New data on Holocene relative sea level along the Abruzzo coast (central Adriatic, Italy)

A continuously cored borehole was used to analyse Holocene relative sea-level changes in the Pescara coastal plain, located along the central Adriatic coast (Abruzzo, central Italy). The core was retrieved from the uppermost 19 m deposits, 600 m from the present-day shoreline. Sedimentological and palaeontological analyses identified a transition from fluvial strata to brackish-water, lagoon and foreshore deposits. Five biological sea-level markers were sampled and their ages, constrained by AMS 14C dating, span between 2.39 and 7.68 ka cal BP. Heights (m above mean sea level) of the collected samples have been corrected, taking into consideration uncertainties of the vertical positioning with respect to palaeo-sea level. Vertical tectonic displacements have been evaluated through the comparison of relative sea-level data with the site-specific predicted Holocene sea-level curve. Correlations with available morphotectonic and stratigraphic data also were used. The results suggest negligible rates of vertical tectonic displacement during the Holocene, at least along a coastal strip of 40 km located between Pescara and Sangro river mouths (Abruzzo).