Cerca
Menu
Foto del docente

Lorenzo Gemignani

Junior assistant professor (fixed-term)

Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences

Academic discipline: GEOS-02/B Stratigraphic Geology and Sedimentology

Collaborations

Collaboration with:
Università degli Studi di PADOVA
Country:
Italy
Collaboration with:
Freie Universität Berlin
Country:
Germany
Collaboration with:
VU Amsterdam
Country:
Netherlands
Formal collaboration with:
University of Potsdam
Country:
Germany
Description:
3-year PhD project at the University of Potsdam: Crustal vertical motions, relief and drainage development at the Dinarides-Hellenides transition The internal zone of the northern Hellenides in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia is characterized by orogen-perpendicular extension, which has marked the topography and has been argued to control rapid exhumation since the late Miocene-Pliocene. In addition, the Shkoder-Peja Fault System (SPFS) in northern Albania, which forms the limit between the oblique collisional Dinarides orogen to the north and the subduction-controlled Hellenides orogen to the south, should also accommodate orogen-parallel extension and hosts some of the highest massifs of the Dinaride-Hellenide orogen in its footwall. First-order questions concerning both the dynamics and the kinematics of the Dinaride-Hellenide Transition (DHT) at the SPFS remain unanswered, including: (1) the role of the SPFS in accommodating differential motion between the Dinarides and Hellenides; (2) the temporal and kinematic relationships between range-perpendicular and range-parallel extension; (3) the onset age of the most recent phase of extension in the northern Hellenides; (4) the link between extension and exhumation; and (5) the imprint of extensional tectonics on topography and drainage patterns. This PhD project will address these outstanding research questions by: (1) collecting new low-temperature AHe and potentially 4He/3He thermochronology data from strategic locations throughout the DHT to map out spatial / temporal patterns of exhumation and their relationship with extension; (2) integrating new and existing thermochronology data into thermo-kinematic models in order to quantitatively infer fault-motion history from the pattern of thermochronological dates; (3) establishing quantitative relationship between landscape morphology and catchment-average erosion rates from cosmogenic-nuclide data in catchments across major extensional faults. The overarching objective is to provide a well- constrained history of uplift, exhumation and extensional faulting associated with the DHT since the Late Miocene. Funding is available, through the DFG SPP DEFORM program, for a 3-year PhD project including costs for fieldwork, analysis, conference attendance and publications. There will be an opportunity to spend some time at one of the collaborating institutes during the PhD. We are looking for motivated recently graduated MSc students in the geosciences, preferably with some experience in (and affinity with) thermochronology, tectonic geomorphology and/or numerical modelling. To apply, send a motivation letter, academic CV and addresses of two potential references to the main supervisor at: vanderbeek@uni-potsdam.de. We are looking to fill this position as quickly as possible; the deadline for applications is October 1st. Main Supervisor: Pieter van der Beek, Universität Potsdam Collaborators: Eline Le Breton, Université de Rennes, France; Lorenzo Gemignani, Università di Bologna, Italy; Bardhyl Muceku, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania
Formal collaboration with:
University of Rennes
Country:
France
Description:
The South Balkan region experiences both extensional and compressional deformation in response to the convergence between the eastern Adriatic - northern African plates and the European plate. In northern Albania, the Shkoder-Peja Fault System (SPFS) marks the boundary between the obliquely colliding Dinarides orogen to the north and the Hellenides orogen to the south. This fault system also defines a roughly 30° clockwise oroclinal bend, related to south-westward retreat of the Hellenic subduction zone. Farther south in Greece, the Kefalonia Transfer Fault (KTF) represents another major tectonic boundary, separating continental subduction of the continental Adriatic Plate to the north from rollback subduction of the Ionian and eastern Mediterranean oceanic lithosphere to the south. This tectonic transition between subduction and collision, which itself varied in space and time, has resulted in complex deformation patterns between the SPFS and KTF, both within the crust of the overriding plate - including the formation of flexural and extensional sedimentary basins in the internal parts of the orogen - and in the deeper subducting slab. The extent of which upper plate deformation is coupled with slab dynamics and how it is influenced by paleogeographic and structural inheritance is still not well constrained. This PhD project aims to provide new quantitative data on structural deformation and sedimentary basin evolution between the SPFS and KTF, especially in Albania and North Macedonia, to develop a model of crustal deformation and identify the controlling processes. The planned research activities include: (1) Compiling and acquiring structural data during field campaigns to characterize the deformation in the study area, (2) Analysing sedimentary basins using geological and geophysical data to quantify basin subsidence and reconstruct paleoenvironments since the Oligocene, (3) Reconstructing the region’s paleogeographic evolution and modelling crustal deformation as part of a plate kinematic model, using GPlates software. This project will be carried out in close collaboration with the German research program on Adriatic Plate deformation (DFG-funded SPP 2497 - DEFORM) and the European initiative AdriaArray. Funding for a 3-year PhD position is available through the University of Potsdam and the French-German Chair (Universities of Rennes and Potsdam), supported by the FrenchGerman University (UFA-DFH). The PhD will be a co-tutelle between Rennes and Potsdam with time spent at both institutions. We are seeking motivated MSc graduates in geosciences, ideally with experience in tectonics, sedimentology and numerical modelling (GIS, GPlates). To apply, send a motivation letter, academic CV and addresses of two potential references to the main supervisor: eline.lebreton@univ-rennes.fr. We are looking to fill this position as quickly as possible; the deadline for applications is October 1st, 2025. Main Supervisor: Eline Le Breton, University of Rennes, France Collaborators: Peter van der Beek, Universität Potsdam, Germany; Cécile Robin, University of Rennes, France; Bardhyl Muceku, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania; Lorenzo Gemignani, Università di Bologna, Italy;
Collaboration with:
LEC-Environmental Center
Country:
United Kingdom

Latest news

At the moment no news are available.

RSS