Quaternary International 288 (2013) 129e138

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Quaternary International
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Coalescent valley fills from the late Quaternary record of Tuscany (Italy)
Alessandro Amorosi a, *, Veronica Rossi a, Giovanni Sarti b, Roberto Mattei b
a
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geologico-Ambientali, Università di Bologna, Via Zamboni 67, 40126 Bologna, Italy
b
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Via Santa Maria 53, 56126 Pisa, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Three prominent incised-valley fills of post-Last Glacial Maximum age are described from the northern
Available online 19 October 2011 Tuscan coast of Italy. Stratigraphic correlation of core data along a cross-section transversal to the present
fluvial-channel axes enables identification of a suite of genetically related valley bodies that fill the incisions
made up by Arno, Serchio and CamaioreeStiava rivers during the last glacial/interglacial cycle. The valley fills
display different shapes and size, but remarkably similar facies architecture. Valley bodies range between 5
and 10 km in width, and between 30 and 45 m in thickness, with width/thickness ratios of about 100e300.
Above a lowstand (and early transgressive?) gravel fluvial deposit, the three incised-valley fills display
a distinctive succession of coastal plain to estuarine facies, dated to about 13e8 cal ka BP. Radiocarbon dates
document that the three valleys were active simultaneously. Accommodation space was rapidly created
during transgression and then filled under conditions of very high sediment accumulation (about 1 cm/y). In
contrast to the more common deepening-upward trend recorded by the latest Pleistoceneeearly Holocene
valley-fill successions worldwide, sedimentation in the Tuscan valleys equalled, or even exceeded, the rate at
which accommodation was created, thus leading to an aggradational, rather than backstepping, stacking
pattern of high-frequency (millennial-scale) parasequences. Above the valley fills and on the interfluves,
a thin deepening-upward succession of nearshore deposits marks the rapid change from aggradational to
retrogradational depositional style. This is invariably overlain by a characteristic shallowing-upward motif of
prograding deltaic and coastal facies. The maximum flooding surface, which can be tracked across the whole
study area on the basis of subtle palaeontologic indicators, is shown to represent an almost isochronous
surface, dated to about 7.8 cal ka BP. Through examination of large-scale geometry and facies attributes of the
valley fills, including the relationships between valley bodies and interfluves, this study represents an
example of how adjacent river systems with significantly different characteristics may respond simulta-
neously in a consistent manner to rapid changes in sea-level and climate conditions.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Following the interest of early sequence-stratigraphic models in
incised-valley fills (Van Wagoner et al., 1990; Wright and Marriott,
1993; Dalrymple et al., 1994; Schumm and Ethridge, 1994; Shanley
and McCabe, 1994; Zaitlin et al., 1994) or valley bodies (Gibling,
2006), three-dimensional architecture of valley fills in the rock
record has received increasing attention in the past two decades
(Greb and Chestnut, 1996; Willis, 1997; Plint, 2002; Feldman et al.,
2005). Subsurface analyses have recently focused on buried
incised-valley systems of latest Pleistocene to Holocene age. For
these examples, valley cutting and filling appear to be controlled
primarily by glacial/interglacial sea-level and climate fluctuations
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: alessandro.amorosi@unibo.it (A. Amorosi), veronica.rossi4@
unibo.it (V. Rossi), sarti@dst.unipi.it (G. Sarti).
(Blum and Törnqvist, 2000; Blum and Aslan, 2006; Anderson
and Rodriguez, 2008), with possible superposition of tectonics
(Tanabe et al., 2009, 2010).
Most studies of late Quaternary incised-valley fills stem primarily
from high-resolution seismic data (e.g., Reynaud et al., 1999; Bowen
and Weimer, 2003; Nordfjord et al., 2006; Greene et al., 2007;
Mattheus et al., 2007; Labaune et al., 2010), and in general very
few of these studies have access to deep penetrating cores that
enable validation of seismic results. On the other hand, the accurate
geometric characterization of Quaternary valley bodies on-land is
generally a very difficult task, because studies are generally con-
ducted on the basis of core analysis alone (Gibling, 2006).
The coastal plain extending along the Tyrrhenian Sea represents
an area where incised-valley fills of late Quaternary age have been
characterized in detail, in terms of both geometry and facies
architecture. After the early work by Bellotti et al. (1994, 1995), Milli
(1997) and Milli et al. (2008) on the Tiber coastal plain, detailed
facies documentation of the late Quaternary valley-fill sequences

1040-6182/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.10.015
130 A. Amorosi et al. / Quaternary International 288 (2013) 129e138

from the northern Tyrrhenian coast has been recently provided by
Aguzzi et al. (2007) and Amorosi et al. (2008, 2009) for the Arno
River system.
