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A biodiversity crisis was observed in the benthic community from a latest Triassic carbonate platform of western Tethys. The studied succession, i.e. Mt Sparagio section in NW Sicily, consists of a continuous Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic peritidal carbonate succession organized in shallowing upward cycles. The Upper Triassic horizons can be sub-divided into two informal units on the base of the benthic fossils assemblage: at the base the Unit A (thickness about 111 m) consists of a high diverse fossiliferous assemblage comprising very large megalodontoids specimens (up to 40 cm); Unit B (about 179 m) shows a reduction of biodiversity with the occurrence of rare and small megalodontoids (Conchodon?) up to 15 cm in size. Both units are Rhaetian in age as indicated by the presence of large tested specimens of the benthic foraminifer Triasina hantkeni. The top of Unit B is marked by an oolitic level, and records the total disappearance of the Triassic benthic fossil assemblage. Upward, the subtidal members of peritidal cycles (Unit C) show the presence of an oligotypic assemblage with T. parvovesiculifera, which represents a survival zone, followed in turn by a gradual recovery of the Lower Jurassic benthic community (e.g. Siphovalvulina sp.). A negative excursion of δ18Ocarb, corresponding to an increase in temperature, matches the biodiversity reduction between Unit A and Unit B. This episode correlates the Initial Carbon Isotopic Excursion already individuated in this section and related to the first pulse of the CAMP volcanic activity. A second change in temperature that is characterized by a positive excursion of δ18Ocarb matches the total extinction of the Upper Triassic benthic community. These data well fit with the environmental parameters of the modern tropical shallow water platform (T-factory). In particular, the sea surface temperature (SST) of a T-factory range from 18 °C to 30.5 °C representing respectively the minimum SST for the carbonate factory persistence and the maximum SST that a T-factory can tolerate.

SGI 2021

Temperature vs extinction events: the case of Rhaetian peritidal carbonate succession from westernmost Tethys (Sicily)

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L'Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale - OGS e il Dipartimento di Matematica e Geoscienze dell'Università di Trieste sono orgogliosi di ospitare il 90° Congresso della Società Geologica Italiana a Trieste dal 14 al 16 settembre 2021. La modalità del congresso è interamente online.

Con il motto "Geologia senza frontiere" questo evento mira a promuovere le Scienze della Terra come disciplina scientifica proiettata nel futuro, oltre i confini geografici, politici e disciplinari, per comprendere meglio l'interno del Pianeta Terra e la struttura del sottosuolo, difendere la società da pericolosi eventi geologici, comprendere meglio la variabilità climatica, pianificare l'utilizzo delle georisorse in modo etico e nel rispetto dell'ambiente.


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The National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics - OGS and the Department of Mathematics and Geosciences of the University of Trieste are proud to host the 90th Congress of the Italian Geological Society in Trieste on 14-16 September 2021.  The Congress will be held entirely online.

With the motto "Geology Without Borders" this event aims to promote Earth Sciences as a scientific discipline projected into the future, beyond geographical, political and disciplinary boundaries, to better understand the interior of Planet Earth and the structure of the subsurface, defend society from dangerous geological events, better understand climatic variability, plan the use of geo-resources in an ethical way and respecting the environment.


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Earth Sciences should be understood not only as necessary for a better understanding of the interior of the planet Earth, but also as a defense of society from dangerous geological events, for the understanding of climatic variations, for the planning and use of georesources in a ethical and respecting and protecting the environment.

