The Mediterranean calcareous red alga Lithophyllum byssoides forms thick bioconstructions in the intertidal zone, developing in a very narrow vertical range (ca. 20 cm), making it an exceptionally precise indicator of past sea-level positions. This high sensitivity to even minimal sea-level fluctuations enables the detection of high-frequency, low-amplitude changes that occurred over the last 1000 years. The Late-Holocene relative sea-level curve presented here, is based on L. byssoides rims extensively encrusting the swell-exposed rocky shores of the Mesozoic limestone cliffs of northwestern Sardinia (NW Mediterranean). The rim accretion structures reveal the in situ superposition of multiple generations of L. byssoides thalli, which bind sand-sized clasts. Combined AMS radiocarbon dating identifies four main growth phases, each bounded by distinct erosional surfaces. These phases correlate with stages of relative sea-level rise and coincide with the warmest periods of the last millenium. In contrast, erosional surfaces frequently draped by a reddish muddy matrix indicate sea-level drops associated with the coldest phases of the Little Ice Age. Our findings indicate decimetric relative sea-level fluctuations on sub-centennial timescales, which significantly exceed the average magnitude of sea-level change documented over the last millenium, implying major shifts in coastal dynamics and ecosystems. These results support a strong link between sub-centennial climate variability and sea-level fluctuations and underscore the value of L. byssoides rims as high-resolution archives of past sea-level oscillations.

The El Jable plain (Lanzarote, Canary Islands) preserves an exceptional stratigraphic archive of Late Quaternary environmental change in a semi-arid island setting. Through an integrated sedimentological and chronological approach combining facies analysis, post-IR IRSL and radiocarbon dating, we reconstruct the alternation of aeolian, colluvial, and ephemeral-stream dynamics over the past similar to 140 ka. Results document major shifts in sedimentary regimes linked to Marine Isotope Stages (MIS): intensified dune formation during MIS 6 and MIS 4, slope-derived colluvial-alluvial phases under MIS 5e humidity, and variable hydrological activity during MIS 3. MIS 2 to early Holocene records oscillating dry-wet phases, with Last Glacial Maximum aeolian activation followed by Late Glacial to Holocene fluvial reactivation and humid pulses. Comparison with previous work across the Canaries and Northwest Africa highlights both archipelago-wide signals (aeolian activation during glacial lowstands) and local responses to precipitation variability. Our findings demonstrate that El Jable represents a uniquely sensitive archive of climate forcing in oceanic semi-arid environments and provides a valuable analogue for arid-margin basins worldwide.

The age determination is crucial to unravel the evolution and to provide a framework of the geological, paleo-anthropological, and cultural conditions of a specific region of interest. The lack of chronological information makes difficult to correlate the site of interest with other temporal attributes provided by stratigraphy and paleoclimatology. Luminescence is a well-established dating technique for determining the absolute age of formation (or most recent reworking event) of geological deposits/sediments and archaeological finds on Earth, with a time range that spans from the last few decades up to one million years. The most common geological targets are dust, silt, sand, cobbles, and rock outcrops originating from different environments: aeolian, fluvial, alluvial, lacustrine, marine, glaciogenic, slope deposits, karstic, soils, tectonic activity. In the archaeological field, this technique is applied not only to the geological sediments in excavation sites but also directly to artifacts of interest, especially when they are made of pottery or stone.A miniaturized luminescence dating prototype for in-situ examination has been designed by Alma Sistemi S.r.l., Guidonia, Italy, and validated by University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy, under European Union H2020-MSCA-RISE-2018 research programme (G.A. n.823934). The instrument is equipped with an infrared and blue optical stimulation subsystem to perform both optically and infrared-stimulated luminescence (OSL, IRSL) and is able to measure both paleo-dose and dose rate. An X-ray generator (XRG) irradiates the sample, while the response luminescence signal is obtained through a photon counting photomultiplier tube (PMT). A thermal subsystem consisting of a heater and air-cooling pumps allows the instrument to heat during SAR (single-aliquot regenerative-dose) procedure and to perform thermally stimulated luminescence. Remote control for data analysis application and a battery power supply are implemented on the instrument for usage on the field.The development of this portable instrument is of great relevance since it finds practical use in geological and archaeological Earth's field applications. In fact, compared to current luminescence dating technologies and considering its reduced dimensions (11x11x18 cm excluding electronic box and cover) and weight (currently

