Geomorphological Signature of Late Pleistocene Sea Level Oscillations in Torre Guaceto Marine Protected Area (Adriatic Sea, SE Italy)

Water

Alessandro Ciccolella¹  Giovanni Scardino²  Giuseppe Mastronuzzi²  Matteo Vacchi³  Maurilio Milella⁴  Arcangelo Piscitelli⁴  Francesco De Giosa⁴ 

[1] Consorzio di Gestione di Torre Guaceto, Via Sant’Anna 6, 72012 Carovigno (Brindisi), Italy;Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geoambientali, Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”, Via Edoardo Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy;Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Via Santa Maria 53, 56126 Pisa, Italy;Environmental Surveys Srl, Via Dario Lupo 65, 74121 Taranto, Italy;

关键词: morphostratigraphy;    sea-level changes;    marine terraces;    river incisions;    adriatic sea;   

DOI  :  10.3390/w11112409

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Morphostratigraphy is a useful tool to reconstruct the sequence of processes responsible for shaping the landscape. In marine and coastal areas, where landforms are only seldom directly recognizable given the difficulty to have eyewitness of sea-floor features, it is possible to correlate geomorphological data derived from indirect surveys (marine geophysics and remote sensing) with data obtained from direct ones performed on-land or by scuba divers. In this paper, remote sensing techniques and spectral images allowed high-resolution reconstruction of both morpho-topography and morpho-bathymetry of the Torre Guaceto Marine Protected Area (Italy). These data were used to infer the sequence of climatic phases and processes responsible for coastal and marine landscape shaping. Our data show a number of relict submerged surfaces corresponding to distinct phases of erosional/depositional processes triggered by the late-Quaternary interglacial−glacial cycles. In particular, we observed the presence of submerged marine terraces, likely formed during MIS 5−MIS 3 relative highstand phases. These geomorphic features, found at depths of ~26−30, ~34−38, and ~45−56 m, represent important evidence of past sea-level variations.

【 授权许可】

Unknown