This paper expands upon previously published material from
the Tuscan coast, extending stratigraphic analysis of the post-Last
Glacial Maximum (post-LGM) succession to a 30 km-long tran-
sect, approximately parallel to the present Tyrrhenian Sea shore-
line, north of Arno river mouth (Fig. 1). The aim of this study is to
describe the large-scale geometry and internal stratigraphic
architecture of three synchronous incised-valley systems (Arno,
Serchio and StiavaeCamaiore river systems in Fig. 1) that developed
on the Tuscan coast of Italy during the last sea-level cycle. A specific
objective is to investigate the response of these three river systems
to the post-LGM sea-level rise through comparison of the valley fills
in terms of depositional style and sedimentary evolution.
2. Geological setting
The coastal plain of northern Tuscany between Pisa and Via-
reggio, facing the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, is ca. 550 km2 wide
and has a characteristic triangle shape wedging out northwards,
toward Versilia (Fig. 1). The coastal plain is bordered by the Leghorn
and Pisa Hills to the south, and by the Apuane Alps and Pisani
Mountains to the east. The fluvial network in this area includes
three major river basins. Arno and Serchio rivers are the main
fluvial courses, with catchment areas of 8228 km2 and 1400 km2,
respectively. Arno River is 241 km long, with water discharge of
about 100 m3/s (Autorità di Bacino del Fiume Arno; http://www.
arno.autoritadibacino.it), while Serchio River is 111 km in length,
with water discharge of 46 m3/s (Cortecci et al., 2008). North of
Massaciuccoli Lake (see Fig. 1) a network of smaller fluvial channels

Fig. 1. Location of the study area, showing approximate geometry of the three post-Last Glacial Maximum paleovalleys and related interfluves. The bold line indicates the section
trace of Fig. 6 and its components (Figs. 3e5, indicated by arrows). The fence diagram of Fig. 2 (Arno River paleovalley) is evidenced by dotted lines. The dashed line shows the
maximum landward position of the shoreline during the Holocene, as reconstructed by subsurface data.
 A. Amorosi et al. / Quaternary International 288 (2013) 129e138
and ditches flow from the Apuane Alps towards the Versilia
coastline. These form the CamaioreeStiava river basin. Due to
proximity of the Apuane Alps to the Tyrrhenian Sea, Camaiore River
is just 19 km long, while Stiava River is even shorter, its course
having been modified by human intervention.
The north Tuscan coastal plain represents the inshore portion of
the subsiding half-graben Viareggio Basin (Argnani et al., 1997;
Martini et al., 2001; Pascucci, 2005). This basin was formed since
the late Tortonian due to the opening of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the
counter-clockwise migration of the Apenninic foredeepeforeland
system (Malinverno and Ryan, 1986; Patacca et al., 1990; Martini
and Sagri, 1993). Seismic investigations have shown that the Viar-
eggio Basin is up to 2500 m thick (Mariani and Prato, 1988) and
includes five unconformity-bounded units of upper Miocene to
Holocene age (Pascucci, 2005).
Detailed stratigraphic studies of the late Quaternary succession,
which consists predominantly of continental to shallow-marine
alternations, have been concentrated during the last decade
around the city of Pisa. These studies led to identification of two
transgressiveeregressive sequences formed in response to the last
two interglacialeglacial cycles (base of MIS 1 and 5e, respectively e
Aguzzi et al., 2005). Within the youngest sequence, a palaeovalley
fill consisting primarily of estuarine deposits and related to the
Arno River was identified on the basis of remarkable (15e50 m)
thickness variations of the post-LGM succession (Aguzzi et al.,
2007; Amorosi et al., 2008; see Figs. 1 and 2). This valley fill accu-
mulated during the dramatic Lateglacialeearly Holocene eustatic
sea-level rise that occurred worldwide in response to the general-
ized phase of climate amelioration and the consequent
Fig. 2. Three-dimensional architecture of the post-LGM Arno valley fill, showing distinctive along-dip variability in facies architecture. SB: Sequence Boundary, TS: Transgressive
Surface, BRS: Bay Ravinement Surface, TRS: Tidal Ravinement Surface, WRS: Wave Ravinement Surface, MFS: Maximum Flooding Surface (modified from Amorosi et al., 2008).
Reference cores are shown in red.
131
disappearance of large portions of the glacial ice sheets (Fairbanks,
1989; Bard et al., 1996). In contrast, no detailed subsurface studies
are available for the wide portion of the Tuscan coastal plain
extending north of Arno River, between Pisa and Viareggio (Fig. 1).
