Carbonate Platform-Basin Transition in SW Sicily. Implications for the Petroleum Exploration in the Maghrebian Thrust and Fold Belt

Paleogeographic and palaeontologic event across the Tethys, in the Submediterranean and Mediterranean platforms at the Callovian-Oxfordian transition.

Tectonic retreat of a segment of the Triassic paleomargin of the Saccense Carbonate Platform around the T/J boundary: the seismic-scale section of Monte Genuardo

Collapsed paleocave system in Upper Triassic peritidal cycles from the Panormide Carbonate Platform, Sicily (Italy)

The Gemmellaro Collection: first record of an anomuran from the Tithonian of Sicily, Italy

A recent field trip to Sicily and an examination of decapod crustacean collections at the Museo Geologico G.G. Gemmellaro in the centre of Palermo, Sicily (Italy), has demonstrated that most of the anomuran and brachyuran material described by Gemmellaro (Gemmellaro GG. 1869. Studi paleontologici sulla fauna del Calcare àTerebratula janitordel nord di Sicilia. Palermo: Lao, vol. 1, pp. 11–18) from the Tithonian of that island is still present. Interestingly, a single specimen in this lot was never mentioned, described or illustrated by that author. The species to which this particular individual is here shown to belong,Gastrosacus tuberosus, was first described and named 26 years later, in …

I Geositi della Sicilia Occidentale: situazione attuale e valorizzazione

Soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) in Pleistocene calcarenites of Favignana island (Sicily, Italy)

New data on the Jurassic evolution of the Panormide Carbonate Platform (Sicily).

An anomalous case in the evolution of the Mesozoic sedimentary basins between Alpine and Ionian Tethys: the Panormide Carbonate Platform (Sicily).

The integration of surface and subsurface stratigraphic data with HVSR measures for studies of seismic microzonation: the case of Oliveri (ME)

Because of its high seismic hazard the urban area of Oliveri has been subject of a study on seismic microzonation at first level (OPCM 3907/2010). The urban area develops on a large coastal plain made of Late Pleistocene and Holocene mixed fluvial/marine sediments, that mainly consist of silty sands and gravels. The eastern part of this plain is dominated by the alluvial deposits of the Elicona torrent. The coastal and alluvial sediments overlap a complexly deformed substrate made of Hercynian metamorphites (Aspromonte unit), the Capo d’Orlando Flysch, the Antisicilide Argille Scagliose and Pleistocene clays and calcarenites. This area is affected by high uplift rates as recently estimated …

Geological framework of Sicily and the Triassic-Jurassic stratigraphic evolution

Upper Triassic-Jurassic carbonate Platform-Pelagic Plateau Systems From Western Sicily

A MESOZOIC PALEOMARGIN in WESTERN SICILY, its TERTIARY EVOLUTION and its PRESENT-DAY SEISMOGENETIC POTENTIAL

A segment of the Ionian margin in the Sciacca zone, Sicily.

Carbonate platform-basin systems of Sicily through the Triassic/Jurassic Boundary: Stratigraphic constraints for the paleogeographic reconstructions.

A possible bridge between Adria and Africa: New palaeobiogeographic and stratigraphic constraints on the Mesozoic palaeogeography of the Central Mediterranean area

Abstract Dinosaur records in central and southern Italy testify to the occurrence of a diverse dinosaur fauna on the Apennine and Apulian carbonate platforms at least from the Tithonian to the Santonian. Most of the palaeogeographic reconstructions show these domains as topographically isolated areas, separated by deep pelagic basins and far from emerged continental areas. Thus, they hardly justify the long-lasting occurrence of these terrestrial vertebrates. Recent studies on the Mesozoic Panormide Carbonate Platform (western Sicily) yielded important stratigraphical and palaeontological data, which provide evidence for a convincing explanation of this unresolved problem. The recent discov…

Geoeventi in Sicilia. La Storia geologica dell’area centro-mediterranea raccontata dai geositi, testimoni del tempo.

