxy approach based on the integration of paleoecological studies made
on foraminifera, magnetostratigraphy and geochemical analyses. Two cores were analyzed in the
northern -central Adriatic, Pomo and O2T, collected respectively in the Pomo pit, within the MesoAdriatic Depression, and in the Strait of Otranto. The integration of the data with the paleosecular
variation curves led to the identification of time intervals characterized by very different climatic
and environmental conditions. In particular, we identified the transition from a period characterized
by a very cold climate (the Younger Dryas) to a warmer climate at the beginning of the Holocene
(from 9 to 6 Kyrs) that characterized the deposition of sapropel S1. Finally, the last 6kyrs record
minor climatic and environmental fluctuations some of them related to the evolution of the human
activities.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
19
Oral Presentation
SAPROPELS AND THE ACHILLE’S HEELS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN
Sprovieri M.1, Sannino G.2, Sabatino N.3, Sprovieri R.3, Ribera d’Alcalà M.4, Artale V.2, Mazzola
S.1
1
IAMC-CNR, Capo Granitola, Via del Faro 3, 91021 Campobello di Mazara (Tp), Italy
2
ENEA (Ente Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie l’Energia l’Ambiente) Roma, Italy
3
Di.STEM, Università di Palermo, Via Archirafi 36, 90123 Palermo, Italy
4
Stazione Zoologica ‘A. Dohrn’, Naples, Italy
Mechanisms of sapropels deposition in the Mediterranean basin during the last 3.5 myr are
investigated through a number of sensitivity numerical simulations performed with an OGCM –
implemented for the Mediterranean basin– and characterized by modified depths at the two main
sill: Gibraltar Strait and Sicily Channel.
Sapropels and organic rich layers sampled from ODP Sites during Leg 160 and 161 were precisely
tuned to the insolation curve and synchronization to precession minima verified for the different
sampled areas. The water properties and circulation of both eastern and western Mediterranean Sea
during the Plio/Pleisticene appear to be conditioned by the bathymetric control at the Gibraltar and
Sicilian sills. Distribution of benthic foraminifera and P/B ratios measured from sediments of ODP
Site 963 (Sicily Channel) clearly demonstrate regular uplift of the sill from about 1 myr up to the
recent depth. Also, thermal and salinity changes modulate density values of Intermediate Waters
during sapropels/organic rich layers deposition and consequently determine intensity and
characteristics of the eastern and western Mediterranean Deep Water. Bathymetric changes at the
two sills and dynamics of Intermediate Waters directly influence horizontal and vertical spreading
patterns of Eastern Mediterranean Deep Water in the eastern and western part of the basin, oxygen
supply at the bottom of the basin and consequent deposition of anoxic sediments. Moreover,
climatically driven intensity and characteristics of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water
formation drive times and modes of deposition of the organic rich layers in the Alboran sea (ODP
Sites 966 and 967), generally not synchronised to precession minima, and largely related to
generation and vertical shift of oxygen minimum zones.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
20
Oral Presentation
CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN THE LAST MILLENNIA REVEALED IN A CENTRAL
MEDITERRANEAN CORE
Taricco C.1, Alessio S.1, Vivaldo G.1, Ghil M.2
1
Dipartimento di Fisica Generale dell'Università, Torino and Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio InterplanetarioINAF, Torino, Italy
2
Département Terre-Atmosphère-Océan & Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique du CNRS, Ecole
Normale Supérieure, Paris, France and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences & Institute of
Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
A high-resolution record of foraminiferal δ18O isotopic ratio was obtained from an accurately
dated shallow-water sediment core drilled in the Central Mediterranean (Ionian Sea). This record,
covering the last 2700 years, was analyzed using advanced spectral methods and revealed highly
significant oscillatory components with periods of roughly 600, 350, 200, 125 and 11 years.
Moreover our data show interesting features related to the Medieval Optimum, the Little Ice Age,
a maximum at about 0 AD and a steep decrease during the Industrial Era.
By relying on this long record, we recently addressed the problem of evaluating the contribution
of natural climate variability to this steep modern decrease: pre-industrial δ18O variations are used
to design and tune algorithms able to forecast the natural variability in the δ18O series over the last
150 y. The comparison between the forecast and the actual δ18O signal during the Industrial Era
allows one to quantify what percentage of the modern δ18O decrease can be attributed to natural
vs. anthropogenic causes.
Taricco C., Ghil M., Alessio S., and Vivaldo G., 2009. Two millennia of climate variability in the
Central Mediterranean. Climate of the Past, 5, 171–181.
Alessio S., Vivaldo G., Taricco C., Ghil M., 2012. Natural Variability and Anthropogenic Effects in
a Central Mediterranean Core, Climate of the Past, submitted.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
21
Poster
SEA-LEVEL AND CLIMATIC CHANGES DURING THE LAST 41,000 YEARS IN THE
OUTER SHELF OF THE SOUTHERN TYRRHENIAN SEA: EVIDENCE FROM
Cosentino C.1, Caruso A.1, Pierre C.2, Sulli A.1
1
Italy
2
LOCEAN, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris 6), France
A micropaleontological and isotopic study performed on a sedimentary core collected in the
continental shelf along the Sicilian coast has been compared with the seismostragraphic analysis of
the studied area. It allowed the reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental and the paleoclimatic
history of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea during the last 41 ka.
The sedimentary core VIB 10 (353 cm in length) was collected in the outer shelf of the Gulf of
Termini (127 m. bathymetry). 174 samples were studied for sedimentological, micropaleontological
and stable isotopic analysis; these last were performed on two foraminiferal species, Melonis
padanum and Globigerinoides ruber. The age model of the core was based on radiocarbon
chronology (4 samples) and on oxygen isotope stratigraphy. The physiography of the area was
depicted by means of Multi Beam Echo Sounder data and provided a high resolution threedimensional image of the sea-floor.
The results based on the interpretation of a seismic profile, on benthic and planktonic foraminifera
assemblages and on δ18O records, allowed recognition of two drastic sea-level falls. The climatic
cooling during the Last Glacial Maximum (20.5-15 ka) produced a sea-level fall of 115 m with the
consequent subaerial exposure of the depositional site. After a sea-level rise, during the Younger
Dryas a second sea-level fall of 20-30 m occurred. During the lower Holocene, warmer climatic
conditions were rapidly established as indicated by the decrease of δ18O values. The rapid sea-level
rise due to the input of fresh water from ice caps melting following the increase of Earth’s mean
temperature is also indicated by the aggradational geometries of sedimentary layers observed in the
seismic profile and by the increase of benthic species typical of the outer shelf. Furthermore, during
the Holocene, three slight shifts of δ18O values were recognised at 7.5 and 2-1.7 kyrs BP, probably
tied to cool humid periods.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
22
Poster
HOLOCENE CLIMATIC PHASES RECORDED IN THE SHALLOW WATER SOUTHERNEAST TYRRHENIAN SEA MARINE SEDIMENTS
Lirer, F.1, Sprovieri, M. 2, Vallefuoco, M.1, Ferraro, L.1, Cascella, A.4, Capotondi, L.3
1
Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero (IAMC) – CNR, Calata Porta di Massa, 80133, Napoli, Italy
2
Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero (IAMC) – CNR, Via del Faro, 3 Torretta Granitola
(Fraz. Campobello di Mazara, Tp) 91021, Italy
3
Istituto Scienze Marine, (ISMAR)– CNR, Via Gobetti 101 40129 Bologna, Italy
4
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Via della Faggiola 32, 52126 Pisa, Italy
Microfaunal, geochemical and physical investigations performed on a composite sediment core
C901m-C90-C836, collected from the continental shelf (103 m. water depth) of the southern-eastern
Tyrrhenian Sea (Salerno Gulf), provide evidences of secular/millennial climatic changes during the
Holocene time.
The high-resolution chronological framework based on 210Pb and 137Cs activity-depth profiles,
AMS 14C radiometric dates and tephrochronology, integrated with calcareous plankton data and
oxygen stable isotope record (δ18OG. ruber), make this section a potential sedimentary reference for
the Holocene in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The detailed age model allows to precise the timing of the paleoclimatic changes occurred in this
basin of the western Mediterranean region and to correlate these phases with the well documented
archaeological periods. In detail, the following “events”, strongly supported by the ecobiostratigraphic scheme, have been recognised: the deposition of Sapropel S1 time interval
(~4.7kyr long), the Bronze (~1.2 kyr long) and Iron age (~0.6 kyr long), the Roman period (~0.9
kyr long), the Medieval Optimum (~0.38 kyr long), Medieval Warm Period (MWP)-Little Ice Age
(LIA) transition, the Little Ice Age (~0.48 kyr long) and the beginning of the modern anthropic
impact (1940AD). This last event which clearly points a human impact on the marine
environmental ecosystem has been associated to the building of the dam on the Sele River (Salerno
Gulf) at 1934AD.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
23
VOLCANIC IMPACT ON ANCIENT SOCIETIES,
TEPHROSTRASTIGRAPHY
AND CORRELATION AND SYNCHRONIZATION OF ARCHIVES
Chairmen: Biagio Giaccio, Raffaello Cioni and Mauro Di Vito
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
24
Oral Presentation
Session: Volcanic impact on ancient societies, tephrostrastigraphy
and correlation and synchronization of archives
LATE PLEISTOCENE-HOLOCENE TEPHROSTRATIGRAPHIC RECORD OF CORE MD90918 (IONIAN SEA): INSIGHT FOR ACTIVITY OF ITALIAN VOLCANOES AND
PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION.
Caron B.1, Siani G. 2, Sulpizio R. 3, Zanchetta G. 4,
Paterne M. 5, Santacroce R.4
1
UPMC Univ. Paris 06 ISTeP, UMR 7193, 75005 Paris, France
IDES-UMR 8148 CNRS-Université Paris-Sud XI, 91405 Orsay, France
3
Dipartimento Geomineralogico, University of Bari, Bari, Italy
4
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, Via S. Maria 53, 56126 Pisa, Italy
5
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, Laboratoire Mixte CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Avenue
de la Terrasse 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
2
In the Central Mediterranean Basin tephra layers represent an unique tool for detailed correlation
between different archives. However, the inspection of the available data shows an evident gap of
data in the north part of the Ionian Sea. Here, we present a tephrostratigraphic record from a
sediment piston core (MD 90-918) from Ionian Sea as a part of a multidisciplinary study including
stratigraphy, geochemistry (ICP-MS, MEB, EPMA), stable isotope (δ18O, δ13C), AMS 14C
chronology. Eight tephra layers were recognised. The oldest tephra was correlated with Monte
Guardia eruption (ca 22 ka BP Lipari Island). Further two tephra layers are from Lipari volcanic
island: E-1/Gabellotto-Fiumebianco (8550±80 cal yr BP) and Monte Pilato (580 A.D.).
Geochemical investigations on the five other recognised tephra layers indicate for the first time the
possible existence of distinct Vesuvian tephra layers in the Mercato-Avellino period. These tephra
layers show a striking chemical similarity with the Mercato eruption from the Mt Somma-Vesuvius
(8890 ± 90 cal yr BP), which is represented in the core by a visible 2-cm thick white ash. These data
allow a significant update of the knowledge of the fallout dispersions from Lipari Island and from
the Mt Somma-Vesuvius volcanoes. Moreover, the tephra E-1/Gabellotto-Fiumebianco eruption
deposit is confirmed as exceptional marker of for the unequivocal identification of Sapropel S1
interruption.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
25
Oral Presentation
TEPHROSTRATIGRAPHIC STUDIES ON A SEDIMENT CORE FROM LAKE PRESPA
Damaschke M.1, Wagner B.1, Zanchetta G.2, Sulpizio R.3, Aufgebauer A.1
1
Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 49a, 50674 Köln,
Germany
2
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, via S. Maria 53, 56126 Pisa, Italy
3
CIRISIVU, c/o Dipartimento Geomineralogico, University of Bari, via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari,
Italy
A tephrostratigraphic record has been obtained from a 15.75 m long core (Co1215) from Lake
Prespa (Republics of Macedonia, Albania and Greece) and dates back to Marine Isotope Stage
(MIS) 5. A total of eleven ash layers (PT0915-1 to PT0915-11) have been identified, using XRF
scanning and magnetic susceptibility measurements as well as macro- and microscopic inspections
after washing and sieving of the sediments. Only two tephras were visible by naked eye (PT0915-5
and PT0915-7), while the remaining ones are cryptotephras. Geochemical analyses on glass shards
provide clear relationship to the explosive volcanism of Italy. Eight tephra and cryptotephra layers
were correlated with distinct volcanic eruptions: PT0915-1 with the AD 512 eruption of SommaVesuvius (1438 cal. a BP; Rolandi et al., 1998), PT0915-2 with the Mercato eruption of SommaVesuvius (8540±50 cal. a BP; Zanchetta et al., 2011), PT0915-3 and PT0915-4 with the Tufi
Biancastri/GM1 events of the Phlegrean Fields (14697±519 cal. a BP and 15551±621 cal. a BP;
Siani et al., 2004), PT0915-5 with the SMP1-e/Y-3 eruption of the Phlegrean Fields (30670±230
cal. a BP; Di Vito et al., 2008), PT0915-7 with the Campanian Ignimbrite/Y-5 of the Phlegrean
Fields (39280±110 cal. a BP; De Vivo et al., 2001), PT0915-8 with the SMP1-a event of Ischia
Island (39 – 51 ka; Di Vito et al., 2008) and PT0915-9 with the Green Tuff/Y-6 eruption of
Pantelleria Island (45 ka; Keller et al., 1978). Cryptotephra PT0915-11 could be attributed to the
volcanic activity of Etna (unknown eruption), while cryptotephras PT0915-6 and PT0915-10 are
unclassified so far. Some of these ash layers are recognized for the first time in the Balkan region
(PT0915-8, PT0915-3 and PT0915-4), while others may represent undiscovered eruptions (PT091511). Recognition of non-visible ash layers (cryptotephra) in the sediment succession greatly
enhances the potential of a reliable tephrostratigraphical framework, which is commonly used to
correlate and date geographically distant palaeoenvironmental archives. Moreover,
tephrostratigraphical work contributes to palaeoclimatic and sedimentological investigations and
provides important information about explosive pattern of volcanoes during the Late Quaternary.
Radiocarbon ages available for the studied sediment succession confirm the reliability of the agedepth model established for core Co1215.
De Vivo, B., Rolandi, G., Gans, P.B., Calvert, A., Bohrson,W.A., Spera, F.J., Belkin, H.E., 2001.
Newconstraints on the pyroclastic eruptive history of the Campanian volcanic Plain (Italy). Min.
Pet. 73, 47–65.
Di Vito, M., Sulpizio, R., Zanchetta, R., D’Orazio, M., 2008. The late Pleistocene pyroclastic
deposits of the Campanian Plain: new insights on the explosive activity of Neapolitan volcanoes. J.
Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 177, 19–48
Keller, J., Ryan, W.B.F., Ninkovich, D., Altherr, R., 1978. Explosive volcanic activity in the
Mediterranean over the past 200,000 yr as recorded in deep-sea sediments. Geological Society of
America Bulletin 89, 591–604.
Rolandi, G., Petrosino, P. & McGeehin, J., 1998. The interplinian activity at Somma-Vesuvius in
the last 3500 years. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 82, 19-52.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
26
Oral Presentation
Siani, G., Sulpizio, R., Paterne, M., Sbrana, A., 2004. Tephrostratigraphy study for the last 18,000
14C years in a deep-sea sediment sequence for the South Adriatic. Quaternary Science Reviews 23,
2485–2500.
Zanchetta, G., Sulpizio, R., Roberts, N., Cioni, R., Eastwood, W.J., Siani, G., Paterne, M.,
Santacroce, R., 2011. Tephrostratigraphy, chronology and climatic events of the Mediterranean
basin during the Holocene: an overview. The Holocene 21, 33–52.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
27
Oral Presentation
HUMAN COLONIZATION AND VOLCANIC ACTIVITY IN THE EASTERN CAMPANIA
PLAIN (ITALY) BETWEEN EARLY BRONZE AGE AND 79 AD
Di Vito M.A1, Castaldo N.2, de Vita S.1, Piochi M.1, Zanella E.3, Vecchio G.2, Lanza R.3, Tema
Evdokia T.3
1
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Vesuviano, Naples, Italy
2
Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei, Naples, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, Turin, Italy
Archaeological and volcanological studies carried out in the Neapolitan area revealed that numerous
high-intensity explosive eruptions, occurred in the past 10 kyr, caused damages and victims in the
human communities living in the plain surrounding the Neapolitan volcanoes. These catastrophic
events were interspersed by hundred to thousand years long periods of quiescence, usually
exceeding a human life-time.
In particular since the Early Bronze Age, the Campanian Plain was densely inhabited due to
favourable climatic conditions and soil fertility. The archaeological, volcanological and rockmagnetism multidisciplinary approach to the study of the sequences in archaeological excavations
has permitted to reconstruct in detail the interaction among eruptions, deposition mechanisms of
their products and settlements. In this work the Nola-Palma Campania case is presented in a very
interesting, though poorly known, period of activity, included between the Vesuvian Pomici di
Avellino (Early Bronze Age) and Pollena (AD 472) Plinian eruptions. Through this time-span the
Plain was variably inhabited, crossed by long-lived roads and subject to agricultural exploitation.
Eruptions caused significant breaks in the occupation of the area, but also maintained the plain’s
extraordinary fertility. During this period at least eight other eruptions occurred: the Pomici di
Pompei Plinian event (AD 79), two sub-Plinian to phreato-Plinian events, and five violent
Strombolian to Vulcanian events. Thin and poorly developed to thicker and mature paleosols or
erosional unconformities separate the variable pyroclastic deposits. Almost all of the eruptions and
related phenomena interacted with human settlements in the Campanian Plain, and their sequences
retain many traces of people displacement during the eruptions, and land reclamation and reutilization soon after them.
Despite the variable kinds of hazards posed by volcanic and related phenomena, in the Campanian
Plain humans have nevertheless found good reasons for settlement and development. These
multidisciplinary approach permitted to obtain detailed data on the evolution of the area and the
interaction between eruptions and settlements. These data are of paramount importance in defining
the past phenomena and in evaluating the hazard of eruptions and related phenomena.
Di Vito MA. Zanella E., Gurioli L., Lanza R., Sulpizio R., Bishop J., Tema E., Boenzi G., Laforgia E., 2009.
The Afragola settlement near Vesuvius, Italy: the destruction and abandonment of a Bronze Age village
revealed by archaeology, volcanology and rock-magnetism. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 277:408-421.
Sulpizio, R., Zanchetta, G., Demi, F., Di Vito, M.A., Pareschi, M.T., and Santacroce, R., 2006, The
Holocene syneruptive volcaniclastic debris fl ows in the Vesuvian area: Geological data as a guide
for hazard assessment, in Siebe, C., Macías, J.L., and Aguirre-Díaz, G.J., eds., Neogene-Quaternary
continental margin volcanism: A perspective from México: Geological Society of America Special
Paper 402, Penrose Conference Series, 217–235.
Zanchetta G., Sulpizio R., Di Vito M.A., 2004. The role of volcanic activity and climate in alluvial fan
growth at volcanic areas: an example from southern Campania (Italy). Sedim. Geology, 168, 249-280.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
28
Oral Presentation
Zanella, E., L. Gurioli, M. T. Pareschi, and R. Lanza (2007), Influences of urban fabric on
pyroclastic density currents at Pompeii (Italy): Temperature of the deposits and hazard implications,
J. Geophys. Res., 112, B05214.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
29
Oral Presentation
MINERAL PHASES AS A TOOL FOR ROBUST CORRELATION OF PROXIMAL-DISTAL
ASH DEPOSITS IN THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN AREA
Giordano R.1, Sulpizio R.1, Caggianelli A1.
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geoambientali, Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
Tephra layers and Quaternary sedimentary archives constitute a mutual and integrative system
capable of providing relevant information for both volcanological (i.e. hazard assessment) and
Quaternary science research (i.e. paleoecology , paleoclimatology). Comparative analysis of glass
from proximal and distal deposits sometimes fails in providing a reliable criterion to recognise the
source of a tephra (or the related eruption), owing to very similar major element compositions that
makes difficult discrimination on a chemical basis. This is particularly critical for both the
Campanian trachytic products (i.e. those erupted from Campi Flegrei, Somma-Vesuvius and the
Ischia island volcanoes) and for the calc-alkaline rhyolitic products of the Aeolian Islands. To solve
this problem, the evaluation of both the mineralogical association, and the chemical composition of
the mineral phases included in the proximal tephras is required. With this approach some
distinguishing features can be revealed and, if recognisable also in the distal counterpart, would
represent a valid tool for correlation. Some successful examples for ther application of the method
are (i) the products of Colli Albani containing both leucite and nepheline and not feldspar, or (ii) the
Agnano-Monte Spina eruption ascribed to the Campi Flegrei on the basis of biotite absence.
Therefore, creation of a data-base containing compositional data of mineral phases from the
proximal deposits, would make microanalysis of mineral phases from distal tephra an important
tool to improve the tephro-stratigraphic correlations in the Central Mediterranean area.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
30
Oral Presentation
TEPHROSTRATIGRAPHY AND GLASS COMPOSITIONS OF POST-15 KYR CAMPI
FLEGREI ERUPTIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ERUPTION HISTORY AND
CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC MARKERS
Smith V.C.1, Isaia R.2, Pearce N.J.G.3
1
University of Oxford, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Dyson Perrins Building,
South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
2
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Vesuviano, via Diocleziano 328, 80154 Napoli,
Italy
3
Aberystwyth University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth SY23 3DB, Wales, UK
Volcanic ash (tephra) erupted from the frequently active Campi Flegrei volcano forms layers in
many palaeoenvironmental archives across Italy and the Mediterranean. Proximal deposits of 50 of
the post- 15 ka eruptions have been thoroughly sampled and analysed to produce a complete
database of glass compositions (>1900 analyses) to aid identification of these units. The deposits of
individual eruptions are compositionally diverse and this variability is often greater than that
observed between different units. Many of the tephra units do not have a unique glass chemistry,
with compositionally similar tephra often erupted over long periods of time (1000s years). Thus,
glass chemistry alone is not enough to robustly correlate most of the tephra from Campi Flegrei,
especially in the last 10 kyrs. In order to reliably correlate the eruption units it is important to take
into account the stratigraphy, chronology, magnitude, and dispersal of the eruptions, which has been
collated to aid identification. An updated chronology is also presented, which was constrained using
Bayesian analysis (OxCal) of published radiocarbon dates and 40Ar/39Ar ages. All the data presented
can be employed to help correlate post-15 ka tephra units preserved in archaeological and Holocene
palaeoenvironmental archives. The new database of proximal glass compositions has been used to
correlate proximal volcanic deposits through to distal tephra layers in the Lago di Monticchio
record (Wulf et al., 2008) and these correlations provide information on eruption stratigraphy and
the tempo of volcanism at Campi Flegrei.
Wulf S., Kraml M., Keller J., 2008. Towards a detailed distal tephrostratigraphy in the Central
Mediterranean: The last 20,000 yrs record of Lago Grande di Monticchio. Journal of Volcanology
and Geothermal Research, 177, 118-132.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
31
Poster
THE IMPACT OF THE 5TH CENTURY BC “ISCHIA PORTO TEPHRA” ERUPTION (ITALY)
ON THE GREEK COLONY OF PITHEKOUSSAI
de Vita S.1, Di Vito M .A.1, Gialanella C. 2
1
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia | Sezione di Napoli Osservatorio Vesuviano
2
Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei
The island of Ischia is the emergent peak of a volcano dated back to more than 150 ka ago. From
Neolithic times it experienced a complex history of human colonization and volcanic eruptions that
destroyed settlements and drove away the population. Recent researches demonstrated that from the
Greek foundation of Pithekoussai (8th century BC) through the Roman “Aenaria”, up until the
emergence of modern Ischia, the history of human life on the island has been closely linked to its
volcanic history.During the 5th century BC Ischia fell under the domination of Cumae, which
granted the tyrant of Syracuse the right to install a military settlement on the island in return for his
help during the war against the Etruscans. The historian Strabo reports that between the 474 and the
466 BC a telluric event forced the Greek colonists from Syracuse to desert this outpost, and the
Ischia Porto Tephra eruption has been proposed in the volcanological literature as the best candidate
for this role. This eruption was characterized by a sequence of magmatic and phreatomagmatic
explosions that emplaced scoria and pumice fallout deposits, intercalated with minor pyroclasticsurge deposits, and formed a crater lake in the north-eastern corner of the island. Recent
excavations furnished clear evidence of the impact of this eruption on a settlement located on S.
