40Ar/39Ar geochronologic and paleoenvironmental constraints to glacial termination III and MIS 7e, 7c, and 7a sea level fluctuations on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast of Italy

We provide detailed sedimentological, paleontological, and tephrochronological data on a complex sedimentary succession cropping out in the Tyrrhenian coastal area of central Italy, which was deposited in response to sea-level rise during MIS 7, coeval with the Latera phase of activity in the Vulsini Volcanic District. Diffuse intercalations of primary volcanic layers erupted during this phase and their geochronologic and chemostratigraphical characterization based on ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating and EMP analyses, allowed for the identification of three stacked aggradational successions separated by erosive phases and their correlation with the Oxygen isotope record and phases in the relative sea-level curve. The ages of the tephra layers strictly frame the sedimentation in the interval of 253–206 ka, providing independent dating to glacial Termination III and to the three sea-level oscillations during MIS 7e, 7c, and 7a.

Moreover, micro- and macrofaunal-based analyses provide information on the paleoenvironments and bathymetry during the highstands, which complement the geomorphological analysis reconstructing the inner edges of the corresponding marine terraces, allowing us to assess precise maximum sea level reached during MIS 7e and MIS 7a.

The results of this multidisciplinary study enable us to establish in great detail the chronology, dynamics, relative amplitude, and effects of the sea-level fluctuations in the Tyrrhenian Sea during the whole MIS 7, providing independent, precise geochronological constraints for this period.