3. Dataset
A dense grid of borings and sediment cores (ca. 3500 stratigraphic
data) were used for this study. A wealth of subsurface information
exists for the Pisa area and the Arno River in general, whereas lower
density stratigraphic data are available for Serchio and Camaioree
Stiava river systems (Fig. 1). Where data include sufficiently detailed
material (23 sediment cores), facies interpretation was derived,
along with identification of diagnostic stratigraphic markers, such as
indurated horizons and palaeosols. Facies characterization of the
post-LGM succession also benefited from the analysis of the meio-
fauna (benthic foraminifers and ostracods) found within six refer-
ence cores (Bergamin et al., 2006; Amorosi et al., 2009; Carboni et al.,
2010). A total of twenty-seven radiocarbon dates previously pub-
lished in Bergamin et al. (2006), Amorosi et al. (2009) and Carboni
et al. (2010) allowed tying facies interpretation from cored wells
into a sequence-stratigraphic framework in the sense of Posamentier
et al. (1988) and Plint and Nummedal (2000). Conventional ages
from Bergamin et al. (2006) were calibrated using CALIB 5.1 cali-
bration program (referenced as Stuiver and Reimer, 1993) along
with the Marine04 marine dataset (Hughen et al., 2004). No local
reservoir correction was applied. Radiocarbon ages younger than
15,000 years BP are reported in text as cal BP.
132 A. Amorosi et al. / Quaternary International 288 (2013) 129e138
4. Late Quaternary valley-fill architecture
Anatomy and depositional architecture of Arno, Serchio and
CamaioreeStiava incised-valley systems are described below.
Owing to inhomogeneous data distribution in the study area (see
Fig. 1), the transversal cross-sections of Figs. 3e5 were constructed
at variable distance from the present shoreline, following the paths
of the highest data density (see oblique section traces relative to
shoreline position at peak transgression e Fig. 1). As a consequence,
the Arno section (Fig. 3) depicts facies architecture of the valley fill
at relatively proximal (behind beach-barrier) locations relative to
the other two sections (Figs. 4 and 5), which instead include
nearshore sands. Fig. 2 summarizes the characteristic longitudinal
facies variations from proximal to distal locations along the Arno
valley fill, showing stratigraphic relationships between littoral,
estuarine and continental deposits. For detailed lithofacies docu-
mentation, the reader is referred to previously published papers
(Aguzzi et al., 2007; Amorosi et al., 2008). The diagnostic sedi-
mentological and micropalaeontological features of the major
facies associations shown in Figs. 3e5 are summarized in Table 1.
4.1. Arno valley fill
Preliminary description of the anatomy and stratigraphy of the
Arno valley fill has been reported by Amorosi et al. (2008), and is
implemented here through additional data and re-examination of
the subsurface database (Figs. 2 and 3). The valley body, which
roughly coincides with the present Arno River course, shows a total
thickness of ca. 40e45 m and is 5e8 km wide. The interfluve
plateaus, which can be easily differentiated from the post-LGM
succession by their overconsolidated state (see core c1690 in
Fig. 3), are located 15e20 m below sea-level on both sides of the
valley axis. In correspondence with the depocentre (core D283 in
Fig. 3), the valley fill is floored by a thin fluvial gravel deposit. This is
Fig. 3. Cross stratigraphic section depicting facies architecture of post-LGM Arno valley fill (see Fig. 1, for location). Core S1 is projected onto the section line. Reference cores are
box-bordered. Radiocarbon dates after Amorosi et al. (2009).
abruptly overlain by a thick succession of LateglacialeHolocene (ca.
13,000e7800 cal BP) coastal sediments onlapping onto the valley
flanks.
High-frequency, millennial-scale cyclicity has recently been
documented from reference core S1 (Amorosi et al., 2009), where
subtle changes in palaeosalinity evidenced by palaeontologic
(benthic meiofauna) indicators have enabled reconstruction of
alternating freshwater and brackish sub-environments during valley
filling. Stratigraphic correlations transversal to the Arno River show
that individual small-scale cycles, about 10 m thick, are bounded by
flooding surfaces (parasequences sensu Van Wagoner et al., 1990)
and display similar facies architecture, with sharp-based central/
outer-estuarine clays grading upwards into inner-estuary and
coastal-plain deposits (Fig. 3). Based upon shallowing/deepening-
upward trends and lateral stratigraphic relationships, facies archi-
tecture shows an aggradational, rather than retrogradational stack-
ing pattern of parasequences within the valley body.
A laterally extensive stratigraphic interval, made up of soft clays
with abundant brackish fossils, can be correlated across the inter-
fluves, documenting generalized flooding after valley filling (Fig. 3).
This stratigraphic interval, which represents the landward equiva-
lent of the nearshore and shallow-marine deposits recorded at
more distal locations (see maximum flooding deposits in Fig. 2), is
overlain by a 5e10 m thick, middleelate Holocene “regressive”
succession of prograding deltaic and alluvial plain deposits.
