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

Facies Architecture and Evolution of a Cretaceous, Tectonically-Controlled, Carbonate Slope from Western Sicily (Italy)

The stratigraphic architecture of a Cretaceous carbonate slope from north western Sicily (Italy) has been reconstructed on the basis of detailed field sections. The wire cut walls of a number of quarries that extract the Cretaceous limestones as ornamental stones allowed the mapping of the stratal architecture and lithologies at various scales. The vertical and lateral facies relationships in this about 1000 m thick depositional system account for a complex sedimentary dynamics along a carbonate platform escarpment that was strongly influenced by syn-sedimentary transtensional tectonics associated to magmatism. Although the original relationships with the carbonate platform were obscured by…

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

Triassic/Jurassic carbonates from Western Sicily: their facies and implications for the end-Triassic biotic crisis.

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

PETROGRAPHIC, GEOCHEMICAL AND MICROTHERMOMETRIC CONSTRAINTS ON THE FLUID FLOW EVOLUTION OF LATE CRETACEOUS PANORMIDE PLATFORM DEPOSITS (NORTH CENTRAL SICILY)

Architecture of an Upper Triassic-Jurassic platform-basin transition from the southern margin of the Ionian Tethys: Sciacca zone, Sicily.

New biostratigraphic data on the Oxfordian from Roccapalumba (Western Sicily).

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

Valle del Sosio, Palazzo Adriano. I terreni permiani e triassici del Bacino Sicano nell’evoluzione della catena Siciliana centro-meridionale

La sezione di Pizzo Sant'Otiero (Petralia Sottana - Madonie) Geosito peculiare per l'evoluzione medio-triassica dell'area Centro-Mediterranea

I Geositi della Sicilia Occidentale: situazione attuale e valorizzazione

FLUID FLOW RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SICILIAN FOLD AND THRUST BELT

New stratigraphic data on the Jurassic biosiliceous sediments from the Sicanian Basin (Western Sicily)

Middle Triassic carbonate platform-basin system from Sicily. New evidence from the Madonie Mountains

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

Biostratigraphical study of the Middle-Upper Jurassic ammonite association of Stretta Arancio’s section (Southern Sicily, Italy).

This stratigraphical study is part of the revision work that has been carried out for the last ten years on some Jurassic successions outcropping in Southwestern Sicily. For this purpose, a synthesis of the data on the Middle-Upper Jurassic sequence from Stretta Arancio, near Sambuca di Sicilia (Agrigento Province) have been described in this paper. The deposits, constituting the succession of this area, are part of the Monte Magaggiaro-Pizzo Telegrafo Unit that belongs to a large tectonic unit located in the outer part of the Apennine-Maghrebide chain. During the Mesozoic Era, this Unit was part of the Saccense Domain, an area palaeogeographically located along the southern margin of Tethy…

Mesozoic discontinuities in the Panormide Carbonate Platform: constraints on the palaeogeography of the central Mediterranean

New data on the Triassic-Jurassic deep-water succession of Campofiorito (Sicanian Domain, Western Sicily)

PETROGRAPHY AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE PIETRA DI BILLIEMI (NW SICILY, ITALY): IMPLICATIONS WITH THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF JURASSIC TETHYS FROM A HYSTORIC DIMENSION STONE

New data on Middle and Upper Jurassic ammonite successions from the Sciacca area in Southern Sicily.

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.

New stratigraphical data on the Middle-Late Jurassic biosiliceous sediments from the Sicanian basin, Western Sicily (Italy)

The reported data present the stratigraphy of several sections across a Middle–Late Jurassic Radiolaritic Unit, well exposed in different thrust sheets pertaining to the Maghrebian chain of Southwestern Sicily. The aim was to define the chronostratigraphical distribution of the Jurassic biosiliceous sedi- mentation in the Sicanian palaeogeographical zone, a deep water basin belonging to the Southern Tethys continental margin. The radiolarian biostratigraphy indicates that the switching from carbonate to siliceous sedimentation in the Sicanian Basin is referable to the Bajocian, as shown by the section of Campofiorito, near Corleone. The biostratigraphical dataset allows the correlation betw…

