The Lower Pleistocene succession of Contrada Torsano (Nardò, Lecce province).

This paper deals with the stratigraphic and paleontological features of a 4.1 m thick succession outcropping at Contrada Torsano (Nardò, Lecce province). Shell concentration due to biological processes, particularly rich in the northern guests Arctica islandica, Pseudamussium septemradiatum and Paphia rhomboides are described. Based on Terebratula scillae and Dentalium rectum presences, the succession must be attributed to the lower Pleistocene. The high specimen density could be due to opportunistic life strategies and optimal ecological conditions. Environmental change can be recognized from the infralittoral zone, exposed to the marine abrasion, to circalittoral zone as the result of the increasing of both depth and sea water turbidity.