Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171

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Sedimentary Geology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/sedgeo

Invited review

Alluvial fans and megafans along the southern side of the Alps
Alessandro Fontana a,⁎, Paolo Mozzi a, Mauro Marchetti b
a
Università degli Studi di Padova, Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Via Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy
b
Dipartimento di Educazione e Scienze Umane, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Viale Allegri 9, 42121 Reggio Emilia, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The foreland basin of the southern European Alps is characterized by large fan-shaped alluvial systems fed by the
Received 11 February 2013 main montane valleys and these depositional systems present an extent of 300–3000 km2, with a length of
Received in revised form 7 September 2013 30–70 km. Most of them are megafans, characterized by evident longitudinal differentiation in which steep pied-
Accepted 10 September 2013
mont sector consists of amalgamated gravels, while the distal portion has a gradient b 2‰ and is dominated by
Available online 20 September 2013
fine sediments. The major depositional phase occurred between 26 and 19 kyr cal BP during the Last Glacial
Keywords:
Maximum (LGM) marine lowstand, when the Alpine glaciers reached the plain and fed the related fluvioglacial
Northern Italy systems. The easternmost megafans also partly extended on the Adriatic shelf whereas, west from Garda Lake,
Po Plain their downstream development was limited by the Po River plain. The thickness of LGM alluvial sedimentation
Alluvial megafan ranges between 30 and 15 m and pinches out about 25 km off the present coast. Soon after ice decay,
Last Glacial Maximum after 19–17 kyr cal BP, sediment delivery from Alpine catchments to the plain dramatically decreased
Holocene and in the central Alps large intramontane lakes formed, trapping almost all the bedload. Thus, the ratio between
sediment and water discharge dramatically decreased and an erosive phase affected the LGM megafans and fans,
leading the rivers to entrench for tens of meters. The funneling effect created by the fluvial incisions allowed the
gravels to arrive tens of kilometers further downstream than in the LGM. In the Venetian–Friulian megafans a
single valley formed in the piedmont sector, while 2–5 incised valleys developed in the distal sector. These latter
valleys have been almost completely filled by a depositional lobe formed in the last 8 kyr, partly triggered by Ho-
locene sea-level rise. The Alpine tributaries of the river Po still flow along a single incised valley from their
megafan apex to the junction with the Po and they have not yet been affected by sea-level influence.
© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Alluvial megafans are very large fan-shaped landforms built by
river activity that mostly occur in the foreland basin of uplifting
mountain belts (e.g. Geddes, 1960; DeCelles and Cavazza, 1999;
Leier et al., 2005; Weissmann et al., 2010). Because of their large di-
mensions, normally N 103 km2, they may not be recognized in the
field and most of them have been only recently identified through re-
mote sensing (e.g. Hartley et al., 2010; Wilkinson et al., 2010; Zani
et al., 2012; Davidson et al., 2013). As several megafans lie in scarcely
populated or remote areas with difficult access (e.g. Latrubesse et al.,
2012), field survey was often limited. Therefore, their sedimentary,
stratigraphic and geomorphologic characteristics are seldom well
known in detail. In this respect, a peculiar situation characterizes
the large alluvial fan-shaped bodies deposited at the mouth of the
main valleys of southern Alps and extending to the alluvial plain of
northern Italy.
This area is often indicated as the Po Plain but, more properly, the sec-
tor east from Garda Lake corresponds to the Venetian–Friulian Plain
(VFP), that was formed by alluvial systems that were not tributaries of
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0498279118; fax: +39 0498279134.
E-mail address: alessandro.fontana@unipd.it (A. Fontana).
the Po River. The Alpine sector of the Po Plain between Garda Lake and
Ticino River is often known as the Lombard Plain (LP), whereas the
southern sector of the central Po Plain is called the Emilian Plain (Fig. 1).
Large fan-shaped alluvial systems of the LP were analyzed by
Marchetti (1992) and Guzzetti et al. (1997), while the largest alluvial
systems of the VFP were described as megafans because of their dimen-
sions and downstream change of lithofacies, from piedmont gravels to
silts and clays (Mozzi et al., 2003; Bondesan and Meneghel, 2004;
Fontana et al., 2004; Mozzi, 2005; Fontana et al., 2008, 2010). In this
area, a wealth of geological and geomorphological data have been col-
lected since the end of the 19th century, not only by geologists, but
also by hydrogeological, geotechnical and oil research. The situation
allows us to describe and investigate the formation phases of the
fans and megafans that surround the southern Alps from the Karst
Plateau to the Ticino River; this work is a review that tries to point
out their general characteristics, chronology and driving factors.
The paper focuses especially on the VFP, where much surface and
subsoil information was recently collected, and on the LP, where de-
tailed geomorphologic and some stratigraphic data are available.
The term alluvial megafan is generally used for the fan-shaped land-
forms built by river activity with an extent of N 103 km2 (DeCelles and
Cavazza, 1999; Horton and DeCelles, 2001; Leier et al., 2005;
Weissmann et al., 2010). Few of the systems lying along the southern

0037-0738/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2013.09.003
 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171
Fig. 1. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of Northern Italy derived by the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission data (SRTM).
Alps satisfy this condition, where many of the Alpine large fans range
between 200 and 1000 km2. This poses a question on the proper term
to describe such fan-shaped features with clear longitudinal differentia-
tion from a gravelly proximal sector with average gradient 3–8‰ to a
distal sector dominated by fine sediments and gradient b 1‰. Despite
their relatively small dimensions, the megafans on the Italian side of
the Alps offer the rare opportunity to study extensive alluvial sedimen-
tary bodies which were fed by glaciated mountain basins. The megafans
prograded on the temporarily exposed continental shelf of the Adriatic
Sea during Pleistocene glaciations, while they interacted with rising
sea level and marine deposition during interglacial periods, as in the
Holocene. This setting allows us to tentatively link the phases that char-
acterized the evolution of fans and megafans in a sequence stratigraphic
perspective, comparing forcing factors of Alpine and regional origin
with global glacio-eustatic variations.
2. Regional setting
2.1. Tectonic framework
The Po and Venetian–Friulian plains lie in the foreland basin situated
between the southern Alps, Dinarides and Apennines (Boccaletti et al.,
1990; Gasperi, 2001; Ghielmi et al., 2010). The south-Alpine foredeep de-
veloped from the Eocene to upper Miocene in relation to crustal
flexuring by the south-verging southern Alpine thrusts, leading to the
deposition of a thick molasse succession (Massari et al., 1986; Gelati
et al., 1988, 1992; Stefani et al., 2007). The accretion of the north-
verging Apennine thrusts and the subduction of Adriatic plate controlled
the development of the Po Plain-Adriatic foredeep since the Miocene
(Carminati et al., 2003; Cuffaro et al., 2010). Synsedimentary tectonics
related to the development of the outermost buried thrusts of Apennines
have been deforming the Plio-Pleistocene basin fill while, in the western
Po Plain, the northernmost Apennine thrusts reached and displaced the
southernmost Alpine thrusts (CNR, 1990–1992; Ghielmi et al., 2010;
Fig. 2). Plio-Quaternary deposits have a maximum thickness of 4–8 km
along the Apennines fringe, and thin northward. Thicknesses are about
1 km near Venice and less than 500 m in the Friulian and Lombard plains
(CNR, 1990–1992).
151
Active uplift driven by frontal south Alpine thrusts is evidenced by
morphotectonic features in the piedmont plain, such as surface faulting
of middle and late Pleistocene sediments (e.g. in western LP: Zanchi
et al., 1997; in the VFP: Favero and Grandesso, 1982; Mozzi, 2005;
Zanferrari et al., 2008a) and the formation of tectonic terraces (e.g. the
isolated hills of Pozzuolo, Ciliverghe, Castenedolo, Monte Netto; Tellini
and Pellegrini, 2001). Topographic leveling surveys confirm ongoing
tectonic uplift of the plain NW of Milan, with increasing rates from 0.5
to 1.5 mm yr−1 towards the Maggiore Lake area (Arca and Beretta,
1985). Along the coast a general Quaternary subsiding trend is related
to crustal flexuring induced by the Apennines (Carminati et al., 2003).
Subsidence values increase from 0.3 to 0.4 mm yr−1, east of Venice, to
N1 mm yr−1 in the Po Delta (Antonioli et al., 2009). Earthquakes
bMw6.6 are generated in the eastern Alps between Veneto and
Slovenia (Burrato et al, 2008), while events with Mw b 6.1 relate to
more external Apennine thrusts, buried in the Po Plain between Ferrara
and Parma (Anzidei et al., 2012; Galli et al., 2012).
The mountain catchment of the Friulian, Venetian and eastern
Lombard rivers falls in the Dinaric and south-Alpine tectonic units,
which consist of predominant sedimentary rocks (mostly lime-
stones, dolostones and marls). Low-grade metamorphic (phyllites
and micaschists), volcanic (rhyolite to basalts) and plutonic rocks
(granites to gabbros), as well as magmatic rocks are concentrated
in the watersheds of Brenta, Adige, Mincio, Chiese and Oglio rivers
(Schmid et al., 2004; Compagnoni and Galluzzo, 2005). The headwa-
ters of the Oglio River are located in the Austroalpine domain, where
the exposed bedrock mostly consists of gneiss, migmatites, micaschists
and phyllites (CNR, 1990–1992). The upper catchment of the Adda and
Ticino rivers includes part of the Penninic Units, which are predomi-
nantly characterized by gneiss and micaschists (CNR, 1990–1992;
Compagnoni and Galluzzo, 2005).
2.2. Pleistocene glaciations and the fluvial record
The first evidence for the influence of glaciations in the sedimentary
evolution of the Po Plain dates around 0.87 Myr (Muttoni et al., 2003).
In that period the valley glaciers of the southern Alps reached the valley
mouth for the first time, boosting the sedimentation of the Alpine rivers
152 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171

8° 12°
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Fig. 2. Structural sketch of Northern Italy. Legend: 1) Plio-Quaternary alluvial and coastal deposits; 2) South-Alpine and Dynaric units, 2a) metamorphic; 3) Australpine units; 4) Pennine
unit, 4a) internal massifs; 5) Elvetic units, 5a) external massifs; 6) volcanic rocks; 7) plutonic rocks; 8) top-wedge basin; 9) Apennines; 10) thrusts; 11) main faults; 12) watershed of Po
and southern Alpine rivers.
Modified from Compagnoni and Galluzzo (2005); Garzanti et al. (2012).

