STABLE ISOTOPE COMPOSITION OF FOSSIL AHERMATYPIC CORAL CLADOCORA CAESPITOSA (L.) FROM PLEISTOCENE RAISED MARINE TERRACES OF THE LIVORNO AREA (CENTRAL ITALY)

Abstract

The Livorno coastal area (coastal Tuscany) preserves evidences of several raised marine terraces. Stratigraphically they have been correlated with MIS 5e, 9c and MIS 11 sea-level high stands. However, no direct dating have been performed so far. Thanks of new findings of fossil specimens of ahermatypic coral of Cladocora caespitosa in the terraced units correlated to MIS 5e (“Terrazzo di Livorno”) and MIS 11 (“Terrazzo della Fattoria Pianacce”) we attempted direct dating using the U/Th technique. Moreover, stable isotopes (oxygen and carbon) were used for attempting environmental reconstruction. Dating support the correlation of the “Terrazzo di Livorno” unit with the MIS 5e but are inconsistent for the older unit indicating diagenetic Umobilization. Oxygen stable isotopes suggest warmer condition for the MIS 5e and MIS 11 compared to modern conditions, even if the indetermination on the water isotopic composition of past interglacial (i.e. ice volume) hampers our capacity to quantify this values.