Soil development in climatically different periods in S Italy

Detailed reconstructions of palaeo-vegetation and palaeo-climate in S Italy over the Late Pleistocene, based on pollen from lake sediments, have been published in the past decades. The pollen record of Lago Grande di Monticchio shows for 127.2-115.8 ka BP: forest with Quercus and Mediterranean taxa; 115.8-109.5 ka BP: forest with Abies, Alnus and Betula; 109.5-107.6 ka BP: high abundance of Betula and steppe taxa; 107.60-90.65 ka BP: temperate deciduous forest; 90.65-87.98 ka BP: Artemisia steppe; 87.98-82.73 ka BP: temperate deciduous forest; 82.73-59.00 ka BP: fluctuation, then Artemisia steppe; 59.00-25.90 ka BP: alternation between steppe (stadials) and wooded steppe (interstadials); 25.90-14.30 ka BP: Last Glacial Maximum with steppe. Questions of the ongoing work presented here are: Which soil features are related to Mediterranean climate, and which correspond to steppe environments during glacial periods? Can we find steppe soils in S Italy? Soil profiles were described and analysed on sequences of marine terraces in S Basilicata and Calabria. In addition, buried soils in alluvial fans in Calabria were included. Soils on marine terraces, formed during the last interglacial period, are reddish-brown and show distinct clay coatings. Soils on older terraces become more reddish with age, whereas soils on loess and Holocene sediments are brown and show no or very thin clay coatings. Dark soils with evidence of high palaeo-bioturbation reflect periods of steppe environments. Such soils have been preserved only, where they had been buried before the climate shifted again to Mediterranean. Otherwise, their characteristic high amounts of organic matter were probably rapidly decomposed and the soils changed into reddish-brown Mediterranean soils.