Late pleistocene evolution of the Venetian–Friulian Plain

Alessandro Fontana • Paolo Mozzi • Aldino Bondesan

Received: 13 January 2010 / Accepted: 18 June 2010 / Published online: 15 July 2010� Springer-Verlag 2010

Abstract In the last decade, large geological, geomorphological and pedological map-

ping projects have been investigating the Venetian–Friulian Plain, strongly improving the

available information about late Pleistocene sedimentary processes. This paper presents an

overview of the evolution of the alluvial and costal plain since the end of middle Pleis-

tocene to the Lateglacial. This was mainly possible through detailed field surveys and 20

stratigraphic cores of 50–270 m of depth. A strong relation between alluvial aggrading

phases and glacial periods (final part of MIS 6 and Last Glacial Maximum) is evidenced,

whereas during the last interglacial the sedimentation mainly occurred in the coastal

sectors. During the Tyrrhenian transgression (MIS 5e) the lagoons reached a more land-

ward position than the present. The deposits of middle Wurm are represented by thin

alluvial sequences and an important depositional hiatus lasted tens of thousand of years

ended around 35–30,000 years cal BP. The LGM is characterized by a strong phase of

deposition until 20,000 years cal BP, then the sedimentary rate lowered and in the Friulian

Plain led to apical incision of alluvial systems. Since Lateglacial an important erosive

phase affected the whole plain and brought to the formation of deep and wide incision up to

the present coast.

Keywords NE Italy � Tyrrhenian transgression � Eemian � Wurm � LGM �Alluvial geomorphology

1 Introduction

Due to the peculiarity of the environment of the Venice Lagoon and to the interest in the

preservation of the city, a number of detailed sedimentological and palaeoecological

The original version of this paper was presented in Venice (5–6 November 2009) at the Meeting ‘‘Natureand geodynamics of the lithosphere in Northern Adriatic’’ sponsored by the Accademia Nazionale deiLincei, Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL and Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti.

A. Fontana (&) � P. Mozzi � A. BondesanDipartimento di Geografia, Universita degli Studi di Padova, Via Del Santo, 26, 35123 Padua, Italye-mail: alessandro.fontana@unipd.it

123

Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196DOI 10.1007/s12210-010-0093-1

investigations concerning the lagoon area have been carried out since 1960s, almost

exclusively focused on the Holocene and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) deposits (e.g.

Gatto and Previatello 1974; Bortolami et al. 1977; Favero and Serandrei Barbero 1980).

Stratigraphic research in the other sectors of the Venetian–Friulian Plain was limited to

small areas or based just on small-scale geomorphological mapping (e.g. Cavallin et al.

1987; Castiglioni 1997) and scant boreholes, generally reaching 15–30 m of depth (e.g.

Calderoni et al. 1996; Marocco 1991; Lenardon et al. 2000). In the last decade, wide

sectors of the Venetian–Friulian Plain have been investigated in detail through large

projects of geological and geomorphological mapping, in most of which the authors have

been directly involved. These data strongly improved the available information about late

Pleistocene and Holocene dynamics of coastal and alluvial sedimentary processes; part of

these new information has been used to reconstruct the post-LGM Northern Adriatic

coastal evolution (Amorosi et al. 2008) and to recognize the main aggrading and erosive

phases affecting the alluvial megafans since LGM (Fontana et al. 2008; Carton et al. 2009).

This paper presents a new overview of the geological evolution of the alluvial and costal

plains since the end of middle Pleistocene to the Lateglacial, thus considering a period

which has been scarcely investigated before in a regional perspective.

In this paper the chronology is generally referred to the regional circumalpine chro-

nostratigraphy (Chaline and Jerz 1984) with the aim to highlight correlations with other

continental sequences from both sides of the Alps; when possible, the correlation with the

Marine Isotopic Stages and substages of the SPECMAP model (Martinson et al. 1987) are

also presented.

2 Geological setting

The structural setting of NE Italy has been considered by several recent papers (e.g.

Fantoni et al. 2002; Carminati et al. 2003; Tosi et al. 2007a; Zanferrari et al. 2008a)

through which a detailed reconstruction of the tectonic evolution and the influences on the

Quaternary deposition are presented. The Venetian–Friulian Plain (Fig. 1) represents the

Tertiary to Quaternary sedimentary infilling of the subsiding foreland basin related to the

opposing thrust belt chains of the Southern Alps and the Northern Apennines (Doglioni

1993). The activity of the northward expanding Apennine foredeep has been affecting the

southern sectors of the Venetian Plain since the late Miocene, leading to a regional

southward tilting recorded up to Venice Lagoon (Carminati et al. 2003). This setting is

testified by characteristic thickness variations of Quaternary deposits, which reach about

2,000 m in the southern part of the Venice Lagoon, and gradually pinch out eastward

(Fantoni et al. 2002; Carminati et al. 2003). The Alpine front is buried in the Venetian

Plain, whereas in the Friulian sector some of the more external thrusts partly crop out in the

middle of the plain, creating some tectonic terraces affecting also the middle Pleistocene

and LGM alluvial sediments (#6 in Fig. 1) (Zanferrari et al. 2008a).

