Palaeoenvironmental dataset from the northern Apuo-Versilian coastal plain (NW Italy): a key tool for scientific and management applications

Abstract

Coastal plains represent valuable sources of palaeogeographic data, especially for the Mid to Late Holocene, revealing as well important postglacial sea-level elevation and age constraints to validate glacio-hydro-isostatic (GIA) predictive models. Moreover, they provide evidence of the relationship between human settlement and natural environment. With this paper we provide a dataset of the geomorphological and geological information collected during a long-lasting collaborative project, led by the University of Pisa, in the northern Apuo-Versilian Plain, a coastal plain located in NW Italy. The data collected in the framework of the project are mostly unpublished, especially in their extended form. They reveal the nature of the sedimentary fill of the Apuo-Versilian Plain and its lateral changes, providing some basic chronological constraints on landscape evolution. They also represent a source of raw data to produce index and limiting points to be cross-checked with relative sea-level (RSL) change model predictions for this area since the Mid-Holocene. Such body of evidence can be used to infer information relevant to constrain the geodynamic model of the area, for assessment of ongoing subsidence of the coastal plain and for projects of flood risk management. Finally, our dataset may be a relevant source of information for ongoing and future archaeological campaigns in this area and particularly for those aimed at revealing the vestiges of the Roman city of Luna and its architectural evolution in the Middle Ages and beyond.