Search

A marine sediment core from the western Mediterranean provides a new highresolution 4,500-year record of palaeomagnetic secular variation and relative palaeointensity. In 2013, the 7.1-metre C5 core was recovered from the Tyrrhenian Sea as part of the NextData climate data project. The coring site, 15 km offshore from the Volturno river mouth, is well-located to record combined marine and terrestrial palaeoclimatic influences, and the fine-grained, rapidly deposited sediments are effective palaeomagnetic recorders. We investigate the palaeomagnetic field direction ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at Universita Napoli Federico II on June 8, 2020 and strength recorded in the core, which provide a valuable high-resolution record of Holocene geomagnetic variation in the area. Using rock magnetic techniques, we constrain the magnetic mineralogy of the studied sediments and confirm their suitability for palaeomagnetic analysis. Palaeomagnetic declination and inclination records were determined by stepwise alternating-field demagnetization, and relative palaeointensity estimates were obtained based on normalization to anhysterestic and isothermal remanent magnetization and to magnetic susceptibility. The age of the core is wellconstrained with a tephro- and biostratigraphic age model, and its magnetic records are compared with relevant core and model data for the region, demonstrating that our record is compatible with previous results from the area. An automated curve matching approach is applied to assess the compatibility of our data with the existing secular variation path for the Mediterranean area

This paper describes the results of the activities performed during the project PONa3_00363 I-AMICA (High Technology Infrastructure for Climate and Environment Monitoring; www.i-amica.it), as part of the activities of Development Objective 4.4 (Processes of the biosphere-hydrosphere interface and features of coastal ecosystems). Through the strengthening of scientific-technological infrastructure and equipment, I-AMICA was planned to increase the observational capacity of the monitoring of marine coastal ecosystems, particularly vulnerable in the sensitive Mediterranean area and strictly connected to the natural and anthropic continental system. For this reason research activities were mainly focused on the neritic environment adjacent to the shelf area of the Volturno River mouth (Gulf of Gaeta - central part of the Tyrrhenian Sea). Advanced knowledge on the dynamics in time of marine coastal ecosystems, in relation to the physical, chemical and biological processes that characterize their habitat, were acquired while new methods of integrated monitoring, in relation to the specific characteristics of the study area, were tested. Particular attention was given to the identification of bio-indicators in water column and sediment at sea floor. The monitoring was also integrated by studies on the shoreline changes, seismic stratigraphy of deltaic deposits and by sedimentology and morpho-bathymetry of the seabed., Vengono presentati i risultati dell’attività di monitoraggio svolta nel corso del progetto PONa3_00363 I-AMICA (Infrastruttura di Alta tecnologia per il Monitoraggio Integrato Climatico-Ambientale; www.i-amica.it/i-amica/), nell’ambito delle attività relative all’Obiettivo Realizzativo 4.4 (Processi di interfaccia biosfera-idrosfera e funzionalità degli ecosistemi costieri). L’attività, che ha avuto come scopo l’acquisizione di conoscenze avanzate sulle dinamiche e/o variazioni nel tempo degli ecosistemi marino-costieri in relazione ai processi fisici, chimici e biologici che caratterizzano il loro habitat, si è sviluppata attraverso la sperimentazione di nuove metodologie di monitoraggio in relazione alle specifiche caratteristiche dell’area marino-costiera prospiciente la foce del fiume Volturno (Golfo di Gaeta). In particolare, oltre che sulle tecniche di monitoraggio classiche, lo studio si è principalmente focalizzato sulla acquisizione ed interpretazione di dati ambientali sia in colonna d’acqua che nei sedimenti a fondo mare e sulla identificazione di specie e/o associazioni di specie significative (bio-indicatori) da un punto di vista ambientale ed indicative dello stato di salute del sistema costiero. Poiché il sistema costiero rappresenta una struttura naturale complessa e delicata, la cui evoluzione è il risultato di delicati equilibri fisici, chimici e biologici, fortemente condizionabili dagli interventi antropici, l’attività di monitoraggio è stata integrata da studi sulla variazione della linea di costa, da studi sismostratigrafici della piana deltizia, sedimentologici e morfo-batimetrici dei fondali.

