Papers by LUCA MARIA FORESI
This volume is the final issue of a research project on geomorphological mapping at different sca... more This volume is the final issue of a research project on geomorphological mapping at different scales,carried out in the Tuscan Archipelago within an agreement between ex APAT-Geological Survey of Italy-Department Soil Defense and the Department of Geological Sciences of “Roma Tre”University.The resulting maps,digital data-base and explanatory notes (in this volume) represent, without any doubt,an important event.In fact,it introduces geomorphological information to the environmental knowledge of the archipelago, that has been deeply investigated just from the geological and petrological points of view. After an introductory chapter concerning the archipelago geology and climatology,the volume presents a detailed description of the geomophological features of each island. Exception made for Pianosa and Giannutri, all islands are characterized by a rough topography, essentially resulting from the selective erosion of the bedrock, made of a large variety of rock-types.Erosional landforms are predominant with respect to depositional landforms. Among coastal features,cliffs are frequent and well developed,whereas inactive abrasion platforms are few and sometimes of uncertain interpretation.Old dune deposits are relatively frequent along the coast of the Elba and Pianosa islands. Fluvial-denudational and weathering processes are dominant in the inner sectors; karstic landforms are present in Pianosa and Giannutri. Fluvial-denudational landforms are mostly erosional (fluvial valleys,gullies,rills),whereas depositional landforms (alluvial and coastal plains) are less frequent.The weathering processes originate tors, honeycomb sculptures, tafoni and thick weathering mantles. Gravitational processes include degradational escarpments, rockfalls, slides, and rare flows. Talus is widely developed at the foot of slopes. The islands of the Tuscan Archipelago are inhabited since prehistoric times. In protohistoric and historic times, mining in the Elba and Giglio islands, farming, and pasturing induced strong environmental changes. In the last centuries,new and more intensive man-made landforms (urban areas,penality buildings,hydraulic regulation of streams,portual infrastructures) have increasingly modified the landscape of the Tuscan Archipelago
Mediterranean Archaeology & Archaeometry, 2015
This study deals with the characterization of building materials used in a monumental pier of Rom... more This study deals with the characterization of building materials used in a monumental pier of Roman age, located at San Cataldo, the main coastal harbour of the Roman town of Lupiae, modern Lecce (Southern Italy). In the manufacture of the outer curtains three different lithologies have been recognized, all comprised in Pietra Leccese Formation, which crops out in a broad geographical area of Salento Peninsula. Microfossils recovered from limestone blocks are used to suggest a provenance for the source-rock. Microfossils include planktonic foraminifera characteristic of the upper Miocene (Tortonian-Messinian) foraminiferal MMi11 (Neogloboquadrina acostaensis Biozone) and MMi13 (Globorotalia miotumida Biozone) biozones. The analysed lithic materials show biostratigraphical characteristics very similar to some samples from Acaya-Struda zone (some 10 km South-West from the ancient harbour): comparative analysis has been performed, supporting a clear identification of the geological ori...
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Tectonic, paleoenvironmental, and paleoclimatic unstable conditions preceding the onset of the Me... more Tectonic, paleoenvironmental, and paleoclimatic unstable conditions preceding the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) highly affected marine life. Changes in calcareous plankton association are overall registered in the Mediterranean. They consist of a general transition from abundant and well-diversified planktonic associations to strictly oligotypic assemblages that precede their total disappearance at the onset of evaporitic precipitation. In this work, an accurate quantitative analysis of calcareous plankton, both foraminifers and nannofossils, has been carried out in the Torrente Vaccarizzo Section of Sicily (southern Italy). The aim is to independently define a chronostratigraphic pattern of bioevents preceding the MSC in the absence of magnetostratigraphic or radiometric constraints. The fluctuating abundance of the genus Orbulina fits well with the 100 ky Eccentricity maxima, and it is successfully applied to build an astronomically calibrated age-model for the sect...