Determining the age of precise sea level markers such as marine terraces is often difficult because of the inherent limitation of traditional dating methods. A novel method based on Optical Stimulated Luminescence applicable to rock surfaces has been showing great promise in dating boulder and cobble surfaces from various environments. We performed Optically Stimulated Luminescence Rock Surface Dating (OSL RSD) on five cobbles from a basal transgressive lag deposit sealing a marine terrace referred to as the Last Interglacial (Marine Isotopic Stage 5e). We applied a consistent and highly selective 3-step acceptance criteria on five cobbles and obtained that only one was sufficiently well-bleached prior to burial. The resulting ages of 131 +/- 8 ka and 127 +/- 8 ka (obtained on 22 analyzed aliquots, n = 22) derived from the post-infrared infrared stimulated signal at 225(o)C (pIRIR(225)) and the preceding infrared stimulated signal at 50(o)C (pIR(50/225)), respectively, are consistent with each other as well as with the conventional luminescence age of similar to 135 ka from the same sequence and with the U/Th age of similar to 130 ka obtained from coral fragments. This work demonstrates that the RSD is a promising method for dating gravel veneer deposits overlaying marine terraces, enabling new chronologies for similar Quaternary deposits.

Sal ‘e Porcus is the largest natural salt flat in Europe, located in Sardinia (Italy) in the southwest region of the Mediterranean area. It spans over an area of more than 3.3 square kilometers. Its homogeneity and size characteristics make it a potentially suitable spot for use as a satellite sensor calibration/validation site. For this purpose, a campaign of spectral, mineralogical and LiDAR data acquisition has been organized in the framework of a dedicated International Remote Sensing Summer School in 2023. Furthermore, the study of this site has been funded by the Italian Spatial Agency through the Project: System for the “COnsOlidation of L2 products from the PRISMA-SG mission (COOL)”.New orbiting hyperspectral sensors such as ASI-PRISMA and EnMAP DLR and near future continuity missions (ASI-PRISMA SG, ESA CHIME) request ground reflectance spectra to rely on the remote sensed data. In this study, the first results of the study of the spectral and LiDAR data acquired on the site are described and discussed, focusing on two main outputs: i) the first release of the spectral library of the minerals of the salt flat; ii) the morphological setting of the surface.The collection of the spectra has been coupled with sediment samples for mineralogical characterization. During these campaigns, UAV-based LiDAR data were acquired. First results show that the topography of the surface changes from west to east, giving the idea of a geological control of this flat area. Moreover, first results of the spectral characterization of this surface using field, UAV and satellite data are discussed.

Loess–palaeosol sequences serve as valuable archives of changes in climate and atmospheric mineral dust deposition. However, little work has been conducted on Holocene loess in the Arctic, despite the sensitivity of this region to climate changes. Aeolian silt/loess profiles in the ice-free region of western Greenland near Kangerlussuaq were sampled to develop a robust age framework using both luminescence and bulk organic matter radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon ages generally show consistent age increases with depth but are likely offset to younger ages due to sediment mixing in the upper 10-20 cm of the profiles. Quartz OSL signals exhibit insensitivity, while low-temperature infrared stimulated luminescence performed at 50 °C (IR50) and the post-IR IRSL at 180 °C (pIRIR180) signals of polymineral fine grain revealed a consistent natural inherited dose of approximately 5 Gy for pIRIR180 and an unbleachable residual of around 2 Gy for IR50, with substantial fading rates in the latter. This led to a notable age overestimation when compared with bulk organic matter radiocarbon ages. To develop an appropriate dating approach, we evaluated the differential bleaching rates of feldspar IR50 and pIRIR180 signals, and corrected for modern inherited doses. Radiocarbon ages measured on the bulk organic carbon oxidised at 400°C (LT 14C) increased very consistently with depth, allowing calculation of accumulation rates. The presence of the atmospheric radiocarbon bomb signal at depth indicated down-mixing of surface material into the profile, which caused negative (younger) age offsets. The offset-corrected radiocarbon-based age-depth model could be compared to the luminescence results.We show that a combination of LT 14C with polymineral pIRIR180 dating allows the development of age models for these deposits. This multi-chronological approach reveals that loess accumulation in the region was initiated around 4 ka, probably consisting of two main phases of loess accumulation at 4-3 ka and <1 ka. The initial phase matches the proposed onset of aeolian sand activity in the wider region, but post-dates local ice retreat by c. 3 kyr. The more recent phase of accumulation also matches the timing of increased sand accumulation in the region and likely coincides with Neoglacial to Little Ice Age ice advances, or even enhanced dust activity in the last decades.

