Late Quaternary uplift and sea level fluctuations along the Tyrrhenian margin of Basilicata - northern Calabria (southern Italy): New constraints from raised paleoshorelines

Abstract

New analyses of marine terraces in the Tyrrhenian Sea margin of Basilicata - northern Calabria (southern Italy) have been carried out. In the study area, c. 25 km in length, an impressive flight of marine terraces occurs, with the highest terraces reaching ~160 m a.s.l. Detailed geomorphological-stratigraphical analyses on remnants of paleoshorelines located within 60 m a.s.l. have shown that the rocky coast of the investigated coastal stretch has been affected by multiple relative sea-level fluctuations, during which reworking of older shorelines has occurred. Dating of the coral Cladocora caespitosa and speleothems, either predating or postdating single paleoshorelines, has allowed the construction of a chronological framework for the identified relative sea-level markers, and their correlation with MIS 7, MIS 6e and distinct peaks of MIS 5. A mean uplift rate of c. 0.25 mm/y since the Last Interglacial has been quantified, one order of magnitude larger than previous estimates. The uplift rate value has been used to infer the elevations of MIS 5a, 5c and 6e sea level peaks, which are higher than those reported in most sea level curves worldwide, although consistent with several findings from the western Mediterranean. Our results demonstrate that a mere sequential correlation may be misleading in the interpretation of flights of marine terraces and indicates that multiple age controls are crucial to unravelling the complex interaction between uplift and sea-level fluctuations in uplifted coastal areas. The reconstructed MIS 5a, 5c and 6e sea level paleo-elevations, besides contributing to the assessment of late Quaternary sea-level fluctuations in the Mediterranean Sea, may contribute to constrain coeval ice sheets volume variations.