in the plain and favoring the progradation of their alluvial fans (Scardia
et al., 2010). The rapid growth of transverse alluvial systems led the lon-
gitudinal trunk river of the Po basin to shift southward (Vezzoli and
Garzanti, 2009; Garzanti et al., 2011). Enhanced sedimentary input
from the recurrently glaciated Alpine area is consistent with the overall
regressive trend and progradation recorded during the middle and
upper Pleistocene in the Po Delta (Amorosi et al., 2004), in Venice
(Kent et al., 2002; Massari et al., 2004) and in the Friulian Plain (Pini
et al., 2009; Fontana et al., 2010).
Morainic amphitheaters characterize the mouth of major Alpine val-
leys (Fig. 1); they mainly consist of terminal moraines dating to the Last
Glacial Maximum (LGM), but older morainic ridges can be present
(Venzo, 1977; Orombelli, 1983; Cremaschi, 1987; Bini, 1997a; Bavec
et al., 2004; Carraro and Giardino, 2004; Castiglioni, 2004; Monegato
et al., 2007; Gianotti et al., 2008). Fluvioglacial and fluvial deposits relat-
ed to the glaciation that occurred at the end of Marine Isotopic Stage
(MIS) 6 (Riss glaciation Auctorum) are also found on the distal plain
(Amorosi and Colalongo, 2005; Fontana et al., 2010). These continental
sediments were later partly buried by highstand paralic deposits of the
last interglacial (i.e. MIS 5.5). At that time the coastline was in a more
inland position than the present and, because of the differential subsi-
dence following deposition, the base of the interglacial lagoon sedi-
ments is now found around −50 m asl near Grado Lagoon, −60 m
near Venice and −100 m from Po Delta to the south (Antonioli et al.,
2009).
During the early and middle Würm, which comprises the MIS 4
cooling period, the southern Alpine glaciers did not arrive in the plain.
Limited sedimentation took place in the VFP, as evidenced in its distal
portion by the formation of peaty layers with a thickness of 1–3 m
(Fontana et al., 2010). Also in the southern sector of the LP organic-rich
layers can be found at a depth of 10–20 m, buried by LGM sedimentation
(Bersezio et al., 2004, 2007; Amorosi et al., 2008b; Garzanti et al., 2011;
Ravazzi et al., 2012a).
During the LGM the valley glaciers reached the southern Alpine
piedmont for the last time. A two-fold glacial advance has been recog-
nized in the Tagliamento end-moraine system, with the peaks at
26.5–23 and 24–21 kyr cal BP, respectively (Monegato et al., 2007).
The LGM glacial advance in the Piave amphitheater at Vittorio Vene-
to was radiocarbon dated at 21.0–20.5 kyr cal BP (Carton et al.,
2009). In the Garda amphitheater luminescence datings suggest
that the last glacial advance took place after 18.7 ± 2.1 kyr cal BP
(Ferraro, 2009), while radiocarbon datings and pollen investigations
indicate that the amphitheater was already largely deglaciated
around 17 kyr cal BP (Ravazzi et al., 2012c). West from Garda Lake
the LGM glacial advances are generally poorly dated and the position
of the glacial fronts is still partly debated (Bini, 1997a, 1997b). In the
Oglio mountain catchment the glacier had already cleared the lower
reaches of the valleys at 18.3–16.9 kyr cal BP (Ravazzi et al., 2012b).
In the Verbano and Lario amphitheaters, the area presently occupied
by Maggiore and Como lakes, the LGM glacial advance began be-
tween 25 and 20 and ended before 15 14C kyr BP (Bini, 1997a).
The LGM expansion of Alpine glaciers correlates with an important
sedimentation phase in the LP and VFP. These fluvioglacial and fluvial
deposits are still cropping out in many areas, especially in the LP,

Fig. 3. Scheme of the large alluvial fans and megafans along the southern side of the Alps. Symbols: (1) river, (2) upper limit of the spring belt, (3) fluvial scarp, (4) inner limit of Holocene
lagoon deposits, (5) mountains and hills, (6) tectonic terraces, (7) middle and lower Pleistocene alluvial deposits (“ferretto” Auctorum), (8) moraine amphitheater, (9) undifferentiated
LGM deposits, (10) post-LGM fluvial incision, (11) Po Plain, (12) Adige alluvial plain, (13) alluvial unit related to major groundwater-fed rivers, (14) Holocene coastal deposits.
 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171 153

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154 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171
where the post-LGM alluvial activity of Alpine rivers concentrated only
along a few large incised valleys, up to the junction with the Po River
(Castiglioni, 1997). In the LP this LGM relict alluvial surface is also
known as “Livello fondamentale della pianura” (i.e. the “Po Plain main
level”) (Petrucci and Tagliavini, 1969; Cremaschi, 1987; Marchetti,
1992; Castiglioni, 2001). In the VFP, mid-to-late Holocene fluvial and
coastal deposits have partially covered the distal reach of the LGM fluvi-
al systems, even though large sectors still crop out along the Adriatic
coast near Venice and Marano lagoons (Fontana, 2006; Mozzi et al.,
2013).
2.3. Climate and hydrography
The climate of the plain areas in northern Italy is temperate with
hot summer (Cfa in the Köppen classification), shifting to fresh (Cfc)
in the hills and cold DfH, or even polar climate (ET), in the mountain
valleys and highest peaks (Pinna, 1982). Precipitation in the Alps has
a maximum in autumn and a secondary peak in spring, when snow
melt occurs, which feeds the rivers between April and May (see
Fig. S1 in the on-line supporting material). Large glaciers are present
only in the watersheds of the Dora Riparia, Ticino, Adda, Oglio,
Chiese, and Adige rivers and support summer water discharge.
Mean annual rainfall reaches the highest values in the more external
portion of the southern Alps, as orographic precipitation by moist
and mild air masses of Mediterranean origin. Maximum rainfall values
are reached in the eastern Alps, with about 2000–2500 mm yr−1 and
a peak of 3000–3500 mm yr−1 in eastern Friuli and Slovenia, where ex-
treme events with 100–250 mm/day can occur (Cicogna, 2008; Rusjan
et al., 2009).
Large sectors of the medium and distal plain are characterized by a
dense network of minor river courses. These are groundwater-fed rivers
supplied by a spring belt known as fascia delle risorgive, which extends
from the foot of the Karst Plateau to the western Po Plain (Minelli,
2001). This 5–20 km wide belt separates the gravel-dominated pied-
mont plain (high plain) from the fine-grained distal plain (low plain).
Extensive swamps characterized the spring belt in the past, which
have been almost completely reclaimed in the last centuries for agricul-
ture purposes. Land reclamation has also involved most of the coastal
swamps and lagoons that used to rim the Adriatic coast, presently
below sea level (Bondesan et al., 1995; Fig. 1).
One of the most characteristic features of the southern Alps is the
large lakes nested in some of the major valleys (e.g. Garda, Iseo, Lecco-
Como and Maggiore lakes). They occupy the deep depressions left by
the withdrawal of LGM glaciers and regulate the discharge of several
important Alpine rivers. Their formation probably resented of an early
control by the Messinian incised valley network, which reached a
depth of 600 m below present sea level (Finckh et al., 1984; Felber
and Bini, 1997).
3. Alluvial fans and megafans in the southern Alpine piedmont:
concepts and methods
Large alluvial fans along the Italian side of the Alps were de-
scribed since the end of the 19th century (e.g. Stella, 1895), but
they were restricted to the gravelly apical portions, which are rela-
tively steep (N3‰) (e.g. Feruglio, 1925; Stefanini and Cucchi, 1977;
Marchetti, 1992; Castiglioni, 1997; Guzzetti et al., 1997). However,
many of the major alluvial systems fed by the Alps are characterized
by a fan planform also in the clayey-silty distal portion of the plain.
Therefore, the megafan concept can be more efficient in describing
Fig. 4. Schematic geological map of the plains along southern Alps. Legend: (1) bathymetric contour line (m), (2) upper limit of the spring belt, (3) fluvial scarp, (4) inner position of
Holocene lagoon deposits, (5a) trace of topographic profiles of Fig. 5, (5b) cross-sections cited in the paper, (6) sites cited in the text, (7) tectonic terraces, (8) mountains, (9) pre-LGM
deposits, (10) LGM alluvial deposits, (11) Pleistocene end-moraines systems, (12) transgressive deposits in the Adriatic sea floor (mainly coastal and lagoon sediments), (13) post-
LGM alluvial and coastal deposits, (14) present lagoons and highstand deposits in the Adriatic sea floor.
After Fontana et al. (2008) for the Venetian Friulian Plain; Trincardi et al. (2011) for the Adriatic shelf.
these depositional bodies in their entirety. The term alluvial megafan
started to be applied in the VFP (Mozzi et al., 2003; Bondesan and
Meneghel, 2004; Fontana et al., 2004; Mozzi, 2005; Fontana, 2006;
Fontana et al., 2008) and more recently in the LP (Ravazzi et al.,
2012a).
In this paper, the term megafan refers to landforms with a longitudi-
nal axis longer than 30 km and larger than 300 km2. Fans and megafans
have been mapped through the analysis of surface topography, shallow
stratigraphy, soil characteristics and petrographic composition (Figs. 3,
4). Surface topography and morphometry (Table 1, Fig. 5) are based
on the raster DEM TinItaly (Tarquini et al., 2007), with cell size of
10 × 10 m and a decimetric precision for the elevation values. In the
VFP the DEM was obtained from isolines of 0.5 m below 10 m asl and
of 1 m above this altitude (Mozzi, 2005; Fontana, 2006; Ninfo et al.,
2011; Mozzi et al., 2013).
Palaeochannels have been recognized in aerial photographs, satellite
images and geomorphological maps (Sorbini et al., 1984; Cavallin et al.,
1987; Cremaschi, 1987; Marchetti, 1992; Castiglioni, 1997; Bondesan
et al., 2004; Bonomi et al., 2005; Fontana, 2006). The age and the char-
acteristics of soils and surfaces have been analyzed from published
sources and maps (Comel et al., 1982; Comel and Vitturi, 1983; ERSAL,
1987; Trincardi and Argnani, 2001; Michelutti et al., 2003; Bondesan
et al., 2004; ARPAV, 2005; Michelutti et al., 2007; Tosi et al., 2007a,b;
Bondesan et al., 2008; Garlato and Della Rosa, 2008; Ragazzi and
Zamarchi, 2008; Zanferrari et al., 2008a,b,c; Piccin and Berra, 2010;
Piccin et al., 2010; Trincardi et al., 2011; Cucato et al., 2012; Fontana
et al., 2012) in order to identify the timing of fan deposition.
4. The large fan-shaped bodies south of the Alps
The main geomorphological and stratigraphic characteristics of
the megafans and major fans mapped in Figs. 3, 4 are reported in
this paragraph. Table 1 and Fig. 5 show topography and morphomet-
ric parameters.
4.1. Venetian–Friulian Plain
4.1.1. Isonzo megafan
The megafan of Isonzo River (Soča in Slovenian) is limited to the east
by the scarp of the Karst Plateau and some active structures affect the
late Quaternary deposits even in the distal sector (Cimolino et al.,
2010). The carbonate component of the sediments is N80%. In the pied-
mont tract the river flows incised for 30–10 m in the LGM deposit
whereas, downstream from the spring belt, the Holocene sediments
bury almost completely the LGM surface (Arnaud-Fassetta et al., 2003;
Marocco, 2010). This surface has a gradient of about 1‰, consists of
fine-dominated sediments, and continues on to the Adriatic shelf, as de-
tected by geophysical surveys (Gordini et al., 2003; Trincardi et al.,
2011). Only 30 km separate the valley mouth from the coast and fine
gravels can be found in the mouth bars (Marizza, 1956; Venturini,
2003).
4.1.2. Torre, Cormor and Corno of S. Daniele systems
These alluvial systems formed the eastern and central outwash plain
of the LGM Tagliamento glacier. Torre and Cormor formed megafans
with a fine-dominated distal sector, while the alluvial system of
Corno, which was constrained by the larger systems of Cormor and
Tagliamento, built only a minor gravelly fan (Marchetti, 2001;
Zanferrari et al., 2008a; Fontana et al., in press). After deglaciation
Cormor and Corno catchments contracted to a very local extent. Both
 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171 155

