The CNH (Coupe Nabeul Houwaria) sedimentary succession (Cap Bon, NE Tunisia) was previously attributed to the Piacenzian-Gelasian transition based on preliminary micropaleontological data. This study re-evaluates that hypothesis through an integrated stratigraphic approach that combines calcareous nannofossils, planktonic foraminifera, and palynological data. Calcareous nannofossil assemblages are dominated by Reticulofenestra and Sphenolithus, with the consistent presence of Reticulofenestra pseudoumbilicus >7 mu m and the absence of Quaternary marker taxa, constraining the succession to no younger than 3.82 Ma (top of Zone CNPL3). Palynological evidence, including subtropical to warm-temperate vegetation and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages lacking cold indicators, supports a warm climate incompatible with glacial conditions. This interpretation is further reinforced by the absence of Bythocythere turgida, an ostracod known as a significant "Northern guest". The presence of Globorotalia puncticulata restricts the maximum age of the succession to no older than its first occurrence at ca. 4.52 Ma, while the absence of Globorotalia margaritae suggests even an age younger than 3.98 Ma (its last common occurrence). Taken together, these data frame the CNH succession within a time interval between ca. 4.52 (or 3.98 Ma) and 3.82 Ma, indicating a late Zanclean age and calling for a substantial revision of its lithostratigraphic assignment. The study highlights the need for high-resolution, multi-proxy analyses and, in particular, future magnetostratigraphic investigations, to improve regional chronostratigraphic models in NE Tunisia and strengthen correlations with the global stratigraphic framework.

High-resolution palynological analyses from the ancient city of Altinum (similar to 4300-1500 cal yr BP; 2350 BCE-450 CE) illuminate how Bronze Age to Roman communities in the Lagoon of Venice experienced and responded to rapid Holocene climate variability and environmental changes. Two sedimentary archives from the archaeological context capture a sequence of environmental instabilities, including the 4.2 and 3.7 ka events, revealing their cascading effects on lagoonal ecosystems and human settlements. The 4.2 ka event led to cooler and wetter conditions in NE Italy, lowering altitudinal tree lines and reshaping wetland habitats, while a subsequent cooling pulse at 3.7 ka BP disrupted hydrological balances and compressed saltmarsh landscapes. In the study area, these shifts coincided with changes in land use and localized cultivation signals during the transition from the Early to Middle Bronze Age and again in the Final Bronze Age. Between the Bronze and Iron Ages, Altinum's emergence as a proto-urban centre unfolded against a backdrop of renewed climatic instability, amplifying vegetation sensitivity to land-use intensification. The introduction of cultivated taxa, such as Citrus during the Iron Age and Cucumis sativus during the Roman period, attests to growing commercial networks over time. The settlement experienced a period of prosperity between the 1st-2nd centuries CE but entered a marked decline around 300 CE, likely associated with cooling episodes and socio-political turbulence. Together, these records demonstrate how Altinum's trajectory was shaped by the persistent interplay between environmental change and socio-political dynamics in a vulnerable lagoonal setting.

Site-specific modern pollen assemblages are essential for interpreting fossil records, yet their links to local conditions and surrounding landscapes are often poorly understood. This study presents a modern palynological dataset from subsurface sediments of the shallow Burano and Orbetello lagoons in Tuscany, Italy. This dataset is part of a broader project which includes fossil sediment cores from the same basins. Spatially distributed samples were analyzed for grain-size, pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, and sieved charcoal, with water physico-chemical parameters measured at each site. Terrestrial pollen assemblages mainly reflect regional wind-pollinated vegetation but show strong distortions, with forests overrepresented and open areas-especially cereal crops and vineyards-underrepresented. Modern calibration of Pinus and Olea pollen registrations is particularly informative given their key role in local human-driven landscape change. Sieved charcoal (> 125 mu m), a proxy for local fire, is unevenly distributed and correlated with Glomus chlamydospores, indicating additional transport via runoff. At Burano, intra-basin pollen deposition is largely controlled by morphometric and sedimentological factors which explain 58.1% of the observed variance. In contrast, at the Orbetello lagoon, these factors explain only 26.7% of the variance, reflecting more complex hydrodynamic controls on sediment and pollen redistribution. Among aquatic groups, brackish macrophytes dominate across broad salinity ranges, primarily controlled by water depth, salinity, and associated with dissolved oxygen. Microalgal groups respond to temperature and nutrient availability, with high concentrations of harmful algae (Alexandrium spp.) indicating ecological stress. Overall, this modern spatial dataset provides a site-specific framework for interpreting fossil records and reconstructing past environmental changes. It also demonstrates the potential of combining palaeoecological research with modern data to translate scientific knowledge into practical applications for biodiversity conservation.

