Superfici di spianamento relitte e vicende morfoneotettoniche dell'Isola d'Elba

Planation surfaces, Morphoneotectonics evolution, The Island of Elba

Abstract

The morphology and the morphoneotectonic evolution of the Island of Elba are unknown because marine or continental post-orogenic sediments are absent. The island rises abruptly from the sea, with three-quarters of its area lying over 50 m above sea level and a coastline that is high along most of its total length. The island offers views of sunken and upraised landmasses characterizing the submerged regions. The recognition of relics of at least three old planation surfaces and of terraces suggests that they are related to Pleistocene marine levels. Higher surfaces in western Elba, which were reported in previous writings, may be connected with even older levels. The comparison with similar situations in opposite Maritime Tuscany allows the hypothesis of a recent morphostructural evolution of the island, which is still to be tested. According to this hypothesis, the dynamics of the Island of Elba would have been characterized by the alternation of marine emergence and submergence, due both to glacio-eustatic movements of sea level and to recent tectonic vertical movements.