Recognition of a drowned delta in the northern Adriatic Sea,Italy: Stratigraphic characteristics and its significance in the frame of the early Holocene sea-level rise
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online June, 2015
Recognition of a drowned delta in the northern Adriatic Sea,Italy: Stratigraphic characteristics and its significance in the frame of the early Holocene sea-level rise
Seismic and core data off the Tagliamento river delta, northern Adriatic Sea, Italy, have allowed the recognition of a partially eroded sand ridge at 12 to 18 m water depth, which has been interpreted as a submerged wave-dominated delta with associated beach-ridge complexes. The ridge shows local channel fill features, interpreted as the result of the filling of tidal channels connecting the open sea with bays and lagoons placed adjacent to the ancient delta. This interpretation resembles the present day setting of the Tagliamento delta, located landwards. It is inferred that the recognized delta was drowned during the latest stage of the post-glacial sea-level rise, when the shoreline shifted near the present day position. New studies are needed to recognize other submerged deltas and barrier islands, which may allow the reconstruction of the post-glacial sea-level rise in the Mediterranean and of the position of ancient paleoshorelines.
AmorosiA (2006) Reading late Quaternary stratigraphy from cores: A practical approach to facies interpretation. GeoActa5: 61–78.
2.
AmorosiAColalongoML (2005) The linkage between alluvial and coeval nearshore marine successions: Evidence from the late quaternary record of the Po River Plain, Italy. In: BlumMDMarriottSBLeclairSF (eds) Fluvial Sedimentology VII. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing (International Association of Sedimentologists Special Publication 35), pp. 257–275.
3.
AmorosiACentineoMCColalongoML. (2003) Facies architecture and latest Pleistocene-Holocene depositional history of the Po Delta (Comacchio area), Italy. The Journal of Geology111: 39–56.
4.
AmorosiAColalongoMLPasiniG. (1999) Sedimentary response to Late Quaternary sea-level changes in the Romagna coastal plain (northern Italy). Sedimentology46: 99–121.
5.
AntonioliFAnzideiMLambeckK. (2007) Sea-level change during the Holocene in Sardinia and in the northeastern Adriatic (central Mediterranean Sea) from archaeological and geomorphological data. Quaternary Science Reviews26: 2463–2486.
6.
BaileyGNFlemmingNCKingGCP. (2007) Coastlines, submerged landscapes, and human evolution: The Red Sea Basin and the Farasan Islands. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology2: 127–160.
7.
BernéSJouetGBassettiMA. (2007) Late Glacial to Preboreal sea-level rise recorded by the Rhône deltaic system (NW Mediterranean). Marine Geology245: 65–88.
8.
BhattacharyaJWalkerRG (1991) River- and wave-dominated depositional systems of the Upper Cretaceous Dunvegan Formation, northwestern Alberta. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology39: 165–191.
9.
BoydRSuterJPenlandS (1989) Sequence stratigraphy of the Mississippi delta. Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, Transactions39: 331–340.
10.
CarterRMCarterLJohnsonDP (1986) Submergent shorelines in the SW Pacific: Evidence for an episodic post-glacial transgression. Sedimentology33: 629–649.
11.
CattaneoATrincardiFAsioliA. (2007) The Western Adriatic shelf clinoform: Energy-limited bottomset. Continental Shelf Research27: 506–525.
12.
CliftonHE (2006) A reexamination of facies models for clastic shorelines. In: PosamentierHWWalkerRG (eds) Facies Models Revisited. Tulsa, OK: SEPM (Special Publication 84), pp. 293–337.
13.
DemarestJMKraftJC (1987) Stratigraphic record of Quaternary sea levels: Implications for more ancient strata. In: NummedalDPilkeyOHHowardJD (eds) Sea-Level Fluctuation and Coastal Evolution. Tulsa, OK: SEPM (Special Publication 41), pp. 223–239.
14.
FairbanksRG (1989) A 17,000-year glacio-eustatic sea level record; influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas event and deep-ocean circulation. Nature342: 637–642.
15.
FrangipaneE (1984) I sedimenti recenti del sottofondo marino antistanti il delta del F. Tagliamento e la loro evoluzione. Unpublished Degree Thesis.
16.
FerrettiMMorettiESavelliD. (1986) Late Quaternary alluvial sequences in the north-western Adriatic Sea from uniboom profiles. Bollettino di Oceanologia Teorica ed Applicata4(1): 63–72.
17.
FontanaAMozziPBondesanA (2008) Alluvial megafans in the Venetian-Friulian Plain (north-eastern Italy): Evidence of sedimentary and erosive phases during Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Quaternary International189: 71–90.
18.
GallowayWE (1975) Process framework for describing the morphologic and stratigraphic evolution of deltaic depositional systems. In: BroussardML (ed.) Deltas, Models for Exploration. Houston, TX: Houston Geological Society, pp. 87–98.
19.