4.2. Serchio valley fill
The Serchio valley fill is 8e10 km wide, with maximum thick-
ness of about 30e35 m (Fig. 4). The palaeovalley displays broad
interfluves located around 20e25 m below sea-level. Two fluvial
terraces along the southern flank of the valley are revealed at
ca. 30 and 35 m depth by the diagnostic gravel-based, fining-
upward successions, capped by well developed palaeosols.
 A. Amorosi et al. / Quaternary International 288 (2013) 129e138 133

Fig. 4. Cross stratigraphic section depicting facies architecture of post-LGM Serchio valley fill (see Fig. 1, for location). Cores sgiul-39 and DN1 are projected onto the section line.
Reference cores are box-bordered. Radiocarbon dates after Carboni et al. (2010).

In the depocentre, intercepted by reference core ENEA, the
valley fill includes a 7 m-thick basal succession of fluvial gravels
with subordinate sands. Above this gravel body the lower valley-fill
succession is characterized by an alternation of clays and silty clays
containing vegetal remains, wood fragments and non-marine
molluscs (freshwater and terrestrial molluscs within core ENEA e
Nisi et al., 2003; Carboni et al., 2010). This facies association,
assigned to the Lateglacial period (around 13,200e12,400 cal BP), is
consistent with a freshwater humid environment, such as a coastal
plain or inner estuary (Fig. 4). The upper portion of the valley-fill
succession, which is dated to the early Holocene period (Carboni
et al., 2010), consists of central- and outer-estuarine deposits
with brackish bivalves (Cardium glaucum). These are overlain by
clays and sands containing freshwater molluscs, with rare brackish

Fig. 5. Cross stratigraphic section depicting facies architecture of post-LGM CamaioreeStiava valley fill (see Fig. 1, for location). Reference core is box-bordered. Cores R3A12,
DB-Salov and sira241 are projected onto the section line. Radiocarbon dates after Bergamin et al. (2006).
134 A. Amorosi et al. / Quaternary International 288 (2013) 129e138

Table 1
Diagnostic features of the major facies associations depicted in Figs. 3e5, as revealed by core analysis.

Facies association
Fluvial channel/Fluvial terrace
Coastal plain and Inner estuary
Central and outer estuary/Lagoon
Beach Barrier
Prodelta
Lithology, sedimentary structures and accessory components
Erosional-based, poorly sorted gravel body with fining-upward
trend. Typically indurated and pedogenized at top (fluvial terrace)
Organic-rich, dark grey to black clay and peat alternating with silt
and silty sand. Wood fragments very abundant. Local presence of
sand bodies with both fining- and coarsening-upward trends
Homogeneous succession of grey silty clay, with local concentration
of brackish molluscs. Rare sand layers with wave ripples
at their tops. Wood and shell fragments scattered
Fine to very fine sand and silty sand, with typical fining-upward
trend. Mollusc shells very abundant (transgressive sand
below MFS). Well sorted, medium to coarse sand with
coarsening-upward trend. Mollusc shells, wood fragments
and plant debris abundant (delta front above MFS)
Bioturbated silty clay and clay, with thin sand intercalations,
wood fragments
Micropaleontological content
Barren
Rare freshwater-oligohaline ostracods, mainly belonging
to genera Candona and Pseudocandona (coastal plain).
Slightly brackish water assemblage dominated by the
eurihaline ostracod species Cyprideis torosa. Among
foraminifers Ammonia tepida and A. parkinsoniana locally
occur (inner estuary)
Moderately to highly marine-influenced brackish water
meiofauna, with very abundant Ammonia tepida and
A. parkinsoniana, and subordinate Criboelphidium spp.,
Haynesina germanica and Quinqueloculina seminula.
Cyprideis torosa is the dominant ostracod
Rare and poorly preserved shallow-marine foraminifers
(Ammonia beccarii and A. inflata, Elphidium spp.) and
ostracods (Pontocythere turbida)
Strongly fluvial-influenced marine meiofauna, tolerant
to salinity stressed conditions and remarkable organic
matter content (Ammonia tepida and A. parkinsoniana,
Cribroelphidium granosum, Haynesina germanica, and
Palmoconcha turbida)

foraminifers (Carboni et al., 2010). This latter unit indicates a
“regressive” tendency atop the valley fill, with return to inner-
estuarine/coastal-plain conditions (Fig. 4).
