PALYNOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PO DELTA SUCCESSION (NORTHERN ITALY): HOLOCENE VEGETATION DYNAMICS, STRATIGRAPHIC PATTERNS AND PALAEOCLIMATE VARIABILITY

The 40 m-long core EM2, recovered in the innermost portion of Po delta plain, was sampled for palynological analysis, in order to link coastal-deltaic facies architecture to vegetation dynamics and Holocene climate variability. Pollen data refine facies charac-terization of the 25 m-thick Holocene succession: freshwater swamp clays alternating with overbank/channel sands document millennial to centennial-scale water table oscillations that invariably peak in correspondence of peaty layers. Pollen signature allows identification of the landward equivalent of the Maximum Flooding Surface atop the 7.6 ka-dated peaty interval and furnishes new insights on the relationship between coastal facies patterns and climate events.