Abstract

The geomorphological analysis of cliff coast stretching to the north of Otranto (southernApulia, Italy) was integrated by penetrometer tests and geophysical survey aiming toreconstruct its late Holocene evolution. In particular, the study focuses on the inactive cliffof Torre dell'Orso inlet which hosts a 150 m - wide beach and a high dune belt. The surveydetected the cliff/wave-cut platform junction at about 3.8 m below m.s.l. The platform iscovered by a dune/beach sedimentary cover about 7 m thick.The collated data along with the available local sea level curves allow to reconstructOtranto's cliff evolution as the result of late Holocene relative sea-level change due toeustasy and land motions. Cliff development was promoted by a sea still-stand level atabout 3.5 m below present mean sea level occurred between 3400 and 2400 years BP. Arapid sea level rise followed so that several tracts of cliffs were partly drowned becomingplunging cliffs. Cliff recession followed fast sea level rise only along preferentialgroundwater flow lines where hyperkarst process, due to fresh/salt water mixing,produced deep notches in the calcarenite bedrock inducing rock falls and cliff recession.This process is responsible for the indentation of present shoreline. Finally, during thelast four centuries a wide beach and a high dune belt formed at Torre dell'Orso inlet as aresult of the increased carry load of Ofanto River, so that the plunging cliff has beenseparated by shoreline becoming an inactive cliff.Finally, comparing the reconstructed local sea level history during the late Holocene withthe available sea level curves produced by glacio-hydro-isostastic models, a yo-yoingland motion with a period of about 4500 years and amplitude of about 2 m can be inferredfor the eastern coast of Salento peninsula.

Autore Pugliese

• Leucci Giovanni

Tutti gli autori

• P. Sansò; F. Gianfreda G. Leucci; G. Mastronuzzi

Titolo volume/Rivista

GeoResJ

Anno di pubblicazione

2016

ISSN

2214-2428

ISBN

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Numero di citazioni Scopus

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Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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