Pietro hill, to the east of Ischia’s harbor.The archaeological finds include mounds of building
materials, pieces of decorative terracotta panels and a few terracotta antefix fragments.The spatial
distribution of the material found, the presence of stacks of tiles and other building materials and
the absence of any structural remains, suggest that this was a building site for the construction of a
temple. As written sources confirm, although the site and the military garrison were abandoned, the
colony
survived.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
32
HOLOCENE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES RECORDED AT
HIGH MOUNTAIN SITES
Chairmen: Carlo Baroni and Cesare Ravazzi
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
33
Oral Presentation
Session: Holocene environmental changes recorded at high mountain sites
CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAND-USE CHANGE IMPACTS ON TREELINE ALTITUDE AND
ON TREE-RING CHRONOLOGIES FROM ALPINE SITES
Coppola A.1, Leonelli G.2, Salvatore M.C.1, Baroni C.1, Pelfini M. 2
1
2
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, Via S. Maria, 53 56126 Pisa, Italy
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Milan, Via L. Mangiagalli, 34 20133 Milano, Italy
The assessment of climate change impacts in mountain environments is a strategic issue at global
and regional scales for predicting future scenarios in the view of ecosystem management and
biodiversity conservation. Treeline position and tree rings characteristics are among the most
significant biological indicators responding to climate and land use changes in the alpine
environment. Treelines are widely studied (Theurillat and Guisan, 2001; Grace et al., 2002;
Caccianiga et al., 2008; Holtmeier, 2009) and their altitude at the global scale is mainly determined
by soil temperature (Körner and Paulsen, 2004). On the European Alps, the rate of treeline shift is
strongly related to past and present climate conditions and it is also influenced by the increasing
role of substrate and geomorphologic factors in controlling its dynamics (Leonelli et al., 2011). We
found that the rate of treeline shift of a climatic treeline in the Western Alps increased from 4 m/yr
(in 1850-1900) up to 13 m/yr (in 1950-2000. However, in the Alps, the impact of human activities
on the treeline position and dynamics is not negligible and changes in treeline position in disturbed
sites can be mainly ascribed to anthropogenic activities (Leonelli et al., 2009).
As treelines, tree rings from temperature-limited environments are highly sensitive climate proxies
(Briffa et al., 1988; Mann et al., 1998; Wilson and Luckman, 2003). We present here the effects of
non-climatic disturbances on the response to climate of a European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) treering chronology with respect to non-disturbed sites (Italian Alps, Adamello-Presanella Group). The
climatic analysis shows that non-disturbed tree-ring chronologies have higher correlation values
with climatic factors mainly driving larch growth at the treeline altitude and allows evidencing the
different response to climate of the disturbed chronology, that needs to be discarded in the view of
future tree-ring based climate reconstructions.
Briffa, K. R., Jones, P. D., Pilcher, J. R., Hughes, M. K., 1988. Reconstructing summer
temperatures in Northern Fennoscandinavia back to A.D. 1700 using tree-ring data from Scots pine.
Arctic and Alpine Research, 20(4), 385–394.
Caccianiga, M., Andreis, C., Armiraglio, S., Leonelli, G., Pelfini, M., Sala, D. 2008. Climate
continentality and treeline species distribution in the Alps. Plant Biosystems 142 (1), 66-78.
Grace, J., F. Berninger, Nagy L., 2002. Impacts of climate change on the tree line. Annals of Botany
90, 537–544.
Holtmeier, F.K. 2009. Mountain timberlines: Ecology, patchiness and dynamics, 438 pp. New
York: Springer.
Körner, C., Paulsen, J., 2004. A world-wide study of high altitude treeline temperatures. Journal of
Biogeography 31, 713–732.
Leonelli G., Pelfini M., Morra di Cella, U., 2009. Detecting climatic treelines in the Italian Alps: the
influence of geomorphological factors and human impacts. Phisycal Geography 30 (4), 338352.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
34
Oral Presentation
Leonelli, G., Pelfini, M., Morra di Cella, U., Garavaglia, V., 2010. Climate warming and the recent
treeline shift in the European Alps: the role of geomorphological factors in high-altitude sites.
Ambio, DOI 10.1007/s13280-010-0096-2.
Mann, M. E., Bradley, R. S., Hughes, M. K., 1998. Global scale temperature patterns and climate
forcing over the past six centuries. Nature 392, 779-787.
Theurillat, J.P., Guisan, A., 2001. Potential impact of climate change on vegetation in the European
Alps: A review. Climatic Change 50, 77–109.
Wilson, R.J.S., Luckman, B.H., 2003. Dendroclimatic reconstruction of maximum summer
temperatures from upper treeline sites in interior British Columbia, Canada. Holocene 13, 851–
861.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
35
Oral Presentation
NATURAL TO ANTROPOGENIC EFFECTS IN THE LAST 2000 YEARS OF FOCUL VIU ICE
CORE.
Maggi V.1, Turri S.23, Bini A.2, Perşoiu A.4, Onac B.5, Stenni B.6, Udisti R.7
1
Environmental Sciences Dept., University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy;
2
Earth Sciences Dept., University of Milano, Italy;
3
Parco Regionale della Grigna Settentrionale, Lecco, Italy;
4
Dept. of Geology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, SCA 528, Tampa, 33620, Fl, USA,
5
Geosciences Dept., University of Trieste, Italy;
6
Chemistry Dept., University of Florence, Italy
The 8.26 m of ice core drilled in Focul Viu Ice Cave (Apuseni Mountains, Romania) represent one
of the longest records from hipogean ice deposits. A sets of 8 radiocarbon dates were done on
organic materials found in the ice cores at different depth, and estimate of the age at 6.84 m depth is
of 198±66 A.D. (calibrated date). Some large nss-SO42- (no-sea-salt sulphates) spikes were
preliminary related with historical well known explosive volcanic events, with an improve of
age/depth time scale. Using both 14C dates and volcanic spikes, were evaluate the variability of the
accumulation rate of ice deposits, that show a mean values for the entire ice core of 34,8 cm/century
of ice. Differences in accumulation rate will be related to change in snowfall, and especially the
large increase during the Middle Age period (1100 to 1300 AD), probably related to an increase of
the snowfall in the area. Interpolating the accumulation rate of for the deeper part of the ice core,
were estimate the age of the bottom ice at 8,26 m depth of at around the Vft century A.C.. Analysis
of major ion chemistry measurements will describe the influences of the anthropogenic activities
during the last two millennia.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
36
Oral Presentation
FLUCTUATIONS OF THE ITALIAN GLACIERS SINCE THE MID-HOLOCENE
Orombelli G.
Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Ambiente e del Territorio, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza
1, 20126 Milano, Italy
After the Early Holocene advances, dated at a few sites of the Western and Central Alps, glaciers in
Italy receded near their present limits. From 10 to 5 ka BP there is indirect evidence that glaciers
were almost continuously reduced, if not in part disappeared. As recorded by a peat-bog buried by
glacigenic deposits, Ruitor Glacier (Western Alps) was smaller than now from 9.5 to 6.7 ka BP.
Ten 14C dates from reworked peat blocks are distributed between 6.7 to 5.6 ka BP. Although minor
glacial advances cannot be excluded, conditions favourable to peat deposition prevailed near the
present front of Ruitor from 9.5 to 5.6 (at least) ka BP. Neoglacial advances were heralded in the
Italian Alps by the late Neolithic “Iceman” mummy (∼5.2 ka BP), if we assume that it became
buried in snow on ice-free ground, due to the formation of a permanent snowbank, later transformed
into ice at the upper edge of the Giogo Basso Glacier (Eastern Alps). In the Western Alps, the
Miage glacier advanced and dammed the trunk valley, at ~5–4.6 ka BP. Calderone Glacier
(Apennines) was re-forming at 4.5-4.3 ka BP. Neoglacial advances at ∼3–2.5 ka BP, comparable in
extent to the LIA, are reported for a few glaciers in Italian Alps and in the Apennines. Another
phase of advance is recorded in the Early Middle Ages. In the Italian Alps the LIA moraines are
ubiquitous and well preserved; they generally represent the Holocene maximum advance and
mainly date to the XIX century. Earlier phases are recorded by floods from the ice-dammed Ruitor
lake, at the end of the XIII century, early in the XV, in several years since 1594 to 1751, and lastly
in 1864. In the Western Alps many glaciers reached their maximum extent in 1818-1820. A second
largest advance occurred in 1845-1860. From the second half of the XIX century all the Italian
glaciers are retreating, with only minor re-advances around 1890-95, 1920-25 and in the 1965–
1985. At present >90% of the surveyed glaciers are retreating.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
37
Oral Presentation
HOLOCENE FOREST HISTORY AND TIMBERLINE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE WESTERN
AND CENTRAL ALPS: THE ROLE OF CLIMATIC FACTORS AND MEN
Pini R.1, Aceti A.1, Maggi V.2, Orombelli G.2, Raiteri L.3,4, Ravazzi C.1
1
2
C.N.R. – IDPA, Laboratorio di Palinologia e Paleoecologia, P.zza della Scienza 1, 20126 Milano
Dip. Scienze Ambiente e Territorio, Univ. di Milano Bicocca, P.zza della Scienza 1, 20126 Milano
3
Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta, Dip. Soprintendenza per i Beni e le Attività Culturali,
P.zza Roncas 12, 11100 Aosta
4
Dip. Biologia ed Evoluzione, Università di Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d’Este 32, 44100 Ferrara
Lakes and mires located in the subalpine altitudinal belt are sensitive both to climate and past
human activities. At these sites palaeoecology, supported by accurate dating, provides information
on forest evolution after glacier retreat and help understanding the influence of climate, edaphic
(soil evolution) and ecological processes (species immigration and competition), and prehistoric
human impact in shaping modern mountain environments. This presentation focuses on two peat
bogs (Crotte Basse, 2365 m, Aosta Valley; Lago Nero, 2395 m, Passo Gavia, Lombardy):
palaeobotanical data will be compared considering differences in modern regional climate.
The Holocene history of these subalpine environments can be roughly subdivided in three periods:
(i) between 11,6 – 8,5 ka cal BP palaeoecological data indicate a fast treeline rise. In the Central
Alps Pinus cembra settled at 2400 m asl at around 9 ka cal BP, as testified by findings of pollen,
fossil seeds and entire trunks (Aceti, 2006). As early as 8,8 ka cal BP south-facing massifs in the
Western Alps hosted Pinus cembra forests up to over 2400 m asl (Pini et al., 2011).
(ii) between 8,5 – 6 ka cal BP palaeobotanical data indicate a phase of high elevation of treeline
(above the study sites). At both sites Pinus cembra-dominated forests occurred. Macrofossils of
Abies alba and Picea abies suggest that they might have been present below the Pinus cembra belt.
(iii) from the VI millennia cal BP data from both sites record a major forest change and the decline
and extinction of Pinus cembra, but different were the thriving factors. At Passo Gavia the decline
of Pinus cembra, dated to ca. 6 ka cal BP, and the expansion of oceanic species seem to reflect
climatic changes rather than human interference. At Crotte Basse forest opening is related to the
impact of Eneolithic farmers and pasture lands expansion starting at 5,5 ka cal BP.
Aceti A., 2006. La variabilità climatica nell’Olocene: studio di torbiere e di ambienti d’alta quota
nelle Alpi italiane. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Univ. Milano – Bicocca.
Pini R., Aceti A., Badino F., Maggi V., Orombelli G., Raiteri L., Ravazzi C., 2011. High-altitude
environments and Glacier fluctuatons in the western sector of the Aosta Valley during the
Holocene. Il Quaternario, Italian Journal of Quaternary Sciences, 24, 117-119.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
38
Oral Presentation
CHIRONOMID-INFERRED RECONSTRUCTIONS OF LATE GLACIAL AND HOLOCENE
TEMPERATURES FROM TWO NEW SITES IN THE NORTHERN APENNINE OF ITALY
Samartin S.1, Heiri O.1,2, Vescovi1, Tinner W1
1
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research and Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern,
Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland
2
Palaeoecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Utrecht
University, Budapestlaan 4, CD 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands
Two lake sediment sequences from the Northern Apennine (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), covering the
time from the Younger Dryas cooling during the Late Glacial to the present, were analyzed for
chironomids. The sites were chosen because they are located in the Mediterranean region of
Southern Europe (south of 45° N) where quantitative non-pollen climate reconstructions are still
rare. We aimed to develop a chironomid-based reconstruction of the millennial-scale Holocene
summer temperature evolution and of the centennial-scale Holocene temperature variability in the
region. Quantitative July air temperature estimates were produced by applying a newly developed
Swiss-Norwegian temperature inference model based on chironomid assemblage data of 274 lakes
to the fossil chironomid record. The results from the two lakes suggest that summer temperatures
were ca. 3 °C below present day values during the Younger Dryas and increased markedly at the
onset of the early Holocene. The most prominent feature of the Holocene temperature course at
Gemini and Verdarolo is the pronounced thermal maximum between ca. 9300-5000 cal yr BP, with
maximum warmth recorded at ca. 7400 cal yr BP with temperatures up to 1.7 °C warmer than at
present. A distinct cooling trend that lasted till the present is evident in both records after 70006000 cal yr BP. Until ca. 7000 cal yr BP summer insolation and the disintegrating Laurentide ice
sheet (LIS) were probably the major driving force of the millennial scale summer temperature
Holocene course in northern Italy. Cooling after 5000 cal BP was apparently mainly controlled by
declining summer insolation. A comparison of our results with other paleoclimate records suggest
that Northern, Central and Southern Europe underwent a similar Holocene climate history with
maximum summer warmth between 8000-5000 cal yr BP.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
39
Oral Presentation
HOLOCENE CLIMATE, FIRE AND VEGETATION DYNAMICS AT THE TREE LINE IN THE
SWISS ALPS
Schwörer, C.1,2, Berthel, N.1,2, Glur, L.3, Rey, F.1,2, Tinner, W.1,2
1
2
3
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Zähringerstr. 25, CH-3012 Bern,
Switzerland
EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Sciences and Technology, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600
Dübendorf, Switzerland
Tree line ecosystems are highly sensitive to environmental change, because trees grow at their
lower limit of thermal tolerance. Climatic changes or disturbance by human land use can change the
elevation of tree line. Sediment series from high-elevation lakes provide valuable records of the
interactions among climate, humans, and vegetation (Tinner, 2006). The use of different proxies
and dynamic vegetation models can help to disentangle the effects of climate and human impact on
the vegetation at tree line (Heiri et al., 2006). We give an overview of different case studies in the
Swiss Alps and present new pollen and macrofossil-inferred reconstructions of Holocene vegetation
from a series of lakes at, above and below present tree line in the Northwestern Swiss Alps. The
Wildhorn area has a long history of human presence and contains an important mountain pass that
has been used since the Neolithic (Grosjean et al., 2007). The new sediment records from the
Wildhorn region span the entire Holocene. Analysis of pollen and plant macrofossils shows that the
tree line reached its maximum elevation of around 2200 m in the early- to mid-Holocene. The tree
line was in equilibrium with climate until humans started to use the alpine meadows as pasture at
the beginning of the Neolithic. In the Bronze Age, tree line forests were cleared several times to
expand these pastures and finally lowered to the present position in the Middle Ages. In contrast to
the continental central Alps, natural fires occurred in the northern Alps only in the drier earlyHolocene. Anthropogenic fires in the late Holocene had a big impact on the forest at tree line,
which is not adapted to natural fires (Colombaroli et al., 2010). Our results help to develop
sustainable management practices and to identify threats to alpine biodiversity under future Climate
Change.
Tinner, W. 2006. Treeline studies. In "Encyclopedia of Quaternary Sciences". (S.A. Elias ed.),
Elsevier, Amsterdam: 2374-2384.
Grosjean, M., Suter, P.J., Trachsel, M., Wanner, H. 2007. Ice-borne prehistoric finds in the Swiss
Alps reflect Holocene glacier fluctuations. Journal of Quaternary Sciences, 22 (3), 203-207.
Colombaroli, D., Henne, P. D., Kaltenrieder, P., Gobet, E. and Tinner, W. 2010. Species responses
to fire, climate and human impact at tree line in the Alps as evidenced by palaeo-environmental
records and a dynamic simulation model. Journal of Ecology, 98, 1346–1357.
Heiri, C., Bugmann, H., Tinner, W., Heiri, O. and Lischke, H. 2006. A model-based reconstruction
of Holocene treeline dynamics in the Central Swiss Alps. Journal of Ecology, 94: 206–216.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
40
Oral Presentation
FIRE IN ICE: DETECTING BIOMASS BURNING USING ICE CORES
Piero Zennaro1,2, Natalie Kehrwald1,2, Roberta Zangrando2, Elena Barbaro1, Andrea Gambaro1,2, Carlo
Barbante1,2
1
University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Environmental Science Department, Santa Marta -Dorsoduro 2137, 30123 Venice,
Italy.
2
Istitute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes, IDPA-CNR, Dorsoduro 2137, 30123 Venice, Italy.
Ice cores are precious environmental archives and provide advantages in relation to other paleoclimatic
records. The ice layers provide precise dating and annual to seasonal resolution. The layers contain an archive
of unchanged chemical properties of many compounds which include information about past atmospheric
circulation and composition. Identifying past biomass burning requires the evaluation of specific molecular
markers. Levoglucosan (1,6-anhydro-β-D-glucopyranose) is an organic compound which is only released
during the pyrolysis of cellulose and is thus a unique marker of cellulose combustion emission. Other markers
(NH4, K+, black carbon) represent main combustion products, often present in the fine emission fraction and
are thus detectable even at regional and global distances from emission sources. Ice core analyses allow the
estimation of atmospheric particulates from biomass combustion including natural forest fires and agricultural
waste burning. The collected data are useful to determine the possible local or global impact of anthropogenic
combustion-derived aerosols on the environmental system. This is possibly due to the advent of the first
agricultural settlements and to the possible early human impact on climate. Such analyses provide initial
information to assess when or if humans began to affect climate through biomass burning. We reconstruct
past fire regimes through the determination of levoglucosan in ice samples from the poles to the tropics.
Levoglucosan is directly determined in through High-Performance Liquid Chromatography at the picogram
per milliliter level and quantified using a triple quadrupole mass analyzer as a detector (Gambaro, Zangrando
et al. 2008). Here, we discuss the applicability of levoglucosan and other biomass burning indicators from
mountain and polar ice cores.
Gambaro, A., R. Zangrando, et al. (2008). "Direct determination of levoglucosan at the picogram per milliliter
level in Antarctic ice by high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization triple quadrupole
mass spectrometry." Analytical Chemistry 80(5): 1649-1655.
Simoneit, B. R. T. (2002). "Biomass burning - A review of organic tracers for smoke from incomplete
combustion." Applied Geochemistry 17(3): 129-162.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
41
Poster
HOLOCENE CHRONOLOGY, STRATIGRAPHY AND STABLE ISOTOPE RECORD OF RIO
MARTINO CAVE (ALPI MARITTIME, NORTHERN ITALY)
Isola I.1, Regattieri E.2, Zanchetta G.2, Dallai L.3, Baneschi I.3, Hellstrom J.C.4, Drysdale R.N.5,
Magri F6, Giraudi C.7, Ribolini A.1, Monetato G.8
1
Istituto Nazionale di geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
3
Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources – CNR- Pisa, Italy
4
School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
5
Department of Resource Management and Geography, University of Melbourne, Australia
6
Associazione Gruppi Speleologici Piemontesi.
7
8
ENEA C.R. Saluggia 13040 Saluggia Vicenza, Italy
Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources – CNR – Torino, Italy
Rio Martino is an horizontal ca 3 km long cave located along the Po valley with the entrance at ca
1530 m asl (Magri, 2008). Large part of its catchment was substantially glaciated during the Last
Glacial maximum and probably during Late Glacial. Being currently in a state of intense activity
and flooding, especially during snow melt in spring (Magri, 2008), it is presumed that during the
last deglaciation significant concretion of the cave was prevented by intense fluvial activity and low
temperature. Under the financial support of the AGSP (Associazione Gruppi Speleologici
Pimemontesi) six cores were retrieved in three different part of the cave on several thick flowstones.
Preliminary U/Th dating indicate that flowstone concretion initiated at ca 10-11 ka, suggesting that
the upper catchment of the cave may have been interested by glacier cover with spring-summer
flooding until the Younger Dryas. Effectively, the core successions identified deposits of cemented
sand and gravel at the base of flowstone concretions, which may represent this phase of cave
flooding. The U/Th dating of the longest drilling suggests that the flowstone concretion along the
main gallery seems to occur continuously throughout the Holocene, whereas a flowstone collected
in a lateral, higher chamber, shows concretion only during early Holocene. Preliminary stable
isotope investigations give important insight on climatic evolution of this area.
Magri (ed.) 2008. La Grotta di Rio Martino (Valle Po – Piemonte). La Grafica Nuova, Torino.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
42
Poster
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE BETWEEN LATE GLACIAL AND HOLOCENE: NEW DATA
FROM THE COMO - PIAZZA VERDI DRILLING (N-ITALY, SOUTHERN ALPS)
Martinelli E.1, Motella S.1,2, Michetti A.M.1, Höbig N.3, Livio F.1, Tinner W.4, Reicherter K.3,
Castelletti L.2
1
Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, University of Insubria, Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como, Italy
Laboratorio di Archeobiologia dei Musei Civici di Como, Piazza Medaglie d’Oro, 1, 22100 Como, Italy
3
Neotectonics & Natural Hazards Group, RWTH Aachen University, Lochnerstraße, 4-20, 52056 Aachen,
Germany
4
Institute of Plant Sciences & Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern,
Altenbergrain, 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland.
2
Two continuous cores (S1 and S2), respectively 70 and 65 m of length, were extracted in 2005 in
Piazza Verdi, Como, at the end of the hydrologically closed W branch of Lake Como, the deepest
Italian lake, located in the centre of the Southern Alps. These cores provide the first detailed Late
Glacial to Holocene stratigraphic record for the Lake Como basin. Our research is aimed at
investigating the geological and environmental evolution of the Insubria Region. Specifically, one
question is the reconstruction of the natural and anthropogenic processes controlling the ground
subsidence in the Como urban area, e.g. Comerci et al. (2007). Geophysical, geotechnical,
sedimentological, palaeobotanical and radiocarbon analyses have been performed on core S1, and
are still in progress on core S2. Other issues are the reconstruction of vegetation and land-use
dynamics.
In particular, 150 samples of vegetal macroremains have been collected in the palustrine deposits
along S1 core, down to 31.00 m. Below this depth (dated 14C 12,496±55 yr BP – 15,050-14,250 cal
yr BP), the amount of plant macroremains in the sediment drops dramatically. The taxonomic
determination was carried out on more than 800 macroremains, represented by fragments of wood,
leaves, needles, seeds, fruits, mosses and tiny charcoals (Motella, 2009, unpublished PhD Thesis).
Picea/Larix, Pinus sp., Juniperus with Betula, found in the deeper levels (30.80-30.00 m), are the
first arboreal taxa that colonized the shores of Lake Como, and show that the reforestation began in
this area about 16,000 years ago. At 25.10 m, most likely during the early Holocene Abies alba
expanded. Later on (25.00 m upwards) mixed deciduous forests became important. From 7.32 m to
30.80 m in depth gametophytes of mosses are attested, with 19 species, typical of different
ecological contexts.
Preliminary results of palynological analysis, carried out until now along core S2 between 35.04 to
18.12 m in depth, show a lower part of the sequence (35.04 - 31.16 m) corresponding to the Late
Glacial and reflecting vegetation changes related to natural climatic variability, with an alternation
of communities typical of cold (Poaceae, Artemisia, Juniperus, Pinus and Betula) and temperate
climates (e.g. Quercus). Later, during the Holocene, forests composed by mostly deciduous
broadleaves and Abies alba expanded. During the mid and late Holocene human impact increased
and modified vegetation. This is shown by the increase of herbs and heliofilous shrubs (26.51 m),
typical of deforested spaces for fields and pastures. Human exploitation of wood is represented for
example by the dramatic decline of Abies alba (24.97 m). Finally, the increase of Cerealia (19.39
m) is clearly related to intensified agricultural activities. The results of further palaeobotanical and
geophysical analyses which are in progress will be presented during the meeting. Researches
realized within the project of Italy-Switzerland Cooperation SITINET “Censimento, valorizzazione
e messa in rete di siti geologici e archeologici” (Census, increase of value and computerization of
geological and archaeological sites). Interreg IV A “Geo-Archeositi dell’Insubria” (GeoArchaeosites of Insubria).
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
43
Poster
Comerci V., Capelletti S., Michetti A.M., Rossi S., Serva L., Vittori E., 2007. Land subsidence and
late glacial environmental evolution of the Como urban area (Northern Italy). Quaternary
International 173-174, 67-86.
Motella S., 2009. Evoluzione del paesaggio nel bacino del lago di Como: nuovi dati per la
ricostruzione della vegetazione tra Tardiglaciale e Olocene a Sud delle Alpi in base allo studio dei
macroresti botanici del sondaggio di Piazza Verdi a Como. Tesi di Dottorato in Scienze Ambientali.
Università degli Studi dell’Insubria. Inedito.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
44
Poster
ACTIVE EARTHFLOW SEDIMENT PRODUCTION AND HOLOCENE SEDIMENT RECORD
IN THE RENO CATCHMENT (NORTHERN APENNINES)
Ponza A.1, Picotti V.1, Simoni A.1, Berti M.1, Dinelli E.1,
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geologico-Ambientali, University of Bologna, Via Zamboni 67,
40126, Bologna, Italy.
