MORPHOMETRIC RECONSTITUTION OF A SERIES O F PALEOSHORELINES IN A DISSECTED RELIEF IN LOCRIDE (IONIAN CALABRIA, ITALY)

On the Ionian coast of Southern Calabria the Locride counts a series o f no less than twenty four uplifted Pleistocene shorelines ranging bet ween 345 m in altitude and the present sea level. Shaped in Pliocene a nd Calabrian calcarenite and marls, the relief is dissected. In opposi tion to other formerly studied Calabrian shorelines, there are no wave -cut platforms of great extension; shorelines present short segments l ocated on interfluves separated from one another by valleys of unequal width. Despite this dissection, a reconstitution of the shorelines ha s been carried out by linking, sometimes undoubtedly, the shoreline se gments observed on interfluves. The presence of a marine accumulation, the Locri formation, with an exceptional thickness (at least 80 m) co mpared to other marine sediments posterior to the Calabrian period, is a useful mark for reconstituting the series of shorelines according t o their different altitudes in relation to this deposit.Along the doze n kilometers of the studied coastline, the uplift shows no significant inequalities, although deformations such as faults or fallen blocks h ave been observed in the Locri formation and in marine terrace sedimen ts posterior to this formation. In comparison with the Reggio of Calab ria area (located about 40 km to the west) where paleoshorelines have been dated, there are two correlation hypotheses: one corresponds to a mean uplift rate of 0.87 m/ka in Locride against 1.21 m near Reggio, the other one corresponds to a similar uplift rate around 1.20 m/ka in both regions.