technical paper

In Late Triassic-Early Jurassic time, across one of the major extinction event of the Phanerozoic, the Western Tethys was affected by climatic and environmental changes followed by extensional tectonics related to the opening of the Alpine Tethys. The Norian-Upper Jurassic successions of the eastern Northern Calcareous Alps (Stumpfmauer, Austria), exposed in the Königsberg and Oisberg synclines show the transition from the early dolomitized peritidal facies of the Norian Hauptdolomit to the Rhaetian limestone-siliciclastic succession of the Kössen Formation. 34 facies have been characterized in the succession, composing eight distinct superimposed sedimentary units labelled from A to H, from base to top. Peritidal facies organized in shallowing-upward cycles capped by subaerial exposure and overlain by claystone beds characterize Unit A. Unit B is associated with fossiliferous claystone and marlstone attesting for open marine subtidal conditions developed below the effective wave base. The frequent siliciclastic input affecting Unit B records a shift from arid to humid climatic conditions. Unit C facies association defines a continuous coral limestone bed representing a regional marker developed in a low-energy setting with reduced siliciclastic input. Unit D, marking a renewed clay input, is characterized by skeletal peloidal packstone/wackestone and coated-grain grainstone forming subtidal shallowing-upward cycles capped by subaerial exposures, representative of open marine subtidal conditions affected by high-frequency sea-level changes. Unit E starts with a basal transgressive lag with crinoidal lithoclastic rudstone overlain by progradational cross-bedded coated grain-ooidal grainstone with quartz, developed in a high-energy inner ramp setting: The disappearance of bioclasts suggests that this unit may reflect the T-J biotic crisis. A sharp change in deposition characterizes Unit F with bivalve and ostracod wackestone/floatstone overlain by microbial boundstone with Cayeuxia associated with peloidal packstone/grainstone. This facies association is indicative of low-energy deep water conditions passing toward the top to shallow-water setting with moderate energy conditions related to subtidal lagoonal environments. Unit G consists of cross-laminated crinoidal coated grain grainstone and spiculite developed in a relatively deep-water shelf setting affected by detrital quartz siliciclastic input. Unit H records the definitive drowning of the shelf: it consists of red crinoidal, thin-shelled bivalves packstone/rudstone with cephalopods and radiolaria wackestone attesting for a deep pelagic environment.  The observed stratigraphic setting can be framed in the regional evolution of the Western Tethys and can be traced from the Western Carpathians to Southern Alps suggesting coherent environmental changes and stratigraphic evolution, documenting the role played by climate and tectonics on sedimentation at regional scale.

Facies analysis and paleoenvironmental evolution of the Norian-Jurassic sedimentary successions of the Northern Calcareous Alps (Stumpfmauer-Austria)

Chondrodonta is an epifaunal, filter-feeding, oyster-like bivalve commonly reported in worldwide Barremian – Turonian shallow-water limestones. It shows a particularly high concentration and a predominance over other biota in specific stratigraphic intervals straddling the Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Events 1a and 2. However, a precise timing between the flourishing of Chondrodonta and the interval of OAEs has yet to be established and the environmental changes possibly triggering its proliferation still need to be understood. In this work, a comparison of sedimentologic, taphonomic and geochemical signatures between lower Aptian and upper Cenomanian Chondrodonta accumulation of the peri-Adriatic area is presented. The lower Aptian Chondrodonta accumulations are exposed on the Gargano Promontory (southern Italy) within the inner platform facies of the San Giovanni Rotondo Limestone (Apulia Carbonate Platform). Chondrodonta appears within requieniid rudist limestones and reaches a brief phase of maximum proliferation in monospecific biostromes, correlated right below the negative δ13C excursion marking the onset of OAE1a. Increasing nutrient load and low-energy, restricted seawaters with fluctuating oxygenation, allowed Chondrodonta to proliferate and to outpace the less tolerant rudists at the dawn of the anoxic event. The upper Cenomanian Chondrodonta accumulations are exposed on the Istrian Peninsula (northwestern Croatia) within the inner platform facies of the Milna Formation (Adriatic Carbonate Platform). Chondrodonta appears within radiolitid rudist limestones and reaches a phase of maximum proliferation in quasi- to monospecific biostromes, correlated below the onset of OAE2. Increasing nutrient load, intermittent terrigenous inputs, fluctuating oxygenation and circulation, represented environmental stressors that allowed Chondrodonta to become the dominant macrobenthos and to prevail over rudists at the prelude of the anoxic event.

Chondrodonta (Bivalvia) proliferation in Cretaceous peri-Adriatic shallow-water carbonates: a comparative study

