Paolo Mozzi

Recurring flood distribution patterns related to short-term Holocene climatic variability

Millennial- and multi-centennial scale climate variability during the Holocene has been well documented, but its impact on the distribution and timing of extreme river floods has yet to be established. Here we present a meta-analysis of more than 2000 radiometrically dated flood units to reconstruct centennial-scale Holocene flood episodes in Europe and North Africa. Our data analysis shows a general increase in flood frequency after 5000 cal. yr BP consistent with a weakening in zonal circulation over the second half of the Holocene, and with an increase in winter insolation. Multi-centennial length phases of flooding in UK and central Europe correspond with periods of minimum solar irradiance, with a clear trend of increasing flood frequency over the last 1000 years. Western Mediterranean regions show synchrony of flood episodes associated with negative phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation that are out-of-phase with those evident within the eastern Mediterranean. This long-term flood record reveals complex but geographically highly interconnected climate-flood relationships, and provides a new framework to understand likely future spatial changes of flood frequency.

The Map of Altinum, Ancestor of Venice

Arial mapping during an extreme drought has revealed the detailed plan of a major Roman city in the Venice lagoon. Processing and interpretation of July 2007 digital visible and near-infrared aerial photographs, coupled by a digital terrain model, has allowed for detailed reconstruction of the topography and the paleoenvironmental setting of the Roman city of Altinum, shedding new light on the far origins of Venice. Images were taken during severe dry conditions, which stressed the maize and soy crops. The city walls and doors, the street network, dwellings, theaters, amphitheater, forum, emporia, basilica, and a complex network of rivers and canals have been mapped.

La più antica occupazione tardoglaciale nelle Dolomiti Bellunesi: primi dati dal sito epigravettiano di Casera Staulanza (Val di Zoldo, BL)

The most ancient Late Glacial occupation of the Belluno Dolomites: first data from the open-air Epigravettian site of Casera Staulanza (Val di Zoldo, BL)

Novità sul Mesolitico dell’Italia settentrionale: gli ultimi cacciatori-raccoglitori di pianura e il caso-studio dell’area delle Sorgenti del Sile

Something new on the Mesolithic of Northern Italy: the last hunter-gatherers of the plain and the case-study of the river Sile spring area