The Pliocene–Quaternary subsurface stratigraphy of the Venetian–Friulian basin is still

not well investigated, and only few detailed stratigraphic studies have been carried out on

sediments older than the Late Pleistocene. Most of the available information derive from

stratigraphic and biostratigraphic analyses of core VE01, which reached the depth of

1,000 m, leading to the reconstruction of the evolution of the Venice Basin (Mullenders

et al. 1996; Kent et al. 2002; Massari et al. 2004). New robust stratigraphic information

about middle and late Pleistocene deposits of the Friulian Plain have been provided by Pini

et al. (2009) from pollen analyses on the 270-m long Azzano core. Similar to the setting

S182 Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196

123

reported from the Romagna coastal plain (Amorosi 2008), vertically stacked transgressive–

regressive Pleistocene sequences are recorded and a regressive trend is recognizable

(Massari et al. 2004). Sequences consist of characteristic alternances of shallow-marine to

continental deposits. The base of transgressive sequences is generally regarded as a major

stratigraphic boundary (Massari et al. 2004; Zanferrari et al. 2008a) (Fig. 2). This type of

unconformity is well documented in the middle and upper Pleistocene, specially in the

distal plain, where marine ravinement surfaces often separate the alluvial deposits of colder

phases from the overlying coastal sediments. Each ravinement surface consists of a

decimetre-thick lag horizon, where abundant shallow-marine shells are embedded in sand.

In many cores the surface eroded by the ravinement is characterized by a well or fairly

well-developed soil which formed in the millennia elapsed between the deactivation of the

alluvial systems and the arrival of the paralic facies; the diagnostic features are represented

by the calcic and mottling horizons which could encompass a total thickness of 1–3 m.

-30

-20

-30

-10

-10

-203 4

5 6 7 8

21

9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16AA’

-20

TdM

km 10 20 30

Karst

Julian Alps

Carnic Alps

Venetian Alps

VeniceLagoon

Caorle Lagoon

GradoLagoon

Astico r.

Sile r.

Stella r. A

ussa r.

Piavon r.

Lemene r.

Reghena r.

Fiume r.

Sile r. Tagliamento r.

Cellina s.

Meschio r.

Monticano r.

Cervada s.

Corno s.

Corm

or r.

Natisone s.

Judrio s.

Isonzo r.

Livenza r.

Meduna r.

Piave r.

Musone r.

F. Musone

Zero r.Dese r.Marzenego r.

Cornio r.

Bacchiglione r.

Bacchiglione r.

Adige r.

MaranoLagoon

Corno N

. r.

TdM

DNVCRT

JESBH1BH2

BH3

PRT

VE01

D

AVRMAL

BOR

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IsA

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PRG

MRG

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CNC4

LUG

Lat PCN

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AZXA

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Vittorio V.

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Castelfranco

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Jesolo

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Treviso

Vicenza

VeniceBrenta r.

Torre r.

Padua

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Pinzano

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13° 30'13° 00'

12° 30'12° 00'

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Alps

Alluvial fan

Alluvial megafana

b

de

i

f

g

h

l

m

n

p

o

Venice

Adriatic Sea

A

ITALY

B

Fig. 1 A Scheme of the Late Quaternary depositional systems of the Venetian–Friulian Plain (modifiedfrom Fontana et al. 2008). 1 Upper limit of the spring belt, 2 bathymetric lines, 3 limit of depositionalfeatures represented in Fig. 1B, 4 river, 5 fluvial scarp, 6 tectonic terraces, 7 pre-LGM, 8 LGM alluvialdeposits, 9 LGM end-moraines systems, 10 post-LGM alluvial and coastal deposits, 11 post-LGM buriedfluvial incision, 12 inner limit of Tyrrhenian lagoon deposits, 13 area with thick peat horizon of MIS 3, 14inner-most position of Holocene lagoon deposits, 15 trace of section cited in the text, 16 core cited in thetext. B Simplified sketch of the alluvial megafans and fans: a Adige alluvial Plain, b Brenta megafan,c Astico fan, d Montebelluna megafan, e Piave megafan, f Monticano–Cervada–Meschio fans, g Cellina fan,h Meduna fan, i Tagliamento megafan, l Corno fan, m Cormor megafan, n Torre megafan, o Isonzomegafan, p Natisone fan

Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196 S183

123

Calcic concretions are diffused and range from few mm to some cm; due to their easy

recognition and high preservation potential, they indicate the existence of a buried soil

even when most of the upper soil horizons have been eroded.

The Venetian–Friulian coastal plain is characterized by a general tectonic subsidence

which conditioned the thickness of the depositional sequences. The average downlift rate

calculated for the last 125 ka is 0.4–0.50 mm/a in the distal Friulian Plain, reaches

0.6–0.7 mm/a near Venice and increases up to 1 mm/a towards Po Delta (Antonioli et al.

2009).

The Quaternary evolution of the Venetian–Friulian Plain is strongly related to the

response of alluvial systems to climate and sea-level changes, but, since Bronze Age and,

with increasing intensity, since Roman times, also the human impact may have played a

role. This is evident since the late Middle Age, when the Republic of Venice realized a

number of river deviations and begun to reclaim the coastal plain (e.g. Bondesan and

Meneghel 2004). In the last century the artificial embankment of the rivers and the rec-

lamation of large coastal sectors were accomplished, leading to a strongly human-induced

landscape.

