Vol. 31, Suppl. n. 1 (2014) pp. 1-816.
Volume 31, Supplemento n. 1 - Settembre 2014
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Volume 31, Supplemento n. 1 - Settembre 2014
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edited by: B. Cesare, E. Erba, B. Carmina,
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Volume 31, Supplemento n. 1 - Settembre 2014
RENDICONTI Online
della
Società Geologica Italiana
A cura di: Domenico Calcaterra & Silvia Fabbrocino
ROMA
edited by:
B. Cesare, E. Erba, B. Carmina,
L. Fascio, F.M. Petti, A. Zuccari.
The Future of the Italian Geosciences -
The Italian Geosciences of the Future
Abstract Book
Milan, Italy, September 10-12, 2014
87° Congresso della Società Geologica Italiana e
87° Congresso della Società Geologica Italiana e
90° Congresso della Società Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrologia
Milan, Italy. September 10-12,
2014
Comitato Scientifico
E. Erba, B. Cesare, G.P. Beretta, L. Bindi, G. Crosta, G. Della Porta, D. Gatta, R. Moretti, V.
Pascucci, A. Pavese, I. Spalla, A. Zanchi.
Comitato Organizzatore
L. Angiolini, F. Berra, B. Carmina, P. Fumagalli, L. Fascio, M. Lustrino, S. Nazzareni, M.
Petitta, F.M. Petti, A. Zuccari, M. Zucali, A. Zerboni.
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R. Braga, G. Gosso, F. Jadoul, M. Masetti, M.R. Petrizzo, P. Tartarotti.
Editori
B. Cesare, E. Erba, B. Carmina, L. Fascio, F.M. Petti, A. Zuccari
.
Sessione S1. Holes in the Bottom of the Sea: discoveries and challenges in marine geology ... 9
Sessione S2. Geological timescales ... 30
Sessione S3. Geological causes and consequences of Life evolution on Earth: the paleontological record of igneous/tectonic events ... 50
Sessione S4. Geoscience frontiers: the role of Polar Regions in Global change ... 64
Sessione S5. Climate change and the Earth System: understanding the past, analyzing the present and predicting future scenarios ... 80
Sessione S6. Understanding carbonate sedimentary systems and diagenesis: new concepts and innovative approaches ... 123
Sessione S7. Evaporite basins: facies, diagenesis and sequences ... 144
Sessione S8. Stratigraphic architecture and sedimentary basin evolution: controlling factors and implications for geo-resources exploration and exploitation ... 152
Sessione S9. Coastal environments: stratigraphy, resources and human impact ... 181
Sessione S10. Geomaterials and their likes: from Nature to technology and manufacturing ... 194
Sessione S11. Archaeometry and Cultural Heritage: the contribution of Geosciences ... 237
Sessione S12. Looking inside the planet Earth: Experimental and Computational Methods in Mineralogy and Geochemistry ... 281
Sessione S13. New Minerals: The role played by the Italian Community - A tribute to Carlo Maria Gramaccioli ... 302
Sessione S14. Human activities and natural environment: News from Environmental Mineralogy and Geochemistry ... 317
Sessione S15. Gemstones: from Nature to marketing ... 336
Sessione S16. Rock-forming minerals and their bearing to petrogenetic processes ... 355
Sessione S17. The oceanic lithosphere: formation, evolution and fate ... 378
Sessione S18. The geological cycle of C and Earth degassing: what do we (really) know? ... 402
Sessione S19. Fluids in the Earth’s crust and Mantle ... 418
Sessione S20. Magmatism and Geodynamics of the Mediterranean area ... 433
Sessione S21. The role of metamorphic petrology in understanding Earth evolution, mass transfer and orogenic processes. A tribute to Bruno Lombardo ... 454
Sessione S22. Volcano laboratories: where geology, geophysics and geochemistry gather together ... 487
Sessione S23. Tracing isotopes for tracking processes: advances in radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry ... 503
Sessione S27. Microstructures: characterization, interpretation and modeling as a key to
deformation and reaction mechanisms, and technological processes ... 583
Sessione S28. Active tectonics and seismic potential of the Mediterranean region ... 594
Sessione S29. Fault Zones: geometry, architecture, composition, fluid-rock interactions, and their seismic vs. aseismic behavior ... 632
Sessione S30. Field mapping, remote sensing and geomatics: modern tools for the construction and quantitative analysis of geological model in Italy and the Mediterranean region ... 650
Sessione S31. Geodynamics of the Alpine orogenic systems: from surface processes to deep dynamics ... 676
Sessione S32. Geodynamic modeling at different structural levels: comparison between natural data and model predictions ... 691
Sessione S33. Planetary Geology: frontiers of geological exploration, modeling and understanding ... 707
Sessione S34. Structural geology studies in extensional and compressional plate tectonic settings: petroleum geology implications ... 736
Sessione S35. Poster - Open Session ... 751
Sessione S36. Poster - Geoscience outreach: a challenge to be faced ... 781
Sessione S37. Poster - Le geoscienze a scuola ... 798
Back to Exploration with geological drivers: New frontiers of the last decade
Bertelli L.*, Giammetti S., Lottaroli F.
eni E&P, Via Emilia 1, 20097, San Donato Milanese (MI). Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Deep water exploration, Frontier Basins, Play Openers, Pre-salt, Abrupt Margins, East Africa, Levantine Basin, Play based exploration, Conjugate Margins.
Exploration trends have always been linked to the oil price. The last decade has been dominated by two main phenomena: the exploration and exploitation of Unconventional reservoirs and the deep water conventional exploration. The oil Industry put priority on investing in new Plays Concept and new basins pushing conventional exploration spend to grow 4 times since early 2000. Limits have been pushed forward towards Ultra Deep waters, pre/sub salt Plays, subtle traps, harsh environments. Besides technology, sound geology and the capability to innovatively describe the subsurface and associates Petroleum Systems proven to be key to success in exploration and new venture activities.
Reserves discovered in the period 2004 – 2013 are almost three times the amount of reserves exploration brought to replacement during previous decades (Biteau et al., 2014). Most of these reserves comes from new Plays and frontier basins in deep waters that gained a primary role in reserve replacement eclipsing the golden exploration targets of the 80’s and 90’s. The last decade exploration arena has been characterized by fast movers International Independents and NOC’s (National Oil Companies) opening Plays and Majors fast reloading their Portfolios on these new exploration frontiers while the Supermajors partially loose their grip on exploration arena. Few majors Integrated have been successful, among these eni, especially in the last few years. Moreover eni results have been achieved only based on conventional exploration, thus re-enforcing the central role of geology, geophysics and exploration technology in our organization. Being Play Openers (e.g. Anadarko/eni in east Africa) has been the key to be successful: coming first on under-explored areas, with new ideas to exploit new play concepts has proven the right attitude to access the bests assets at the best contractual conditions. The barycentre of eni activity rapidly shifted towards new basins and countries (e.g Mozambique, Ghana, Cyprus, Myanmar, Greenland) with new geological challenges.
