Late-pleistocene and Holocene deposition along the coasts and continental shelves of Italian Peninsula

The aim of this chapter is to outline the depositional and erosional processes which occurred on the coasts and shelves at the margins of the Italian mainland during the late-Quaternary sea-level fluctuation. This fluctuation dramatically controlled sedimentary processes through the rapid renewal of shoreline position, of paleotopography, and of size and amounts of sediments derived from the continent. This sea-level fluctuation occurred during the last 25-23,000 years, and it has been subdivided into three main phases: (1) the final part of the last sea-level fall, the lowstand, and the beginning of the sea-level rise; (2) the sea-level rise; (3) the present highstand. Each phase will be discussed in its general aspects and with reference to some case histories. The marine data mainly derive from high-resolution seismic surveys and from grab, core, and vibracore samples. The land data consist of stratigraphic, morphological and archaeological records. Analyses carried out on the collected sediments are mostly mineralogical, grain size, microfaunal and 14C analyses.