BELLOTTI P., CAPUTO C., DAVOLI L., EVANGELISTA S. & PUGLIESE F.
Sedimentological and morphological evolution of the Crati River delta (Calabria, Italy)
Pages 25-32
Abstract
The Crati River is the main river in Calabria. It s lower part run s through the plain of Sibari , and flows into the Ionian Sea where it builds a cuspate delt a. Features and evolution of the emerged delta are inferred, over the last 3000 years, from historic and archaeological data going back to the foundatio n of Siba ri. Infilled lagoons and beach -ridges mark the delta progradation. Medium-coarse sand forms the beaches, medium-fine one developes the dunes , while sandy mud domi nates the inner areas as the product of repea ted floods. Mud pr evails in the palaeochannels . Sandy and gravelly bodies packed in pelitic sediments showing depos itional regression make the Pleistocene-Holocene sedime nta ry facies sequence. Delta front and upper prodelta are not well developed. A part of sediments bypasses and feeds the deep-sea basin through canyons headed near the river mouth.