In the Ligurian shales of the Reno catchment, landscape evolution is dominated by earthflows
controlling hillslope angle and supplying sediments to the channel network. We estimate present
day (last 20 yr) hillslope sediment flux by combining landslide displacement rates (72
inclinometers), geometries (area/depth) and historical frequency. The connectivity between
hillslopes and the channel network is well developed and no significant sediment sinks influence the
sediment transport, if we except check-dams. The dominant landslide activity documents hillslopes
at their limiting angle, therefore no long therm relief variation is possible and the landscape is
considered in steady state e.g. Cyr and Granger (2008). We explore the source to sink at different
time scales shorter than Holocene and in the range of 10 to 1000 yr. Coarse limestone clasts,
originally embedded into the shales, are used as tracer of the Ligurian landslides supplying the
channel network. These clasts have been measured in terraces and fan, where borehole logs,
datings, archaeological findings allow a stratigraphic correlation of Holocene (12000 yr) and postroman (1500 yr) gravel units. We add to these measures the volume of limestone dissolved by the
river. The present hillslope sediment production (~51700 m3/yr) outpaces Holocene-averaged
sedimentation rate (~24.300 m3/yr) by a factor of two. Post-Roman sedimentation rate likely equal
Holocene rate. Recent bedload estimates of the Reno e.g. Preciso et al., (2011), evidence a decrease
of sediment transport (last fifty years): to explain these data, we should evaluate the important
mining occurring in the river bed.
Cyr A.J., Granger D.E., 2008. Dynamic equilibrium among erosion, river incision, and coastal uplift
in the northern and central Apennines, Italy. Geology 36 (2), 103-106, doi: 10.1130/G24003A.1
Preciso E., Salemi E., Billi P., 2011. Land use changes, torrent control works and sediment mining:
effects on channel morphology and sediment flux, case study of the Reno River (Northern Italy).
Hydrological Processes, DOI: 10.1002/hyp.8202.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
45
Poster
STRATIGRAPHY, CHRONOLOGY AND STABLE ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY OF
RENELLA CAVE FLOWSTONES (APUAN ALPS, CENTRAL ITALY) FROM YOUNGER
DRYAS TO HOLOCENE
Zhornyak L.1, Zanchetta G.1, Regattieri E.1, Drysdale R.N.2, Piccini L.3, Hellstrom J.C.4, Isola I.5,
Dallai L.6
1
2
Department of Resource Management and Geography, University of Melbourne, Australia
3
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Firenze, Firenze Italy
4
5
Istituto Nazionale di geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
6
Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse – CNR- Pisa, Italy
Buca della Renella is a small active cave located in the Figrido valley (Apuan Alps), which has a
notable succession of flowstones discontinuously growth between the Late Glacial and Holocene
(Drysdale et al., 2006; Zhornyak et al., 2011). The upper gallery is well above the ordinary level of
cave flooding and it was similarly in the past. Therefore, the upper gallery is particularly suited for
the formation of speleothems but also for preserving clastic layer related to “unusual” severe
flooding events (Zhornyak et al., 2011). Stratigraphic analyses and U/Th dating allow to recognise
at least three main phases of flowstone formation separates by hiatuses, erosive surface and
deposition of clastic layers. The first dated phase of concretion, which probably correspond to the
Younger Dryas (one U/Th age yielded ca. 12.5 kyr), seals a first gravel deposit and is partially
characterised by deposition of white aragonite flowstone with interbedded thin sandy layers. This
first and second chemical deposition phases are separated by an erosional surface characterised by
presence of millimetric layer of sands, indicating the recurrent occurrence of flooding events. The
second phase of concretion is dated between ca. 11 ka to ca. 8 ka and it is characterised by thinly
laminated calcitic flowstone. An important phase of clastic deposition, lasting ca. 1000 yr, separates
the first Holocene flowstone from the upper one, which seems to span from ca. 7 ka to 1 ka, again
characterised by thinly laminated calcitic flowstone. The oxygen isotope composition of the two
Holocene flowstones suggests an early Holocene mostly characterised by lower oxygen isotope
composition compared to the younger Holocene flowstone, as similarly observed in the isotope
records of the nearby Corchia Cave (Zanchetta et al., 2007). However, Renella cave reveals a more
marked oxygen isotope variability linked to different hydrological response compared to Corchia
cave.
Drysdale, R.N., Zanchetta, G., Hellstrom, J.C., Maas, R., Fallick, A.E., Pickett, M., Cartwright, I.,
Piccini, L., 2006. Late Holocene drought responsible for the collapse of old World civilizations is
recorded in an Italian cave flowstone. Geology 34, 101-104.
Zanchetta, G., Drysdale, R.N., Hellstrom, J.C., Fallick, A.E., Isola, I., Gagan, M., Pareschi, M.T.,
2007b. Enhanced rainfall in the western Mediterranean during deposition of sapropel S1: stalagmite
evidence from Corchia cave (Central Italy). Quaternary Science Reviews 26, 279-286.
Zhornyak L.V., Zanchetta G., Drysdale R.N., Hellstrom J.C., Isola I., Regattieri E., Piccini L.,
Baneschi I., Couchoud I., 2011. Stratigraphic evidence for a “pluvial phase” between ca 8200-7100
ka from Renella cave (Central Italy). Quaternary Science Reviews, 30, 409-417.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
46
ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE AND HUMAN IMPACT: THE
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
Chairmen: Mauro Cremaschi, Letizia Gualandi and Adriana Moroni
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
47
Oral Presentation
Session: Environment, climate and human impact: the archaeological evidence
SETTLEMENT STRATEGIES AND ENVIRONMENT: A GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL
APPROACH TO THE SARDINIAN BRONZE AGE CONTEXT
Cadeddu, F.1,2, Balvis, T.1, Muntoni, F.1
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Cagliari, Via Trentino 51, 09127, Cagliari, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, University of Udine, via Mazzini 3, 33100, Udine, Italy
The relationship between human societies and landscape have important impacts in the
Mediterranean regions. Furthermore considering the quick evolution of the landscape and the deep
impact of ancient societies over the environment, a better knowledge of archaeological areas is
called for, to organize interventions and territorial planning.
The island of Sardinia is one of the most struck regions by the climatic changes and is where the
Nuragic civilization took place, a long lasting culture, spanning from the Middle Bronze age (ca.
1600 b.C.) to the first Iron age, that marked Sardinia’s landscape with monumental architectures.
The aim of this paper is to highlight new aspects in the settlement organization to better understand
the socio-political and economic organization of the Nuragic civilization. On the basis of new
methodologies and a multidisciplinary perspective, this research will attempt to test the reliability of
the hypothesis proposed by scholars in the last 50 years, so-called “sistema cantonale” (cantonal
system).
This approach, based on geoarchaeology and on the use of GIS, allows to create a model for
realizing the repeatability, in the full respect of scientific method. Moreover GIS software is useful
for visualizing at once archaeological spatial patterns and for analyzing the relationship between
environment and human communities, to obtain a statistically significant sample of cases to test the
starting assumption.
Even though is meant to be preliminary, the paper will deal with some methodologies applied to
different nuragic context and with the means used to obtain them. In addition the evaluation of the
relationship between archaeological data and landscape will be outlined, through the use of the
Earth Oservation (EO) methodologies, based on the analysis of aerial photographs and remote
sensing imagery, showing how and to what extent an integrate approach could shed new light of
different facets of the Nuragic Sardinia.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
48
Oral Presentation
SUB-BOREAL AGGRADATION ALONG THE APENNINE MARGIN OF THE CENTRAL PO
PLAIN: GEOMORPHOLOGICAL AND GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL ASPECTS
Cremaschi M.1,2, Nicosia C.1, Zerboni A.1,2
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “A. Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via L. Mangiagalli 34, I20133 Milano, Italy
2
C.N.R.-I.D.P.A., Via L. Mangiagalli 34, I-20133 Milano, Italy
The Apennine foothills at the southern limit of the Po plain consist of a belt of coalescent, gravelly,
alluvial fans, trending to the north, towards the depocenter of the plain. Their aggradation is
generally considered to have been controlled by climate and linked to the glacial periods of the
Middle and Upper Pleistocene. At the transition from the Upper Pleistocene to the Holocene,
aggradation of most of the alluvial fans stopped and their surface was subject to weathering, which
resulted in deep, rubified Alfisols. These developed mainly during the Boreal and Atlantic periods.
Beginning in the Sub-Boreal period, fine-textured alluvial deposits buried the distal margin of the
alluvial fans and the soils developed on them, constituting a fundamental change in the pedosedimentary processes. These deposits consist of fine-sized sediments of overbank facies, organized
in fining upward sets and intercalated by buried Entisols, Inceptisols and Vertisols. The
accumulation of floodplain sediments on the margin of the alluvial fans, after the prevailing
weathering on their top, is related to the climatic change that occured between the end of the
Postglacial Hypsithermal period and the beginning of the Neoglacial period. The soils on top of the
alluvial fans and in later alluvial deposits show intensive human use and occupation from the
Neolithic to the early Bronze Age, and witness a significant change in land exploitation during the
Atlantic/Sub-Boreal transition. During the Neolithic (Atlantic period), agricultural practices linked
to shifting agriculture had minimal impact on the vegetation mantle and were limited to the plain
areas. At some sites (Via Guidorossi and Vicofertile in the outskirts of Parma; Cave Spalletti, in the
province of Reggio Emilia), traces of middle Neolithic agricultural practices were identified. During
the Chalcolithic and the early Bronze Age (Sub-Boreal period) a rather different mode of land use
was adopted, as the result of the newly introduced transhumant pastoralism. Deforestation through
slash and burn techniques was very intense and widespread, extending far beyond the boundary of
the plain, deep inside the mountain range, affecting the Po Plain and the adjoining Apennines and
Alps. This case study presents an argument for seeing climate change and human activity
(deforestation by fire, agriculture and pastoralism) as synergic phenomena that shaped the
prehistoric landscape of the Po plain.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
49
Oral Presentation
INSIGHTS INTO LATE-ANTIQUITY GEOENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. DATA FROM
THE EMILIA REGION (ITALY).
Cremonini S. 1, Labate D. 2, Curina R. 2
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geologico-Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Bologna, Via
Zamboni 67, Bologna
2
Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Emilia-Romagna, Via Belle Arti 52,
Almost all of the geomorphic units hitherto preserved and recognized in the Emilia-Romagna
alluvial plains postdate the classical Roman period. A gross splitting recognizes a major subdivision
into two avulsion families, i.e. a recent one developing mainly during the Common Age I a broad
sense (12th century-early 13th century), and an older one dating back to the late-antiquity period (5th6th century AD). For about forty years scientific grey-literature (i.e. local publications) exists
dealing with the environmental deterioration characterising late-antiquity and its causal links with a
peculiar climate change (the so-called “Pauli Diaconi Deluge”) which occurred at the end of the
6th century AD. The research performed by the Emilia-Romagna Regional Bureau for the
Archaeology (Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici) over the last twenty years, especially in the
cities and surroundings of Modena and Bologna, has allowed us to better define the timing of a
more articulated alluviation history. Considering the peculiar nature of these two landscape tassels
as an “environmental sediment-gauge”, a preliminary clustering of the sedimentary episodes
occurring can be suggested as follows: a first group was precocious, developing from the second
half of the 1st century AD up to the end of the 4th, and was probably characterized by the
sedimentation of relatively finer-sized materials in respect to the subsequent period. The second
group (dating back from the end of the 5th to the end of the 6th century AD) represents a severe siltysandy riverbed aggradation phase leading to upper nodal avulsions. Hence, the evolution of the
riverbeds appears to be more similar to a variously modulated continuum rather than a reaction to a
unique climatic pulse. The landscape response to anthropogenic stress phases might well have to be
rethought also taking into account hillslope clearance/reafforestation cycles apart from the
economic and political crisis of the 3rd century AD alone.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
50
Oral Presentation
GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE AND WRITTEN SOURCES OF THE MEDIEVAL
“DILUVIUM”: A STRONG NATURAL PHASE AFTER THE ROMAN ANTHROPOGENIC
PERIOD?
Fontana A.1, Mozzi P.1, Gelichi S.2, Negrelli C. 2, Piovan S.3
1
2
Dipartimento di Geoscienze, University of Padua, Via Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, sezione di Pisa, Via della Faggiola 32, 56100 Pisa, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche Geografiche Mondo Antico, University of Padua, Via Del Santo 26,
35123 Padova, Italy
In the Mediterranean area and especially in Italy the Roman Age corresponds to a period of heavy
and evident human impact on the environment, which in many places coincides with a general
geomorphological stability. In the period following the collapse of the Roman Empire (namely the
5th-8th centuries AD), strong alluvial processes occurred in Northern Italy, triggering a fast and
strong sedimentary phase that led many large Alpine rivers to avulse. Major changes are clearly
documented in the alluvial systems of Adige, Brenta, Piave, Livenza, Tagliamento and Isonzo
rivers; the major episodes are represented by the so-called “Rotta della Cucca” (Adige R.) and the
floods which buried Concordia Sagittaria (Tagliamento R.). An important phase of reactivation also
affected several of the alluvial cones in the valleys of Trentino and Alto Adige, as well the cones
fed by the Apennine streams which prograde towards the Po Plain (e.g. near Modena). In the same
period an important alluvial deposition is recorded also in other areas of the Italian peninsula (e.g.
Florence and Rome). Since early studies, many Authors considered this Early Medieval period both
for its archaeological and geomorphic importance, trying to sort out the natural from the humaninduced component. Several papers stressed the importance of the coincidence between an
important natural event/events and the lack of territorial management, particularly when compared
to the strong anthropogenic control occurred in the centuries before.
New geomorphologic and stratigraphic evidence from NE Italy support the assessment of the
magnitude of the natural component (mainly driven by climate) of the alluvial processes occurred in
the early Middle Ages; moreover, the chronological information allow to constrain the main alluvial
phase between the second half of the 6th and the first part of the 7th century thus, confirming the
importance of so-called “Diluvium” described by the Lombard historian Paolo Diacono and dated
589 AD.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
51
Oral Presentation
CLIMATE AND HUMAN IMPACT IN EASTERN ANATOLIA: THE STUDY OF STABLE
CARBON ISOTOPE ON PLANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL MACROREMAINS
Masi A.1, Baneschi I.2, Sadori L. 1, Zanchetta G.3
1
Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università “La Sapienza”, Roma, Italy
2
Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse-CNR, Pisa, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Italy
The response of trees to climate change is a basic tool in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.
Sometimes in archaeological context plant remains are preserved, mostly as charcoals and charred
seeds/fruits. The variations in archaeobotanical assemblages can be both the effect of climate
change and human interaction with vegetation. Disentangling the two causes is a hard and quite
impossible task in absence of environmental data not influenced by human impact.
A high potential for investigating relationships between past societies and their wider environments
comes from the application of stable carbon isotope studies on archaeobotanical material
(Fiorentino et al. 2008; Riehl 2008).
Isotopic composition of plant provides climatic data not depending on human selection of plants.
Specifically 13C/12C ratio of plants is a sensitive bioindicator of the way according which the
components of air and, above all, water have been archived in the plant (Farquhar et al. 1989).
The archaeological site of Arslantepe is located in the Malatya plain (Eastern Anatolia). A series of
settlements built and destroyed in five thousands years of almost uninterrupted occupation created a
hill, 30 m high. The archaeological survey has been bringing to light extraordinary remains of past
cultures of Eastern Anatolia from the Late Chalcolithic to the Roman Age.
The archaeobotanical investigation provided evidence of important changes in woody taxa during
the considered period. Carbon isotope content has been used to assign the right palaeoclimatic
meaning to timber changes.
Stable carbon isotope analysis has been carried out both on caryopses of barley and emmer and on
ancient and present-day plants of juniper and deciduous oak.
Some trends are recognizable in archaeobotanical data (dated from 3350-2000 BC). The
comparison between modern and archaeobotanical samples shows a present-day increase in aridity.
The caryopses analysis provided information on the hydric condition of crops during the growth
pointing out some differences between ancient emmer and barley.
Fiorentino G., Caracuta V., Calcagnile L., D'elia M., Matthiae P., Mavelli F., Quarta G., 2008.
Third millennium B.C. climate change in Syria highlighted by Carbon stable isotope analysis of
14
C-AMS dated plant remains from Ebla. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 266,
51–58.
Riehl S., 2008. Climate and agriculture in the ancient Near East: a synthesis of the archaeobotanical
and stable carbon isotope evidence. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 17 (Suppl 1), S43–S51.
Farquhar G.D., Ehleringer J.R., Hubik, K.T. 1989. Carbon isotope discrimination and
photosynthesis. Annual Review of Plant Physiology, 40, 503-537.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
52
Oral Presentation
HUMAN IMPACT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AS SHOWN BY POLLEN FROM
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES (HOLOCENE, CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN)
Mercuri A.M.
Laboratorio di Palinologia e Paleobotanica, Dipartimento di Biologia, University of Modena and Reggio
Emilia, Viale Caduti in Guerra 127, 41121 Modena, Italy
Most of the biological archives, including pollen, upon which past environmental reconstructions
are based, respond to both climate change and human impact. The significance of biological records
in regions where changes occurred frequently, and sometimes rapidly, such as the central
Mediterranean, may be unclear as different forces may originate their assemblages.
The presentation reports pollen analyses from archaeological sites that are clear examples of
presence and activities of human groups in their territories. A comparison between pollen data from
a mid-late Holocene marine core (RF93-30) and a Middle-Recent Bronze age archaeological site
(Terramara di Montale) both with evidence of climate changes and human impact is discussed
(Mercuri et al. in press).
The regression in the natural forest vegetation, both deciduous and evergreen trees, is visible from
the mid-Holocene, and mainly in the late Holocene in RF93-30. An increasing dryness is
discernible by the decrease of Fagus since after 5700 cal B.P., and continuing gradually since at
least 4780 cal B.P. Later, after an aridity phase at 4500–4000 cal B.P., human impact introduces
rapid vegetation changes especially clear in the two records. Particularly, these actions are the fall
of silver fir (thinned by the decrease of precipitations and further cut before/at the early Bronze age)
and subsequent fall of oaks at around 3600 cal B.P.
Xeric environments, represented by Cichorieae, resulted from the continuative human impact, and
spread since the Recent Bronze age. Grasslands have continued to be browsed by domestic animals
in many districts of the Mediterranean basin for millennia, in southern Italy as well as in central
Sahara, and the effects of aridification were enhanced by the (over)-exploitation of lands.
Mercuri, A.M., Bandini Mazzanti, M., Torri, P., Vigliotti, L., Bosi, G., Florenzano, A., Olmi, L.,
Massamba N’siala, I.,. A marine/terrestrial integration for mid-late Holocene vegetation history and
the development of the cultural landscape in the Po Valley as a result of human impact and climate
change. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, in press.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
53
Oral Presentation
CLIMATE CHANGES, ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN AGENCIES: TYRRHENIAN COAST
CASE STUDIES AND THE MEDITERRANEAN FRAME
Pasquinucci M¹., Menchelli S.¹, Genovesi S.¹
1
Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche del Mondo Antico, University of Pisa, Via Galvani 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Interdisciplinary studies provide evidence of the close relationships among climate changes,
environment and anthropic activities. Since the mid XX century Prehistoric and Protohistoric
researches have reached relevant achievements in this study field. More recently the same topics
started being discussed also for later ages, based on interdisciplinary studies including
archaeological,
documentary
and
historical
evidence.
In this paper some key periods and case studies will be presented concerning general phenomena
documented in Mediterranean coastal districts and, in particular, the evidence (partly unpublished)
provided by multidisciplinary researches in a few sectors of the Tyrrhenian coastal strip and their
hinterlands:
− Bronze-Iron ages changing landscapes: settlement patterns and human activities between
dunes and lagoons (Pasquinucci and Menchelli 2009).
− Second cent. B.C. coastal progradation due both to the late Roman Republican colonization
impact and to an intense rainfalls phase. Catastrophic events result to have affected Etruria
and several areas in the Mediterranean region (Leveau 2006; Leveau 2009).
− Silting up process of Republican/early Imperial harbour basins: Ducci et al.(2005);
Stefaniuk et al.(2007).
− Late Roman-early Medieval humid-cold phase: environment and human activities during the
“deluge” (Diluvium: Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum III, 23 concerning mid
sixth cent. A.D.).
Allinne C., 2008, L'évolution du climat a l'époque romaine en Méditerranée occidentale: aperçu
historiographique et nouvelles approches, in Hermon 2008, 89-97.
Ducci S., Pasquinucci M., Genovesi S., 2005, La scoperta di Portus Pisanus, in Marcucci C.,
Megale C. (a cura di), Valorizzazione e ricerche, Atti Convegno Rete Archeologica. Provincia di
Livorno, Livorno 2004, 29-44.
Hermon E. (ed.), 2008, Vers une gestion intégrée de l'eau dans l'Empire Romain, Actes di Colloque
International (Université de Laval, 2006), Roma.
Hermon E. (ed.), 2009, Sociétés et climats dans l’Empire romain, Napoli.
Leveau P., 2006, Les inondations du Tibre à Rome: politiques publiques et variations climatiques à
l'époque romaine, in Hermon (2006), 137-146.
Leveau P., 2009, Les conditions environnementals dans le nord de l'Afrique à l'époque romaine.
Contribution historiographique à l'histoire du climat et des relations homme/milieu, in Hermon
2009, 309-348.
Pasquinucci M., Menchelli S., Variazioni climatiche nella Toscana nord-occidentale : indagini
multidisciplianari e prime riflessioni, in Hermon (2009), 377-388.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Oral Presentation
Stefaniuk L., Roumieux C., Morhange Ch., Pasquinucci M., 2007, Dynamiques environnementales
du complexe deltaïque Arno/Calambrone à l’Holocène récent et localisations des ports de
Pise/Livourne, poster, Archéometrie ’07, Colloque du G.M.P.C.A., Aix-en-Provence (2007).
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Oral Presentation
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES ALONG THE COASTAL SECTOR BETWEEN PARTHENOPE
AND PAUSILYPON DURING THE LAST 5000 YEARS (NAPLES, ITALY)
Romano P.1, Cinque A.1, Detta F.1, Liuzza V.1, Ruello M.R.1, Di Vito M.2, Giampaola D.3, Bartoli
C.3, Boenzi G.3, Di Marco M.3, Giglio M.3, Iodice S.3
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Napoli Federico II, Largo S. Marcellino 10, 80138 Napoli
2
Osservatorio Vesuviano, INGV, Via Diocleziano 328, 80124, Napoli, Italia
3
Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei, Piazza Museo 19, 80135 Napoli
The geo-archaeological excavations carried out in Naples during the last decades in occasion of the
subway construction have led to sensible increasing in the knowledge about the history of the
ancient town during the Greco-Roman period. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the urban area
and of the bay hosting the port activities since the IV century BC have been published by Amato et
al., Carsana et al., Cinque et al., in 2009 and in 2011. In this paper, we present the first data
concerning the paleoenvironments of the western coasts of Naples, located between the Pausilypon
promontory and the Monte Echia hill, where Parthenope was settled. The reconstructions are based
on sedimentary facies analyses performed by in-situ observations and on laboratory analysis
(chemical, texture and paleontological) of samples taken from the exposed sections. The
paleoenvironmental changes are carefully chronological constrained thanks to the tephra layers and
the archaeological remains preserved in the examined layers.
The main results highlight that after a period of sea-cliff formation at the base of the rocky coastal
slopes, a progradational shoreline tendency is recorded starting from 5000 yBP, as decreasing in the
rate of the eustatic sea level rise occurs. In spite of some subsidence affecting the area due to the
volcano-tectonics of the Phlegrean Field, advancing in the shoreline positions is still recorded
during the Greco-Roman period. This phase ends during the Late Ancient with the establishment of
a backshore environment at the base of the paleo-sea cliffs. After a hiatus in the sedimentation
covering the first part of the Middle Age, the shoreline is than affected by short fluctuations for a
period comprised between the XII and the XVII century AD. Finally, the coast attains its present
position during the Modern Age when anthropogenic reshaping of its profile was carried out.
This general trend is quite consistent with the climate-induced paleoenvironmental changes as it fits
with the late Holocene climatic changes reconstructed from proxies for northwestern Europe
(Butgen, 2011). Nevertheless, prograding phases could have been enhanced by the human pressure
on the surrounding slopes and biostatic phases, as the one occurred during the warm Middle Age,
should have fallen in strong relation with naturalization of the slopes induced by periods of social
crisis and depopulation.
Amato L., Carsana V., Cinque A., Di Donato V., Giampaola D., Guastaferro C., Irollo L.,
Morhange C., Perriello Zampelli S., Romano P., Ruello M.R., Russo Ermolli E., 2009.
Geomorphological reconstructions in Naples. The late Pleistocene – Holocene evolution and the
historical palaeo-shorelines. Mediterraneè, 112, 23-31.
Butgen U., Tegel W., Nicolussi K., McCormik M., Frank D., Truet V., Kaplan J.O. Herzig F.,
Heussner K., Wanner H., Luterbacher J., Esper J., 2011. 2500 years of European climate variability
and human susceptibility. Science 311, 578-582.