3 The recent surveys and stratigraphic cores

A major role in the production of new stratigraphic data has been played by the national

geological mapping project (CARG project) (Pasquare et al. 2004; Tosi et al. 2007a, b;

Zanferrari et al. 2008a, b, c; Fontana et al., 2010), and by the geomorphological and

5

10

10

20

30

35

45

40

5

15

25

0

50

60

70

55

65

80

75

10

20

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35

45

40

5

15

25

0

50

60

70

55

65

75

80

90

85

95

PRATdM

AZX

m

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1

6,580±55

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

6. Eemian and earlyW rmian alluvialdeposits

ü

8. Penultimate glaciation (MIS 6 p.p.)9. Interglacial complex (MIS 7 p.p.)

7. Lagoon and marine depositsof last interglacial (MIS 5e)

4. Middle W rmian alluvial depositsü

3. LGM alluvial deposits

12

35,900±290

sea level

Livenza River

33,960±280

26,380±150

16,765±155

33,100±60025,505±453

18,000±300

21,025±245

45,000±3000

23,390±325

21,900±280

18,465±185

6,580±55

Base of Tyrrhenian transgression

)PBCak42.ac(MGLfoesaB 14

N S

taeP

yalC Lo

amdna

S Gra

vel

P C L S G

P C L S G

Fig. 2 Stratigraphic section Azzano Decimo-Torre di Mosto, trace A–A0 of Fig. 1. 1 Post-LGM alluvialdeposits, 2 post-LGM lagoon deposits, 3 LGM alluvial deposits, 4 Middle Wurmian alluvial deposits, 5 pre-LGM thick organic horizon, 6 Eemian and early-Wurmian alluvial and deltaic deposits, 7 lagoon and marinedeposits of last interglacial (MIS 5e), 8 alluvial deposits of penultimate glaciation, 9 interglacial marinedeposits of late MIS 7, 10 uncalibrated radiocarbon dating, 11 transgressive surface, 12 stratigraphicboundary

S184 Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196

123

geological mapping projects funded by the Province of Venice (Bondesan et al. 2004,

2008; Bondesan and Meneghel 2004). Other data have been acquired in the framework of

the ongoing Geo-CGT Project, concerning the geological mapping of distal and coastal

sectors of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, realized with the survey standard of the CARG

project. The soil maps of the Veneto Region (ARPAV 2005), Province of Venice (Ragazzi

and Zamarchi 2008), Treviso (ARPAV 2008) and Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Michelutti

et al. 2003, 2007) provide information on soils and the correlation with ages of outcropping

surfaces. A specific research on the alluvial geomorphology and geoarchaeology of the

distal portion of the Friulian Plain since LGM was carried out (Fontana 2006).

About 500 radiocarbon datings of alluvial and coastal series are available in the

Venetian–Friulian Plain, mostly concerning LGM and Holocene sediments; part of this

database has been published by Bondesan et al. 2002; Bondesan and Meneghel 2004;

Fontana 2006; Carton et al. 2009. In Fig. 3, the datings of Tagliamento and Brenta systems

are presented, allowing to compare the LGM and post-LGM chronologies of two major

alluvial systems.

Some cores realized in the framework of the CARG Project allow to investigate the end

of middle Pleistocene and the Late Pleistocene (#16 in Fig. 1). The deepest one is the

Azzano Decimo core (AZX in Fig. 1), which was drilled down to 271 m from surface and

reached MIS 11 (Zanferrari et al. 2008c). The other new deep cores have a maximum depth

of 100 m, approximately comprising the last 150 ka: TdM (Fontana et al. 2010), PRT (Tosi

et al. 2007a), AVR (Donnici and Serandrei-Barbero 2004), MAL (Fontolan et al. 2008),

IsA and IsB (Carbognin and Tosi 2003), BOR (Mozzi and Cuccato, unpublished), MAR

and PRG (Fontana and Mozzi, unpublished). These cores allow to control the tridimen-

sional geometry of the main sedimentary bodies. A number of cores reaching 30–60 m

(Fig. 1) have also been analysed: CNC4, LUG, PRA and VV (Fontana et al. 2010), Lat

(Fontana 2006), BH1, BH2 and BH3 (Canali et al. 2007), JES, DNV, CaB and CRT

(Bondesan et al. 2008), Col and Mrz (Zanferrari et al. 2008c) and Arz (Zanferrari et al.

2008c).

The new information was compared with the logs available in the subsoil database of

the Geological Survey of Provincia di Venezia. This latter consists of about 11,000

investigation points, consisting of stratigraphic logs for geotechnical purposes, water wells

and auger holes. About 6,000 auger holes were drilled by the Geological Survey along a

homogeneous grid covering the whole Province of Venice (1,550 km2) except the Venice

Lagoon, which have been analysed within CARG Project (Tosi et al. 2007a, b). Also, the

subsoil database of Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia (1990) was considered, consisting of

about 2,000 stratigraphic logs, mainly derived from water wells.