13°
CH A Gemona

F I A
Maniago
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iver
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Po
Valenza Piacenza
Po
Voghera Suzzara R ive
r
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9° 11° Mirandola
a
1 -20 2 3 4 5 6 2 7
b d

8 9 10 11 12 13 14
156 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171
creeks ended near the spring line, but Cormor was artificially channeled
to reach the Marano Lagoon in 1954 (Fontana, 2006). Torre stream is
presently a tributary of Isonzo and in the proximal sector of the plain
it flows incised for 20–10 m into the LGM deposits, whereas it formed
a limited post-LGM lobe in the distal plain.
4.1.3. Tagliamento megafan
The Tagliamento megafan is characterized by a classical fan-shaped
planform, with a well-delineated apex; up to the spring line the river
flows in an incised valley, cut into the LGM deposits, with scarps lower-
ing progressively from 70 to 0 m (Paiero and Monegato, 2003). Down-
stream from the spring line the river formed a post-LGM lobe that, in
the very distal sector, interacted with the sea level during the last 8 kyr
(Fontana, 2006). Sediments are 70–85% carbonate (Comel et al., 1982).
The interfluve between Tagliamento, Cormor and Corno fans is
marked by the Stella River, a major groundwater-fed river, which has
an average discharge of 40 m3 s−1 (Minelli, 2001). On the western
side, the lower Tagliamento megafan is separated from the Piave
megafan by the Livenza River, which is fed by groundwater springs
and by the karst springs draining the Cansiglio Massif. Tagliamento
River is characterized by a dramatic ratio between the average water
discharge (100 m3 s−1) and the peak flood (4500–5000 m3 s−1), that
makes it behave like a torrent (Marinelli, 1922; Tockner et al., 2003).
4.1.4. Cellina and Meduna fans
Cellina and Meduna streams built very steep gravelly fans during
LGM and Lateglacial (Castiglioni, 1979; Avigliano et al., 2002a,b). In
the proximal sector their Holocene channel belts are bounded by a se-
ries of convergent scarps cut in the LGM sediments, that have a maxi-
mum elevation of about 50 m for Cellina and 40 m for Meduna.
Cellina stream formed a Holocene gravelly lobe near the spring belt,
while Meduna builts a larger unit, elongated along the present river di-
rection, between LGM lobes of Tagliamento and Cellina (Zanferrari et al.,
2008b). Cellina and Meduna have variable discharges and a strong car-
bonate composition (N85%).
4.1.5. Piave system
The Piave River drains large part of the Dolomites and its sediments
are 50–70% carbonate, with a significant magmatic component
(Jobstraibizer and Malesani, 1973; Stefani, 2002). Piave flows out of
the Alps from the gorge of Nervesa and formed a LGM megafan with a
fine-dominated distal portion (Mozzi, 2005; Carton et al., 2009). The
post-LGM lobe is quite large and partly covered the LGM surface, but
without significant fan-head downcutting.
The Montebelluna megafan was formed by the Piave River when it
used to flow west of the Montello Hill through the Montebelluna gap.
This megafan has a pre-LGM age, tentatively attributed to MIS 6 on
the basis of the maturity of soils and the regional geological framework
(Carton et al., 2009). Subsurface investigations recognize the continuity
of Montebelluna system between 15–30 m under the eastern wing of
the LGM Brenta megafan for some tens of kilometers downstream
(Bondesan et al., 2002), supporting its definition as a megafan (Mozzi,
2005). The boundaries between Piave, Montebelluna and Brenta
megafans are evidenced by the Sile River, the largest groundwater-fed
river in Italy. In the last centuries the paths of Piave, Sile and Brenta riv-
ers have been strongly affected by human intervention in order to avoid
sedimentation inside the Venice Lagoon and to allow the reclamation of
vast sectors of coastal marshes (Bondesan and Furlanetto, 2012).
4.1.6. Brenta megafan
The Brenta megafan covers an area of about 2600 km2, being one of
the largest in northern Italy, but the present catchment of Brenta River
covers a relatively small portion of the Venetian Alps and Dolomites.
Sediments are 20–35% carbonate and have a high content of porphyric
rocks (Jobstraibizer and Malesani, 1973).
At the LGM the glacial front did not reach the plain, but was located
about 10 km upstream the valley mouth (Trevisan, 1939; Bartolomei,
1999; Rossato et al., 2013). The top of the LGM alluvial surface still
crops out extensively along the eastern boundary of the Venice lagoon
(Mozzi et al., 2003; Bondesan et al., 2008). Only the western wing of
the megafan has been active after the LGM and in its distal portion the
alluvial dynamics were affected by relative sea-level rise (Tosi et al.,
2007a,b; Zecchin et al., 2008). In the apical portion of the megafan the
Holocene channel belts are incised 10–20 m into the LGM deposits
(Mozzi, 2005; Mozzi et al., 2010).
4.1.7. Adige megafan
The Adige river catchment is the largest of the southern Alps after Po
River. Adige sediments are characterized by dominant porphyritic,
metamorphic and granitic rocks, while only 10–15% is carbonate
(Garzanti et al., 2011). The aggradation of the Adige megafan during
the LGM was mainly supported by fluvioglacial sediments from the
Rivoli Veronese terminal moraines (Sorbini et al., 1984). These latter
hosted a glacial tongue which was part of a vast glacier extending
from the Garda basin to the Brenta and Astico valleys (Penck and
Brückner, 1909; Habbe, 1969; Cremaschi, 1987; Castiglioni, 2004).
In the apical sector of the megafan the river flows in a valley, incised
in the LGM surface and bounded by scarps that are up to 45 m high at
the fan head and progressively pinch out within a distance of about
40 km. South from Verona the valley reaches a maximum width of
10 km. The Adige builts a postglacial lobe that, in its distal sector,
interacted with Po paleochannels and evolved as an avulsion-driven al-
luvial plain connected to the Holocene Po–Adige delta systems (Piovan
et al., 2010, 2012) (#12 in Fig. 3).
4.2. Lombard Plain
4.2.1. Mincio and Chiese megafans
Mincio and Chiese megafans formed as the main outwashes of the
LGM Garda glacial amphiteater (Habbe, 1969). Sediment composition
is similar to Adige petrography, but is enriched in plutonic rocks from
the Adamello Massif (Garzanti et al., 2011). The proximal part of the
Chiese megafan has been constrained by the middle-Pleistocene mo-
raine ridge of Montichiari, and was influenced by the isolated tectonic
terraces of Castenedolo and Monte Netto (Habbe, 1969; Cremaschi,
1987). After deglaciation, Mincio River became the effluent of Garda
Lake that trapped almost completely the sediment discharge. Similarly,
the sediment transported by Chiese River has been drastically reduced
after the formation of Idro Lake, that blocks the sedimentary flux from
the Val Sabbia. Mincio and Chiese rivers now flow along incised valleys,
cut in their LGM megafans, bounded by converging scarps with a max-
imum height of 40 m that progressively lower towards the Po. Since the
late Holocene, the valley of Mincio has been occupied by the lakes of
Mantua (Ravazzi et al., 2013). In the Chiese megafan 5 m-high scarps
are present up to the junction with Oglio River. To the west, a minor
stream, the Mella river, separates Chiese and Strone megafans.
4.2.2. Strone and Oglio megafans
During LGM the Iseo end-moraine system (also called Franciacorta
or Sebino amphitheater) fed the megafans of Oglio and Strone
(Marchetti, 1992). The LGM deposits of Oglio partially overflowed the
Romanengo hill (an ancient relict terraced surface of late middle Pleis-
tocene age; Cremaschi, 1987) and partly overlapped the eastern part
of the Adda megafan and the western wing of Strone megafan
(Ravazzi et al., 2012a). Sediments from the Oglio catchment are charac-
terized by quartz, carbonate lithic grains and volcanic rock fragments
(Garzanti et al., 2011; Ravazzi et al., 2012a).
After the LGM, the Oglio River became the outflow of Iseo Lake and
its activity has been limited along a fairly narrow valley, that has a
very straight WNW–ESE direction in its last 50 km. The fluvial incision
is bounded by scarps of 50 m near the apex of the megafan and
Table 1
Hydrographic characteristics of the basins of the main Alpine rivers and dimensions of the related alluvial megafans and fans (after Negrisin and Stefani, 1974; Surian and Rinaldi, 2003; Fontana et al., 2008). *: before 18 km of artificial elongation in the
20th century.

Fan-shaped Alluvial Fan area Length of Mountain Length Elevation of Elevation of Mean annual Maximum Distance of fan Gradient of Gradient of Present valley Mean Flood
system megafan (now longitudinal basin of present channel higher LGM ter- precipitation in basin apex from LGM LGM surface LGM surface lake (name of annual peak
(M) or fan emerged) axis (km) area river at valley mouth race at valley mountain basin relief terminal mo- in apical sec- in distal sector the lake) discharge discharge
(F) (km2) 2
(km ) (km) (m asl) mouth (m asl) (mm/yr) (m asl) raines (km) tor (‰) (‰) (m3/s) (m3/s)

Isonzo M 280 35 3430 136 50 87 2864 45 4.5–3.0 2.5–0.9 NO 163 2253

A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171

Torre M 350 45 1105 47 165 175 1870 0 7.0–4.0 2.0–0.8 NO 52 667
Cormor M 400 40 85 32* 130 150 0 7.0–4.0 2.0–0.8 NO 300
Corno F 200 25 120 44 140 170 0 7.0–4.0 – NO 120
Tagliamento M 1200 65 2580 172 130 200 2150 2780 0 7.0–4.0 2.0–0.8 NO 109 4500
Meduna F 90 20 240 85 224 265 1800 2304 15 12.5–10.0 – NO –
Cellina F 350 30 392 50 275 320 2702 15 11.0–9.0 6.0–4.0 NO –
Piave M 1050 55 3899 222 77 84 1330 3163 25 5.0–3.0 1.5–0.6 NO 132 4250
Montebelluna M 450 17 3900 – 143 – 3163 – 7.4–5.0 – NO –
Brenta M 2600 75 1787 160 100 130 1386 3079 10 6.0–4.0 2.0–0.6 NO 71 2810
Adige M 1600 60 11.95 410 80 125 933 3890 0 5.0–3.0 3.0–1.0 NO 220 4000
Mincio M 550 35 2253 75 53 80 0 5.0–3.0 1.5–0.6 YES (Garda) 60 –
Chiese M 800 50 1375 160 180 190 3418 0 6.5–5.2 3.0–1.2 YES (Idro) 36 –
Strone M 540 45 83 20 186 196 0 10.0–3.0 2.5–1.5 YES (Iseo) 1.5 –
Oglio M 1000 80 5682 280 160 210 1232 3052 0 5.5–4.0 2.0–1.0 YES (Iseo) 59 410
Serio F 261 24 1256 124 258 268 20 6.5–3.0 – NO 23 –
Brembro F 60 9 806 74 220 260 25 6.2–5.5 – NO 30 –
Adda M 810 60 7775 313 145 185 1315 3810 15 6.5–3.5 2.0–0.8 YES (Lecco) 157 740
Molgora M 380 45 94 38 209 216 5 6.5–3.5 3.0–1.5 NO 0.9 –
Lambro M 200 45 236 130 214 274 0 7.5–4.5 3.5–1.5 NO 5.8 –
Seveso F 95 27 155 52 215 220 5 5.5–4.0 – NO 1.5 –
Lura F 91 25 82 46 244 255 5 6.0–5.0 – NO –
Olona M 1020 70 142 71 257 290 5 6.2–4.0 3.0–1.5 NO 0.8 –
Ticino F 550 55 6599 284 172 232 1695 4443 15 7.0–5.5 2.0–1.5 YES (Maggiore) 292 5000
Po – – – 70091 651 – – 1106 4799 – – – NO 1470 11800