A new high resolution pollen, planktonic foraminiferal and oxygen isotopes record from a shallow water marine sedimentary core from the central Tyrrhenian Sea (Gulf of Gaeta) provides information on vegetation and climate changes occurred in the central Mediterranean region during the last 5000 cal. years BP (Margaritelli et al., 2016). Nine time intervals characterized by clear vegetation and climate changes and associated with archaeological/cultural periods have been described: Eneolithic (ca. 3080- ca. 2410 BC), Early Bronze Age (ca. 2410 BC–ca. 1900 BC), Middle Bronze Age-Iron Age (ca. 1900 BC–ca. 500 BC), Roman Period (ca. 500 BC–ca. 550 AD), Dark Age (ca. 550 AD–ca. 860 AD), Medieval Climate Anomaly (ca. 860 AD–ca. 1250 AD), Little Ice Age (ca. 1250 AD–ca. 1850 AD), Industrial Period (ca. 1850 AD–ca. 1950 AD), Modern Warm Period (ca. 1950 AD–present day). In this paper we aim to characterize the major vegetation changes influenced by climate and human impact.

In the recent years, Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) have proved their usefulness in particular to collect data for marine research and environmental survey. The use of these controlled remotely platforms, without direct human control, have improved the capacity to image, and monitor the seabed and the costalmarine environment. Outfitted with different instruments (payload), the USVs are used for marine, river and lake activities, such as environmental monitoring, water quality sampling, hydrologic survey, target tracking and scientific survey [Bertram, 2008; Manley, 2008; Giordano et al., 2015]. Other fields of application include harbor surveillance, maritime search, rescue and natural disaster damage assessment [Steimle et al., 2009]. One of the first USV was ARTEMIS, designed in 1993 at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sea Grant Collage) [Manley, 1997] to collect bathymetric data and it was characterized by a propulsion system with two electric motors and a rudder servant-implemented. The USV was equipped by an automatic control of the heading and an autonomous navigation capacity through reference points (waypoints). Its small dimension (about 1.37m long) was the main shortcoming, limiting the endurance and the sea keeping. Following the development of ARTEMIS, to improve the transverse stability and to design more payload capacity and redundancy as regards the buoyancy, MIT adapted the catamaran shape for the hull and removed the rudder; the steering is based on a differential propeller revolution rate. After the MIT, several USVs were designed within many research projects. Among these, other USV were realized. The DELFIM, capable of working in close cooperation with an Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) [Pascoal et al., 2000] and the ROAZ, ROAZ II, that, set up for bathymetry survey, were designed to allow testing and validation of new developments in monitoring, coordinating multi-vehicle navigation, sampling and other research topics related to marine surface vehicles [Ferreira et al., 2006a, 2009]. Further developed concerned the SWORDFISH, MESSIN and SPRINGER vehicles. The SWORDFISH [Ferreira et al., 2006b, 2007] is a survey vehicle, with modular sensor payloads and a mobile gateway for air to underwater communication. The MESSIN [Majhor and Buch, 2006] is a catamaran dedicated to delivering sensors for oceanographic operations or hydrological mapping. The vehicle is suitable to operate in very shallow water, without destructive effects on the marine environment. The autonomous navigation system allows following the pre-programmed routes efficiently. The SPRINGER was developed in 2004 [Naeem et al., 2006; 2008] for tracking of pollutants, hydrographical surveys in rivers, water resources and coastal waters. As marine platform, SPRINGER was designed to be used also as a test-bed for intelligent navigation systems and for testing of new technologies for the sensors. Several developments in the modelling of twin hull USVs were presented also by the CNR-ISSIA (Italy) [Caccia et al., 2006] that within the SESAMO project designed the catamaran Charlie for sampling activity in the Antarctic Region [Caccia et al., 2006]. This technical report describes an innovative and integrated prototype system of Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) for advanced environmental monitoring; the water platform’s is developed at the Coastal Marine Environmental Institute – National Research Council (Italy), within the Project: Integrated Systems and Technologies for Geophysical and Environmental Monitoring in coastal-marine areas (STIGEAC), in the framework of the National Operational Programs 2007-2013. The project concerns in the research of new technologies and the design of vehicles, for the surveys of the coastal marine environment, understood as a “multipurpose” laboratory for sea research with characteristics of modularity and portability. The goal involves not only the execution of scientific and technological research but also for the valorization of marine cultural heritage, for industrial activity and for emergency interventions related to environmental crises. Major innovations concern the design of a new architecture of the control system and/or to allow the cooperation between heterogeneous unmanned vehicles, the integration of distributed sensing techniques and real-time image processing capabilities [Marsella et al., 2015].

Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems - RPAS [ICAO, 2011], usually called drones, are an emerging technology presenting a huge potential for innovative research in territory management. These systems will revolutionize most of the environmental studies (e.g. population ecology, vegetation dynamics, ecosystem processes, etc.) that are improved by remote sensing data, overcoming satellite-based data that provide not easy repeatable information and only at regional/global scale (from about 50-100 km up to 10.000 km). RPAS or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS1) history begun in 1916 (i.e. the Wright brothers HewittSperry Automatic airplane) and it has been mainly unfolded until today thanks to military applications [Colomina and Molina, 2014; Pappot and de Boer, 2015]. Nowadays, UAS based technology is rapidly developing in the industrial market and in civil applications for several kind of monitoring services (i.e. traffic monitoring, border surveillance, environmental monitoring, imaging and mapping, archaeology, search and rescue operations, etc.) [Valavanis and Vachtsevanos, 2015]. Moreover, the use of drones, in the global consumable market is continually growing due to the integration on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platforms of high performance processors, sensors and electronic devices with lower and lower power consumption. Mainly, light Remote Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPASs) are used in several application fields due to their low weight and low size.

International audience; The European Community Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) was established to provide guidelines for monitoring the quality of marine ecosystems. Monitoring the status of marine environments is traditionally based on macrofauna surveys, for which standardised methods have been established. Benthic foraminifera are also good indicators of environmental status because of their fast turnover rates, high degree of specialisation, and the preservation of dead assemblages in the fossil record. In spite of the growing interest in foraminiferal bio-monitoring during the last decades, no standardised methodology has been proposed until today. The aim of the FOraminiferal BIo-MOnitoring (FOBIMO) expert workshop, held in June 2011 at Fribourg, Switzerland, which assembled 37 scientists from 24 research groups and 13 countries, was to develop a suite of standard methods. This paper presents the main outcome of the workshop, a list of motivated recommendations with respect to sampling devices, sample storage, treatment, faunal analysis and documentation. Our recommendations fulfil the criteria imposed both by scientific rigour and by the practical limitations of routine studies. Hence, our aim is to standardise methodologies used in bio-monitoring only and not to limit the use of different methods in pure scientific studies. Unless otherwise stated, all recommendations concern living (stained) benthic foraminiferal assemblages. We have chosen to propose two types of recommendations. Mandatory recommendations have to be followed if a study wants to qualify as sound and compatible to the norms. The most important of these recommendations are the interval from 0 to 1 cm below the sediment surface has to be sampled, and an interface corer or box corer that keeps the sediment surface intact is to be used for offshore surveys. A grab sampler must not be deployed in soft sediments. Three replicate samples are to be taken and analysed separately. Samples are to be washed on a 63-μm screen, and the living benthic foraminiferal fauna of the > 125 μm fraction is to be analysed. Splits are to be picked and counted entirely, and all counted foraminifera from at least one replicate per station have to be stored in micropalaeontological slides. Census data, supplementary laboratory data and microslides have to be archived. Advisory recommendations are to sample in autumn, to have a sample size of 50 cm2 or a tube of 8 cm inner diameter, to use > 70% ethanol as a preservative, rose Bengal at a concentration of 2 grams per litre for staining, and a staining time of at least 14 days. The split size should be defined by a target value of 300 specimens, heavy liquid separation should be avoided, and the 63–125 μm fraction or deeper sediment levels may be considered in some environments. We are convinced that the application of this protocol by a large number of scientists is a necessary first step to a general acceptance of benthic foraminifera as a reliable tool in bio-monitoring studies.

Mediterranean Geoarchaeology Workshop, Shaping the Mediterranean basin: islands, coastlines and cultures across time

