The Early-Pleistocene Catanzaro strait-fill succession consists of large-scale tidal sets, accumulated in a tectonically confined basin during a phase of rapid relative sea-level rise. It crops out mainly in the presentday Catanzaro Trough where numerous field sections supported the characterization of the vertical and lateral facies variations and the documentation of a variety of soft-sediment deformation structures, exposed throughout their vertical and lateral extents. The soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) are the result of liquefaction and fluidization processes that deformed cross-laminations and other primary structures into folds, fluidescape structures, and structureless expanses. Three different groups of SSDS have been documented in the cross-stratified deposits of the Catanzaro strait. The detailed description of these soft-sediment deformation structures in a depositional context established by facies analysis enables interpretation in terms of possible trigger mechanisms. Consistent relationships between the occurrence of distinctive SSDS and specific tidally dominated facies have been established, indicating a probable autogenic origin for the soft-sediment deformations. Liquefaction and fluidization features are interpreted as the result of increases in water porepressure, induced by overloading. In particular, two types of overloading agents are hypothesized, which affect the lee and stoss sides of the migrating dunes in distinct events, and inducing the deformation of foreset laminae or sets of cross-strata, respectively.

The Tavoliere di Puglia is the third largest plain in Italy (surface area is about 3.500 Km2) and is located between the southern Appenninic Chain (Subappenino dauno) and the Apulian foreland (Gargano promontory). From a geological point of view, the Tavoliere di Puglia plain represents the northern sector of the southern Appenninic Plio-Pleistocene foredeep known as Bradanic trough. In the lower Pleistocene, the area was subjected to a phase of subsidence (with a rate in the order of 1 mm/y), while, from middle Pleistocene to present-day, a moderate uplift phase occurred. Data field from the survey for the new Geological Map of Italy (C.A.R.G. Project) and analyses carried out on well logs allowed the detailed study of the latest phases of sedimentation during the regional uplift of the northern sector of the Bradanic trough. The geological survey was carried out in an area (408 “San Bartolomeo” and 396 “San Severo” Sheets of the new Geological Map of Italy - 1:50.000 scale) that covers the entire Plio-Pleistocene foredeep extending from the external thrust sheets of the Subappennino dauno to the western Gargano highs. This paper presents only the data collected during the survey of the middle upper Pleistocene deposits: they are marine, transitional and continental deposits and are clearly terraced at different elevations above present sea level. They lie on unconformity surfaces above older units represented mainly by Miocene Apenninic units in the western sectors, Plio-Pleistocene argille subappenine unit in the foredeep area and carbonatic Mesozoic-Cenozoic units in the western Gargano area. The recognition of unconformity surfaces of great lateral extent allowed us to distinguish 7 different synthems grouped in the Tavoliere di Puglia supersynthem. Some synthems contain a lower marine and/or transitional subsynthem and an upper alluvial subsynthem separated by an unconformity surface. Marine and transitional subsynthems crop out in the eastern part of the study area (close to San Severo and Apricena area) and are represented mainly by coarsening-upward successions deposited in deltaic, proximal marine and low-energy protected embayment settings. In the western and higher sectors, alluvial subsynthems occur; they contain coarsening-upward successions of (proximal to distal) alluvial fan environments passing eastward to braided and coastal alluvial plain environments. Lateral facies changes can be followed gradually from areas next to the chain toward the eastern foreland areas. Facies changes can be observed also comparing synthems of different ages: for example, alluvial facies observed at the same distance from the chain are coarser-grained in the older synthems and finer-grained in the younger ones; the basal unconformity of different alluvial synthems show similar features: it is very inclined to the East in older synthems and becomes gradually less steep for the younger ones. Our data show that the Tavoliere di Puglia supersynthem represents a complex assemblage of marine and alluvial terraced deposits that records the interaction between regional uplift and sea-level changes. We propose a new set of detailed paleogeographic evolutionary stages for the northern sector of the Bradanic trough during middle and upper Pleistocene. In addition, these data allow us to compare the Tavoliere di Puglia plain and southern Bradanic trough evolutions.

Four 1:15,000 maps for the coastal area of Mar Piccolo (Taranto, southern Italy) are presented. The study area is a small, sheltered shallow marine basin of about 20 km2, located north of Taranto town. It contains some submarine, karstic freshwater springs (citri) that have determined the development of intensive aquaculture in the past. Now, the Mar Piccolo is a highly polluted area due to the presence of both military and industrial navy docks and various heavy industries located in proximal areas: (i) the ILVA steel plant in Taranto, the largest in Europe; (ii) the ENI oil refinery and (iii) the CEMENTIR, the largest cement and concrete plant in southern Italy. Many studies show that water and sediments are contaminated (heavy metals, isopropyl alcohol, polychlorinated biphenyl [PCB], etc.), and various remediation projects are now in preparation. In this study, we analyze the physical characteristics of the Mar Piccolo environment by producing several maps: a geological map; a geomorphological map; a bathy-morphological map and a map of the thickness of surficial sediment. All these maps are original products focused on the realization of a reliable geological picture for the Mar Piccolo area. They represent the first steps toward the detailed knowledge of the Mar Piccolo physical environment, which we consider to be a fundamental requirement for developing the most appropriate remediation techniques.

