The Application of a Subtidal Foraminifera-Based Transfer Function to Reconstruct Holocene Paleobathymetry of the Po Delta, Northern Adriatic Sea

This study evaluates the potential of a foraminifera-based transfer function to reconstruct the Holocene paleobathymetric evolution of the Po Delta area (northern Adriatic Sea). The Northern Adriatic Transfer Function (NATF) is based upon the largest modern Adriatic database existing in the literature (Jorissen, 1988). The performance of the NATF suggests a strong relationship between observed and foraminifera-predicted water depths (r(jack)(2) = 0.95) with relatively precise reconstructions (RMSE = similar to 5 m) within the depth range of 8 to 100 m. We applied the NATF to a fossil marine succession in 40-meter-long core from the southern part of the modern Po Delta. The transfer function produced a shallowing-upward trend of paleowater depths from about 30 to 10 m within the interval of 5500-400 cal yr BP.
The deepest reconstructed water depths (>18 m) are from the inner shelf deposits at the base of the marine succession (similar to 29-27 m core depths). The transition to a prodelta setting at 4700 cal yr BP is associated with oscillations in water-depth reconstructions and should be treated with caution because of the unstable and complex paleoenvironmental conditions. Thereafter, from core depths of similar to 27 to 15 m, shallower paleowater depths (