New geomorphological and chronological constraints for glacial deposits in the Rivoli-Avigliana end-moraine system and the lower Susa Valley (Western Alps, NW Italy)

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 550-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Ivy-Ochs ◽  
Stefania Lucchesi ◽  
Paolo Baggio ◽  
Gianfranco Fioraso ◽  
Franco Gianotti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Alps ◽  
Glacial Deposits ◽  
Nw Italy

scholarly journals Geological Map of a Treasure Chest of Geodiversity: The Lavagnina Lakes Area (Alessandria, Italy)

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Scarsi ◽  
Laura Crispini ◽  
Cristina Malatesta ◽  
Chiara Spagnolo ◽  
Giovanni Capponi
Keyword(s):  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Geological Mapping ◽  
Natural Park ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Geological Map ◽  
Nw Italy ◽  
Treasure Chest

The aim of this work is to present a new georeferenced geological map of an area in the Ligurian Western Alps (Lavagnina Lakes area) that includes both a unique geodiversity and great biodiversity, a peculiar geological heritage, and cultural features. The study area is located in the northern part of the Capanne di Marcarolo Regional Natural Park, occurring in the southern Piedmont Region (Alessandria, NW Italy) and close to the suburbs of Genoa. This area has been studied by multi-disciplinary scientific researchers who, so far, have focused their attention on the occurrence of alkaline springs and investigation of different endemic floral species. Moreover, in the past, the Lavagnina Lakes area has been exploited due to the presence of gold mineralization, and several mining records are still visible. We performed detailed geological mapping at a 1:10,000 scale, and collected data that were later integrated into a digital GIS map. The database associated with the map contains information that may be interesting from different points of view: (i) scientific research; (ii) outreach and dissemination activities; and (iii) geotourism (i.e., trail networks and panoramic viewpoints). The area represents a section of the Jurassic Piedmont Ligurian oceanic lithosphere, showing several geologic processes on different scales, such as the serpentinization process and intense and widespread carbonation of ultramafic rocks; the area is, moreover, characterized by fault systems showing paleoseismic structures. Beyond scientific research activities (i.e., geology, geoarchaeology, and mining archaeology), the area can also be promoted for geotourism, outreach and dissemination activities, field trips for schools, and gold panning activities. Hence, our new digital map and our 3D model could be a useful tool to illustrate the main characteristics of the area, leading a non-expert public to explore different geological features in a relatively “small” area. In this way, our map could help to improve geotourism, be used as a tool for educational activities, and, finally, could also help the Capanne di Marcarolo Regional Natural Park to be recognized as a geopark.

Metals and secondary metabolites in saxicolous lichen communities on ultramafic and non-ultramafic rocks of the Western Italian Alps

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio E. Favero-Longo ◽  
Enrica Matteucci ◽  
Mariagrazia Morando ◽  
Franco Rolfo ◽  
Tanner B. Harris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Metabolic Adaptation ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Ph Homeostasis ◽  
Weathering Processes ◽  
Nw Italy ◽  
Ultramafic Substrates ◽  
Crustose Lichens

There is a long history of studies on lichens found in ultramafic habitats, but comparisons between lichen communities on different ultramafic lithologies are scant, and potential metabolic adaptations to the multiple edaphic stresses of ultramafic substrates have been widely neglected. The present work is the first to characterise differences in the abundance and structure of saxicolous lichen communities on different ultramafic lithologies (dunite, lherzolite, and serpentinite), analysed in two areas of the Western Alps (NW Italy). Differences between communities on various ultramafic lithologies were observed, including differences between a mafic control (Mg-Al metagabbro); however, factors other than the substrate were observed to drive more remarkable differences between lichen communities on ultramafics of alpine and pre-alpine areas. XRF analyses demonstrated that the mineral composition of different lithologies is reflected by metal contents in crustose lichens, with weathering processes accounting for relative shifts in elemental abundances between rocks and thalli. A thin layer cromatography screening of lichen secondary metabolites (LSMs), which are thought to regulate metal and pH homeostasis in thalli, revealed lithological vicariance among dominant lichen species with different LSM patterns and intraspecific variability in LSM production associated with differences in lithology and location. In particular, the presence or absence of norstictic acid in species or lineages/individuals on the different lithologies, in relationship to concentrations of Fe, Mg, and Ni in lichen thalli, was recognised as a metabolic adaptation to metal stress. Pull-up tests revealed that physical factors such as a differential surface disaggregation may contribute more towards differences observed in lichen abundance on the different lithologies investigated.