Carsana V., Febbraro S., Giampaola D., Guastaferro C., Irollo G., Ruello M. R., 2009. Evolution of
the coastal landscape between Parthenope and Neapolis. Mediterraneè, 112, 15-22.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Oral Presentation
Cinque A., Irollo G., Romano P., Ruello M. R., Amato L., Giampaola D., 2011. Gruond movements
and sea level changes in urban areas: 5000 years of geological and archaeological record from
Naples (Southern Italy). Quaternary International 232, 45-55.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Oral Presentation
GRICIGNANO D’AVERSA (CE) AND THE AGRARIAN IMPACT IN THE PIANA CAMPANA
AROUND 2.000 BCE
Saccoccio F.1, Marzocchella A.2, Vanzetti A.3
1
"Sapienza" Università di Roma, Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, via Palestro 63, 00185, Roma, Italy
Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei Piazza Museo 19, 80135, Napoli, Italy
3
"Sapienza" Università di Roma, Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, via Palestro 63, 00185, Roma, Italy
2
The overall review of the pre- and protohistoric agrarian traces found at Gricignano d’Aversa/U.S.
Navy (CE), in the course of the research held by the Soprintendenza per i BB.AA. della Campania
and the Soprintendenza al Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico “L.Pigorini” (1995-2005), has
allowed us to describe the structure of land partitioning over about 60 ha. Particularly clear is the
consistent pattern of the fields underlying the Early Bronze Age eruption of the “Pomici di
Avellino” (1935-1880 a.C., Passariello I. et al. 2009). Anyway, this is the final outcome of a series
of agrarian infrastructures which were realized since the advanced Copper Age, over the Phlegrean
eruption of Agnano Monte Spina (4130±50 BP, de Vita et al., 1999).
The Gricignano case gives us the opportunity to review the available data on the protohistoric
agrarian impact in the Piana Campana. In fact, the continuously increasing discoveries of agrarian
and settlement traces, lead to the certainty of an intense occupation of the area. The particular
fertility of the volcanic soils, combined with a significant input of labour for the infrastructures such as irrigation and / or drainage ditches, as well as cart-tracks, made possible the intense
occupation and exploitation of the territory. This process, properly culminating in the EBA,
apparently occurs in continuity with the territory organization identified as for the Copper Age,
when open villages were preferentially located in direct contact with the primary arable land, and
were subject to periodic dislocations.
Passariello I., Albore Livadie C., Talamo P., D’Onofrio A., Lubritto C., Terrasi F., 2009. 14C
chronology of “Avellino Pumices” eruption and timing of human re-occupation of the devasted
region. Radiocarbon 51(2): 803-816.
de Vita S., Orsi G., Civetta L., Carandente A., D’Antonio M., Deino A., di Cesare T., Di Vito MA.,
Fisher R.V., Isaia R., Marotta E., Necco A., Ort M., Pappalardo L., Piochi M. and Southon J., 1999.
The Agnano-Monte Spina eruption (4100 years BP) in the restless Campi Flegreicaldera (Italy).
Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 91: 269-301
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
58
Oral Presentation
FOREST COVER, RURAL LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
FROM THE LATE NEOLITHIC TO THE EARLY IRON AGE
IN THE GARDA AREA AND THE CENTRAL PO PLAIN
Zanon M.1,2; Badino F.1,3; Perego R.1,4
1
2
C.N.R. – IDPA, Section of Milano, Via Pasubio 5, 24044 Dalmine, Bergamo (Italy);
ARVE Group, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Station 2, 1015 Lausanne (Switzerland);
3
DISAT - Bicocca-University, P.zza della Scienza 1, 20126 Milano (Italy);
4
IPNA – Basel University, Spalenring 145 CH-4055 Basel
Several pile-dwellings and Terramare settlements are known between the glacial amphitheatre of
the Garda Lake and the Central Po Plain. A few of them had recently undergone multidisciplinary
palaeoenvironmental investigations, including palynology, plant macroremains analysis,
geochronology, and sediment stratigraphy. Here, we first compare the Bronze Age landscape
development from a geographical perspective. Five time windows will be presented according to
the archaeological periodization (Early Bronze Age; Middle Bronze Age; Late Bronze Age plus, for
an appropriate comparison between pre- and post- Bronze Age situation, Late Neolithic/Calcolithic
and Early Iron Age). We consider the following parameters derived from pollen records: arboreal
pollen and related forest cover values, xerophytes, and anthropogenic species with particular
attention to cereals and weeds. In the presentation of pollen data, we take into account the sampling
location in relation to cultural activities, i.e. distinguishing on-site / off-site positions, as shown by
archaeological evidence and sediment properties. In a second step of the palaeoenvironmental
analysis, we focus on a few, fine resolution records extracted from continuous waterlogged
lacustrine successions, allowing a chronological resolution of less than a hundred years. We depict
the history of environmental and settlement changes, and of local climate conditions between 2200
and 1400 years cal BC. The evidence on lake level changes and river avulsions is presented and
discussed.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
59
Poster
HOLOCENE PALAEOGEOGRAPHICAL AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL
RECONSTRUCTIONS OF THE MESSARA ALLUVIAL-COASTAL PLAIN (SOUTHERN
CRETE, GREECE): THE PHAISTOS PROJECT AND THE DIKIDA PROGRAM
Amato V. 1, 2, Longo F. 2, Rossi A. 2, Ghilardi M. 3, Psomiadis D. 3, Sinibaldi L. 3, Colleu M. 4
1
Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie per l’Ambiente ed il Territorio, Università del Molise, C.da F.
Lappone, 86090 Pesche (IS), Italy
2
Dip. di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale, Università di Salerno, Via P. don Melillo, 84024 Fisciano (SA),
Italy
3
CEREGE UMR 7330 CNRS Europôle de l'Arbois BP 80 13545 Aix-en-Provence CEDEX 04 France
4
University of Paris Sorbonne, 75005 Paris, France
The Yeropotamos alluvial-coastal plain (Southern Crete, Greece) lies on the E-W oriented graben of
the Messara, which is mainly constituted by Late Pleistocene and Holocene alluvial, fluvial-marshy,
slope and coastal deposits. All the Messara basin is characterized by important seismicity, which
caused damages and destructions on several archaeological settlements of Minoan, Hellenistic and
Roman age. Within the PHAISTOS project and the DIKIDA program, in order to reconstruct the
Holocene paleogeographical and paleoenvironmental evolution, in relation to the settling history of
the Messara, new archeo-stratigraphical and geomorphological studies were carried out. The
geomorphological approach, based on 1:5.000 and 1:10.000 cartography, photo-aerial remote
sensing and field-survey allowed to identify the main landscape units and helped to better
understand the ancient and the present-day morphodynamics, mainly induced by climatic changes,
tectonic, and man. This approach distinguished the areas under aggradation and erosion processes
during the Holocene times, in order to provide useful data about presence/absence of archaeological
remains and traces. The archaeo-stratigraphical approach was based on field-survey and new drilled
cores, supported by facies analyses and age-constrained by 14C and archeological datings.
Preliminary data from the cores drilled in the Grya Saita area, a large fluvial-marshy depression
located near the Festos archaeological site, identified the main palaeoenvironmental changes
occurred during the Holocene. For the Holocene coastal evolution the available data allow to
suppose that the Minoan shoreline was very close to the Festos and Agia Triada settlements,
forming a ria into the Yeropotamos alluvial-coastal plain. Then the shoreline rapidly shifted
westwards, forming prograding barrier-lagoon systems, that existed until very recent times. The
main causes of the shoreline progradation can be related to the decrease of the sea level rise rate
together with the increase of the sediment load by the rivers, connected to the more intense land use
by Minoans, Greeks and Romans, and to the vertical land movements connected to the seismicity.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
60
Poster
TESTS OF A NEW LANGUAGE CODE TO FOSTER SCIENTIFIC EXCHANGE BETWEEN
ARCHAEOLOGISTS, GEOMORPHOLOGISTS AND SEDIMENTOLOGISTS: CREATING A
NEW LOG STYLE TO REPRESENT GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL RAW DATA FROM CORING
Bini M.1, Fabiani F.2, Giacomelli S.1,Gualandi M.L. 2, Pappalardo M. 1, Rossi V.3, Ribolini A. 1,
Sarti G.1
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Italy
Dipartimento di Scienze Archeologiche, Università di Pisa Italy
3
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geologico Ambientali, Università di Bologna, Italy
2
Pisa’s subsurface conceals witness of an extraordinary succession of landscapes in which man
impressed his action on natural environment since the Protostoric age.
The city represents, thus, a particularly valuable case study to highlight the story of such a
relationship. Achieving this goal requires an interdisciplinary approach combining the expertise of
Pisa University Earth and Human scientists. This research is carried out in the framework of the
broader project M.A.P.P.A. (Metodologie Applicate alla Predittività del Potenziale Archeologicowww.mappaproject.org-), funded by the Regional Board of Toscana and carried out by Pisa
University in cooperation with the Cultural Heritage Ministry and the Municipaliy of Pisa. The
project is aimed at contributing to the protection, research and governance of the city and of its
underground archaeological heritage.
Each disciplinary component of the working group addresses topics typical of one’s own discipline:
the archaeologists collect all archaeological evidence in any time ever found out in excavations
within the territory of the city, sedimentologists recognize the nature of palaeo environments
disclosed by sedimentary strata and geomorphologists infer palaeomorphology from them. The
main bet, though, is to create a new language code which fosters scientific exchange between the
different disciplines.
This approach will be tested creating a new log style to represent geoarchaeological raw data from
coring. What we propose is not merely a form where data from different disciplines are combined,
but the product of a mutual exchange carried out primarily during field and laboratory work.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
61
Poster
CLIMATE VERSUS HUMAN IMPACT FROM THE 6th C. BC TO THE 13th C. AD:
ANTHRACOLOGICAL DATA FROM THE SOUTHERN TYRRENIAN TUSCANY
Buonincontri M.1, Di Pasquale G.1
1
Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia vegetale, University of Naples “Federico II”, via
Università 100, Portici Napoli, Italy
This work shows the preliminary results of charcoal analyses aimed to study land use and forest
cover changes from 2600 BP to 700 BP in Southern Tuscany.
In order to attempt a multisite approach, six archaeological sites dated between the 6th c. BC to the
13th c. AD were selected along 100 km of the Tyrrhenian coast; from north to south the sites are:
the Castle of Donoratico, the Acropolis of Populonia, the Roman building of Vignale, the Roman
harbour of Spolverino near river Ombrone, the Roman temple area of Lo Scoglietto, the Etruscan
residence “Casa delle Anfore” in Marsiliana.
An average temperature of 14°-17° C and an average rainfall of 600-800 mm characterize the
climate of this area; the potential vegetation is represented both by Quercus ilex forest and
evergreen shrubland (macchia).
First preliminary data show that Quercus ilex forest and evergreen shrubland (e.g. Arbuts unedo,
Erica and Rhamnus/Phyllirea) dominate at the end of Etruscan period and during Late Medieval
period; deciduous taxa, especially Quercus, appear and dominate in the second half of the 1st c. BC
and during the Roman Empire (2nd-3th c. AD).
The results seem to show a strong relationship between the vegetation cover and the archaeological
dynamics of the area:
1. the presence of mixed deciduos forest matchs up with a period of settlement abandonment or
low human impact;
2. Quercus ilex forest and macchia spread in a period of strong land use;
3. mixed deciduous forest represents the potential vegetation.
In conclusion, the vegetation cover changes is related with the human impact and land exploitation
rather than with climate changes.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Poster
THE CHIANTI FOREST COVER (CENTRAL ITALY) IN THE 3rd MILLENNIUM BP:
THE CHARCOAL RECORD OF CETAMURA
(GAIOLE IN CHIANTI, SIENA)
Buonincontri M.1, T. de Grummond N.2, Cini F.3, Di Pasquale G.1
1
Università 100, Portici (Napoli, Italy
2
Department of Classics, Florida State University, 205A Dodd Hall, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1510
3
Ichnos: Archeologia, Ambiente e Sperimentazione s.c.r.l., via G. Fattori 29, Montelupo Fiorentino (Firenze,
Italy
Cetamura is an ancient hilltop settled by Etruscans and Romans, located in the heart of the Chianti
district of Tuscany, near Gaiole (province of Siena). The excavation results at Cetamura have
indicated multiple phases of Etruscan settlement from 2600 BP. During the Hellenistic period (2200
BP) comes extensive evidence of an Etruscan artisans' area, featuring a kiln and cisterns, adjoining
a sanctuary with surviving monumental stone foundations, multiple altars and votive deposits.
Roman baths of the early Roman Empire have been unearthed, as well as a medieval castrum, or
fortified village at the site in the 12th century. Documents of the abbey of Badia a Coltibuono, upon
the property of which the site is located, refer to the medieval settlement by the name of
Civitamura.
The climate of the area is characterized by an average temperature of 13°-14° C and an average
rainfall of 800-900 mm; residual chestnut groves represent the current vegetation, the potential
vegetation is deciduous Quercus forest. First preliminary data show that mixed deciduous forest,
with Quercus cerris, Quercus petraea, Ostrya carpinifolia and Fagus sylvatica, dominate during
the 4th c. and 3rd c. BC, while a mixed forest with both deciduous and evergreen species such as
Quercus cerris, Carpinus and Quercus ilex is present at the end of the 2nd c. BC.
The results seem to show that:
1. deciduous Quercus forest could be the potential vegetation;
2. during Etruscan Age, Quercus petraea and Fagus sylvatica were present; actually, these
taxa are very rare in the Chianti district;
3. Quercus ilex appears in the period where the site became an Etruscan artisans’ area, maybe
during the strongest land use.
In conclusion, the vegetation cover changes are related with the human impact and the land
exploitation, and can be considered the cause of the current scanty presence of some taxa as F.
sylvatica and Q. petraea.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
63
Poster
A MIXED FOREST OF DECIDUOUS OAK, SILVER FIR AND BEECH IN THE 1RD
MILLENNIUM B.C: THE CASE OF THE UPPER TIBER VALLEY (TREBBIO,
SANSEPOLCRO – AR)
Cocchiararo A.1,2, Pacciarelli M.2, Di Pasquale G.1
1
Laboratorio di Storia della vegetazione ed Anatomia del legno, Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e
Patologia Vegetale, Università Federico II di Napoli, Via Università 100, 80055 Portici, Napoli, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Discipline Storiche “E. Lepore”, Università Federico II di Napoli, Via Marina 33, 80133
Napoli, Italy
Archaeological excavations in Trebbio – Spinellina (Sansepolcro – AR) revealed a settlement
pertaining to a community of Umbrian facies. This site is archaeologically dated to the Iron Age
(VIII-VI cent. B.C.) and it is located on the left bank of the Tiber River, about 300 meters a.s.l., in
the valley of Sansepolcro and Città di Castello. This floodplain, at the present time, it’s covered by
riparial vegetation and on the mountain slopes there are mesophilous oak woods. At higher altitude
(900-1000 m) there are beech woods.
Few archaeobotanical data exist for this historic period and for the Upper Tiber Valley; our
anthracological data represent the first systematic study for this area.
The taxa identified are, in abundance order: Quercus deciduous, Abies alba, Juniperus, Quercus
ilex, Fagus sylvatica e Taxus baccata.
The results shows a wood selection well relate with the use: Abies alba, Taxus baccata and, in a
measure, Quercus deciduous were selected for buildings; other taxa such as Fagus sylvatica and
Quercus ilex were employed as fuel for their high heating values.
The beech is attested also in the Neolithic site of Consuma 1 (Pieve S. Stefano – AR) located North
of Upper Tiber Valley, about 360 meters a.s.l. The presence of mountain taxa, such as Abies and
Fagus, suggests the hypothesis that these species were growing at lower altitudes than today
probably in a mixed woodland with also deciduous oak. We hypothesize that the steady
disappearance of Fagus and Abies at these altitudes could be due to human activities rather than
climatic changes.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
64
Poster
LATE GLACIAL AND EARLY-MIDDLE HOLOCENE SETTLEMENT IN THE APUAN ALPS
AND NORTHERN APENNINE (CENTRAL ITALY) AND RELATION WITH CLIMATE
CONDITIONS.
Dini M.1, Tozzi C.1, Zanchetta G.2
1
Dipartimento di Scienze Archeologiche, University of Pisa, Via S. Maria 53, 56126 Pisa Italy
2
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, Via S.Maria 53, 56126 Pisa, Italy
During the Last Glacial maximum the Apuan region and the Northern Apennine above ca 1300 m
were covered by ice and were unsuitable for human settlement. It is only after the deglaciation and
the vegetation development with slope stabilization that the area became suitable for human
settlement, which is well documented since the final Epigravettian (Tozzi and Dini, 2007). In the
Serchio Valley the settlements of these hunter and gathered human groups where located in open
sites or in shallow caves along the rivers. Meanwhile, it is also well documented the colonization of
higher altitude areas (documented up to 1200 m asl) especially for supplying chert and jasper, as
witnessed by several findings at the Orecchiella. Despite a substantial continuity between the lithic
industries of the final Epigravettian and the Sauveterrian, the radiocarbon chronology suggests an
age gap of few centuries between these two technocomplex, with the beginning of the Mesolithic
not older than 9400 yr BP (Castelletti et al., 1994). A careful selection and collation of the
significant number of radiocarbon dates obtained for the area and the comparison with local
climatic curves now available from Corchia cave speleothems (Zanchetta et al., 2007) seems to
confirm previous suggestions that this age gap could be climatic in origin and related to part of the
Younger Dryas cold spell. A rapid growth of Mesolitic settlement is recorded by numerous finding
of sites up to, or above, 1800 m a.sl. Chronologically, the passage between Sauveterrian and
Castelnovian appears continuous and according to paleoclimatic curve from Corchia Cave this
corresponds very well with the transition to the wettest (warmer?) condition in the area. The number
of sites decrease substantially during the Neolithic (currently only three small sites are known, all
related to Early Neolithic). The sites seems to be characterised by short duration even if einkorn and
barley remains indicate the presence of agricultural practices. This period correspond to the end of
the wettest period documented in Corchia Cave. It is important to note that there is a substantial
chronological overlaps between the late Castelnovian, locally documented at Lama Lite, and the
Early Neolithic documented at Pian di Cerreto and Monte Frignone II. A general abandonment of
the area seems to occurs during the middle to late Neolithic, with a new evidences of reoccupation
during the Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages, with evidences of extensive forest clearance triggering
erosion processes.
Castelletti L., Maspero A., Tozzi C., 1994. Il popolamento della Valle del Serchio (toscana
settentrionale) durante il Tardiglaciale e l’Olocene antico. Monografie di Natura Bresciana, 20, pp.
189-204.
Tozzi C., Dini M., 2007. L’Epigravettiano finale nell’Alto Versante Tirrenico: casi studio dell’area
Toscana. L’Italia tra 15.000 e 10.000 anni fa. Cosmopolitismo e regionalità nel Tardoglaciale, F.
Martini (a cura di), Atti della Tavolo Rotonda, Firenze, 18 novembre 2005, Edizioni Millenni, Studi
di Archeologia Preistorica, 5, pp. 95-128.
Zanchetta G., Drysdale R.N., Hellstrom J.C., Fallick A.E., Isola I., Gagan, M., Pareschi M.T. 2007.
Enhanced rainfall in the western Mediterranean during deposition of Sapropel S1: stalagmite
evidence from Corchia Cave (Central Italy). Quaternary Science Review, 26: 279-286.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
65
Poster
POLLEN AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION FROM
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES OF BASILICATA (SOUTHERN ITALY)
Florenzano A.
Laboratorio di Palinologia e Paleobotanica, Dipartimento di Biologia, University of Modena and Reggio
Emilia, Viale Caduti in Guerra 127, 41121 Modena, Italy
The archaeopalynological research carried out on samples from layers and structures of the
archaeological sites allow to investigate the landscape changes occurring as a result of human
activities (use of plants and cultivation, breeding / grazing and settlements) in different territories
(Faegri et al., 1989). Pollen data from archaeological sites provide information on human impact
that shaped the natural environment and therefore they may be useful for understanding the multiproxy data from terrestrial out-site cores.
This poster aims at presenting the archaeopalynological study carried out in the Bradano Valley
(Basilicata, southern Italy). The area is rich in archaeological sites belonging to different
chronological phases and contexts (Bronze age, Hellenistic, Roman and Medieval period). About
100 pollen samples collected from farmhouses, places of worship and fortified settlements were
analyzed. Preliminary landscape reconstructions are available from the pollen results. A very open
landscape and clear signs of plant exploitation and cultivation, breeding and settlements were
present in the sites.
The most ancient indigenous settlement was located in a hill area and its economy was mainly
based on grazing / breeding, and partly on cultivation of trees (olives) and cereal fields (Mercuri et
al., 2010). Agricultural activity seems have been more intensive in the estuary areas that was
occupied by farmhouses of the Greek colonial system. Pollen spectra of Roman and Medieval sites
delineate an open plant landscape with deciduous forest along fringe areas. High percentages of
Poaceae and Cichorieae, together with coprophilous fungal spores, strongly suggest that pastoral
activities were performed. These case study examples suggest that human activities would have
produced a fairly xeric environment.
Faegri, K., Kaland, P.E., Krzywinski, K., 1989. Textbook of pollen analysis. Wyley & Son,
London.
Mercuri, A.M., Florenzano, A., Massamba N’siala, I., Olmi, L., Roubis, D., Sogliani, F., 2010.
Pollen from archaeological layers and cultural landscape reconstruction: case studies from the
Bradano Valley (Basilicata, southern Italy). Plant Biosystems 144, 888-901.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
66
Poster
GEOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IN THE BECCA FRANCE RIDGE
(VALLE D’AOSTA, NW ITALY)
Forno M. G.1, Gattiglio M.1, Gianotti F.1, Raiteri L.2, Guerreschi A.3
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Torino, Italy
Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta, Dipartimento Soprintendenza per i beni e le attività culturali, Piazza
Roncas 12, 11100 Aosta, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Biologia ed Evoluzione, University of Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, 44100 Ferrara,
Italy
2
The Becca France is a ridge between the Dora Baltea Valley and its tributary Clusellaz Valley,
located in the Piedmont Zone of the Penninic Domain (Western Alps). The metamorphic substratum
consists in a succession of calcschist, several hundred meters thick, with levels of marble; in the
lower altimetric range of the ridge, bodies of paragneiss and prasinite also outcrop, some tens
meters thick. This area was largely interested by the Pleistocene glacial shaping and by a wide
deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (P. Leysser DSGSD). The most remarkable glacial
evidence is lodgement till covering glacial terraces, linked to the main Dora Baltea Glacier, and
marginal flow till forming moraines, connected to small tributaries glaciers. The DSGSD is marked
by extremely fractured rocks, a spectacular doubled ridge and various gravitational forms (main
scarp, minor scarps, longitudinal and transversal trenches, small close depressions). Among others
effects, the DSGSD triggered a number of landslides. The largest landslide interests the eastern side
of the ridge, where a 3 km long rock avalanche accumulation covers the valley floor of the
Clusellaz Valley. This event (1564 A.D.) is historically known as the worst natural disaster of the
Aosta Valley, because it buried the ancient village of Thora. The DSGSD created also a
morphology adapted to prehistoric settlements. On the western continuation of the doubled ridge, 9
archaeological sites (MF1÷MF9) was recently found between 2241 and 2292 m of altitude. They
have returned artefacts of rock crystal (quartz hyaline) referred to an ancient stage of the Mesolithic
period (Sauveterrian). An ensemble of others archaeological evidence are referred to Eneolithic.
The survey in progress concerns especially the systematic excavation of the site MF1. Special
attention is given to the understanding of the relationships between glacial and gravitational forms
and human population of the area.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
67
Poster
FORTIFIED CENTERS, SETTLEMENTS SYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES
IN TYRRHENIAN CALABRIA FROM THE SECOND TO THE FIRST MILLENNIUM B.C.:
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH.
Pacciarelli M.1, Romano P.2, Cella F.3, Cicala L. 1, Di Donato V. 2, Di Pasquale G.4, Russo Ermolli
E. 4, Scarciglia F.3, Filocamo F. 2, Pelle T. 3, Ruello M.R. 2, Tardugno M.L1.
1
Dipartimento di Discipline Storiche Ettore Lepore, University of Naples Federico II, Via Nuova Marina 33,
80100 Naples, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Naples Federico II, Largo S. Marcellino 10, 80138
Naples, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci, Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy.
4
Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia Vegetale, University of Naples Federico II, Via
Università 100, 80055 Portici Naples, Italy
The Tyrrhenian Calabria from Amantea to Capo Vaticano is characterized by high relief rocky
coasts alternating with narrow and discontinuos pebble beaches and with the 20 km long S.Eufemia
coastal plain. In response to the uplift which affected southern Italy during the late Quaternary,
flights of marine terraces are preserved along the coasts interrupted by steep catchments and
entrenched alluvial fans. Since the prehistoric times indigenous people found favourable conditions
for location of settlements on top of the gentle Pleistocene marine terraces and paleosurfaces
located inland. During the Archaic and Greek Age colonies rose in this coastal area of Calabria
where also sheltered bays located at the base of the rocky promontories were settled, giving more
socio-economic transformations to the environment.
