The Sele river plain is located along the western\ud
Tyrrhenian margin of the southern Apennine Chain\ud
and is confined seaward by a straight sandy coast formed\ud
during the Last Interglacial and the Holocene. The coastal\ud
plain is characterised by beach-dune ridges which interfinger\ud
landwards with lagoon and fluvio-palustrine deposits.\ud
This belt, which progressively grew up, represents the\ud
evolution of a barrier–lagoon system alternatively shifting\ud
landwards and seawards. The knowledge on the Holocene\ud
evolution of the Sele river coastal plain, along the coast\ud
of the Poseidonia-Paestum archaeological area, was\ud
improved by the drilling of two new cores and the collection\ud
of several archaeo-tephro-stratigraphic data. The\ud
area experienced the Holocene marine transgression which\ud
cut high cliffs in the travertine deposits. During the second\ud
half of the Holocene, the shoreline shifted seawards and a\ud
lagoon–beach bar system (Fossa Lupata-Laura) formed.\ud
The archaeological remains (VI cent. B.C.) and the Agnano\ud
Monte Spina tephra layer (4.1 ky BP) constrain chronologically\ud
this morpho-sedimentary system. After the VI\ud
cent. B.C., and mostly after the deposition of the 79 A.D.\ud
tephra layer, the shoreline shifted seawards and an additional\ud
beach ridge formed, while the flat area at the back\ud
(Fossa Lupata) was rapidly aggraded and dried up
The late Quaternary evolution of the Sele River\ud
coastal plain (Salerno Gulf, southern Italy) was investigated\ud
through integrated stratigraphical, chronological and\ud
palaeoecological analyses. The main environmental changes\ud
were ascribed to glacio-eustatic variations leading to\ud
rapid ingressions alternating with coastal progradations.\ud
The marked marine ingression of MIS 5.5 is testified by\ud
palaeoridges now cropping out 4 km inland at 11/13 m\ud
a.s.l. (Gromola palaeoridge). The eustatic minimum of MIS\ud
2 is testified by lower shoreface deposits in the offshore\ud
core record and in the seismic profiles at 120/130 m below\ud
sea level. This prolonged sea-level fall was interrupted by\ud
at least three rapid sea-level rises, probably related to MIS\ud
5.3, 5.1 and 3. The evidence of the first two sea level rises\ud
are represented by shoreface deposits in the inland S1 core\ud
(30 m thick, 3 m a.s.l., 1.5 km inland). The highstand of\ud
MIS 3 was identified by seismic profiles as onlapping\ud
marine deposits. The shore deposits at 100 m b.s.l were\ud
tentatively attributed to the lowstand of MIS 4. After the\ud
lowstand of MIS 2, the Sele Plain was newly flooded due to\ud
the rapid Post Glacial sea-level rise. This ingression caused\ud
the inland migration of a barrier-lagoon system and stopped\ud
at approximately 5.5 ky BP. From that moment the\ud
shoreline started prograding up to the present position\ud
probably due to the decrease in the sea-level rise rates and to the volcaniclastic supplies from the Neapolitan volcanoes,\ud
especially from the AD 79 Vesuvius eruption, also\ud
recorded in the subbottom chirp profiles
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