Osservazioni stratigrafiche e geomorfologiche nel tratto meridionale della piana costiera del Tavoliere di Puglia

Stratigraphic and geomorphological observations in the southern part of the Tavoliere coastal plain (Apulia, Italy)

Abstract

Within the range of the researches which are being carried out on the Adriatic coastal plains of Southern Italy, the present work describes and interprets some stratigraphic and geomorphological aspects of the south-eastern Tavoliere corresponding to the coastal plain between the Cervaro River and the Ofante River. The Apulian Tavoliere is characterized by quaternary sandy-conglomerate sediments transgressive on the «Argille subappennine» Formation. The top of this formation shows, as many drillings have put into evidence, the presence of nine sea abrasion platforms degrading towards the Adriatic Sea. The sediments forming the coastal plain are situated on the lower abrasion platform (IX). The presence of a certain number of sedimentary cycles recognized within the range of the stratigraphic succession of these deposits would suggest a complex origin of the coastal plain, connected with repeated variations of the sea level during the Quaternary. In particular, the stratigraphy of the deposits belonging to the highest cycle, probably Holocenic in age, would indicate repeated and continuous evolutions from tipically sea to lagoon environments. The top of this cycle is covered with deposits of land reclamation partly natural and partly anthropic. The examined area might have been subjected to a slow subsidence evidenced by the thickness of the sediments of the Holocenic cycle and by the remains of the ancient and medieval buildings submerged by the sea.