On the relation between extensive peat bed and climate fluctuation during the last glacial in Venice

Core and seismic data from the Venice lagoon area allow a detailed investigation of the Late Pleistocene continentalsuccession accumulated during the last glacial. These deposits consist of an aggrading alluvial plain, some tens ofmetres thick, which is locally incised by river channels, while both patchy and continuous peat layers complete thesuccession. One of these peat layers (P1), up to 1 m thick, is well recognizable in the whole lagoon area in both coresand seismic lines. 14C datings of P1 reveal an age ranging between 22 and 24 cal ka B.P., confirming its lateralcontinuity. All these elements suggest that P1 developed after an episode of marked moisture and large scale cut-off ofterrigenous sediment, probably due to enhanced arboreal vegetation cover, leading to the establishment of generalizedpaludal conditions during the Laugerie interstadial. The present evidence may integrate the current knowledge toestablish a correlation between cycles recorded in fully continental deposits and those recognizable in ice cores andmarine successions.