Such a long-lasting history of human settlements and colonizations makes this area a very
interesting site for researches addressed to the understanding of people–environment relationships
since the late Holocene and to the reconstruction of the complex dynamics between centralized and
scattered settlements of prehistoric and historic periods. To this aim geo-archaeological researches
are in progress in the area which embraces the archaeological sites of P.ta Zambrone (middle to late
Bronze Age), Torre Galli (Iron Age to Archaic Age) and Piano della Tirena (Arcaic period to
Roman Age). Archaeological excavations guided by geophysical surveys are in progress near the
sites above mentioned and geomorphological and multi-proxy paleoenvironmental investigations
(pollen, charcoal, Foraminifera, Ostracods and soil analyses) at a regional scale are carried out in
order to spread light on the paleoenvironmental changes occurred during the Late Holocene in this
sector of the Italian coasts. The researches are financially supported by the MIUR, PRIN 2009.
They are based on a integrated approach which could give rise to relevant results in both the
historical-archaeological perspectives and the investigations on the role exerted by the human
pressure as forcing factor in the Holocene paleoenvironmental changes.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
68
Poster
MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE
PALEOENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AND HUMAN IMPACT IN THE ARCHAELOGICAL
SITE OF PALMI (SW CALABRIA)
Pelle T.1, Scarciglia F.1, Allevato E.2, Di Pasquale G.2, Natali E.3, Tiné V.3, Donato P.1, Zanchetta
G.4, Terrasi F.5
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università della Calabria, Via P. Bucci – Cubo 15b, 87036 Arcavacata
di Rende (CS), Italy
2
Laboratorio di Storia della Vegetazione e Anatomia del Legno, Università di Napoli “Federico II”,
Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia Vegetale, Via Università 100, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
3
Soprintendenza Speciale al Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico “L. Pigorini”, Roma, Italy
4
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Via S. Maria 53, 56126 Pisa, Italy
5
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Seconda Università di Napoli, 81100 Caserta, Italy
A multidisciplinary study was carried out on a pedostratigraphic succession excavated in “Piani
della Corona” archaeological site, located on a marine terrace in the surroundings of Palmi city (SW
Calabria). We integrated archaeostratigraphic, pedological, anthracological, tephrostratigraphic,
isotopic and geochronological approaches. The upper stratigraphy consists of soils horizons
spanning from middle to late Holocene, which include late Neolithic to late early Bronze age
settlements and lithic and ceramic artefacts, overlaid by arable layers of undetermined age. The
lower portion of the stratigraphic succession shows no archaeological finds, but its bottom was
ascribed to late Pleistocene on the basis of a radiocarbon date (27650±250 a BP). This chronology
is coherent with the chemical composition of volcanic glass identified using SEM-EDS, which
suggests a provenance from late Pleistocene-Holocene eruptions of the Aeolian Arc. Environmental
changes were reconstructed along the pedostratigraphic succession. Pedological data evidenced late
Pleistocene cold-humid conditions indicated by more abundant short-range order minerals (SROM)
probably during an interstadial predating the LGM, as SROM formation is favoured by the
weathering of volcanic material under prolonged moisture conditions. The late Pleistocene to early
Holocene climate amelioration until the Neolithic climatic optimum, characterized by an increase of
humidity and temperatures, is evidenced by the presence of clay coatings, coupled with dominance
of phyllosilicates over SROM, as their formation is favoured by warm-humid conditions and
seasonal contrast, higher during the climatic optimum. The upper part of the succession records a
return to humid conditions, indicated by more abundant SROM and disappearance of clay coatings
above the Bronze age paleosurface. The latter and the Neolithic soils are widely affected by soil
truncation and anthropic influence (pole holes, cisterns, ditches, plough furrows). Typical soil
features related to tillage were also observed at the microscale. Soil charcoal analysis evidenced the
dominance of herbaceous taxa during the late Pleistocene, followed by oak forest that persisted
during the climatic optimum and after the late Bronze age, suggesting a relatively limited spatial
extension of human impact.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
69
Poster
HOLOCENE CLIMATIC VS MAN-INDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN VAL
TREBBIA: FIRST EVIDENCES FROM TRAVO S. ANDREA NEOLITHIC SITE
Pescio S.1, Trombino L.2, Maffi M. 3, Bernabò Brea M. 4, Beeching A. 5
1
Scuola di Dottorato in Scienze Polari, University of Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100 Siena, Italy
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Milan, Via Mangiagalli 34, 20133 Milano, Italy
3
Scuola di Dottorato in Studi Umanistici, Discipline Filosofiche, Storiche e dei Beni Culturali, University of
Trento, Piazza Venezia 41, 38122 Trento, Italy
4
Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Emilia Romagna, Palazzo della Pilotta, 43121 Parma, Italy
5
Département d'Anthropologie, Université Lumière Lyon 2, 86 rue Pasteur, 69365 Lyon, France
2
The valley of the Trebbia river (Val Trebbia, Northern Italy) constitute a natural connection
between the Liguria Coast and the Po Plain; for this reason the valley was intensively settled since
prehistory, Bernabò Brea et al. (1994).
The Travo S. Andrea archeological site is located in the middle Val Trebbia, on a Late Pleistocene Holocene fluvial terrace, Cremaschi (1990). The site was discovered in 1982 and it is excavated
every year during the summer field season.
The settlement was about one hectare sized and the evidences, discovered over time in the site,
testify the presence of a Neolithic village which was composed of different functional areas. The
huts are located in the eastern zone, near the Trebbia river, while a concentration of pits is present in
the surrounding area; the north-west part of the site is occupied by more than twenty hearths,
Bernabò Brea et al. (1998-99), Bernabò Brea and Maffi (1999).
The Neolithic remains are enclosed in a dark clayey deposit that overlays the terrace gravels and the
related reddish-brown soil.
Radiocarbon dating testify that the site was occupied between 4300 – 3800 b.C. and then abandoned
definitively. The Neolithic structures have been covered by a colluvial slope deposit whose
thickness increase slope-ward, Bernabò Brea et al. (1998-99).
The study of different trenches has highlighted the presence of charcoal layers in the stratigraphy in
the area around the Neolithic village. These evidences could be linked to clearance activity during
the settlement occupational period. Tree removal together with climatic deterioration events well
known during the Holocene could be responsible for the colluvial deposit accumulation.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
70
Poster
HUMAN INFLUENCE ON FAUNAL TURNOVER DURING EARLY HOLOCENE IN SICILY
Petruso D., Sineo L.
Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale e Biodiversità, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi, 18, 90123
Palermo, Italy
The faunistic analysis at the Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Sicily allows to understand the
ecologic and/or human role in the faunal turn over of the island. Following the work of Petruso et
al. (in press) we assessed that at the Pleniglacial-Late Glacial interval, in supposed absence of
human occurrence, were already extinct the last endemites (the middle sized elephant, the endemic
sicilian subspecies of red deer, auroch and bison) and the large predators (the spotted hyena and the
cave bear) surviving in Sicily from the late Middle Pleistocene. Otherwise some other taxa already
arrived during the Interpleniglacial still occur, such as the steppe ass and some small mammals (the
common field mouse while the shrew and the Terricola vole arrived slightly before), and others
belonging to the long resident taxa (such as the red fox, the wolf, the wild boar and the hedgehog)
of the early Middle Pleistocene. The newly arrived fauna accompanied by humans is composed by
an heterogeneous group of mammals such as the lynx, the auroch, the roe and red deer, the marten,
the weasel, the hare and the wild cat. All these cohort of taxa seem not to be influenced by
consistent human presence with the exception of the wild ass and of the linx that become extinct at
the transition with Holocene. We conclude that the faunal turn over in Sicily have been driven
mostly by climatic fluctuations and geodynamic events (that modulated the connection or isolation
phases of Sicily with the mainland) while the ecologic role of humans seems to have been very low
until the recent Holocene. During the course of Holocene human have influenced faunal
composition with massive hunting but mostly with the active and passive introduction of alien
species.
Petruso D., Sarà M., Surdi G., Masini F., in press. Le faune a mammiferi della Sicilia tra il
Tardoglaciale e L’Olocene. In: La Biogeografia della Sicilia. Biogeographia, 30.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
71
Poster
CHARCOAL DATA FROM ORIENTE CAVE (FAVIGNANA ISLAND, SICILY)
Poggiali F.1, Martini F.1, Buonincontri M.2, Di Pasquale G.2
1
Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Medioevo e Rinascimento e Linguistica, University of Florence,
piazza Brunelleschi 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy
2
Università 100, Portici, Napoly, Italy
This study presents the preliminary archeobotany data from the site of Grotta d’Oriente, on
Favignana island (Sicily), excavated by University of Florence in 2005.
The deposit presents evidences of short-term human occupation, in a period that spanning Upper
Palaeolithic to the transition from Meseolithic to Neolithic.
The samples analyzed are dated ~9750 cal BP and ~14.200 ka cal BP. The charcoal data were
analyzed under a microscope in order to determine the taxa of the natural vegetal resources used for
combustion.
The preliminary data allow us to hypothesize an environmental reconstruction of the surrounding
area around the site during the human occupation and these data may suggest information about the
paleoclimate of the area.
About the beginning of the Holocene, the analyses show an environment of Mediterranean
shrubland, with the presence of Pistacia lentiscus, Rhamnus/Phyllirea, Arbutus unedo, Myrtus
communis, Rhus, Chamaerops humilis.
During Bølling-Allerød (~14,2 ka cal BP), the data concerning the oldest human occupation of the
site show the presence of Acer, Juniperus, Pistacia lentiscus, taxa who suggest an environment
made up not only by Mediterranean shrubland.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
72
Poster
MIDDLE AGE STABLE ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY OF ORGANIC REMAINS AND LAND
SNAIL SHELLS FROM THE BASQUE COUNTRY: PRELIMINARY DATA
Quirós Castillo J. A.1, Murelaga X.1 Baneschi I.2, Larraz Mariano3 Ortega L. Á.1 Zanchetta G.2,4
1
University of the Basque Country, Spain
2
IGG-CNR, Pisa Italy
3
University of Navarra, Spain
4
University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Stable isotope geochemistry on organic remains (e.g. charcolas, land snail shells) coming from
archaeological excavations are becoming an additional source of data for palaeoenvironmental
reconstructions (e.g. Colonese et al., 2010, Araus et al., 1997). Within a project devoted to the
landscape and settlement analyses during the Middle Age in the Basque Country three different
sites were considered for testing the potential information that can be obtained using a stable
isotopic approach for this area: Zaballa, Zornoztegi and Treviño, located in the Zadorra river valley
(Quirós Castillo 2011a,b,c). The first two excavations are Middle age villages whereas the last is a
Middle age castle. Organic and land snail shells remains were collected after wet flotation and their
chronology were determined through radiocarbon measurements on carefully selected material. The
period investigated is currently restricted from the VI to the XIII centuries. Preliminary data on
carbon isotope composition of organic remains (principally seeds) indicate a very 13C-enriched
values of the Middle age samples compared to modern counterpart, probably the combining effect
of the decreasing isotopic composition of atmospheric CO2 due to the burning of fossil fuels but
also by the effect of changes in amount of rainfall. However, this effect is not replicated in the
carbon isotope composition of land snail shells. Oxygen isotope composition of land snail shells
could be consistent with changes in the hydrological conditions during Middle Ages compared to
the current climatic conditions. However, large variability in living and fossil samples may hidden
small differences and major number of data are necessary to improve this preliminary
reconstruction.
Colonese A.C., Zanchetta G., Fallick A.E., Martini F., Manganelli G., Drysdale R.N., 2010. Stable
isotope composition of Helix ligata (Müller, 1774) from Late Pleistocene-Holocene archaeological
record from Grotta della Serratura. Global and Planetary Change, 71, 249-257.
Araus J.L., Febrero A., Buxo R., Camalich M.D., Martin D., Molina F., Rodriguez-Ariza,
Romagosa I., 1997. Changes in carbon isotope discrimination in grain cereales from different
regions of the western Mediterranean Basin during the past seven millennia. Paleoenvironmental
evidence of a differential change in aridity during the late Holocene. Global Change Biology, 3.2,
107-118.
Quirós Castillo J. A. (ed.) 2011a, Zaballa. Mil años de una aldea medieval alavesa, University of the
Basque Country, Bilbao, in press
Quirós Castillo J. A., 2011b, L’eccezione che conferma la regola? Incastellamento nella Valle
dell’Ebro nel X secolo: il castello di Treviño, Archeologia Medievale XXXVIII, in press
Quirós Castillo J. A., (ed.) 2011c, Vasconia en la Alta Edad Media, 450-1000. Poderes y
comunidades rurales en el Norte Peninsular, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, in press
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
73
Poster
STRATIGRAPHY, ARCHEOLOGY AND PALEOCLIMATE OF CAVORSO CAVE (CENTRAL
ITALY): PRELIMINARY DATA
Rolfo M.F.1, Isola I.2, Salari L.3, Zanchetta G.4
1
Dipartimento di Beni Culturali, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Via Columbia 1 – 00133 Roma
2
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia Sez. Pisa, Via della Faggiola, 32 56100 Pisa, Italy
3
Collaboratore scientifico Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra,“Sapienza” Università di Roma, P.le A. Moro
5, 00185 Roma
4
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, Via S. Maria 53 56126 Pisa
The cave locally called Mora Cavorso opens to 720 m a.s.l. in the locality Palo Montano near Jenne
(Rome, Latium, Central Italy); it leans out on the right slope of the upper Aniene River valley inside
the Simbruini Mounts Regional Natural Park. The cave has been object of archaeological
investigations since 2006, where archaeological and faunal finds have been recorded and referable,
with some discontinuities, to an interval of time lasting over last 13.000 years (Rolfo et al. 2009 ;
2010). The most ancient remains investigated until now are dated to the terminal phases of the Late
Pleistocene and are followed by various Holocene layers between the pre-Neolithic and the early
Middle Age.
The cave shows a succession of rooms and ducts and at the end of the last duct, about 20 m long,
two paths with anthropological remains open. The stratigraphy underlines a deposit with a layer
dated to the ancient Neolithic characterized by the noticeable presence of abundant scattered human
bones. This layer covers a stratum attributed to early Holocene rich of Cervus elaphus bones (dated
at ca 8.6-8.8 ka BP). The stratigraphy of the digs opened in the rooms shows a first layer, dated to
the Neolithic final phase, which is rich of charcoal and ashes, and a lower layer referred to the
ancient Neolithic. The archaeological excavation marks also the presence of upper levels dated to
the middle Bronze age (first half of the II millennium BC) characterized by ritual and burial
testimonies.
The impressive concretions of this archaeological cave has suggest to undertake preliminary studies
on speleothems for palaeoclimate and paleaenvironmental reconstruction. Preliminary data indicate
that a first period of large concretion is pertinent to the first part of the Holocene and associated to
Neolithic remains. Many concretions are calcareous tufa suggesting that this phase of cave
decoration was probably characterised by more open (presence of light) and probably wetter
conditions to favour the microbial-mediated calcite precipitation. During this period of time there
seems to be present also stalagmite concretions characterised by milky white, porous calcite with
convolute and irregular lamination. Later on (to be chronologically constrained, but probably before
the Bronze Age) tufa deposition ceased and stalagmites become characterised by deposition of
thinly laminated darker calcite, possibly suggesting a more closed cave conditions, and drier
climate.
Rolfo M.F., Salari L., Zarattini A., 2009. Nota preliminare sulle indagini archeologiche presso la
grotta “Mora di Cavorso” (Jenne, Roma), Atti del V incontro di studi Lazio e Sabina, Roma, 15-22
Rolfo M.F.,Mancini D., Salari L., Zarattini A., 2010. La grotta di “Mora Cavorso” a Jenne (Roma).
Nuove ricerche. In: Atti del VI incontro di studi Lazio e Sabina, Roma, 11-17
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
74
Poster
THE MAGDALA SITE (KINNERET LAKE, ISRAEL) AND ITS HARBOUR HISTORY:
EVIDENCES OF ANTHROPOGENIC AND TECTONIC-CLIMATIC SEDIMENTATION
CONTROL DURING THE LATE HOLOCENE
Sarti G.1, Rossi V.2., Amorosi A.2., Bertoni D.1, Ribolini A.1, Sammartino I.2, Zanchetta G.1
1
2
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra Università di Pisa
Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche ed Ambientali Università di Bologna
Recent excavations at the ancient city of Magdala located on the west side of the Kinneret lake
(Israel) have unearthed a harbor structure with four mooring stones at an altitude of 208.32 m bsl,
suggestive of a higher lake-level in respect to the previous hypothesis. Furthermore the geometrical
relationships between the anthropogenic structures and sedimentary deposits suggest several lakelevel fluctations up to some meters during the last 2 ky. On the basis of a multidisciplinary
approach, involving sedimentological, geophysical, micropalaeontological (benthic meiofauna and
pollen) and geochemical analyses three small sedimentary sequences have been identified. These
sequences, few decimeter thick, reflect palaeoenvironmental changing in the harbor area and consist
in a: 1) a pre–harbor foundation sequence, 2) a sin-harbor activity sequence, and 3) an harborabandonment sequence. Above the natural sandy shoreface deposits the abrupt transition to clayey
silt dark deposits reveals an anthropogenic sedimentary control related to the activity of the harbor.
The following depositional sequence records the siltation of the harbor and its abandonment. Sands
sharply overlaid by a foreshore to backshore conglomeratic unit constitute these deposits. Another
conglomeratic unit outcrops upward in the stratigraphic sequence. The sudden appearance of
conglomerates litofacies at two different stratigraphic levels are possibly correlated to climatic
changes from a rainy to an arid phase and/or to tectonic events such as the destructive earthquakes
occurred in the 349 AD and in 749 AD.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Poster
THE HOLOCENE OF THE AGRO PONTINO GRABEN: RECENT ADVANCES IN ITS
PALAEOECOLOGY, TEPHROSTRATIGRAPHY AND ARCHEOLOGY.
Sevink J.1 van Leusen M.2, Feiken H.2, van der Plicht J.3, Bakels C.C.4
1
2
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam (UvA), Amsterdam;
Groningen Institute of Archaeology, Groningen University (RUG), Groningen; 3 Center for Isotope
Research, Groningen University (RUG), Groningen;
4
Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University (RUL), Leiden.
In the past decade (2000-2010), research within the scope of the “Hidden Landscape project” by
RUG archaeologists provided important information on the Holocene history of the Agro Pontino
Graben that complemented earlier studies by Dutch Universities (UvA, RUG and RUL). The
Graben was found to hold important tephrochronological, palaeoecological and archaeological
archives, which merit to be studied in more detail. This is demonstrated by the recent robust dating
of the Avellino pumice layer (AV) obtained from this archive and by its complex denudational
record resulting from early land use in its hinterland. Doubts exist about the reliability of the
chronological framework derived from earlier pollen cores on the basis of radiocarbon dating,
because of the hard-water effect that thus far has been largely neglected. Main current research
topics are indicated.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
76
CONTINENTAL PROXIES
Chairmen: Laura Sadori and Giovanni Zanchetta
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
77
Oral Presentation
Session: Continental Proxies
HOLOCENE BIOCLIMATIC OSCILLATIONS IN A CALABRIAN MOUNTAIN SITE: LAGO
TRIFOGLIETTI
Brugiapaglia E.1*, Bernardo L.2, de Beaulieu J.-L.3, Joannin S.4,5,6, Magny M.4, Peyron O.4,
Vannière B.4, Zanchetta G.7
1
Dipartimento di Scienze Animali, Vegetali e dell'Ambiente, University of Molise, Via F. de Sanctis, 86100
Campobasso, Italy
2
Orto botanico, University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, 87030 Cosenza, Italy
3
CNRS UMR 6116 IMEP, Europôle de l’Arbois 13545 Aix en Provence Cedex 04, France
4
CNRS UMR 6249, Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement, Université de Franche-Comté, 16 route de Gray,
25030 Besançon, France
5
CNRS USR 3124 MSHE Ledoux, 32 rue Mégevand, 25030 Besançon, France
6
CNRS UMR 5276 LGL TPE, Université Lyon 1, 2 rue Dubois, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France
7
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa
Lago Trifoglietti (39°33’N, 16°01’E; 1048 m a.s.l.) is located in the south of Italy in the Catena
Costiera Mountains. The study of the cores includes pollen analysis, radiocarbon dating, tephras,
lithological and magnetic susceptibility analysis. Lago di Trifoglietti vegetation history is
subdivided into 13 local pollen assemblages zones. During the Early Holocene, a sharp vegetation
change, recorded from 11400 to 11000 cal. BP, suggests deteriorated climate conditions
corresponding to the cold PBO event. During the Early-Middle Holocene, annual precipitations
reconstructed at Trifoglietti attain their maximum from ca. 9000 to 6000 cal. BP in agreement with
enhanced rainfalls over the northern borderlands of the Adriatic Sea during the deposition of
sapropel S1 (Siani et al., 2010) and in the central-eastern Mediterranean Basin (e.g., Ariztegui et al.,
2000). From 8200 to 7500 cal. BP, an Arboreal Pollen (AP) reduction indicates deteriorated climate
conditions at Trifoglietti. More arid conditions could have reduced fir and beech woods and favored
the expansion of marsh plants and the peat deposit in a low water-depth environment. Since ca.
4000 cal. BP, AP records a steady forest reduction that can be related to mixed effects of the Mid
and Late Holocene climate aridification and increasing impact of growing populations. At
Trifoglietti, no anthropogenic pollen indicators are recorded between 9000 and 8000 cal. BP. Since
ca. 4000 cal BP, in the Trifoglietti surroundings, the strongest impact of humans is the selective
timber of fir.
Five periods with high lake levels have been identified in relation to the variations of Alnus,
Osmunda and Botryococcus (Coniss analyse). The pollen-based water level change of Lago
Trifoglietti, confirms the hypothesis developed by Magny and collaborators of a 40°N limit for the
inversion of the precipitation seasonality pattern (Magny et al., 2002; Magny et al., 2011).
Ariztegui, D., Asioli, A., Lowe, J.J., Trincardi, F., Vigliotti, L., Tamburini, F., Chondrogianni, C.,
Accorsi, C.A., Mazzanti, M.B., Mercuri, A.M., Kaars, S.V.D., McKenzie, J.A., Oldfield, F., 2000.
Palaeoclimate and the formation of sapropel S1: inferences from Late Quaternary lacustrine and
marine sequences in the central Mediterranean region. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeoecology 158, 215-240.
Magny, M., Miramont, C., Sivan, O., 2002. Assessment of the impact of climate and anthropogenic
factors on Holocene Mediterranean vegetation in Europe on the basis of palaeohydrological records.
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 186, 47-59.
Magny, M., Peyron, O., Sadori, L., Ortu, E., Zanchetta, G., Vannière, B., Tinner, W., 2011.
Contrasting patterns of precipitation seasonality during the Holocene in the south- and north-central
Mediterranean. Journal of Quaternary Science, n/a.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Oral Presentation
Siani, G., Paterne, M., Colin, C., 2010. Late glacial to Holocene planktic foraminifera bioevents and
climatic record in the South Adriatic Sea. Journal of Quaternary Science 25, 808-821.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
79
Oral Presentation
DOCUMENTARY PROXIES AND EARLY INSTRUMENTAL TEMPERATURE
OBSERVATIONS IN NORTHERN-CENTRAL ITALY
Camuffo D.1, Bertolin C.1
1
National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Padua, Italy
In the period before the instrumental observations, the temperature in Northern-Central Italy has
been reconstructed with documentary proxies; in the instrumental period with selected instrumental
series. The documentary proxies from 1500 to 1799 have been recovered and indexed and then
transformed into modern temperature unit (°C). Daily instrumental readings have been recovered
from 1654 to nowadays with a gap from 1670 to 1716. The 1654-1670 belongs to the Medici
Network, in particular Florence and Vallombrosa (Camuffo and Bertolin, 2011); the period from
1716 to nowadays starts with the Padua and Bologna stations. The proxy-instrumental common
period for calibration and validation of the documentary proxy is almost 1.5 century long. An effort
has been made to recover, correct, homogenize, validate and analyze the whole series. The
presentation describes the methodology (Camuffo et al., 2010) used to pass from indexes to
normalized temperature values in °C and the limits of the documentary proxy in terms of trends,
medium and long-term oscillations. Similarly, the instrumental, calibration, exposure and
operational problems encountered with the early instrumental readings are discussed as well as the
homogenization approach in the case of variable number of available series, including variance
homogenization. In Northern-Central Italy the data analysis shows that the Little Ice Age had
winters colder than the 1961-1990 reference period; on the other hand the temperature in summer
and the mid seasons has been kept almost the same in both periods, i.e. 1659-1670 far past and
1961-1990 near past, although in the most recent decades it is increasing following the Global
Warming. For the early instrumental period, i.e. 1654-1800, a comparison is made between proxy
and instrumental series. The same with the reconstructed series and the model estimation in the
same geographic area. The model by Luterbacher et al. (2004) is based and calibrated on known
instrumental readings and reproduces well the climate pattern in the instrumental period. In the
earliest instrumental period this model has been calibrated with Central England Temperature series
(Manley, 1953; 1974; Parker and Folland, 1992), and is accurate for UK, less for the Mediterranean
Area. A similar comment could be made for the model by Xoplaxi et al. (2005) for the grid points
over Northern-Central Italy over the same time interval.
Camuffo D, Bertolin C. 2011. The earliest temperature observations in the World: the Medici
Network (1654-1670). Climatic Change, DOI: 10.1007/s10584-011-0142-5.
