scholarly journals Extending the tephra and palaeoenvironmental record of the Central Mediterranean back to 430 ka: A new core from Fucino Basin, central Italy

2019 ◽  
Vol 225 ◽  
pp. 106003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biagio Giaccio ◽  
Niklas Leicher ◽  
Giorgio Mannella ◽  
Lorenzo Monaco ◽  
Eleonora Regattieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Italy ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Fucino Basin

scholarly journals A key continental archive for the last 2 Ma of climatic history of the central Mediterranean region: A pilot drilling in the Fucino Basin, central Italy

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Giaccio ◽  
E. Regattieri ◽  
G. Zanchetta ◽  
B. Wagner ◽  
P. Galli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Italy ◽  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Xrf Scanning ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sedimentary Succession ◽  
Geochemical Analyses ◽  
Fucino Basin

Abstract. An 82 m long sedimentary succession was retrieved from the Fucino Basin, the largest intermountain tectonic depression of the central Apennines. The basin hosts a succession of fine-grained lacustrine sediments (ca. 900 m-thick) possibly continuously spanning the last 2 Ma. A preliminary tephrostratigraphy study allows us to ascribe the drilled 82 m long record to the last 180 ka. Multi-proxy geochemical analyses (XRF scanning, total organic/inorganic carbon, nitrogen and sulfur, oxygen isotopes) reveal noticeable variations, which are interpreted as paleohydrological and paleoenvironmental expressions related to classical glacial–interglacial cycles from the marine isotope stage (MIS) 6 to present day. In light of the preliminary results, the Fucino sedimentary succession is likely to provide a long, continuous, sensitive, and independently dated paleoclimatic archive of the central Mediterranean area.

Tephrostratigraphy and tephrochronology of a 430 ka sediment record from the Fucino Basin, central Italy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Leicher ◽  
Biagio Giaccio ◽  
Bernd Wagner ◽  
Giorgio Mannella ◽  
Lorenzo Monaco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
The North ◽  
Tephra Layers ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Fucino Basin

<p>The Fucino Basin is the largest and probably the only Central Apennine basin hosting a thick, continuous lacustrine sediment succession documenting the environmental history from the Early Pleistocene to recent historical times. The basin is located downwind of the Italian volcanic districts (< 150 km), which makes it the best candidate available in the central Mediterranean to construct a long and continuous tephrostratigraphic and tephrochronological record. Tephrostratigraphic investigations conducted on a first core (F1-F3) revealed 21 tephra layers of different Italian volcaoes. Among them several widespread and well-dated key Mediterranean marker tephra layers (e.g., Neapolitan Yellow Tuff, Y-1, Campanian Ignimbrite, Y-7, X-5, X-6, and Taurano Ignimbrite) were recognized and allowed to date, together with <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar ages directly obtained from the Fucino tephra layers, the record back to 190 ka.</p><p>Based on these promising results, a new drilling site with a lower sedimentation rate was targeted, bringing forth the ~98 m long F4-F5 record. In addition to the already recognised tephra layers occurring in the section that overlaps with core F1-F3, ~110 additional tephra and cryptotephra horizons were identified in the composite sediment succession of the F4-F5 record, providing new insights into the Italian volcanic history for the poorly explored interval beyond 200 ka.</p><p>Here we present the first tephrostratigraphic and tephrochronological results for this interval, which is dominated by eruptions from the Sabatini, Vulsini, Vico, and Colli Albani volcanoes. Several important known eruptions were identified and dated for the first time in distal settings: e.g., Canino (256.8 ± 1.1 ka), Tufo Giallo di Sacrofano (288.0 ± 2.0 ka), Magliano Romano Plinian Fall (315.0 ± 2.0 ka), Orvieto-Bagnoregio Ignimbrite (335.8 ± 1.4 ka), Villa Senni (367.5 ± 1.6 ka), Pozzolane Nere and its precursor (408.5 ± 1.3 ka, and 407.1 ± 4.2 ka, respectively). Finally, a tephra located at the base of the succession was directly dated by <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar at 424.3 ± 3.2 ka, thus extending the record back to the MIS 12/11 transition (~430 ka).</p><p>Ongoing geochemical analysis, including trace elements, Sr and Nd isotopes, and <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar dating of both Fucino tephra layers and potential proximal counterparts will help to reveal their volcanic sources and enable further tephrostratigraphic correlations supported by independent age determinations. These results will contribute towards an improved MIS 11-MIS 7 Mediterranean tephrostratigraphy, which is still poorly characterized and exploited.</p><p>The recognition and dating of the numerous tephra layers from the F4-F5 record can be directly combined to construct a comprehensive age-depth series of biogeochemical proxies and geomagnetic excursions derived from the lacustrine sediments, forming the backbone for an independent, radioisotopically anchored chronology for the F4-F5 multi-proxy record. Through paleoclimatic alignments and geomagnetic excursion synchronizations, the independent Fucino chronology can be propagated to the North Atlantic records, and possibly on a global scale, setting the framework for a better understanding of the spatio-temporal variability, magnitude, and different expressions of Quaternary orbital and millennial-scale paleoclimatic changes.</p>

