The coastal wetland systems of northern Tuscany: Massaciuccoli Lake and ex Porta Lake. State of knowledge and new opportunities for multidisciplinary approach

• Main Authors: Simone Da Prato, Ilaria Baneschi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: PAGEPress Publications 2020-09-01
• Series: Acque Sotterranee
• Subjects: Massaciuccoli Lake, ex Porta Lake, wetlands
• Online Access: https://www.acquesotterranee.net/index.php/acque/article/view/478

The Massaciuccoli lake of and the ex Porta Lake have been selected as Sites of Importance of the European Community for the particular biocommunities that they host. These areas have a complex history that has seen man intervening constantly over the centuries with reclamation operations, so that the landscape we see today is the result of a natural environment strongly shaped by man. Recent studies, conducted using a sequential stratigraphic approach, show that the depositional architecture of the Versilia Plain is determined by the variation in relative sea level, the amount of sedimentary input and the erosive capacity of the main watercourses, which have led to the formation of engraved paleovalleys. By using the stratigraphies collected in the IGGDATABASE, an attempt of stratigraphic reconstruction of the subsurface has been carried out in this work, underling that multidisciplinary detailed studies are necessary to better define the recent palaeoenvironmental evolution (Pleistocene-Holocene) and the depositional architecture of the subsurface of these areas. Moreover, a detailed monitoring of these systems both for abiotic and biotic parameters is needed as essential mean for their protection and preservation.