The Northern Adriatic Sea hosts a rich biodiversity, in both the Italian and Slovenian offshore and nearshore zones. Peculiar habitats, locally known as Trezze and Tegnue, mostly represented by the coralligenous outcrops and colonized by serpulids, red algae, bryozoans, bivalves, and dead corallites of Cladocora caespitosa, Cymodocea nodosa and Zostera marina associated with the presence of Pinna nobilis are investigated in the North Italian offshore, and in marine protected areas of Debeli rtič Natural Monument and the Strunjan Nature Park of Strunjan, in Slovenia. This research is carried out  in the frame of the INTERREG ITA-SLO TRETAMARA Project, which aims to provide an integrated and strengthened management of the Northern Adriatic marine-coastal habitats with high ecological value. They are characterize by a fragile biological equilibrium, due to the slow-growing calcareous organisms considered as non renewable resources, and the dredging and bottom trawling pressure that strongly threatens the physical characteristics of the habitat and negatively affect the associated biota. Here we present the preliminary results of cross-border pilot actions supporting biodiversity of these precious marine-coastal habitats. They consist of high quality seafloor images obtained by Multibeam and Side Scan Sonar surveys, aimed at: (1) mapping the Trezze and Tegnue buildups for better understanding  their origins, which are still debated (e.g., Gordini et al., 2012; Tosi et al., 2017; Donda et al., 2015 and 2019), and the seagrass meadows and Pinna nobilis settlement; 2. Collecting the Management Plans, Conservation Measures, and Regulations actions relating to marine-coastal Natura 2000 areas, aimed at producing a review document for the integrated management of the Northern Adriatic Sea marine habitats with high ecological value. This document will play a key role to promote cross-border sustainability and governance of such fragile environments.

Unveiling the secrets of the Northern Adriatic Sea: the TRETAMARA project for their management, valorization and conservation

In January 2020, International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 378 drilled in South Pacific and recovered a continuously cored, multiple-hole Paleogene sedimentary section at Site U1553 (Thomas, Röhl, Childress, et al., 2020). The aim was to replicate the sedimentary record of DSDP Site 277, the best known Paleogene paleoceanographic site in the South Pacific, drilled during Leg 29 (Kennett et al., 1975). From this site, classic oxygen isotope records were generated that first defined the climatic evolution through the Eocene (e.g., Shackleton & Kennett, 1975). Improved coring technologies and core-log integration resulted in the development of multiple core stratigraphic splices representing a more complete succession than the single succession of Site 277. This area in the South Pacific Ocean is critical for high-latitude climate reconstructions across the Paleocene to late Oligocene. Research on Site U1553 is in-progress for studying in detail the major events preserved in this high-latitude sedimentary record (Hollis et al., 2015). Here we report on the preliminary results of a study on calcareous nannofossil assemblages in an expanded upper Eocene to upper Oligocene sequence. The biostratigraphic data confirm the validity of the biozonation scheme proposed for the Southern Ocean (Fioroni et al., 2012) and suggest that further refinements on biostratigraphy can be obtained, thanks to the rich and well preserved nannofossil assemblages observed. In a preliminary paleoecological analysis, performed at low resolution, the considered major groups, each including cool, temperate, eutrophic and oligotrophic taxa, provide a revealing signal for paleotemperature and nutrient concentration in line with previous studies at high latitude sites (Villa et al., 2014). Further analyses at high resolution will certainly help in reconstructing changes in South Pacific temperature, circulation, and productivity associated with the greenhouse–icehouse transition (Eocene/Oligocene) and the early Oligocene.

Calcareous nannofossils at IODP Site U1553, a reference paleoceanographic record for the Paleogene

Several Neogene-Quaternary basins in central-western Italy host travertine deposits and are influenced by extensional and strike-slip tectonic activity. These continental carbonate deposits are principally related to hydrothermal fluids circulating and emerging onto the surface along fractured carbonate bedrocks or discontinuities. The Acque Albule Basin (Tivoli, Central Italy) is a tectonically-controlled depression hosting the Pleistocene Lapis Tiburtinus travertine. The 3D modelling permits to reconstruct the geometry and architecture of the geobodies filling the sedimentary basin and its evolution. The reconstruction of the different surfaces bounding the travertine geobodies of the Lapis Tiburtinus highlights a complex scenario mainly characterized by depression and relief morphological elements, associated with subaqueous, palustrine, slope and channel depositional environments. The results obtained by the 3D modelling of the quarried area of the Lapis Tiburtinus travertine deposits and the spatial distribution of discontinuity surfaces and geobody architectures provide information on the factors influencing the sedimentary filling of the Acque Albule Basin. The presence of E-W oriented lens-shaped geometries laterally migrating reveals a drainage system persistent through time toward the southern part of the study area in the direction of the Aniene River, bordering the Acque Albule Basin in the South. The travertine deposits related to the Lapis Tiburtinus developed in an area of 28 km2 and accumulated in a system of sub-basins, each 1-2 km2 wide, mainly characterized by subaqueous conditions and interconnected by a hydrographic network related to the Aniene River. The results obtained reveal that tectonic activity was the main control on the evolution of the Acque Albule Basin over a time-scale of hundreds of thousands to million years, influencing the basinal subsidence through time and the locations of active hydrothermal springs precipitating the travertine. However, climatic changes govern rainfall precipitation rates and groundwater level affecting spring discharge and travertine deposition rate. Glacio-eustatic oscillations linked to the climatic fluctuations of the last 115 kyrs controlling the Aniene River base level have influenced the depositional setting and the geometry and architecture of travertine geobodies.