157
158 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171

320

300

280

260

240

220

CELLINA
Elevation (m asl)

200

180
OLO

160 MOL

ADDA
NA

OGL
GOR

140

CHIE
IO
A

120

SE
100

80

TAG
BRE
ADIG
MINC

LIA
60

NTA

MEN
E

ISON
IO

PIAV

TO
40 Po Riv

ZO
er

E
20 50 km
0
sea level

Fig. 5. Topographic profiles of the LGM surface of the major megafans and fans of the southern Alpine foreland. Traces of the profiles are indicated in on-line support material. Where the
profile passes over the present river incision, this is indicated with a dotted line.
Elaboration of topographic data from DEM TinItaly Tarquini et al. (2007).

b10 m in the distal sector. No major rivers were active in the Strone
megafan after the LGM, which actually derives its name from a
groundwater-fed stream of the distal plain (Marchetti, 1992). A large
abandoned meandering channel is incised 30 m into the end-moraine
system and 10 m into the apical sector of the LGM Strone megafan.
4.2.3. Adda, Molgora and Lambro megafans
Adda, Molgora and Lambro megafans were fed by LGM outwashes
from the eastern and central Como moraine amphitheater (named
also Lario). Their apexes were encased in the pre-LGM alluvial deposits,
known in former literature as “ferretto” (cf. Bini, 1997a). Sediments of
Adda catchment are dominated by quartz, feldspars and metamorphic
rock fragments (Ravazzi et al., 2012a).
After glacial withdrawal, the Adda River became the outflow of the
Lecco Lake (eastern branch of Como Lake) and formed a wide incised val-
ley that largely eroded the eastern wing of the LGM megafan. Postglacial
watersheds of Molgora and Lambro rivers strongly contracted,
transforming the rivers into minor streams and leading to a complete
de-activation of the megafan surface.
4.2.4. Olona megafan, Lura and Seveso fans
During the LGM the western branch of Como Lake hosted a glacial
front that supplied the Lura and Seveso systems. Together with Lambro,
these rivers formed the plain of Milan, but they were constrained and
partly buried by the Olona megafan. This megafan was the main out-
wash of the glacier hosted in the Lugano basin, that received major
transfluences from the Varese moraine amphitheater (called also
Verbano; Orombelli, 1990; Bini, 1997a). After glacial withdrawal Lura,
Seveso and Olona became minor streams and their alluvial systems
were abandoned.
4.2.5. Ticino fan
The Ticino is a major river of the southern Alps and its catchment
was heavily glaciated during the LGM; nevertheless, it formed a rather
small alluvial fan. This mismatch in dimensions suggests that during
the LGM the Ticino River may have been only a minor outwash of the
Varese amphitheater (Bini, 1997a, 1997b). As evidenced by Bini et al.
(2009), during the LGM the existence of pre-LGM moraine ridges in
the Varese amphitheater probably acted as a barrier and prevented
the Verbano glacier to reach the plain. Presently the Ticino River flows
along an incised valley with scarps of almost 70 m high at the apex of
the fan and of 15 m at the junction with Po River.
5. Evolution of megafans during the last glacial-interglacial cycle
5.1. LGM megafans
5.1.1. Alluvial architecture
The apical portions of the LGM megafans along the southern Alpine
piedmont consist of amalgamated gravel bodies deposited by braided
river channels. Stratigraphic sections exposed along fluvial scarps of
the main alpine rivers and in gravel pits show a predominance of crude-
ly bedded gravels and secondary sandy gravels, forming longitudinal
bars of braided typology (e.g. Bini et al., 2004; Bersezio et al., 2007;
Zanferrari et al., 2008a,b). In the first 5–15 km from the valley mouth,
coarse gravels and cobbles s are common, while isolated boulders of
about 1–2 m3, embedded in gravels, may rarely occur. The topographic
gradients of the apical sector of megafans range between 7 and 3‰,
with the exception of the upper tract of the Cellina, Meduna and Strone
systems, which reach a maximum of 12.5–10.0‰ (Table 1). The transi-
tion from gravelly to fine-dominated plain is evidenced by changes in
the gradient of the surface (Table 1), which rapidly lowers to 2–1‰.
This corresponds to a marked lithological shift of the bedload from
gravels to sands, related to a decrease in transport capacity.
The presence of a large, fine-dominated distal sector characterizes
the LGM megafans of the VFP. Here, belts of narrow fluvial channels
are normally present, with average widths of 200–800 m, and sandy le-
vees that reach 0.5–2.0 m in height over the related floodplain,
resulting in the formation of fluvial ridges that can be up to 20 km
long. Channel bodies consist of fine and medium sands with a thickness
generally limited to 1–2 m and a width of 40–250 m. Longitudinal bars,
scour-and-fills and reactivation surfaces are the most common
 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171 159

Radiocabon age (ka BP, calibrated at 1 sigma)

10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42
0
2 AD

PEISTOCENE
DA
-C
HOLOCENE
4 asa
lett
MO oC
LG ere

CT
6 dan

TA
OR o

R
A

GL
-S

IA
8 illa

ME
Depth of dated samples from the surface (m)

ro

M
NT

O
10

LG
O
-P

O
TA

RA
RA
12

GL

-L
od
IAM

iV
14

EN

ec
ch
TO

io
16

-
AZ
18

X
TA
G LI
A
20

M
EN
TO
22

-C
NC
24
Datings along same core
26
Datings interpolated from BRE
NTA
compound section - Ma
28 rghe
ra
Bar indicating 1-sigma error are
30 represented only if exceeding
more than +/-200 years.
32
34
PIAV
36 E-P
iavon

38
Lateglacial LGM pre-LGM
40

Fig. 6. Diagram of radiocarbon dated samples vs. their depth from surface in different alluvial megafans of Northern Italy. Detailed information about samples are indicated in the on-line
supporting material. When possible, samples have been selected along single cores, in other cases the age/depth curve has been reconstructed compiling datings from different near cores
or sections.
Cores CNC and PRA from Fontana et al. (2012); core AZX from Pini et al. (2009); core Piavon from Fontana (unpublished); core PIAVE–CTR from Miola et al. (2006); core Marghera from
Fontana (unpublished); sections near Lodi Vecchio and Cavo Sillaro from Bersezio et al. (2004); Baio et al. (2004); section Casaletto Ceredano from Ravazzi et al. (2012a).

sedimentary structures observed in the channels; these features and the of 1–2.5 m, and a color hue of 10YR–5YR. These soils are described as
map-view observed through remote sensing point to sandy braided riv- Luvisols or Alfisols (Marchetti, 2001; Michelutti et al., 2003; ARPAV,
ers that shift to a wandering style in the distal sector. 2005). Rubefaction and formation of thin Bt horizons are also typical
Overbank clay-silt deposits generally form the inter-ridge sectors. in soils developed on the sandy channel belts in the distal sector of
Organic-rich horizons are diffuse, mainly in relation to high groundwa- LGM megafans. On the fine-grained distal floodplain soils are character-
ter level, which allowed the formation of large fens (Miola et al., 2006). ized by leached Bw horizons, often with gley pedofeatures and, where
These wet environments developed on surfaces that were temporarily parent material is carbonate, by the formation of underlying calcic Bk
not affected by alluvial deposition, as channel belts were active in and Ck horizons. These are characterized by abundant carbonate calci-
other sectors of the megafan. The fens survived for some tens or hun- um concretions and crusts, and can be up to 1 m thick.
dreds of years and were recurrently buried by the reactivation of fluvial This calcic soil is diffused in the distal sector of the VFP megafans,
sedimentation. This happened through avulsion-driven shifting of where it is popularly called “caranto”. It is normally found at the base
channel belts, probably occurring mainly during seasonal high dis- of the post-LGM alluvial and coastal deposits and represents a reliable
charge, fed by summer glacial meltwater. stratigraphic marker for the top of the LGM succession (Comel et al.,
In the Isonzo, Tagliamento, Piave, Brenta and Adige megafans the 1982; Comel and Vitturi, 1983; Mozzi et al., 2003; Amorosi et al., 2008a;
channel bodies are mostly isolated in the silty and clayey sediments Fontana et al., 2008; Donnici et al., 2011). Similar soils are present in
(Fig. 7A). This sedimentary architecture suggests that river evolution the eastern LP, up to the distal sector of Mincio and Chiese megafans
was driven by frequent avulsions that rapidly shifted the sediment (ERSAL, 1987; Marchetti, 1992), whereas farther west the parent mate-
flux in an aggrading setting. A slightly different stratigraphy has rial is far too siliceous to allow the formation of calcic horizons.
been detected in the Brenta megafan near Venice, as evidence in
Fig. 7B. Here channel sands reach almost 10 m in thickness, and 5.1.3. Chronostratigraphy and aggradation rates
they are interpreted as different generations of stacked channel bod- The abundance of organic layers in the LGM sequences of the dis-
ies (Bondesan et al., 2008; Zezza, 2008). tal part of the VFP megafans has allowed many radiocarbon datings,
which support estimates of sedimentation rates during and after the
5.1.2. Paleosols LGM. A total amount of about 150 datings is available for the LGM de-
Soils developed at the top of the LGM gravels in the proximal sector posits in the VFP. In Fig. 6 datings from single cores in the megafans
of megafans are characterized by Bt argillic horizons with total thickness of Tagliamento, Piave and Brenta are plotted with respect to their
160 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171

Sile River Ca’ Tron m a.s.l.