The overlying beach-barrier sands record the onset of marine
transgression in the study area, while maximum marine ingression
is observed at the transition with overlying prodelta clayesand
alternations, dated to 7800 cal BP. Upwards, the vertical succession
of beach-barrier (delta front) and lagoonal (delta plain) deposits
documents middleelate Holocene delta progradation (Nisi et al.,
2003; Carboni et al., 2010).
4.3. CamaioreeStiava valley fill
The CamaioreeStiava valley fill is about 33 m thick and ranges
between 6 and 8 km in width (Fig. 5). The interfluve plateaus,
identified around 25 m depth, appear to be connected throughout
steep valley flanks with the depocentre area, intercepted at ca. 60 m
depth (cores R47 and DB-Salov). Low data density prevents iden-
tification of fluvial terraces deposits in this valley fill, although
a typical flat terrace morphology is clearly depicted by stratigraphic
correlations between cores ICRAM and DBCAV (Fig. 5).
A basal fluvial gravel body, approximately 3 m thick, is recorded
at the base of the valley-fill succession, in correspondence of the
valley axis. Above these fluvial deposits, the valley fill is mainly
composed of a thick succession of estuarine clays, with lateral
transition to coastal plain sediments. The estuarine deposits, con-
taining a peculiar marine-brackish meiofauna, accumulated during
the early phase of sea-level rise dated to between ca. 11,300 and
7800 cal BP (Bergamin et al., 2006). A thick succession of beach-
barrier sands overlies the valley fill and the adjacent interfluves.
Shoreline transgression is dated to about 7800 cal BP (Bergamin
et al., 2006).
4.4. Summary characteristics
The three late Quaternary incised-valley bodies related to the
Arno, Serchio and CamaioreeStiava palaeovalleys rest on a succes-
sion of older alluvial deposits, and record a short period of channel
entrenchment followed by valley filling associated to the last glacio-
eustatic cycle. Having formed completely during one sea-level cycle,
they correspond to “simple” incised-valley fills in the sense of Zaitlin
et al. (1994). The valley bodies show remarkably similar facies
organization. This includes basal fluvial-channel deposits overlain
by a variety of transgressive, mud-dominated coastal plain and
estuarine facies. Transgressive coastal deposits overlie the valley
fills and the adjacent interfluves and are capped, in turn, by a pro-
gradational succession of deltaic and coastal sediments. The coastal-
plain valley fills documented in this paper display different shapes
and size. Widths range between 5 and 10 km, while the valley bodies
have thickness of 30e45 m, with resulting width/thickness ratios of
about 100e300. All these values fall within the field of “valley fills
associated with alluvial and marine strata” (see classification of
Gibling, 2006).
The three fluvial bodies described from the subsurface of the
Tuscan coastal plain match perfectly the three diagnostic criteria
set out by Fielding and Gibling (2005) for valley fills, i.e. i) wide
traceability of the basal erosion surfaces and of the correlative
surfaces in extra-channel (interfluve) position (three distinct valley
systems separated by two interfluves), ii) dimension of the overall
valley body an order of magnitude larger than those of other
channel forms in the system (the latter are a few meter in thickness
and tens of meter in width); and iii) scale of erosional relief on the
basal surface several times the depth of scour evident from
component channel fills.
5. The post-LGM succession of the Tuscan coastal plain
5.1. Sequence-stratigraphic interpretation and
palaeoenvironmental evolution
The most striking feature of the post-LGM succession of Tuscany
along the 30 km-long transect that runs oblique to the modern
shoreline, between Pisa and Viareggio, is its remarkable thickness
variation, from about 15 to 60 m. Its lower boundary traces out the
shape of the three palaeovalleys described in the previous sections
(from south to north, Arno, Serchio and CamaioreeStiava e Fig. 6).
The post-LGM succession overlies alluvial deposits that accumu-
lated during the last phase of base-level fall and subsequent low-
stand, between about 125 ka BP (onset of forced regression,
according to terminology by Catuneanu et al., 2009) and 19 ka BP
 A. Amorosi et al. / Quaternary International 288 (2013) 129e138
Fig. 6. Representative cross section of post-LGM coalescent valley fills buried beneath the Tuscan coastal plain and its sequence-stratigraphic interpretation (for section trace, see
Fig. 1). Subdivision into systems tracts (FST, LST, TST and HST) and stratigraphic position of the key surfaces for sequence-stratigraphic interpretation (SB, TS, MFS) are shown. Two
particularly salient features are illustrated: (i) the three valley fills display fairly consistent geometry and facies architecture, being invariably separated by pedogenized interfluves
onto which the post-LGM sequence has minimum thickness; (ii) the MFS is observed to represent an almost isochronous surface, its seeming topographic relief representing instead
the result of an oblique section trace. For facies description, see Figs. 3e5.