The Tavoliere di Puglia is a large alluvial plain located in southern Italy (Foggia Province, Apulia Region). From a geological perspective view, it represents the northern part of the Bradanic trough located between the southern Apennine Chain and the Apulian Foreland. A detailed geological survey of the middle-late Pleistocene terraces has been performed in this area and a new geologic map, at 1:150,000 scale, is here described. Criteria to distinguish these units are based on the recognition of basal unconformity surfaces: seven different synthems (UBSU, Unconformity-bounded Stratigraphic Units) have been discriminated. The data are presented in a synthesis map in which the geometrical relationships between the different sedimentary units are shown. New results for this sector of the Bradanic trough are significantly different from previous literature data. Furthermore, the map allows a reliable reconstruction of the Tavoliere di Puglia paleogeography during the Late Quaternary. Moreover, a detailed map of the Pleistocene terraces is fundamental to analyze and solve environmental problems associated with soil loss and desertification processes and river flood events.

Gli specchi di acqua del Mar Piccolo e del Mar Grande sono situati nel vertice settentrionale del Golfo di Taranto, in un’area di transizione fra le estreme propaggini meridionali dell’altopiano delle Murge, la Piana di Taranto e Brindisi, la Valle di Taranto nell’omonimo golfo e la fascia terrazzata della costa ionica della Basilicata. Essi sono in diretta connessione fra loro e quindi con il Golfo di Taranto e definiscono un sistema ambientale complesso e di grande fascino paesaggistico che ha accolto la città di Taranto attraverso la presenza di abitati dell’Età del Bronzo (c.ca 3500 BP) distribuiti lungo le sue coste sino alla sua fondazione - per la storia nel 706 a.C. - da coloni Spartani.

We present new data about the morphological and stratigraphic evolution and the rates of fluvial denudation of the Tavoliere di Puglia plain, a low-relief landscape representing the northernmost sector of the Pliocene-Pleistocene foredeep of the southern Apennines. The study area is located between the easternmost part of the southern Apennine chain and the Gargano promontory and it is characterized by several orders of terraced fluvial deposits, disconformably overlying lower Pleistocene marine clay and organized in a staircase geometry, which recorded the emersion and the long-term incision history of this sector since mid- Pleistocene times.We used the spatial and altimetric distribution of several orders of middle to late Pleistocene fluvial terraces in order to performpaleotopographic reconstruction and GIS-aided eroded volumes estimates. Then, we estimated denudation rates on the basis of the terraces chronostratigraphy, supported by published OSL and AAR dating. Middle to upper Pleistocene denudation rates estimated by means of such an approach are slightly lower than 0.1mmyr-1, in good agreement with short-term data from direct and indirect evaluation of suspended sediment yield. The analysis of longitudinal river profiles using the streampower erosionmodel provided additional information on the incision rates of the studied area. Middle to late Quaternary uplift rates (about 0.15mmyr-1), calculated on the basis of the elevation above sea level of marine deposits outcropping in the easternmost sector of the study area, are quite similar to the erosion rates average value, thus suggesting a steady-state fluvial incision. The approach adopted in thiswork has demonstrated that erosion rates traditionally obtained by quantitative geomorphic analysis and ksn estimations can be successfully integrated to quantify rates of tectonic or geomorphological processes of a landscape approaching steady-state equilibrium.

Soft-sediment deformation structures crop out in the Upper Cretaceous carbonate succession in Porto Selvaggio cove in the western Salento peninsula, Apulian foreland, southern Italy. The deformed interval is about 13 m thick and occurs between shallow-water limestones and dolostones formed in peritidal and shallow subtidal environments. It comprises well-bedded grey mudstones interlayered with dark grey laminated microbioclastic wackestones characterized by couplets of closely spaced dark and bright laminae marked by the parallel orientation of calcareous microbioclasts and thin-shelled bivalves. The low biological diversity, scarcity of burrowing biota, and presence of a well preserved fish fauna provide evidence of anoxic conditions occurring in morphological depressions within the platform, and a stagnant, stratified water body affected by weak bottom currents, indicating the sudden development of a localised and short-lived intraplatform basin. Two soft-sediment deformation horizons (slump sheets) separated by undeformed limestones with similar facies occur in this part of the succession. The lower, thicker slump sheet (1.0–1.3 m thick) contains asymmetric and box folds. Well-developed décollement surfaces (locally containing thick brecciated zones) cut the folds, forming small-scale thrust-sheets and indicating mixed plastic to brittle behaviour. The upper, thinner slump sheet (0.25–0.35 m thick) contains only asymmetric folds, indicating plastic behaviour only. The differences in deformation style are attributed to differences in facies. Measurements of fold-axis orientations in the slump sheets show that they moved in similar directions, recording the development of a local, gently dipping palaeoslope. Autogenic (internal) trigger mechanisms are ruled out by a detailed consideration of facies. The slump sheets were triggered by allogenic, tectonic effects, either the weakening of sediment by seismic activity or the tectonically induced steepening of slopes, or a combination of both. Tectonically induced steepening is consistent with localised and sudden vertical facies changes related to the creation of an intraplatform basin. The occurrence of slump sheets in carbonate platform successions is unusual since carbonate platforms are normally associated with shelves or low-angle ramps.