A 2
4.0-3.9 ka
19.2-19.5 ka
2
0 0
2 2 20.9-21.9 ka
20.4-21.3 ka
4 4
6 6
8 8
23.4-23.8 ka
10 10
12 12
23.9-24.5 ka 25.0-25.6 ka
14 14
16 16 24.7-25.2 ka
18 18
20 20
SSW NNE
Industriale
Industriale Sud canal Malamocco - Marghera canal
B Island of new Petrolchimico
Nord canal
Island of Fusina Island of Petroli
2 2
0 0
2 2
19-20 ka
4 4
6 6
8 8
10 23 ka 10
12 12
14 14
24.5-25.5 ka
16 16
18 18
20 20
22 22
31 ka
+

24 24
+
+
+
+

26 26
28 42-41 ka 28
30 S N 30

groundwater-fed 80
C Incision of river
Casaletto
~20-21 ka
78
76 Adda River Ceredano 76
74 74
72 72
70 70
68 68
66 30.4-32.3 ka 66
64 64
62 30.1-31.2 ka 32.0-35.1 ka 62
35.2-40.2 ka
60 60
58 SSW NNE 58

Channel deposits Bog deposits Paleosol 24.5-25.4 ka Calibrated radiocarbon age

+ +

+ +

(gravels, sandy gravels) (peat/organic silt) (calcic horizon)

+

(calibrated years BP)

Channel deposits Lagoonal deposits LGM/Post-LGM
(sands) (silt, clay, peat) unconformity m0 250 500 750 1000
Flood plain deposits Anthropic landfill a b a) Borehole
(silt and clay) (heterogeneous material) b) Penetrometric test vertical exaggeration 100x