Early Variscan I-type pluton in the pre-Alpine basement of the Western Alps: The ca. 360Ma Cogne diorite (NW-Italy)

Lithos ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 153 ◽  
pp. 94-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Guillot ◽  
Jean-Michel Bertrand ◽  
François Bussy ◽  
Pierre Lanari ◽  
Ludovic Cosma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Alps ◽  
Nw Italy

scholarly journals A Jurassic oceanic core complex in the high-pressure Monviso ophiolite (western Alps, NW Italy)

Lithosphere ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. L458.1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Festa ◽  
Gianni Balestro ◽  
Yildirim Dilek ◽  
Paola Tartarotti
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Core Complex ◽  
Oceanic Core Complex ◽  
Nw Italy

scholarly journals Permian high-temperature metamorphism in the Western Alps (NW Italy)

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara E. Kunz ◽  
Paola Manzotti ◽  
Brigitte von Niederhäusern ◽  
Martin Engi ◽  
James R. Darling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Nw Italy ◽  
High Temperature Metamorphism

On the syn-orogenic basins of the Alps-Apennines tectonic system in NW Italy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Piana ◽  
Anna d'Atri ◽  
Andrea Irace
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Late Oligocene ◽  
The Alps ◽  
Nw Italy

<p>The Alps and the westernmost part of Apennines physically join in NW Italy (Piemonte), where the Apennine thrusts interfered, since Late Oligocene, with both the inner boundary faults of the uplifting Alps axial belt and the outer fronts of the Alpine antithetic retrobelt (the Southern Alps). As the two orogenic belts had been intergrowing since the late Oligocene, coeval syn-orogenic basins developed on both, either as separate depocenters or, more frequently, to form a continuous sedimentary domain, strongly controlled by the tectonic evolution of the Alps-Apennines orogenic system.  These syn-orogenic basins both recorded the main stages of the Alps (neoAlpine events) and Apennines tectonic evolution, whose evidence (mostly represented by regional-scale unconformities) can be correlated within each basin and across them. Correlations (in terms of sharing common geologic events) can be found also with the middle Eocene to lower Oligocene basal part of the Alpine foreland basin succession, which extended continuously on the external side of the Western Alps. This contribution will briefly discuss this complex matter in an integrated Alpine-Apennines perspective and in the frame of the post-Eocene evolution of the Western Mediterranean area.</p>

scholarly journals The Bargiolina, a Striking Historical Stone from Monte Bracco (Piedmont, NW Italy) and a Possible Source of Industrial Minerals

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 4293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Cavallo ◽  
Giovanna Antonella Dino
Keyword(s):  
Da Vinci ◽  
Mineralogical Composition ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Industrial Minerals ◽  
Yield Rate ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ornamental Stones ◽  
Nw Italy ◽  
Novel Applications

The Bargiolina quartzite from Monte Bracco (western Alps, northern Italy) represents one of the most important historical ornamental stones of the Piedmont region. Known and used since the prehistoric age as substituting material for chert, it was celebrated by Leonardo da Vinci, and exploited at least since the XIII century, peaking in the XX century. It was extensively used in the construction of basilicas and noble palaces by famous architects of Piedmontese Baroque, for internal and external stone cladding. There are four main commercial and chromatic varieties, and the main technical feature is the regular schistosity, to obtain very thin natural split slabs. The different varieties have a homogeneous mineralogical composition and microstructure: A fine and homeoblastic grain size, and a granular—lepidoblastic texture, with regularly spaced schistose domains. The main rock-forming minerals are quartz, phengite, small amounts of K-feldspar and traces of plagioclase and chlorite. The yield rate of quarries is about 20%, and the poor exploitation planning of the past led to only partly exploited quarry benches, with a very poor residual yield. The large amount of quartz-rich quarry waste and the presence of kaolin-rich gneisses suggests the potential for novel applications in the field of industrial minerals.

scholarly journals Disentangling the stratigraphic architecture of the Rivoli-Avigliana end moraine system (Western Alps, NW Italy)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Fioraso ◽  
Giovanni Monegato ◽  
Gianni Balestro ◽  
Irka Hajdas ◽  
Paolo Baggio
Keyword(s):  
Western Alps ◽  
Stratigraphic Architecture ◽  
Nw Italy
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document