Last interglacial and MIS 9e relative sea-level highstands in the Central Mediterranean: a reappraisal from coastal cave deposits in the Cilento area, Southern Italy
Journal
Quaternary Science Advances
Journal Volume
15
Start Page
100212
ISSN
2666-0334
Date Issued
2024-09
Author(s)
Isola, Ilaria
Bini, Monica
Columbu, Andrea
Di Vito, Mauro Antonio
Giaccio, Biagio
Hu, Hsun-Ming
Martini, Fabio
Pasquetti, Francesca
Sarti, Lucia
Mulè, Federica
Mazzoleni, Antonio
Zanchetta, Giovanni
Abstract
A revaluation of the relative sea-level (RSL) indicators in the Baia di Infreschi (Cilento, Southern Italy) supported by new 30 U/Th dating on speleothems indicates that the upper level of Lithophaga burrows identified by Bini et al. (2020) at ∼9 m a.s.l. and correlated to the Last Interglacial (LIG) highstand should be referred to the highstand of the MIS 9e, whereas the local RSL for the highstand of the LIG is now reassessed at 5.3 ± 0.18 m a.s.l. The upper level of the Lithophaga marker can be followed for ∼12 km along the coast, suggesting a substantial absence of important relative tectonic movements. In the Baia di Infreschi an additional marine indicator, a notch sealed by a flowstone dated ∼110 ka, indicates several phases of RSL stationing below the maximum highstand of the LIG. The presence of flowstones as low as 2 m a.s.l. dated to the MIS 7 shows that the highstand of MIS 7 was probably below the present sea level. All these evidences allow us to reassess the stratigraphy of some archaeological caves in the area, indicating that the sedimentary successions preserved there are older than what was previously believed
Subjects
Cilento
Last interglacial highstand
Lithophaga burrows
MIS 5e
MIS 9e highstand
Notches
Southern Italy
Speleothems
U/Th dating
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article