Journal of Sedimentary Research, 2016
Carbonate depositional models are often informed by the study of platforms of good lateral contin... more Carbonate depositional models are often informed by the study of platforms of good lateral continuity and sizable thickness, because of their significance in petroleum geology. However, spatially restricted and more ephemeral carbonate accumulations can be an important but frequently overlooked component of otherwise siliciclastic-dominated or mixed carbonate-siliciclastic systems. Pliocene successions of Tuscany and the Tyrrhenian shelf (Northern Apennines, Italy) record a regional pulse of nontropical carbonate deposition across several restricted basins that has not yet been precisely constrained in its genesis and correlation. This study investigates the stratigraphic expression of these carbonates to extract general aspects applicable to carbonate sedimentation across tectonically structured and physiographically complex shelves. Analyses of the extension, composition, facies, and sequence stratigraphic architecture of the studied Piacenzian carbonate units are complemented by new biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic data, which document the slightly diachronous development of the carbonates within Mediterranean planktonic foraminifera Subzones MPL4b and MPL5a and magnetic polarity Chron C2An. The carbonate units are part of a regionally defined, tectonically controlled sequence, and represent the first transgressive unit overlying the basal sequence boundary, but are also found in the regressive portion of the sequence. Collectively, the units document the establishment of a shallow-marine carbonate factory, dominated by calcareous red algae, the larger benthic foraminifer Amphistegina, and heterozoan skeletal components, along the margins of a complex, archipelago-like coastal domain. A review of the studied successions and other examples from the literature indicates that carbonate accumulations in settings with varied coastal physiography and active partitioning of depocenters are generally characterized by: a) spatial discontinuity; b) an overall skeletal association consistent across separate basins, but with local variability in dominant skeletal components; c) preferential accumulation along basin margins or over isolated structural highs not in direct proximity to a hinterland with major drainage systems; d) predominance of low-to moderate-energy facies; e) preferential onset of deposition during transgression, with possible development of mixed carbonate-siliciclastic facies; and f) differing internal stratigraphic architecture tied to the specific subsidence and uplift history of coeval individual basins. These observations built upon the study of mid-Piacenzian carbonate units from the central Mediterranean contribute to the refinement of carbonate facies models and their application in the fields of sequence stratigraphy and basin analysis.
A crystal tuff layer about 5 cm thick, was found at Faitona (comune di Bibbona, Livorno) interla... more A crystal tuff layer about 5 cm thick, was found at Faitona (comune di Bibbona, Livorno) interlayered in day sediments belonging to the Miocene pre-evaporitic fluvio-lacustrine succession of the Volterra - Radicondoli - Chiusdino Basin. The crystal tuff is fairly well lithified and is made up of predominant arenitic-grained plagioclase and biotite crystals. The biotite K/ Ar dating yelded an apparent age of 8.07 ± 0.11 Ma. According to the most recent literature, no magmatic activity was present at this time in the Tuscan area; nevertheless, the crystal tuff minerai assemblage and its grain size suggest a parentage with the volcanic activity of the nearby Island of Capraia. The finding of a volcanic deposit in the Tortonian fluvio-lacustrine succession outcropping west of the ''Dorsale Medio-toscana'' perrnitted to draw some considerations about the age of the whole succession and its sedimentation rate.
Carta geologica del Bacino Neogenico del medio Ombrone (Grosseto
The oldest deposits of the island are Miocene in age and outcrop along most of the western cliff ... more The oldest deposits of the island are Miocene in age and outcrop along most of the western cliff and at Cala della Ruta. The Miocene includes two formations: Marina del Marchese Formation and Golfo della Botte Formation. The first, of Burdigalian age, is characterized by ~150 m outcropping thickness of marl-prevalent succession; the second, of upper Tortonian - Messinian age, is composed of ~300 m thickness of clayey-sandy deposits, which are conglomeratic in the upper part. Between the two Miocene formations there is a wide stratigraphic gap spanning the late Burdigalian - early Tortonian interval. During this period, the tectonic uplift of the area prevented new sedimentary series formation. The deposition restarted with Golfo della Botte Formation unconformably resting on Marina del Marchese