GardnerJVCalderBRHughesClarkJE. (2007) Drowned shelf-edge deltas, barrier islands and related features along the outer continental shelf north of the head of De Soto Canyon, NE Gulf of Mexico. Geomorphology89: 370–390.
20.
GoffJASwiftDJPDuncanCS. (1999) High resolution swath sonar investigation of sand ridge, dune and ribbon morphology in the offshore environment of the New Jersey margin. Marine Geology161: 307–337.
21.
GordiniE (2001) Evoluzione e caratteri morfo-sedimentologici dei fondali del Golfo di Trieste e degli affioramenti rocciosi delle Trezze. Unpublished Degree Thesis.
22.
GordiniEMaroccoRVioE (2002) Stratigrafia del sottosuolo della ‘Trezza Grande’ (Golfo di Trieste, Adriatico settentrionale). Gortania24: 31–63.
23.
GreenANCooperJAGSalzmannL (2014) Geomorphic and stratigraphic signals of postglacial meltwater pulses on continental shelves. Geology42: 151–154.
24.
HuthnanceJM (1982) On one mechanism forming linear sand banks. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science14: 79–99.
25.
KorotkiiAM (1985) Quaternary sea-level fluctuations on the northwestern shelf of the Japan Sea. Journal of Coastal Research1: 293–298.
26.
LambeckKPurcellA (2005) Sea-level change in the Mediterranean Sea since the LGM: Model predictions for tectonically stable areas. Quaternary Science Reviews24: 1969–1988.
27.
LambeckKAntonioliFPurcellA. (2004) Sea-level change along the Italian coast for the past 10,000 yr. Quaternary Science Reviews23: 1567–1598.
28.
LiuJPMillimanJD (2004) Reconsidering melt-water pulses 1A and 1B: Global impacts of rapid sea-level rise. Journal of Ocean University of China3: 183–190.
29.
LiuJPMillimanJDGaoS. (2004) Holocene development of the Yellow River’s subaqueous delta, North Yellow Sea. Marine Geology209: 45–67.
30.
MaroccoR (1988) Considerazioni sedimentologiche sui sondaggi S19 e S20 (delta del Tagliamento). Gortania10: 101–120.
31.
MaselliVHuttonEWKettnerAJ. (2011) High-frequency sea level and sediment supply fluctuations during Termination I: An integrated sequence-stratigraphy and modeling approach from the Adriatic Sea (Central Mediterranean). Marine Geology287: 54–70.
32.
MassariFChiocciF (2006) Biocalcarenite and mixed cool-water prograding bodies of the Mediterranean Pliocene and Pleistocene: Architecture, depositional setting and forcing factors. In: PedleyHMCarannanteG (eds) Cool-Water Carbonates: Depositional Systems and Palaeoenvironmental Controls. London: Geological Society (Special Publication 255), pp. 95–120.
33.
MassariFRioDSerandreiBarberoR. (2004) The environment of Venice area in the past two million years. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology202: 273–308.
34.
NordfjordSGoffJADuncanLS. (2009) Shallow stratigraphy and transgressive ravinement on the New Jersey shelf: Implications for sedimentary lobe deposition and latest Pleistocene-Holocene sea level history. Marine Geology266: 232–243.
35.
NummedalDSwiftDJP (1987) Transgressive stratigraphy at sequence-bounding unconformities: Some principles derived from Holocene and Cretaceous examples. In: NummedalDPilkeyOHHowardJD (eds) Sea-Level Fluctuation and Coastal Evolution. Tulsa, OK: SEPM (Special Publication 41), pp. 241–260.
36.
PenlandSBoydRLSuterJR (1988) Transgressive depositional systems of the Mississippi delta plain: A model for barrier shoreline and shelf sand development. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology58: 932–949.
37.
PiniRRavazziCDoneganaM (2009) Pollen stratigraphy, vegetation and climate history of the last 215 ka in the Azzano Decimo core (plain of Friuli, north-eastern Italy). Quaternary Science Reviews28: 1268–1290.
38.
PsutyNP (1967) The Geomorphology of Beach Ridges in Tabasco, Mexico. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Studies, no. 18, 51 pp.
39.
RampinoMRSandersJE (1980) Holocene transgression in south-central Long Island, New York. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology50: 1063–1080.
40.
ReadingHGCollinsonJD (1996) Clastic coasts. In: ReadingHG (ed.) Sedimentary Environments; Processes, Facies and Stratigraphy. Oxford: Blackwell Science, pp. 154–231.
41.
SalzmannLGreenACooperJAG (2013) Submerged barrier shoreline sequences on a high energy, steep and narrow shelf. Marine Geology346: 366–374.
42.
SandersJEKumarN (1975) Evidence of shoreface retreat and in-place ‘drowning’ during Holocene submergence of barriers, shelf off Fire Island, New York. Geological Society of America Bulletin86: 65–76.
43.
