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The caranto paleosol and its role in the early urbanization of Venice
Author(s) -
Donnici Sandra,
SerandreiBarbero Rossana,
Bini Claudio,
Bonardi Maurizio,
Lezziero Alberto
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.20361
Subject(s) - paleosol , geology , alluvium , archaeology , period (music) , glacial period , urbanization , holocene , paleontology , geography , economic growth , economics , loess , physics , acoustics
Abstract As rising sea level threatens Venice, there is a need to construct a historical framework for interpreting modern environmental changes. Environmental conditions that would later help support Venice's urbanization were established during the Late Glacial period when calcic soils began to develop in the Venetian alluvial paleoplain. A calcic paleosol, buried by Middle to Late Holocene marine transgressive deposits, represents a subsurface layer long known in the Venice area as “caranto.” Referenced in the ancient chronicles of architects and builders, the caranto exhibits relatively high compressive and shear strength, making it an important substrate for supporting building foundations, some dating back to the Gothic era (12th–15th centuries A.D.). Hence, the caranto paleosol documents local post‐glacial environmental changes while playing an important role in Venetian building construction and human settlement. Here we provide geochemical, sedimentological, paleoecological, and chronological analyses of the caranto paleosol and related deposits based on recent coring of the Venetian Lagoon. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.