one; today, the two formations show the same bed setting but different strike: 15°-20° the first and 5°-10° the second. The Pianosa Formation rests unconformably on both Miocene ones and it shows a sub-horizontal setting. The unconformity between the Pianosa Formation and the depositions of Golfo della Botte Formation, of late Tortonian - early Messinian age, shows that a second uplift occurred between the two sedimentary phases, probably induced by the emplacement of Elba and Montecristo's granitic plutons,. This uplift determined surfacing and tilting of Upper Miocene deposits and consequently further deformation of Lower Miocene one. Pianosa Formation is composed by a dozen metres of biocalcarenites, poor of inorganic components but rich of fossils (mainly molluscs, algae, bryozoans, echinoids and in minority crustaceans and fishes) which evidence a shallow marine environment. Along mostly of the western cliff and at Cala dell'Alga on the eastern coast, protruding on the morphological profile, there is a reddish-brown, well-lithified, rich of fluoroapatite, oxide and iron carbonate level, which divides in two units the sedimentary succession of the Pianosa Formation. Sediments below this level (lower unit) present sub-horizontal setting and are Piacenzian in age, whereas the upper one (upper unit) show clinostratification and is Early Pleistocene in age. The two units of Pianosa Formation are paraconformably related and the oxidation-fosfatization of the lower unit top evidences that between the two sedimentary episodes a period of emergence occurred. Above the Pianosa Formation unconformable rest shell deposits, relating to the early Late Pleistocene (“Tyrrhenian age”) sea rise. These consist of a few metres thick- succession rich in fossils, informally well known as “Panchina”, and sporadically outcropping along the eastern and southern low-line coast of the island. Finally, deposits of continental environment close the Pianosa Succession. They are characterized by sandy clays and red sandstones, which are related to aeolian and colluvial accumulations or breccias of collapsed caves and holes. The island surface typically consist of vast well-developed red soils, sometimes the older ones filled caves, which include many terrestrial vertebrate fossils, date back to Late Pleistocene-Holocene. The presence of these fossils is undoubtedly related to the phases connecting the island with the mainland
E’ riportato lo schema zonale a Foraminiferi planctonici e quello a nannofossili calcarei utilizz... more E’ riportato lo schema zonale a Foraminiferi planctonici e quello a nannofossili calcarei utilizzati nel lavoro di cui la presente nota è una appendice. Se si fa esclusione per alcune unità del nannoplancton, di nuova proposizione, esso non riveste il ruolo di una nuova proposta, ma è stato compilato per comodità del lettore e per maggiore chiarezza del testo, assemblando, come meglio spiegato più avanti, zonazioni già proposte dagli scriventi e/o da altri ricercatori; comunque, anche nel secondo caso la validità delle unità è stata corroborata dalla nostra esperienza, acquisita in molte aree del Bacino Mediterraneo. Tranne poche eccezioni, la correlazione tra gli schemi zonali dei due gruppi di organismi è il risultato delle analisi degli stessi campioni. Per l'inquadramento nella cronostratigrafia standard si veda più avanti. Per la calibratura con la scala magnetostratigrafica standard e quella geocronometrica ci siamo avvalsi dei dati in Berggren et al. (1995), Channel et al. (1992), Fornaciari el al. (1996), Fornaciari & Rio (1996), Hilgen (199Ia, b), Hilgen el al. (1995,1999, 2000), Krijgsman el al. (1995), Langereis & Hilgen (1991), Lourens el al. (1992, 1996), Sprovieri (1992, 1993a, b), Sprovieri el al. (1996, 1998,2002), Steininger el al. (l997a, b)
Bollettino- Societa Geologica Italiana
The Scaglia Toscana represents a stratigraphic unit belonging to the Tuscan Domain of the Norther... more The Scaglia Toscana represents a stratigraphic unit belonging to the Tuscan Domain of the Northern Apennines Such a stratigraphic unit results lithologically heterogeneous, and is representative of a very long time span (from the Early Cretaceous to the Oligocene) during which very important geological events took place, such as the convergence and collisional events giving rise to the edification of the Northern Apennines orogene We have studied several key outcrops of the Scaglia Toscana exposed in the Rapolano Termearea (Southern Tuiscany, Northern Apennines) in order to contribute to the reconstruction of the depositional setting and palaeogeographical features of a secotr of the Tuscan Dornain from the Cretaceous to the Early Miocene, and to hypothesise a possible geodynamic evolution The Scaglia Toscana exposed in the Rapolano Terme area has been deply investigated through lithostragraphic and biostratigraphic analyses mainly carried out in three key areas indicated in the fig...