This study was conducted in the Middle Branch of Bue Marino Cave (Sardinia, Italy) to reconstruct paleoecological conditions during the Holocene through microfaunal proxies in seven surface sediment samples and a short sediment core (BMD-2018, 18 cm), all collected in 2018 and another core sampled in 2021 (BMD-2021, 28 cm). The first attempt at dating cave sediment through luminescence was conducted on BMD-2021; the derived age was 6.04 ± 0.47 ka at 18 cm depth. Although continuous sedimentation and constant rates are not probable in the cave, this indicates that the sedimentary record dates to the early times after the Holocene flooding of the cave by the sea. Benthic foraminifera and grain size were analyzed in all surface samples and core BMD-2018, while only benthic foraminifera were studied in BMD-2021. The recent foraminiferal assemblages, studied from an ecological point of view, were applied as modern analog to reconstruct the paleoecological conditions in sediment cores. Significant changes in the sedimentary environment were excluded; the two cores showed a similar foraminiferal turnover at a similar depth, from an older assemblage with prevailing indifferent Ammonia inflata to a younger one with prevailing opportunist Eggerelloides advena. This turnover was attributed to changes in the amount and/or quality of available nutrients. Based on these results, this event is likely related to possibly attributable to the effects of climate changes that occurred in the Holocene. However, more extensive studies are necessary to better understand the effects of the climatic/environmental events in the Late-Holocene in the caves. Although it represents a first attempt at paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on sediments from a Mediterranean marine cave, this study demonstrated that benthic foraminifera are refined paleoenvironmental proxies and that the integrated approach with the luminescence dating produces reliable results for studying the effects of global changes in these environments.

AbstractThe relict beach deposit of the Cala Mosca marine terrace is considered an important section of Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5e (ca. 125 ka) sea-level highstands. Analysis of the stratigraphy and sediments of the deposit indicates the presence of a composite marine terrace comprising two superimposed marine units, luminescence dated to the MIS 5e (137 ± 7, 134 ± 7 ka) and MIS 5c (92 ± 6 ka) substages. The stratigraphic superimposition of the two highstands, both placed ~5 m above present sea level, agrees with other areas along the Sardinia coasts. The evident superimposition of two sea-level highstands and development of the composite terrace cannot be accounted solely by high-frequency sea-level oscillation that occurred within MIS 5 for the Mediterranean Sea. This suggests controversial, but significant, regional versus local tectonic activity occurred during the Late Pleistocene.

The study area of Cala Gonone in NE Sardinia (Italy) consists of a wide terraced re-entrance/valley crowned inland by carbonate hills and, near the coast bounded laterally and partly floored by thin basaltic lava lying over carbonate bedrock. In this re-entrance, several inland alluvial fans (500 m length by 700 m wide) have developed, and a local ~ 30 m high, about 10 m wide (thick), 400 m long scarp body-remnant of semi-consolidated alluvial fan deposits is exposed along the coast. The fans experience depositional events mostly developed during the late Pleistocene. They although nowadays dormant may be reactivated by major rainstorms during strong climate changes. In these last few decades, the touristic village of Cala Gonone has been rapidly expanding over the mid to lower parts of two coalescing alluvial fans (Stadium and Gustui) and along the coastal marine scarp edge (Palmasera alluvial fan system). The village thus may become exposed to natural hazards if extreme climatic conditions may re-occur. Moreover, rock falls and the instability of the costal scarp due to wave erosion may add addition hazards for habitations built near the scarp crest and visitors to the frontal replenished beach. As commonly occurring elsewhere since antiquity, the risk perception of such events is low because of the centennial, millennial of longer recurrence. Such perception does not negate the hazards but a long event recurrence may be accepted as a reasonable risk for the human’s activity. Nevertheless, serious consideration should be given to potential problems and plan and build for amelioration and defense. The evidence of what environmentally did and could still happen in the Cala Gonone and similar other area is in part clearly imprinted on the landscape: geology, geomorphology, and relative details in the stratigraphy and sedimentology of the deposits.