A multidisciplinary approach to reveal the Sicily Climate and Environment over the last 20 000 years

Abstract We present a thorough review of the knowledge on the climate and environment in Sicily over the last 20 000 years, taking into account results of several studies carried using terrestrial and marine records. We obtain a coherent framework of the most important changes succeeded in the island, even if some points need further investigation. All the reconstructions of surface temperatures of the seas and the air surrounding Sicily point out severe climatic conditions during the last glacial period. The steppe- and semisteppe-like vegetation pattern testifies, together with additional evidence from geochemical data of lacustrine evidence, markedly arid conditions. Fi-nally, significan…

Facies architecture of the Upper Triassic margin from the Panormide Carbonate Platform: the Cozzo di Lupo section

The Panormide Carbonate Platform (Sicily): an anomalous case in the evolution of Jurassic Tethyan basins.

A regional-scale discontinuity in western Sicily revealed by a multidisciplinary approach: A new piece for understanding the geodynamic puzzle of the southern Mediterranean

The results of an integrated stratigraphic, structural, geophysical, and geochemical study reveal the presence of a crustal discontinuity in western Sicily that, at present, runs roughly N-S along a band from San Vito Lo Capo to Sciacca (SVCS). The boundary between the two zones of this discontinuity is nearly orthogonal to the main thrust propagation of the Sicilian thrust-and-fold belt. The different Permian to Tertiary sedimentary evolution recorded by the two zones appears related to this discontinuity, with thick carbonate platforms in the western sector facing deep-water successions in the eastern one. The presence of Upper Triassic reefs, huge megabreccias bodies, and widespread subm…

Sicilia nord-occidentale: dai Monti di Palermo al trapanese

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Carta geologica del versante meridionale delle Madonie Occidentali

Final Report of the Oceanographic Survey NextData201. Project NEXTDATA WP-1.5 : Paleoclimatic Data from Marine Sediments

The retrieval of series of proxy data on the past climate will serve to acquire a deeper understanding of the climate system and a more accurate prediction of its future development, as a priority task for the scientific community. In particular, the analysis of climate data of the past is an essential tool for studying the dynamics of the earth's climatic system in conditions different from present ones, and irreplaceable for testing the validity of medium- and long-term forecasting models. The determination of the influence of anthropogenic impacts on the planet’s environment is predicated on a clear understanding of the natural ways in which the earth's climate responds to the complex se…

Contribution of HVSR measures for seismic microzonation studies

The HVSR method applied to seismic noise can be a very useful technique to map the site effects of the territory, to identify the thickness of the soft covering and so the depth of the seismic bedrock. The case of the urban area of Oliveri is presented. Because of its high seismic hazard this area has been subject of first level seismic microzonation. The town lies on a large coastal plain made of mixed fluvial/marine sediments, overlapping a deformed substrate. In order to identify points on the area probably suffering of relevant site effects and to define a preliminary Vs subsurface model, 23 HVSR measurements were performed. A clustering technique of continuous signals has been used to …

Ambiente e clima della Sicilia durante gli ultimi 20 mila anni

Environment and Climate in Sicily over the last 20, 000 years. (IT ISSN 0394-3356, 2010). A series of recent studies shed light on the central Mediterranean, and Sicily, climate and environment, starting from the last glacial maximum (about 20 ka cal BP). In the present paper, we examine most of these works, in order to unravel environmental changes of the past, mainly in terms of temperature, atmospheric pattern, precipitation, vegetation and faunal associations. The climate of the last glacial maximum was characterised by very low temperature and by repeated northerlies penetration, even during summer. Low precipitation values led to a steppe- or semisteppe-like vegetation pattern, domina…

Karstic overprint of Upper Triassic peritidal cycles: The example of the Panormide Carbonate Platform at San Vito lo Capo (Sicily)

Integration of HVSR measures and stratigraphic constraints for seismic microzonation studies: the case of Oliveri (ME)

Abstract. Because of its high seismic hazard the urban area of Oliveri has been subject of first level seismic microzonation. The town develops on a large coastal plain made of mixed fluvial/marine sediments, overlapping a complexly deformed substrate. In order to identify points on the area probably suffering relevant site effects and define a preliminary Vs subsurface model for the first level of microzonation, we performed 23 HVSR measurements. A clustering technique of continuous signals has been used to optimize the calculation of the HVSR curves. 42 reliable peaks of the H/V spectra in the frequency range 0.6–10 Hz have been identified. A second clustering technique has been applied t…

Back to Adria, the African Promontory: geological and palaeontological constraints from central and southern Italy

Evidence of Middle Triassic to Carnian shallow-water limestones from megabreccia intercalations in the Carnian Mufara Formation: Cozzo Paparina (Altofonte)