Breakthrough events of the last 10 years exploration are: the emergency of the pre-salt play in south Atlantic deep waters; Cretaceous turbidites Play on Abrupt Margins (e.g. Equatorial Transform Margin); Rovuma and Tanzania Tertiary and Cretaceous clastic Play and Levantine Basin pre-salt clastic Play.
The Atlantic Margins have increasingly established their role of global “sweet spot” for the oil search, while east Africa and Levantine have delivered gas.
The opening of Pre-Salt Carbonates oil Play of Santos Basin has added over 30 billion barrels of oil since 2006 accounting almost 60% of the total volumes discovered in the decade. Spectacular interest rose for trying to export on the West African margin the Santos Play (Lottaroli et al., 2013). In this perspective, the Kwanza Basin (South Angola) gained most of the attention promising to be the focus of future pre-salt exploration.
In 2007 the discovery of the Jubilee Field unlocked the exploration potential of the Cretaceous deep water Play in offshore Ghana. The Zaedyus discovery in French Guyana, extending the successful play to the South American, have contributed to increasing the focus on exploration along the entire margin. Recent drilling activity turned out in light and shadows and so far the oil sweet spot of the margin seems restricted to the Ghana/Ivory Coast Tano Basin but the evolution of abrupt margins is still poorly known and the deposition of organic facies (source rocks) still away to be understood.
The entire Deep water tract of East Africa was hardly considered an area holding some exploration potential since the drilling of the first Anadarko well in Mozambique in 2010. Enormous volumes of Gas have been discovered in Mozambique/Tanzania (Rovuma Basin) in the last 2 years. Eni, alone, proven in excess of 15 bbnoe with 12 wells in Area 4 in Mozambique. Exceptional quality reservoirs have been encountered increasingly fitting the innovative and poorly documented model of a prevalent interaction of turbidite turbulent flow and bottom-current motion, with winnowing and redistribution of the finer materials deflected within sediment drifts (Fonnesu & Orsi, 2013).
In the past two years, the eastern Mediterranean has been transformed from an industry backwater, to one of the world's most exciting exploration plays. The catalyst for the transformation was the discovery of the giant Tamar gas field, in offshore northern Israel in 2009, followed by other significant discoveries in the surroundings made by Noble Energy. Since then the whole Levant Basin has witnessed a proliferation of bid rounds, well beyond the Israeli sector, in offshore Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria with increasing expectations and different Companies exposures.
Exploration drivers have radically changed in the last decade and results have been far better than the previous. The recent successes overturned most of the geological and exploration paradigms we brought from previous activity.
pre-Being located down-dip from productive Tertiary Delta System and the presence of a mobile substratum (Salt/Shale) was considered a key driver for exploring deep-water Plays based on 1980/2000 historical record (Pettingill & Weimer 2003). None of these elements is present in the emerging deep-water provinces of the last decade (e.g Mozambique, Ghana).
Pure stratigraphic traps are having an increasing role in this new exploration phase while has been long disregarded, mainly when not DHI (Direct Hydrocarbon Indicators) supported.
Turbiditic reservoirs have been proven far away from main traditionally envisaged entry points in some basins (e.g Levantine). As well interaction between down-current evolution and bottom currents overprint gain new insights (e.g. Rovuma Basin).
Large accumulations of biogenic gas seem an overcome contradiction after the Levantine results.
Plate tectonics and geodynamic have been brought back to the base of exploration workflow. The conjugate margin perspective has been exported from the pre-salt of South Atlantic to the entire Atlantic and also to different Plays. Large scale paleogeographic and geodynamic reconstruction and the basic importance of a regional, Play based, approach are today largely agreed as basics in exploration.
Apparently there is still wide space to “invent” in exploration and probably, more than economical and commercial drivers, the geological “thinking” will be, also in the next future, the more powerful tool for success.
Biteau J., Blaizot, M., Jadonet, D. & de Clarens P. 2014. Recent emerging paradigms in hydrocarbon exploration. First break, 32, 49-59
Fonnesu F. & Orsi M. 2013. The Mamba Complex supergiant gas discovery: an example of turbidite fans modified by deepwater tractive bottom currents (abstract). 4th Petroleum Geology Conference, Bergen.
Lottaroli F., Andreotti P., Cornaggia F. 2013. West Africa Pre-Salt Rush: new ideas on proven and emerging trends. PESGB Newsletter August/September 2013, 6-11.
Pettingill H & Weimer P. 2003. World-Wide Deepwater Exploration and Production: Past, Present & Future Leading Edge, 21, 371-376
WoodMackenzie 2010. Israeli gas heightens interest in Eastern Mediterranean. Exploration Insights. WoodMackenzie 2012. Brazil’s Santos Basin boosts global exploration. Exploration Insights.
Insights into the Geological Carbon Cycle
from subduction to erosion
Beyssac O.*
Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Sorbonne Universités, CNRS-UPMC, Paris, France. Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: carbon, subduction, erosion, graphitic carbons, carbonates.
Carbon is ubiquitous on Earth from the deepest levels to the atmosphere, and is recycled between the different terrestrial enveloppes on various timescales and lengthscales. There is considerable ongoing research effort dedicated to the long-term carbon cycle, for instance regarding the Deep Earth to assess the carbon content in the Earth’s mantle and core, but also to identify and quantify the contribution of various carbon carriers (diamond, carbonates, fluids, minerals…). Interaction between the solid Earth and the exosphere (atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere) is also matter of active research. Recent advances include mapping of non-volcanic CO2 degassing at different scales in active
orogenic belts, or the characterization of synthesis pathways for organic molecules during alteration of the oceanic crust. Altogether, we do have a broad view of the geological carbon cycle, which is the basis for complex models of the global carbon cycle (e.g. Berner 2003). However, if the major carbon terrestrial reservoirs are identified, their respective contributions are not well quantified, and the detailed picture for the fluxes between these reservoirs remains barely known.
This lecture will be focused on the carbon cycle in the Earth’s lithosphere. This is a key segment of the geological carbon cycle at the interface between the exosphere and the solid Earth (Hayes and Waldbauer 2006), and where carbon is exchanged between the biomass and the mineral world. Also, there are two carbon subcycles in the Lithosphere, organic versus inorganic cycles, which broadly corresponds to the distinction between reduced versus oxidized carbon. Interactions between the two subcycles are largely unknown, although they may have profound implications for buffering redox conditions, or controlling the speciation of deep fluids. This means that an in-depth characterization of the carbon carriers by means of petrological and mineralogical investigations is required to complement and interpret geochemical data. Main lithospheric fluxes are identified : on one side, carbon is incorporated into the Lithosphere through burial of organic carbon as well as formation of carbonates in sediments or during weathering of the oceanic lithosphere. On the other side, carbon is released from the Lithosphere through degassing, erosion of continental surfaces or subduction to the deep Earth. The broad picture seems relatively simple (Gaillardet & Galy 2008), but field and experimental studies reveal that the reality is indeed much more complex, and that it depends on many local parameters.