Vengono presentate le metodologie di campionamento e di analisi utilizzate per il monitoraggio stagionale delle variazioni dell'ecosistema marino-costiero attraverso lo studio delle associazioni a foraminiferi bentonici alla Foce del Fiume Volturno (Golfo di Gaeta - Tirreno centrale), nel corso di due campagne oceanografiche condotte a Giugno e ad Ottobre 2012, a bordo della Nave Oceanografica (R/V) ASTREA dell'ISPRA. L'attività di ricerca è parte integrante del Progetto PON03 di potenziamento strutturale I-AMICA (Infrastruttura di Alta tecnologia per il Monitoraggio Integrato Climatico-Ambientale; http://www.i-amica.it), in particolare rientra nelle attività dell'Obiettivo Realizzativo OR4 Attività 4.4 che riguarda l'osservazione e il monitoraggio dei processi interfaccia biosfera idrosfera e funzionalità degli ecosistemi costieri. L'attività di ricerca di monitoraggio ambientale integrato della foce del Fiume Volturno, attraverso studi del fondo mare e della colonna d'acqua, vuole chiarire quali interazioni incorrono a scala stagionale tra il suddetto fiume, che interessa un bacino idrografico di circa 6000 km 2, ed un tratto della zona costiera del Golfo di Gaeta fortemente antropizzato. Tali indagini di monitoraggio non possono prescindere dallo studio di record marini del recente passato geologico che rappresentano, ad oggi, l'unico strumento di analisi delle dinamiche dell'interazione del sis tema evolutivo terra-mare in condizioni differenti da quelle attuali ed è insostituibile per testare la validità dei modelli previsionali a medio e lungo termine.

A high-resolution integrated study, which includes tephrochronology (tefra layer associated to 1906 AD Vesuvius event) and radionuclide dating method (210Pb and 137Cs), has been performed in a super-expanded marine record (sedimentation rate of 0.47 cm/yr) from the continental shelf of the Gulf of Gaeta (central eastern Tyrrhenian Sea). Planktonic foraminifera, calcareous nannofossils, pollens and oxygen stable isotope data performed on Globigerinoides ruber, revealed environmental changes occurred during the last two centuries. In detail we recognise four paleoclimatic changes. From ca. 1800 to ca. 1865 AD, d18O G. ruber signal combined with evidences of abundance increase of planktonic foraminifera Globoratialia inflata and G. truncatulinoides and of calcareous nannofossils Emiliana huxley document cold-temperate phase. Between ca. 1865 and ca. 1882 AD, d18O G. ruber record document a short warm interval associated with a turnover from carnivorous to herbivorous-opportunistic planktonic foraminiferal species and an increase in abundance of calcareous nannofossil Florisphaera profunda. At ca. 1935 AD, d18O G. ruber data indicate a gradually warming, concomitant an evident turnover from carnivorous to herbivorous-opportunistic planktonic foraminiferal species, and associated to the increase of calcareous nannofossil F. profunda. From ca. 1950 AD to the present day the warm phase documents a further strong increase in G. ruber alba, G. quadrilobatus and F. profunda abundances. The pollen analysis carried out on the same core revealed a two-step increase in arboreal vegetation, this is mostly related to a rise of Olea, Quercus evergreen and riparian trees (Alnus and Salix) from ca. 1882 AD, and increase in conifers (Pinus and Cupressaceae) from ca. 1980 AD. The short lived warm interval documented by d18O between ca. 1865 and ca. 1882 AD may triggered the increase in Olea and the coeval general decrease in deciduous trees. Among herbs, Cyperaceae, along with ferns, show a progressive decline in the upper part of the record, especially from 1935 to the present, suggesting a reduction of wetlands. Since 1920 AD, significant frequencies of dinoflagellate cysts may reflect both a nutrient loading and temperatures increases, as also documented by d18O and micropalaeontological records

Planktonic foraminiferal assemblages were studied at high-resolution in core KC01B from the Ionian Sea. Quantitative analysis allowed us to distinguish the main climatic features and associated paleoceanographic changes, that occurred between Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS) 13 and 9 (~ 500-300 ka). MIS 12 and MIS 10 are characterized by relatively temperate conditions and an oligotrophic oceanographic regime in the early part and by colder conditions and nutrient supply in the sub- surface water masses in the upper part. During these intervals, small but distinct peaks of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral (sin) are detected at times of extremely negative values of the planktonic foraminifera paleoclimatic curve. Their co-occurrence with similar episodes in the Atlantic suggests that the climate in the Central Mediterranean was associated with north-Atlantic millennial-scale climate instability. MIS 11 and MIS 9 are dominated by surficial warm-water taxa. The climate optimum is reached in the middle part of each of these stages, as denoted by the ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT presence of Globigerinoides sacculifer, and persists for approximately 20 and 6 ka during MIS 11 and MIS 9 respectively. This warming is not constant but is characterized by three distinct intervals with elevated winter temperatures and/or weak winter mixing. Distribution of Globigerina bulloides, Turborotalita quinqueloba and Neogloboquadrina pachyderma dextral (dex) indicates that significant environmental changes occur across the transitions from glacial to interglacial MIS 12/MIS 11 (Termination V) and MIS 10/MIS 9 (Termination IV). The studied record documents a close linkage between Mediterranean climate evolution and higher- and lower-latitude climate change throughout MIS 13-9.

