Palaeoseismicity from karst sediments: the “Grotta del Cervo” cave case study (Central Italy)

Karst speleothems can be used for tectonic and palaeoseismic analyses; in particular, stalagmites can be treated as the records of a natural pendulum. Samples of stalagmites from the “Grotta del Cervo” and the “Grotta a Male” caves (Central Italy) have been dated using 14C and U/Th radiometric methods. The present paper shows the limits and validity of such methods for dating strong earthquakes of the past. In particular, radiometric 14C dating shows that the youngest general stalagmitic collapse observed inside the “Grotta del Cervo” cave must be related to the December 1456 earthquake of Central Italy