A first example of this natural complexity will be discussed and regards the fate of carbonates during subduction based on field studies in high-pressure metamorphism settings. It has been recently proposed that carbonates can be dissolved due to intense fluid-rock interactions during subduction, and that the carbon-bearing fluids can migrate into the mantle wedge and ultimately could feed CO2 degassing in Arc volcanism (Frezzotti et al. 2011 ; Ague & Nicolescu
2014). On the other hand, based on a similar approach, calcite reduction in metasediments at the contact with serpentinites has been evidenced and yielded wollastonite and graphite which can be highly refractory and could transfer carbon to the deep Earth instead of feeding the mantle wedge (Galvez et al. 2013). There might be other processes yet to be found, and the global respective contributions of devolatilization, dissolution or reduction of carbonates during subduction have now to be established. Another example regards the carbon budget during erosion of continental surfaces. A major point is then the fate of modern carbon deriving from the biomass (e.g. Galy et al. 2007): burial in sediments, or oxidation and release as CO2 to the atmosphere? Also, the fate of carbonates and rock-derived
organic carbon during continental erosion as well as the CO2 consumption for silicates weathering have to be
considered for a complete budget on various timescales. This is a complex factory that depends highly on the scale and dynamics of the erosion system, and that will be discussed in light of recent studies in active small-scale (Taiwan) and large-scale (Himalayas, Andes) systems.
The geological carbon cycle is a global issue that have implications for the geological cycle of many other elements like water, trace elements, sulfur or nitrogen. As such, it must be considered with a global approach involving geochemistry (isotopic, organic, bulk chemistry…) but also petrology, mineralogy, biology and thermodynamics among others. Tracking carbon reservoirs and fluxes in the solid Earth also requires investigations down to the finest observation scale (e.g. Wu & Buseck, 2013), as carbon may be present even when non expected, and therefore carbon may be widespread in deep geological settings as it is at the Earth’s surface.
Frezzotti M.L., Selverstone J., Sharp Z.D. & Compagnoni, R. 2011. Carbonate dissolution during subduction revealed by diamond-bearing rocks from the Alps. Nature Geoscience, 4, 703-706.
Gaillardet J. & Galy A. 2008. Himalaya--Carbon Sink or Source? Science, 320, 1727-1728.
Galvez M.E., Beyssac O., Martinez I., Benzerara K., Chaduteau C., Malvoisin B. & Malavieille J. 2013. Graphite formation by carbonate reduction during subduction. Nature Geoscience, 6, 473-477.
Galy V., France-Lanord C., Beyssac O., Kudrass H., Faure P. & Pailhol F. 2007. Efficient organic carbon burial in the Bengal Fan sustained by the Himalayan erosional system. Nature 450, 407-410.
Hayes, J.M. & Waldbauer, J.R. 2006. The carbon cycle and associated redox processes through time. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 361, 931-950.
Paleomagnetism in Italy: contributions to tectonics, stratigraphy, and timescale
Channell J.E.T.*
Dept. Geological Sciences, POB 112120, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Adria, apparent polar wander, palinspastic reconstructions, magnetic stratigraphy, timescales
Fifty years since the first paleomagnetic work in Italy, it’s apparent that paleomagnetism in Italy has been transformational in three aspects of geologic research.
(1) In the 1960s, it was first realized that the Southern Alps of northern Italy possess Early Permian paleomagnetic declinations deviating from coeval directions from non-Alpine Europe by ~50° (Van Hilten, 1962). It was then realized that Southern Alpine data agree with coeval directions from Africa (Zijderveld et al., 1970), a coherence that was later proven valid also for the Mesozoic (e.g., Channell, 1996). Recent analyses of paleomagnetic data from Italy (Muttoni et al., 2013) support the concept of “Adria as a promontory of the Africa plate” (Channell et al., 1979), a concept that can be traced back to the classic work of Argand (1924). The corollary from this work is a “Pangea B” configuration for Atlantic-bordering continents in Early Permian, a conclusion that remains unpopular particularly amongst field geologists.
(2) Palinspastic reconstruction of the Sicilian and Apenninic fold-and-thrust belts has helped to reveal the paleogeography of these “African” Mesozoic continental margins prior to deformation, and has emphasized thrust-sheet rotation and oroclinal bending associated with the Tyrrhenian extension and its propagation northward into Tuscany, driving thrusting that largely postdates the initial collision of the Sardinia/Corsica island arc with the Sicilian/Apenninic “African” continental margin. The origin of the subducting slab beneath the Tyrrhenian Sea remains enigmatic because of the external/internal polarity of the “African” margin in this region (ocean to the west), uncertainties concerning the crustal basement in the Ionian Sea, and the necessity for continuity of the Sicilian Mesozoic continental margin into the Southern Apennines until deposition of the Oligocene to Early Miocene Numidian Flysch.
(3) The Upper Cretaceous magnetic polarity stratigraphy from the Gubbio section (Lowrie and Alvarez, 1977) was matched to marine magnetic anomalies (MMAs) and combined with the foraminiferal biostratigraphies (Premoli-Silva, 1977) to provide correlation of geologic stage boundaries to the emerging MMA-based geomagnetic polarity timescale (GPTS). This work spawned the correlation of the Cretaceous and Cenozoic GPTS to foraminiferal and nannofossil zones and hence to stage boundaries, both from marine cores recovered through ocean drilling for late Cenozoic time, and in land sections (largely from Italy) for the early Cenozoic and Cretaceous. The strong legacy of both micropaleontological and magnetostratigraphic research in Italy has resulted in the GPTS becoming central to geologic timescales for the last 160 Myr. The GPTS now provides linkage among biostratigraphies, chemostratigraphies, radiometric ages and astrochronologies; and has resulted in radical improvement in the resolution of time in Earth history.
Argand E., 1924. La tectonique de l’Asie. Proc. Geol. Congr. XIII, 171-372.
Channell J.E.T., 1996. Palaeomagnetism and palaeogeography of Adria, in: Morris, A., Tarling, D.H. (Eds.), Palaeomagnetism and tectonics of the Mediterranean region. Geological Society Special Publication, 105, 119–132, London.
Channell J.E.T., D’Argenio B. & Horvath F. 1979. Adria, the African promontory, in Mesozoic Mediterranean paleogeography. Earth Sci. Reviews, 15, 213-292.
Lowrie W. & Alvarez W. 1977. Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene magnetic stratigraphy at Gubbio, Italy: III Upper Cretaceous magnetic stratigraphy. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 88, 374-377.
Muttoni G., Dallanave E. & Channell J.E.T. 2013. The drift history of Adria and Africa from 280 Ma to Present, Jurassic true polar wander and zonal climate control on Tethyan sedimentary facies, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclimat., Palaeoecol., 386, 415-435.