The impact of rapid climate variability on Neanderthal population in Europe during the Last Glacial (Marine Isotope Stages 4-2), including Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles and Heinrich stadials, has been the subject of a long-standing debate. However, few studies have focused on the nature and impact of such rapid variations on human population during earlier periods. A growing number of high-resolution paleoclimatic archives supports the persistence of rapid oscillations during the penultimate glaciation (Marine Isotope Stage - MIS 6), and the close response of Mediterranean ecosystems to these. Still, few palynological sequences in the Mediterranean region offer sufficient resolution to document vegetation dynamics during this time. Pollen records are especially lacking in the western Mediterranean, a key region to understand the connection between North Atlantic and Mediterranean climatic influences. This region is also traditionally considered a climatic refugium for human population during unfavourable periods. We provide new palynological data covering MIS 6 from the long and continuous marine record of the ODP site 976 in the Alboran Sea. A total of 200 samples, spanning the interval from 196 to 127 ka Before Present (BP), reveals both long-term trends and rapid fluctuations in the regional vegetation composition. A multi-method approach, including modern analogues, regression, and machine learning approaches, was applied to the ODP 976 pollen assemblages to reconstruct the annual/seasonal temperatures and precipitation. Results show that three phases can be identified. The first phase (187-166 ka BP) is characterized by significant oscillations of temperate trees and rather cool and humid conditions during early MIS 6, coincident with a sapropel layer deposition in both the western and eastern Mediterranean. In the second phase (165-144 ka BP), arid herbaceous vegetation is dominant, marking the main imprint of glacial maxima conditions and reduced climate variability. The third phase (144-129 ka BP) is marked by the development of Ericaceae and increased annual precipitation. At the end of MIS 6 glaciation, an episode of strong cooling and steppe and semi-desert expansion is identified as Heinrich Stadial 11 (135-129 ka BP), marking a distinct pattern for Termination II in the Western Mediterranean. Rapid oscillations appear like a pervasive feature of the Penultimate glacial in the SW Mediterranean, though they present reduced amplitude and frequency compared to the Last Glacial. A synthesis of human occupation during MIS 6 shows that a mosaic of traditional (Mode 2) and innovative (Mode 3) lithic technological features is observed in the archaeological record. Although the data are scarce, Neanderthals seem to have continuously inhabited Western Mediterranean regions across the penultimate glacial. The severe climate conditions during Heinrich Stadial 11 (similar to 133-129 ka BP) might have played a role in the apparent population contraction at the end of MIS 6, and perhaps also in the definitive abandonment of Lower Palaeolithic industries.

The late Tortonian succession of the Cessaniti site (Capo Vaticano, southern Italy) provides a rare multiproxyconstrained record of Mediterranean coastal ecosystems during a poorly documented interval between ca. 8.1 and 7.2 Ma. Palynological assemblages from lagoonal to estuarine deposits reveal a structurally complex and taxonomically diverse mangrove forest across the central Mediterranean margin, dominated by Bruguiera gymnorrhiza and Rhizophora along with Excoecaria agallocha, Sonneratia, Pelliciera, Casuarina and Hibiscus. In contrast to many Miocene Mediterranean records, Avicennia is absent despite an overall excellent pollen preservation, indicating ecological filtering rather than taphonomic loss. The pollen spectra reveal a sharply zoned coastalcontinental mosaic including salt-affected herb communities, freshwater swamps dominated by Taxodium/ Glyptostrobus-type, subtropical to warm-temperate forests in the lowlands, and montane belts characterized by high-altitude conifers. Fine-grained, organic-rich substrates and low-energy depositional conditions suggest that local geomorphological stability exerted primary control on mangrove establishment and persistence. The coexistence of floristic elements with African, Asiatic and American affinities, coupled with distinctive late Tortonian mammal palaeobioprovinces, suggests that Cessaniti occupied a biogeographic crossroads within the central Mediterranean. The floristic composition demonstrates that Mediterranean mangroves were not uniformly taxonomically impoverished during the late Miocene. Instead, structurally complex mangrove-wetland systems could persist locally in geomorphologically buffered coastal refugia prior to the late Tortonian-Messinian transition and the Messinian Salinity Crisis. These findings highlight the spatial heterogeneity of Mediterranean mangrove decline and the critical role of local environmental controls in semi-enclosed basins.

The underwater excavation carried out at Lio Piccolo, in the Canale Rig & agrave; (lagoon of Venice), permitted the investigation and documentation, by digital photogrammetry, of a Roman Period site discovered by the amateur archaeologist E. Canal in murky waters. This is a vivarium (a pool) for oysters, made of bricks and wood and equipped with two wooden sluice gates, which was quickly silted over, covering hundreds of molluscs. This unique finding, with only one comparison - a vivarium excavated close to Narbonne - has been dated by pottery and also studied by palynological, geological, radiocarbon dating, and dendrochronological analyses. The vivarium is connected to the foundations by wooden piles and bricks of an important building which, according to the numerous fragments of frescoes found, could be a rich maritime villa built, like the vivarium, in the 1st century AD.

Coastal transitional ecosystems across the Mediterranean Region are increasingly threatened by the combined impacts of climate change, land-use intensification, and legacy pollution. This study presents a high-resolution, interdisciplinary reconstruction of ecosystem changes over the last 600 years (ca. 1400–2022 CE) from the Mar Piccolo basin (Taranto, Southern Italy), a representative semi-enclosed coastal system under long-term cumulative stress. Through multiproxy analyses of a dated sediment core (S05B) and modern environmental archives (surface sediments and moss samples), we integrate palynological indicators (pollen plus dinocysts and other non-pollen palynomorphs) with historical and ecological records. This unique integration of proxy and documentary/archival evidence enables an exceptional comparison of natural and anthropogenic dynamics across centuries. Results reveal a progressive and marked decline in ecosystem integrity, reflected in the sharp reduction of native thermophilous forest taxa (e.g., deciduous Quercus), an increase in anthropogenic (e.g., Olea) and ruderal (e.g., Plantago lanceolata-type) taxa, along with a rise in eutrophication-related dinocysts (e.g., Lingulodinium machaerophorum) since the early fifteenth century. The Little Ice Age intensified environmental and socio-economic stress, accelerating transformations in both terrestrial and marine domains. In recent decades, warming trends, altered hydrology, and landscape fragility have further reduced system resilience, as evidenced by persistent records of parasite eggs (e.g., Ascaris) indicating long-term wastewater contamination and potential health risks. This case study demonstrates how coupled human–environment systems in semi-enclosed Mediterranean basins respond to prolonged and interacting pressures. The multiproxy approach offers a transferable framework for detecting ecological tipping points and supporting evidence-based restoration and adaptive management strategies.

Coastal environments in the Mediterranean are currently facing significant challenges due to the impact of Global Warming, largely attributed to human activities. The Mar Piccolo stands out as one of the Mediterranean's most polluted semi-enclosed marine basins. To delve into its environmental changes, a sediment core (S05B) and eight surface sediment samples underwent extensive analysis, encompassing sedimentological and palynological organic matter assessments. The main objective was to uncover the principal morpho-sedimentary processes from latest Pleistocene to Holocene, resulting in the identification of five distinct landscape scenarios. Initially, during a period of arid climate, the area transitioned from fluvial incision to the formation of brackish ponds. As the Holocene brought about improved climatic conditions, the Mar Piccolo underwent further transformations, changing into a paralic environment where freshwater and salt marshes coexisted. The saltmarshes were sustained by sporadic marine spillovers, as indicated by foraminiferal organic linings. At 10.3 cal ka BP, a marine ingression took place marked by dinocysts, aligning with the Mediterranean sea level curve. This led to the establishment of a low hydrodynamic semi-enclosed marine basin, although changes in bottom oxygenation occurred over time. Anoxic events were identified during the Sapropel 1 deposition and the 4.2 ka BP megadrought event. After the 4.2 ka BP event, evidence of human impact emerges as indicated by the occurrence of human intestinal parasites resting eggs along with a shift in phytoclasts assemblages towards a dominance of cuticles suggesting intensified agricultural activities around the basin. Furthermore, analyses of palynological organic matter in surface sediments provide evidence of significant impacts from current human activities. Consequently, evaluating both past and ongoing anthropogenic influences through palynological organic matter analysis represents a crucial application in this research area.

Pleistocene interglacials, specifically Marine Isotope Stages (MISs) 19, 11, and 5, have been suggested as analogues of MIS 1 due to similar solar forcing patterns, greenhouse gas concentrations, and sea levels. There has been substantial debate regarding which of these is the most suitable analogue and so far there has been no consensus, although what really emerges from recent work is the high variation in regional climate during these periods. One of the limiting factors in our understanding of these potential analogues is the fact that very few long sequences cover the entire duration of these interglacials at high resolution. In this study, a multi-method approach is used to produce climatic reconstructions for MIS 19, 11, 5, and 1 using pollen data derived from a single long marine core from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 976. This represents the first study which attempts to use pollen-based climatic reconstructions to compare MIS 1 with its analogues, representing a necessary contribution to the debate with a focus on the relationships between vegetation and climate in the southwestern Mediterranean. Three methods of quantitative climate reconstruction have been adopted: two more widely used methods, the modern analogue technique (MAT) and weighted-average partial least-squares (WAPLS) regression, and a more recent machine learning method known as boosted regression trees (BRTs). The reconstructions show consistent changes in temperature and precipitation during MIS 19, 11, 5, and 1, which correlate well with climatic changes observed in other regional and global proxies and highlight distinct climatic characteristics of each interglacial period in the southwestern Mediterranean. MIS 19 exhibits high variability and colder temperatures compared to subsequent interglacials and MIS 1. Conversely, MIS 11 displays warmer temperatures and greater stability, which makes it a useful analogue to understand prolonged interglacials, crucial when considering the anthropogenic impacts on the duration of warm climate during the Holocene. MIS 5 exhibits overall warmer conditions, and its higher temperature, coupled with fluctuations in solar forcing, makes it a less suitable MIS 1 analogue. Although past interglacials do not offer direct predictions for the Holocene's future, they provide essential insights into Earth's responses to various forcing factors, serving as crucial benchmarks for understanding the Mediterranean's sensitivity to global changes.

During the last glacial period, and particularly Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3, dated 60-27 ka), various abrupt and arid climate episodes impacted the northern hemisphere. These are known as Heinrich Stadials and are linked with major iceberg discharged in the North Atlantic. Heinrich Stadial 4 (HS4), one of the strongest of these events occurring around 39 ka BP, has raised numerous debates regarding its potential impact on the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (MUPT) and Neanderthal extinction, especially in the Iberian Peninsula where late persistence of Neanderthals has been claimed beyond 40 ka BP. Although palynological studies from the Iberian margins have previously highlighted vegetation changes during this period, these have generally been of low resolution and thus, the environmental conditions during HS4 and the possible impact of this event on the last Neandertal populations are still poorly understood. This study uses the marine core from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 976, located in the Alboran Sea, to provide new ultra-high-resolution analyses for the interval between 41 and 34 ka BP, including the Greenland Stadial 9 (GS9)/HS4 and the Greenland Interstadial 8 (GI8). The aim is to reconstruct vegetation and climate changes in southern Mediterranean with a resolution never achieved before and to discuss human occupation in the frame of these changes. Vegetation, climate changes and human occupation are discussed on the basis of 1) pollen analysis, 2) quantitative climate reconstructions based on a multi-method approach, and 3) maps of human occupation based on a synthesis of archaeological sites for western Mediterranean Europe in the 42-34 ka BP time interval. Results show a fast spread at centennial scale of steppe and semi-desert vegetation, with a typical three-phased pattern for the GS9 (HS4). This pattern is compatible with the results of various records from Greenland, southwestern Europe and Brazil. The description of these phases with an unpreceded resolution for the SW Mediterranean region supports the connection between the hydroclimatic changes in Greenland and lower latitudes, while the transition to the following GI8 climate amelioration displays a major vegetation instability that mimics the pattern of the last deglaciation at sub-millennial scale. The climate reconstruction shows cold conditions during HS4 and enhanced aridity mostly linked to the winter rainfall deficit caused by the abrupt disturbance of the Mediterranean seasonal regime of precipitations. The regional comparison with available palynological and paleoclimatic records from the western Mediterranean and the Atlantic sheds light on the spatial expression of the arid event, highlighting a south-westward trend in aridification in the Iberian Peninsula. The Alboran Sea appears as a critical area at the interface of the Atlantic and Mediterranean influences, recording the particular expression of fast climate oscillations in the westernmost part of the Mediterranean. The possible impact of such extreme climate event on the MUPT is discussed based on an updated dataset of archaeological sites and dates for western Mediterranean Europe in the 42-34 ka BP time interval. Maps of human occupation show that Neanderthals may have undergone population contraction during the arid conditions of HS4, but it is still challenging to place the MUPT in a sub-millennial chronological framework due to the uncertainty and limitations of archaeological data.

The Ideale section (IS) at Montalbano Jonico, Italy, has been approved as a Standard Auxiliary Boundary Stratotype (SABS) for the Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Middle Pleistocene Subseries/Subepoch and Chibanian Stage/Age at the Chiba section, Japan. The proposal was submitted to the voting members of the International Commission on Stratigraphy's Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) on May 4, 2023, and following discussions was approved on July 8, 2023. The 74 m thick IS continuously spans the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 20-18 interval, and is part of the longer Montalbano Jonico succession (Basilicata, southern Italy in the Mediterranean region) encompassing MIS 37 to early MIS 16. The IS provides a detailed record based on multiple chronologically well constrained marine and terrestrial proxies, which are particularly useful for outlining the paleoclimatic evolution through the Lower-Middle Pleistocene transition. The high-resolution carbon and oxygen isotope stratigraphy outlines glacial-interglacial and stadial-interstadial phases as well as the sub-millennial-scale features of Termination IX and the onset of MIS 19c. The sapropel layer equivalent to insolation cycle 74 (784 ka) occurs in early MIS 19c. A prominent peak in the Be-10/Be-9 record at the MIS 19c-19b transition identifies the low geomagnetic dipole moment associated with the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary interval. Two tephra layers (V3 and V4) relevant to boundary interval are Ar-40/Ar-39 dated. The V4 layer, occurring at the MIS 19c-b transition and in the middle of the Be-10/Be-9 peak, has an age of 774.1 +/- 0.9 ka, corresponding to the age of the Middle Pleistocene GSSP. A high-resolution alkenone sea-surface temperature and several paleobiological records complement the rich chronological and paleoenvironmental dataset from MIS 20 to the inception of MIS 18. The GSSP boundary interval in the IS is represented from 35.50 to 39.50 m, which corresponds to the interval of the highest values of the Be-10/Be-9 ratio (similar to 776.35-771.87 ka) and includes the V4 tephra layer and the MIS 19c-MIS 19b transition. This SABS extends the correlation potential of the Middle Pleistocene Subseries/Subepoch GSSP interval to the Mediterranean region.

The double tombolo of Orbetello, in Italy, has formed during the Holocene around an ancient central tombolo. Earlier models consider that its sand barriers formed as sand spits that stretched from the mainland to a coastal island before enlarging seawards. This evolution, however, remains speculative. In order to test these models, we conducted the first study of a double tombolo that combines coring of its sand barriers and comprehensive imaging of its internal structure using sub-bottom acoustic surveys offshore and in the back-barrier. Sediment ages were constrained by 14C, luminescence, and U/Th dating. Acoustic images below the lagoon show that the barriers are in fact broad regressive strandplains that initiated on the flanks of the preexisting central isthmus when sea level was -7 +/- 1 m lower than today. The strandplains then rose upwards and outwards, tracking sea level rise over the past 7 kyr. The oldest and lowest parts of the strandplains were flooded into the shallow intervening lagoon. The central isthmus is composed of regressive sand barriers accreted around a MIS 5.5 core during subsequent stages MIS 5.3 and MIS 5.1. The emplacement of the isthmus interrupted longshore drift between the mainland and the coastal island, converting the flanks of the initial tombolo into terminal sinks in which sand accretion accelerated, spurring early and rapid regression during the Holocene. A review of the environmental parameters conducive to double tombolo formation suggests that double tombolos may represent a frequent, albeit short-lived stage during the enlargement of single tombolos.

