The Corchia Cave (Alpi Apuane): a 2 Ma long temporal window on the Earth climate
85° Congresso Nazionale della Società Geologica Italiana - Pisa, 2010
Monte Corchia is one of the most typical geological structure of the Alpi Apuane but this is not the only peculiar aspect of this territory. Within a very small area it is possible to combine structural geology, marble exploitation, geomorphology and ore deposits. The last point is of worth of interest because the area has been the subject of ore exploitation until the recent past. Within the marble succession of the Corchia synclinal core develops the longest Italian cave with 52 km of passages and galleries. Ongoing researches are exploring the huge paleoclimatic archives preserved within the carbonate concretion of the cave and are reconstructing, with extreme detail the climatic and environmental evolution of this sector of the Mediterranean basin.
DOI 10.3301/GFT.2011.02