Loess deposits are common in the mid-latitudes and are excellent records of past climate, landscape change and dust. However, loess deposits are seldom reported from Fennoscandia. Here we investigate two former glaciofluvial areas in central Sweden, Brattforsheden and Bonasheden, where post-glacial loess and sand dune activity have been documented previously. Based on detailed mapping, grain size, scanning electron microscopy and optically stimulated luminescence dating analyses, we confirm the presence of loess deposits at the sites and extend the known area of loess coverage. Our results suggest that loess deposits are more common than previously thought in Sweden. The results also demonstrate that basal parts of the loess are often mixed with underlying sediment, which may be a common feature of thin loess deposits close to former ice margins. Quartz luminescence is well suited for dating these deposits, but ages from the mixed basal loess layers are older than expected, while ages from undisturbed loess extend to c. 5 ka. The loess ages contrast with the timing of main dune activity in these areas, which is dominantly in the 1-3 kyr post-deglaciation (c. 10.9-10.5 cal kyr BP). We suggest that either sediment mixing during soil formation is responsible for the mid-Holocene loess ages, or that the loess deposits record periodic landscape destabilization into the mid-Holocene. Furthermore, there is a clear topographic control on aeolian sedimentary facies, with loess mantling high ground and dunes restricted to valleys. Loess deposits are also primarily found to the south and southwest of source areas, implying transport from the north and east. This pattern contrasts with evidence for NW winds inferred from associated sand dunes. At present, the reasons for this mismatch are unclear, although one possible explanation is that silts deposited at higher elevations were affected by Ekman flow deflection of NW surface winds.

Abstract This study focuses on the recent evolution of a shallow-water dunefield system off La Pelosa Beach, located in the wind-dominated, microtidal, asymmetrical Asinelli Strait (Stintino, NW Sardinia, Italy). The system comprises four zones defined by a gradual decrease in current strength from the strait centre to more distal parts that form different bedforms. The strait centre (Zone A) is a substrate-carved channel passing downcurrent to a vast sandy shoal characterized by a subaqueous dunefield (Zone B) that is surrounded by a sandwave–ripple carpet (Zone C). The strait margin (Zone D) is dominated by a sandy cusp, the so-called La Pelosa Beach system. The extensive seagrass meadow located on the SE side of the strait-end zone feeds the system with bioclastic-rich sands. This carbonate sedimentary load is ensured by natural seagrass meadow retreats that are possibly boosted by human impact. The sediment transport is modulated by the interaction between two opposite currents triggered by the east-incoming Greco/Levante and NW-incoming Mistral winds. These currents experience a great variability due to multi-annual fluctuations (4–6 years) of the prevailing wind activities. Such cyclicity is responsible for periodic dune migration and and transport from La Pelosa Beach out of the system below the active part of the submerged beach (depth of closure). Bedform formations (ripples, dunes and sandwaves) and migrations within the strait are the result of complex physical processes observed in modern environments but rarely described in rock formations. The presented conceptual model can be used to recognize sediment ‘spillover’ processes on other modern, microtidal, wind-dominated straits, as well as proposing the main criteria for recognizing this strait sedimentary succession in the geological record.

Purpose Loess in Northern Italy has been usually considered deposited during the MIS 4-2 period, which corresponds to the last Pleistocene glacial cycle. In particular, no absolute dating evidenced loess depositions older than ca. 89 ka. We investigated two strongly rubified soil profiles in the southern margin of the Alpine range in Lombardy to prove their aeolian origin and age of formation. Methods We analysed the granulometry of all genetic horizons of these strongly rubified soils, and a total of 8 samples were collected for luminescence dating purpose. Results Most of the analysed soil horizons were dominated by silt and were characterized by the s-shaped granulometric curve, typical of loess materials. A particularly high clay content evidenced a strong weathering degree. A deep horizon was particularly clay rich, and it was interpreted as a typical Terra-Rossa horizon. Luminescence dates increased with depth, reaching 122 ka for the deepest loess layer and 453 ka (minimum age) for the Terra-Rossa horizon. Conclusions The deepest observed loess layer represents the oldest quantitatively dated aeolian deposition in Northern Italy up to now.