Fig. 7. Example stratigraphic sections of LGM deposits. (A) Piave megafan, section b in Fig. 4 (modified from Miola et al., 2006), (B) Brenta megafan in the area of Mestre-Marghera, section
a in Fig. 4 (modified from Bondesan et al., 2008), (C) Adda megafan, section c in Fig. 4 (modified from Ravazzi et al., 2012a).
 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171
depth. The data reveal the strong aggradation of 20–30 m that took
place in these systems between ca. 30 and 19–18 kyr cal BP, in ac-
cordance with the Alpine glacial expansion occurred at the same
time. The maximum period of aggradation on the plain seems to
have occurred between 26–21 kyr cal BP and was characterized by
an average depositional rate of 1.4 mm/a, but in some limited phases
a maximum value of about 3 mm/a was reached. The onset of LGM
sedimentation of the Brenta megafan has been recently dated near
the Berici Hills at 27.5–27.2 kyr cal BP, where rapid aggradation
dammed the Fimon valley, triggering the lake formation (Monegato
et al., 2011). Little information is available for the Adige megafan
near Verona, which also points to an aggradation phase between
ca. 30 and 20 kyr cal BP (Sorbini et al., 1984).
In the LP limited geochronological data are available and they are not
along single cores. In Fig. 6 the curves of Adda and Molgora systems
have been compiled from different stratigraphic sections and boreholes
(Bersezio et al., 2004; Ravazzi et al., 2012a). The Lombard megafans
seem to have experienced the same period of aggradation displayed
by the Venetian–Friulian megafans, but the total accumulated thickness
during LGM is significantly lower. In the Chiese megafan, near Ghedi,
the present surface formed at the end of the LGM and the first 12 m of
subsoil consist of gravels that cover an organic layer radiocarbon
dated at 24 14C kyr BP (i.e. ca. 28–30 kyr cal BP; Garzanti et al., 2011).
In the distal sector of the Lambro and Molgora megafans, near Lodi, sev-
eral stratigraphic sections, obtained by the interpolation of long cores,
highlight that the last 15 m of subsoil formed after 29 kyr cal BP and
the last depositional phase occurred after 21 kyr cal BP (Baio et al.,
2004; Bersezio et al., 2004).
Recent research at the merging zone between Adda and Oglio
megafans, near Crema, has evidenced the presence of a thick organic
layer sealed by the alluvial sequence related to fluvioglacial activity,
that started after 32–30 kyr cal BP (Ravazzi et al., 2012a, Fig. 7C). The
total thickness of the LGM deposits is less than 15 m, with sandy gravels
even in this distal part of the plain.
5.1.4. Downstream boundary of LGM megafans
Large sectors of the LGM megafans crop out up to the inner limit of
Venice and Marano lagoons. Geophysical and stratigraphic investiga-
tions in the coastal area and in the offshore highlight the continuity of
alluvial systems for tens of kilometers to the present sea floor
(Trincardi et al., 2011). North of the Po Delta, the LGM deposits are
sealed by coastal and deltaic deposits up to the −20 m asl bathymetric
contour line, but in the deeper areas they are largely exposed on the sea
bed (Fig. 4). They gently dip with a gradient of 0.8–0.5‰ and mostly
consist of floodplain facies that embed few fine-sandy channels of lim-
ited thickness. Peaty and organic layers related to fen environments
are quite common. They have a consistent lateral and longitudinal con-
tinuity that can be traced for tens of kilometers through CHIRP-Sonar
profiles (Correggiari et al., 1996; Trincardi et al., 2011). In Fig. 4 the
stars numbered 1 and 2 correspond to cores where radiocarbon datings
of the organic sediments in the immediate subsoil gave 29.8 ± 0.2 and
27.8 ± 0.2 kyr cal BP, respectively (Trincardi et al., 2011). From the
bathymetric contour lines −25/−30 m the surface is formed by a
very thin layer of LGM alluvium and patches of older sediments. This
setting allows the downstream limit of the LGM alluvial deposits to be
traced, and thus the real axial length of the Tagliamento, Piave and
Brenta megafans could be estimated at 80, 70 and 85 km respectively.
The dimensions of the megafans reported in Table 1 were measured
only in the emerged portion.
The terminal tracts of Oglio, Adda, Molgora, Lambro and Olona
megafans merge to a uniform alluvial plain, where the single alluvial
systems cannot be distinguished as single geomorphic features and
the topographic gradient is b 0.5‰ (# 4 in Fig. 3). This lowermost por-
tion of the alluvial systems has been partly eroded during the Holocene
by the lateral migration of the Po River, which cuts a fluvial scarp at the
northern limit of its alluvial plain (Marchetti, 1992; Castiglioni, 1997).
161
5.2. The response of megafans to early ice decay
After the last peak of glacial activity, occurring in the south-eastern
Alps between 23 and 21 kyr cal BP, the glaciers started to withdraw.
During this first deglaciation some glaciers paused inside their glacial
amphitheaters and formed recessional moraines. This short phase left
distinct traces in some megafans. At their maximum expansion, almost
all the glacial fronts of southern Alps fed outwash. After ice contraction
in the amphitheaters, the glacial discharge coincided with the present
Alpine rivers. The other minor outwashes were progressively aban-
doned and, consequently, also the megafans or fans that were fed by
them. For example the Tagliamento survived to Cormor and Corno out-
washes, Oglio to Strone, Adda to Molgora, Lambro to Seveso and Lura.
An example of this evolution is given by the Strone megafan, that
stopped being fed by Iseo Glacier before the Oglio megafan; this fact is
testified by the aggradation of Oglio River paleochannels on the surface
previously formed by the Strone outwash.
In the megafans and fans fed by the amphitheater of Tagliamento
(i.e. Tagliamento, Corno, Cormor and Torre) the final phase of the
LGM activity was characterized by fluvial incision to a depth of
10–20 m in the apical portion. These valleys funneled sediment down
to the spring belt, and from this location a depositional lobe formed in
the distal sector, where some narrow fluvial ridges were built
(Fontana, 2006; Bondesan et al., 2008; Fontana et al., 2008). The activity
of these landforms is dated between 22.0 and 19.5 kyr cal BP in the
Cormor and Torre megafans and up to 18.0 kyr cal BP in the
Tagliamento system, that remained the last section supplied by glacial
sediments (Zanferrari et al., 2008c; Fontana et al., 2012). Here, coarse
sands and fine gravels are present up to the limit of the present lagoons
of Grado-Marano and Caorle. In fact, the apical entrenchment increased
the transport capacity of the rivers and allowed them to transport coars-
er sediments 15–20 km farther downstream than during the LGM peak.
Large portions of the gravels which fill the channels were probably
eroded along the incised valley in the piedmont sector of the megafan.
In the Piave megafan the last aggradation connected to glacial activity
has been dated at 18.5 kyr cal BP in the western wing of the megafan of
Nervesa (Carton et al., 2009; see Fig. 7A). In the Brenta megafan tens of ra-
diocarbon datings are available for the subsoil of the LGM surface and they
constrain the last aggradational phase up to 17.5–17.0 kyr cal BP. Until
that time the whole surface of the megafan was aggrading and sandy
fluvial ridges were forming in the distal sector. These landforms present
the same sedimentological and morphological properties of the ridges
formed at the LGM peak (Mozzi, 2005; Bondesan et al., 2008), but the
geochronological information clearly highlights a diminished depositional
rate at 21 to 17.0 kyr cal BP (Fontana et al., 2010, their Fig. 3a).
In the Adige megafan no important traces related to initial deglacia-
tion have been found, and precise datings are not available. The same ap-
plies to the other megafans west from Adige, where information is scarce.
However, in some systems the paleohydrographic patterns highlight that
some changes occurred before the rivers completely entrenched in the
LGM surface. In the Oglio megafan, near the city of Cremona, the traces
of large sinuous ridges are present on the LGM surface (e.g. the ridges of
Robecco d'Oglio described in Marchetti, 1992, 2001), which differ from
the braided pattern that characterizes most of the adjoining plain.
A similar indication is given by a large, meandering abandoned
channel recognizable in the surface of the Molgora megafan, near Lodi
Vecchio, and that is now occupied by the Cavo Sillaro, a groundwater-
fed stream. The trace is slightly incised if compared to the average
level of the plain (Marchetti, 1996, 2001; Bersezio et al., 2004, 2007)
and probably was produced during the early withdrawal of the eastern
Lario glacier, when sediment discharge decreased significantly.
In the Mincio megafan, the Fossa Viva creek (Fig. 3) follows a
meandering incised channel that is much larger than the present
small groundwater-fed stream. This landform suggests an older path
of Mincio, probably related to flux concentration at the end of the
LGM (Marchetti, 1992).
162 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171
5.3. Post-LGM evolution
5.3.1. Megafans of the Lombard Plain
After LGM deglaciation almost all the Alpine rivers entrenched in their
megafans. West of the Garda Lake, the present fluvial activity is still
confined within the incised valleys, where Alpine rivers flow from the
fan apex to the junction with the Po River (Figs. 3, 4). This setting was
established soon after the glaciers withdrew inside the mountain valleys,
where large lakes commonly formed in the deep depressions left free by
ice. The lakes created an efficient trap for sediment (Hinderer, 2001) and
prevented its transport towards the basin. This new setting dramatically
lowered the ratio between sediment and water discharge of the Alpine
rivers fed by the lakes and, thus, strongly increased their erosive power
in downstream reaches. The geochronological information for the begin-
ning of this phase of valley incision is very poor in the LP. The area of
Como Lake was already deglaciated at 15.5 ± 1.1 kyr cal BP (Bini,
1997a) and this indirectly suggests that Olona, Lura, Seveso and Lambro
depositional systems were already entrenched. In the swampy area called
“I Mosi”, near Crema, peat accumulation started on the LGM surface of the
Adda megafan since 14.5–16.2 kyr cal BP (Ravazzi et al., 2012a) and,
therefore, fluvial activity had previously abandoned that zone, suggesting
that Adda River was already incised. In the Oglio mountain basin the
glacier had already cleared the lower reaches of the valley at 18.3–
16.9 kyr cal BP (Ravazzi et al., 2012b), while in the Garda amphitheater
the glacier had already withdrawn from the outer moraines at about
17 kyr cal BP (Ravazzi et al., 2012c). In both cases it can be assumed
that almost synchronous river downcutting took place in the megafans.
Gravels and sands are present at the bottom of the incised valleys
occupied by the Alpine rivers in the LP, and their maximum thickness
is estimated at around 10 m. In the Ticino and Adda rivers, gravels are
present up to the junction with the Po River, whereas in the Oglio
River they stop 40 km upstream from the Po. While the activity of the
main rivers has persisted in these incised valleys since the Lateglacial,
no major vertical changes seem to have occurred in the longitudinal pro-
file of the valley bottom since the middle Holocene. This is demonstrated
at the junction of the Adda with the Po rivers, where the sandy-gravelly
bars of a paleochannel abandoned before 6.1–6.6 kyr cal BP are found at
a depth of only 2 m below the early 20th century river bed (Marchetti
and Ravazzi, 1993). In several valleys of the LP some minor terraces
are present and they display a convergent pattern, as described along
the Adda and Ticino (Marchetti, 2001).
5.3.2. Megafans of the Venetian–Friulian Plain
The megafans occurring east of the Garda Lake had a rather com-
plex post-LGM evolution. From Adige to Isonzo, all the Alpine rivers
presently flow along a single incised valley entrenched in the LGM
apical portion, but each of them formed post-LGM depositional
lobes in the distal sector, which have been responding dynamically
to Holocene marine transgression.
Since about 7 kyr cal BP, at the onset of the Holocene marine
highstand, when relative sea level was between 10 and 5 m below pres-
ent position, north of Po Delta, the Adriatic coast was located in a posi-
tion fairly comparable to present (Lambeck et al., 2004; Amorosi et al.,
2008a). This setting triggered the formation of deltas and lagoons
which built a coastal wedge onlapping on the LGM plain, leading to a
slight progradation of the plain. However, thanks to its sediment
input, the Po Delta prograded by over 30 km in the Adriatic, but most
of this grew after artificial diversion in the 17th century (Stefani and
Vincenzi, 2005).
In the distal portion of megafans directly connected to the sea,
slope is b1.0‰ and in the last millennia the fluvial knick points
have progressively migrated upstream, following relative sea-level
rise. Consequently, the evolution of the distal sector is no longer
driven by specific alluvial-fan processes. The terminal tract of the
Adige megafan passes to an almost flat alluvial plain connected to
the Po River plain and delta (Piovan et al., 2010, 2012) (#12 in
Fig. 3). Instead, the late Holocene evolution of the distal tracts of
Isonzo, Tagliamento, Piave and Brenta megafans has been mostly
driven by avulsions originated upstream of the sector which is tidally
influenced.
5.3.3. Tagliamento megafan
The Tagliamento megafan provides a good example of a post-LGM
lobe (Fig. 8), whose different channel belts show a divergent pattern
from an avulsive node situated at the limit of the spring belt, where gra-
dient abruptly changes from 3 to 1‰. The oldest channel belts, dating
between the Lateglacial and early Holocene, are deeply incised into
the LGM surface, while the late Holocene channel belts aggraded
on the plain and formed fluvial ridges. In the apical portion of its
megafan the Tagliamento River eroded one single valley, which is
70 m deep at the fan-head and disappears near the spring belt (Paiero
and Monegato, 2003; Zanferrari et al., 2008a,c). Downstream the river
carved several separated valleys that are still partly visible (#9 and 10
in Fig. 8) and partly have been buried by younger depositional units,
such as the one corresponding to the present river (#12, 13, 14 of
Fig. 8) (Fontana, 2006). Incised valleys have widths spanning between
500 and 2000 m; their depths reach 2–4 m near the spring belt, but
they increase downstream to 15–20 m over a distance of 20 km.
These incised valleys have been almost completely filled south of
Portogruaro during the Holocene and, thus, now they can be detect-
ed only through stratigraphic boreholes. Because of the funneling ef-
fect related to the concentration of the sediment flux along the
incised fluvial channels, gravels have been transported at the bottom
of the valleys towards the distal plain, arriving near the present coast
and, thus, some tens of kilometers downstream than during the LGM.
Lateglacial and early Holocene gravels have been documented near
Concordia Sagittaria, south of Portogruaro (Fig. 9A), where the incised
valley, formed after 18–19 kyr cal BP, was already partly filled by
gravels at 14.0 kyr cal BP and which was subsequently abandoned by
Tagliamento at 8.5 kyr (Fontana, 2006). Since about 7.5 kyr cal BP the
marine transgression reached the present coast line and the abandoned
incised valleys have been invaded by brackish waters, leading to lagoon
deposition (Fontana, 2006; Amorosi et al., 2008a). Occasionally,
Tagliamento re-used the valley of Concordia Sagittaria and completely
filled it with silty sands between the 6 and 8th centuries (Fontana,
2006). Since the middle Holocene, following sea-level rise, the down-
stream limit of gravel deposition along the channels of Tagliamento mi-
grated upstream and is presently 20 km from the coast, near Latisana.
5.3.4. Isonzo megafan
Stratigraphic investigations in the distal sector of Isonzo megafan
highlighted the presence of a channel belt, incised in the LGM surface
and now buried by middle and late Holocene deposits (Arnaud-
Fassetta et al., 2003). The formation of this feature may be strongly relat-
ed to the damming of the upper montane reach of the Isonzo valley by
large landslides. These trapped the majority of sediment discharge
from the mountain basin between 12–7 kyr cal BP (Bavec et al., 2004).
The fluvial incision detected in the distal plain on the eastern side of
the city of Aquileia was formed before 7.5 kyr cal BP. In that sector it
was deeper than 10 m with respect to the LGM surface and was charac-
terized by coarse gravels at the bottom; at least three different phases of
re-occupation of the valley are documented with the last one occurring
just before Roman times, when the depression hosted the major harbor
of Aquileia (Arnaud-Fassetta et al., 2003). During temporary abandon-
ment, between 7.5 and 3 kyr cal BP, the incised valley was occupied by
a groundwater-fed stream influenced by lagoonal deposition (Maselli
Scotti et al., 1999). Downstream from Aquileia the ancient valley is bur-
ied by the Holocene coastal wedge, but its continuation on the Adriatic
shelf is documented for about 10 km offshore from Grado by the pres-
ence of an early Holocene incised fluvial channel (Gordini et al., 2003;
Marocco, 2010; Trincardi et al., 2011).
 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171
5.3.5. Piave megafan
Piave was not strongly entrenched in the apical portion of its
megafan and, thus, a divergent pattern characterizes the post-LGM
paleochannels even in the high plain (Carton et al., 2009). Deeply in-
cised valleys are present both in western and eastern distal wings of
the megafan and they reached a maximum depth of 20–25 m from
the LGM surface near S. Donà, with 5–10 m of gravels at the bottom.
Fig. 9B is representative of the valley existing under the present course
of the Vallio river, a small groundwater-fed stream that re-used the
slight depression left after the almost complete filling of the original in-
cised valley. Also in the Piave megafan the valleys started to be strongly
filled in their distal parts after 8 kyr cal BP and gravels transported
along the active channel presently stop 25 km from the coast. Another
valley was identified beneath the present Piavon river, a groundwater-
fed stream which flows along an abandoned path of Piave River. This in-
cised valley reached the depth of about 20 m from the LGM top.
5.3.6. Brenta megafan
In the Brenta megafan the incision phase started after 17.5 kyr cal BP
(Mozzi, 2005; Mozzi et al., 2010) and the entrenching of the river at the
valley outlet, near Bassano, led to the de-activation of most part of the
LGM megafan. Alluvial scarps are higher than 15 m in the upper tract
and gradually decrease downstream, being about 1–2 m high at the
NW outskirts of the city of Padua and disappearing farther downstream
(Castiglioni et al., 1987; Mozzi et al., 2010; Ninfo et al., 2011). In the area
of Padua, two different incised valleys are present, which have been filled
by post-LGM sedimentation, between 16 and 3 kyr cal BP (Mozzi et al.,
2010; Cucato et al., 2012). The valley fills have a maximum thickness of
14 m and consist of medium to coarse sand with lenses of fine gravels
(Mozzi et al., 2013). Downstream from Padova the post-LGM deposits
of Brenta megafan cover the LGM top surface to a thickness of 2–5 m. In
the western wing of this lobe the channel belts date between 6.5 and
4.5 kyr cal BP, while in the eastern wing their ages vary between 4.0
and 1.0 kyr cal BP (Bondesan et al., 2008; Cucato et al., 2012). The post-
LGM evolution of the megafan is driven by avulsions, with main avulsive
nodes found in the middle portion of the megafan, around 15–10 m asl.
In its distal sector, the alluvial Holocene deposits of Brenta interfingers
with the deltaic and lagoon succession of the southern Venice Lagoon
(Tosi et al, 2007b; Bondesan et al., 2008; Zecchin et al, 2008;).
5.3.7. Adige megafan
Around 15 kyr cal BP the Adige Valley was already deglaciated and
partly occupied by large lakes; near Trento, the Lateglacial lacustrine
and fluvial succession is about 100 m thick (Bassetti and Borsato,
2005). Most probably the fan-head trenching of the Adige megafan
started with the onset of deglaciation, but chronostratigraphic data on
the precise timing of incision are lacking. A large depositional lobe
formed in the distal part of the system during the last 6 kyr. In this pe-
riod, the main flow direction of Adige was at the foot of the Euganean
Hills, near Este. Here the river was still present in protohistoric and
Roman times and builts an alluvial ridge 4–5 m high (Cucato et al.,
2012). Several other ridges stem out from this main path, building a
complex network which, to the south, intermingled with the northern
branches of the Po alluvial system around 4–3 kyr cal BP (Piovan
et al., 2010, 2012). The evolution of this lower part of the Adige system
during the last 5 kyr has been mostly driven by avulsive events but it is
strongly affected by relative sea-level rise, thus describing this sector as
a coastal plain (#12 in Fig. 3).
5.4. The role of groundwater-fed rivers
Large sectors of the megafans abandoned by Alpine rivers after the
LGM have been affected by the development of groundwater-fed streams.
They form a dense network that slightly remodeled the LGM surface.
Because of the low ratio between sediment and water discharge, narrow
incised channels often formed along their paths. An example is the distal
163
sector of the Cellina fan (Fig. 10), where springs and minor rivers created
a well-developed dendritic pattern in the fine-dominated LGM deposits.
Retrogressive erosion of the spring heads and lateral erosion of
streams sometimes led to the capture of nearby Alpine rivers, forcing
it to a new path. This is documented for the Medieval Serio River,
which abandoned the so-called Serio Morto branch (Ravazzi et al.,
2012a), and in some Lateglacial incised valleys of Tagliamento
(Fontana, 2006). In other cases the Alpine rivers recurrently followed
the same path of the groundwater-fed rivers during the late Holocene,
as evidenced for the Piave along Sile River (Mozzi, 2005; Bondesan
et al., 2008), as well as for Brenta along the Bacchiglione River (Mozzi
et al., 2010; Cucato et al., 2012).
Human activity strongly affected the groundwater-fed streams since
Roman times and especially between the 16th and 20th centuries, for
reclamation and field system setting (e.g. Marchetti, 2002). Many rivers
were embanked, channeled or diverted and only a few tracts of the
major rivers have been spared by these interventions.
6. Global forcings and local constraints in the formation of the
Alpine megafans
The megafans fed by the Italian Alps have longitudinal axis in the
range of 30–70 km, but during LGM some of them extended in the
Adriatic basin far off the present coastline, increasing their overall
length by 20–25%. Surface area of the larger megafans is between
1000 and 3000 km2, but in several systems is 300–1000 km2. These pa-
rameters are consistent with those observed in the large alluvial fan-
shaped bodies which characterize the foreland basins of other fold-
thrust chains that have an “Alpine size”, like for example the Carpathians
(Borsy, 1990; Nádor et al., 2010), Sierra Nevada, Southern Alps of New
Zealand (Leckie, 1994; Browne and Naish, 2003) and Zagros Mountains
(Arzani, 2005; Heyvaert and Baeteman, 2007; Arzani, 2012). Together,
these fan-shaped landforms are significantly smaller if compared to the
classic megafans of the Himalayan and Andean forelands that extend up
to some tens of thousand square kilometers (e.g. Geddes, 1960; Blair
and McPherson, 1994; Gupta, 1997; Horton and DeCelles, 2001; Leier
et al., 2005; Sinha and Sarkar, 2009; Hartley et al., 2010; Latrubesse
et al., 2012). Nevertheless, they all show well-defined and recognizable
downstream differentiation in terms of longitudinal topographic profile,
grain size, channel pattern and sedimentary facies.
Megafans analyzed in this paper are representative of a category of
alluvial landforms that is scaled to mountain belts with an “Alpine
size”, with catchments generally extending for 1500–5000 km2 and
with elevations between 2500 and 4500 m, and not like the Himalayan
or Andean chains. These depositional bodies have a maximum extent
of some thousand km2 but in several cases are smaller or around
1000 km2. With the aim of not introducing new terminology, we
suggest that the term megafan also applies to features b1000 km2,
when they have an area of some hundreds of km2 but with a well-
developed distal portion dominated by sands or finer sediments.
Apart from the presence of an uplifting mountain chain and relat-
ed foreland, as demonstrated in other areas (e.g. Levson and Rutter,
2000; Arzani, 2012), the development of the Italian megafans was
probably favored by the lithology of the southern Alps (i.e. carbon-
ate, magmatic and metamorphic rocks), that supplied the fluvial sys-
tems with large quantities of gravels. Another favoring geological
factor is represented by the distance separating the mouth of major
Alpine valleys. The average spacing of 20–40 km associates with
steep mountain catchments which are normally N 1500 km2, and
are able to supply enough sediments for the construction of large al-
luvial systems. In fact, valley spacing is regarded as being critical in
the formation of megafans, as in the Ganges plain and Chaco Basin
(Gupta, 1997; Horton and DeCelles, 2001). Nevertheless, when com-
paring the area of each catchment to the extent of the megafan of VFP
and LP (Table 1), it is evident that no strong relation exists. In several
cases, important megafans connect to present minor catchments
164 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171

