Search

Core M1‐A from Mljet Island, Croatia, was retrieved from a submerged sinkhole to investigate tephra and reconstruct past sea levels. Eleven tephra layers were found, out of which six are macroscopically visible, while five are cryptotephra. For two of the tephra layers, glass shard concentrations were below the critical amount necessary for reliable analysis, while two more originated from a stratigraphical interval likely disturbed by drilling operations. Major and trace element compositions of glass shards were determined by wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (WDS) using an electron microprobe analyser (EMPA) and by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS). The tephra discrimination relied on a novel approach based on a multivariate analysis of element selection and the use of log‐ratio scatterplots and common bivariate plots. The results enabled correlation of five tephra to known eruptions originating from Somma‐Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei. Specifically, we identified Avellino Pumice, Mercato, Agnano Monte Spina and Neapolitan Yellow Tuff, extending known distributions for Avellino and Agnano Monte Spina. Moreover, our findings possibly support an earlier proposition that Agnano Monte Spina tephra originated from two eruptions with a pause of a few decades in between. Based on the tephra correlations and radiocarbon dating, an age‐depth model was compiled that provided chronological constraints for the sea level during the formation of the lake (10.7 cal. ka BP, 49 m b.s.l.) and sea intrusion (2.3 cal. ka BP, 2.5 m b.s.l.).

19 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2020.106372.-- Data availability: The datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request, The upper continental slope offshore Capo Vaticano (southern Tyrrhenian Sea) is characterized by a contourite depositional system with well-developed elongated sediment drifts. This system is related to a northward paleo-bottom current, similar to the present-day modified-Levantine Intermediate Water (modified-LIW) flowing from the Messina Strait. In this work, we show results from an integrated analysis of descriptive oceanography, high-resolution seismic profiles and core data (i.e., grain size, foraminiferal assemblages, tephrostratigraphy and AMS radiocarbon dating) collected from the crest and moat sectors of drift deposits. The studied succession formed since the mid Holocene, under the action of the modified-LIW and the stratigraphic architecture indicates an upslope migration of the moat and rather stable position of the crest sector. Grain-size features recorded from two sediment cores indicate the occurrence of a succession of complete bi-gradational sand-rich contourite sequences. Sandy facies were observed both as lag deposits formed in active moat channel and as coarser intervals of bi-gradational sequences forming drift deposits close to its crest. Their occurrence would highlight that upper slope environments impacted by intermediate water masses and proximal to sandy sources may represent favorable settings for accumulation of sandy sediment. The moat sector is characterized by a more complex stratigraphic record, where either moat sedimentation or lateral deposition of finer sediment occur, suggesting that further investigation is required to better understand this complex element of contourite systems. Based on available age information, some of the bi-gradational sequences probably formed during the Dark Age Cold Period, providing example of a small-scale cyclicity of contourite deposition, likely related to short-term (possibly multicentennial scale) fluctuations of the paleo modified-LIW. According to age constraints and analysis of foraminiferal assemblages, these fluctuations were likely governed by climate variations, with a weaker activity during warmer periods and faster currents during colder events, Core LGT5 was collected during the Gioia77 cruise funded by the Eurofleets2 Project. With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

International audience; Glacial-interglacial variations in ice volume and sea level are essential components of the Pleistocene global climate evolution. Deciphering the timing of change of these key climate parameters with respect to the insolation forcing is central to understanding the processes controlling glacial terminations. Here we exploit the sensitivity of the Paleo Tiber River (central Italy) to sea-level forced changes in the base level and the frequent occurrence of datable tephra layers in its sedimentary successions to reconstruct the timing of the relative sea-level (RSL) change between 450 and 403 ka, i.e., across the glacial termination (T-V) that marks the transition between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12 and MIS 11. The analysis hinges on new stratigraphic data, tephra geochemical fingerprinting, and 40Ar/39Ar dating from a fluvial section that represents the inland counterpart of the near mouth, coastal aggradational successions of the San Paolo Formation (SPF). Tephra correlation indicates that the morpho-stratigraphic record of the inland section is as sensitive to the sea-level change as its coastal counterparts, which makes it ideal to complement previous RSL reconstructions from the Tiber River catchment basin, thereby providing a more detailed picture of the sea-level history across T-V. Combined sedimentological and morphological proxies of the composed inland-coastal SPF record document the occurrence of two phases of relatively rapid sea-level rise, here interpreted as meltwater pulse (MWP) events. The earlier MWP occurred between ∼450 and ∼445 ka and matches a relatively minor episode of the sea-level rise documented in an existing RSL record, while the younger MWP at ∼430 ka corresponds to the high amplitude sea-level rise that marks T-V. We find that both MWPs coincide with episodes of ice-rafted debris deposition in the North Atlantic (Heinrich-like events) and with attendant Southern Hemisphere warming, plausibly associated with the bipolar seesaw.

The timing, duration and evolution of sea level during the Marine Isotope Stage 5e (MIS 5e) highstand is a subject of intense debate. A major problem in resolving this debate is the difficulty of chronologically constraining the sea level fall that followed the peak of the highstand. This was mainly controlled by ice-sheet dynamics, the understanding of which is relevant for assessing future sea-level behavior due to global warming. Here we use stratigraphical and geochoronological (U/Th dating and tephra fingerprinting) evidence from the Infreschi archaeological cave (Marina di Camerota, Southern Italy) to constrain relative sea level (RSL) evolution during the MIS 5e highstand and younger stages. Uranium-thorium dating of speleothem deposition phases places the maximum highstand RSL at 8.90 ± 0.6m a.s.l., as indicated by the near-horizontal upper limit of Lithophaga boreholes measured for along a ∼3.5 km coastal cliff section. Geochronological data show that RSL fell more than 6 m before ∼120 ka, suggesting a duration of the Last Interglacial highstand significantly shorter than proposed in some previous studies. Modelling shows that the RSL trend predicted by the ICE-5G and ICE-6G ice-sheet simulations is consistent with our data, but requires an additional significant reduction of both Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to match the height of the local maximum highstand if no correction for tectonics is applied. Reconciling field data and models requires an earlier and likely shorter duration of the MIS 5e highstand. This suggests that our new data can constrain global ice-volume variations during the penultimate deglaciation, as well as glacial inception at the end of the Last Interglacial. According to our chronology, there is no local evidence of higher-than-present-day sea levels after 120 ka.

