Quaternary landscape evolution of Apennines peri-Adriatic belt: Insights into climate and tectonics from the fluvial record

Reconstructing the landscape evolution of the Apennines peri-Adriatic belt requires separating climatic and tectonic signals within its fluvial terrace record, a task so far limited by sparse chronological constraints. Here, we mapped terrace features from three rivers draining the peri-Adriatic belt by combining semiautomatic extraction of tread surfaces from high-resolution digital terrain models with detailed mapping of associated basal strath surfaces using the 1:10,000 geological map. Nine luminescence and radiocarbon ages, integrated with sedimentological data and published chronologies, refine the timing of terrace formation for the region. Although age uncertainties are substantial, cumulative probability distributions indicate that many terrace deposits broadly coincide with late-interglacial cooling and glacial conditions, whereas older terraces show more dispersed ages. Age-elevation modeling reveals spatially variable uplift histories since similar to 1 million years ago, consistent with differential crustal uplift or long-strike variations in anticline growth. Overall, these results provide new constraints on the interplay between climate and tectonics shaping the peri-Adriatic landscape.