Camuffo, D., Bertolin, C., Barriendos, M., Dominguez-Castro, F., Cocheo C., Enzi S., Sghedoni,
M., della Valle A., Garnier E., Alcoforado M.-J., Xoplaki E., Luterbacher J., Diodato N., Maugeri
M., Nunes M.F., Rodriguez, R., 2010: 500-year temperature reconstruction in the Mediterranean
Basin by means of documentary data and instrumental observations. Climatic Change 101 (1-2),
169-199. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-010-9815-8.
Luterbacher J, Dietrich D, Xoplaki E, Grosjean M, Wanner H. 2004. European seasonal and annual
temperature variability, trends and extremes since 1500. Science 303: 1499–1503.
Manley G. 1953. The mean temperature of central England, 1698-1952. Quarterly Journal of the
Royal Meteorological Society, 79, (340): 242-261.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Oral Presentation
Manley G. 1974. Central England Temperatures: monthly means 1659 to 1973. Quarterly Journal
Royal Meteorological Society, 100: 389-405.
Parker DE, Legg TP, Folland C. 1992. A new daily Central England Temperature series 1772-1991:
International Journal of. Climatology, 12: 317–342.
Xoplaki E, Luterbacher J, Paeth H, Dietrich D, Steiner N, Grosjean M, Wanner H. 2005. European
spring and autumn temperatures, variability and change of extremes over the last half millennium.
Geophysical Research Letters, 32: L15713, 4 pp.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
81
Oral Presentation
STABLE ISOTOPE PALAEOECOLOGY OF EARLY-MIDDLE HOLOCENE LAND SNAIL
SHELLS FROM WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN: DATA FROM BAUMA DEL SERRAT DEL
PONT
Colonese A.C.1, Zanchetta G.2, Fallick A.3, Manganelli G.4, Saña M.5, Alcade G.6, Nebot J.7,
1
BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, Biology, S Block, York YO10 5YW (UK).
2
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, Via S. Maria, 53, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
3
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Glasgow, Scotland.
4
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, University of Siena, via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy.
5
Departament de Prehistòria, Edifici B Campus de la UAB Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
6
Institut Català de Recerca en Patrimoni Cultural, Parc Científic i Tecnològic de la Universitat de Girona Edifici Jaume Casademont - Pic de Peguera 15 (la Creueta) - 17003 Girona, Spain.
7
Museu Comarcal de La Garrotta, Carrer Hospici, 8, 17800 Olot, Spain.
In the last decade there has been an explosion of interest into the mechanisms controlling oxygen
and carbon isotope composition of extent and fossil land snail shells, and studies from different
parts of the world attest to their value as source of past climate and environmental conditions. In
this work we present shell δ18O and δ13C of the land snail Pomatias elegans from Bauma del Serrat
del Pont, a Early-Middle Holocene archaeological successions in the NE Iberian peninsula. Modern
and Early-Middle Holocene shells were analyzed and their isotopic signature compared. Several EM Holocene specimens have shells 18O-depleted compared with modern counterparts, although
many shells exhibit δ18O values falling into the range of modern ones. According to empirical and
theoretical models, results suggest increased rainfall, likely combined with changes in the isotopic
composition of precipitation sources and/or trajectories of air mass over this region between ~8.3
and ~2.4 ka BP, a picture consistent with shell isotopic records from other Mediterranean areas.
Most of Early-middle Holocene shells provide δ13C signatures compatible with modern
counterparts; only few shells are 13C-depleted. This likely indicates that Holocene snails
incorporated vegetations with similar carbon isotopic signature of those present in the area today.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
82
Oral Presentation
CONTRASTING PATTERNS OF PRECIPITATION SEASONALITY DURING THE HOLOCENE
IN THE SOUTH-AND NORTH-CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN
Magny M.1, Peyron O.1, Sadori, L.2, Ortu, E.1, Zanchetta, G.3, Vannière B.1, Tinner W.4
1
Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement, UMR 6249 du CNRS, UFR des Sciences et Techniques, 16 route de
Gray,
25 030 Besanc¸on, France
2
Dipartimento di Bilogia Ambientale, Universita ‘‘La Sapienza’’, Roma, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, and IGC-CNR, Pisa, Italy
4
Paleoecology, Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of
Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Pollen-based quantitative estimates of seasonal precipitation from Lake Pergusa and lake-level data
from Lake Preola in Sicily (southern Italy) allows three successive periods to be distinguished within the
Holocene: an early Holocene before ca 9800 cal BP with rather dry climate conditions in winter and
summer, a mid-Holocene between ca 9800 and 4500 cal BP with maximum winter and summer wetness,
and a late Holocene since 4500 cal BP with declining winter and summer wetness. This evolution
observed in south-central Mediterranean shows strong similarities with that recognised in eastern
Mediterranean. But, it contrasts with that reconstructed in north-central Italy, where the mid-Holocene
appears to be characterised by winter (summer) precipitation maximum (minimum), while the late
Holocene coincided with a decrease (increase) in winter (summer) precipitation. Maximum precipitation
at ca 10000-4500 cal BP may have resulted from (1) increased local convection in response to Holocene
insolation maximum at 10000 cal BP and then (2) the gradual weakening of the Hadley cell activity,
which allowed the winter rainy westerlies to reach the Mediterranean area more frequently. After 4500
cal BP, changes in precipitation seasonality may reflect non-linear responses to orbitally-driven
insolation decrease in addition to seasonal and inter-hemispheric changes of insolation.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
83
Oral Presentation
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AT CECITA LAKE (SILA MASSIF, SOUTHERN ITALY)
BETWEEN 3000 AND 2000 BP: NEW DATA FROM SOIL CHARCOAL AND PEDOLOGICAL
ANALYSES
Moser D.1,2,3, Allevato E.3, Pelle T.4, Scarciglia F.4, Di Pasquale G.3, Nelle O.2,1
1
Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes”, University of Kiel, Leibnizstr. 3, 24118 Kiel,
Germany
2
Institute for Ecosystem Research, Palaeoecology, University of Kiel, Olshausenstr. 75, 24118 Kiel,
Germany
3
Laboratorio di Storia della Vegetazione e Anatomia del Legno, Università di Napoli Federico II, via
Università 100, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
4
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università della Calabria, via Bucci – Cubo 15B, 87036 Arcavacata di
Rende (CS), Italy
The combination of soil charcoal and pedological analysis in the study of soil profiles enables the
understanding of environmental changes in the surrounding of the Cecita Lake (Sila Massif,
southern Italy). Cecita Lake is an artificial lake, located in a tectonic dip filled up, since Middle
Pleistocene through Late Pleistocene, by fluvial-lacustrine sediments related to a palaeo-lake. The
nowadays forest cover around the lake is dominated by Pinus laricio. In the vicinity settlements
dated to Late Neolithic, to Early Eneolithic and to Greek and Roman times are documented. The
analysis of charcoals from two archaeological sites dated to Neolithic and to Roman Age
respectively and from two soil profiles, one dated by radiocarbon analysis and the other
pedostratigraphically related to the archaeological ones, has shown the transition from a Quercus
deciduous forest to a Pinus forest between ca. 3000 and 2000 yr. BP. Pedological investigation has
indicated a shift from warm and humid conditions to a climate with less seasonal contrast in the
temperature rate and at least temporary lower annual rainfall after the late Prehistoric period. This
transition probably accompanied the deterioration of the previous vegetation. Though pedological
data shows deterioration in climatic conditions after the late Prehistoric period, the main forcing
leading to the shift in the vegetation seems to be the human overexploitation of forest resources.
This hypothesis can be confirmed by the charcoal analysis carried out at Palmi (south-western
Calabria), which does not show any vegetation change from Neolithic to post-Bronze Age horizons.
New charcoal analysis and AMS radiocarbon dating are performed on another soil profile not
related to archaeological contexts and located far away from the analysed profiles. The aim is to
obtain a more detailed chronological frame and a wider investigation area to clarify when the
transformation of the vegetation happened and if it was human or climate inducted.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
84
Oral Presentation
STABLE ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY AND POLLEN ANALYSES OF THE LAST 6
MILLENNIA AT LAKE PERGUSA (CENTRAL SICILY, ITALY)
Baneschi I.1, Zanchetta G.2, Ortu E.3,4, Peyron O3, Sadori L.5, Vannière B.3, Desmet M.6, Magny
M.3, Termine R.7
1
Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse – CNR, Via Moruzzi 1, 56100 Pisa, Italy
3
UMR CNRS 6249 Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besançon Cedex, France
4
CNRS, EPOC, UMR 5805, F-33400 Talence, France
5
Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, University of Roma ‘La Sapienza’, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185
Roma, Italy
6
ISTO Orléans/Tours, UFR Sciences & Techniques, University François Rabelais, Parc de Grandmont,
37200 Tours, France
7
University of Enna ‘Kore’, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
2
Lake Pergusa (667 m asl) is at present the only natural lake in central Sicily. It is part of natural
reserve under the control of the Provincia di Enna. For this reason, it represents an important source
of information to study the climatic evolution of southern Italy (Sadori and Narcisi, 2001; Zanchetta
et al., 2007). A new 6.24 m long sediment core (PG2) was retrieved in the center of the lake in
2004. Four AMS dates on terrestrial macroremains and a tephra layer, highlighted by magnetic
susceptibility, indicate that core PG2 covers the last 6600 years. An open landscape dominated by
Poaceae meadows is inferred from PG2 pollen data. An important Chenopodiaceae development is
noted. Cultivated taxa and human presence pollen-indicators (e.g. Plantago, Rumex) are abundant.
Preliminary monitoring on the evolution of isotopic composition of the lake water indicates that the
lake is presently strongly evaporated with the highest values being recorded during summer. In
agreement with this current situation, carbon and oxygen isotope records on bulk carbonate indicate
a closed lake, strongly evaporated during the last ca 6000 yr. Prominent δ18O positive excursions
occur at ca. 150, 650, 1950, 3700, 4200, 5400, 5900, and 6450 yr cal BP, probably representing
extreme evaporative conditions. However, inconsistencies appear when comparing with polleninferred climate reconstructions. For instance, between ca 3000-2000 yr cal BP oxygen isotope
record seems to suggest relatively drier conditions while pollen data indicate wetter conditions. This
highlights the need for new insights on the reconstruction of Mediterranean climate dynamics,
which includes analyses on proxies sensitive to seasonality and caution in the interpretation of
different climate proxies (Magny et al., 2011).
Magny, M., Peyron, O., Sadori, L., Ortu, E., Zanchetta, G., Vannière, B., Tinner, W., 2011.
Mediterranean. Journal of Quaternary Science, doi: 10.1002/jqs.1543,.
Sadori, L., Narcisi, B., 2011. The Postglacial record of environmental history from Lago di Pergusa,
Sicily. The Holocene, 11, 655-671.
Zanchetta, G., Borghini, A., Fallick, A., Bonadonna, F., Leone, G., 2007. Late Quaternary
palaeohydrology of Lake Pergusa (Sicily, southern Italy) as inferred by stable isotopes of lacustrine
carbonates. Journal of Paleolimnology, 38, 227-239.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
85
Oral Presentation
TREE-RINGS AND CLIMATE VARIABILITY: THE CASE OF THE ITALIAN OLD-GROWTH
BEECH NETWORK
Piovesan G.1, Biondi F.2, Di Filippo A.1, Maugeri M.3
1
Department of Agriculture, Forests, Nature and Energy (DAFNE), Università degli Studi della Tuscia,
Viterbo, Italy
2
DendroLab, Department of Geography, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
3
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
Tree-rings act as natural archives on the ecological history of a territory. They represent a key proxy
for reconstructing long-term climate variability and an a posteriori tool for environmental
monitoring (Fritts and Swetnam 1989). In the Mediterranean Basin, a focus area for the impact of
climate change on terrestrial ecosystems, the lack of widespread monitoring programs makes treering records particularly valuable. Despite their potential role, only few examples of single-species,
geographically well distributed networks of long tree-ring chronologies can be found in the
literature. Over the past decades, we have analysed increment cores from a tree-ring network of oldgrowth (300-560 years old) European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests throughout Italy. Selected
sites cover most of the species distribution and elevation range in the country. Forests growing both
in the Alps and the Apennines, and from hills to treeline, allowed us to represent the geographic
variability of climate-growth relationships (Piovesan et al. 2005). The spatial organization of
dendroclimatic signals was used to build a bioclimatic classification of Italian beech forests. The
application of multivariate techniques on moving temporal windows was used to check the stability
of the bioclimatic classification. Over the past few years climate-growth relationships have
changed, most likely in connection with recent climate warming and drying (Piovesan et al. 2008).
At the highest elevations (both in the Alps and the Apennines) we found the greatest longevity of
Fagus trees, and discovered the oldest deciduous trees dendrochronologically dated in the Northern
Hemisphere (Di Filippo et al. 2012).Tree-ring chronologies spanning the past several centuries
showed an ustable teleconnection between the Alps and the Apennines, alternating from a high
positive correlation during the Little Ice Age to an inverse correlation in recent times. We are
currently developing a new methodology that can extract decadal climatc signals from such
instability.
Di Filippo A., Biondi F., Maugeri M., Schirone B., Piovesan G., 2012. Bioclimate and growth
history affect beech lifespan in the Italian Alps and Apennines. Global Change Biology, doi:
10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02617.x .
Fritts H.C., Swetnam T.W., 1989. Dendroecology: a tool for evaluating variations in past and
present forest environments. Advances in Ecological Research 19, 111-188.
Piovesan G., Biondi F., Bernabei M., Di Filippo A., Schirone B., 2005. Spatial and altitudinal
bioclimatic zones of the Italian peninsula identified from a beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) tree-ring
network. Acta Oecologica 27, 197-210.
Piovesan G., Biondi F., Di Filippo A., Alessandrini A., Maugeri M., 2008. Drought-driven growth
reduction in old beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests of the central Apennines, Italy. Global Change
Biology 14, 1265-1281.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
86
Oral Presentation
THE LATE HOLOCENE DUNE ACTIVITY IN THE NORTHWESTERN NEGEV, ISRAEL:
A RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE OR ANTHROPOGENIC PRESSURE?
Roskin J.1, Tsoar H.1, Porat N.2, Blumberg D.1
1
Dept. of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
2
Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel.
The Sinai-Negev Erg extends from the northern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, to the northwestern (NW)
Negev, Israel. In Sinai, it is characterized by active seif and linear dunes while at its easternmost
extent in the NW Negev lay stabilized vegetated linear dunes (VLDs) that sustain perennial
vegetation both on the dunes' partially active crests and stabilized biogenic encrusted dune slopes.
Three main dune activation and mobilization episodes were identified for the NW Negev. Initial
evidence for aeolian dune and sand incursion was found to occur at 24-18 ka, followed by major
incursions at ~16-13.7 ka and ~12.4-11.6 ka that ended with the dunes reaching and stabilizing in
their current spatial extent. Though the dunefield was generally stable during the Holocene, late
Holocene dune mobilization, of intensity that decreases from west to east, is dated to ~2-0.8 ka.
VLD surficial activation, dated to the last 100 years is associated with Bedouin activity. The major
incursion episodes are suggested to be connected to Heinrich 1 and Younger Dryas cold-event
windy climates, respectively. These events occurred probably during East Mediterranean winter
storms that included very strong winds. The late Holocene incursion episode though, cannot be
associated with such a scenario. Byzantine cities that flourished at this time in the NW Negev may
have enabled dune erodibility by anthropogenic decimation of dune stabilizers; biogenic crusts and
vegetation. Since dune mobilization and activity is mainly due to high wind power or average
annual rainfall <50-60 mm, the late Holocene episode may have been a result of lower wind power,
probably following short-term droughts or anthropogenic activity. The late Holocene episode
illustrates the sensitivity of dunes to local and short-term climate/environmental changes and
reminds us that rapid changes in wind speed, precipitation and land use may retrigger sand
movement at different scales in the NW Negev.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
87
Oral Presentation
HOLOCENE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN THE BALKAN REGION: EVIDENCE FROM
LAKE SEDIMENTS
Wagner B.1, Aufgebauer A.1, Panagiotopoulos K.2, Damaschke M. 1, Zanchetta G. 3, Sulpizio R. 4
1
Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Str. 49a, 50674 Cologne, Germany
Seminar of Geography and Education, University of Cologne, Gronewaldstraße 2, 50931 Köln, Germany
3
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, Via S. Maria, 53 56126 Pisa, Italy
4
CIRISIVU, c/o Dipartimento Geomineralogico, University of Bari, via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
2
A 320 cm core sequence (Co1215) from Lake Prespa (Albania/F.Y.R. of Macedonia/Greece) covers
the last 17 cal ka BP and reveals significant change in climate and environmental conditions on a
local and regional scale. The sedimentological, geochemical, and biological data suggests typical
stadial conditions from 17.1 to 15.7 cal ka BP, documented through low lake productivity, well
mixing, and cold-resistant steppic catchment vegetation. Warming is indicated from 15.7 cal ka BP
with slightly increased in-lake productivity, gradual expansion of trees, and decreasing erosion
through disappearance of local ice caps. Between 14.5 and 11.5 cal ka BP relatively stable
hydrological conditions are documented. The maximum in trees during the Bølling/Allerød
interstadial (14.5–13.2 cal ka BP) indicates increased temperatures and moisture availability and an
increase of cold-resistant open steppe vegetation during the Younger Dryas (13.2–11.5 cal ka BP)
coupled with distinct colder and dryer conditions. The Holocene sequence from 11.5 cal ka BP
indicates ice-free winters, stratification of the water column, a relatively high lake trophic level and
dense vegetation cover over the catchment. A strong climate related impact on the limnology and
physical parameters in Lake Prespa is documented in all proxies around 8.2 ka and of intensive
human activity from around 1.9 cal ka BP. Our multiproxy approach improves our understanding of
short- and long-term climate fluctuations in this area and their impact on catchment dynamics,
limnology, hydrology, and vegetation.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
88
Poster
TRAVERTINES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ITALY. SOME PALEO-CLIMATIC
CONSIDERATIONS.
Anzalone E.1, D’Argenio B.1, Ferreri V.1
1
Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero (IAMC), National Research Council (CNR), Calata Porta di Massa
- Porto di Napoli, 80133 Napoli, Italy
The Quaternary travertines of central and southern Italy, developed mostly during warm-wet
interglacial periods. Parent water temperature is a key factor in these deposits: high values bring on
elevated carbonate precipitation rates and a decrease of abudance, size and diversity of the
eukaryotic organisms colonizing the depositional sites, while the decrease of temperature has an
opposite outcome.
We present here some consideration on the travertines of central and southern Italy with special
attention to those cropping out in the Acque Albule basin, near Tivoli accumulated between 115 and
30 ka B.P. Here, we have measured at a mm scale a 30 m bore-core drilled in the NW sector of
Tivoli to sequentially analyse the vertical organization of depositional characteristics and to
reconstruct the related environmental dynamics. Moreover, in our study we have taken advantage
from well exposed quarry walls to trace laterally the main lithofacies and discontinuity surfaces
recognized in the borecore. The high-resolution analysis (cm-scale) has allowed us to individuate
three main lithofacies associations suggesting: (a) very gentle slope environments passing upwards
to (b) stepwise organized rimmed shallow pools, in turn passing upwards into (c) very shallow lakes
or ponds, characterizing the topmost part of the Tivoli travertines. The recurrence of discontinuity
surfaces implies a pulsation in the flowing-water volumes and/or calcium carbonate precipitation
potential, where the bulk porosity decreases when the parent water temperature increases. As to the
systematic (cyclic ?) alternation of periods of abundant deposition of calcium carbonate incrustation
and periods of starvation, travertines appear to undergo an allocyclic regulation of climatic origin,
even if an autocyclic control (tectonics) cannot be excluded. Finally, we note that there is a close
correlation between travertine formation and stages of orbitally driven δ18O record and coeval high
sea level oscillations.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
89
Poster
STABLE ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY OF ORGANIC MATTER AT LAGO DI LEDRO
(NORTHERN ITALY) DURING THE HOLOCENE: PALEOLIMNOLOGICAL AND
PALEONVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
Baneschi I.1, Vannière B.2, Zanchetta G.1,3, Magny M.2
1
2
Istituto di geoscienze e Georisorse –CNR, Via Moruzzi, 1 56124 Pisa.
UMR CNRS 6249 Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besançon cedex, France
3
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Via S. Maria 53, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Lake Ledro (652 m a.s.l.) is a relatively small lake (surface of 2.17 km2 and 38 m maximum depth),
located on the southern slope of the Alps (N-E Italy). It developed on a substratum mainly
composed by dolostone and limestone and the catchment area covers 131 km2. Since 1929, the lake
level has been artificially regulated for hydroelectricity. Long cores from littoral peat have been
investigated in term of sedimentology, pollen and chronology (Magny et al., 2009). In this paper we
present the results of organic matter record for the core LL081 (8.17 m length) representing ca. the
last 10,000 yr cal BP. The TOC content mirrors generally the trend of TIC (i.e. when TOC increase
TIC decrease and vice versa) with a statistically negative correlation. In the first part of the core
(ending to 7500 yr cal BP) the TOC is fairly constant (between 3 and 4%); differently from 7500 to
5000 yr cal BP the TOC oscillates from 2.5 to 5.5%, before starting to increase from 2.5% at 5000
yr BP to the hist value of 6.5% at 2800 yr cal BP. Then a decrease follows this peak reaching a low
value at ca. 2000 cal yr BP. It has be noted that TOC shows a large variability from 2000 yr cal BP
onward, where the TOC is on average low but with peaks at ca. 1830 yr cal BP (ca. 9.7%) and at
1050 yr cal BP (ca. 7.7%). The carbon isotope composition of the organic matter (δ13Com) oscillates
between ca -34.7 and -26.2 ‰, generally in agreement with the TOC trend. In particular when TOC
increases δ13Com increases. In particular, in correspondence with the highest TOC values at 1830
and 1050 yr cal BP correspond the highest values of δ13Com (-27.1 and -26.2 ‰, respectively).
Changes in TOC content and δ13Com denote different sources of organic matter (algal or landderived) during Holocene to be related with changes in environmental conditions and flood
frequency.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
90
Poster
POSSIBLE PALEOENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON THE STABLE ISOTOPE SIGNATURE
(15N, 13C) OF HUMAN BONES FROM GREECE
Dotsika E1,2, Lykoudis S3., Poutoukis D4. and Raco B.2
1
Stable Isotope Unit, Institute of Materials Science, National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos”,
153 10 Agia Paraskevi, Attica, Greece
2
Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
3
National Observatory of Athens, Institute of Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, I.
Metaxa and V. Pavlou, P. Pendeli, GR15236, Greece
4
General Secretariat for Research and Technology, 14-18 Mesogion Ave., 115 10 Athens, Greece.
Stable isotopes in biotic markers are usually used for palaeodiet reconstruction and less as
indicators for paleoclimatic reconstruction. In order to detect possible environmental signals one
needs to, first, identify dietary changes over time and then test 15N enrichment as a climatic
indicator. To that end, we studied published results on the stable isotopic analysis of Greek
population bones from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.
According to or results the residents of ancient Greece had a diet dominated by terrestrial plant
foods and meat with the addition of variable minor amounts of fish. Compared to the Neolithic, a
more significant contribution of marine diet is observed for the Bronze age, whereas enrichment in
both C and N isotopes is connected, for some areas, to the introduction of millet. Further, assuming
proportionality for the effects of possible climatic changes across the various parts of Greece, we
examined the variation of δ15N in Greek bones with modern precipitation, obtaining slopes quite
comparable to those of bibliography. The combination of these findings with the respective
variation of modern plants (δ15N), provided indications that diet and climate have a antagonistic
influence on the final 15N/14N value.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
91
Poster
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM A NEW HIGH-RESOLUTION HOLOCENE RECORD
FROM LAKE DOIJRAN (MACEDONIA, GREECE)
Francke, A.1, Wagner, B.1, Leng, M.2, Aufgebauer, A.1, Weber, M.1
1
University of Cologne, Institute for Geology and Mineralogy, Cologne
2
National Environmental Research Council (NERC), Keyworth, UK
Lake Doijran, located at the boarder of the F.Y.R. of Macedonia and Greece, is a relative shallow
lake for its size. The lake area is about 40 km2 and the water depth at the center of the lake is
approximately 7 m. The lake itself is placed in a “polje” whereas the basin of the surrounding area
was formed by tertinary tectonic and volcanic activities.
