Fifty cores taken from salt marsh islands and subtidal mudflats revealed the lagoonal stratigraphy of the Lagoon of Venice, Italy. The cores contain similarities which are dependent upon the depositional sub-environments within the lagoon such as channel, marsh and mudflat. However distinct differences in stratigraphy are observed both horizontally and vertically within each specific area. Lagoonal sediments are dominantly medium gray silts with variations of clay and sand.
Most sediments are shelly with less plant fibers.
Thinner sand lenses are evidence of channel scour and fill events as well as channel migration. Grain size analysis using the Malvern Mastersizer on selected samples commonly revealed a bimodal distribution which was dominantly silt to clay, however sand was also present. The lagoonal sediments commonly show the effects of iron oxide staining from intertidal and subaerial exposure. The top 1-2 meters of the cores are enriched with fragments of anthropic material on all island settings. In the longer cores, a base to the lagoonal stratigraphy was found at depths varying from 4-6 meters.