Premoli-Silva I. 1977. Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene magnetic stratigraphy at Gubbio, Italy: II Biostratigraphy. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., 88, 371-374.
Van Hilten D., 1962. A deviating Permian pole from rocks in northern Italy. Geophys. J. Roy. Astron. Soc., 6, 377–390. Zijderveld J.D.A., Hazeu G.J.A., Nardin M., Van der Voo R., 1970. Shear in the Tethys and the Permian paleomagnetism in the Southern Alps, including new results. Tectonophysics, 10, 639–661.
Deep drilling in the ocean crust : where are we, and what's next ?
Ildefonse B.*
Géosciences Montpellier, CNRS/Université Montpellier 2, France. Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Ocean drilling, International Ocean Discovery Program, IODP, ocean crust, mid-ocean ridges, Mohole to the mantle.
This lecture will draw from the latest results from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) drilling expeditions in both fast-spread and slow-spread ocean crust, highlighting scientific questions related to accretion processes at mid-ocean ridges. In 2004-2005, IODP Expeditions 304 and 305 (Ildefonse et al., 2007; Blackman et al., 2011) illustrated the role of detachment faulting and associated hydrothermal alteration, together with localized and protracted magmatic construction recorded in the footwall of these faults, possibly involving recycling of mantle rocks (Drouin et al., 2010), in building crust in volcanic-poor regions of slow-spreading ridges. In fast-spread crust, observations from the lower crust gabbros are essential to test models on crustal accretion and cooling. IODP Expedition 345 at Hess Deep (Dec 2012 – Feb 2013) drilled and sampled for the fast time the layered primitive gabbros of fast-spread crust (Gillis et al., 2014). The preliminary results will be summarized. At site 1256, in intact East Pacific superfast spread crust, operations during IODP Expedition 335 in 2011 (Teagle et al., 2012) proved challenging throughout, and the lower crustal gabbros are yet to be recovered. The material recovered from the complex dike-gabbro transition zone document evolving geological conditions and the coupling between temporally and spatially intercalated intrusive, hydrothermal, contact-metamorphic, partial melting, and retrogressive processes at the interface between the magma chamber and the hydrothermal system. I will also shed light on some of the next challenges for scientific drilling in the ocean lithosphere, exemplified by the shallow coring project on the Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (http://www.iodp.org/doc_download/3299-758-full2cover), the “SloMo” project at the Southwest Indian Ridge (http://www.iodp.org/doc_download/3557-800-mdp), and the “MoHole to the Mantle” project (http://mohole.org), which aims to reach and sample the uppermost mantle beneath the Pacific fast-spread crust.
Blackman D.K., Ildefonse B., John B.E., Ohara Y., Miller D.J., et al. 2011. Drilling constraints on lithospheric accretion and evolution at Atlantis Massif, Mid-Atlantic Ridge 30° N. Journal of Geophysical Research, 116, B07103. doi:10.1029/2010JB007931
Drouin M., Ildefonse B., Godard M. 2010. A microstructural imprint of melt impregnation in slow spreading lithosphere: Olivine-rich troctolites from the Atlantis Massif, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30 degrees N, IODP Hole U1309D. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 11, Q06003. doi:10.1029/2009GC002995
Gillis K.M., Snow J.E., Klaus et al., 2013. Primitive layered gabbros from fast-spreading lower oceanic crust. Nature, 505, 204–207. doi:10.1038/nature12778
Ildefonse B., Blackman D.K., John B.E., Ohara Y., Miller D.J., MacLeod C.J. 2007. Oceanic core complexes and crustal accretion at slow-spreading ridges. Geology, 35, 623–626. doi:10.1130/G23531A.1
Teagle D., Ildefonse B., Blum P. & the Expedition 335 Scientists, 2012. Proc. IODP, 335: Tokyo (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International, Inc.). doi:10.2204/iodp.proc.335.2012
One hundred years of mineral crystal chemistry
Merlino S.*
Past-Professor of Crystallography at University of Pisa. Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: X-ray diffraction, Laue and Bragg interpretation, Crystal structures, Barlow contribution, Ionic radii, Goldschmidt rules, Pauling stability rules, Classification schemes, Polymorphic relationships and polymorphic transformations, Modular crystal chemistry, Crystal structure prediction, Automated electron diffraction tomography.
After the experience of Friedrich and Knipping suggested and interpreted by Laue, the young Bragg correctly explained the results of the Munich discovery and showed how to use X-rays to determine the arrangement of atoms in crystals and, in few years, actually derived the structures of several inorganic compounds. From then on it was possible to do something which had been conjectured about in the past several hundred years (Kepler, Huygens, Dalton, Barlow) without conclusive proof: namely to study the relationships between the chemical compositions of crystals and their atomic arrangements in space and their physical properties.
The comparison of the structural data permitted to Bragg to assert that crystals are composed of ‘inelastic spheres in contact’ and that ‘it is possible to assign to the sphere representing an atom… a constant diameter.’ This assertion marks the beginning of the modern crystal chemistry. The development of these concepts by Goldschmidt led to the first reliable list of ionic radii, to the rules relating ionic size and atomic structure and to the relationship between radius ration and coordination number. Shortly thereafter, Pauling, using a different approach through wave mechanics, produced a similar list of radii, the well known table of ionic radii of Pauling, who – at the same time - proposed the rules for the stability of ionic compounds, based on the concept of coordination polyhedrons as building elementary modules of inorganic compounds.
The stability rules of Pauling, as well as the conception, formulated by Bragg, of the structures of complex oxides as characterized by ‘close packing’ of oxygen anions, were the main guiding lines in the ‘trial and error’ procedures to determine the atomic arrangements in minerals and in inorganic compounds in general.
The increasing number of known structures raised the need for proper classification schemes, largely based on elementary structural units and the various ways of their connection. Machatschki, an outstanding coworker of Goldschmidt and Bragg, applied the Goldschmidt’s ideas on crystal chemistry to the problem of silicate structures, demolishing current theories of silicate structures based on hypothetical silicic acids and established the concept of the silicon tetrahedral coordination by oxygen anions as the basic structural unit in silicates. The brilliant idea of Machatschki was then developed by L. Bragg, who sketched a reliable classification of the structures of silicate minerals, a classification which was subsequently updated and completed by F. Liebau.
At the same time the wide basis of structural data and the increased precision and accuracy of those data stimulated the revision of the old compilations of ionic radii (new compilation by Shannon and Prewitt), as well as a re-formulation of the Pauling’s rule of valence bond balance (Baur; Donnay and Allmann; Brown and Shannon).
Examples are presented of the application of the crystal chemical tools to some important mineralogical, geochemical and geophysical problems: patterns of element distribution and partition; polymorphism in serpentine minerals; polymorphic transformations in the transition zone; spin pairing in the lower mantle.