In 2011, a field campaign was carried out to drill a continuous sediment sequence from the center of
the lake. The goal of this project is to gain a high-resolution paleoclimate record in order to improve
the understanding of Holocene climate variability in the Balkan region inferred from other lake
records, such as from lakes Ohrid and Prespa. A seismic survey indicated a hard reflector at
approximately 7 m sediment depth. During coring activities, it was not possible to penetrate through
this layer. Consequently, coring was stopped at 715 cm correlated depth. This reflector could
indicate an extreme lake-level low stand, but there is no indication of increased macrophyte
growing as it can be expected for very shallow lake waters. However, a high number of terrestrial
plant remains was found throughout the remaining sequence. 14 samples (plant remains and shell
fragments) where chosen through the core for radiocarbon dating, promising to develop a robust age
model. Below 500 cm, the color of the sediments is grey, sand lenses are present, and shell
fragments occur only sporadically. In addition, there is an increasing grain-size until the bottom of
the core. Drop stones are interpreted as ice-rafted debris. Therefore, the lower part of the section
was likely deposited in the late Pleistocene. The uppermost 500 cm of the core from Lake Doijran
consist of an olive-grey, bioturbated silty mud with abundant shell fragments and some complete
Dreissena shells. However, there are no shell or shell fragments between 250 cm and 400 cm. The
biogeochemical, geochemical and sedimentological data already existing and the inorganic and
organic carbon isotope analyses in progress suggest that the core from Lake Doijran will contribute
significantly to a better understanding of the Holocene climate variability and the onset an impact of
anthropogenic activity in the Balkan region.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
92
Poster
DISCRIMINATING CLIMATIC EVENTS AND HUMAN ACTIVITY IN A SOUTH ARABIC
ANCIENT TOWN
Mariotti Lippi M.1, Bellini C.1, Benvenuti M.2
1
Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica, University of Florence, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Florence, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy
The coastal plain of Dhofar (southern Oman) falls under the Indian Ocean Monsoon circulation
which is responsible for dry winters and rainy summers. During the Quaternary, changes in
intensity of the Monsoon winds determined fluctuations between moist and dry phases which were
reflected on flora and vegetation in south Arabia. Human activity also provoked changes in
vegetation with effects comparable to those of climatic origin. Discrimination of climatic events and
human activity, thus, may be critical in evaluating the reduction of woodlands/shrub-lands near
ancient human settlements: in ancient arid environments, where Gramineae and Chenopodiaceae
pollen normally dominated, the pollen record may be not univocally interpreted in terms of natural
or cultivated land cover. Moreover, under Monsoon regime, pollen grains are transported over long
distances and are deposited in sediments together with the local pollen rain, which makes the
interpretation of the pollen amount of the most common taxa problematic.
During archaeopalinological studies in the pre-Islamic (3th century BC-4th century AD) town of
Sumhuram (Dhofar, Oman), evident reduction of the shrub-land and changes in its composition
emerged. Their attribution to climatic changes or human action was not definitely resolved until
high-resolution integrated sedimentologic-palynologic analyses were carried out.
An accurate examination of the sediments in the sites allowed distinguishing between
anthropogenic and waterlain deposits, the latter characterized by laminated sediments. Long
distance pollen grains in the laminated sediments suggest reinforced Monsoon circulation over
southern Oman around 2 ka ago that triggered heavier rainfall than today. Surface runoff
determined short-term street flooding from which laminated sediments accumulated. The study
demonstrates that detailed sediment analysis may help in driving accurate sample collection for
pollen analysis. This is a fundamental requisite for extracting natural environmental signals in the
stratigraphy of highly anthropized archaeological sites such as the Sumhuram town.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
93
Poster
EARLY MIDDLE HOLOCENE CLIMATIC CHANGES INFERRED FROM A MULTIPROXY
RECORD OF A FLOWSTONE FROM RENELLA CAVE (APUAN ALPS, CENTRAL ITALY)
Regattieri E1. , Zhorniak L.1, Zanchetta G.147, Drysdale R.N.2, Hellstrom J.C.3, Isola I.4, Piccini L.5,
Fallick A.E.6, Dallai L.7
1
2
Department of Resource Management and Geography, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
3
4
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
5
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Firenze, Firenze Italy
6
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride G75 0GF, United Kingdom
7
Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse – CNR- Pisa, Italy
Renella is a small, shallow cave located in the Frigido valley (Apuan Alps), which has an
interesting succession of flowstones discontinuously growth between the Late Glacial and Holocene
(Drysdale et al., 2006; Zhornyak et al., 2011). A flowstone (RL18) was investigated using a
multiproxy approach (stable isotopes, florescence, trace elements) for inferring climatic conditions
during the Early Middle Holocene. Age control was established using 12 U/Th dating indicating
that the flowstone spanning from ca. 8 to 11 ka. Oxygen isotope record suggests a generally wetter
conditions compared to the Late Holocene (Drysdale et al., 2006; Zhorniak unpublished data).
However, the beginning of Holocene is characterised by slightly drier condition which are followed
by the lowest oxygen values between ca. 10.2 and 9.8 ka. Between ca. 9.8 and 8.2 ka there is a clear
tendency toward drier conditions but with prominent oscillation indicating the driest conditions at
ca. 8.2 and 8.5 ka. This general trend is mimed by carbon isotope record. Trace elements (P, Mg, Y,
Zn) are consistent in depicting an Early Holocene generally wetter and an Early-Middle Holocene
substantially drier. This trend is also supported by luminescence data (intensity and wavelength).
Some general similarity can be found with the oxygen isotopic record of the close Corchia cave
(Zanchetta et al., 2007). However, significant differences can be observed, this can be due to the
different quality of the age model (securely more accurate for Corchia) but also for the different
recharge system of the two caves (Corchia is a deep, complex karstic system, whereas Renella is a
shallow cave). These differences, probably, should be interpreted in terms of different influence of
seasonal contrast during different period of the Early-Middle Holocene (Magny et al., 2011).
Drysdale, R.N., Zanchetta, G., Hellstrom, J.C., Maas, R., Fallick, A.E., Pickett, M., Cartwright, I.,
Piccini, L., 2006. Late Holocene drought responsible for the collapse of old World civilizations is
recorded in an Italian cave flowstone. Geology 34, 101-104.
Magny, M., Peyron, O., Sadori, L., Ortu, E., Zanchetta, G., Vannière, B., and Tinner, W. 2011.
Mediterranean. Journal of Quaternary Science, in press doi: 10.1002/jqs.1543.
Zhornyak L.V., Zanchetta G., Drysdale R.N., Hellstrom J.C., Isola I., Regattieri E., Piccini L.,
Baneschi I., Couchoud I., 2011. Stratigraphic evidence for a “pluvial phase” between ca 8200-7100
ka from Renella cave (Central Italy). Quaternary Science Reviews, 30, 409-417.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
94
Poster
SAND RUBIFICATION WITH TIME? THE CASE OF THE SINAI-NEGEV ERG
Roskin J.1 Tsoar H.1, Blumberg D. 1, Porat N.2, Rozenstein O.3
1
Dept. of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University in the Negev, Israel.
2
Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel.
3
Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University in the Negev, Sede-Boker, Israel.
The redness index (RI) (RI = R2/(B*G3) of aeolian sand has been shown to be a promising
qualitative spectroscopic method to define sand grain redness intensity, which reflects the extent of
iron-oxide quartz grain coatings (Ben-Dor et al., 2006; Tsoar et al., 2008). This study investigates
the relationship between redness intensity and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) based
depositional ages of sand samples taken from exposed and fully-drilled vegetated linear dunes in the
northwestern Negev dunefield, Israel at the downwind end of the Sinai Negev erg. Sand redness
intensity did not vary greatly along the Negev sand transport paths and dune sections dated to be
active during the Late Pleistocene, late Holocene, and modern times. No correlation was found
between RI intensity (i.e., redness) and the depositional age of the sand. The relatively uniform RI
values and sedimentological properties along most of the dunes suggest that sand grain coating
development, and consequent rubification, have probably been minimal since the Late Pleistocene.
Although it is possible that RI developed rapidly following deposition in a wetter Late Pleistocene
climate, the drier and less stormy Holocene does not seem conducive to sand-grain rubification.
Based on analyses of northern Sinai sand samples, remote sensing, and previous studies, we suggest
that the attributes of the sand grain RI have been inherited from upwind sources. We propose that
the sand grain coatings are early diagenetic features that have been similarly red since their
suggested aeolian departure from the middle and upper Nile Delta.
Ben-Dor et al., 2006. Quantitative mapping of the soil rubification process on sand dunes using an
airborne hyperspectral sensor. Geoderma, 131, 1-21.
Tsoar et al., 2008. Formation and geomorphology of the north-western Negev sand dunes. In:
Breckle, S.W., Yair, A. & Veste, M. (eds.), Arid dunes ecosystems: The Nizzana sands in the
Negev Desert. Springer, 475 pp.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
95
Poster
CORCHIA AND SOREQ CAVES STABLE ISOTOPE RECORD: COEVAL DRY EVENTS AT
5.2 AND 5.6 KYR
Zanchetta G.1,5, Bar-Matthews M.2, Drysdale R.N.3, Lionello P.4, Ayalon A.2, Hellstrom J.C.5, Isola
I.6, Regattieri E.1
1
Dipartimento di Scienze delle Terra, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
2
Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel
3
Department of Resource Management and Geography, University of Melbourne, , Australia
4
Dipartimento Scienza dei Materiali, Università del Salento, Lecce Italy
5
6
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia sez. Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Winter precipitation is the main source of recharge for many aquifers and karst systems in the
Mediterranean region. The principal origin of winter meteoric precipitation for most of the
Mediterranean coastal area is related to North Atlantic storm tracks producing the main
cyclogenesis in the Genoa Gulf and secondarily in the Aegean Sea (Trigo et al., 2002). Reduction or
significant failing of this source of rainfall for long periods of time may represent a particular
concern for modern habitation and may have imposed serious problems for ancient civilizations.
Between ca. 6 to 5 ka Soreq and Corchia cave isotope records show some rapid swings from higher
to lower δ18O values suggesting rapid dry/wet climatic oscillations (Bar-Matthews et al., 2011;
Zanchetta et al., 2007). New high-resolution isotope records recently obtained from Soreq Cave for
this period of time (Bar-Matthews and Ayalon, 2011) allows for an interesting synchronization of
these two records. During this period of time at least two events of high δ18O values occurred at ca.
5.2 and 5.6 kyr indicating decadal/centennial scale drier periods perfectly in phase. Since Soreq and
Corchia are located along the typical Mediterranean winter storm track trajectory (Lionello et al.,
2006) this suggests a substantial reduction of winter rainfall for these two localities during these
two periods. At this time, upheaval seems to have occurred in the Middle East for some important
ancient societies, and this may be related to substantial reduction in moisture supply (e.g. collapse
of the late Uruk period; Staubwasser and Weiss, 2006).
Bar-Matthews M., Ayalon A., 2011. Mid-Holocene climate variations revealed by high-resolution
speleothems records from Soreq Cave, Israel and their correlation with cultural changes. The
Holocene, 21, 163-171.
Lionello P., Bhend J., Buzzi A., Della-Marta P.M., Krichak S., Jansà A., Maheras P., Sanna A.,
Trigo I.F., Trigo R. (2006). Cyclones in the Mediterranean region: climatology and effects on the
environment. In P.Lionello, P.Malanotte-Rizzoli, R.Boscolo (eds) Mediterranean Climate
Variability. Amsterdam: Elsevier (NETHERLANDS), 324-272.
Staubwasser M., Weiss H. 2006. Holocene climate and cultural evolution in late prehistoric–early
historic West Asia. Quaternary Research, 66, 372–387
Trigo I.F., Bigg G.R., Davies T.D., 2002. Climatology of cyclogenesis mechanisms in the
Mediterranean. American Meteorological Society, 130, 549-569.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
96
Poster
MULTIPROXY RECORD FROM A MID-HOLOCENE STALAGMITE FROM SOUTHERN
SIBERIA (KRASNOYARSK, RUSSIA): PALAEOCLIMATE IMPLICATIONS.
Zhornyak L.V.1, Zanchetta G.123, Regattieri E.1, Drysdale R.N.4, Hellstrom J.C.5, Fallick A.E.6
1
Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, sez. di Pisa, Via della Faggiola 32, 56126
Pisa, Italy
3
Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse, CNR Via Moruzzi, 1, 56100 Pisa, Italy
4
Department of Resource Management and Geography, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010,
Australia
5
School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 Australia
6
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride G75 0GF, United Kingdom
2
The expansion of the Siberian High during the winter season can produce dry and cold conditions
over part of the Mediterranean (Rohling et al., 2002), which represent a boundary for penetration of
warmer and moister storm tracks from the Atlantic. Despite this interest there are relatively few
well dated proxy records for Siberian High intensity (e.g. GISP2 K+) to be compared with highly
resolved records of winter proxies for Mediterranean area. Here, we present a well dated Middle
Holocene (ca 4 to 6 ka) multiproxy record from a stalagmite from southern Siberia, which shows a
shift from dry to wetter condition probably associated to less severe winters at ca. 5000 yr BP. The
record is punctuated by short-term (decadal/centennial scale) oscillations indicating prominent
colder conditions at 5.7, 5.3, and 5.1 ka, which seems to be in phase with peak of K+ in the GISP2
record. Comparison with speleothems record from Dongge Cave (Dong et al., 2010), indicate that at
ca. 5 ka there is also a change in monsoon strength. Comparison with speleothems δ18O records
from Central Italy (Zanchetta et al., 2007; Drysdale et al., 2006) and Israel (Bar-Matthews and
Aylon, 2011) caves agree that some changes occurs at ca. 5 ka, but detailed correlation on short
terms events appears more elusive.
Bar-Matthews M., Ayalon A., 2011. Mid-Holocene climate variations revealed by high-resolution
speleothems records from Soreq Cave, Israel and their correlation with cultural changes. The
Holocene, 21, 163-171.
Rohling E.J., Mayewski A., Abu-Zied R.H., Casford J.S.L., Hayes A., 2002 Holocene atmosphereocean interactions: records from Greenland and the Aegean Sea Climate Dynamics, 8, 587–593
Dong J., Wang Y.,Cheng H., Hardt B.,R., Edwards R.L., Kong X., Wu J., Chen S., Liu D., Jiang
X.,Zhao K. 2010. A high-resolution stalagmite record of the Holocene East Asian monsoon from
Mt Shennongjia, central China. The Holocene 20, 257–264.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
97
SEA LEVEL AND COASTAL EVOLUTION
Chairmen: Fabrizio Antonioli, Giovanni Sarti and Giuseppe Mastronuzzi
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
98
Oral Presentation
Session: Seal level and Coastal evolution
NATURAL VERSUS HUMAN-INDUCED COASTAL CHANGES:
TWO STUDY CASES FROM SOUTHERN ITALY
Aiello A.1, Canora F.2, Spilotro G.2
1
Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, University of Basilicata, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano, 10 85100 Potenza,
Italy
2
Dipartimento di Strutture, Geotecnica e Geologia Applicata, University of Basilicata, Via dell’Ateneo
Lucano, 10 85100 Potenza, Italy
Rising sea-level and the potential stronger storms from current climate changes overlap sea level
changes modulated by long-period climate and astronomical variations. These phenomena,
sometimes in synergy with subsiding processes that affect many coastal regions, pose an increasing
threat to coastal cities and little communities, infrastructures, recreational activities, biodiversity
and ecosystems (CCSP, 2009). Sea-level rise and increasing storm-surges are not the only hazards
that may affect coastal environment. Human activities in catchment basins determine the decrease
of sediment supply to the coast through different mechanisms, mainly due to damming and
uncontrolled river-sand mining activities. Moreover, the construction of jetties, dikes, harbours, and
other coastal structures determines changes in near-shore current systems and, as a consequence, in
along-shore sediment transportation.
Coastal erosion is one of crucial on-going problem that affects a number of coastal areas in Italy.
Two study cases from Southern Italy will be presented. The first one concerns the Adriatic coast of
the Apulia Region, between Brindisi and Ostuni. This area shows a natural phenomenon of coastal
retreating, as proved by maps from more than 200 years ago. A number of small rocky islands
aligned with an ancient coastline, like the Apani rocks, are clearly off-shore results of the coastal
erosion process. The second study case concerns the Ionian coast of the Basilicata Region, which is
subjected to a huge retreating phenomenon. This coastal erosion is demonstrated by the dissolution
of the original near-shore dunes and it has been measured over the years. In this case, the coastal
erosion is heavily caused by an impressive sedimentary balance change, induced by a number of big
dams built on the main regional rivers between ‘50s and ‘80s (Spilotro et al., 1998; Spilotro et al.,
2010; Mirauda et al., 2011). The aim of this work will be the analysis of the several factors related
to the two phenomena, respectively a mainly natural coastal change and a human-induced coastal
modification process.
CCSP, 2009. Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-Level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region. U.S.
Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research.
Mirauda D., et al., 2011. Monitoring turbidity in the Ionical coast during extreme events by
applying a Robust Satellite Technique (RST) to MODIS Imagery. In Brebbia C.A. (Ed.).
Management of Natural Resources, Sustainable Development and Ecological Hazards III. WIT
Press, Southampton, UK.
Spilotro G., Canora F., Cicala A., 2010. Attività antropica e variazioni del bilancio sedimentario
relativo alla costa ionica della Basilicata. Atti del Dipartimento di Strutture, Geotecnica e Geologia
Applicata, Università della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy.
Spilotro G., Di Bratto M., Cecilia G., Leandro G., 1998. Evoluzione recente del litorale alto ionico
compreso tra foce Sinni e foce Bradano. Atti del Dipartimento di Strutture, Geotecnica e Geologia
Applicata, Università della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
99
Oral Presentation
INFLUENCE OF EARLY HOLOCENE SEA-LEVEL RISE ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND
DECLINE OF CARDIUM POTTERY (MEDITERRANEAN NEOLITHIC)
Amorosi A.
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geologico-Ambientali, University of Bologna, Via Zamboni, 67 40127
Bologna, Italy
Cardium Pottery is a decorative style which developed in the Mediterranean area during the Early
Neolithic. The distinctive feature of Cardium Pottery Culture is the imprinting of the clay with the
shell of mollusc Cardium edule. Owing to its rapid expansion and relatively short duration (from a
few centuries to about one millennium), this culture represents a powerful archeological marker for
the Neolithic of the Mediterranean area. Despite the key role played by this archeological facies, the
reasons for its appearance and disappearance are strongly debated in archaeological circles, and still
far from a solution. Through combination of stratigraphic and sedimentological data from the
subsurface of modern Mediterranean coastal plains, this study puts a geological perspective into
Cardium Pottery Culture, interpreting its origin, development and demise as the effect of early to
mid-Holocene changes in paleogeography across the Mediterranean. Integration of radiocarbon and
cultural ages suggests that Cardium Pottery Culture grew during the early Holocene in response to
the widespread development of brackish environments within transgressive, barrier-lagoon-estuary
systems, in which huge amounts of shells were made available. The landward migration of the
shoreline, which occurred in response to the Holocene sea-level rise, induced the progressive
penetration of this culture towards more internal regions. The decline of Cardial Culture is inferred
to be the result of lagoon infilling in response to generalized mid-Holocene coastal progradation,
which made Cardium shells rapidly unavailable for ceramic decoration.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
100
Oral Presentation
POTENTIAL SUBMARINE LANDSLIDES TSUNAMIS EVENTS IN THE NAPLES BAY
(SOUTHERN-EAST TYRRHENIAN SEA)
Di Fiore V.1, Aiello G.1, D’Argenio B.1,2, Marsella E.1
1
2
Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero, CNR, Calata Porta di Massa 80133 Napoli, Italy
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Naples “Federico II”, L.go S. Marcellino, 10 Napoli,
Italy
The aim of this paper is to study potential wave and run-up events caused by submarine landslides
located in the canyons of the Bay of Naples. Tsunami waves may be generated by earthquakes and
less frequently by volcanic eruptions but often caused by gravitative failures too. In the Naples Bay
all the above trigger factors are present. As a consequence, the continental slope off the bay
represents an appropriate natural laboratory to study geological events potentially leading to
submarine slides with their tsunamigenic potential. We discuss a mathematical model for wave and
run-up generated submarine landslides in the Magnaghi-Dohrn canyon system. The morphobathymetry and submarine gravity instabilities of such incisions have been investigated through the
interpretation of a high resolution DEM. The canyons are located in a sector of the bay where there
is a variable interaction of volcanic activity (Phlegrean Fields and Ischia and Procida Islands) with
sedimentary processes due to the Sarno-Sebeto rivers. At present the Naples canyon-system is
inactive, as is shown by the Holocene sedimentary drapes deposited during the present sea-level
highstand, but gravity instabilities occurred in the recent past at the canyons’ heads.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
101
Oral Presentation
PRESERVATION OF TYRRHENIAN LIMESTONE COASTAL MORPHOLOGIES USED AS
SEA LEVEL MARKERS
Furlani S.1, 2, Moses C.3
1
2
University of Padova, Dept. of Geography, Padova, Italy
University of Trieste, Dept. of Mathematics and Geosciences, Trieste, Italy
3
University of Sussex, Dept. of Geography, Falmer, Brighton
Tidal notches, shore platforms and other intertidal morphologies develop because of higher erosion
rates in the intertidal zone compared to the supratidal or subtidal zone. They are widely distributed
on Mediterranean and tropical rock coasts and are commonly used as geomorphological indicators
of sea level change and tectonic movement. Rock type is also thought to be important in this
context. Limestone coasts, because deep notches are commonly developed on them, are said to
provide more reliable indicators than other rock types. When notches occur far from the sea, for
tectonic, eustatic or isostatic reasons, they continue to erode although with lower subaerial rates.
We review studies that measure, using a range of methods, rates of notch erosion in Mediterranean
and tropical coasts and we present intertidal erosion rates directly measured using the Micro
Erosion Meter (MEM) or Traversing MEM (TMEM) on limestones on these coasts.
We discuss intertidal limestone erosion rates in respect of sea level markers. We highlight some
interactions over time and space between process and measurement that continue to limit our
understanding of, and ability to model, the development of notches that are used as sea level
markers. Our results suggest that notches, in particular the old ones (MIS 5e forms), should be used
very carefully considering that subaerial rates could be very significant with respect to the size of
markers. It is recommended to use these markers in combination with other kind of sea level
markers (sedimentological, etc).
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
102
Oral Presentation
MILLSTONES COASTAL QUARRIES AS INDICATOR OF RELATIVE SEA LEVEL
CHANGES
Lo Presti V. 1, Antonioli F.2 , Ronchitelli A. 3, Scicchitano G. 4, Spampinato C. 4, Anzidei M. 5,
Ferranti L. 6, Auriemma R. 7, Monaco C. 3, Mastronuzzi G. 8, Sulli A. 1, Iannelli M.T. 9
1
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, Università di Palermo
2
ENEA, UTMEA, Casaccia, Roma
3
U.R. Ecologia Preistorica – Dip. Scienze Ambientali “G.Sarfatti”, Università di Siena
4
Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, Università di Catania
5
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Roma
6
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Napoli Federico II
7
Dipartimento di Beni Culturali, Università del Salento
8
Dipartimento di Geologia e Geofisica Universita` degli Studi ‘‘Aldo Moro’’, Bari
9
Soprintendenza per i beni archeologici della Calabria
The Italian coasts shows numerous archaeological remains which reveals the activities that were
carried out along the coast for thousands of years of history. In order to use archaeological
structures for coastal studies, an accurate estimate of their relationship to the sea level at the time of
construction is required (Lambeck et al 2004, Antonioli et al 2007, Auriemma & Solinas 2009).
Millstone coastal quarries are only documented in southern Italy; they are carved on beachrock,
calcarenites and other sedimentary rock easy to be exploited. Few archaeological information have
been published about quarries for millstones extraction; they are documented since around 2500 yr
BP (Amouretti, 1986; Amouretti, Brun, 1993; Brun, 1997).
Millstone quarries carved within sandstone bedrocks and nowadays partially submerged was used
as archaeological sea level marker for two sites in Calabria and Sicily by Scicchitano et al.(2011).
In this study we analyzed 11 coastal sites of: Sicily (Capo d’Orlando, Letojanni, Giardini Naxos),
Calabria (Soverato, Tropea, Capo dell’Armi, Crotone, Roccella Ionica), Campania (Palinuro,
Scario) and Apulia (Polignano San Vito).
Thanks to the discovery and dating of an iron wedge used as tool for carving, for the first time we
can restrict the period of exploitation of this specific type of quarry (Ronchitelli, 1993). In addition,
based on geological knowledge of each sector and on measures made on the quarries, we present
considerations on functionality, geological uplift rate and reconstruction of possible ages of each
studied archaeological sites.
Amouretti M.C., 1986. Le pain et l’huile dans la Grèce antique. Paris.
Amouretti M.C., Brun J.P., 1993. La production du vin et de l’huile en Méditerranée. Suppl. BCH
26, Athens.
Antonioli F., Anzidei M., Lambeck K., Auriemma R., Gaddi D., Furlani S., Orrù P., Solinas E.,
Gaspari A., Karinja S., Kovačić V., Surace L., (2007). Sea level change in Italy during Holocene
from archaeological and geomorphological data. Quaternary Science Rewievs, 26, 2463-2486.
Auriemma R., Solinas E., 2009. Archaeological remains as sea level change markers: a review.
Quaternary International 206, 134-146.
Brun J.P., 1997. L’introduction des moulins dans les huileries antiques. In: Garcia, D., Meeks, D.
(Eds.), Techniques et économie antiques et médiévales. Le temps de l’innovation, Colloque d’Aixen-Provence (mai 1996), Paris, 69-78.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Oral Presentation
Lambeck K., Anzidei M., Antonioli F., Benini A, Esposito E., (2004). Sea level in Roman time in
the Central Mediterranean and implications for modern sea level rise. Earth and Planetary Science
Letter 224, 563-575.
