Search results for " Paleoecologia"

Formation of secondary carbonates and native sulphur in sulphate-rich Messinian strata, Sicily

2010

Abstract Microbially formed authigenic carbonates accompanied by native sulphur are present in the ‘Calcare Solfifero’ below a thick succession of gypsum deposited during the Messinian salinity crisis in Sicily. We sampled these carbonates and associated sulphur in five former sulphur mines to subject them to a detailed petrographic and geochemical study in order to explore their different modes of formation. Native sulphur formed in conjunction with microbial sulphate reduction, which is reflected in its depletion in 34S (δ34S values as low as − 2‰ vs. V-CDT) and an enrichment of 34S in the residual sulphate (δ34S values as high as + 61‰). The oxidation of organic matter by sulphate reduct…

Middle-late Pleistocene eastern Mediterranean nutricline depth and coccolith preservation linked to Monsoon activity and Atlantic meridional overturn…

2022

Altres ajuts: Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M; Universidade de Vigo's programme to attract excellent research talent (RR04092017) The eastern Mediterranean Sea lies under the influence of high- and low-latitude climatic systems. The northern part of the basin is affected by Atlantic depressions and continental and polar air masses that promote intermediate and deep-water formation. The southern part is influenced by subtropical conditions and monsoon activity. Monsoon intensification results in enhanced freshwater discharge from the Nile River and other (now dry) systems along the North African margin. This freshwater influx into the Mediterranean Sea reduces surface w…

Timing of the emergence of the Europe-Sicily bridge (40-17 cal ka BP) and its implications for the spread of modern humans

2014

The submerged sill in the Strait of Messina, which is located today at a minimum depth of 81 m below sea level (bsl), represents the only land connection between Sicily and mainland Italy (and thus Europe) during the last lowstand when the sea level locally stood at about 126 m bsl. Today, the sea crossing to Sicily, although it is less than 4 km at the narrowest point, faces hazardous sea conditions, made famous by the myth of Scylla and Charybdis. Through a multidisciplinary research project, we document the timing and mode of emergence of this land connection during the last 40 kyr. The integrated analysis takes into consideration morphobathymetric and lithological data, and relative sea…

THE GARGANO TERRE ROSSE INSULAR FAUNAS: AN OVERVIEW

2010

After forty years from its discovery, the history of the field surveys and of the researches on the fossiliferous deposits on Gargano is briefly reported. The Gargano fauna belongs to the Abruzzo-Apulian Palaeobioprovince (including also Scontrone and Palena, Abruzzo). The fossil assemblage comprehends all the classes of terrestrial vertebrates: Reptilia, Amphibia, Aves and Mammalia. The faunal composition is unbalanced and presents the features of a typical insular endemic fauna. The bulk of the assemblage is composed of small mammals and birds. Based on literature, we report the most characteristic features, phylogenetic relationships, and evolutionary remarks on a list of mammals, focusi…

The Abruzzo-Apulian (Central and Southeastern Italy) fossil fauna, new challenges for paleontologists and paleobiogeographers

2012

The Abruzzo-Apulian Platform was an endemic Neogene paleobioprovince. Its relics can be found at the south-east of the Italian Peninsula. Geological and paleontological traces of this past land crop out both in the central Apennines, Maiella (Scontrone fossiliferous site), as well as in the Gargano Promontory. The Scontrone paleofauna -Scontrone is placed on the southern borderline of the Abruzzo National Park, Central-Southern Apennine. The bone-bearing sediments are coastaltidal-flat calcarenites stratigraphically dated to the Lower Tortonian. They yielded remains of terrestrial mammals, which include the bizarre ruminant Hoplitomeryx and the giant insectivore Deinogalerix, of a large ter…

Isole e Clima nel Quaternario: I mammiferi fossili della Sicilia e della Sardegna.

2008

Land mammal colonisation of islands is a multifactorial product; a critic to the unwise use of models

2011

The colonization of islands by terrestrial mammals has been the topic of a flurry of studies. Contributions normally tend to oversimplify the subject, focusing on specific key factors which are allegedly considered the best to explain why, how and when non volant terrestrial mammals reached islands and which are used to devise models. The subjectivity in the choice of key factors understandably leads to controversy and debate. Insular faunas are the multifactorial result of complex combinations of facts, conditions and processes. Hence, the faunal assemblages of each island should be inquired individually, on a case-by-case basis. Models, by definition, are simplified representations of rea…

The Mammalian successions of Sicily and Sardinia: a tentative of correlation with the biochronological frame of the Italian peninsula

2009

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

2012

Taxonomic revision of two Mesozoic ammonites collections housed at the "G.G. Gemmellaro" Museum (Palermo, Sicily).

2013

Two historical collections of Mesozoic ammonites from the Tardàra Mountain (SO Sicily), housed in the “Gaetano Giorgio Gemmellaro” Museum of the University of Palermo, have been revised in this paper. The former and the older collection, studied by Mariano Gemmellaro in the 1919, it is composed of 27 specimens, attributed to 5 genera. All the taxa studied by the Author were referred to the Middle Jurassic, Macrocephalites macrocephalus Zone (early Callovian stage). The second collection, studied by Francesco Bruno in the 1954, consists of 46 specimens attributed to 13 genera. The species identified by Bruno were referred to a chronostratigraphic range spanning from Callovian to Tithonian (M…