SneddenJWDalrympleRW (1999) Modern shelf sand ridges; from historical perspective to a unified hydrodynamic and evolutionary model. In: BergmanKMSneddenJW (eds) Isolated Shallow Marine Sand Bodies: Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis and Sedimentologic Interpretation. Tulsa, OK: SEPM (Special Publication 64), pp. 13–28.
44.
SneddenJWTillmanRWCulverSJ (2011) Genesis and evolution of a mid-shelf, storm-built sand ridge, New Jersey continental shelf, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research81: 534–552.
45.
StefaniMVincenziS (2005) The interplay of eustasy, climate and human activity in the late Quaternary depositional evolution and sedimentary architecture of the Po Delta system. Marine Geology222–223: 19–48.
46.
StormsJEAWeltjeGJTerraGJ. (2008) Coastal dynamics under conditions of rapid sea-level rise: Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene evolution of barrier-lagoon systems on the northern Adriatic shelf (Italy). Quaternary Science Reviews27: 1107–1123.
47.
StubblefieldWLMcGrailDWKerseyDG (1984) Recognition of transgressive and post-transgressive sand ridges on the New Jersey continental shelf. In: TillmanRWSiemersCT (eds) Siliciclastic Shelf Sediments. Tulsa, OK: SEPM (Special Publication 34), pp. 1–23.
SwiftDJP (1968) Coastal erosion and transgressive stratigraphy. Journal of Geology76: 444–456.
50.
SwiftDJPPhillipsSThorneJA (1991) Sedimentation on continental margins, IV: Lithofacies and depositional systems. In: SwiftDJPOertelGFTillmanRW. (eds) Shelf Sand and Sandstone Bodies. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing (International Association of Sedimentologists Special Publication 14), pp. 89–152.
51.
TosiLRizzettoFBonardiM. (2007a) Note illustrative della Carta Geologica d’Italia alla scala 1:50.000. 128-Venezia. Roma: SystemCart APAT, Dipartimento Difesa del Suolo, Servizio Geologico d’Italia, pp. 1–164.
52.
TosiLRizzettoFBonardiM. (2007b) Note illustrative della Carta Geologica d’Italia alla scala 1:50.000. 148–149-Chioggia-Malamocco. Roma: SystemCart APAT, Dipartimento Difesa del Suolo, Servizio Geologico d’Italia, pp. 1–164.
53.
TosiLRizzettoFZecchinM. (2009) Morphostratigraphic framework of the Venice Lagoon (Italy) by very shallow water VHRS surveys: Evidence of radical changes triggered by human-induced river diversions. Geophysical Research Letters36: L09406. DOI: 10.1029/2008GL037136.
54.
TrincardiFCorreggiariA (2000) Quaternary forced-regression deposits in the Adriatic basin and the record of composite sea-level cycles. In: HuntDGawthorpeRL (eds) Sedimentary Responses to Forced Regressions. London: Geological Society (Special Publication 172), pp. 245–269.
55.
TrincardiFCorreggiariARoveriM (1994) Late Quaternary transgressive erosion and deposition in a modern epicontinental shelf: The Adriatic Semienclosed Basin. Geo-Marine Letters14: 41–51.
56.
WagleBGVoraKHKarisiddaiahSM. (1994) Holocene submarine terraces on the western continental shelf of India; implications for sea-level changes. Marine Geology117: 207–225.
57.
WeiseBR (1980) Wave-Dominated Deltaic Systems of the Upper Cretaceous San Miguel Formation, Maverick Basin, South Texas (Report of Investigations 107). Austin, TX: Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, pp. 1–39.
58.
ZecchinMCatuneanuO (2013) High-resolution sequence stratigraphy of clastic shelves I: Units and bounding surfaces. Marine and Petroleum Geology39: 1–25.
59.
ZecchinMBaradelloLBrancoliniG. (2008) Sequence stratigraphy based on high-resolution seismic profiles in the late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits of the Venice area. Marine Geology253: 185–198.
60.
ZecchinMBrancoliniGTosiL. (2009) Anatomy of the Holocene succession of the southern Venice lagoon revealed by very high-resolution seismic data. Continental Shelf Research29: 1343–1359.
61.
ZecchinMCaffauMTosiL (2011a) Relationship between peat bed formation and climate changes during the last glacial in the Venice area. Sedimentary Geology238: 172–180.
62.
ZecchinMCeramicolaSGordiniE. (2011b) Cliff overstep model and variability in the geometry of transgressive erosional surfaces in high-gradient shelves: The case of the Ionian Calabrian margin (southern Italy). Marine Geology281: 43–58.
63.
ZecchinMCivileDCaffauM. (2011c) Sequence stratigraphy in the context of rapid regional uplift and high-amplitude glacio-eustatic changes: The Pleistocene Cutro Terrace (Calabria, southern Italy). Sedimentology58: 442–477.
64.
ZecchinMTosiLCaffauM. (2014) Sequence stratigraphic significance of tidal channel systems in a shallow lagoon (Venice, Italy). The Holocene24: 646–658.