A regional-scale discontinuity in western Sicily revealed by a multidisciplinary approach: A new piece for understanding the geodynamic puzzle of the southern Mediterranean

The results of an integrated stratigraphic, structural, geophysical, and geochemical study reveal the presence of a crustal discontinuity in western Sicily that, at present, runs roughly N-S along a band from San Vito Lo Capo to Sciacca. The boundary between the two zones of this discontinuity is nearly orthogonal to the main thrust propagation of the Sicilian thrust-and-fold belt. The different Permian to Tertiary sedimentary evolution recorded by the two zones appears related to this discontinuity, with thick carbonate platforms in the western sector facing deepwater successions in the eastern one. The presence of Upper Triassic reefs, huge megabreccia bodies, and widespread submarine vol…

Processi paleocarsici e geositi: il caso del “libeccio antico” nel distretto marmifero di Custonaci, Sicilia nord-occidentale

Abstract The Upper Triassic strata that crops out along the northern slope of Monte Sparagio, in the Custonaci “marble” district in northwestern Sicily, show an extensive development of dissolution cavities with a very variable shape and dimensions. Several different types of dissolution morphologies can be differentiated from microkarst to giant caverns. The cavities are filled up by polychrome silts or calcite cements or, in the larger caverns, by collapse breccias. The matrix between the collapse breccias is a polychrome silt that gives rise to an attractive ornamental stone, quarried in the past with the name of “Libeccio Antico”. The diagenetic processes that have controlled the format…

Foglio 619, Santa Margherita di Belice

Oxfordian paleobiogeographic perturbation between the Iberian and Sicilian regions: the role of the Panormide Carbonate Platform.

Strutture deformative sindeposizionali nelle calcareniti Pleistoceniche del settore orientale dell'Isola di Favignana (Sicilia, Italia)

End Triassic karstification of a south Tethyan carbonate platform: the genesis of the “Libeccio Antico” a famous Baroque dimension stone.

New data on the Upper Triassic reefs of Western Sicily: stratigraphic constraints for the paleogeographic reconstruction of the Sicanian and Trapanese-Saccense Domains

La Piattaforma Carbonatica Panormide: un caso anomalo nell'evoluzione dei bacini della Tetide giurassica

Negli ultimi anni sono state proposte diverse ricostruzioni paleogeografiche dell'area Centro Mediterranea durante il Mesozoico.La Piattaforma Carbonatica Panormide (PCPA) viene collocata tra la Tetide Alpina e la Tetide Ionica, in un'area geodinamicamente molto complessa. Recenti studi hanno documentato la presenza di superfici di discontinuita che caratterizzano l'evoluzione stratigrafica della PCPA rispetto alle adiacenti Piattaforme Carbonatiche Siciliane. La presenza di superfici di discontinuita negli intervalli Retico-Hettangiano e Giurassico Medio-Oxfordiano vengono messe in relazione, attraverso il confronto della storia della subsidenza tra le Piattaforme Carbonatiche, con gli sta…

Carbonate Platform-Basin Transition in SW Sicily. Implications for the paleogeographic reconstruction of the Central Mediterranean area.

New biostratigraphic data from the Ladinian pelagic limestones of Pizzo di Sant’Otiero - Madonie Mountains, Sicily

New biostratigraphic data, based on conodont investigations, were collected from the Ladinian limestones recently described at Sant’Otiero, a locality near the Village of Petralia Sottana in the Madonie Mountains (Central-Northern Sicily). At this locality a new calcareous succession lying at the base of a major tectonic unit of the Maghrebian chain is described. This succession consists of a lower massive part formed by a carbonate megabreccia, the elements of which are shallow water extraclasts with dasycladalean algae (Diplopora annulatissima Pia), benthic foraminifers, “Tubiphytes” and problematic organisms commonly described from Anisian carbonate platforms. Upward a well-bedded succes…

Geoeventi in Sicilia

Integration of stratigraphic data with HVSR measures for studies of seismic microzonation: the case of Oliveri (ME)

The seismic microzoning is a technique of analysis of a territory which aims to recognize, at a small scale, the local geological and geomorphologic conditions that may significantly affect the characteristics of the seismic motion, generating stress on structures that could produce permanent and critical effects. In other words, this technique has the objective to predict and evaluate possible site effects as a result of an earthquake. The first phase of the seismic microzoning is the detailed partition of the territory in homogeneous areas with respect to the expected behavior of soils during an earthquake. The seismic micro-zoning is a tool for prevention and reduction of seismic risk pa…