An explosive growth of structural knowledge in the last decades of the twentieth century was stimulated by the new techniques of data collection, the high speed of computing and the advent of direct methods of structure solution, which resulted not only in an enormous increase in the number of known structures, but also in unraveling very complex arrangements. This increasing structural knowledge accompanied and stimulated the development of a new way to look at the arrangements of inorganic compounds, based on their modular aspects, from OD (order-disorder) theory (Dornberger-Schiff), particularly useful in dealing with polytypic families, to polysomatism and polysomatic series (Thompson), to the other types of approach to modularity.
The concept of assembling different, geometrically compatible modules, mainly structural layers, to build up complex structures has been very productive; in fact it not only consented a deep knowledge of the structural relationships inside wide families of natural and synthetic compounds, but also favored the solution of complex structural problems and permitted careful previsions of new possible structural arrangements.
Few lines of future developments of the crystal chemical study of minerals are briefly presented and discussed: ‘synergy’ between mineralogists and material chemists; computational simulations of structural arrangements; new possibility of automated electron diffraction tomography; ultra-intense pulses of radiation obtained with the new source, the x-ray free-electron laser (FEL).
S
ESSIONE
S1
Holes in the Bottom of the Sea: discoveries and challenges
in marine geology
C
ONVENORSA. Camerlenghi (OGS Trieste)
M. Ligi (CNR-ISMAR, Bologna)
Paleogene Newfoundland Sediment Drifts (Iodp Expedition 342):
preliminary results
Agnini C.*1-2 & Expedition 342 Scientists3
1. Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università degli Studi di Padova. 2. Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, Sweden. 3. Expedition 342 Scientists – See http://publications.iodp.org/preliminary_report/342/342pr_3.htm for full list.
Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: IODP Exp. 342, Paleogene, Newfoundland.
In summer 2012, IODP Expedition 342 drilled the seafloor off Newfoundland (NW Atlantic) with two primary drilling target: (1) the southern toe and eastern flank of J-Anomaly Ridge and (2) the north-facing slopes of seamounts on Southeast Newfoundland Ridge This cruise successfully recovered high quality cores from ten sites (U1402 to U1411) that mainly consists of carbonate clay to oozes.One of the benefits of the Newfoundland sediment drift complex is the near-absence of Neogene sedimentary cover. Since late Cenozoic, most areas were affected by strong currents that inhibit the deposition of younger strata. Before these currents become active, the presence of units characterized by outstanding thickness, absence of internal reflections, and peculiar drift morphology suggest high sedimentation rates (SRs), higher than in typical deep-sea sediments (0.5–1 cm/kyr). The scientific objectives of the Paleogene Newfoundland Sediment Drifts Expedition included the study of: 1) the onset and development of Cenozoic glaciation; 2) the history of North Atlantic DWBC deep waters in the Paleogene and Cretaceous; 3) changes in the CCD of the Deep North Atlantic during latest Cretaceous and Paleogene “Extreme Climate” Events; 4) the calibration of the Astronomical Time scale into the Early Cenozoic (Expedition 342 Scientists, 2012). The sediments recovered during Exp.342 effectively document the main climatic events occurring from Cretaceous to the Miocene. Among these the K/Pg boundary, the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), the middle Eocene climatic optimum (MECO), and the Eocene–Oligocene glaciation are the most prominent. The shipboard bio-magnetostratigraphic framework provides high-quality age models of the sediments that reveal high SRs in middle Eocene (47–40 Ma; > 3 cm/kyr) and in the Oligo–Miocene sediments (26–22 Ma; >10 cm/kyr; Norris et al., 2014). Hence, preliminary results show the high potential of cores drilled during Exp. 342, which will likely provide high-quality data to improve our understanding of the Paleogene paleoceanographic evolution as well as the calibration of the Time Scale of the Eocene.
Expedition 342 Scientists 2012. Paleogene Newfoundland sediment drifts. IODP Prel. Rept., 342. doi:10.2204/iodp.pr.342.2012.
Norris R.D., Wilson P.A., Blum P., Fehr A., Agnini C., Bornemann A., Boulila S., Bown P.R., Cournede C., Friedrich O., Ghosh A.K., Hollis C.J., Hull P.M., Jo K., Junium C.K., Kaneko M., Liebrand D., Lippert P.C., Liu Z., Matsui H., Moriya K., Nishi H., Opdyke B.N., Penman D., Romans B., Scher H.D., Sexton P.F., Takagi H., Turner S.K., Whiteside J.H., Yamaguchi T. & Yamamoto Y. 2014. Proc. IODP, 342: College Station, TX (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program). doi:10.2204/iodp.proc.342.2014.
Acquisition, processing and geologic interpretation of
Multibeam bathymetric datasets and correlations with multichannel seismic
profiles: applications to the Naples and Salerno Gulfs (Southern Tyrrhenian sea)
Aiello G.*1, Marsella E.1 & D’Isanto C.2
1. IAMC-CNR, Napoli. 2. Collaboratore esterno, Dottore di Ricerca in Scienze ed Ingegneria del Mare, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II".
Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Multibeam bathymetry, multichannel seismic profiles, Naples and Salerno Gulfs, Campania continent.
The research project is based on the processing and the interpretation of bathymetric data recorded by the IAMC-CNR of Naples, Italy through different types of Multibeam lateral echosoundings. An analytic comparison between one of the automatic methods most efficient for the data processing, i.e. the CUBE and the manual processing of swath packages has been attempted. The efficiency of the algorithm has been tested on complex morphologies, such as the Capri continental slope and the related geological structures occurring in the Salerno Gulf. Multibeam data processing and interpretation has been carried out for the following research projects: 1) CNR-SGN Convention for the redaction of marine geological maps at the 1:25.000 scale of Naples and Salerno Gulfs (maps n. 465 “Procida”, n. 466 “Sorrento”, n. 467 “Salerno”); 2) CARG Project at the scale 1:10.000 of the Campania region at the 1:10.000 scale (maps n. 464 “Ischia”, n. 465 “Procida”, n. 466 “Sorrento”, n. 446-447 “Napoli”, n. 484 “Capri”, n. 468 “Foce del Sele”, n. 502 “Agropoli”, n. 519 “Capo Palinuro”, n. 520 “Sapri”); 3) GEOSED project for the acquisition of morphological data for the geomorphological and sedimentological study of selected areas of Campania continental shelf (Capri and Ischia islands); 4) SISTER II oceanographic cruise of morpho-bathymetric acquisition in intermediate and deep sea bottoms through the RESON 8160 Multibeam and finalized to the geological knowledge of the Sorrento continental slope, Salerno Valley, northern and southern Sele highs; 5) morpho-bathymetric surveys committed to the CNR by the Authority of the Naples harbour for monitoring the marine pollution of sediments. Dedicated software as the PDS2000 (Thales), the NEPTUNE (Merlin) and the ISIS (Triton Elics) have been used for the cartographic restitution of bathymetric and Sidescan Sonar data. The bathymetric maps, both contour isobaths maps and shaded-relief maps have been interpreted with the aim of reconstructing the main morphological lineaments occurring at the sea bottom, in particular for the Naples Bay canyons, the continental slope off the Sorrento Peninsula, the sedimentary basin of the Salerno Valley and the related depocenters. Bathymetric profiles have been also produced, allowing to distinguish erosional and depositional areas. The correlation of Multibeam data with some significant seismic profiles recorded in Naples and Salerno Gulfs has completed the geological interpretation.
