PALAEOENVIRONMENT AND VEGETATION HISTORY IN THE CENTRAL PO PLAIN (N-ITALY) BETWEEN 33-30 KA CAL BP UNDER THE IMPACT OF MILLENNIAL CLIMATE CHANGE

Abstract

The Last Glaciation environmental history of the Po Plain (Northern Italy) is still poorly known. Here we present a multiproxy record from a compressed peat dated 33-30 ka cal BP, underlying the Last Glacial Maximum fluvio-glacial belt in the Adda River catchment. Slow river dynamics and subsurface water saturation granted stable surfaces supporting mixed pine-birch forests, including open wetlands - marshes and swamps - and open drylands, with juniper bushes, connected to sandy river bars. Fire phases favoured birch but decreased arboreal pollen, although open lands did not expand. We discuss relationships with millennial climate variability between GI-6 and GS-5.1. Last glaciation