Late Quaternary climatic changes in Northern Cilento (Southern Italy): an integrated geomorphological and paleopedological study

This paper reports a contribution to the knowledge of the local morphodynamic and pedogenetic response to Late Quaternary climatic changes in Northern Cilento (Southern Italy). Three representative geomorphological units and associated paleosols have been characterised in detail by field work, chemical and mineralogical analyses, and micromorphological observations of thin sections. The data confirm an intense degree of weathering and a complex history of soil formation, often representing different environments in contrast with the present pedoclimatic regime. Two of the three profiles reveal a polygenetic character, recording typical interglacial conditions characterised by high temperatures and humidity with important soil development, followed by the occurrence of periglacial conditions possibly occurring during cold glacial stages (namely the Last Glacial) at mid-latitude coastal regions of Southern Italy. The third paleosol appears essentially monogenetic and developed under interglacial-like conditions. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.