Intra-Tyrrhenian cooling event deduced by non-marine mollusc assemblage at Villa S. Giorgio (Livorno, Italy)

This paper deals with an interesting non-marine mollusc assemblage found in a sandy-mud deposit comprised between two calcarenitic layers linked to marine environment and correlated with oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 5e and 5c. The ecological and environmental characteristics of the recovered species suggest a woodland environment with abundant open areas and local marshy areas subject to frequent drying up. The presence of species quite characteristic of mountainous areas suggest conditions cooler than today. Stable isotope analyses performed on some well-preserved shells suggest a mean annual temperature of about 1°C lower than the present in the study area. According to these features, the non-marine mollusc assemblage is correlated with OIS 5d.