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or t
a hia Bibione Pineda Bibione
c
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se
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e
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Fig. 8. Post-LGM lobe of the Tagliamento alluvial megafan. Legend: (1) channel belt, with indication of the period of activity, (1a) buried channel belt, (2) trace of stratigraphic
section in Fig. 9A, (3) isoline 0 m asl, (3a) upper limit of the spring belt, (4) fluvial scarp, (5) deposits of other fluvial systems, (6) LGM, (7) undifferentiated post-LGM deposits,
(8) Holocene lagoon deposits, (9) Lateglacial units, (10) Lateglacial valleys now reoccupied by groundwater-fed streams, (11) Campomolle and Pocenia units, N2500 BC, (12)
Iutizzo unit, N15th cent. BC, (13) San Vidotto unit, N15th cent. BC, (14) Rividischia unit, N15th cent. BC, (15) Glaunicco–Varmo unit, N15th cent. BC, (16) Alvisopoli unit,
N13th cent. BC, (17) unit of Tiliaventum Maius active in Roman period 1st millennium BC — 8th cent. AD, (17a) ridge,(18) Concordia Sagittaria unit 6–8th century AD, (18a)
ridge, (19) Present Tagliamento unit b6th cent. AD, (19a) ridge,(20) incision of Stella River, remodeled by Tagliamento in 2500–800 BC, (20a) deposits of Stella R. with input
from Tagliamento R., b2500 BC, (21) swamp of Loncon, (22) pre-Roman coastal sand ridges.
Modified from Fontana (2006).

that could not have formed such depositional bodies as, for example, and Olona megafans, the mountain basins received the glacial contribu-
in the case of Torre, Cormor, Chiese, Strone, Molgora and Olona. This tion from a larger catchment through glacial transfluences, strongly in-
is a consequence of the fluvioglacial processes dominating the Alpine creasing the sediment and water discharge.
piedmont during the LGM, when sediment supply decreased sub- Northern Italy is a geodynamically active region, but the role played by
stantially soon after deglaciation. In other systems, like in Brenta active tectonics in controlling megafan progradation/degradation during
 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171 165

A Concordia
TAGLIAMENTO MEGAFAN PIAVE MEGAFAN
B
Sagittaria Lemene river

+
+
+
2 2

+
+
+
Roman city

+
+
0 0
+
+

+
+

+
+
+

+
-2 -2

-4
* 1.8-1.7 ka 6.2-6.0 ka
* -4

-6 * 4.9-4.5 ka

6.7-6.4 ka
-6

-8
* 20.0-19.2 ka ** 8.8-8.5 ka -8

-10 -10

-12 -12

-14 -14

-16 -16

-18 -18

-20 W E -20
SW NE
m (a.s.l.)
18
BRENTA MEGAFAN
C

+
+
+
+
16 16
+
+
+

12.4-11.3 ka
14 14
6.5-6.3 ka *
12 8.4-8.2 ka 12
*
10 10

8 * 23.3-20 ka 8

6 * 23.5-22.3 ka
6

4 SSE NNW 4

0m 250 500 750 1000

LGM alluvial deposits Swamp and marsh deposits Lagoonal deposits
(mainly clayey silt) (peat/organic sediment) (silt, clay, shells) vertical exaggeration 50x
Channel deposits Overbank and swamp Archaeological or
anthropic deposits
24.5-25.4 ka Calibrated radiocarbon age
(gravel, coarse sand) deposits (clay, organic silt) (calibrated years BP)
a b
Channel deposits Floodplain and levee Paleosol a) Borehole
+ +

+ +

(sand) (calcic horizon) b) Projection of borehole

+

deposits (sandy silt)

Fig. 9. Examples of stratigraphic sections of post-LGM incisions in the Venetian-Friulian Plain. (A) Section of the valley along the eastern side of the city of Concordia Sagittaria, d in Fig. 4
and A–A′ in Figs. 8, 10, (modified from Fontana, 2006), (B) section near Vallio stream, e in Fig. 4 (modified from Carton et al., 2009), (C) section of the incised valley of Brenta River in
Rubano, west from Padova, f in Fig. 4 (partly from Mozzi et al., 2010).