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

Sedimentology, petrography and geochemistry of a limestone breccia (Pietra di Billiemi) from NW Sicily, Italy: implications for evolution of the Tethyan basins around the Triassic/Jurassic boundary

In this study, the Pietra di Billiemi, a famous dimension stone, is investigated because it records the tectonic evolution of the south Tethys continental margin and preserves a record of major environmental changes occurring near the Triassic/Jurassic boundary. The Pietra di Billiemi is a grey, coarse-grained and clast-supported limestone breccia cropping out in an area of the Palermo Mountains representing a segment of the Apennine–Maghrebian chain in western Sicily. The rock consists of metre-sized to centimetre-sized angular clasts, derived from Upper Triassic sponge boundstones and rudstones, with a differently coloured, silt-grained matrix. Fitted fragments are observed commonly which…

Paesaggio in attesa. Temi del Piano Territoriale Paesaggistico AGRIGENTO

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.

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

The late Carnian Rhaetian Succession at Pizzo Mondello (Sicani Mountains).

Carbonate slope re‐sedimentation in a tectonically‐active setting (Western Sicily Cretaceous Escarpment, Italy)

Tectonic processes are widely considered as a mechanism causing carbonate platform margin instabilities leading to the emplacement of mass transport deposits and calciturbidites. However, only few examples establishing a clear link between tectonics and re-sedimentation processes are known from the lit- erature. The two-dimensional and three-dimensional wire-cut walls of hun- dreds of quarries extracting ornamental limestones (for example, Perlato di Sicilia) from the Western Sicily Cretaceous Escarpment in Italy expose a series of mass transport deposits. The depositional architecture, spatial facies distri- bution and sedimentary features of these deposits were studied in detail. Thin sec…

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

Hypercalcified sponges from the Upper Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) reefs of Sicily

The sponge-dominated Upper Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) reefs of Sicily yielded the most abundant hypercalcified sponge taxa compared with other time equivalent reefs in the world. Chambered sponges (“Sphinctozoa”) are the most abundant group among the hypercalcified sponges. All together almost 150 species of hypercalcified sponges (including sphinctozoans, inozoans, chaetetids, disjectoporids and spongiomorphids) were recognized in the Norian-Rhaetian reefs occurring in different localities in Sicily. 93 species (30 new, 28 as sp. indet.) of sphinctozoans, belonging to 18 families (2 new: Polytubithalamiidae, Globucatenulaiidae) and 35 genera (4 new: Globucatenula, Polytubithalamia, Rostros…

Pizzo Mondello Stratigrafia della successione carnico-retica

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

AMMONOID EVOLUTION TRIGGERED BY PALAEOGEOGRAPHIC CHANGES: ORIGIN OF OXFORDIAN SUBFAMILY PASSENDORFERIINAE (SOUTHERN TETHYS)

The comparison of Middle-Upper Jurassic ammonite successions in SW Sicily (Sciacca) and Iberia shows that, during the Middle Jurassic, besides some typical Mediterranean taxa, in Sicily as well as in the Betic Ranges (S Spain) ammonoid successions contain a higher share of typical Submediterranean taxa of Ammonitina, entirely comparable to those recorded in Epicontinental areas of Eastern Iberia. From middle Oxfordian onwards instead, ammonite successions show a clear taxonomic differentiation, being dominated in Sicily by typically Mediterranean taxa (Passendorferiinae) whilst typical Submeditrerranean groups (Perisphinctinae, Oppeliidae) clearly dominant in the Iberian Range, are testimon…

Evaluating uplift rates, and origin of Drowning unconformities using marine cements

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 …

Depositi di travertino nell'area di Via Colonna Rotta a Palermo

Conservation state of two paintings in the Santa Margherita cliff cave: role of the environment and of the microbial community

Abstract The conservation of ancient paintings sited in humid environments is an actual challenge for restorers, because it needs the knowledge of the materials the paintings are made up and of their interaction with a peculiar surrounding environment; thus, tailored procedures and strategies aimed at restoring and preserving paintings are necessary. The Santa Margherita’s cave in Castellammare del Golfo (Trapani, Italy) is a natural cave, containing the remains of paintings, in a poor state of conservation, belonging to an ancient church dated back to the Middle Age. The present manuscript reports the monitoring of environmental conditions (i.e., temperature and humidity) in a full year as…