Brokering Trade in the Central Mediterranean

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey Tazzara
Keyword(s):  
Central Italy ◽  
Competitive Response ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Commercial Development ◽  
International Commerce ◽  
Exchange Networks ◽  
North Central ◽  
Autonomous Region ◽  
Global Commerce ◽  
Quantitative Examination

Chapter 6 offers a quantitative examination of the commercial development of Livorno, showing how it plugged local and regional exchange networks into the currents of global commerce. Livorno was at the epicenter of the reorganization of maritime trade in the Tyrrhenian and throughout the Mediterranean. Despite dense connections between north-central Italy and the free port, however, international commerce did not substantially affect productive relations in the hinterland. North-central Italy remained an autonomous region; rather than a colonial outpost subservient to northern capitalism, Livorno was a large marketplace connecting otherwise distinct economies. The Tuscan city’s success in organizing trade eventually provoked a competitive response by neighboring ports.

scholarly journals Multipronged dental analyses reveal dietary differences in last foragers and first farmers at Grotta Continenza, central Italy (15,500–7000 BP)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessia Nava ◽  
Elena Fiorin ◽  
Andrea Zupancich ◽  
Marialetizia Carra ◽  
Claudio Ottoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dental Plaque ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Abruzzo Region ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Fucino Basin ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Diachronic Changes ◽  
Dental Conditions ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Late Palaeolithic

AbstractThis paper provides results from a suite of analyses made on human dental material from the Late Palaeolithic to Neolithic strata of the cave site of Grotta Continenza situated in the Fucino Basin of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The available human remains from this site provide a unique possibility to study ways in which forager versus farmer lifeways affected human odonto-skeletal remains. The main aim of our study is to understand palaeodietary patterns and their changes over time as reflected in teeth. These analyses involve a review of metrics and oral pathologies, micro-fossils preserved in the mineralized dental plaque, macrowear, and buccal microwear. Our results suggest that these complementary approaches support the assumption about a critical change in dental conditions and status with the introduction of Neolithic foodstuff and habits. However, we warn that different methodologies applied here provide data at different scales of resolution for detecting such changes and a multipronged approach to the study of dental collections is needed for a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of diachronic changes.

scholarly journals Basement Mapping of the Fucino Basin in Central Italy by ITRESC Modeling of Gravity Data

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 398
Author(s):  
Federico Cella ◽  
Rosa Nappi ◽  
Valeria Paoletti ◽  
Giovanni Florio
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Activity ◽  
Site Response ◽  
Gravity Data ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Gravity Anomalies ◽  
Gravity Modeling ◽  
Ground Shaking ◽  
Sedimentary Evolution ◽  
Fucino Basin

