Late Quaternary sedimentary evolution of the Piombino alluvial plain (western Tuscany) as revealed by subsurface data

Integrated sedimentological and micropalaeontological analysis of a 105 m long core (Vignarca) from the Piombino alluvial plain, in western Tuscany, provides evidence for a Late Quaternary transgressive event within a monotonous vertical succession of alluvial plain deposits. This transgressive pulsation, recorded in the core at about 20 m depth and assigned to > 43 ka on the basis of radiocarbon dating, is documented at Vignarca (3 km landward of present shoreline), through identification of a lagoonal/bay facies association, about 3 m thick, bearing a diagnostic brackish-water microfauna. Pollen data show a close relationship between initial transgression and the development of mixed Mediterranean and broadleaved forest vegetation, indicating that transgression took place at the onset of a warm (interglacial) period, replacing the previous cold-climate (late glacial) vegetation. Comparison of pollen spectra from core Vignarca with coeval pollen series from the Mediterranean area suggests an age attribution of this transgressive episode to the Tyrrhenian (OIS 5e) transgressive event.