Through a systematic integrated approach, which combined lithostratigraphic, geochronological and geochemical analyses of tephra from near-source sections of the peri-Tyrrhenian volcanoes and mid to distal settings, here we provide an improved tephrochronological framework for the Marine Isotope Stage 11c interglacial (MIS 11c, ∼425–395 ka) in the Central Mediterranean area. Specifically, we present the complete geochemical dataset and new high-precision 40Ar/39Ar ages of the previously poorly characterized earliest pyroclastic products of the Vico volcano (420–400 ka), including the Plinian eruptions of Vico α and Vico β and the immediately post-dating lower magnitude explosive events. Furthermore, we also provide new geochronological and geochemical data for the distal tephra layers preserved in the aggradational succession of the Tiber delta (San Paolo Formation), Roman area, which records sea level rise relating to the MIS 12 (glacial) to MIS 11 (interglacial) transition. Five pyroclastic units were recognized in Vico volcanic area, four out of which, Vico α, Vico β, Vico βtop (a minor eruption immediately following Vico β and temporally very close to it) and Vico δ were directly dated at 414.8 ± 2.2 ka, 406.5 ± 2.4 ka, 406.4 ± 2.0 ka and 399.7 ± 3.2 ka respectively (2σ analytical uncertainties). These new data allow a critical reappraisal of the previously claimed identifications of Vico tephra from mid-distal to ultra-distal successions (i.e., Vico-Sabatini volcanic districts, Roman San Paolo Formation and Castel di Guido archaeological site, Sulmona Basin, Valdarno and Lake Ohrid), which were unavoidably biased by the poor and incomplete geochemical and geochronological reference datasets previously available. Such an improvement of the tephrochronological framework brings great benefits to any future investigations (e.g., paleoclimatology, archaeology, active tectonic, volcanology) in the dispersal areas of the studied eruptions at the key point in time that is MIS 11.

RATIONALE: The suitability of organic matter (OM) removal pre-treatments in isotopic studies of lacustrine carbonates is currently under debate. Naturally occurring OM seems to have a negligible effect on the bulk isotopic composition of carbonates compared with changes induced by pre-treatments. This study provides further insights into the possible effects induced by commonly used pre-treatments on natural lacustrine carbonates. METHODS: Sixteen samples from the Fucino F1-F3 lacustrine succession (Abruzzo, central Italy) were characterised for their mineralogical and geochemical composition and each was split into three identical aliquots. One aliquot was left untreated while the remaining two were treated with NaOCl and H2 O2 dilutions. The same treatment was applied to an internal standard consisting of pure Carrara marble. The treated and untreated samples were analysed for their carbon (δ13 C values) and oxygen (δ18 O values) isotope compositions using an Analytical Precision AP2003 isotope ratio mass spectrometer. RESULTS: The samples had variable proportions of endogenic and detrital components, the detrital portion being more (less) abundant during colder (warmer) climate phases. We observed that neither the NaOCl nor the H2 O2 treatment was able to completely remove OM and therefore there was selective removal of compounds within the OM pool. A possible effect of pre-treatment is the loss of carbonates intimately interspersed within the OM, as suggested by the evolution of isotopic ratios towards the local detrital array. CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights sample-specific changes in geochemistry associated with sample pre-treatments; however, such changes do not seem to lead to either systematic and/or predictable isotopic shifts. We suggest that the suitability of NaOCl or H2 O2 pre-treatments for OM removal should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In the specific case of lacustrine marls from palaeo-lake Fucino containing relatively low amounts of OM and in which both detrital and endogenic carbonates occur, both pre-treatments should be avoided.

The Late Quaternary benthic foraminiferal and ostracod assemblages from two continuous cores drilled in the Port of Salerno were studied to define their relationship with geochemical characteristics of the sediments and with the palaeoenvironmental evolution. The succession, ranging from Late Pleistocene to the 20th century, recorded the transition from a marine coastal environment under natural conditions to a depositional context affected by anthropogenic influence. In the lower part of the sequence, ecological and sedimentary changes were linked to sea-level changes due to Late Quaternary climatic phases, as well as to volcanic events such as the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption, represented by levels with high metal (Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn) concentrations, possibly leading to low pH phases. Later human activities, such as the construction of harbour facilities in the 18th century and the industrial development in the 19th century, influenced environmental variations, as shown in the upper part of the succession. High levels of heavy metal concentrations (Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, V) recorded in layers deposited in the 1800s suggest the presence of a pollution event which could be linked to manufacturing activities and might have occurred during the first part of the 19th century. Calcareous meiofaunal assemblages showed high diversity values, probably due to the occurrence of ”rare short lived” species in an unstable environment. Assemblages were dominated by the foraminiferal species Ammonia aberdoveyensis and Haynesina depressula, and by the ostracods Pontocythere turbida and Semicytherura sulcata, which are considered as possibly stress-tolerant species.