Sediments infilling in intermontane basins in areas with high seismic activity can strongly affect ground-shaking phenomena at the surface. Estimates of thickness and density distribution within these basin infills are crucial for ground motion amplification analysis, especially where demographic growth in human settlements has implied increasing seismic risk. We employed a 3D gravity modeling technique (ITerative RESCaling—ITRESC) to investigate the Fucino Basin (Apennines, central Italy), a half-graben basin in which intense seismic activity has recently occurred. For the first time in this region, a 3D model of the Meso-Cenozoic carbonate basement morphology was retrieved through the inversion of gravity data. Taking advantage of the ITRESC technique, (1) we were able to (1) perform an integration of geophysical and geological data constraints and (2) determine a density contrast function through a data-driven process. Thus, we avoided assuming a priori information. Finally, we provided a model that honored the gravity anomalies field by integrating many different kinds of depth constraints. Our results confirmed evidence from previous studies concerning the overall shape of the basin; however, we also highlighted several local discrepancies, such as: (a) the position of several fault lines, (b) the position of the main depocenter, and (c) the isopach map. We also pointed out the existence of a new, unknown fault, and of new features concerning known faults. All of these elements provided useful contributions to the study of the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the basin, as well as key information for assessing the local site-response effects, in terms of seismic hazards.

scholarly journals Regional model simulation of the hydrometeorological effects of the Fucino Lake on the surrounding region

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 2219-2232 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Tomassetti ◽  
F. Giorgi ◽  
M. Verdecchia ◽  
G. Visconti
Keyword(s):  
Model Simulation ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Cold Season ◽  
Regional Model ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Mesoscale Meteorology ◽  
Meteorology And Atmospheric Dynamics ◽  
Fucino Basin ◽  
Further Development

Abstract. The drainage of the Fucino Lake of central Italy was completed in 1873, and this possibly caused significant climatic changes over the Fucino basin. In this paper we discuss a set of short-term triple-nested regional model simulations of the meteorological effects of the Fucino Lake on the surrounding region. We find that the model simulates realistic lake-breeze circulations and their response to background winds. The simulations indicate that the lake affects the temperature of the surrounding basin in all seasons and precipitation in the cold season, when cyclonic perturbations move across the region. Some effects of the lake also extend over areas quite far from the Fucino basin. Our results support the hypothesis that the drainage of the lake might have significantly affected the climate of the lake basin. However, longer simulations and further development in some aspects of the model are needed, in order to provide a more statistically robust evaluation of the simulated lake-effects.Key words. Hydrology (anthropogenic effects) – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (climatology; mesoscale meteorology)

Inversion tectonics during post-orogenic extensional collapse: a comparison between ancient (North Sea, UK) and recent (Fucino Basin, central Apennines Apennines) intermontane systems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Patruno ◽  
Vittorio Scisciani
Keyword(s):  
Gravitational Collapse ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Coupled Analysis ◽  
Inversion Tectonics ◽  
Central Apennines ◽  
The North ◽  
Fucino Basin ◽  
Extensional Collapse

<p>Post-orogenetic extensional/gravitational collapse events constitute a relatively poorly understood tectonic process, which is responsible for the quick and effective dismantling of the thickened crust and topographic bulge of fold-and-thrust belt edifices. These events are also responsible for the accumulation of very thick post-orogenetic successions and, in case of active extension, may trigger moderate to strong earthquakes resulting in obvious seismic hazards (e.g., the 1915 Mg 7.0 Fucino earthquake in Central Italy, which caused 30,000 victims)</p><p>Here, we combine seismic interpretation coupled with well analyses, basin modelling and a thorough literature review, in order to compare an ancient and a modern example of study areas subject to post-orogenetic collapse. The Devonian-age Old Red Sandstones of north-western Europe and ?Plio-Quaternary fill of the Fucino intramontane extensional basin in the central Apennines (Italy) share several stratigraphic, depositional and tectonic characteristics. Both are characterized by remarkably similar seismic-stratigraphic architecture (with syn-depositional half-grabens) and maximum thickness of >1,500 metres. In the Fucino, the border faults associated to the main tectonic depocentres achieved maximum throw rates of 1,000-1,400 mm/kyr.</p><p>Both units comprise thick continental siliciclastic successions, dominated by lacustrine and alluvial to fluvio-deltaic facies. The facies architecture reveals a progressive transition from localized, fault-bounded depocentres to transgressive lacustrine successions in wider basins that are less reliant on the sole fault-driven subsidence. The studied units were deposited due to high and quick tectonic subsidence which took place very shortly after the end (or during?) of crustal shortening processes (respectively Caledonian and Apenninic orogenesis) and in a post-orogenic collapse context.</p><p>In both study areas, the sedimentation of the thick continental units are intimately associated to a polyphase inversion tectonics, with pre-existing inherited deep-seated discontinuities affected, in places, first by a positive and subsequently by a negative reactivation during the extensional collapse. A further element common in the two study areas, is a strike-slip or oblique tectonics occurring during or immediately prior to the extensional collapse achieved by the normal faulting. This has been interpreted as a consequence of the gradual rotation of the stress vectors around their axes, culminating in the relaxation of the horizontal compressive stress and the onset of the post-orogenetic extensional/gravitational collapse process itself. For example, in the Fucino Basin, maximum Plio-Quaternary sediment thicknesses of >1700 m occur in two tectonic depocentres, situated respectively to the north and east of the basin. In contrast, the south-eastern striking dip-slip border faults bounding the eastern edge of the Fucino show maximum slip rates in the Lower-Middle Pleistocene, with evidence (e.g., Gioia dei Marsi) for a very recent activity, possibly linked with the 1915 seismic event.</p><p>The study of post-orogenic extensional collapse by comparison of ancient and recent basins suggest that in these settings poly-phase tectonic inversion commonly occurs and promote multiple reactivation of inherited zones of weakness. The comprehension of the common and dissimilar features, may be fundamental to better understand the mechanism and evolution of post-orogenic chain reworking and for natural resources and geological hazards assessment, including earthquakes. The coupled analysis of an ancient and recent example enables just that.</p>

