An integrated geomorphological, structural and stratigraphical approach was applied to the Sessano intra-mountain basin (Molise, Southern Apennines) in order to understand the Quaternary environmental and sedimentary evolution of the basin and the surrounding areas. The morphoevolutionary and sedimentary changes were mainly controlled by tectonics and by the huge volcanoclastic inputs coming from the nearby Roccamonfina volcano and, secondly, by climatic changes. Chronological constraints, supported by 40Ar/39Ar ages of tephra layers, archaeo-tephrostratigraphy, palaeomagnetic data and pollen analysis, indicate that the Quaternary evolution of the Sessano basin was controlled by NW-SE extensional tectonics since Middle Pleistocene. The extensional tectonics also controlled sedimentation within the basin, allowing the deposition of more than 100 m of fluvial to lacustrine sediments, mainly made up of reworked volcanoclastic materials. Sedimentation occurred within a time period spanning between the end of Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 15 and the beginning of OIS 11, when the basin dried up. During this time interval the sedimentation repeatedly changed from lacustrine to fluvial-marshy. After OIS 11, the whole succession was tilted eastwards and then affected by fluvial erosion and denudation that generated hanging erosional surfaces at 720-700 m above sea level (asl). These surfaces can be referred to a Tyrrhenian-ward oriented palaeo-landscape and related to the palaeosurfaces located at about 600 m asl in the adjacent Carpino-Le Piane intra-mountain basin. The described palaeo-landscape, developed during a period between ca. 440 to ca. 200 ky, represents an important morpho-chronological stage and a fundamental ante-quem and post-quem datum for the reconstruction of the geological and geomorphological evolution of the study area and, in particular, of the Molise Apennine sector including the Boiano, Carpino-Le Piane and Sessano intra-mountain basins.
The Sessano intra-montane basin: new multi-proxy data for the Quaternary evolution of the Molise sector of the Central-Southern Apennines (Italy) / Amato, Vincenzo; Aucelli, P.; Cesarano, M.; Pappone, G.; Rosskopf, C. M.; RUSSO ERMOLLI, Elda. - In: GEOMORPHOLOGY. - ISSN 0169-555X. - 128:1-2(2011), pp. 15-21. [10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.12.019]
The Sessano intra-montane basin: new multi-proxy data for the Quaternary evolution of the Molise sector of the Central-Southern Apennines (Italy).
AMATO, VINCENZO;RUSSO ERMOLLI, ELDA
2011
Abstract
An integrated geomorphological, structural and stratigraphical approach was applied to the Sessano intra-mountain basin (Molise, Southern Apennines) in order to understand the Quaternary environmental and sedimentary evolution of the basin and the surrounding areas. The morphoevolutionary and sedimentary changes were mainly controlled by tectonics and by the huge volcanoclastic inputs coming from the nearby Roccamonfina volcano and, secondly, by climatic changes. Chronological constraints, supported by 40Ar/39Ar ages of tephra layers, archaeo-tephrostratigraphy, palaeomagnetic data and pollen analysis, indicate that the Quaternary evolution of the Sessano basin was controlled by NW-SE extensional tectonics since Middle Pleistocene. The extensional tectonics also controlled sedimentation within the basin, allowing the deposition of more than 100 m of fluvial to lacustrine sediments, mainly made up of reworked volcanoclastic materials. Sedimentation occurred within a time period spanning between the end of Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 15 and the beginning of OIS 11, when the basin dried up. During this time interval the sedimentation repeatedly changed from lacustrine to fluvial-marshy. After OIS 11, the whole succession was tilted eastwards and then affected by fluvial erosion and denudation that generated hanging erosional surfaces at 720-700 m above sea level (asl). These surfaces can be referred to a Tyrrhenian-ward oriented palaeo-landscape and related to the palaeosurfaces located at about 600 m asl in the adjacent Carpino-Le Piane intra-mountain basin. The described palaeo-landscape, developed during a period between ca. 440 to ca. 200 ky, represents an important morpho-chronological stage and a fundamental ante-quem and post-quem datum for the reconstruction of the geological and geomorphological evolution of the study area and, in particular, of the Molise Apennine sector including the Boiano, Carpino-Le Piane and Sessano intra-mountain basins.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
