Terrace Morpho-Sedimentary Sequences on the Sibari Plain (Calabria, Southern Italy): Implication for Sea Level and Tectonic Controls

The Sibari Plain (northeastern Calabria) shows a well-developed stair of late Quaternary marine/coastal terraces resulting from the interaction between sea level fluctuations and tectonic uplift. This paper (i) provides stratigraphic description terraced deposits Raganello Coscile rivers, (ii) assesses relative controls eustacy uplift on staircase formation, (iii) unravels morphosedimentary evolution study area. A geomorphological approach was coupled with field surveys. Photo interpretation, topographic map analyses, surveys allowed us to ten orders forming telescopically incised valley-fills. Based uppermost position foreshore inner margins an average rate ~1 mm/y, inferred Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5.5, were correlated highstands. Sedimentological analyses recognize four assemblages genetically associated sedimentary facies related superimposed juxtaposed coastal alluvial systems, showing seaward-stepping architecture. stratal geometry association, we argue that alluvial/fluvial sediments depositional systems formed contemporaneously along same terrace. Terrace arrangement resulted repeated cycles valley incision (sea fall) aggradational progradational stacking pattern rise highstands) in framework sustained