The 1:10.000 - 1:25.000 scale geological mapping of the Naples and Salerno bays (C.A.R.G. Project of the Camapanian Region), started in the 2003, follows and partly overlaps with a 1:25.000 - 1:50.000 scale map project (APAT) confined to the Bay of Naples only. The geoophysical acquisition, data processing, bottom sediment sampling and geological interpretation, carried out in the frame of the project, form the base for the assembling of a marine morphobatymetric-geological map of the Campanian offshore within the 200m isobath (maps n. 464 "Ischia", n.465 "Procida", n. 466 "Sorrento nord", n.484 "Capri", n.486 "Foce Sele",n.502 "Agropoli", n.519 "Capo Palinuro",n.520 "Sapri" and n.520bis. One of the most significant results of the CARG Project is the Marine Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the Bays of Naples and Salerno based on a detalied Multibeam bathymetric survey of the area.

Uno studio ad alta risoluzione eseguito su depositi marini tardo olocenici carotati sul margine orientale del Mar Tirreno ha permesso l’individuazione attraverso lo studio di serie storiche di cicli sub-millenari legati alle variazioni dell’attività solare. Il confronto tra le serie temporali di Globorotalia inflata, di Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) e di ”14C, mostra una forte similarità in termini di fluttuazioni nel tempo. In particolare, i classici periodi freddi registrati nell’emisfero settentrionale (Dalton, Maunder, Spörer e Wolf) e associati a diminuzione dell’attività solare corrispondono a valori alti in % di G. inflata e viceversa. Inoltre, attraverso sofisticate analisi statistiche condotte su i diversi proxy sono state individuate periodicità di ~200 anni (cicli di Suess) e di ~500 anni attribuibili alle variazioni dell’attività solare. Questo dato supporta l’ipotesi che fluttuazioni centenarie dell’intensità solare hanno un controllo primario sulla distribuzione temporale delle associazioni a foraminiferi planctonci del Mediterraneo.

Vengono illustrati in questa nota i risultati preliminari di due crociere oceanografiche condotte nell'offshore tirrenico dall'Istituto di Ricerca Geomare Sud del CNR di Napoli a bordo della N/O Urania rispettivamente nell'ottobre 1992 e nel maggio 1993. Le ricerche effettuate sono inserite in un progetto di ricerca che il Geomare sta conducendo da alcuni anni sul tema "Stratigrafia e strutture dell'offshore tirrenico", articolato in vari sottoprogetti che prevedono lo studio di aree selezionate dei mari circostanti l'Italia meridionale tramite sismica monocanale di alta risoluzione.

Vengono illustrati in questa nota alcuni risultati preliminari della crociera oceanografica condotta dall'Istituto di Ricerca Geomare Sud del CNR di Napoli a bordo della N/O Urania nell'agosto 1994. Questa indagine, svolta in aree selezionate dell'offshore pugliese tra Brindisi e S. Maria di Leuca si inquadra in un più ampio contesto di un programma di ricerca multidisciplinare dedicato allo studio delle aree di piattaforma continentale dell'Italia meridionale ed è stato sviluppato nell'ottica di un confronto tra il record geologico e morfologico del Pleistocene-Olocene e l'ambiente biologico e fisico attuale.

The Gulf of Naples located in a high anthropized coastal area is subjected to an infrastructural intervention for the installation of a submarine power pipeline. In order to evaluate the distribution of contaminants in the seafloor sediments, a preliminary study has been conducted in the area using multivariate techniques. The statistic approach was performed to gain insights on the occurrence of organic and inorganic contaminants within the area, aiming to identify the relevant hot spots. Three geographical sub-areas influenced by different contaminant association were recognized: Torre Annunziata (TA), Capri (CA), and middle offshore (MO). TA and CA resulted marked by a severe contamination pattern due to anthropogenic pressures. In addition, the influence of the depositional basin in governing the contamination trend has been pointed out. The supervised technique PLS_DA resulted to be a powerful tool in addressing the complexity of the huge dataset acquired during the marine survey, highlighting the main trends in the variability of quality indicators, orienting thus the deeper investigations during follow-up monitoring activities.