Mapping and luminescence aging of raised marine terraces and aeolian ridges along an -90 km coastal stretch in southwestern Sicily provide the first quantitative assessment of vertical tectonic deformation in this region, which spans the frontal part of an active thrust belt. We recognized a staircase of eleven terraces and nine related aeolian ridges. The elevation profile of terraces parallel to the coast shows a >90 km long bell-shaped pattern, onto which shorter-wavelength (similar to 10 km long) undulations are superimposed. Luminescence ages from terraced beach deposits and aeolian sediments constrain the position of paleoshorelines formed during MIS 5e, 7a and 7c, with a maximum uplift rate of similar to 0.75 mm/a, and indicate a late Middle-Late Pleistocene (80-400 Ica) age for the sequence of terraces. The elevation of Lower Pleistocene morpho-depositional markers points that uplift may have occurred at similar rates at the beginning of the Early Pleistocene, but almost zeroed between similar to 1.5 and 0.4 Ma before the recent renewal. The uneven elevation of Middle-Upper Pleistocene paleoshorelines observed moving along the coast documents that uplift embeds both a regional and a local component. The regional, symmetric bellshaped uplift is related to involvement in the thrust belt of thicker crustal portions of the northern African continental margin. The short-wavelength undulations represent the local component and correspond to actively growing bedrock folds. The present study contributes to unravel the different spatial and temporal scales of deformation processes at a collisional margin. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Loess deposits are the most widespread terrestrial archive of past climate and environmental change. While several tens of metres thick loess-palaeosol sequences in central and eastern Europe record multiple glacial-interglacial cycles, substantially thinner deposits along the English Channel in north-western Europe may provide valuable “snapshots” of abrupt climatic and environmental changes in areas proximal to the North Atlantic. Recently, high-resolution luminescence dating of loess deposits at Pegwell Bay, SE England has enabled constraint of the timing of dust fall over south-east England to 25-19 ka when the British-Irish and Fennoscandian Ice sheets had coalesced and the associated strengthened high pressure system favoured dust entrainment from the exposed southern North Sea basin. Two phases of greatly enhanced dust deposition at the site are centred around 25-23.5 ka and 20-19 ka, contemporaneous with changes in North Sea ice sheet extent and ice dammed lake drainage. Such changes may have triggered abrupt flood events that would have greatly enhanced sediment supply potentially overriding the input from other sediment sources, e.g. major rivers like the Rhine. However, while the temporal link between ice sheet and dust dynamics is striking, this possibility remains untested due to lack of sufficiently source diagnostic provenance analyses of loess along the North Sea and Channel coasts. The use of single grain detrital zircon U-Pb age assemblages can discriminate different sources to loess in suitable settings. Given the geochronological heterogeneity of terranes that account for sediment input into the North Sea basin during the late last glacial ranging from Baltica in the east, Cadomia-Armorica in the south and Laurentia-Ganderia-Meguma-Avalonia in the north and west, detrital zircon ages have great promise to link changes in North Sea drainage with dust source activity. As such, high n detrital zircon age assemblages have here been analysed from two samples of loess deposited at Pegwell Bay during the two phases of enhanced dust deposition. Preliminary results indicate that glacifluvial sediments derived from both Scandinavia and Britain combined with input from major rivers draining central and western continental Europe act as dust source during the first phase while glacifluvial sediments from Britain dominate during the second phase linked to the final abrupt decay of the North Sea ice lobe. These findings based on single grain detrital zircon data alone highlight the method’s potential to detect abrupt dust source variability in a favourable scenario of heterogenous source terranes. They also emphasise the importance of abrupt changes in ice sheets and their drainage in controlling wider-scale, rapid and substantial changes in atmospheric dust emission in higher latitudes, and by extension possible subsequent climatic and environmental effects.

Intertidal coralline red algal build-ups (Lithophyllum byssoides rims or ridges) are considered precise sea level markers and mostly used for Holocene sea level history. Several well-preserved patches of relict red algal ridges crop out along the north-west Sardinian coast (Mediterranean Sea, Italy) and have great potential in reconstructing the late Pleistocene sea level history of the western Mediterranean. The aim of this paper is to determine the sedimentary characteristics of the relict Lithophyllum byssoides build-ups cropping out along the Sardinian NW coast and to demonstrate how these can be used as past sea-level indicators. To establish a chronological framework for these deposits, luminescence dating (both quartz OSL and K-feldspar pIRIR(290)) has been applied and allows for the Lithophyllum byssoides ridge formation to be assigned to Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5e (132-112 ka). The studied relict ridges confirmed that MIS 5e sea-level was at least at 4 m above present, well matching the widely accepted last interglacial global sea-level curves. Hence, fossil Lithophyllum byssoides ridges can be used as stratigraphic and chronologic indicators of late Pleistocene sea-level. Moreover, the study has underlined that Lithophyllum byssoides may grow: (1) in sheltered places along high cliffy coasts forming bench-like structures, and (2) in high-energy environments on wave cut platforms around fallen blocks or potholes, first as isolated mounds and then merging to form reef-like structures. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Precise dating of the activity of Late Pleistocene to Holocene neo‐tectonic structures is crucial to quantify the rate of deformation in low‐seismicity regions. Sardinia is a relatively stable continental fragment set in the middle of the tectonically active Western Mediterranean belt. This paper provides evidences of significant uplift of northwest Sardinia that support an ongoing tectonic activity since the Marine Isotopic Stage 7 (MIS 7; ca. 220 ka). In particular, it documents for the first time Late Pleistocene to Holocene tectonics based on luminescence dating of travertine sealing a major NNE‐SSW fault.

