A multidisciplinary study of the Vico Maar sequence (Latium, Italy): Part of the last cycle in the Mediterranean area. Preliminary results

Three boreholes have been drilled in the sediments of Vico Maar lake (North of Roma, Italy). A preliminary reconstruction of the climate change between the-last pyroclastic eruption (between 138 and 95 ka), and the end of the Pleniglacial is presented. The pollen diagram shows an interglacial period (Eemian?), characterized by a vegetation succession, followed by two steppe and two shorter forest periods. This new pollen diagram adds to the still sparse information on the palaeoenvironment of the Mediterrenean area. A multidisciplinary approach details most of this interglacial. Additional palaeoenvironmental informations are: sedimentation, local biomass, temperature, water parameters—salinity, pH and lake level. The geochemical method of trace-elements on ostracod shells, recently developed, is tested by comparison with the other data. The Mg-content in the shells seems to correlate with the indicators of palaeotemperature.