Here, we provide some brief information about the reference logs supporting the pro-

posed stratigraphic framework (Fig. 2), highlighting their most significant characteristics

and the typology of biostratigraphic data (i.e. pollen, micro- and macropaleontological

analyses) supporting the chronostratigraphic interpretations.

In this paper only the first 95 m of the core AZX were considered, for which a detailed

biostratigraphy was published by Pini et al. (2009); between 95 and 78 m the deposits

consist of inner-shelf facies which pass to transitional environment and correspond to an

interglacial period occurred during the late part of MIS 7, locally named as the ‘‘Sile

interglacial complex’’.

The borehole TdM is supported by pollen and micropaleontological biostratigraphy. It

is characterized by alluvial fine-dominated deposits from 94 to 70.5 m depth; a marine

ravinement surface eroded the top of this interval, where a fairly developed soil was

present. From 70.5 m inner-shelf sediments are present, which pass to delta front facies

Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196 S185

123

wide and highfluvial ridges

deltaslagoons

fluvial incisions

peaklate

widespread andfast aggradation

lowerrate

aggradationno surface deposition

wide, highfluvialridges

222 284

22

20

4

6

24

268

26

2410

12

16

32

12

28

18

34

14

30

0

20

0

18

16

14

8

2

6

10

30

Peat or organic horizons coincidingwith flood plain surface

Peat and organic horizons or woodinside fluvial channel

Bar indicating 1-sigma error isrepresented only if exceedingmore than 200 years±

LGM

LGM

Tag

liam

ento

allu

vial

sys

tem

(65

dat

ings

)

GM

CN

C4

PR

A

AZ

X

Lateglacial

Lateglacial

lagoonsdeltas

fluvial incisions

LGM peaklate LGM

widespread aggradationlimited aggradation

limited aggradation

apicalincision

EN

EC

OTSI

EL

P

EN

EC

OL

OH

36

32 34

Radiocarbon conventional age (ka BP, uncalibrated)32 34222 284 206 26428 10 1612 18140

0

30 36

Dep

th o

f dat

ed s

ampl

es fr

om th

e su

rfac

e (m

)D

epth

of d

ated

sam

ples

from

the

surf

ace

(m)

Bre

nta

allu

vial

sys

tem

(95

dat

ings

)

36

22

4

24

26

12

32

28

34

30

20

0

18

16

14

8

2

6

10

38

EN

EC

OTSI

EL

P

EN

EC

OL

OH

no surface deposition

36

Fig. 3 Top Diagram of radiocarbon datings available for the Brenta alluvial system. Bottom Diagram ofradiocarbon datings available for the Tagliamento alluvial system (modified from Fontana 2006); thecoloured areas link samples from the same core (TdM, AZX, CNC4; see Fig. 1 for location)

S186 Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196

123

between 61 and 54.1 m. These latter are covered by alluvial deposits in deltaic or distal-

plain facies up to 50.4 m, where an erosive surface marks the base of sandy fluvial-channel

deposits, passing to floodplain facies from 41.5 to 37.5 m. Between 37.5 and 35.2 m

compressed peat with freshwater pollen is present, which top was dated 35,900 ± 290 14C

years BP. Up to 32.5 m there are floodplain sediments, with a fairly developed soil at the

top. Radiocarbon dating of the A organic horizon provided an age of 21,990 ± 280 14C

years BP. This represents the base of the LGM sediments, which show fine-dominated

floodplain and crevasse splay facies; a well-developed soil at their top marks the base of

the Holocene backbarrier and lagoon deposits which started at 6,580 ± 55 14C years BP.

In core PRA pollen and micropaleontological analyses concentrate from 60 to 44.5 m;

from the base to 55.5 m silt alluvial deposits are present, characterized at their top by a

well-developed soil, sealed by lagoon fine sediments. These arrive up to 49.6 m, where the

top of another calcic soil is present and is buried by alluvial deposits up to the present

surface. The base of LGM should be slightly higher than 30.77 m, where a peat horizon has

a radiocarbon age of 26,380 ± 150 14C years BP. Near core PRA the present surface is

formed by LGM sediments, dating to 16,765 ± 155 14C years BP at 1.5 m of depth, and is

characterized by a well-developed calcic soil.

The profile of Fig. 2 is supported also by the correlations with core CNC4, near Con-

cordia Sagittaria, in which detailed pollen, micro- and macropaleontologic analyses were

carried out. Between 51 and 39 m of depth lagoon deposits are present, with two weak

soils at 45.2 and 43.6 m. Radiocarbon dating of a 3-m thick layer of compressed peat from

39 to 36.2 m provided the following ages: 30,885 ± 825 14C years BP at 36.2 m;

34,225 ± 150 at 37.58 m; 36,330 ± 1615 at 38.38 m. Sand alluvial deposits separate the

top of the peat horizon from the base of LGM sequence; this latter is set at 30.6 m, where

silty sediments bury the organic horizon of a fairly developed soil, dated at its top

24,275 ± 375 14C years BP. From 30.6 to 5 m silt and clayey silts are dominant and at their

top a well-developed soil testifies the time span occurred since the end of LGM till the

protohistoric and Roman occupation that sealed the soil with 5 m of archaeological

sequence.

