The study of cave deposits as a contribution to paleoclimatic reconstruction in western Liguria

The deposits of four caves in western Liguria have been investigated, in particular Tana di Badalucco (Imperia), Arma degli Zerbi (Savona), Caverna delle Fate (Savona) and Arma delle Manie (Savona). These are caves already extensively studied in the past, but exclusively from an archaeological point of view. In this case, the study involved the application of different techniques aimed at the final objective of obtaining a paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstruction for this study area. The techniques used were different, starting from routine bulk analyses, passing from XRD analysis, and ending, and focusing in particular, on the use of the micromorphological technique. This allowed us to identify, in detail, the more or less significant changes that occurred in this region during the last glacial period and the Holocene, and therefore the alternation of more or less cold and more or less humid conditions of the last 120 kyr.