Here we present the first tephrostratigraphic, palaeomagnetic, and multiproxy data from a new ∼98 m-deep sediment core retrieved from the Fucino Basin, central Italy, spanning the last ∼430 kyr. Palaeoenvironmental proxy data (Ca-XRF, gamma ray and magnetic susceptibility) show a cyclical variability related to interglacial-glacial cycles since the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12-MIS 11 transition. More than 130 tephra layers are visible to the naked eye, 11 of which were analysed (glass-WDS) and successfully correlated to known eruptions and/or other equivalent tephra. In addition to tephra already recognised in the previously investigated cores spanning the last 190 kyr, we identified for the first time tephra from the eruptions of: Tufo Giallo di Sacrofano, Sabatini (288.0 ± 2.0 ka); Villa Senni, Colli Albani (367.5 ± 1.6 ka); Pozzolane Nere and its precursor, Colli Albani (405.0 ± 2.0 ka, and 407.1 ± 4.2 ka, respectively) and Castel Broco, Vulsini (419–490 ka). The latter occurs at the bottom of the core and has been 40Ar/39Ar dated at 424.3 ± 3.2 ka, thus providing a robust chronological constrain for both the eruption itself and the base of the investigated succession. Direct 40Ar/39Ar dating and tephra geochemical fingerprinting provide a preliminary radioisotopic-based chronological framework for the MIS 11-MIS 7 interval, which represent a foundation for the forthcoming multiproxy studies and for investigating the remaining ∼110 tephra layers that are recorded within this interval. Such future developments will contribute towards an improved MIS 11-MIS 7 Mediterranean tephrostratigraphy, which is still poorly explored and exploited.

Here we present a multiproxy record (?13C, ?18O, major and minor element composition, mineralogy, and low-resolution biogenic silica content) from a lacustrine succession in the Sulmona Basin, central Italy. Based on previous tephrochronological constraints and a new 40Ar/39Ar dating of a tephra matching the widespread X-6 tephra, the record spans the ca. 129-92 ka period and documents at sub-orbital scale the climatic and environmental changes over the Last Interglacial and its transition to the Last Glacial period. The ?18O composition is interpreted as a proxy for the amount and seasonality of local precipitation, whereas variations in elemental and mineralogical composition are inferred to reflect climatic-driven changes in clastic sediment input. The observed variations are consistent among the different proxies, and indicate that periods of reduced precipitation were marked by enhanced catchment erosion, probably due to a reduction in vegetation cover. The first part of the Last Interglacial shows the most negative ?18O values. Comparison with pollen records from the Mediterranean suggests a greater seasonality of the precipitation at this time. At millennial-to-centennial time scales, comparison of the Sulmona record with speleothem ?18O records from central Italy highlights a highly coherent pattern of hydrological evolution, with enhanced variability and similar events of reduced precipitation consistently recorded by each isotope record. The observed intra-interglacial variability can potentially be linked, within the uncertainties associated with each age model, to similar variations observed in sea-surface temperature records from the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic, suggesting a link between Mediterranean hydrology and North Atlantic temperature and circulation patterns that persists during periods of low ice volume.

Mediterranean climates are characterized by strong seasonal contrasts between dry summers and wet winters. Changes in winter rainfall are critical for regional socioeconomic development, but are difficult to simulate accurately1 and reconstruct on Quaternary timescales. This is partly because regional hydroclimate records that cover multiple glacial–interglacial cycles2,3 with different orbital geometries, global ice volume and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations are scarce. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms of change and their persistence remain unexplored. Here we show that, over the past 1.36 million years, wet winters in the northcentral Mediterranean tend to occur with high contrasts in local, seasonal insolation and a vigorous African summer monsoon. Our proxy time series from Lake Ohrid on the Balkan Peninsula, together with a 784,000-year transient climate model hindcast, suggest that increased sea surface temperatures amplify local cyclone development and refuel North Atlantic low-pressure systems that enter the Mediterranean during phases of low continental ice volume and high concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases. A comparison with modern reanalysis data shows that current drivers of the amount of rainfall in the Mediterranean share some similarities to those that drive the reconstructed increases in precipitation. Our data cover multiple insolation maxima and are therefore an important benchmark for testing climate model performance.

Proxy records of past climate change spanning beyond the radiocarbon range commonly derive their chronologies from orbital tuning strategies, thus bounding our spatio-temporal reconstructions to a priori assumptions that can not be directly tested. Here we present a tephrochronologically constrained framework of past environmental and climatic changes in the central Mediterranean region during the last ca. 190 ka. Our research is based on a high-resolution, multi-proxy study of a sedimentary record (cores F1-F3) retrieved from the Fucino Basin lacustrine succession, central Italy, in 2015. We update the existing tephrostratigraphic framework of the F1-F3 record with the finding of the widespread Campanian Ignimbrite tephra marker layer and produce a robust and independent chronology based on new and published 40Ar/39Ar and 14C dating of 17 tephra layers. Observed palaeoenvironmental changes are tracked in other lacustrine, marine and speleothem records across the Mediterranean and North Atlantic regions via tephrostratigraphic correlations and chronological matching providing a robust assessment of age uncertainties. Results show a complex interplay between local environmental changes and broad-scale climatic processes highlighting a strong orbital forcing on glacial-interglacial changes. Along with these major changes we detect prominent millennial-scale variability. During times of intermediate global ice volumes, Mediterranean mountain ecosystems oscillated around an “interglacial” state suggesting that climatic shifts, although large, did not exceed the local environmental tolerance-resilience threshold. Conversely, during periods of large global ice volume, we observe subdued millennial-scale variability with ecosystems operating in a strictly ruled glacial environment.

International audience; Among past interglacial periods, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 19 is particularly interesting because its orbital geometry is very similar to that of the present interglacial. Here we present a high-resolution (sub-centennial) multiproxy record covering the ca. 790-770 ka interval, i.e. the interglacial MIS 19c and the ensuing glacial inception of MIS 19b, from a lacustrine sediment sequence retrieved from the Sulmona Basin (central Italy). The record has an independent chronology based on radiometric dating of six volcanic ash layers, and the resulting age model has a mean associated uncertainty of ±2.6 kyr. Variations in sediment geochemistry and mineralogy are interpreted in terms of past hydrological and temperature changes. Several millennial and sub-millennial events of reduced precipitation are well expressed. Comparisons with continental and marine records from the mid-latitude and sub-polar North Atlantic suggest a broad spatial expression for the observed events. Events occurring within the interglacial are not clearly associated with changes in marine proxies in the Iberian Margin, although similarities with the record from the sub-polar North Atlantic can be recognized and tentatively linked to changes in local hydrography having a downstream effect amplified by changes in atmospheric circulation. During the glacial inception, changes in the Sulmona record are coherent with changes in North Atlantic records, with drier events likely associated with meltwater-induced intervals of AMOC weakening. An event at ca. 785.6 ka may also reflect oceanic changes caused by freshwater discharges from residual ice-sheets and an outburst flood, similar to the 8.2 ka event in the Holocene.

