Abstract
The quality of chronologic resolution rapidly declines from the Present to the recent geologic past, and uncertainty of chronologic interpretation can make reliable quantification of depositional processes and sediment fluxes in the pre-Quaternary stratigraphic record almost impossible. Late Quaternary successions exhibit recurring and predictable motifs in stratigraphic architecture that can be delineated objectively and that reflect the overwhelming dominance of post-glacial eustatic change on sequence development. Although stratigraphic architecture on a systems tract scale is well understood, these successions reveal an unexpectedly intricate hierarchy of stratigraphic surfaces on 102 to 103-year time scales that is typically unresolved in the ancient record. ON/OFF targets a comprehensive (ONshore/OFFshore) analysis of key stratigraphic surfaces by innovatively examining sedimentary successions on well-constrained millennial to centennial time scales. Through the application of a multiscale sequence-stratigraphic method (from systems tract to parasequence and bedset) and integration of sedimentology, seismic stratigraphy, geophysics, paleoecology, pollen analysis and bulk-sediment geochemistry, the research project aims at developing a coherent picture that integrates the sedimentary response of alluvial, coastal and shallow-marine depositional systems to short-lived eustatic and climatic events. Building up a predictive model of sequence stratigraphic distribution will provide insight into the quantification of subsurface heterogeneities, with obvious implications for aquifer characterization and engineering investigations. The project has Bologna University Research Unit as general coordinator and leader of onshore activities, whereas CNR-ISMAR Research Unit leads the offshore part of the project. Target areas for stratigraphic analysis at the systems-tract scale are selected Quaternary successions of the southern Po Plain and incised valley fills of the Northern and Central Adriatic areas (Savio, Tronto and Pescara paleovalleys), along with coeval deep-sea successions of the South Adriatic Depression. At a finer (millennial, centennial) time-scale resolution, including the scale of individual depositional events/layers, the project focuses on late Holocene sediment cores of the North Adriatic and Po Delta areas
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Alessandro Amorosi
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali
Coordinator:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)
Total Eu Contribution: Euro (EUR) 189.792,00
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 113.896,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
28/09/2023
End Date:
28/02/2026
