Quaternary Stratigraphy and soil development at the southern border of the Central Alps, the Bagaggera sequence

Palaeomagnetic stratigraphy and archaeologic finds indicate that the sediments of the Bagaggera basin accumulated at least from Early Pleistocene up to Late Pleistocene. Five glacial stages are recorded in the sedimentary sequence, the oldest one dating back to Early Pleistocene, and only the last 2 are directly connected with the front of the Alpine glaciers. Five different paleosols are interlayered in the basin fill; 4 indicate that, during Interglacial period of Middle and part of Early Pleistocene, soil forming processes were not very different from those which operated in Postglacial times. On the contrary the oldest paleosol, dating back to Early Pleistocene or Late Pliocene, is due to stronger weathering and probably developed in a different pedoclimatic environment. -from Authors