The Sabatini Volcanic District (SVD), active between 0.8 and 0.07 Ma, is a volcanic field in the Roman province (Central Italy) located along the Tyrrhenian margin of the Italian peninsula. In this volcanic region, high-K magmas originated from a metasomatised phlogopite-bearing peridotite mantle recording subduction-related fluids and/or melting processes. Here, we investigate magma evolution during the six main eruptive phases of the SVD by means of chemical and isotopic (Sr and Nd) analyses. Specifically, we analyzed clinopyroxene crystals from juvenile pumice and scoria clasts and lavas, from 40 major SVD eruptive units chronologically well constrained by 40Ar/39Ar dating. 87Sr/86Sr and 144Nd/143Nd ratios in SVD clinopyroxene range 0.7095–0.7115 and 0.51210-0.51214, respectively. The mean Sr and Nd isotope compositions of each eruptive phases show a gradual, long-term decrease over the entire SVD eruptive history. However, when considering the distinct temporal windows of the individual eruptive phases, a significant variability of the Sr-Nd isotope ratios emerges, thus highlighting a more complex, time-dependent geochemical trend for the erupted magmas, with respect to a previously described trend at the nearby Colli Albani Volcanic District (0.6–0.04 Ma). Geochemical features of clinopyroxene in lavas and juvenile pyroclasts suggest that magma differentiation occurred in an open system due to assimilation of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. Moreover, a critical review of the available geochemical data, in light of 40Ar/39Ar ages, allows the recognition of the SVD as the source of widespread tephra markers recorded in the central Mediterranean area by previous works.

The Matuyama-Brunhes Boundary (MBB) recorded in the lacustrine sequence in the Sulmona basin (central Apennines, Italy) raised considerable scientific interest and has been the focus of various papers (Giaccio et al. 2013; Sagnotti et al. 2014; 2016). The interest comes from evidence for a very sharp geomagnetic polarity transition, that is radioisotopically dated. A paper recently published by Evans and Muxworthy (2018) questions the reliability of the Sulmona palaeomagnetic record. With new measurements on companion samples from the same stratigraphic block studied by Evans and Muxworthy, we show that directional results obtained by different demagnetization treatments (AF, thermal and thermal + AF) are in close agreement. We here propose a different interpretation of the magnetostratigraphy, and confirm that the palaeomagnetic record of the MBB geomagnetic reversal in the Sulmona basin is properly documented

Lake Ohrid, located in the Central Mediterranean region downwind of the Italian volcanoes, has great potential for developing a detailed record of the explosive activity of these volcanoes. Electron microprobe and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry geochemical analyses of juvenile glass fragments of previously not analysed tephra layers of the DEEP site sediment record of Lake Ohrid expand the existing tephrostratigraphy for the interval Marine Isotope Stages 1–16. The geochemical signatures of all tephra layers suggest an origin exclusively from the Italian volcanism. Eight of these tephra layers have potential equivalents in marine and terrestrial archives of the Central Mediterranean region (OH-DP-1966/SC5/A7; OH-DP-1955/CES1/A2; OH-DP-1055/S1; OH-DP-1006/S2; OH-DP-0997/S3, OH-DP-0710/S8/C-51; OH-DP-0766/ODP5/P-13; OH-DP-0505/ODP4). Nine tephra layers, which have not been described so far, help to reconstruct the late volcanic activity of Mount Vulture (OH-DP-2439) and the Paleovulsini (OH-DP-1998), the pre- and post Rio Rava activity of the Roccamonfina volcano (OH-DP-1911/-1812/-1733/-1640/-1527), the early activity of the Aeolian Arc (OH-DP-1513/-1520), and the Bracciano activity of the Monti Sabatini volcanic district (OH-DP-1175). The multi-proxy dataset and chronology of the DEEP site sediments allowed definition of the climatostratigraphic position for all tephra layers and constrain the ages of so far unknown and/or undated tephra layers. The presented data provide a crucial increase of knowledge of the Middle Pleistocene tephrostratigraphy in the Central Mediterranean back to 630 ka and allows new insights of the volcanic activity of Roccamonfina, the Roman Province, the Campanian Volcanic Zone (CVZ), the Aeolian Arc, Pantelleria, and Mount Vulture.

Integrated 40Ar/39Ar, trace-element, stratigraphic, palaeontological and palaethnological data provide geochronological and biochronological constraints for the sedimentary and tectonic history of a Middle Pleistocene fluvial–lacustrine basin near Rome (Cretone Basin, central Italy), which has yielded a significant record of mammal fossil remains and Palaeolithic industry. This work is a case study of the interplay between tectonics and glacio-eustacy, which strongly influenced the evolution of the Tyrrhenian Sea margin of central Italy. Dating of tephra layers interbedded within the Cretone Basin lacustrine succession and reconstruction of relict terraced surfaces allow correlation with similar, geochronologically constrained, marine isotopic stages (MIS) 15–5 terraced deposits along the coast. Coupled extensional tectonics and regional uplift over the last 600 ka caused the progressive uplifting and westward migration of the main fluvial–lacustrine basin and the formation of a smaller satellite basin at its eastern margin. Here, stable environmental conditions during MIS 13–5 indicated continuous human and large mammal frequentation, as testified by lithic industry and fossil remains ascribable to the Acheulean and later early Middle Palaeolithic technocomplexes and Galerian–Aurelian mammal faunas, respectively. In addition to providing independent age constraints to glacial sea-level oscillations of this region, the reconstructed chronostratigraphic setting for the Cretone Basin provides evidence for one of the oldest Acheulean lithic assemblage of central Italy, as well as new biochronological and palaeobiogeographical data for some Middle Pleistocene mammal species of Italy.