(end of regression e see Lambeck et al., 2002). In sequence-
stratigraphic terms, these alluvial deposits include the falling-
stage systems tract (FST) of Plint and Nummedal (2000) and the
lowstand systems tract (LST), which are separated by the sequence-
bounding unconformity (SB) of Hunt and Tucker (1992). Strati-
graphic positioning of SB is a highly debated issue in sequence
stratigraphy (Catuneanu et al., 2009), and several models place SB
at the onset of sea-level fall, i.e. below, and not above, FST
(Posamentier et al., 1992; Kolla et al., 1995; Morton and Suter, 1996).
Given the shallow depths of investigation of the Tuscan logs, the
deeper candidate for SB cannot be tracked in the cross-sections. For
this reason, SB was placed in coincidence of the maximum
regressive surface of Helland-Hansen and Martinsen (1996), i.e. the
top of FST.
Lack of control on the geometry of SB on the basis of borehole
data alone makes precise separation of FST from LST very difficult.
The authors are inclined to place SB in coincidence of the erosional
contact between the gravel bodies observed in the three valley fills
around 50e60 m depth, and the underlying finer-grained alluvial
deposits (Figs. 3e6). This implies that the 3e7 m thick fluvial-
channel gravels that overlie SB represent the preserved lowstand
deposits on the three valley floors (see also Foyle and Oertel, 1997).
Following the last phase of stream rejuvenation, a stable river
pattern was established in the three narrow valleys, most fluvial
sediment being conveyed to the lowstand delta systems through
the incised valleys. It cannot be ruled out, however, that part of the
gravel bodies accumulated under early transgressive conditions.
There is local evidence (Serchio and Arno valleys) for active
terrace formation during channel entrenchment, suggesting
a complex history of alternating incision and aggradation in the
fluvial drainage systems (Foyle and Oertel, 1997; Muto and Steel,
2004; van der Schriek et al., 2007; Strong and Paola, 2008; Vis
and Kasse, 2009). Specifically, a major erosion surface is observed
to deeply incise and crosscut at different stratigraphic levels fluvial-
terrace deposits made up of sand and gravel-prone facies grading
upwards into typically pedogenized silts and clays (see Fig. 4).
Fluvial terraces are widely represented within modern valleys
(Blum et al., 1994), but are rarely identified within the dataset of
incised-valley fills (Gibling, 2006; van der Schriek et al., 2007).
Along the study sections, the observed patchy distribution of terrace
deposits (FST) is more likely to reflect low density and quality of
borehole descriptions rather than poor terrace development.
On the interfluves separating the major valley bodies the three
deeply incised erosional surfaces pass into correlative subaerial
exposure surfaces, evidenced by characteristic indurated and
weathered horizons associated with significant stratigraphic
hiatuses (“interfluve sequence boundary” of Van Wagoner et al.,
135
1990; Gibling and Bird, 1994; Gibling and Wightman, 1994;
McCarthy and Plint, 1998). At these locations SB merges with the
transgressive surface of erosion (TS), with no intervening lowstand
and early transgressive deposits.
Across the study area, TS (corresponding to the maximum
regressive surface of Catuneanu et al., 2009) is the most readily
identifiable stratigraphic surface, marking the sharp facies change
from purely fluvial deposits to organic-rich clay deposits. This
locally erosional surface, which represents the base of the trans-
gressive systems tract (TST), is strongly diachronous and reflects the
complex, inherited pre-transgressive topography of the three valley
systems (Rossi et al., 2011). Early (latest Pleistocene) transgressive
deposits are recorded uniquely in the depocentres (Figs. 3e6), while
there is widespread evidence of generalized flooding of the valleys
during the early Holocene. The transgressive surface marks the
evolution of the incised-valley systems into wave-dominated
estuaries, as documented by reconstruction of elongate beach
ridges at the mouth of the estuaries during transgression. The TST,
which accumulated between ca. 13,000e7800 cal BP, records the
progressive infilling and drowning of the Tuscan palaeovalleys in
response to the rapid post-glacial sea-level rise. The three valley fills
exhibit the traditional vertical succession of estuarine facies both
predicted by conceptual models (Nichols, 1991; Dalrymple et al.,
1992; Zaitlin et al., 1994) and observed within late Quaternary
successions (Allen and Posamentier, 1993; Nichol et al., 1996; Hori
et al., 2002; Li et al., 2002; Tanabe et al., 2006). Specifically,
a composite succession of organic-rich muds formed in a coastal-
plain or inner-estuarine environment, with upper transition to
central- and outer-estuarine clays, invariably forms the lower TST,
which exhibits a characteristic onlapping geometry onto the valley
walls (Figs. 3e5). An aggradational stacking pattern of high-
frequency depositional cycles is recorded within lower TSTs (e.g.,
valley fills), suggesting that in the early stages of transgression
sediment accumulation within the estuaries kept pace to increasing
accommodation due to rapid sea-level rise.