Fluid storage and migration properties of sheared Neptunian dykes

Abstract Neptunian dykes are widely reported along the Tethyan carbonate platforms and are commonly considered as subsurface baffles or barriers to fluid flow. However, the fluid storage and migration properties of sheared Neptunian dykes are poorly known. For this reason, we investigate the inner structure and fluid flow properties of two Neptunian dykes, which can be characterized by different architectures if involved or not in brittle shearing processes. The dykes strike ca. WNW-ESE and crosscutting the tight Jurassic limestones exposed at Maranfusa Mt., NW Sicily, Italy. The unsheared and sheared Neptunian dykes are almost sub-vertical and at high-angle with respect to the horizontal p…

Sedimentology and biostratigraphy of a peritidal succession across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary: Monte Sparagio, north western Sicily

A 490 m thick section of shallowing upward peritidal cycles spanning the Triassic-Jurassic boundary is exposed along the northern slope of Mount Sparagio in the San Vito Lo Capo Peninsula (Western Sicily). A detailed microfacies analysis allowed defining the aspects of cyclic sedimentation of this section and especially the stratigraphic occurrence patterns of benthic foraminifera and algae across the T/J boundary. The lower part of cycles commonly shows medium to low energy subtidal facies, typical of the inner lagoon of the carbonate platform. Subtidal facies such as coral bafflestone in some cycles suggest more open lagoonal conditions (patch reefs), while some higher energy layers such …

Deformazioni attive in Sicilia Centrale: L'Esempio del vulcanismo sedimentario di Caltanissetta

The Jurassic biosiliceous sediments from the Sicanian basin in Western Sicily: new data.

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

A Cretaceous carbonate escarpment from Western Sicily (Italy): biostratigraphy and tectono-sedimentary evolution

Abstract The presence of a huge carbonate slope of Cretaceous age is recorded in some imbricated thrust sheets from the Maghrebian fold-and-thrust belt cropping out in northwesternmost Sicily (southern Italy). The sedimentological features of this escarpment, named as the Western Sicily Cretaceous Escarpment (WSCE), have been recently described. The present paper aims to provide a detailed bio-chronostratigraphic characterization of the different facies types that occur in the four lithostratigraphic units spanning the whole slope depositional system. The detailed biostratigraphic analysis and correlation of a number of well-exposed sections allowed to differentiate eight informal biozones …

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…

Record of the end-Triassic crisis in south-western Sicily: palaeoenvironmental changes reflected by the carbonate facies architecture.

The Billiemi breccia: the record of Rhaetian/lowermost Jurassic brittle deformations along the Panormide shelf edge

Carbonate platform-basin systems in Sicily around the Triassic/Jurassic boundary: new data from the Campofiorito area (Sicani Mountains, western Sicily)

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…

JURASSIC AMMONITE ASSOCIATIONS FROM A SECTION NEAR SAMBUCA DI SICILIA (SCIACCA, SICILY).

Valle del Colomba. Panoramica sui rapporti tettonici tra le unità Sicane nei Monti di Palazzo Adriano

Foglio 619, Santa Margherita di Belice

Demise in shallow-water settings of a tectonically-isolated Tethyan CP Margin: the Lower Jurassic example of Monte Kumeta, Sicily

An enormous sulfur isotope excursion indicates marine anoxia during the end-Triassic mass extinction

The role of ocean anoxia as a cause of the end-Triassic marine mass extinction is widely debated. Here, we present carbonate-associated sulfate δ34S data from sections spanning the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic transition, which document synchronous large positive excursions on a global scale occurring in ~50 thousand years. Biogeochemical modeling demonstrates that this S isotope perturbation is best explained by a fivefold increase in global pyrite burial, consistent with large-scale development of marine anoxia on the Panthalassa margin and northwest European shelf. This pyrite burial event coincides with the loss of Triassic taxa seen in the studied sections. Modeling results also indica…