Climatic and sea-level changes control travertine deposition: the Lapis Tiburtinus case study (Tivoli, Central Italy)

The Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) was a geological event characterized by the deposition of huge volumes of evaporites in the Mediterranean basin. After decades of scientific debate, the consensus model (CIESM, 2008) proposed a new stratigraphic framework, and the MSC was subdivided in three stages (Manzi et al., 2013; Roveri et al., 2014). Stage 3 started at around 5.53 Ma, and its uppermost part corresponds to the “Lago-Mare” phase, characterized by the occurrence of brackish shallow water ostracods of Parathetyan origin. These deposits are sharply overlain by Zanclean open marine fine-grained sediments recording the establishment of open marine condition at the end of the MSC at 5.33 Ma. The interpretation of such abrupt transition is debated: it could be a catastrophic reflooding of the Mediterranean according to some authors or a gradual refilling of the basin according to others. In many Mediterranean sections, the Messinian-Zanclean boundary is marked by a poorly investigated dark layer (DL), that can provide insights on the mechanism responsible for the refilling of the Mediterranean at the end of the MSC. We investigated DL in six sections along a W to E transect of the Apenninic foredeep trough an integrated micropaleontological, petrographic and ichnological approach. Preliminary results show that, although the texture, structure, and lithological composition of the DL change from section to section, this is always interbedded between the uppermost Lago Mare and the basal Zanclean sediments through a sharp and conformable boundary, arguing against a catastrophic refilling of the Mediterranean. Moreover, the DL is strongly bioturbated, with crypto and large burrows filled with Pliocene basal mud (Reticulofenesta zancleana), which suggests starved condition at early Zanclean. Finally, the preliminary results on the association of benthic foraminifera and on the P/B ratio, indicate a gradual increase in bottom oxygen content and in depth from the top of the DL to the lowermost Pliocene.

The dark layer at the Messinian Zanclean boundary: a glimpse on the refilling of the Mediterranean at the end of the Messinian salinity crisis

Flowing rivers represent the first vector of transport of sediments into the marine environment. With them, huge quantities of substances like nutrients, organic matter (DOC and POM), and chemical compounds are transferred. All these spread along the marine coastal system, where they can interact with benthic communities under different depositional processes, causing ecological shifts in their structure. To assess the influence of different depositional environments, trophic resources, and possible contamination by human activities on the large-scale distribution of prokaryotes, we investigated the variability of benthic prokaryotic communities (Bacteria and Archaea) in the surface sediments of the Middle and Southern Adriatic Sea, along the Italian coast. Results obtained through biochemical investigations show an environment reach in nutrients, with the trophic status much similar to that found in eutrophic environments. This was also confirmed from the prokaryotic diversity found, suggesting a strong role of the prokaryotic community in organic matter cycling. The large-scale microbial diversity dataset was correlated to different metadata and geochemical data to understand which factors affected the prokaryotic abundance and distribution and the organic matter load. Linear relationships between variables were present only for a limited range of values. Al2O3 and Fe2O3 concentrations in the sediments, grain size distribution, and distance from the coastline were identified as the major factors explaining the variation in the prokaryotic distribution in the surface sediment. These variables were associated in Adriatic sediments with the Alpine and Apennines river inputs and strongly correlated with deposits from the Po river, which suggest a strong influence in controlling the characteristics of the sediments distribution, trophic resources, and prokaryotic abundances. These observations implicate a strong influence on the function performed at the interface between water and sediments and the flux of nutrients to the entire benthic community.

