Environmental implications of new stratigraphical and palinological data in the Terni basin (Central Italy) during the Middle Holocene

This study focuses on the palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic characters of the Terni basin during the Middle Holocene, correlating geological-geomorphological, litho-pedostratigraphical and mineralogical data with pollen records, microfossil indicators and radiocarbon dating. The studied site is located in an intermontane Apenninic depression of the Umbria Region (Central Italy), which originated during the extension phases of the Apennine orogeny and gradually filled with continental deposits, starting from the Upper Pliocene. A lake occupied the Terni basin from the middle-upper Pleistocene up to recent history with an evolution that influenced the development of human settlements in the area from the Bronze Age. The new data collected in this research permit better understanding of the last life-phases of this lake.