We present new 40Ar/39Ar data which allow us to refine the recurrence time for the most recent eruptive activity occurred at Colli Albani Volcanic District (CAVD) and constrain its geographic area. Time elapsed since the last eruption (36 kyr) overruns the recurrence time (31 kyr) in the last 100 kyr. New interferometric synthetic aperture radar data, covering the years 1993–2010, reveal ongoing inflation with maximum uplift rates (>2 mm/yr) in the area hosting the most recent (

The Grotta del Cavallo contains one of the most important stratification of Mousterian, Uluzzian and Final Epigravettian tecnocomplexes; its chronology is of paramount importance for understanding the timing of the transition between Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in the Mediterranean region as well as the demise of the Neanderthal and the dispersal of the first anatomically modern humans through Europe. Within the stratigraphy of the cave three different volcanic ash layers occur (layer G, Fa and C-II). They are located in the middle section of the Mousterian (layer G), in between the Mousterian and Uluzzian layers (layer Fa) and on top of the Uluzzian horizons (layer C-II). The three tephra layers were chemically fingerprinted and correlated to well-known and precisely dated widespread Late Pleistocene tephra markers. Specifically, layer G, Fa and C-II were correlated to the X-6 (108.7 ± 0.9 ka), Y-6 (45.5 ± 1.0 ka) and Campanian Ignimbrite (39.85 ± 0.14 ka), respectively. These findings provide robust chronological points allowing to conclude that: (i) the Mousterian occupation of the cave took place after the fall of the sea level following the MIS 5e high-stand; (ii) the Mousterian-Uluzzian boundary can be dated to 45.5 ± 1.0 ka and climatostratigraphically firmly placed at the transition between the Greenland Interstadial 12 (GI12)-Greenland Stadial 12 (GS12); (iii) the Uluzzian lasted for at least five millennial spanning the GS12-GI9 period and ended at beginning of the Heinrich Event 4.

Trace element compositions determined by ICP-MS have been acquired for six eruptive units from the most recent explosive activity of the Colli Albani Volcanic District, central Italy, documented at the Albano maar by seven eruptive units dated at ~ 69 ka (Albano 1–3) and ~ 41 ka through ~ 36 ka (Albano 4–7). Ratios of selected immobile trace elements (e.g. Zr/Y vs Nb/Y) have been used to build an original reference dataset of 15 samples for discriminating the six main units of the Albano maar eruptive succession, albeit it has to be considered preliminary since scarcity of outcrops and incomplete occurrence of these eruptive units hindered the acquisition of a larger dataset. In order to test its applicability, we have used it as an integrative tool to identify a weathered tephra layer (CIS-1) which has been here dated by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar method at 70 ± 2 ka, previously attributed to an undefined Albano unit, occurring in the stratified Paleolithic site of Cava Muracci. The new 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and trace element data, alongside the previous major element composition, indicate that tephra CIS-1 correlates with Albano 3 (~ 69 ka). The results of this study, besides providing a chronological constraint for a local archaeological site, demonstrate how trace element discrimination diagrams combined with other tephrochronological constraints can provide a useful indication for tephrostratigraphic purposes. Although more reference data are needed to test the full soundness of the trace element ratios for fingerprinting individual Albano units, the results also support this method as a new promising tool for the development and application of the tephrochronology, which would offer the great advantage to be potentially applied even to strongly altered and unsuitable volcanic deposits.

The Late Pleistocene Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) super-eruption (Southern Italy) is the largest known volcanic event in the Mediterranean area. The CI tephra is widely dispersed through western Eurasia and occurs in close stratigraphic association with significant palaeoclimatic and Palaeolithic cultural events. Here we present new high-precision 14C (34.29 ± 0.09 14C kyr BP, 1σ) and 40Ar/39Ar (39.85 ± 0.14 ka, 95% confidence level) dating results for the age of the CI eruption, which substantially improve upon or augment previous age determinations and permit fuller exploitation of the chronological potential of the CI tephra marker. These results provide a robust pair of 14C and 40Ar/39Ar ages for refining both the radiocarbon calibration curve and the Late Pleistocene time-scale at ca. 40 ka. In addition, these new age constraints provide compelling chronological evidence for the significance of the combined influence of the CI eruption and Heinrich Event 4 on European climate and potentially evolutionary processes of the Early Upper Palaeolithic.

An integrated investigation including geological, geomorphological, geophysical and structural survey, tephra analyses, 14C and 40Ar/39Ar dating, as well as paleoseismic trenching along the N-Matese fault system is presented. The study allowed the characterization of the tectonic mobility of this structure as well as the associated Bojano basin sedimentary-tectonic evolution since the early Middle Pleistocene, providing also new clues concerning the fault historical activity and the associated Mw > 6.5 earthquakes. We have found lines of evidence for > 1 mm/yr slip rate along the presently buried Bojano fault during the mid Middle Pleistocene, and similar rates for the main fault segments paralleling the Matese flanks. The buried Bojano fault significantly slowed down during the last 300 kyr, ceasing its activity before the Holocene. In turn, the segments outcropping along the Matese flanks reactivated at the onset of Late Pleistocene, after a long period of quiescence (480–110 ka), with robust slip rates that would seem even accelerating in post LGM times. Paleoseismic data suggest the occurrence of four Mw > 6.6 earthquakes in the past 3 ka, three of which match the little known 280 BC event, and the devastating 1456 and 1805 earthquakes. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

A review of the existing data for the Middle Pleistocene glacial remnants in the Apennines and new stratigraphic and tephrochronological data has enabled us to recognize at least five glacial stages during Marine Isotope Stages 14, 12, 10, 8 and 6. In particular, the identification of deposits attributable to Marine Isotope Stage 12 has filled a gap that was hitherto difficult to justify because, in the Mediterranean area, this glacial period is characterized by significant climatic changes that are connected with major environmental changes and glacial stages in the neighbouring Balkans and in Greece. The association between the Middle Pleistocene moraines and closed karst-tectonic basins, which are related to faults active in post-glacial times, suggests that tectonics has played a leading role in accommodating sediment deposition and thus in preserving the sedimentary record of these glaciations. Tectonic activity has, in some places, significantly influenced the altitude of the glacial cirques and the terminal moraines so that assessment of the equilibrium-line altitude based on these data is unreliable.

