Large volumes of peatland deposits characterise the Holocene stratigraphy of the Po Plain. A combination of sedimentological and pollen-based paleoenvironmental analyses enables recognition and stratigraphic correlation of small-scale (2–5 m thick) packages of peat-bearing strata, stacked rhythmically in a retrogradational to progradational set and bounded by chronostratigraphically significant surfaces. Across these repetitive lithofacies successions, the proportion of facies-controlled palynomorphs is used as a diagnostic signature to characterise marine flooding surface equivalents (helophytes and hydrophytes) and shoaling-upward (terrestrialization) trends (trees and mesophilous herbs) that record systematic variations in groundwater table associated with increasing/decreasing accommodation. Paludification surfaces at the base of peats delineate the updip (freshwater) equivalents of brackish/marine flooding surfaces recognized at seaward locations atop peat layers (give-up transgressive surfaces). Peat beds exhibit maximum thickness in aggradational strata of the lowermost highstand systems tract, above the maximum flooding surface (MFS). An extrinsic control due to eustatic rise can be inferred for peat development in transgressive deposits: peats, in particular, reveal warmer climates at flooding surfaces (specifically around the MFS) that invariably coincide with rapid shifts to deeper depositional environments. Under highstand conditions, autogenic mechanisms affected base-level changes in the paralic swamps. At this stratigraphic level, peat-bearing strata primarily reflect subtle changes in accommodation due to distributary-channel avulsion, subsidence, and peat autocompaction. Detailed patterns of Holocene peat distribution on millennial timescales can help decipher multiple high-resolution accommodation cycles developed in the rock record on sub-seismic scales, resulting in an improved stratigraphic analysis and prediction of chronologically less constrained non-marine successions.

大量泥炭地沉积物是波平原全新世地层的特征。将沉积学和基于花粉的古环境分析相结合，可以识别小规模（2-5 m 厚）含泥炭地层并进行地层相关，这些地层以退积到进积的方式有节奏地堆积，并以年代地层学上重要的表面为界。在这些重复的岩相序列中，相控制的孢粉体的比例被用作诊断特征，以表征记录地下水系统变化的海洋洪水表面等效物（喜生植物和水生植物）和浅滩向上（陆地化）趋势（树木和中温草本植物）与增加/减少住宿相关的表格。泥炭底部的贫化表面描绘了在泥炭层顶部的向海位置（放弃海侵表面）识别的咸水/海洋泛滥表面的上倾（淡水）当量。泥炭层在最低高水位系统域的积聚地层中表现出最大厚度，位于最大洪水面 (MFS) 之上。对于海侵沉积物中的泥炭发育，可以推断出由于浮海上升引起的外在控制：特别是泥炭，在洪水表面（特别是 MFS 周围）显示温暖的气候，这总是与向更深的沉积环境的快速转变相一致。在高位条件下，自生机制影响了近海沼泽的基础水平变化。在这个地层水平上，含泥炭地层主要反映由于分流河道撕脱、下沉和泥炭自动压实引起的细微变化。千年时间尺度上全新世泥炭分布的详细模式可以帮助破译在亚地震尺度上的岩石记录中形成的多个高分辨率适应循环，从而改进地层分析和对时间顺序约束较少的非海洋序列的预测。