At comparatively distal locations (see Figs. 4 and 5), the upper
TST is characterized by a marked deepening-upward tendency
(transition to thin nearshore and shallow-marine deposits), with
a typical erosional lower boundary (wave ravinement surface of
Swift (1968) and Nummedal and Swift (1987)). The upper TST
marks the change from an aggradational to retrogradational
depositional style (Fig. 4).
Separating the TST from the overlying highstand systems tract
(HST) is the maximum flooding surface (MFS in Fig. 6), the age of
which is well constrained in all valley fills around 7800 years BP on
the basis of radiocarbon dates (Figs. 3e6). This almost isochronous
surface, which represents the Holocene peak of transgression in the
136 A. Amorosi et al. / Quaternary International 288 (2013) 129e138
study area, has no obvious physical expression, but has been iden-
tified from core data at the turnaround from upward-deepening to
upward-shallowing facies successions, in coincidence of samples
containing the most marine-influenced microfossil assemblage
(Amorosi et al., 2009; Rossi et al., 2011). Within lithologically
homogeneous beach-barrier deposits, the upward transition from
fine-grained to coarse-grained littoral sands has been taken as
possible indication of MFS (see Table 1). The gentle NW-dipping of
MFS observed in Fig. 6 is due to the oblique character of the section
trace relative to the palaeoshoreline (see Fig. 1). Finally, a single
shoaling succession, 15e30 m thick, composes the HST. This is
interpreted to reflect deltaic and coastal plain progradation during
the late Holocene phase of deceleration in sea-level rise.
5.2. Timing of valley incision and filling
In early sequence-stratigraphic models, glacio-eustatic changes
of high magnitude and frequency, such as those characterizing the
Quaternary period, have been inferred to generate large valleys,
especially in coastal areas (Posamentier, 2001), and maximum rates
of incision have been related to maximum rates of sea-level fall
(Van Wagoner, 1995). Subsequent studies, however, have shown
that climate may represent an important controlling factor in
shaping incised valleys (Blum and Price, 1998). These studies have
addressed the relative importance of upstream climatic vs. down-
stream sea-level control on fluvial system evolution (Blum and
Törnqvist, 2000).
Chronologic control of incised-valley formation in the Tuscan
coastal plain unfortunately relies upon scattered data only, due to
the fact that “bedrock” fluvial deposits and basal fluvial gravels in
most instances are not constrained by radiocarbon dates, nor by
pollen data, due to lack of suitable material. The lack of stronger
radiocarbon age constraints limits precise definition of the timing
of valley incision (see also Posamentier and Vail, 1988; Li et al.,
2002; Blum and Aslan, 2006). However, given the overall age
attribution to MIS 3 of the deposits underlying SB (see core ICRAM
in Figs. 5 and 6) and the calibrated age of 27.5 ka (late MIS 3) ob-
tained from a buried fluvial terrace in the Arno valley system
(Aguzzi et al., 2007), it can be assumed that valley incision
presumably culminated at the MIS 3/2 transition (Late Pleniglacial),
as documented by literature examples from coeval coastal plain
successions (Dabrio et al., 2000; Wellner and Bartek, 2003; Blum
et al., 2008; Kasse et al., 2010). It is likely that the initial MIS2
sea-level fall promoted valley entrenchment, although changes in
discharge regimes and sediment supply (Blum and Valastro, 1994;
Blum et al., 2000; Simms et al., 2007) cannot be ruled out as
possible additional controlling factors.
Unlike the timing of valley incision, for which high-resolution
chronologic framework is not available, the time required for
valley filling is instead reasonably well constrained. Based upon the
available radiocarbon dataset, transgressive sedimentation under
coastal-plain or inner-estuarine conditions started at about
13,000 cal BP (Fig. 6). On the other hand, initial deposition across
the interfluves, associated with sea-level rise, took place around
8000 cal BP, thus implying that the three valley systems were filled
in about 5000 years. This assumption is further supported by the
age (7.8 ka cal BP) and stratigraphic position of the MFS, an almost
isochronous stratigraphic marker which is generally recorded
2e3 m above the interfluves (see Fig. 6). A very high rate of sedi-
ment accumulation, on the order of about 6e9 mm/y, was induced
by rapidly created accommodation into the valley, due to the
combination of rapid eustatic sea-level rise and subsidence-related
processes. The narrow, funnel-shaped geometry of the north
Tuscan valleys and their proximity to the Apenninic chain favoured
a continuous high supply of sediment to the fluvial mouths. This led
to an aggradational (and locally even progradational) stacking
pattern of facies even under transgressive conditions. This aggra-
dational trend is clearly detected within the two major valley fills
(Arno and Serchio valley systems in Figs. 3 and 4), while it was not
identified in the CamaioreeStiava valley-fill succession, probably
due to paucity of high-resolution core data. This peculiar facies
architecture contrasts markedly with the more common retro-
gradational (deepening-upward) trend observed within several
coeval valley systems from the Gulf of Mexico and other regions
(see Greene et al., 2007; Simms et al., 2007; Anderson and
Rodriguez, 2008).