4 The penultimate glaciation

The oldest litostratigraphic unit which has been intercepted by several high-quality cores

corresponds to the deposits of the penultimate glacial culmination, when the Alpine gla-

ciers reached the plain with their fronts, feeding glaciofluvial streams. The general situ-

ation may be compared to the one characterizing the LGM (see Sect. 7 ‘‘Acme of LGM’’)

and caused the formation of marked downstream differentiation of grain-size and lithof-

acies that brought to the sedimentation of megafans in the alluvial plain. These are

characterized by vertically stacked, amalgamated gravels in the proximal sectors of the

plain and of mud-prone sediments in the distal ones. Downstream of the spring line these

deposits mainly correspond to alternances of silt and clayey silt; secondarily, fine sandy

and silty sand channels are recognized, with an average thickness of less than 1–2 m; some

thin peat and organic layers are quite common and the pollen analyses demonstrate that

their deposition occurred during temperate and dry climate (Mullenders et al. 1996; Pini

et al. 2009; Fontana et al. 2010). These deposits are interpreted as fluvial sequences related

to sandy braided river typology and have a thickness of about 20–30 m. The top of these

sediments is found at a depth of 60–70 m from surface, east of Venice, whereas south-west

of Venice their top is at 80–100 m.

Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196 S187

123

In the core AZX these sediments are framed between two interglacial units, respec-

tively, related to the Eemian (i.e. MIS 5e and MIS 5d p.p.) and to the proposed Sile

integlacial complex (i.e. part of MIS 7), allowing to relate them to the MIS 6 and to

estimate the duration of the penultimate glacial culmination in the southern fringe of the

Alps between 148 ± 1 and [135 ka (Pini et al. 2009). These deposits correlate with the

most external features of the moraine amphitheatres of Tagliamento, named Plaino syn-

them in the new geological maps (Monegato et al. 2007; Zanferrari et al. 2008a). Also, the

moraine system of Isonzo, near Most na Soci (SLO), is referred to the penultimate gla-

ciation (Bavec et al. 2004), whereas, in the Vittorio Veneto amphitheatre, related to the

Piave basin, the most external moraine is characterized by a strongly developed soil, which

is older than the one present on the Plaino synthem and has been attributed to a glaciation

older than the penultimate (Venzo et al. 1977; ARPAV 2008). Stratigraphic and pedologic

correlations allow to tentatively attribute the formation of the Montebelluna megafan (#d,

Fig. 1, B) to the MIS 6 glacial acme; south of the Sile River the gravels forming the apical

portion of this megafan are buried by LGM fine sediments of the distal sector of Brenta

megafan (Bondesan et al. 2002; Mozzi 2005; Ragazzi and Zamarchi 2008).

The sediments related to the penultimate glaciation are found between *60 and 90 m

of depth in the core PCN (Feruglio 1936), their top is at 55 m in PRA, 70.5–100 m in TdM

(Fontana et al. 2010), 55–86 m in AZX (Pini et al. 2009), 71–90 m at PRT (Tosi et al.

2007a), 78–105 m in VE01 (Massari et al. 2004), 86–100 m in MAL (Fontolan et al. 2008)

and 63.6–89 m in AVR (Donnici and Serandrei-Barbero 2004), top at 99 m in BOR

(Mozzi and Cucato, unpublished). The base of these deposits was not reached in TdM

(Fig. 2) but, in some water wells near TdM, the presence of marine shells from a depth of

about 100 m and below has been documented which, thus, probably correlate to highstand

deposits of MIS 7.

At the top of the alluvial deposits sedimented during penultimate glaciation a fairly

well-developed soil has been recognized in cores PRA, AZX, PRG and calcic horizons of a

truncated soil have been recognized also in TdM.

5 The Tyrrhenian transgression (MIS 5e) and the Eemian

In the subsoil of the NW Adriatic plains the first pre-Holocene paralic sediments are found

at depths of 60–90 in the southern Venice Lagoon, whereas east of Venice they occur at

40–70 m from surface. They are described in many cores and could also be recognized in

many water-well logs due to the occurrence of lagoon or marine shells, thus they represent

a major stratigraphic marker (Amorosi et al. 2004; Antonioli et al. 2009). These sediments

form a wedge-shaped coastal body, up to 20–30 m thick, characterized by shallow-marine,

lagoon and deltaic deposits with molluscs (Fig. 2).

Facies analyses and chronostratigraphic correlations suggest that these sediments

probably belongs totally or almost entirely to the MIS 5e (132–116 ka BP), which corre-

sponds to the last interglacial and is called Tyrrhenian in the Mediterranean marine stra-

tigraphy (Asioli et al. 2005). At that period the Adriatic reached an highstand level of

?6 m (±3) a.s.l. which favoured the sedimentation of lagoon facies up to 25 km inland

from the present coastline (Ferranti et al. 2006; Antonioli et al. 2009) (Figs. 1, 2). The

Tyrrhenian transgression is expected to have reached the high stand at the paleo-altitude of

the Venetian Plain at least 3 ka later than the beginning of the interglacial, which is

currently dated 132.5 ± 2 ka BP (Drysdale et al. 2009) and corresponds to an event of

forest expansion recorded in pollen sequences (Shackleton et al. 2003; Pini et al. 2009).

