Application de la methode des mineraux lourds a quelques problemes morphologiques des Abruzzes adriatiques

Abstract

Abstract Heavy mineral analysis of samples from the Adriatic side of the Abruzzi mountains gives an indication of the age of the surface of the Gran Sasso plateaus and of the Quaternary continental formations. The absence of heavy minerals characteristic of the Pontian molasse suggests the possibility that the plateaus were never completely covered by the Pontian sea. The isolated molasse deposits which have been reported from the Gran Sasso may have been deposited in small gulfs along the shore of the sea. The Quaternary marine sediments have been dated by their fossil content. The majority of the Quaternary deposits, however, are gravels, breccias and eolian loams which contain neither fossils nor pollen. Cinder showers from Quaternary eruptions on the Tyrrhenian side of Abruzzi were carried by the wind and deposited volcanic minerals which were incorporated in the Quaternary material of the central Apennines. Heavy mineral analysis of the deposits containing these minerals reveals associations which provide a basis for determining the chronology of the Quaternary strata.