late Pleistocene and Holocene appears limited if compared to the forcing
provided by climate changes related to LGM glaciation and deglaciation.
This is evident when considering the synchronicity of the aggrading and
erosive phases occurred in all of the alluvial systems fed by the southern
Alps during the late Quaternary, as well as their common sedimentologi-
cal and morphological characteristics. When LGM glacial fronts were in
the terminal tract of Alpine valleys or reached the plain, megafans had
their maximum extent and aggradation, with a peak of activity between
26 and 21 kyr cal BP (Figs. 3–5).
Post-LGM lobes are present only in the distal sector of VFP megafans
and they show extent and volume significantly smaller than the LGM
lobes (Fig. 5). Therefore, megafans of northern Italy are mainly relict
landforms that could be interpreted as the alluvial product of LGM
Alpine glaciers, especially related to their erosive power in the moun-
tain catchment and their efficiency in transporting sediments towards
the plain.
With the onset of deglaciation, glacial downwasting triggered the
formation of large lakes in the central sector of southern Alps and the
restoration of fluvial processes in all the main mountain valleys. The
Alpine rivers east from Garda Lake, which are not “filtered” by large
lakes, presently have a high water discharge during peak floods, ranging
between 2000 and 5000 m3 s−1 (Table 1). Their magnitude is probably
comparable to discharge values since the end of the LGM, i.e. when the
main fluvial systems supporting the megafans shifted from glacier-fed
to that of river-fed. The relative contraction of water discharge was
not comparable to the diminution suffered by the sediment load. This
was affected by the strong decrease in the quantity of material available
for the channel and by a change in the spatial pattern of deposition, that
before was focused at the apex of the megafan (i.e. the glacial front). The
new setting brought to a dramatic lowering of the ratio between sedi-
ment and water transported by the main Alpine rivers and, therefore,
their longitudinal profile was no longer in equilibrium with the steep
gradient of the LGM surface. As a consequence, the channel bed of the
Alpine rivers lowered for tens of meters in the proximity of the moun-
tain front, leading to the downcutting of the apical sector of the
megafans.
Glacio-isostatic rebound in northern Italy after the withdrawal of
Alpine glaciers did not strongly alter the topographic relations between
the mountain catchments and the plain. In fact the Alpine contribution
to glacio-isostatic deformation of northern Italy was far less important
than the component related to the Scandinavian ice sheet (Lambeck
and Purcell, 2005; Stocchi et al., 2005). Moreover, since the late
166 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171
Fig. 10. DEM of the NW Friulian Plain between Tagliamento and Livenza rivers. In the
Cellina fan the LGM and post-LGM lobes are easily recognizable. The DEM highlights the
single incision existing along the present Tagliamento River in the apical portion of its
megafan and the traces of the different valleys activated by the river between the
Lateglacial and early Holocene, now reoccupied by minor streams. The numerous de-
pressed features coincide with the dense network of groundwater-fed rivers, especially
in the SW part of the map, in the distal portion of the Cellina and Tagliamento systems.
The dashed line corresponds to trace of section represented in Fig. 9A.
Pleistocene, the relative displacement created by the sum of the tectonic
uplift of the inner Alps and subsidence in coastal areas has a maximum
estimation of 2–3 mm yr−1. This value was not so strong to have affect-
ed fluvial profiles compared to the aggradational and incisional phases
of megafans.
Despite strong similarities in chronology and general sedimentary
and geomorphic characteristics, the LGM megafans of the LP tend to
be smaller than the VFP ones. Also, their distal reaches are predominant-
ly sandy, while in the VFP silty overbank fines are largely present. These
differences can be related to the geometry and evolution of the ba-
sins where these megafans prograded. The LP megafans were
encased between the Alps and the Apennines and connected to the
alluvial plain of the Po River, that acted as the base level of these trib-
utary systems. This can be seen in Fig. 5, where the downstream ends
of all LP long profiles evidently tend to converge and adjust to the Po
River base level. The trunk river (i.e. Po River) controlled the length
of the megafans, as the potential progradation of these latter had
an inverse relation to the capacity of the Po to evacuate the sedi-
ments transported by the Alpine tributaries. On the contrary, the
VFP megafans could expand on the Adriatic shelf without any
particular constraint, which allowed for a longer longitudinal extent
and efficient deposition/preservation of the river's suspended load.
In fact, during the LGM, the coastline was at the edge of the shelf,
south of Ancona, and the plain was 400 km longer than today, with
a gradient of b1‰. Together with the strong sediment input supplied
by the glaciers, this is the other factor that allowed the dramatic ag-
gradation and progradation in the VFP during the MIS 2 marine
lowstand. The possibility of “lowstand aggradation” over a low-
gradient continental shelf and of the formation of incised valleys
during relative sea-level rise has been demonstrated with flume ex-
periments by Petter and Muto (2008) and has been recently
highlighted by Blum et al. (2013) in their review on Quaternary
paleovalleys.
Since the beginning of deglaciation, sediment starvation of the
Alpine fluvial systems could not sustain their aggradation over the
steep surface of megafans built during LGM and, as a consequence,
knick points migrated downstream. This trend occurred in the early
phase of the marine transgression, thus in antiphase with most com-
mon models of sequence stratigraphy (cf. Catuneanu, 2010). Similar
behavior is also reported in megafans along the Sierra Nevada
(Weissmann et al., 2002, 2005) and in the Canterbury Plains
(Leckie, 1994; Browne and Naish, 2003; Leckie, 2003) in relation to
glacial withdrawal in their catchments.
The marine transgression had no direct effect on the alluvial systems
of the VFP until around 9.0 kyr cal BP, when sea reached a relative level
around −20 m asl (Trincardi et al., 2011). After that time the fluvial in-
cised valleys in the distal sector of the VFP started to be filled, and were
almost completely sealed during the middle and late Holocene. The ma-
rine transgression has been affecting the Po delta but it has not directly
affected the rivers of the LP. The Mantua lakes in the Mincio River valley
are an example of the fact that, even if during highstand the trunk river
has been aggrading, the tributary Mincio River has not supplied enough
sediment to support aggradation inside the incised valley (Ravazzi et al.,
2013). This latter valley has remained almost empty, despite the dam-
ming effect created by the Po Plain, which led only to formation of
lakes and swampy environments in the valley. All the Alpine rivers of
LP had a limited sediment discharge because of the existence of large
lakes in the terminal tract of the Alps. Lakes trapped sediments and
also regulated water discharge. On the contrary, several VFP Alpine riv-
ers present a dramatic ratio between peak and average discharge and
this has been a favoring factor in triggering avulsions and, thus, the devel-
opment of fan-shaped landforms. This fact could have also influenced the
formation of incised valleys in the distal sector of the VFP megafans,
while in the LP one single valley existed (Fig. 11). This important differ-
ence between the post-LGM behavior of the LP and VFP megafans has
not been clearly understood.
7. Megafans and glacial/interglacial cycles
Since the middle Pleistocene a new depositional trend began in the
Po basin in connection with the development of major glaciations, as
demonstrated by Muttoni et al. (2003), Amorosi and Colalongo (2005)
and Pini et al. (2009). This setting shows basinal cyclic deposition on
100-kyr scale. The south Alpine megafans prove to be of paramount
importance for catchment-to-basin delivery and storage of sediments
during the last glacial-interglacial cycles. It is likely that similar evolu-
tionary trajectories occurred during previous glacial-interglacial cycles.
This hypothesis is supported by the good match between continental
intervals and highest Non-Arboreal Pollen (NAP) percentages, indic-
ative of glacial conditions, reported for the middle and upper Pleisto-
cene in the longest available records of the VFP (Massari et al., 2004;
Zanferrari et al., 2008c; Pini et al., 2009) and in the Po Plain (Amorosi
and Colalogno, 2005).
During glaciations, fans and megafans at the foot of the Alps largely
prograded, while in interglacial periods sedimentation was limited to
minor distal lobes and soil development took place on interfluves. The
 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171
Lateglacial and
LGM acme Early Holocene
Alps ice Alps Alps lake
high
Lombard Plain
plain
spring
line
low
plain
Po
Po
Plain Plain
Venetian-Friulian Plain
Alps ice Alps Alps
1a 1b 2a 2b
Fig. 11. Simplified scheme of the evolution of the alluvial megafans along the southern side of the Alps. Legend: (1a) pre-LGM gravels and sands, (1b) pre-LGM fine deposits, (2a) LGM
gravels and sands, (2b) LGM sands, (2c) LGM fine deposits, (3) Lateglacial and early Holocene gravels and sands, (4) alluvial plain of Po River (sand and silt), (5a) middle and late Holocene
gravels, (5b) middle and early Holocene fine deposits, (6) Holocene coastal sands.
depositional events were rather short, in the order of 10 kyr, as they
were limited to the very coldest intervals that allowed the advance of
glaciers down Alpine valleys. By contrast, the periods of reduced sedi-
ment activity on the megafans were much longer, i.e. around 100 kyr,
as they probably comprised also minor stadials when, in spite of a gen-
eral lowering of the glacier's equilibrium line, valley glaciers were con-
fined to the high sector of the catchments. This seems consistent with
available data from cores in the VFP which show that between the end
of MIS 5.5 and the beginning of the LGM the sediment succession is
rather condensed, totaling less than 20 m in about 60 kyr (Fontana
et al., 2010). By comparison, alluvial deposits formed in the late MIS 6
(penultimate glaciation) for a maximum duration of about 15 kyr are
20–30 m thick (Pini et al., 2009; Fontana et al., 2012). Because of
progradation and erosive dynamics of megafans since the middle Pleis-
tocene, extreme cold events are probably over-represented in the strat-
igraphic record of the southern-Alpine foreland.
To this respect, it can be recalled that the majority of modern
megafans is found between latitude 35°N–35°S, with a higher frequen-
cy in the tropical belt, where dry and wet seasons are contrasted and
often related to monsoons. Thus, megafan sequences in the past have
been highlighted as possible indicators that strong climate seasonality
(e.g. monsoonal activity) occurred during their formation (Leier et al.,
2005; Davidson et al., 2013). The late Quaternary megafans of northern
Italy, as the ones in the Alföld Plain (Hungary), in S. Joaquin Basin
(California) or in the Canterbury Plains (New Zealand), developed out
of the tropical zone and their formation occurred during cold late Pleis-
tocene phases when a large sediment supply could be supported by
their mountain basins, prone to glacial advances or sensitive to
slope processes enhanced by periglacial activity. Therefore, while
in several parts of the world the alluvial megafans are often related
with monsoon-like climate, in these mid-latitude temperate regions,
167
Middle and
late Holocene
Alps Alps lake Alps
A A’
A A’
-20 m from surface
B B’
B B’
-15 m from surface
Po
Plain
C C’
Alps Alps Alps
C C’
-25 m from surface
D D’
Adriatic
D D’ -20 m from surface
2c 3 4 5a 5b 6
megafans eventually present in the Pleistocene sedimentary record
could be related to major cooling periods.
When a new aggradation phase occurred, the pre-existing topogra-
phy could have significantly influenced the modes of sediment deposi-
tion. In the LP, it is likely that fluvial activity during MIS 5, 4 and 3
largely took place in the incised valleys cut into MIS 6 deposits. When
the following depositional phase started, at the onset of the LGM, the
valleys needed to be filled by sediments before sedimentation could
spread over the interfluves and sustain megafan aggradation. In the
VFP the situation was probably different, as the distal tract of incised
valleys may have already been filled during the MIS 5.5 marine
highstand. Thus, widespread aggradation could begin earlier and results
in the building of wider megafans.
As the interval between major glacial periods has a duration of about
100 kyr, large geomorphic remodeling of the original depositional sur-
face may have occurred over this time frame, which was not only driven
by erosion but also by tectonic deformation and differential subsidence.
In the distal part of the Po and southern Venetian plains, subsidence has
a high average rate around 1.0 mm/a, that allowed for the deposition
and preservation of thick MIS 3 and 4 deposits. In the eastern VFP,
where rates are b0.5 mm/a, MIS 3 and 4 deposits are almost lacking.
Other factors are the uplifted terraces related to southern Alpine or
northern Apennine thrusts. They represent obstacles for alluvial sedi-
mentation, influencing river paths and development of megafans during
the next glaciation. An example is given by the diversion of Piave River
from the Montebelluna to the Nervesa gap occurring before LGM. This
shift is believed to be partly related to the uplift of the Montello Hill an-
ticline, which had time to affect the main fluvial network between two
glacial cycles (Ferrarese et al., 1998; Carton et al., 2009).
The top of LGM megafans is bounded by a basin-scale unconformity,
which is characterized by fairly well-developed soils and a deep erosive
168 A. Fontana et al. / Sedimentary Geology 301 (2014) 150–171
surface in the incised valleys. Where this unconformity was affected by the
Holocene marine transgression, it is reworked as a ravinement surface. The
existence of a similar bounding surface at the top of MIS 6 is reported in
Venice by Massari et al. (2004), and elsewhere in VFP (Fontana et al.,
2010, 2012). Similar situations can be postulated for older glaciations.
8. Conclusions
The fans and megafans considered in this review form a continuous
belt which extends from east to west for 400 km along the southern
foot of the Alps. The analysis of their evolution since the LGM allows
us to describe the relationships between the fluvial systems and their
mountain catchments at a regional scale.
• The dimensions of these large fan-shaped landforms are between 300
and 2600 km2. They are smaller than the classic megafans from the
Himalayas and the Andes, but similar to those which relate to moun-
tain chains of dimensions and maximum elevation comparable to the
Alps, such as the Southern Alps in New Zealand and the Zagros Moun-
tains in Iran. This suggests the existence of a group of megafans of an
“Alpine size”. Fans and megafans can be distinguished by the marked
downstream differentiation in channel patterns, topographic gradient
and sedimentary facies. The Italian megafans pass from the gravelly
proximal sector with gradient of 6–3‰ to the fine-dominated distal
tracts with slope b1‰, over distances of 40–80 km.
• The major forcing in the late Quaternary evolution of these megafans
is climatic. They are largely the product of fluvial aggradation during
the LGM, when glacier fronts were at the mouth of Alpine valleys. Se-
quence development was primarily controlled by changes in the ratio
between sediment supply and water discharge in response to glacial
outwash in the Alps, while basin subsidence was sufficient to allow
burial and preservation of successive aggradational events. VFP
megafans could freely prograde on the continental Adriatic shelf and
reached larger dimensions than those of the LP, which were limited
at the toe by the Po River.
• In contrast with most models of sequence stratigraphy, the formation
of incised valleys in the megafans had no relation with a marine
lowstand, and was solely triggered by the hydrological changes occur-
ring in the catchment during deglaciation. Following retreatment of
the LGM glaciers, the decrease in sediment discharge forced the rivers
to downcut. This led to the formation of multiple incised valleys and
telescopic distal lobes, where fluvial activity remained confined dur-
ing the Lateglacial and Holocene.
• Postglacial sediment starvation of the LP megafans has continued
until present because of the presence of large lakes in the terminal
tract of Alpine valleys, and consequent trapping of most of the sedi-
ment load. In the VFP, Holocene distal lobes of megafans interfinger
with the highstand Adriatic coastal wedge, and their evolution has
been partly controlled by relative sea level rise, but only after
9 kyr cal BP.
• Regional tectonics and catchment lithology provide the necessary
framework for megafan formation, in terms of relief, accommoda-
tion space and sediment production. Nevertheless, differential tec-
tonic uplift/downlift in the LP and VFP did not apparently interfere
with the development of the LGM aggradation phase, which took
place in all sectors without significant differences. This is probably
related to the overwhelming fingerprint of the fluvioglacial sedi-
mentary input during a short-lived deglacial period.
• Considering the LGM and post-LGM evolution of megafans as an ana-
logue for major alluvial systems during past glacial-interglacial cycles,
it is postulated that the progradation of the Po Plain and tributary sys-
tems since the middle Pleistocene evolved through brief (10 kyr) sed-
imentary pulses at glacial maxima, alternated with longer (100 kyr)
periods of stability during interglacials and less extreme cold
phases. At the top of each alluvial phase, the presence of a major
unconformity with soil formation, valley incision or marine ravinement
can be expected.
Acknowledgments
This work is a product of projects “Late Pleistocene and Holocene
dynamics of the Northern Adriatic plains” (code 60A05–8552/08,
60A05–4397/09, responsible A. Fontana), and “Geomorphological
evolution and geoarchaeology of the Venetian plain” (code 60A05–
2995/11, 60A05–9777/12, responsible P. Mozzi) financed by the Italian
Ministry of University and Research (MIUR). A. Fontana and P. Mozzi
worked equally to the development of the paper; M. Marchetti contrib-
uted to the aspects related to the Lombard Plain. F. Ferrarese is thanked
for helping in DTM processing. The authors are grateful to Justin Wilkin-
son and Edgardo Latrubesse for their encouragement in producing this
paper. The editor Jasper Knight, Brian Horton and an anonymous re-
viewer contributed with their suggestions and corrections to improve
the quality of the manuscript.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the
online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2013.09.003. These
data include Google maps of the most important areas described in this
article.
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