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)

New approach for quantifying water depth applied to the enigma of drowning of carbonate platforms

This research illustrates application of a fluid-inclusion technique for quantifying water depth of ancient carbonate platforms. Jurassic limestones of Monte Kumeta, Italy, were cemented with submarine calcite during a transition to carbonate platform termination. The calcite cements contain fluid inclusions consisting of Jurassic seawater and immiscible gas bubbles trapped during the growth and penecontemporaneous recrystallization of the cements. Crushing analysis indicates that gas bubbles are under pressures indicative of entrapment in water depths of 23–112 m. Assuming simple deepening and acknowledging chronostratigraphic errors, rates of relative rise in sea level were initially less…

New data on the Bathonian-Kimmeridgian section of Stretta Arancio and the historical ammonites collections from the Tardàra Mountain (Sambuca di Sicilia, Southern Sicily)

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.

Mercury contents and isotope ratios from diverse depositional environments across the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary: Towards a more robust mercury proxy for large igneous province magmatism

Abstract Mercury is gaining prominence as a proxy for large igneous province (LIP) volcanism in the sedimentary record. Despite temporal overlap between some mass extinctions and LIPs, the precise timing of magmatism relative to major ecological and environmental change is difficult to untangle, especially in marine settings. Changes in the relative contents of Hg in sedimentary rocks through time, or ‘Hg anomalies’, can help resolve the timing of LIP activity and marine extinctions. However, major questions remain unanswered about the fidelity of Hg as a proxy for LIP magmatism. In particular, depositional (e.g., redox) and post-depositional (e.g., oxidative weathering) processes can affec…

Middle Triassic (Ladinian) deep-water sediments in Sicily: New findings from the Madonie Mountains

A section of carbonate megabreccias grading upward to deep-water Daonella limestones is described from the locality of Sant’Otiero, near Petralia Sottana, in the Madonie Mountains (Sicily). The megabreccia mainly consists of neritic elements containing dasycladalean algae (Diplopora annulatissima Pia) along with benthic foraminifers and problematics. The overlying calcilutitic strata are characterized by lumachella intercalations containing the bivalve Daonella tyrolensis Mojsisovics suggesting an early Late Ladinian (Protrachyceras longobardicum ammonoid zone) age. We informally name the Daonella limestone as the calcare di Sant’Otiero (Sant’Otiero limestone). The Daonella limestones along…

Triassic/Jurassic boundary in peritidal carbonates from western Tethys

A carbonate platform from the western margin of the Ionian Tethys has been investigated for biotic and geochemical variations across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary (TJB). The section of Mount Sparagio (north-western Sicily) exposes a peritidal succession of Rhaetian-Hettangian age with a thickness of about 400 m. The peritidal sediments are organized in metre-scale shallowing upward cycles formed by subtidal, intertidal and supratidal facies. Along the section, the subtidal facies vary from bioturbated mud/wackestones with rare mollusc shells, to Megalodont-rich wacke/packstones to, more rarely, coral bafflestones, most likely as response to variations of the accommodation space and water e…

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…

A Triassic carbonate platform edge in the Sciacca zone: implications for the accretion of the Maghrebian chain in southwestern Sicily

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…

Acidification processes in a peritidal carbonate succession across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary (Sicily)

For the first time, a correlation between biostratigraphic events and δ13C curve was attempted along an UpperTriassic-Lower Jurassic peritidal limestone succession cropping out in westernmost Sicily. The peritidal carbonates are organized in shallowing upward cycles characterized by subtidal skeletal mudstone to grainstone, intertidal microbial mats and supratidal paleosoils. About 300 meters of this succession covering the Triassic-Jurassic interval were studied in details. On the base of the macro- and microfossil assemblages from the subtidal facies, four informal units have been recognized along the studied section. Unit R1 (at the base, 111 m thick) is dominated by large megalodonts, r…

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, …

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

Fluid flow reconstruction in Cretaceous Panormide Platform limestones: implication for timing of oil migration in the Sicilian fold and thrust belt

Architecture and dynamics of a Triassic/Jurassic carbonate platform-basin transition in the Sciacca area, South Central Sicily: implications for the Neogene accretion of the Maghrebian orogen.