ABSTRACT The Alghero Bay is a coastal area of high economic value because of the presence of one of the most popular beaches of Sardinia (San Giovanni, Maria Pia, Le Bombarde, Lazzaretto). The organisms living in the meadow of Posidonia oceanica, which densely cover the offshore areas of the bay, represent the most important source of sediments to these beaches. For this reason, a detailed mapping of the local seabed features and distribution of P. oceanica constitutes an important tool for the coastal managing of the area. The integrated use of several methodologies, such as Side Scan Sonar, Remote Operating Vehicle, Drone and direct sediment sampling has allowed us to realize a very detailed seafloor map of the Alghero Bay.

Loess deposits are globally important dust archives but are often limited by imprecise chronological control. In particular, loess records adjacent to former ice sheets seldom have detailed, independent age models yet have the potential to elucidate the causes of past high latitude (>50° N in Northern Hemisphere) coarse dust emission close to former ice sheets, a relatively poorly known aspect of past dust dynamics. Loess deposits in southern Britain were formed in close proximity to western parts of the last glacial Eurasian ice sheets. However, currently their age and accumulation rate remain poorly known, limiting interpretation of the controls on last glacial coarse dust emission and deposition in the region. Here we apply high sampling resolution quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to constrain the timing of dust accumulation and loess formation at the Pegwell Bay site in east Kent, SE England. The OSL ages and Bayesian (Bacon) age modelling results are the most detailed to date for western European loess, and show that loess began to accumulate around c. 25 ka, coinciding with Heinrich event 2 and the coupling of Fennoscandian and British-Irish ice sheets. There were two phases of greatly enhanced dust accumulation at the site, at 25-23.5 ka and 20-19 ka, separated by a lower accumulation rate period. Loess accumulation appears to have stopped or been dramatically reduced after 19-18 ka. We propose that the dynamics of the British-Irish and Fennoscandian Ice Sheets, associated glacial lake drainage, and linked reorganisations of atmospheric circulation, act to control loess accumulation at the site. In particular, we argue that both periods of enhanced dust accumulation were caused by advance-retreat phases of the North Sea ice lobe, and associated drainage of Dogger Lake. These events would have led to abrupt input of sediment-rich ice dammed lake and melt water from northern and eastern England and the North Sea into the exposed southern North Sea basin. This would have dramatically increased sediment availability for transport and deposition as loess in SE England. Easterly and north-easterly winds that could have transported this dust to SE England would have been enhanced by presence of an ice sheet anticyclone, enlarged during Fennoscandian and British-Irish ice sheet coalescence, as well as katabatic winds and easterly flow occurring on the northern side of Atlantic cyclones forced south of southern Britain by the extended western British-Irish ice sheet. As such, last glacial dust dynamics and loess accumulation in Britain is highly influenced by the interaction of the British-Irish and Fennoscandian ice sheets, Atlantic storm tracks, and the topography and drainage of the exposed North Sea basin.

The Corsica-Sardinia block is a lithospheric fragment whose recent role in the geodynamics of the central-Western Mediterranean basin is still enigmatic. The most recent regional structure in Sardinia is the Plio-Pleistocene Campidano Basin, which is considered in a 'post-rift' stage since the Middle Pleistocene. New structural and stratigraphic geological surveys along with luminescence ages provide evidence to support an ongoing tectonic activity since the Marine Isotopic Stage 7 (MIS7; ca. 220 ka) on the Sinis peninsula, the structural high that bounds the north-western side of the Campidano Basin. In particular, this paper reveals for the first time the presence of N-S striking normal faults system offsetting late Pleistocene aeolianites (130 +/- 12 ka; 82 +/- 9 ka).