Status of the Italian participation in ECORD and perspective of
“IODP-Italia” for the next decade
Argnani A.*1, Camerlenghi A.2, Sacchi M.3, Erba E.4 & Sagnotti L.5
1. ISMAR-CNR, Bologna. 2. OGS, Trieste. 3. IAMC-CNR, Napoli. 4. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita' di Milano. 5. INGV, Roma Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: IODP, ECORD, ESSAC, ICDP, Italy.
The decade spanning from 2003 to 2013 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) has seen the debut of three new drilling platforms, and the establishment of the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) as the operator of the Mission Specific Platforms (MSP). Italy participated in ECORD through a bottom-up assembled consortium constituted by Public Research Institutions (CNR, INGV, and OGS) together with the University-based “COnsorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del MAre” (CONISMA). These institutions agreed to contribute by paying a membership fee required to join ECORD, and to establish a "IODP Italia" informal structure to manage the relationships with ECORD andIODP . Because of the progressive reduction of Italian funds for research, only the CNR's contribution was maintained in the last three years of the IODP decade, seriously limiting the Italian participation in ECORD. In 2013, when the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP, 2013-2023) debuted, the above mentioned institutions submitted a funding request to the MIUR, as applicable to the large infrastructures for Environment, in support of the Italian participation in ECORD. The request was accepted and the managing of the Italian participation in ECORD has been assigned to CNR, who is about to create a specific IODP-Italia Commission, composed by members representing the participating institutions (CNR, INGV, OGS e CONISMA). This welcome turn in policy can hopefully bring the Italian community back to a position that is more appropriate to its scientific level of contribution to IODP, both in terms of quality and number of IODP-related research projects and initiatives. Besides managing the ECORD activities, the MIUR-funded infrastructure will also coordinate and support the Italian participation in ICDP (International Continental Drilling Program). At present, the Italian contribution is still one order of magnitude less than that of France, Germany and the UK, though comparable to that of countries like The Netherlands and Sweden. It is of paramount importance that this contribution is maintained in the next years, in order to ensure the continuity of the Italian presence on the scene of the international ocean discovery program.
The Pacific (DSDP Site 463) and Tethys Ocean record of OAE1a: a taxonomic and
quantitative analyses of planktonic foraminifera
Barchetta A.*, Petrizzo M.R., Bottini C. & Erba E.
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra "A. Desio", Università degli Studi di Milano. Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Early Aptian, Selli Level, Foraminifera.
The Selli Level (Early Aptian) is a regional marker-bed identified in the Umbria-Marche area (central Italy) consisting of laminated black shales rich in organic matter, alternated with radiolarian beds. The Selli Level is regarded as the sedimentary expression of the OAE1a (Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a) and is marked by a δ13C anomaly, comprising of a pronounced negative shift followed by a positive excursion.
A detailed and quantitative documentation in terms of species identification and distribution, variation of shell size, diversity and abundance of planktonic foraminifera across Selli Level equivalents is presented for a 24 m-thick stratigraphic section of the Cismon core (southern Alps, Italy) and a 60 m-thick stratigraphic interval from DSDP Site 463 (Mid-Pacific Mountains).
Foraminiferal quantitative (species richness and abundance) and morphometric analyses (shell size measurements) were conducted on washed residues and thin sections.
Results from the Cismon Core allow identification of three intervals (below, within and above the Selli Level equivalent) characterized by minor to major changes in species richness and abundance. Planktonic foraminifera are common and diversified below the Selli Level, being the assemblage composed by hedbergellids, few leupoldinids and globigerinelloidids. A similar composition in terms of species richness is recorded within the Selli Level, whereas abundance shows a marked decline. The planktonic foraminiferal assemblage above the Selli is characterised by the occurrence of common hedbergellids, clavate hedbergellids, leupoldinids and both globular and elongate globigerinelloidids. An increase in shell size of the planispiral taxa is also observed. Planktonic foraminifera at Site 463 are generally poorly preserved and rare or absent, especially below and within the Selli Level equivalent. An increase in abundance is observed in the interval above the Selli Level.
Comparison with calcareous nannoplankton abundance data highlights significant similarities and differences: 1) the onset of OAE1a is characterized by a marked decline of both planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton. This distinctive decrease does not correspond to extinctions but to a period of virtual absence; 2) after the decline, planktonic foraminifera are rare within the Selli Level while calcareous nannoplankton shows a first increase in abundance; 3) both planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton present a full recovery above the Selli Level.
The different trend within the Selli Level could be the effect of preservation and may be related to the higher susceptibility to dissolution of foraminifera than nannofossils.
Cold-water carbonate mounds and beyond: the Italian activity within
COCARDE-ERN
Basso D.*1, Vertino A.1, Anzalone E.2, Barbieri R.3, Montagna P.4, Rosso A.5, Taviani M.4
& the COCARDE-ERN Steering Committee
1. Università di Milano-Bicocca, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences. 2. IAMC-CNR, Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Napoli. 3. Università di Bologna, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences. 4. ISMAR-CNR, Istituto di Science Marine, Bologna. 5. Dipartimento di Scienze
Biologiche, Geologiche, Ambientali, Università di Catania. Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Cold-water carbonate mounds, COCARDE-ERN.
COCARDE-ERN (www.cocarde.eu; www.esf.org/cocarde) is an international research network programme supported by the European Science Foundation, aimed at bringing together Earth scientists working on modern and ancient carbonate systems. Although originally focussed on cold-water coral mounds, COCARDE-ERN is expanded at present to include a wider suite of carbonate expertises on marine and fresh-water environments from "shallow to deep time". The main goal of this network is to cross inter-sectorial boundaries within the academic community and build bridges towards industrial research in order to perform advanced multidisciplinary studies and train young scientists. A range of integrated workshops and field seminars, consisting of a combination of indoor and outdoor (field seminar) initiatives, forms the core activity of the network. The participation of young scientists in COCARDE activities such as workshops/conferences attendance and training periods abroad, is fostered by the online publication of calls for grants. The Italian COCARDE-ERN community is coordinated by the University of Milano-Bicocca and includes the Universities of Bologna and Catania, the ISMAR- and IAMC- CNR Institutes. The Italian community has been contributing to the network since 2011 (i) as a member of the Steering Committee, (ii) through the coordination of networking activities and (iii) by multidisciplinary research within new international collaborations. More in detail, our major activities to date resulted in the organization in 2013 of the workshop and field seminar held in Sicily, that served as a start-up for the COCARDE database project on Pleistocene to modern marine and terrestrial "unconventional" carbonate buildups. The marine research has been mainly devoted to the coordination and/or participation in several oceanographic cruises in the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean, aimed at coring cold-water coral (CWC) mounds. In addition, other topics tackled by the Italian group are the comparison between carbonate platforms and travertines as depositional systems recording paleoenvironmental changes and paleoclimatic cycles; the paleoecology and geochemistry of biogenic archives in shallow and deep waters; the geobiology of seep carbonates and associated chemosynthetic communities.
