Publication Date:
2021-06-16
Description:
During the Quaternary several glaciations occurred in the mountain regions around the Mediterranean and, in
recent years, new ages have better constrained their timing. However, this is not the case for the Apuan Alps, a
high-rainfall mountain chain adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. Here, in spite of the widespread evidence for
glaciers, the complete lack of geochronological information hinders our understanding of glaciation history. In
this paper, we utilize speleothem ages to better constrain the timing of these glacial features. We re-examine 293
uranium‑thorium ages from 19 speleothems collected in five caves at different elevations. After a period of very
low growth between 160 and 132 ka, the analysed speleothems grew almost continuously to ~75 ka, this period
was followed by intermittent growth with lower deposition rate and presence of hiatuses until ~12.5/12 ka. This
is consistent with an ice coverage persisting over the Apuan Alps, inhibiting or interrupting the growth of
speleothems via the limited availability of groundwater and the scarcity/absence of soils. This interval is much
greater than the time interval that has previously been attributed to the existence of glaciers on the Apuan Alps,
which has been assumed to be restricted to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2. Instead, ice cover probably also
appeared in the Apuan Alps during MIS 4. The phase of restarting of growth, which may implies the definitive or
substantial glacier melts seem to predate the Holocene
Description:
ARCA project “Arctic: present climatic change and past extreme events” founded by the Italian Ministry
of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR); Australian Research Council Discovery Projects grant
DP110102185; Palaeoclimatic palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Apuan area since the Last Glacial Maximum, Pisa University; Clima ed eventi alluvionali estremi in Versilia: integrazione di nuove tecniche geoarcheologiche, geomorfologiche, geochimiche e simulazioni numeriche, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Call 2016
Description:
Published
Description:
62-71
Description:
5A. Paleoclima e ricerche polari
Description:
JCR Journal
Keywords:
speleothem
;
glacier
;
Apuan Alps
;
MIS2
;
MIS3
;
MIS4
;
Paleoclima
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
article
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