We report a palaeomagnetic investigation of the last full geomagnetic field reversal, the Matuyama-Brunhes (M-B) transition, as preserved in a continuous sequence of exposed lacustrine sediments in the Apennines of Central Italy. The palaeomagnetic record provides the most direct evidence for the tempo of transitional field behaviour yet obtained for the M-B transition. 40Ar/39Ar dating of tephra layers bracketing the M-B transition provides high-accuracy age constraints and indicates a mean sediment accumulation rate of about 0.2 mm yr-1 during the transition. Two relative palaeointensity (RPI) minima are present in the M-B transition. During the terminus of the upper RPI minimum, a directional change of about 180 o occurred at an extremely fast rate, estimated to be less than 2 o per year, with no intermediate virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) documented during the transit from the southern to northern hemisphere. Thus, the entry into the Brunhes Normal Chron as represented by the palaeomagnetic directions and VGPs developed in a time interval comparable to the duration of an average human life, which is an order of magnitude more rapid than suggested by current models. The reported investigation therefore provides high-resolution integrated palaeomagnetic and radioisotopic data that document the fine details of the anatomy and tempo of the M-B transition in Central Italy that in turn are crucial for a better understanding of Earth's magnetic field, and for the development of more sophisticated models that are able to describe its global structure and behaviour.

We present new stratigraphic, palaeomagnetic, 87Sr/86Sr and 40Ar/39Ar data from a lacustrine succession of the Sulmona basin, central Italy, which, according to an early study, included six unconformity-bounded lacustrine units (from SUL6, oldest, to SUL1, youngest) spanning the interval >600 to 2 ka. The results of the present study, on the one hand confirm some of the previous conclusions, but by contrast reveal that units SUL2 and SUL1, previously attributed to the Holocene, are actually equivalent to the older SUL6 and SUL5 units – here dated to ∼814–>530 ka and ∼530–

Palynology of fossil faeces is still extremely rare and its contribution to the interpretation of the environment undervalued. In this paper we present the results of pollen analysis performed on cave hyena coprolites [Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1832)] from Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) sites of Cava Muracci (Cisterna di Latina, central Italy) and Tana delle Iene (Ceglie Messapica, southern Italy). This study provides new insights into the vegetation of the Late Pleistocene of peninsular Italy, until now known only through long pollen records. It also shows how the content of coprolites, combined with faunal data and geochronological investigations, can represent a potential integrative source of palaeoclimatic proxy data. Our results indicate that the surroundings of both of the hyena dens were characterised by a patchy landscape with open lowlands dominated by steppe and grassland vegetation, while a few mesophilous and thermophilous trees were present in more humid areas, probably along the marine coast and inland. The harsh glacial climate appears to have been milder at Cava Muracci than at Tana delle Iene. This could be due either to the different environmental features of the two sites or to the high climatic variability that occurred during MIS3.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-26T15:28:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2016-02-01 A recent study of the Matuyama-Brunhes (M-B) geomagnetic field reversal recorded in exposed lacustrine sediments from the Sulmona Basin (Italy) provided a continuous, high-resolution record indicating that the reversal of the field direction at the terminus of the M-B boundary (MBB) occurred in less than a century, about 786 ka ago. In the sediment, thin (4-6 cm) remagnetized horizons were recognized above two distinct tephra layers-SUL2-19 and SUL2-20-that occur similar to 25 and similar to 35 cm below the MBB, respectively. Also, a faint, millimetre-thick tephra (SUL2-18) occurs 2-3 cm above the MBB. With the aim of improving the temporal resolution of the previous Sulmona MBB record and understanding the possible influence of cryptotephra on the M-B record in the Sulmona Basin, we performed more detailed sampling and analyses of overlapping standard and smaller samples from a 50 cm-long block that spans the MBB. The new data indicate that (i) the MBB is even sharper than previously reported and occurs similar to 2.5 cm below tephra SUL2-18, in agreement with the previous study; (ii) the MBB coincides with the rise of an intensity peak of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) intensity, which extends across SUL2-18; (iii) except for a 2-cm-thick interval just above tephra SUL2-18, the rock magnetic parameters (k, ARM, M-r, M-s, B-c, B-cr) indicate exactly the same magnetic mineralogy throughout the sampled sequence. We conclude that either SUL2-18 resulted in the remagnetization of an interval of about 6 cm (i.e. during the NRM intensity peak spanning similar to 260 +/- 110 yr, according to the estimated local sedimentation rate), and thus the detailed MBB record is lost because it is overprinted, or the MBB is well recorded, occurred abruptly about 2.5 cm below SUL2-18 and lasted less than 13 +/- 6 yr. Both hypotheses challenge our understanding of the geomagnetic field behaviour during a polarity transition and/or of the NRM acquisition process in the Sulmona lacustrine sediment. Ist Nazl Geofis & Vulcanol, I-00143 Rome, Italy CNR, Ist Geol Ambientale & Geoingn, I-00015 Monterotondo, Rome, Italy Columbia Univ, Barnard Coll, New York, NY 10027 USA CEA CNRS UVSQ, IPSL, UMR8212, Lab Sci Climat & Environm, F-91190 Gif Sur Yvette, France Univ Paris Saclay, F-91190 Gif Sur Yvette, France Berkeley Geochronol Ctr, Berkeley, CA 94709 USA Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Earth & Planetary Sci, Berkeley, CA 94709 USA Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Geociencias & Ciencias Exatas, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Geociencias & Ciencias Exatas, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP, Brazil