During the last 5 million years (Pliocene-Holocene), the Earth climate system has undergone a series of marked changes, including (i) the shift from the Pliocene warm state to the Pleistocene cold state with the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation; (ii) the evolution of the frequency, magnitude, and shape of glacial-interglacial cycles at the Early Middle Pleistocene Transition (similar to 1.25-0.65 Ma); and (iii) the appearance of millennial-scale climate variability. While much of this paleoclimate narrative has been reconstructed from marine records, relatively little is known about the impact of these major changes on terrestrial environments and biodiversity, resulting in a significant gap in the knowledge of a fundamental component of the Earth system. Long, continuous, highly resolved, and chronologically well-constrained terrestrial records are needed to fill this gap, but they are extremely rare. To evaluate the potential of the Fucino Basin, central Italy, for a deep-drilling project in the framework of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), 42 scientists from 14 countries and 32 institutions met in Gioia dei Marsi, central Italy, on 24-27 October 2023 for the ICDP-supported MEME (the longest continuous terrestrial archive in the MEditerranean recording the last 5 Million years of Earth system history) workshop. The existing information and unpublished data presented and reviewed during the workshop confirmed that the Fucino Basin fulfils all the main requisites for improving our understanding of the mode and tempo of the Plio-Quaternary climatic-environmental evolution in a terrestrial setting at different spatial and temporal scales. Specifically, the combination of the seismic line evidence with geochronological and multi-proxy data for multiple sediment cores consolidated the notion that the Fucino Basin infill (i) is constituted by a sedimentary lacustrine succession continuously spanning at least 3.5 Myr; (ii) has a high sensitivity as a paleo-environmental-paleoclimatic proxy; and (iii) contains a rich tephra record that allows us to obtain an independent, high-resolution timescale based on tephrochronology. Considering the typical half-graben, wedge-shaped geometry of the basin, four different potential drilling targets were identified: MEME-1, located in the middle of the basin, should reach the base of the Quaternary infill at similar to 500 m depth; MEME-2, located west of MEME-1, has sedimentation rates that are lower, with the base of the Pliocene-Quaternary at similar to 600 m depth; MEME-3b has the same target as MEME-2 but is located further west, where the base of the Pliocene-Quaternary should be reached at similar to 300 m; and MEME-3a (similar to 200-300 m depth) is located, for tectonic purposes, on the footwall of the basin master fault. Overall, the MEME workshop sets the basis for widening the research team and defining the scientific perspectives and methodological approaches of the project, from geophysical exploration to the development of an independent chronology and to the acquisition of multi-proxy records, which will contribute to the preparation of the full MEME proposal.

The ongoing debate on the causes and modalities of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) from 5.971 Ma needs to be implemented by an in-depth knowledge of the events and changes, on a global to regional scale, that have preceded its onset. Here we use palynological (pollen and dinocysts) and micropaleontological (foraminifers and calcareous nannoplankton) quantitative analyses from the Govone sedimentary succession (Northern Italy, western Mediterranean) to reconstruct the cyclical changes in atmosphere, surface, and deep-water hydrographic conditions during the Late Miocene, prior to the onset of the MSC (from ca 6.6 Ma) and across it (up to 5.96 Ma). On land, plant communities were dominated by arboreal life forms typical of warm and humid conditions. However, mid- to high altitude coniferous taxa attest to a sequence of cold to cool conditions, some coinciding with glacial obliquity-controlled phases, notably those across the MSC onset (i.e. TG34 and TG32). Dominant trees were Taxodioideae, especially in freshwater swamps, during warm and humid phases. The latter alternate with relatively less warm, and less humid phases characterised by the reduction of Taxodioideae, according to the precession-controlled sedimentary cyclicity (sapropel-marl couplets). The absence of any significant expansion in the herbaceous cover is evidence of no substantial increases in aridity at insolation minima. In the marine realm, the precession-controlled cycles correspond to prevalent alternations between warm water, oligotrophic (sapropel, insolation maxima) and cool water, eutrophic (marls, insolation minima) conditions. The progressive decrease of oceanic/outer neritic dinocyst taxa, along with a more continuous occurrence of the inner neritic ones, confirm the progressive restriction of Mediterranean and Atlantic connections, despite oceanic influxes, the latest at 6.14 Ma and 6.05 Ma. On the other hand, the occurrence of freshwater episodes, according to dinocysts, does not exclude possible connections with Paratethys, at 6.18 Ma and 6.07 Ma. All calcareous nannoplankton and foraminifera apparently disappear from the sedimentary record before the onset of the MSC, at ca 6.02 Ma; however, dinocysts allow the documentation of the history of pre-evaporitic conditions up to the beginning of the MSC onset, when lagoons, marked by frequent salinity changes, expanded in the inner neritic zone of the Govone intermediate depth basin, during ca 60 kyrs. Plant assemblages attest a long-lasting increase of seasonality (from 6.2 Ma) as well as a peculiar inversion in the dominant vegetal patterns of the sapropel-marl couplets, between ca 6.02 Ma and 5.96 Ma, corresponding to the uppermost four cycles. The significant restriction of the marine environment, after 6.02 Ma, possibly promoted atmospheric changes marked by reduced vs enhanced activity of the Mediterranean storm-track in phase with precession. This, in turn, regulated the amounts of runoff in the Northern Italian sectors from the Alps.

