The quaternary morpho-evolutionary characteristics of the Garigliano river plain (central-southern Italy)

Abstract

The reconstruction of the morpho-evolution of the coastal Plain of the Garigliano river during the Quaternary has been carried out on the basis of emerged deposits, the present form of the Plain and the analysis of 150 borings. Seven units have been identified in the borings representing undifferentiated terrestrial deposits of Holocene age, marshy deposits alternating with marine sediments of lower-middle Pleistocene and Holocene age. Middle Pleistocene beach sediments are also present, along with unworked Lower-Middle Pleistocene volcanic deposits, reworked volcanoclastic sediments and sediments of fluvial environment of probable Middle-Upper Pleistocene age. The lowest stratigraphic unit is made up of arenaceous flysch deposits of the Upper Miocene and Mesozoic limestones. The Plain is currently filled by fluvial, coastal-marine, mud-marshy deposits and volcanoclastics sediments of the Roccamonfina and of the Campi Flegrei district. The fluvial fades represent the most recent sedimentation of the Plain, while the volcanoclastics sediments constitute the more ancient deposits (middle-lower Pleistocene). Morphological investigations have identified 5 orders of terraces, in a high interval of between 2 and 25 m, the genesis of which is linked to the interaction between glacio-eustatic oscillations and neo-tectonics events. The more recent morphological elements in the Plain are represented by the terraces of the 5th order, shaped after the lowering of the base level and a phase of planation that has affected the Eutyrrhenian dune, as well as by the Holocene dune located along the shore of the Plain.