Benthic microbial community structure across the Adriatic sea and the role of terrigenous inputs

The submarine realm represents more than 70% of the Earth, but its majority has yet to be mapped and studied. The Seabed 2030 initiative is the key long-term international project with a mandate to map the entire ocean floor. If we focus on the Mediterranean Sea, several areas have not been investigated yet. Among them, the areas around the Maltese Archipelago, in the central Mediterranean, have been poorly investigated, representing quite an important geographical and geomorphological gap in knowledge. The Life BaĦAR for N2K project, commenced in 2013 and concluded in 2018, was oriented on extending already existing marine Sites of Community Importance (SCIs), if necessary, and designating new marine areas as SCIs within Malta’s waters to form part of the Natura 2000 network. Thanks to the data collected within this project, I was able to perform a geomorphological study over a portion of the Malta Graben System. The study area covers part of the north-west seafloor offshore Gozo, and a larger portion of the south-west bottom offshore the Maltese Islands. In particular, three specific areas have been investigated: Area 1, along the northern margin of the Malta Graben; Area 2, covering part of the southern margin of the Malta Graben; and Area 3, which is NW of Gozo in the proximity of the North Gozo Graben. The main goal of this project has been the identification of the main morphological features, and associated driving processes, present in the area to provide a geomorphological characterisation of this part of the Malta Graben System. In addition, I focused on the identification of those areas which deserve a special attention as hypothetically associated to sensitive habitats.

A geomorphological study of graben structures offshore the Maltese Archipelago with characterisation of associated physical habitats

Life and planet have significantly coevolved over time, influencing each other stability trajectory and ultimately maintaining our planet habitable over most of the last 4 billion years. Elemental cycling plays a vital role in this mechanism, with microbes controlling a large portion of the biogeochemical cycles. The majority of the key reactions that control biogeochemistry are carried out by a small set of microbially encoded proteins containing a redox-sensitive transition metal as core catalytic center. Different metal centers (such as Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Mo, W, V, Cu) are used by biology to access diverse redox couples, utilizing more oxidized compounds as they became available during the planet's evolution. Despite the importance of this process, the relationship between metal availability and metabolic innovation and diversity has not been investigated in detail. Here I will present recent data that suggest a significant coevolution between the geosphere and biosphere analyzed through the lenses of metal use by biology, and suggest possible implication of different mechanisms of metal delivery to the planetary surface throiugh time on the emergence and evolution of metabolism.

Trace element availability at the interface between planetary evolution and life emergence

The Eurofleets ANTSSS (Antarctic ice Sheet Stability from continental Slope process investigation) 2017 cruise and the IODP (International Ocean Discovery Program) 2018 Expedition 374 recovered new geological, geophysical, and oceanographic data from a latitudinal and depth transect across the continental shelf, slope and rise of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. This transect is located along one of the largest glacial valleys cut into the continental shelf by West Antarctic Ice Streams that feed into the Hillary Canyon, which debouches downslope onto the continental rise. It is also located along the oceanward flow pathway of dense and cold water, forming in the Ross Sea polynya and mixing with Circumpolar Deep Water at the continental shelf edge. The new morphobathymetric geological and oceanographic data highlight that processes acting here during glacial and interglacial cycles likely drove large-scale shifts in outer shelf and canyon head processes, and the build-up of channel-levees on the continental rise. The IODP Exp. 374 sites U1521 and U1522 recovered a Miocene to Plio-Pleistocene geological record of past expansion and retreat of ice streams emanating from the East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets across the Ross Sea continental shelf. Site U1523 targeted a Miocene to Pleistocene sediment drift on the outermost continental shelf and informs about the changing vigor of the eastward flowing Antarctic Slope Current (ASC) through time, a key control on regulating heat flux onto the continental shelf. Sites U1524 and U1525 cored a continental rise levee system near the flank of the Hillary Canyon, with a near-continuous record of the downslope flow of Ross Sea Bottom Water and turbidity currents, but also of ASC vigor and iceberg discharge. A 20 cm-thick tephra matches a c. 1.3 Ma deposit on the caldera rim of the Chang Peak volcano 1300 km from the U1524 coring site adds a new marker for dating, correlation, and synchronization of marine and continental early Pleistocene records of West Antarctica. Exp. 374 sediments are providing key chronological constraints on the major Ross Sea seismic unconformities, enabling reconstruction of paleo-bathymetry and assessment of the geomorphological changes associated with Neogene ice sheet and ocean circulation changes. Exp. 374 results are fundamental for improving the boundary conditions of numerical ice sheet, ocean, and coupled climate models, which are critically required for understanding past ice sheet and global sea level response during warm climate intervals. Such data, and improved model skill, will enable more accurate predictions of ice sheet behavior and sea level rise anticipated with future warming. 

Temperature vs extinction events: the case of Rhaetian peritidal carbonate succession from westernmost Tethys (Sicily)

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Facies analysis and paleoenvironmental evolution of the Norian-Jurassic sedimentary successions of the Northern Calcareous Alps (Stumpfmauer-Austria)

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