Ronchitelli A., 1993. Paleosuperfici del Paleolitico medio al Molare di Scario (Salerno), Atti della
XXX Riunione Scientifica dell’Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, Firenze, 233-246.
Scicchitano G., Lo Presti V., Spampinato C. R., Gasparo Morticelli M., Antonioli F., Auriemma R.,
Ferranti L., Monaco C., 2011. Millstones as indicators of relative seal level changes in northern
Sicily and southern Calabria coastlines, Italy. Quaternary International 232, 92-104.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
104
Oral Presentation
SEA LEVEL AND COASTAL EVOLUTION IN VOLCANIC AREAS: THE CASE OF THE
SOMMA-VESUVIUS
Marturano A.1, Aiello G.2, Barra D.2, Fedele L.3, Morra V.3
1
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, sez. Osservatorio Vesuviano, via Diocleziano 328, 80124
Naples, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II, Largo San Marcellino 10,
80136 Naples, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Mezzocannone 8,
80134 Naples, Italy
Detailed micropalaeontological and petrochemical analyses of rock samples from boreholes drilled
at the archaeological excavations of Herculaneum, ~7 km west, and Pompeii, ~8 km east of the
Somma-Vesuvius crater, allowed reconstruction of the Late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental
evolution of the sites (Marturano et al., 2009; 2012). The Holocenic sedimentary sequence, on
which the archaeological remains rest, has risen several meters at an average rate of 4-5 mm/yr. The
uplift has also involved the western apron of the volcano and the Sebeto-Volla Plain, a populous
area including the eastern suburbs of Naples, the areas of the Sarno valley (SE of the volcano) and
the Somma-Vesuvius eastern apron (Marturano et al., 2011).
The data depicted a framework of synchronous ground movements for the whole Somma-Vesuvius
edifice, with uplift already in progress at 15-17 ka, a few kyrs after the beginning of the interglacial
phase (20-19 ka). In the same period from which appear to start the ground movements, two large
explosive events (i.e., 22 ka Pomici di Base and 19 ka Pomici Verdoline) occurred. The following
exponential uplift coincides with a period of low documented eruptive activity in contrast with the
late phase (after ~9 ka) in which the ground level remains relatively constant and plinian and
subplinian eruptions happen (i.e., 9 ka Mercato, 4.3 ka Avellino, A.D. 79 Pompei, A.D. 412 Pollena
and the A.D. 1631 Villa Inglese; Santacroce et al., 2008).
An axisimmetric deep source of strain is considered responsible for the long-term uplift affecting
the whole Somma-Vesuvius edifice. The deformation pattern was modelled by a single pressure
source, sited in the lower crust and surrounded by a shell of Maxwell viscoelastic medium, which
experienced a pressure pulse that began at the Last Glacial Maximum.
Marturano, A., Aiello, G., Barra, D., Fedele, L., Grifa, C., Morra, V., Berg, R., Varone, A., 2009.
Evidence for Holocenic uplift at Somma-Vesuvius. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 184, 451–461.
Marturano, M., Aiello, G., Barra, D., 2011. Evidence for Late Pleistocene uplift at the Somma–
Vesuvius apron near Pompeii. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 202, 211–227.
doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2011.02.010.
Marturano, A., Aiello, G., Barra, D., Fedele, L., Morra, V., 2012. Ground movement at Somma–
Vesuvius from Last Glacial Maximum. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 211-212,
24– 35.
Santacroce, R., Cioni, R., Maianelli, P., Sbrana, A., Sulpizio, R., Zanchetta, G., Donahue, D.J.,
Joron, J.L., 2008. Age and whole rock-glass compositions of proximal pyroclastics from the major
explosive eruptions of Somma–Vesuvius: a review as a tool for distaltephrostratigraphy. Journal of
Volcanology and Geothermal Research 177, 1–18.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
105
Oral Presentation
HUMONGOUS INCISED VALLEY FROM A SMALL CATCHMENT BASIN. INTERNAL
ARCHITECTURE AND SEDIMENT SUPPLY FLUCTUATIONS.
Vittorio Maselli1, Fabio Trincardi1.
1
ISMAR-CNR, Istituto di Scienze Marine, Via Gobetti 101, 40129, Bologna, Italy
The formation of an Incised Valley (I.V.) represents the response of a fluvial system to allocyclic
processes, in order to reach a new equilibrium profile (Schumm, 1993). Several examples of I.V.
have been studied from Precambrian to modern shelf settings (Allen and Posamentier, 1993; Dyson
and Von der Borsch, 1994), in order to understand the evolution of the sedimentary environments
forced by base level changes (Dalrymple et al., 1994), the possible impact of local tectonics
(Deibert and Camilleri, 2006), the role of past climate changes in both valley incision and infill
(Simms et al., 2010), and the importance of soil vegetation cover of the fluvial realm in rivers
evolution (Davies and Gibling, 2011). In the last few decades several Authors have focused on the
study of incised valley systems as key elements in the identification of sequence boundaries and for
their relevance as hydrocarbon reservoirs (Harms, 1966; Posamentier et al., 1988; Van Wagoner et
al., 1988). When referring to the Late Quaternary, incised valleys and their fills are particularly
important as they may provide the only sedimentary record of lowstand intervals (Thomas and
Anderson, 1994; Payenberg et al., 2006), giving the possibility to extend the investigation of past
climatic change (Simms et al., 2010).
The Manfredonia Incised Valley (MIV) is a huge erosional feature (up to 40 m deep and more than
7 km wide) buried below the Apulian shelf, on the western side of the Adriatic margin, compared to
the its reconstructed lowstand catchment basin (ca. 6500 km2). The incision extends more than 60
km eastward, from the Tavoliere Plain to the outer shelf, not reaching the shelf edge. Highresolution chirp sonar profiles allow the reconstruction of the morphology of the incision and its
correlation at regional scale. The MIV formed as a consequence of a single episode of incision,
induced by the last glacial-interglacial sea level fall that forced the rivers draining the Tavoliere
Plain to advance basinward, reaching their maximum extent at the apex of the Last Glacial
Maximum. The valley was filled during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene sea level rise and almost
leveled-off at the time of maximum marine ingression, thus recording a short interval of about
10’000 yr. The accommodation space previously generated by the lowstand incision was exploited
during the ensuing sea level rise by very high rates of sediment supply that allowed the preservation
of a up to 40 meters of transgressive sediments. The valley fill includes the entire suite of estuary
facies, including bay-head deltas, central basin and distal barrier-island deposits, organized in a
backstepping configuration. The highest complexity of the valley fill is reached in the shallowest
and most proximal area, where a kilometric prograding wedge formed in response of a period of
high precipitation rates (Zanchetta et al., 2007; Zhornyak et al., 2011), likely isochronous with the
formation of Sapropel S1 in the Mediterranean basin (Ariztegui et al., 2000; Asioli et al., 2001)
Ariztegui, D., Asioli, A., Lowe, J.J., Trincardi, F., Vigliotti, L., Tamburini, F., Chondrogianni, C.,
Accorsi, C.A., Bandini Mazzanti, M., Mercuri, A.M., Van der Kaars, S., McKenzie, J.A., Oldfield,
F., 2000. Palaeoclimate and formation of sapropel S1: inferences from Late Quaternary lacustrine
and marine sequences in the central Mediterranean region. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeoecology 158, 215-240.
Asioli, A., Trincardi, F., Lowe, J.J.,Arizteguy, D., Langone, L., Oldfield, F., 2001. Sub-millennial
climatic oscillations in the central Adriatic during the last deglaciation: paleoceanographic
implications. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, 33-53.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Oral Presentation
Allen, G.P., Posamentier, H.W., 1993. Sequence stratigraphy and facies model of an incised valley
fill: the Gironde Estuary, France, Journal of Sedimentary Research 63, 378-391.
Dalrymple, R.W., Zaitlin, B.A., 1994. High-resolution stratigraphy of a complex, incised valley
succession, Cobequid Bay - Salmon River, Bay of Fundy, Canada. Sedimentology 41, 1069-1091.
Davies, N.S., Gibling, M.R., 2011. Evolution of fixed-channel alluvial plains in response to
Carboniferous vegetation. Nature Geoscience 4, 629-633.
Deibert, J.E., Camilleri, P.A., 2006. Sedimentologic and tectonic origin of an incised-valley-fill
sequence along an extensional marginal-lacustrine system in the Basin and Range province, United
States: Implications for predictive models of the location of incised valleys. American Association
of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 90, 209-235.
Dyson, I.A, Von der Borsch, C.C., 1994. Sequence stratigraphy of an incised-valley fill: The
Neoproterozoic seacliff sandstone, Adelaide Geosyncline, South Australia. In Dalrymple, R.W.,
Boyd, R., Zaitlin, B.A. (Eds.), Incised-valley System: Origin and Sedimentary Sequences, Society
for Sedimentary Geology, SEPM Special Publication, vol. 51, 209-222, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
Harms, J.C., 1966. Stratigraphic traps in valley fill, western Nebraska, American Association of
Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 50, 2119-2149.
Payenberg, T.H.D., Boyd, R., Beaudoin, J., Ruming, K., Davies, S., Roberts, J., Lang., S.C., 2006.
The filling of an incised valley by shelf dunes - An example from Hervey Bay, east coast of
Australia. In Dalrymple, R.W., Leckie, D.A., Tillman, R.W. (Eds.), Incised valleys in time and
space, Society for Sedimentary Geology, SEPM Special Publication, vol. 85, 87-98, Tulsa,
Oklahoma, USA.
Posamentier, H.W., Jervey, M.T., Vail, P.R., 1988. Eustatic controls on clastic deposition I Conceptual framework. In Wilgus, C.K., Hastings, B.S., Kendall, C.G.C., Posamentier, H.W., Ross,
C.A., Van Wagoner, J.C. (Eds.), Sea-level Changes: An Integrated Approach, Society for
Sedimentary Geology, SEPM Special Publication, vol. 42, 109-124, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
Schumm, S.A., 1993. River response to baselevel change: Implications for sequence stratigraphy.
The Journal of Geology 101, 279-294.
Simms, A.R., Aryal, N., Miller, L., Yokoyama, Y., 2010. The incised valley of Baffin Bay, Texas: a
tale of two climates. Sedimentology 57, 642-669.
Thomas, M.A., Anderson, J.B., 1994. Sea-level controls on the facies architecture of the
Trinity/Sabine incised-valley system, Texas continental shelf. In Dalrymple, R.W., Boyd, R.,
Zaitlin, B.A. (Eds.), Incised-valley System: Origin and Sedimentary Sequences, Society for
Sedimentary Geology, SEPM Special Publication, vol. 51, 63-83, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
Van Wagoner, J.C., Posamentier, H.W., Mitchum, R.M., Vail, P.R., Sarg, R., Loutit, T.S.,
Hardenbol, J., 1988. An overview of sequence stratigraphy and key definitions. In Wilgus, C.K.,
Hastings, B.S., Kendall, C.G.C., Posamentier, H.W., Ross, C.A., Van Wagoner, J.C. (Eds.), Sealevel Changes: An Integrated Approach, Society for Sedimentary Geology, SEPM Special
Publication, vol. 42, 39-45, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Oral Presentation
Zanchetta, G., Drysdale, R.N., Hellstrom, J.C., Fallick, A.E., Isola, I., Gagan, M.K., Pareschi, M.T.,
2007. Enhanced rainfall in the Western Mediterranean during deposition of sapropel S1: stalagmite
Zhornyak, L.V., Zanchetta, G., Drysdale, R.N., Hellstrom, J.C., Isola, I., Regattieri, E., Piccini, L.,
Baneschi, I., Couchoud, I., 2011. Stratigraphic evidence for a “pluvial phase” between ca 82007100 ka from Renella Cave (Central Italy). Quaternary Science Reviews 30, 409-417.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
108
Oral Presentation
RELATIVE SEA-LEVEL CHANGES VERSUS COASTAL DEFORMATION
GEO-BIOLOGICAL DATA FROM ANCIENT HARBOURS
MARSEILLE, FREJUS, CUMA, PUTEOLI, NAPOLI
Morhange C.1, Marriner N.1
1
Aix-Marseille University, IUF, CNRS, CEREGE, UMR 6635, 13545, Aix-en-Provence, France
Harbour archaeological sites are interesting for three reasons. (a) They can inform us of the sealevel position as far back as 3000 years ago, far beyond the realm of instrumental records which
span at best a few hundred years. (b) The structures form a solid base upon which marine organisms
can grow. The study of fossil biological layers allows sea-level index points to be determined
precisely, with centimetric accuracy in sheltered areas (Laborel and Laborel-Deguen, 1994). (c) The
dating of the sites by ceramology is often far more accurate and reliable compared to isotopic
dating. However, the major drawback of this approach is that it necessitates multiple investigations
that can only be performed at the same pace as the excavation work progresses. Relative sea-level
data allows researchers to estimate the height of the water column in an ancient harbour basin and,
subsequently, the maximum draught of the ships that could enter it. Several recent studies have
proposed estimates for ship draught depths. At Portus (Rome) palaeo sea-level indicators dated to
the 3rd and 5th centuries AD indicate a relative sea level rise of 80±10 cm since this time (Goiran et
al., 2009). In the entrance channel of the hexagonal basin of Trajan, the height of the water column
was ca. 7 m (Goiran et al., 2010). These accurate field measurements contrast with the estimates
inferred from hydro-isostatic computer models. Multidisciplinary investigations can yield accurate
results and nuanced interpretations. Shoreline changes are interesting because they allow
researchers to understand the physical context and to locate the harbour basin. It is important to
differentiate between sea-level change and shoreline mobility because the two phenomena can be
both complementary and contradictory. For instance, geomorphological work at Cuma (Stefaniuk
and Morhange, 2010) has allowed detailed mapping in addition to an investigation of their sediment
archives. In most cases, during the Late Holocene, increased sediment supply led to the
progradation of the floodplain which caused the frequent relocation of the harbours to stay abreast
with coastal changes (Marriner and Morhange, 2007).
Laborel, J., Laborel-Deguen, F., 1994, Biological indicators of relative sea-level variations and coseismic displacements in the Mediterranean region. Journal of Coastal Research 10, 395-415.
Goiran, J. P., Tronchère, H., Collalelli, U., Salomon, F., Djerbi, H., 2009. Découverte d’un niveau
marin biologique sur les quais de Portus: le port antique de Rome. Méditerranée 112, 59-67.
Goiran, J. P., Tronchère, H., Salomon, F., Carbonel, P., Djerbi, H., Ognard, C., 2010.
Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the ancient harbours of Rome: Claudius and Trajan's marine
harbours on the Tiber delta. Quaternary International 216, 3-13.
Marriner, N., Morhange, C., 2007. Geoscience of ancient Mediterranean harbours. Earth Science
Reviews 80, 137-194.
Morhange, C., Laborel, J., Hesnard, A., 2001. Changes of relative sea level during the past 5000
years in the ancient harbour of Marseilles, Southern France. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeooecology 166, 319-329.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
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Oral Presentation
Morhange, C., Marriner, N., Laborel, J., Todesco, M., Oberlin, C., 2006. Rapid sea-level
movements and noneruptive crustal deformations in the Phlegrean Fields caldera, Italy. Geology 43,
2, 93-96.
Stefaniuk, L., Morhange, C., 2010. Evoluzione dei paesaggi costieri nella depressione sud-ovest di
Cuma dà 4000 anni. Il problema del porto antico. Atti 40° Magna Grecia Conference, Tarento, 305322.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
110
Poster
COASTAL CAVES AND SEA LEVEL CHANGE IN ISTRIA
Biolchi S.1,2, Furlani S.1,3, Cucchi F.1, Stuper N.4
1
2
Dipartimento di Matematica e Geoscienze, Università di Trieste, Via Weiss, 2 34138 Trieste, Italy
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Largo S. Eufemia, 19 41100
Modena, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Geografia “G. Morandini”, Università di Padova, Via del Santo, 26 35123, Italy
4
Naturalist, Umag, Croatia
Speleothemes and cave deposits have successfully been used as sea level markers (e.g. Surić et al.,
2009; Dutton et al. 2009), but geomorphological features of coastal caves have never been used.
The present position of coastal caves in Eastern Adriatic with respect to the sea level suggests the
joint contribution of marine and subaerial factors. The understanding of their evolution allow to use
them as rough sea level indicator together with other common sea level makers. In particular, we
carried out a systematic underwater explorations at 4 caves at Rovinj, Stoja, Premantura and Brseč.
The caves develop at the present-day sea level and are partly emerged and partly submerged.
Moreover, their entrance is always at present sea level.
The geological surveying of coastal caves in Istria suggested that they are developed mainly
following faults, fractures and joints. Their bottom is usually covered by rounded cobbles and
blocks, mainly in the inner sectors, due to the wave abrasion effects, since the pressure effects of
entering waves can easily produce abrasion forms, which completely erase bioweathering
morphologies. Even lateral walls are very smoothed because of mechanical processes. No tidal
notches occur inside the studied caves, mainly because of abrasion, but wide submerged abrasion
notches have been found.
While the submerged part is completely abraded by waves, speleothemes have been observed in the
emerged position. The studied caves cannot be tightly considered “marine caves” because their
origin is not completely due to marine processes. Generally, karst morphologies dominate above
mean sea level, while abrasional features occur below mean sea level. Considering (1) their size and
shape and (2) the vertical displacement of the studied area at least from last interglacial, their
genesis probably started in a subaerial position. Seawater effects strongly affected their recent
morphological development when sea level reached their bottom.
Dutton A., Bard, E., Antonioli F., Esat T.M., Lambeck K., McCulloch T. 2009. Phasing and
amplitude of sea-level and climate change during the penultimate interglacial. Nature Geoscience 2,
355-359.
Surić M., Richards D.A., Hoffmann D.L., Tibljaš D., Juračić M. 2009. Sea-level change during MIS
5a based on submerged speleothems from the eastern Adriatic Sea (Croatia). Marine Geology, 262,
1-4, 62-67.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
111
Poster
SEA-LEVEL AND CLIMATIC CHANGES DURING THE LAST 41,000 YEARS IN THE
OUTER SHELF OF THE SOUTHERN TYRRHENIAN SEA: EVIDENCE FROM
Cosentino C.1, Caruso A.1, Pierre C.2, Sulli A.1
1
Italy
2
LOCEAN, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (PARIS 6), France
A micropaleontological and isotopic study performed on a sedimentary core collected in the
continental shelf along the Sicilian coast has been compared with the seismostragraphic analysis of
the studied area. It allowed the reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental and the paleoclimatic
history of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea during the last 41 ka.
The sedimentary core VIB 10 (353 cm in length) was collected in the outer shelf of the Gulf of
Termini (127 m. bathymetry). 174 samples were studied for sedimentological, micropaleontological
and stable isotopic analysis; these last were performed on two foraminiferal species, Melonis
padanum and Globigerinoides ruber. The age model of the core was based on radiocarbon
chronology (4 samples) and on oxygen isotope stratigraphy. The physiography of the area was
depicted by means of Multi Beam Echo Sounder data and provided a high resolution threedimensional image of the sea-floor.
The results based on the interpretation of a seismic profile, on benthic and planktonic foraminifera
assemblages and on δ18O records, allowed recognition of two drastic sea-level falls. The climatic
cooling during the Last Glacial Maximum (20.5-15 ka) produced a sea-level fall of 115 m with the
consequent subaerial exposure of the depositional site. After a sea-level rise, during the Younger
Dryas a second sea-level fall of 20-30 m occurred. During the lower Holocene, warmer climatic
conditions were rapidly established as indicated by the decrease of δ18O values. The rapid sea-level
rise due to the input of fresh water from ice caps melting following the increase of Earth’s mean
temperature is also indicated by the aggradational geometries of sedimentary layers observed in the
seismic profile and by the increase of benthic species typical of the outer shelf. Furthermore, during
the Holocene, three slight shifts of δ18O values were recognised at 7, 5 and 2-1.7 kyrs BP, probably
tied to cool humid periods.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
112
Poster
LATE QUATERNARY MORPHO-EVOLUTION OF THE BAY OF FORMIA COASTAL BELT,
CENTRAL ITALY
Guarino P.M.1, Schiattarella M.2
1
ISPRA - Dipartimento Difesa Suolo, Servizio Geologia Applicata e Idrogeologia, Rome, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy
The Bay of Formia – the Sinus Formianus of the ancient Romans – is part of one of the most
representative coastal segment of the Italian peninsula in which environmental changes occurred in
a long-lasting time-span (from the Mousterian - Upper Palaeolithic, at least, cf. Attema et al., 2005)
of continuous interaction between man and natural system (Blanc and Segre, 1947). New
investigations have been concentrated in the portion of the so-called Riviera di Ulisse comprised
between the Gianola Promontory to the east and Mt. Orlando to the west. This south-facing, arched
coastal plain is relatively narrow being immediately bordered at its back by an impressive mountain
ridge (Aurunci Mts.) constituted of Mesozoic carbonate rocks. The coastal belt ranges from the sea
level to about 30 m a.s.l. and is geologically constituted of several Quaternary (pre-Holocene) units,
partly cropping out in the inner portion of the study area, and by a Holocene sequence known only
by well logs.
The analysis of a 30 m-thick core recently extracted near the coastline of the Gaeta Harbor allowed
us to recognize relevant Holocene palaeoenvironmental changes. Furthermore, the survey carried
out in the area of Vindicio beach, between Formia and Gaeta towns, revealed that the Tyrrhenian
deposits – never reported before in this sector of the Riviera di Ulisse – have been uplifted up to
~17 m a.s.l., so testifying an intense tectonic activity during the late Pleistocene – Holocene (?)
chronological interval. As a matter of fact, such rocks formed a marine carbonate-clastic deposit
(the so-called “panchina carbonatica” Auctt.), often morfologically hung along the coasts of
southern Italy. Not far from the Formia Bay area, fossil notches and other geomorphological
markers of Tyrrhenian age are well-exposed along the rocky cliff near Gaeta at an elevation of
about 6-7 m a.s.l. (Antonioli, 1991; De Pippo et al., 2007).
Antonioli, F., 1991. geomorfologia subacquea e costiera del litorale compreso tra Punta Stendardo e
Torre S. Agostino (Gaeta). Il Quaternario 4, 257-274.
Attema, P.A.J., De Haas, T.C.A., La Rosa, M., 2005. Sites of the Fogliano survey (Pontine region,
central Italy), site classification and a comment on the diagnostic artefacts from Prehistory to the
Roman period. Palaeohistoria 45/46, 121-196.
Blanc, A.C., Segre, A.G., 1947. Nuovi giacimenti tirreniani e paleolitici sulla costiera fra Sperlonga
e Gaeta. Historia Naturalis 2, 3-4.
De Pippo, T, Donadio, C., Miele, P., Valente, A., 2007. Morphological evidence for Late
Quaternary tectonic activity along the coast of Gaeta (central Italy). Geogr. Fis. Dinam. Quat. 30,
43-53.
AIQUA CONGRESS 2012
113
Poster
SEA LEVEL AND SEDIMENT SUPPLY FLUCTUATIONS DURING THE BÖLLINGALLERØD TO YOUNGER DRYAS TRANSITION REVELEAD BY A 2D NUMERICAL
MODELING OF THE CENTRAL ADRIATIC TRANSGRESSIVE RECORD.
Maselli V.1,*, Hutton E.W.2, Kettner A.J.2, Syvitski J.P.M.2, Trincardi F.1
1
2
ISMAR-CNR, Istituto di Scienze Marine, Via Gobetti 101, 40129, Bologna, Italy
INSTAAR, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Campus Box 450,
Boulder, CO 80309-0450, USA
Global sea level oscillations occurring during the Quaternary were mainly the consequence of
changes in solar radiation pattern, tuned by the Earth’s orbital parameters (Hays et al., 1976), which
regulate the waxing and waning on ice-sheets (Shackleton, 1987). On shorter time scales, i.e. the
Late Pleistocene-Holocene, the sea level oscillation, still dominated by the Milankovian cyclicity, is
also modulated by internal feed-back processes in the ice-ocean-atmosphere interaction (Bond et al.,
1997; Clark et al., 2002), resulting in a step-like eustatic rise, with at least two periods of
dramatically enhanced rates of ice melting and consequently sea level rise (Fairbanks, 1989).
Although the overall timing and magnitude of the post-glacial sea level rise is well constrained
(Bard et al., 1990; 1996), some uncertainties remain particularly around the Bölling-Allerød to
Younger Dryas transition (Siddall et al., 2010; Carlson, 2010). Here we try to quantify small-scale
sea level oscillations that possibly occurred during this interval (14 - 11 kyr BP) by simulating the
deposition of the central Adriatic transgressive record (Maselli et al., 2011). This deposit consists of
a tripartite sedimentary body with a central unit formed by a two steps prograding wedge with an
internal unconformity (Cattaneo and Trincardi, 1999). The simulations are obtained by coupling
two numerical models (Maselli et al., 2011), and are supported by sequence-stratigraphy analyses,
core samples and 14C age estimates (Asioli et al., 2001). Model simulations with Hydrotrend v3.0, a
hydrological water balance and transport model (Kettner and Syvitski, 2008), allow to simulate the
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holocene environmental changes recorded at high mountain

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