Uncovering a Salt Giant. Deep-Sea Record of Mediterranean Messinian Events
(DREAM) multi-phase drilling project
Camerlenghi A.*1, Aloisi G.2, Lofi J.3, Hübscher C.4, deLange G.5, Flecker R.6, Garcia-Castellanos D.7, Gorini C.2,
Gvirtzman Z.8, Krijgsman W.5, Lugli S.9, Makowsky Y.10, Manzi V.11, McGenity T.12, Panieri G.13, Rabineau M.14, Roveri M.11, Sierro F.-J.15 & Waldmann N.10
1. OGS, Trieste. 2. Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris. 3. Université de Montpellier 2. 4. University of Hamburg 5. Utrecht University. 6. University of Bristol. 7. ICTJA-CSIC, Barcelona. 8. Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem 9. University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. 10. University of Haifa. 11. University of Parma. 12. University of Essex
13. University of Tromsø. 14. CNRS Plouzané Brest. 15. University of Salamanca. Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Salt, Messinian, Scientific drilling.
In May 2013, the DREAM MagellanPlus Workshop was held in Brisighella (Italy). The initiative builds from recent activities by various research groups to identify potential sites to perform deep-sea scientific drilling in the Mediterranean Sea across the deep Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) sedimentary record.
In this workshop three generations of scientists were gathered: those who participated in formulation of the deep desiccated model, through DSDP Leg 13 drilling in 1973; those who are actively involved in present-day MSC research; and the next generation (PhD students and young post-docs). The purpose of the workshop was to identify locations for multiple-site drilling (including riser-drilling) in the Mediterranean Sea that would contribute to solve the several open questions still existing about the causes, processes, timing and consequences at local and planetary scale of an outstanding case of natural environmental change in the recent Earth history: the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Mediterranean Sea.
The product of the workshop is the identification of the structure of an experimental design of site characterization, riser-less and riser drilling, sampling, measurements, and down-hole analyses that will be the core for at least one compelling and feasible multiple phase drilling proposal. Particular focus has been given to reviewing seismic site survey data available from different research groups at pan-Mediterranean basin scale, to the assessment of additional site survey activity including 3D seismics, and to ways of establishing firm links with oil and gas industry.
The scientific community behind the DREAM initiative is willing to proceed with the submission to IODP of a Multi-phase Drilling Project including several drilling proposals addressing specific drilling objectives, all linked to the driving objectives of the MSC drilling and understanding . A series of critical drilling targets were identified to address the still open questions related to the MSC event. Several proposal ideas also emerged to support the Multi-phase drilling project concept: Salt tectonics and fluids, Deep stratigraphic and crustal drilling in the Gulf of Lion (deriving from the GOLD drilling project), Deep stratigraphic and crustal drilling in the Ionian Sea, Deep Biosphere, Sapropels, and the Red Sea.
A second MagellanPlus workshop, held in January 2014 in Paris, (France), has proceeded a step further towards the drafting of the Multi-phase Drilling Project and a set of pre-proposals for submission to IODP on April 1st 2014. This presentation is taken from a talk given at the Euroforum Session held in Vienna during the EGU General Assembly in April 2014 (Camerlenghi et al., 2014). It will be complemented in Milano with the results of the IODP Evaluation of the Multi-phase Drilling Project proposal expected in July 2014, beyond the deadline for abstract submission.
Camerlenghi A., Aloisi G., Lofi J., Hübscher C., deLange G., Flecker R., Garcia-Castellanos D., Gorini C., Gvirtzman Z., Krijgsman W., Lugli S., Makowsky Y. , Manzi V., McGenity T., Panieri G., Rabineau M., Roveri M., Sierro F.-J. & Waldmann N. 2014. Uncovering a Salt Giant. Deep-Sea Record of Mediterranean Messinian Events (DREAM) multi-phase drilling project. Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 16, EGU2014-7443, 2014, EGU General Assembly 2014.
Marine geology challenges: integration and harmonization of data
D’Angelo S. & Fiorentino A.*
Geological Survey of Italy – ISPRA. Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Geological map, European Framework Directive, multidisciplinarity.
Studies on marine geology have evidenced the need of a multidisciplinary approach to achieve a level of integrated knowledge useful for a comprehensive characterization of the submerged areas.
The Geological Survey of Italy (SGI) has produced national cartography of submerged areas for over 30 years. Geological surveying has allowed to collect a large amount of data from remote sensing (multibeam, sidescan sonar and seismics) as well as from sampling and scuba diving. Maps have been realized within the CARG Project, which covers at present about 40% of the Italian territory. Guide lines for submerged areas have been harmonised with those for the terrestrial sectors in order to have consistent representation throughout the maps. The SGI, as a member of EuroGeoSurveys, has also participated in numerous European Projects on Marine Geology. The major aims of such projects are to collect into a single database information regarding submerged areas and harmonize data on a European scale. EMODnet-Geology 2 is the ongoing Project in which the SGI is Work Package leader for the subject Geological events and probabilities. Within this Project other work packages foresee the production of GIS maps regarding seafloor sediments, pre-Quaternary substrate, coastal behaviour, accumulation rates and mineral resources. Data from the DSDP-ODP Legs in the Mediterranean are being used to complement the information requested. Regarding the integration with biological data, the SGI has contributed to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, providing detailed descriptions of the physiography of Italian Seas and the geology of the continental shelf. This issue was the subject of studies addressed at the production of the Geological map of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni Geopark which includes submarine landscapes. The aim of this map is to disseminate the geological knowledge for the fruition and management of the territory, also considering submerged areas. In the last few years, the SGI has contributed to GeoHab, a marine scientists community of geologists, biologists, acousticians, statisticians, spatial analysts and environmental managers. The GeoHab 2013 conference was hosted by the SGI in Rome; a selection of papers presented at the conference is currently under review for a volume of the Italian Journal of Geosciences.
New Geological, seismological and geodetic evidence of active thrusting and folding
south of Mt. Etna (eastern Sicily): revaluation of “seismic efficiency”
of the Sicilian Basal Thrust
De Guidi G.*1, Barberi G.2, Barreca G.1, Bruno V.2, Cultrera F.1, Grassi S.1, Imposa S.1, Mattia M.2,
Monaco C.1, Scarfì L.2 & Scudero S.1
1. Dept. of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania. 2. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo - Sezione di Catania.
Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Active thrusting and folding, seismotectonic, Etna volcano.
New geological, seismological and geodetic data indicate that a NNW-SSE compressive regime occurs in the southern and western sector of Mt. Etna, accommodated by aseismic folding at the front of the chain. In particular, a large WSW-ENE trending anticline (the Catania anticline) is growing west and north of Catania within a middle-late Pleistocene fold system. For its location, geometry and growth rate, it is consistent with detachment fold models. We exclude that this structure have developed in response to volcanic spreading, as proposed by previous authors. Looking at the earthquakes distribution , an interesting finding is a clear trend of the seismic events deepening from very shallow hypocenters, in the area south of Etna, down to a depth of about 35 km, towards the NNW. Moreover, most of the events are clustered. We computed the focal mechanisms for the major and best recorded earthquakes occurring in the area. One cluster located at few kilometers north-west of the summit craters shows fault mechanisms of the deeper events with nearly horizontal P-axes striking NNW-SSE. A segment of the Sicilian Basal Thrust, located at crustal depth under the northwestern sector of the volcano, could be the seismic source. We propose the occurrence of detachment folding at the chain front, as response of a surface frontal propagation of this regional structure, migrating within the clayish middle-late Pleistocene foredeep deposits or at the top of the buried Hyblean foreland sequence. Geological and morphometric analyses suggest a maximum up warp deformation along the anticline axis of 40 m in the last 6000-7000 yrs, with a vertical slip-rate of 5 - 7 mm/yr. These values are consistent with the growth rate of 9 - 10 mm/yr estimated by interferometric data and the horizontal shortening of 5 mm/yr obtained by GPS measurements.
Our analysis confirms that, besides the activity related to the volcanic feeding system, the seismic pattern under Mt. Etna edifice can be certainly related to the regional dynamics. The compressive stress is converted into elastic accumulation and then in earthquakes along the ramps to the rear of the chain, whereas along the frontal detachment it is accommodated by aseismic ductile deformation. In fact, despite the high rates of convergence, the seismicity is moderate at the front of the chain and the “seismic efficiency" of the Sicilian Basal Thrust is greater in correspondence of ramps at the rear, where strong earthquakes can occur.
Sulfide deposits from south-eastern Tyrrhenian Sea: new geochemical,
isotopic and fluid inclusion data
Dini A.*1, Boschi C.1, Gamberi F.2, Laurenzi MA.1, Marani M.2, Rovere M.2, Ruggieri G.3 & Trua T.4
1. IGG - CNR, Pisa. 2. ISMAR - CNR, Bologna. 3. IGG - CNR, Firenze. 4. Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Università di Parma
Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Sulfide deposits, Tyrrhenian Sea, isotope geochemistry.
The aim of this contribution is to present new mineralogical, geochemical, isotopic and fluid inclusion data on volcanogenic-hydrothermal sulfides occurring in the southeast Tyrrhenian Sea. Subduction-related volcanic activity in the southeast Tyrrhenian back-arc basin has resulted in a large variety of calcalkaline rocks (ranging from arc tholeiitic to shoshonitic and rhyolitic composition), which were emplaced in both oceanic and continental crust (Trua et al., 2007). Hydrothermal systems in the SE Tyrrhenian Sea generated a wide range of oxyhydroxide and sulfide deposits (Dekov and Savelli, 2004). Samples of sulfides from Palinuro and Marsili Seamounts have been selected for a detailed isotopic (Pb, Sr) and fluid inclusion study coupled with geochemical and petrographic characterization. Large variation in base metals (Pb, Zn and Cu) and trace metals (Bi, Au, Ag, As, Sb, Tl etc.) have been compared with the isotopic compositions (hydrothermal and magmatic products) and the geological setting of the studied seamounts.
This research is part of the “Progetto Bandiera RITMARE”, coordinated by CNR (Italy).
Trua T., Serri G. & Marani M.P. 2007. Geochemical features and geodynamic significance of the southern Tyrrhenian backarc basin. GSA Special Papers, 418, 221-233.
Dekov V.M. & Savelli C. 2004. Hydrothermal activity in the SE Tyrrhenian Sea: an overview of 30 years of research. Mar. Geol., 204, 161-185.
A new Late Cretaceous record of oxygen and carbon trends from the southern mid
latitudes (ODP Leg 122) and insights on planktonic foraminiferal evolution.
Falzoni F.*1, Petrizzo M.R.1 & MacLeod K.G.2
1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “A. Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano. 2. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia.
Corresponding email: [email protected]
Keywords: Late Cretaceous, planktonic foraminifera, Exmouth Plateau.
Patterns and timing of Late Cretaceous climatic evolution and biotic responses have been object of a number of studies for the similarities between this ancient greenhouse period and some of the predictions for the Earth’s next future. However, while Cenomanian–Turonian and late Campanian–Maastrichtian intervals have been widely studied and climatic trends are relatively well established, little information is available for the ~20 m.y. long Turonian–early Campanian, despite it represents a key-period to examine the decline of the maximum greenhouse phase and the associated biotic response. In detail, the Turonian–Campanian cooling phase was likely associated with changing intermediate and deep-water circulation including enhanced deep-water formation in southern high latitudes. Keeled Cretaceous planktonic foraminifera underwent a major turnover across a ~5 m.y. long Coniacian–early Campanian interval, but the main controlling factors and how they might relate to changing greenhouse climate dynamics have never been established. This lack of understanding is related to the limited recovery of stratigraphically complete Turonian–early Campanian sediments from DSDP, ODP and IODP cruises and to poor preservation of microfossils that compromises stable isotope approaches for reconstructing paleoceanographic conditions and species paleoecological preferences. Further uncertainty is introduced by several recent studies that found a traditional morphologically-based scheme for the interpretation of Cretaceous planktonic foraminiferal paleoecology likely incorrect. For instance, several keeled species always interpreted as deep-dwellers yield an isotopic signature that suggests a near-to-surface habitat, whereas several small biserial, planispiral and low trochospiral taxa may have inhabited deep layers of the water column.
We present new δ18O and δ13C isotopic measurements of well-preserved benthic and planktonic foraminifera from
Exmouth Plateau (eastern Indian Ocean, ODP Leg 122, Hole 762C) to provide (a) a continuous, highly-resolved and stratigraphically constrained sea-surface and bottom water record of Cenomanian to Maastrichtian oxygen and carbon trends in the southern mid latitudes, and (b) new information on the paleoecological preferences of planktonic foraminiferal taxa. Results suggest persisting warmth up to the mid Santonian and prevailing short-term climatic oscillations in the late Campanian–Maastrichtian. Our conclusions imply re-thinking of Cretaceous planktonic foraminiferal depth-organization and suggest cooling sea-surface temperatures associated to competition as controlling factors on species turnover.