The transgressive phase was punctuated by episodes of rapid
sea-level rise separated by distinct short-term phases of bay-head
delta progradation (Fig. 2). A distinctive climate signature of
millennial-scale parasequence development (Fig. 3) has been
documented from the Arno incised-valley by Amorosi et al. (2009),
who showed that the basal flooding surfaces of individual para-
sequences are invariably associated with abrupt shifts to warmer
climate conditions. This stepwise trend of sea-level rise is consis-
tent with the most recent sea-level curves from the Tuscan area
(Lambeck et al., 2011), which show a discontinuous post-LGM sea-
level rise, with major transgressive pulsations separated by periods
of slow transgression or stillstand. However, more detailed facies
and pollen characterization from Serchio and CamaioreeStiava
valley fills is needed before a similar parasequence facies archi-
tecture can be generalized to the entire Tuscan coastal plain.
It is very likely that the characteristic ups and downs shown by
the sequence-bounding unconformity across the Arno, Serchio and
CamaioreeStiava valley systems (Fig. 6) can be traced further south,
along the Tyrrhenian Sea coast, across other Apenninic river
systems. In particular, a retrogradational stacking pattern of bay-
head deltas has been reported from late Quaternary deposits
beneath Ombrone River (Bellotti et al., 2004), suggesting a similar
parasequence architecture related to a step-like, sea-level rising
trend. In a more southern position, close to the city of Rome, a cyclic
pattern of swamp/estuarine clays and bay-head delta sands
composes the post-glacial Tiber incised-valley fill (Milli, 1997;
Amorosi and Milli, 2001). Finally, 30 km north of Naples, support-
ing evidence for another incised-valley system is given by a thick
late Quaternary succession made up of alternating coastal plain
and estuarine clays beneath the present Volturno coastal plain
(D. Ruberti, pers. comm. 2009). This suggests that a stratigraphic
pattern of coalescing valley fills can presumably tracked along the
Tyrrhenian coast for a total length of at least 500 km.
6. Conclusions
Several previous papers have documented the occurrence of
incised-valley fills within the sedimentary record, providing
detailed documentation of their internal architecture. As for
Quaternary examples, very high-resolution seismic profiling has
provided new insights into the geometry of buried valley bodies.
Few studies, however, have dealt with synchronous valley incision
during the last glacial/interglacial cycle as deduced from borehole
data. Close examination of a valuable stratigraphic dataset beneath
the Tuscan coastal plain penetrating the post-LGM succession
shows remarkable thickness variations and abrupt lateral facies
changes, which indicate the presence of three coexisting, simple
incised-valley systems of latest Pleistocene to early Holocene age,
oriented roughly perpendicular to the present shoreline. Applica-
tion of sequence-stratigraphic analysis through identification of
significant stratigraphic surfaces (unconformities and flooding
surfaces) enables interpretation of depositional-facies origin and
distribution of the post-LGM succession in the study area.
 A. Amorosi et al. / Quaternary International 288 (2013) 129e138
Despite contrasting facies characteristics, due almost uniquely
to comparison of different valley segments, the three valley fills
share a common depositional style, including a transgressive
succession of inner- to outer-estuary facies above lowstand/early
transgressive fluvial deposits. Where high-resolution core
descriptions are available, including micropalaeontological and
pollen characterization, a hierarchy of bounding-surfaces can be
used to delineate depositional cycles of lower rank (parasequences)
within the valley bodies.
The vertical succession of facies suggests that the three valleys
experienced a common depositional history, from time of forma-
tion to their ultimate filling. Fluvial incisions were produced near or
during the LGM, while wave-dominated estuaries developed into
the valley systems with the ensuing, post-LGM phase of sea-level
rise.
The three valley fills keep record of very high sedimentation
rates, of about 1 cm/y. Contrary to the most common models of
incised-valley filling, sediment accumulation in the Tuscan valleys
kept pace with sea-level rise during the early stages of trans-
gression, leading to a distinctive aggradational (rather than back-
stepping) facies architecture within the valley bodies.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Municipality of Pisa in the form
of a grant to Giovanni Sarti. The authors thank two anonymous
reviewers for insightful critiques that improved the manuscript.
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