S188 Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196

123

The delay of about 5–10 ka occurred between the end of the alluvial sedimentation related

to the penultimate glaciation and the beginning of paralic facies sedimentation along the

coastal plain allowed to form a well-developed soil. Sometimes the transgressive surface

separating the two depositional units coincide with an important truncation related to the

ravinement surface. An example of stratigraphic geometries and correlations is given in

Fig. 2.

The Tyrrhenian partly correlates with the Eemian period of the continental chronos-

tratigraphy of Europe (Shackleton et al. 2003; Asioli et al. 2005), which begun around

126 ka BP and well extended after the end of last interglacial (i.e. the boundary MIS 5e/5d),

which is dated at 119–117 ± 2 ka BP (Muller and Kukla 2004; Meyer et al. 2008).

The paleogeographic setting at the maximum transgression was characterized by an

inner lagoon margin 10–20 km landward than the Holocene one (#12 in Fig. 1). Key

points to check the position of the lagoon/continental interface are represented by the

couple of cores AZX and PRA: the first completely continental during MIS 5 and the

second where 5 m of lagoon sediments transgresses over the buried soil at the top of

MIS 6 (Fig. 2). A similar setting characterizes the cores PRG (unpublished) and PRT

(Tosi et al. 2007a): the first with only continental deposits in the first 105 m of depth and

with a very well developed soil at 55 m; the second with paralic deposits between 70 and

55 m.

In the circumalpine chronostratigraphy the Wurm period, which lasted up to the end of

Lateglacial at 11.5 ka cal BP (Chaline and Jerz 1984; Orombelli et al. 2005), started at the

end of the Eemian, with the onset of the first stadial, currently dated at 110.5 ± 1.5 ka BP

(NGRIP 2004). After the Eemian, two cold stadials occurred (Melisey I and II in the

French sequences; Woillard 1978) alternated with two mild interstadials (St. Germain I and

II in French literature). These are recorded by alluvial sediments in core AZX (Pini et al.

2009) and VE-01 (Mullenders et al. 1996). At global scale sea level dropped at about

-60 m below the present position during the MIS 5d, whereas during the substages 5c

and 5a it reached about -20 m (Antonioli et al. 2004).

Considering the depth of the top of MIS 5 lagoon or deltaic deposits, the sea-level

position during MIS 5a and 5c and the different subsidence rates occurred along the

Venetian–Friulian coastal plain, it is probable that the MIS 5 paralic deposits belong

completely or almost completely to the MIS 5e (i.e. the Tyrrhenian). The coastal sediments

dating to the post-Tyrrhenian interstadials could be present only in the southern Venetian

Lagoon, but not east of it and in the Friulian Plain, where long-term subsidence rate is

considerably lower (Antonioli et al. 2009). Alluvial deposits dating to MIS 5a has been

recognized in core BH2 (eastern Venice lagoon; see Fig. 1) at 45–47.5 m (Canali et al.

2007).

6 Early and middle Wurm

The deposits embedded between the top of the Tyrrhenian paralic facies and the base of

LGM have a thickness of about 20 m in the area of Venice, which decreases to less than

10 m in the Friulian Plain. In most of the considered cores these sediments are not well

characterized and only where detailed biostratigraphy is available (i.e. pollen analyses) a

chronostratigraphic subdivision could be possible. These deposits consist of an alluvial

sequence which represents part of the early Wurm and the middle Wurm; the boundary

between these two Wurmian phases is currently set around 70 ka BP (Chaline and Jerz

1984; Antonine et al. 2001).

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In some cores of the Friulian Plain (CNC4, LUG, VV, PCN), lagoon deposits of MIS 5

are found few meters below a peaty layer, 2- to 3-m thick, whose top is radiocarbon dated

around 35–30 ± 1 14C ka BP (#13 in Fig. 1); this situation points to the existence of a

sedimentary gap which comprises large part of the upper and middle Wurm (Fig. 2). This

hiatus has been recognized also in the Venice Lagoon, in cores VE-01, AVR and BH2,

where the sediments of about 30 ± 1 14C ka BP are found at around 30 m of depth and

important traces of pedogenesis are evident few metres below (Mullenders et al. 1996;

Donnici and Serandrei-Barbero 2004; Canali et al. 2007).

Pollen analysis in cores AZX (Pini et al. 2009), TdM and CNC4 (Fontana et al. 2010),

VE-01 (Mullenders et al. 1996) and BH2 (Canali et al. 2007) highlights the occurrence of a

temperate forest during the second part of middle Wurm. This vegetation cover probably

developed during the MIS 3 marine highstands at which Mediterranean sea level reached

about -60 m below the present sea level (Antonioli et al. 2004). The presence of the thick

peat layer found in the Friulian Plain and in the eastern Venetian Plain may be related

to the existence of the Tyhrrennian coastal wedge, which characterized the distal plain with

a very low topographic gradient, thus favouring surface-water stagnation and peat

accumulation.

