Page 5 - 36 Elevation of the last interglacial highstand in Sicily

ARTICLE IN PRESS 7
F. Antonioli et al. / Quaternary International 145– 146 (2006) 3–18
MIS 5.5 (also called Tyrrhenian) deposits and features.
Thus the work is based on field observations of more
than 60 sections, permitting personal comparisons with
literature-based work. Many warm fauna Tyrrhenian
sections have been published for Sicilian coasts but some
of these sites present uncertain ages, elevations and error between +5 up to +18 m of MIS 5.5. A sand deposit at
bars with respect to sea level. There are also many kilo-
metres of coast, for example along the northeast coast-
line, with no published Tyrrhenian sections. Table 1
summarizes published and new data for Sicily coasts,
including two sections with new data emphasized
(Taormina and Cefalu` ). Sites are also discussed where
there are varying views on the history of the sites, for
example in the Augusta and Taormina areas.
3.1. Sector 1
NE of Cefalu` (site 1 of Tables 1 and 2; Fig. 1) town
(Mesozoic limestone promontory), we discovered some
well preserved Glycymeris fossils shells in little caves on on speleothems sampled on marine notches (Abate et
the Cefalu` town-harbour route at an elevation between
+6.9 and 9.9 m (Fig. 3F). The shells appear to be well
preserved and retain their original colour. We analysed
the shell using an AAR method (Wehmiller and Miller,
2000), and the data are shown in Table 2. Comparing
these results with Fig. 1 of Hearty et al. (1986a, b;
location map of the Western Mediterranean showing
isotherm of present day mean annual temperature) and
Fig. 3 (map of the contoured Glycymeris alle/ille ratios
from last interglacial deposits), these deposits at this
elevation represent the Aminozone A–C of Hearty et al.
(1986a, b), correlated for Sicily with the MIS 5.3/5.1
highstand. We correlate a tidal notch at +29 m in a cave
on the promontory with the MIS 5.5 highstand. The
notch appears at the same elevation as a terrace carved
on the granodiorite promontory named ‘‘La Kalura’’,
ca. 1 km east of the Cefalu` promontory, with an inner
margin at about +30 m. The consequent uplift rate is
176 mm/ka, assuming an elevation of À10 m for MIS 5.1
(Waelbroeck et al., 2002, elevation confirmed for Italian
seas by Antonioli et al., 2004a) we obtain the same uplift
rate.
At Capo Zafferano (site 2 of Table 1) Antonioli et al.
(1994) measured at an elevation of +7 m a tidal notch
well connected with fossil Arca shell analysed with the
AAR technique that allowed correlation of the fossil
beach with Aminozone E, and hence, with MIS 5.5.
At Palermo, Fabiani (1941) described the presence of
S. bubonius at an elevation of +10 m. On the coast NW
of Palermo, Ruggieri et al. (1968) described a fossil
deposit at +50 m elevation (site of Tommaso Natale)
that correlated with MIS 5.5. Hearty (1986) dated using
the AAR method some Glycymeris that correlated this
deposit with the older MIS 9. However, we found S.
bubonius in a fossil beach at +2 m and therefore can
confirm the MIS 5.5 age of the deposit.
Between Terrasini and Castellamare (in the Gulf of
Castellamare directly west of St. Vito—see Figs. 1 and
4), and at St. Vito itself, Mauz et al. (1997) studied
palaeoecology and gave an age (using TL) on sand and
for the presence of S. bubonius) of some deposits
+37 m dated at 120 ka using TL (Mauz et al., 1997), was
not included in this study because it does not contain
marine fossils.
Extensive outcrops of Quaternary forms and deposits
occur in the coastal plains of San Vito, Castelluzzo and
Cornino, to Trapani. These deposits are represented by
bioclastic calcarenites, conglomerates with sandy matrix
associated with the lowermost marine terrace. They
outcrop in lenses along the coastal tract of the Capo San
Vito Promontory and Trapani, on Egadi islands. They
are ascribed to the MIS 5.5 highstand on the basis of S.
bubonius and other Senegalese taxa, and/or U/Th ages
al., 1993, 1996; Antonioli et al., 1996; Mauz et al., 1997).
On the basis of the present height along the W side of
the Capo San Vito Promontory, previous authors
pointed out a relative stability and a limited, differential,
uplift for the area during the last 125 ka (Abate et al.,
1996; Antonioli et al., 2002). The maximum elevation
varies between 5 and 14 m (Fig. 4), well marked by the
inner margin of a very continuous terrace and few tidal
notches. Thus the area is quasi-stable, but there is much
transcurrent tectonic activity post-MIS 5.5. In some
locations during the Holocene, Dendropoma platforms
developed (Antonioli et al., 1999a) but these are not
uplifted. We interpret this to be a quasi-stable coast.
Some movements of the north sector could be due to
strike slip faults that were revealed as active after MIS
5.5 and reactivated during late Holocene time. An
example is at St. Vito where some Dendropoma platform
deposits are dated between 400 and 650 years, and are
displaced by these active faults. West of Cornino the
terraces continue westward to Trapani (based our
unpublished observations) reaching 20 m of elevation
well correlated with the terrace containing S. bubonius at
St. Vito (Fig. 4).
The Egadi Islands were studied by Malatesta (1957).
All islands display fossil beaches containing S. bubonius
or Senegalese fauna between 2 and 6 m elevation. Abate
et al. (1992, 1996) studied in detail both notch forms and
deposits at Favignana, and recorded tidal deposits
containing warm fauna up to 12 m, compared with a
notch 5 m at Levanzo. Antonioli et al. (2002) measured
at Marettimo some tidal notches between 5 and 8 m
(Fig. 3E). These relationships between deposits and
notches are very similar to those seen in the Bahamas
(Neumann and Hearty, 1996).
In the coastline between Trapani and Marsala
Ruggieri et al. (1968) and Ruggieri (1988) found beach
deposits containing S. bubonius between 2 and 5 m.