We gathered total organic carbon (%) and relative abundances of benthic foraminifera in intertidal areas and transitional waters from the English Channel/European Atlantic Coast (587 samples) and the Mediterranean Sea (301 samples) regions from published and unpublished datasets. This database allowed to calculate total organic carbon optimum and tolerance range of benthic foraminifera in order to assign them to ecological groups of sensitivity. Optima and tolerance range were obtained by mean of the weighted-averaging method. The data are related to the research article titled "Indicative value of benthic foraminifera for biomonitoring: assignment to ecological groups of sensitivity to total organic carbon of species from European intertidal areas and transitional waters The authors are grateful to the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Agence de l'Eau Artois-Picardie, the Communauté d'Agglomération du Boulonnais, the Université de Lille, the Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, the Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences for their financial support to FOBIMO workshops in Fribourg (Switzerland), Wimereux (France) and Texel (The Netherlands); Additional funding was provided by Spanish MINECO (RTI2018-095678-B-C21, MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE)

International audience; This work contributes to the ongoing work aiming at confirming benthic foraminifera as a biological quality element. In this study, benthic foraminifera from intertidal and transitional waters from the English Channel/European Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean Sea were assigned to five ecological groups using the weighted-averaging optimum with respect to TOC of each species. It was however not possible to assign typical salt marsh species due to the presence of labile and refractory organic matter that hampers TOC characterization. Tests of this study species’ lists with Foram-AMBI on two independent datasets showed a significant correlation between Foram-AMBI and TOC, confirming the strong relation between foraminifera and TOC. For one of the validation datasets, associated macrofaunal data were available and a significant correlation was found between the foraminiferal Foram-AMBI and the macrofaunal AMBI. The here proposed lists should be further tested withsensitivity-based indices in different European regional settings.

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages from marine sediments of some selected areas off the Linosa Island (central Mediterranean) were investigated with the aim to examine their relationships with seafloor topography. Sediments were collected during different geophysical and biological surveys carried out in 2016 and 2017 around the Pelagie Islands. An integrative partial least squares approach (2B-PLS) attempted an interpretation of co-variance between seafloor morphology and benthic foraminiferal communities. We examined benthic foraminiferal assemblage characteristics (diversity and composition) in relation to seafloor topography and acoustic response (depth, backscatter, roughness, slope, aspect, topographic position index). Statistical analyses highlighted two principal groups of samples mainly distinguished by: different sampling devices (i.e. grab and box corer), depth, and sediment texture. 2B-PLS analysis suggested that roughness, slope, backscatter and depth were the main factors discriminating changes in the benthic foraminiferal assemblage beside differences in substratum type.

A new high-resolution pollen record, spanning the last five millennia, is presented from the Gulf of Gaeta (Tyrrhenian Sea, central Italy), with the aim of verifying if any vegetation change occurred in the central Mediterranean region in relation to specific well-known global and/or regional climate events, including the 4.2 ka event, the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA), and to detect possible vegetation changes related to still under-investigated climate signals, for example the so-called “Bond 2” cold event around 2.8 ka BP. The vegetation dynamics of the Gaeta record shows a recurrent pattern of forest increase and decline punctuating the mid- and late Holocene. When the timing of these patterns is compared with the climate proxy data available from the same core (planktonic foraminifera assemblages and oxygen stable isotope record) and with the NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) index, it clearly appears that the main driver for the forest fluctuations is climate, which may even overshadow the effects of human activity. We have found a clear correspondence between phases with negative NAO index and forest declines. In particular, around 4200 cal BP, a drop in AP (Arboreal Pollen) confirms the clearance recorded in many sites in Italy south of 43°N. Around 2800 cal BP, a vegetation change towards open conditions is found at a time when the NAO index clearly shows negative values. Between 800 and 1000 AD, a remarkable forest decline, coeval with a decrease in the frequencies of both Castanea and Olea, matches a shift in the oxygen isotope record towards positive values, indicating cooler temperatures, and a negative NAO. Between 1400–1850 AD, in the time period chronologically corresponding to the LIA (Little Ice Age), the Gaeta record shows a clear decline of the forest cover, particularly evident after 1550 AD, once again in correspondence with negative NAO index. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd