Late Quaternary morphological evolution of Valle Caudina (Central-Southern Italy)

Abstract

The Valle Caudina is a lacustrine intramontane basin closed to the north by the Taburno Mountains, and to the south by the Avella-Partenio mountain chain. The late-Quaternary evolution of this basin has been reconstructed on the basis of present landforms, borehole data and archaeological elements. The valley is now filled by Quaternary alluvial and colluvial deposits with volcanoclastic sediments. These deposits belong to lacustrine and fluvial-lacustrine units intercalated with two ignimbritic units. Two lacustrine events are hypothesised: the first one is older than 33 ky BP. and the second is recent, between 33 and 5 ky BP. on the basis of Neolithic pottery in the upper fraction of the deposit. The presence of the ancient Roman town of "Caudium", located in the middle of the valley, indicates that the lacustrine basin has become less wide or completely vanished between 5 ky. BP. and Roman period.