Coastal dune development and morphological changes along the Garigliano Plain, Italy, and Elis, Greece, during the Holocene

The Garigliano Plain and the Elis littorals show similar geoenvironmental features: both are in Mediterranean climate regions, modeled by western winds, characterized by wide sandy coastal dunes, with pumices, and locally anthropized. The Garigliano coastal facies are characterized by Holocene dune of 6 kyr BP and Tyrrhenian aeolian deposits. Geoarchaeological surveys highlighted the presence of a Roman road that cut the dune. Since the end of the 50s, strong littoral retreat affected the beach-dune system, mainly due to human activity. The coastland of Elis is featured by three morphogenetic phases occurred during the Holocene, from 7000 to the current, with deposition of beach, fluvial and aeolian sediments. Geoarchaeological evidences suggest that these phases are related to sea-level changes during humid-temperate climate. Geomorphological surveys of Garigliano Plain and Elis Holocene dunes, each other compared, suggest that their development is linked to the effects of sea-level and climate changes, as well as to human activity.