Reconstruction of the Tiber Deltaic stratigraphic successions near Ostia using the PADM chart and tracking of the bedload-derived facies (Rome, Italy)

Description

Located between the deltaic plain and the subaqueous delta, base level is one of the most important factors that affect depositional elements and the sedimentary architecture of river deltas. In this respect, its changes are essential to reconstruct delta evolution during the Holocene. In this paper, we study three cores drilled in the Tiber delta (Italy). Palaeoenvironmental analyses were performed and included new sedimentological data (laser grain size, loss-on-ignition, magnetic susceptibility), new data from bioindicators (ostracods and macrofauna), and 11 new radiocarbon dates. The three cores were analysed and replaced in a cross section between the Inner and Outer Tiber delta, i.e.,in the palaeolagoon and in the progradational delta plain. First, we have mapped the Holocene transgression and progradation of the Ostia area using palaeoenvironmental age-depth modelling techniques (PADMs). PADM charts help to interpret a stratigraphic succession in a river delta. They contribute to the understanding of the links between depositional environments, sedimentation rate, and sea level rise and to reconstruct coastline trajectories. More precisely, they contribute to the interpretation of the consequences of the sea level jumps dated to the 9000–8000 cal. BP period on coastal environments and help to identify progradational phases (around 4 k, and from 2.8 to 2.6 k cal. BP). Second, we identify indirect (freshwater bioindicators) and direct (bedload-derived facies) evidence of fluvial activity in the studied cross section. The studied deep cores indicate that at least one palaeochannel of the Tiber River was already flowing in the middle/southern part of the delta from 4 k cal. BP. Finally, a first map of the lateral mobility of the palaeochannels of the Tiber River is proposed for the last 6 k cal. BP using the new data and a synthesis of all the data available at the scale of the delta.

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