Gamma ray (GR) fluctuations and potassium (K) values from downhole logging data obtained in the sediments of Lake Ohrid from 0 to 240 m below lake floor (b.l.f). correlate with fluctuations in δ18O values from the global benthic isotope stack LR04 (Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005). GR and K values are considered a reliable proxy to depict glacial–interglacial cycles, with high clastic input during cold and/or drier periods and high carbonate precipitation during warm and/or humid periods at Lake Ohrid. Spectral analysis was applied to investigate the climate signal and evolution over the length of the borehole. Linking downhole logging data with orbital cycles was used to estimate sedimentation rates and the effect of compaction was compensated for. Sedimentation rates increase on average by 14 % after decompaction of the sediment layers and the mean sedimentation rates shift from 45 cm kyr−1 between 0 and 110 m to 30 cm kyr−1 from 110 to 240 m b.l.f. Tuning of minima and maxima of gamma ray and potassium values versus LR04 extrema, in combination with eight independent tephrostratigraphical tie points, allows establishing of a robust age model for the downhole logging data over the past 630 kyr.

International audience; Volcanic ash produced during explosive eruptions can have very severe impacts on modern technological societies. Here, we use reconstructed patterns of fine ash dispersal recorded in terrestrial and marine geological archives to assess volcanic ash hazards. The ash-dispersal maps from nine Holocene explosive eruptions of Italian volcanoes have been used to construct frequency maps of distal ash deposition over a wide area, which encompasses central and southern Italy, the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seas and the Balkans. The maps are presented as two cumulative-thickness isopach maps, one for nine eruptions from different volcanoes and one for six eruptions from Somma-Vesuvius. These maps represent the first use of distal ash layers to construct volcanic hazard maps, and the proposed methodology is easily applicable to other volcanic areas worldwide.

The dating of the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) eruption to ∼37,000 cal yr B.P. draws attention to the coincidence of this volcanic catastrophe and the suite of coeval, Late Pleistocene biocultural changes that occurred within and outside the Mediterranean region. These included the Middle to Upper Paleolithic cultural transition and the supposed change from Neanderthal to “modern” Homo sapiens anatomy, a subject of sustained debate. No less than 150 km3 of magma were extruded in the CI eruption, the signal of which can be detected in Greenland ice cores. As widespread discontinuities in archaeological sequences are observed at or following the CI event, a significant interference with ongoing human processes in Mediterranean Europe is hypothesized.

We describe the diagnostic lithological and chemical features of distal tephras from major Middle-Late Pleistocene (560-36 ka) explosive eruptions of the Colli Albani volcanic district, central Italy. In particular, we explore the time-dependent variability of the Sr and Nd isotope compositions as a tool for recognising and pinpointing individual Colli Albani tephra in distal settings. The distal tephras investigated are in lacustrine and fluvial sediments of central Apennine intermountain basins located 70 km-100 km east of Colli Albani. The recognition of the Colli Albani tephras is essentially based on the K-foiditic composition of their glass, which, within the Italian volcanological framework, is a distinctive character of the Colli Albani pyroclasts. In detail, these tephras are attributed to the following eruptive units: Tufo Pisolitico di Trigoria (561 +/- 2 ka); Tufo del Palatino-Tufo di Bagni Albule (530 +/- 2/527 +/- 2 ka), Tufo di Bagni Albule-Pozzolane Rosse air-fall sequence (517 +/- 1 to 500 +/- 3 ka), Pozzolane Rosse (457 +/- 4 ka), Villa Senni (365 +/- 4 ka), and Albano 5-7 (41 +/- 7 to 36 +/- 1 ka). These correlations are supported by Ar-40/Ar-39 dating of the distal tephras correlated to the Pozzolane Rosse (457.4 +/- 1.7 ka), Villa Senni (365 +/- 2 ka) and Albano 5-7 (41 +/- 9 ka) and by Sr-87/Sr-86 measured on clinopyroxene crystals and fresh glassy scoria from distal Colli Albani tephras that range from similar to 0.711 to similar to 0.709. These ratios are similar to those that characterise the individual proximal correlative units, and show the same decreasing trend over time. In contrast, the N-143/Nd-144 ratios for proximal and distal bulk samples and clinopyroxene increase from similar to 0.51212 to similar to 0.51215 from the oldest to the youngest tephra deposit. In summary, the study of Sr and Nd isotope compositions that is here applied on products from the Colli Albani volcanic district is a powerful, complementary tool to the more traditional tephrostratigraphic methods (e.g., componentry and electron microprobe analysis) for fingerprinting of distal tephras over a large region of the central Mediterranean, and over a large time interval, such as from 560 ka to 36 ka. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laminated sediments of the maar lake Lago Grande di Monticchio in southern Italy exhibit a unique sequence of numerous primary tephra events that provide both insights into the Late Quaternary eruptive history of Italian volcanoes and an archive of essential marker horizons for dating and linking palaeoclimate records throughout the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. The acquisition of new sediment cores from this lake now extends the existing 100 ka-tephra record back to 133 ka BP, the end of the penultimate Glacial. The additional ca 30 m of sediments host a total number of 52 single tephra layers forming 21 tephra clusters that have been characterised on the basis of detailed geochemical and petrographical examinations. Tephras can be assigned to hitherto poorly known Plinian to sub-Plinian eruptive events of the nearby Campanian (Ischia Island, Phlegrean Fields), Roman (Sabatini volcanic district) and Aeolian-Sicilian volcanoes (Etna, Stromboli, Salina) and are dated according to the varve and sedimentation rate chronology of Monticchio sediments. The most prominent tephra layers within the interval of investigation - TM-25 and TM-27 - can be firmly correlated with Ionian Sea tephras X-5 (ca 105 ka BP) and X-6 (ca 108-110 ka BP). In addition, a further 26 tephra layers are correlated with radiometrically and radioisotopically dated volcanic events providing the basis for a robust revised tephrochronology of the entire Monticchio sediment sequence for the last 133 ka. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

The present paper refers to research conducted in the tectonic-karst depression of Campo Felice in the central Apennines (Italy), in which glacial, alluvial and lacustrine sediments have been preserved. Stratigraphic interpretations of sediments underlying the Campo Felice Plain are based on evidence obtained from nine continuous-core boreholes. The boreholes reach a depth of 120 m and provide evidence of five sedimentation cycles separated by erosion surfaces. Each cycle is interpreted as an initial response to a mainly warm stage, characterized by low-energy alluvial and colluvial deposition, pedogenesis, and limited episodes of marsh formation. In turn, a mainly cold stage follows during which a lake formed, and glaciers developed and expanded, leading to deposition of glacial and fluvioglacial deposits. The chronological framework is established by eleven accelerator mass spectrometer 14C ages and three 39Ar–40Ar ages on leucites from interbedded tephra layers. These age determinations indicate five glacial advances that respectively occurred during marine oxygen isotope stages 2, 3–4, 6, 10 and 14.