Mesozoic and Paleogene megabreccias in Southern Sicily: New data on the Triassic Paleomargin of the Siculo-Tunisian platform

Mesozoic and Paleogene clastic carbonates in deep-water successions outcropping in the Sicani mountains (central southern Sicily) represent debris-flow and turbidite deposits accumulated in slope/base-of-slope sectors of the Sicanian Basin, a Permian to Miocene deep-water sedimentary domain of Sicily. Reef-derived carbonates of late Triassic age are frequently found among the clastic elements of these deposits, in association with other shallow and deep-water Mesozoic carbonates. The provide us with new data on the stratigraphic setting of a platform paleomargin now buried beneath the Sicilian thrust and fold belt. This paleomargin bounded the wide middle and upper Triassic carbonate platfo…

Multiple Submarine Unconformities In Basinal Settings as result of large-scale synsedimentary slidings: An example from the Sicanian Basin (Sicily)

New Biostratigraphic data around the Carnian/Norian boundary from the Pizzo Mondello sction, Sicani mountains, Sicily.

A Km-scale Cretaceous slope in western Sicily (Italy)

Cretaceous slopes are well known from many regions of the world, since they are among the most prone depositional systems to host hydrocarbons. As far as Italy, in spite of fully described examples as the Majella and Gargano escarpments, detailed sedimentological and biostratigraphic studies from Sicily are not available, although the presence of slope carbonates of Cretaceous age in northwestern Sicily, is mentioned in several papers dealing with regional geology or geological mapping. The Cretaceous slope carbonates from this area, i.e. the San Vito Lo Capo Peninsula, belong to several thrust sheets of the Maghrebian chain. The stratigraphic setting in these tectonic units allows to recon…

Triasina hantkeni limestones from western Sicily

Formation mechanisms of Neptunian dikes in the Jurassic carbonates of Monte Maranfusa (western Sicily)

Younger sediment infilling open fissures exposed on the sea floor are defined as neptunian dikes. These are peculiar features of carbonate platform successions deposited along the plate margins bounding the western Tethys during the Late Triassic time. During middle-Early Jurassic, a large part of these carbonate platforms were drowned, and became submerged plateaux covered by pelagic sediments during Jurassic (“Rosso Ammonitico”) and Cretaceous times (“Scaglia”). In western Sicily, several Neptunian dikes crop out (Monte Kumeta, Rocca Busambra, Monte Maranfusa, Monte Magaggiaro, etc.). They cut across mainly the carbonate sediments of the Inici Formation and in some cases the pelagic limes…

Callovian to lower Kimmeridgian ammonite successions from West Sicily (Roccapalumba) and Northeast Iberian Range (Ariño, Teruel): A key for palaeogeographical reconstruction.

La comparacion de las sucesiones de ammonites en el intervalo comprendido entre el Calloviense y el Kimmeridgiense inferior en la region de Sicilia occidental (Roccapalumba-Sciacca) y la Cordillera Iberica nororiental (Sierra de Arcos) muestra una clara similitud y paralelismo en el desarrollo estratigrafico. Esto incluye el registro incompleto del Calloviense inferior, una amplia laguna estratigrafica (Calloviense inferior-Oxfordiense medio) y un registro mas completo del Oxfordiense medio-superior (biozonas Transversarium-Bifurcatus) y Kimmeridgiense inferior. Esto permite inferir una evolucion paleogeografica paralela en ambas regiones del Tethys. Las asociaciones registradas de ammonite…

BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC DATA OF THE JURASSIC BIOSILICEOUS SEDIMENTS FROM THE SICANIAN DOMAIN (SICILY)

PANORAMICA SUI RAPPORTI TETTONICI TRA LE UNITA' SICANE NEI MONTI DI PALAZZO ADRIANO

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…

Carta Geologica d’Italia a scala 1:50.000-Foglio 604 “ISOLE EGADI”. Progetto CARG.

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.