Furio Finocchiaro

Pre-LGM open-water conditions south of the Drygalski Ice Tongue, Ross Sea, Antarctica

Abstract A marine sediment core collected from the Nordenskjold Basin, to the south of the Drygalski Ice Tongue, provides new sedimentological and chronological data for reconstructing the Pleistocene glacial history and palaeoenvironmental evolution of Victoria Land. The core consists of an over consolidated biogenic mud covered with glacial diamicton; Holocene diatomaceous mud lies on top of the sequence. Radiocarbon dates of the acid insoluble organic matter indicate a pre-Last Glacial Maximum age (>24kyr) for the biogenic mud at the base of the sequence. From this we can presume that at least this portion of the western Ross Sea was deglaciated during Marine Isotope Stage 3 and enjoyed open marine conditions. Our results are consistent with recent findings of pre-Holocene raised beaches at Cape Ross and in the Terra Nova Bay area.

Karst Landforms in Friuli Venezia Giulia: From Alpine to Coastal Karst

Around 20–25% of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region consists of karstified rocks. The geological, geographical and climatic conditions have given rise to a whole series of karst landscapes which have developed in different ways on limestone of different ages, located at different altitudes. One encounters splendid examples of alpine karst (Mt. Canin and Cansiglio–Cavallo Massif), mountain-hill karst (Mt. Ciaurlec, Julian Prealps) and marine-coastal karst. In the Classical Karst near Trieste, the worldwide symbol of karst phenomena, over 3000 caves are known while half a dozen are over 1000 m in length. There are about 80 solution and collapse dolines with a diameter greater than 100 m.