The paper reviews the existing data on the Y-3 tephra layer, first recognised in the Ionian Sea (Mediterranean basin). The collection and collation of old and new data on distal tephra occurrences in terrestrial, marine and lacustrine successions indicate that the Y-3 layer is dispersed over a wide area of the central Mediterranean basin. The peculiar homogeneous chemical composition of this layer makes its recognition rather straightforward and permits it being distinguished from other stratigraphically adjacent tephras. The best age estimate for the Y-3 layer of ca 30–31 cal ka BP, its peculiar stratigraphic position close to the Marine Isotope Stage 3/2 transition or Heinrich Event 3 onset, as well as its wide dispersion makes this layer an important marker to link and date late Pleistocene terrestrial and marine archives of the central Mediterranean basin.

Paleoseismological investigations have been performed at Mt. Baldo and in the Lessini Mts. in order to collect quantitative data on the activity of minor faults showing geomorphic evidence of recent activation. The 4.5-km-long, NNE-SSW trending Naole fault was responsible for the formation of a narrow depression at the top of Mt. Baldo, bordered by a continuous bedrock (carbonate) fault scarp to the west. The extensional activity along this minor fault is probably due to gravitational deformations (lateral spreading) in response to the warping of the Mt. Baldo anticline. A 1.5-km-long graben is instead related to the 2.5-km-long, NNW-SSE trending Orsara fault (Lessini Mts.) which was responsible for the formation of bedrock (carbonate) fault scarps. This minor fault is part of a complex structural framework made of few-km-long faults which show evidence of Quaternary activity. Two trenches have been excavated across the Naole fault which showed the occurrence of displacement events subsequent to 17435-16385 BP (cal. age) and probably prior to 5455-5385/5330-5295 BP (cal. age). Two other trenches have been excavated across the Orsara fault whose analysis indicated that the most recent displacement event occurred between 20630-19795 BP and 765-675 BP (cal. age). The upper chronological limits of the displacements give some indications about the minimum elapsed time since the last fault activation (about 5,300 years for the Naole fault and 5-8 centuries for the Orsara fault). Both 1) the maximum expected magnitude of the earthquakes which may originate along the Mt. Baldo thrust and 2) the identification of a main fault responsible for the displacements along the complex net of minor faults affecting the Lessini Mts. are still open questions. As for point 1 although historical earthquakes with magnitude 4.5-5 may be associated with the Mt. Baldo thrust, the investigations carried out in this area did not clarify whether larger magnitude earthquakes may be expected. As for point 2, the cause of the displacements along the Orsara (Lessini Mts.) fault may be related to the activity of a major blind fault (which, however, has never been identified), responsible for the uplift of the Lessini Mts. More generally, the obtained results demonstrate the limits of traditional paleoseismological analyses in Alpine areas whose erosional/depositional activity has been strongly conditioned by the Late Pleistocene glacial history. The lack of units younger than loess and colluvial sediments related to the Last Glacial Maximum makes it impossible to define narrower chronological constraints for the displacements and to estimate the number and size of the displacement events. Moreover, the rebound following the retreat of the thick glacial cover affecting the Alpine area may have induced stresses responsible for higher deformation rates after the Last Glacial Maximum. Higher surficial deformation rates could imply shorter recurrence intervals for faulting episodes and/or larger magnitude earthquakes. Therefore, paleoseismologically inferred data in Alpine areas may not correctly define the fault behaviour related to the present tectonic regime.

A trace element record (Mg, Sr, Ba, Al, Si, P, Y, Zn) covering the ca. 133 ka to ca. 124 ka time interval was acquired from a flowstone core from Tana che Urla Cave (central Italy). It was compared with stable isotope data to investigate the environmental evolution in response to regional and extra-regional climate changes in the period corresponding to the latter part of the Penultimate Deglaciation and the first part of the Last Interglacial (Eemian). Trace element geochemical changes on centennial and millennial time scales responded to changes in hydrological input, variations in the supply and transport of catchment erosion products to the cave, including those linked to intense rainfall events, and to the state of the overlying soil and vegetation. Abrupt increases in precipitation and the progressive development of soil and vegetation occurred at ca. 132 ka, in response to the development of the global deglacial phase. The major changes in trace element composition are coherent with the previous hydrological interpretation of speleothem oxygen stable isotope composition (?18O) as predominantly a rainfall-amount proxy. However, reduced growth rate persisted until ca. 130 ka, suggesting still depressed temperatures. An abrupt event of climatic deterioration, with marked decrease in precipitation and soil degradation, is apparent between ca. 131 and 130 ka. Cool-wet conditions between ca. 132 and 131 ka and the subsequent dry period may represent the local hydrological response to an interval of North Atlantic cooling and ice-rafted-debris (IRD) deposition known as Heinrich event 11 (H11). After 129.6 ka there was a rapid recovery according to all of the studied speleothem properties, indicating the onset of full interglacial conditions. A minor amplitude event of reduced precipitation is recorded within the LIG at ca. 127 ka. The record highlights the growing regional evidence for a complex penultimate deglacial climate involving major reorganization of oceanic and atmospheric patterns.