Multi-scale dissolution events in Western-Tethyan peritidal carbonates close to the Triassic/Jurassic boundary

The stratigraphical and sedimentological study of uppermost Triassic-lowermost Jurassic sections of peritidal carbonates, in north-western Sicily, allows to differentiate multi-scale dissolution events that affected the carbonate platform interior during the uppermost Rhaetian. The Triassic cycles show extensive phenomena of stratabound dissolution that can be differentiated in three main types: vug, moldic and “spongy-like”. The dissolution horizons are particularly concentrated in the subtidal members of cycles. The creation of different type of porosity seems to be mainly controlled by the textural characters of the host-rock. In particular the cm-scale bioturbation in muddy sediments, p…

Architecture and dynamics of a Maghrebian carbonate platform-basin transition around the Triassic/Jurassic Boundary: Sciacca zone, Sicily.

LANDFILL SITE SELECTION FOR MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE BY USING AHP METHOD IN GIS ENVIRONMENT: WASTE MANAGEMENT DECISION-SUPPORT IN SICILY (ITALY)

The goal of this work was to test a methodology, based on multi-criteria analysis and geographic information systems, aimed at identifying areas potentially suitable to host landfills for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Although the above-mentioned methodology was applied to three different areas (Western, South-western and Eastern) of Sicily, in this paper, we present the results of the western sector. The first step consisted of the division of the study area in excluded and potentially suitable sites, on the basis of the Italian current legislation. The suitable sites were subsequently re-evaluated based on additional criteria in order to choose the most suitable ones. This second step cons…

Paleokarstic overprint on the Panormide Carbonate Platform (Sicily)around the T/J boundary

Mesozoic Paleogeography of the central Mediterranean Region

The migration path of Gondwanian dinosaurs toward Adria: New insights from the Cretaceous of NW Sicily (Italy)

Abstract The increasing dinosaur record from Italy questioned classic palaeogeographic scenarios for the Central Mediterranean area and suggest the proximity of landmass areas and a geographical connection between Gondwana and Laurasia during Cretaceous times. Besides several track-sites and exceptionally-preserved specimens (e.g. Scipionyx samniticus), the Italian dinosaur record also consists of isolated bones, among which the bone fragment of a theropod discovered in north-western Sicily. The bone occurs in a shallow-water carbonate succession (i.e. Pizzo Muletta, Palermo Mountains) pertaining to the Panormide Carbonate Platform (PCP). The bone was previously ascribed to the Cenomanian, …

Core description collected during Oceanographic Survey NextData2013 (12 – 19 September 2013)

Facies stacking and extinctions across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary in a peritidal succession from western Sicily

An uppermost Triassic–lowermost Jurassic carbonate platform succession, which is 430 m thick, in northwestern Sicily is described with the aim to provide new data on the sedimentological and biological variations across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary in peritidal environments. The studied succession belonged to the rimmed carbonate shelf that developed during the upper Triassic along the margins of the Ionian Tethys. The peritidal sediments consist of metre-scale shallowing-upward cycles formed by subtidal, intertidal and supratidal facies. Three main informal units are differentiated along the section on the basis of the variations recorded by the subtidal facies. The lower and middle unit…

Triasina hantkeni limestones from western Sicily

Madonie Geopark - Calendario 2009

Le Madonie costituiscono da oltre un secolo una delle aree più interessanti per la Geologia della Sicilia. I rilievi montuosi di questo territorio hanno registrato negli strati rocciosi l'evoluzione geologicha e biologica di un intervallo temporale di oltre 200 milioni di anni. Numerosi Geologi e Paleontologi hanno condotto in que'area ricerche fondamentali per comprendere l'origine non solo di questi rilievi, ma dell'intera catena montuosa che si estende dagli Appennini alle Maghrebidi del Nord Africa. La buona esposizione delle successioni rocciose, che offrono una inesauribile gamma di esempi per la didattica delle Scienze Geologiche , unitamente alla bellezza dei paesaggi, hanno fatto d…

Principali Geositi della Riserva Naturale Orientata Monti di Palazzo Adriano e Valle del Fiume Sosio.

Principali Geositi della Riserva Naturale Orientata Monti di Palazzo Adriano e Valle del Fiume Sosio.