• Deposition of fine-laminated gypsum in temporarily restricted environments on the lagoonal side of the levees, therefore in a very shallow water or even under temporarily sub-aerial conditions similar to modern sabkhas. Piedmont basin. Deposited in an active transtensional and transpressional tectonic setting. The basin developed between the orogenic wedges of the Alps and Apennines during times of active structural evolution. The result was a complex physiography organized in sub-basins which, through time, hosted several mixed depositional systems characterized by different size, geometry, internal architectural styles and sedimentary facies associations. Since the Miocene, the whole area was dominated by transpressive tectonics. Post-Burdigalian sedimentation was achieved in a highly subsiding asymmetric trough (E–W oriented).