Abstract
Through time, the wide area between southeastern Tuscany, northeastern Latium, and western Umbria has been revealed as a crucial area for understanding the evolution of Neogene basins in northern Apennine. In this study, the results of twenty years of research on the marine early Pleistocene deposits are summarized, and the biological and physical events are presented and discussed in order to propose an integrated stratigraphic scheme. The proposed reconstruction is also included in a wider context, taking into account both the local and regional geological evolution.
Highlights
The Neogene–Quaternary geological evolution of the wider area between western Umbria, southeastern Tuscany, and northeastern Latium (Figures 1 and 2) appears well outlined, from the onset of a marine basin during the Early Pliocene to the continental-shallow coastal marine phase (Early Pliocene–Early Pleistocene), and to the wide continentalization, with volcanic episodes, and the setup of lacustrine basins, from the early–middle Pleistocene onwards, that led to the current river valley setup [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Geological and stratigraphic reconstruction throughout the Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in western Umbria resumes more than one hundred years of study, and it fits in the comprehensive geological evolution of Neogene extensional basins in northern Apennines [4,7,8,9,10,11,12]
As for the whole history of the Neogene–Quaternary northern Apennine basins, any speculation on the paleogeographic evolution of the Valdichiana Basin cannot ignore the role of tectonics and the interaction with sedimentation [5,30,44].The basin is bounded by extensional faults [4,5,6,96], and the role of tectonics in its setup is undoubted
Summary
The Neogene–Quaternary geological evolution of the wider area between western Umbria, southeastern Tuscany, and northeastern Latium (Figures 1 and 2) appears well outlined, from the onset of a marine basin (the Valdichiana Basin) during the Early Pliocene to the continental-shallow coastal marine phase (Early Pliocene–Early Pleistocene), and to the wide continentalization, with volcanic episodes, and the setup of lacustrine basins, from the early–middle Pleistocene onwards, that led to the current river valley setup [1,2,3,4,5,6]. [9]): the high local variability indicates that each basin, or macro-area, had its own geological evolution [6,7] This evolution results from a complex interaction between extensional and compressional tectonic regimes during the eastward migration of the Apennines, and between tectonics and sea-level change [4,7,8,9,10,11,12]. How the inhered coastal paleomorphologies, the active tectonics, and the sea-level fluctuations may have influenced the facies distribution is still debated Within this compelling scenario, here, we try to include all the evidence collected over the years into a comprehensive, integrated stratigraphic scheme
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