Late Quaternary Eolian Deposition in Central Italy

2000 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biancamaria Narcisi
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Volcanic Lakes ◽  
Dust Loading ◽  
The Antarctic

Records of eolian quartz from two continuous sediment sequences drilled in Lagaccione and Lago di Vico volcanic lakes in central Italy contribute to the knowledge of eolian deposition in the central Mediterranean during the last 100,000 years. The chronology is based on 14C and 40Ar/39Ar dating and tephra analysis. Pollen data provide the paleoenvironmental framework and enable correlation between the cores. Eolian inputs were high during the steppe phases corresponding to oxygen isotope stages 4 and 2. Low inputs correspond to the forest phases of the last interglacial and the middle Holocene. Eolian inputs have increased in the late Holocene. Patterns of eolian deposition in central Italy resemble the Antarctic dust record from the Vostok ice core. The Italian patterns may also correspond with hydrological changes registered in North Africa. The main source of dust loading over the Mediterranean now, North Africa, may have played an important role in dust supply throughout the last climatic cycle.

Daily ration and feeding activity of juvenile hake in the central Mediterranean Sea

2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (7) ◽  
pp. 1493-1501 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Carpentieri ◽  
F. Colloca ◽  
G. Ardizzone
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Feeding Activity ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Daily Ration ◽  
Gastric Evacuation ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Migratory Activity ◽  
Central Mediterranean Sea

We investigated daily ration, feeding rhythms and gastric evacuation rates of juvenile (<16 cm total length) European hake Merluccius merluccius, using stomach samples collected during four 24-hour trawl surveys carried out in 2001–2002 on the continental shelf-break (from 120 m to 160 m in depth) off the western coast of central Italy (central Mediterranean Sea). In each survey 8 hauls of 30 minutes were performed every three hours throughout the 24-hour period to cover the entire diel cycle. Diet of juvenile hake was mostly composed of the euphausiid Nyctiphanes couchii, showing a peak in stomach contents during early morning followed by a daytime decrease. Fullness index (%FI) was generally higher during sunrise when migratory activity ceased and juvenile hake return to the bottom after feeding. Concerning the hake abundance the highest density value was obtained in May during the recruitment period.Two independent daily ration estimates were produced. First, an empirical attempt to estimate the daily amount of food consumed was obtained by back-calculating the fresh weight of euphausiid prey ingested by juvenile hake. Estimated values ranged from 4.96–5.89% body wet weight (%BW). Second, the daily ration was computed applying the exponential gastric evacuation models proposed by Elliot & Persson (1978) and Eggers (1979). Daily ration values obtained using these consumption models produced a considerable (15–20%) underestimation of consumption rate for juvenile hake.

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