7 Acme of LGM

At global scale the LGM acme occurred between 26.5 and 19 ka BP (Clark et al. 2009) and

the evolution of the eastern Alpine glaciers seems to be tuned with this timing (Orombelli

et al. 2005; Monegato et al. 2007; Carton et al. 2009). In the circumalpine chronostra-

tigraphy the term late Wurm comprehends the onset and the decay of the last glacial

culmination (Chaline and Jerz 1984), therefore it corresponds to the LGM and the

Lateglacial.

In the Venetian–Friulian Plain large sectors of the LGM surface still crop out (Fig. 1)

and the LGM alluvial sequences have been analysed with hundred of boreholes drilled for

applied geological purposes and chronologically constrained by tens of radiocarbon datings

(Fig. 3).

At the acme of LGM the glaciers hosted in the main south-eastern Alpine valleys

debouched into the plain, leading to the formation of huge terminal moraines in the

piedmont belt (Castiglioni 2004). The sea level dropped about -140 m below its present

position (Lambeck and Purcell 2005) and the North Adriatic became part of an extensive

alluvial plain (Correggiari et al. 1996). The Isonzo, Tagliamento, Piave, Brenta and Adige

glacio-fluvial systems, fed by the Alpine glaciers, brought to the formation of alluvial

megafans (Fontana et al. 2008). Lowstand deposits are represented by 15- to 35-m thick

megafan bodies made up of vertically stacked, amalgamated gravels in the proximal

sectors and mud-prone deposits at distal locations (Bondesan et al. 2002; 2008; Fontana

2006; Fontana et al. 2008). In the distal sector of megafans, LGM stratigraphy consists of a

characteristic alternation of overbank and natural-levee deposits, with common thin peat

intercalations and fine-sandy channel bodies with a thickness of 0.5–1.5 m (Fig. 4A) (Miola

et al. 2006; Bondesan et al. 2008; Fontana et al. 2008). A remarkably different framework

characterizes the central part of the Venetian Plain and of the Venice Lagoon, where the

sandy channel bodies may reach a thickness of 8–15 m (Fig. 4B) (Serandrei-Barbero et al.

2005; Zezza 2007; Bondesan et al. 2008).

In several cores, the LGM deposits bury a fairly developed soil, characterized by calcic

horizon; it has been found at depths of 32 m in CNC4, 28 m in TdM, ca. 30 in PRA, 35 in

S190 Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196

123

AZX, 30 and 28 m in the industrial area of Porto Marghera, near Mestre (Bondesan et al.

2008).

Radiocarbon datings (Fig. 3) highlight that the sedimentation occurred with a very high

rate in the whole Venetian–Friulian Plain, in the order of 1–3 mm/a. The fact that each

alluvial system apparently aggraded contemporaneously in its whole width may be

explained in terms of efficient avulsion processes, which continuously shifted the river

course across the megafan. This is because of the possibility of high irregularities in the

glacio-fluvial regimes, prone to extreme floods in response to occasional/recurrent out-

bursts of glacial meltwaters.

m

Sile River

NNESSW

Flood plain deposits

Correlation

Overbank and crevasse

Peat

Channel deposits

Silty sand deposits of Sile River

Piave River deposits along Sile channel

Anthropic deposits

14C dating

Core and penetric test

LGM / post-LGM boundary

500 m

250 m

0

2

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

SW NE

m

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

HangarAirport Station

A

B

15,000±500 14C

18,000±200 14C

18,000±200 14C

17,530±120

18,700±200 14C

21,800±300 14C

20,600±250 14C

Base of LGM(ca. 24,000±1000 14C)

3650±40

20,300±220

16,190±50

19,770±140

21,150±190

21,150±190

Age estimated through stratigraphicalcorrelation with core PM1 and PM3(Mozzi et al. 2003)

20,970±140

17,920±130

Fig. 4 a Stratigraphic section of the area of Ca0 Tron (modified from Fontana et al. 2008), b section of theAirport of Venice (modified from Bondesan et al. 2008)

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8 End of LGM and Lateglacial

The first contraction of the Alpine glaciers led to the abandonment of the most external

moraines. In the Tagliamento amphitheatre this terminal phase of LGM, the so-called

‘‘cataglacial’’, brought to the formation of some internal moraine ridges (Monegato et al.

2007); in the same phase the Tagliamento, Torre, Cormor and Corno fluvial systems

incised the apical portion of their megafans, down to the spring belt (Fig. 5). A slight

aggradation took place downstream, with the formation of some narrow fluvial ridges with

sandy-gravel wandering riverbeds until 15.5 ± 0.4 14C ka BP (Fontana 2006).

In the Vittorio Veneto amphitheatre the maximum advance of Piave glacier dates back

to 17.6 ± 0.3 14C ka BP (Bondesan et al. 2002), while by 16–15 ± 0.5 14C ka BP the glacier

had likely disappeared from the main valley (Pellegrini et al. 2005). In the Nervesa

megafan, the very intense LGM sedimentary phase stopped at around 16 ± 0.1 14C ka BP,

showing a good connection between glacial activity and alluvial aggradation (Carton et al.

2009). In the Brenta megafan the rate of sedimentation was very high until 18.0 ± 1 14C ka

BP and decreased significantly between 18.0 and 14.5 ± 0.5 14C ka BP (Mozzi 2005).

