Soil (chrono-) sequences on marine terraces : pedogenesis in two coastal areas of Basilicata and Agrigent, Southern Italy

摘要

This work contributes to the understanding of the Quaternary history in Mediterranean landscapes in Southern Italy. The time frame of soil formation processes was therefore investigated on two sequences of marine terraces. A central question of this study was whether soil formation reflects progressive terrace ages. Chronofunctions were used to apply relative indices of soil development in different pedostratigraphic levels. The newly developed indices generally show incessant weathering on continuously older terraces and therefore true soil chronosequences. A few terraces may however once have formed a single terrace body which was later separated and uplifted by tectonic activity.