The northern Mediterranean reptiles and amphibians show contrasting biogeographic histories during the Plio-Pleistocene. The influence of European climate changes on the evolution of the biogeographic ranges of taxa with a rich fossil record is determined herein combining different proxies to obtain well-supported palaeoclimatic scenarios. Ecological Niche Modelling through the ensemble modelling approach was used to reconstruct the climatic niche of selected reptile and amphibian genera, combining modern occurrences with seven independent bioclimatic variables. The obtained model was then projected on past scenarios using fossil data to crosscheck the validity of the climatic explanation for the selective extirpations. Palaeobotanical proxies and the hypsodonty of mammals were used to reconstruct the humidity pattern of the last million years in the studied area. The climate of the Italian Peninsula during the Last Glacial Maximum was proved herein to be unsuitable for many reptile taxa, which persisted in this area until the Early or Late Pleistocene, whereas they survived till the present day in the Iberian and/or Balkans peninsulas. On the contrary, all the proxies agree that Italy was comparably more humid than the other peninsulas during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, therefore allowing the prolonged survival of amphibian taxa (including the still living Salamandrina and Speleomantes), which became extinct or extirpated elsewhere in Europe. An intensification of the conservation efforts concerning amphibians, particularly sensitive to the global climate change, is recommended in the Italian Peninsula, which acted as an amphibian refugium for Europe due to its peculiar climatic history.

There have been plenty of palynological studies on Quaternary from the Mediterranean region in the past decades. However, few focused on the iconographic documentation of pollen grains. An illustrated, descriptive atlas of pollen from Holocene sediments (S05B core and surface samples) and mosses from Mar Piccolo (southern Italy) was compiled. The pollen atlas includes 143 taxa representative of local (wetlands including both freshwater and salt marshes), regional and extra regional sources as well as some alien taxa (e.g., Citrus medica and Eucalyptus). A total of 490 light microscopy images are organized in 15 plates concerning 27 species and 75 genera within 26 families. The atlas is intended to serve as practical guide for pollen investigations, aiming at reconstructions of flora and vegetation, as well as environmental and climate changes in southern Italy.

The investigation of the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the extensional basins of southern Tuscany plays a key-role to understand the settings into which sediments are deposited in response to the interaction among eustatism, climate and tectonic activity. Indeed, during the Quaternary, the extensional basins of southern Tuscany hosted thick successions of continental and marine sediments whose deposition was strongly controlled by tectonic activity, volcanic and climatic processes. In this view, such basins can unveil detailed records of Quaternary climatic changes and tectonic processes leading to significant changes of this portion of the Apennine belt. Spectacular examples of this interaction, occurred during the last 3 Ma, will be illustrated in different depositional settings: marine - Radicofani Basin; fluvio/lacustrine - Valdarno Basin; volcanic - Monte Amiata Volcano and Radicofani; travertines - Rapolano Terme and Bagni San Filippo. The field trip is nestled in the historical and scenic view of the Tuscan landscape.