At the climatic transition between LGM and Lateglacial a dramatic change in the

alluvial dynamics occurred and a strong phase of incision affected all the megafans in the

Venetian–Friulian Plain (Fontana et al. 2008); even the ‘‘cataglacial’’ lobe of Tagliamento

megafan was incised (Fig. 5). This brought to the formation of alluvial valleys encased in

the LGM alluvia with a depth of 40–70 m in the proximal sectors and up to 25 m in the

distal ones, where several incisions are present. For the Tagliamento and Piave systems,

five and four incised valleys are documented, respectively. A similar valley was recognized

also in the Torre-Isonzo system (Arnaud-Fassetta et al. 2003).

A A

B B

C C

Fig. 5 Simplified scheme of the telescopic alluvial megafan of Tagliamento River (modified from Fontanaet al. 2008); 1 middle and late Holocene gravels and sands, (a) fine sediments; 2 Lateglacial and earlyHolocene gravels and sands; 3 Late LGM gravels and sands, (a) fine sediments; 4 acme-LGM gravels andsands, (a) fine sediments; 5 middle Wurmian gravels and sands, (a) fine sediments; 6 peat and organic layerdating at the top 30–35 ka BP cal.; 7 lagoon and shallow-marine deposits of last interglacial

S192 Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196

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The fluvial-channel entrenchment concentrated the sedimentary fluxes in the incisions

and led to the transport of gravels far downstream than during LGM (Fig. 5). Due to

entrenchment, laterally extensive hiatal surfaces are formed in the interfluvials, marked by

soil development with characteristic overconsolidated calcic horizons, locally called

caranto paleosoil (Mozzi et al. 2003). This discontinuity surface, which is generally

associated with a time gap of about 7–10 ka that encompasses the Pleistocene–Holocene

boundary, can be traced all along the Venetian–Friulian Plain and in the subsoil of the

coastal plain along the western Adriatic (Amorosi et al. 2008).

9 Conclusions

Large volumes of alluvial sediments have been deposited in the megafans of the Venetian–

Friulian Plain during the penultimate glaciation and the LGM, falling within MIS 6 and

MIS 2, respectively. This is due to the high sediment yield of the glacio-fluvial streams

flowing from Alpine glaciers, which then reached their maximum extensions and had their

fronts in the Alpine piedmont. This overwhelming climatic forcing on the fluvial system is

modulated by the specific environmental and orographic conditions of the different

catchments, leading to slight differences in the response to main climate change. This is

evident during the LGM cataglacial phase, when the Tagliamento megafan was interested

by early fan-head incision while the Brenta continued to aggradate, though with lower

rates.

During full glacial periods there is no direct influence of sea level on sedimentary

processes in the Venetian–Friulian Plain. Sea lowstands are generally characterized by

fluvial downcutting of the continental shelf and the formation of basin-ward depositional

wedges. In the shallow northern Adriatic, sea level fall resulted instead in the formation of

a several-hundred-kilometres long, very low-gradient alluvial plain. This led to the

detachment of the Venetian–Friulian sector from the coastal area and prevented it from

being interested by typical falling-stage incision. In fact, the entrenching of the fluvial

system recorded during the Lateglacial is entirely due to changing environmental condi-

tions in the mountain catchments related to deglaciation. The presence of fairly well-

developed soils at the top of the deposits of the penultimate glacial culmination, indicating

a main hiatus before the last interglacial transgression, suggests that river entrenchment

may have took place at the end of the penultimate glaciation as well.

During last interglacial there was the deposition of an alluvial-deltaic to lagoonal-

shallow-marine sedimentary wedge, which base corresponds to the Tyrrhenian transgres-

sive surface. Eustatic-driven fluctuations in the sedimentary processes are recognizable in

the Venetian–Friulian sedimentary series of that period. To be noted is the possibility of

pinpointing the coastline position. During the last interglacial the inner margin of the

lagoons was positioned 10–20 km landward with respect to the Holocene one and this

setting is consistent with the higher sea level reached at the MIS 5e. In the sedimentary

record also the MIS 5c and 5a are testified, but they seem to be characterized only from

alluvial deposits and, probably, paralic sediments of these substages are expected just south

of the present Venice Lagoon.

Between the end of the last interglacial and the onset of LGM, long periods of scarce or

no sedimentation occurred in the plain and the overall thickness of early and middle

Wurmian deposits is less than 10 m in the Friulian Plain. A major hiatus lasted several

thousand of years and ended around 35–31 ± 1 14C ka BP; this phase is testified by soil

Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2010) 21 (Suppl 1):S181–S196 S193

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development in the central and southern Venice Lagoon, whereas correspond to a thick

peaty layer found between the Friulian Plain and the eastern Venice Lagoon.

Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank Federico Toffoletto, leader of the CARG project in VenetoRegion, Andrea Vitturi and Valentina Bassan of the Servizio Geologico of Provincia di Venezia and PaoloSivieri (Geoservizi s.r.l.) for the possibility to study many of the cores considered in the research. Cor-rections and suggestions proposed by two anonymous reviewers largely improved the quality of themanuscript.

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