ABSTRACT The main goal of the project “In search of the Global Stratotype Section and Point of th... more ABSTRACT The main goal of the project “In search of the Global Stratotype Section and Point of the Langhian Stage and paleoceanographic implication” granted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and supported by the Subcommision on Neogene Stratigraphy, was to find a potential candidate for hosting the Langhian GSSP. In the framework of the project several sections were investigated and among the others the St. Peter’s Pool one (Foresi et al., 2011), spectacularly outcropping in the Delimara Peninsula, SE of the Malta Island. This section was studied through high-resolution bio-magnetostratigraphy, which resulted in a remarkable improvement of the Mediterranean Langhian knowledge. Calcareous plankton quantitative analyses allowed the definition of several bioevents with a great potential for biostratigraphic correlations. To the well-known bio-horizons, such as the Helicosphera ampliaperta Last Common Occurrence (LCO), the Sphenolithus heteromorphus Paracme and the Paragloborotalia siakensis Acme, many others were added, such as the Paragloborotalia bella LCO and a new P. siakensis Acme, documented for the first time in the Mediterranean area. The following aspects play in favor of the St. Peter’s Pool section as a candidate for hosting the Langhian GSSP: i) the excellent exposure and the easy accessibility; ii) the well-preserved and abundant content of calcareous plankton and the high number of significant bioevents. Two of these can be selected for approximating the Langhian GSSP, namely the LCOs of the nannofossil H. ampliaperta and of the planktonic foraminifer Paragloborotalia bella, both falling in the Chron C5Cn.1n. Particularly the LCO of H. ampliaperta represents a well-defined horizon, also recognizable in extra Mediterranean areas, and its choice could represents a good compromise between thee two recommended events for the definition of the Langhian GSSP (the Praeorbulina datum and the C5Cn/C5Br reversal); iii) the stratigraphic continuity with the section yielding the Serravallian GSSP (Ras il-Pellegrin in Malta Island); iv) the cyclic pattern of the succession. On the other hand the magnetostratigraphic data show some uncertainties. Yet, the cyclostratigraphic reconstruction, which is the subject of ongoing studies, has a high potential for establishing a reliable astronomical tuning of the section, providing a further positive element for proposing it as a candidate for the Langhian GSSP. The study will be completed by Oxygen and Carbon isotopes analyses to individuate global paleoclimatic changes.
Marine Micropaleontology, 2014
ABSTRACT The 91.15 m thick St. Thomas section belongs to the Middle Globigerina Limestone, which ... more ABSTRACT The 91.15 m thick St. Thomas section belongs to the Middle Globigerina Limestone, which is the intermediate member of the Globigerina Limestone Formation, and crops out along the eastern cliff of the Delimara Peninsula (the south-eastern part of Malta Island). The sedimentary record is composed of alternating calcareous mans and many limestones with subordinated prominent bioturbated indurated limestones that are deposited in a pelagic environment. For the first time paleomagnetic analyses of a Burdigalian succession have provided reliable data that allow the identification of five magnetozones that have been correlated to the Astronomically Tuned Neogene Time Scale, spanning the Early Miocene C6n-C5Dn interval. Calcareous plankton quantitative analyses integrated with paleomagnetic analyses, allowed us to identify and date several bioevents that have great potential for Mediterranean and extra-Mediterranean correlations in the interval between similar to 19.7 and similar to 17.2 Ma. In particular, the complete distributional range of the calcareous nannofossil Sphenolithus belemnos has been recorded as follows: the First Occurrence (FO) at 19.12 Ma, the First Common Occurrence (FCO) at 19.05 Ma, the Last Common Occurrence (LCO) at 18.44 Ma, and the Last Occurrence (LO) at 18.02 Ma. In addition, the FO and the FCO of Sphenolithus heteromorphus have been documented at 18.29 Ma and at 17.99 Ma, respectively. A new paracme interval in the lower part of the range of this species is described between 17.56 and 17.31 Ma. Concerning the planktonic Foraminifera, the main bioevents are the Common Interval top of Paragloborotalia siakensis at 19.55 Ma, a Common Interval of Globoquadrina dehiscens between 19.34 and 18.48 Ma, the Globigerinoides subquadratus FO at 18.43 Ma, and the onset of an acme interval of Paragloborotalia acrostoma that changes its coiling from random to prevalently sinistral at the same time, at 18.40 Ma. These new biostratigraphic data allowed us to place the succession in the standard Mediterranean calcareous plankton zonal schemes and to make some amendments to these schemes. The FCO of S. belemnos was revealed a more reliable marker than its FO for the base of the MNN3a Zone. With regard to the planktonic Foraminifera, the P. acrostoma AB-r/s has been used as a subzonal marker of the G. dehiscens/Catapsydrax dissimilis Zone, which now comprises three subzones instead of two. The deep marine paleoenvironmental setting, the excellent outcrops and the recognition of a continuous succession of bio-magnetostratigraphic events suggest that the St. Thomas section should be considered as a reference section for the lower Burdigalian of the Mediterranean area and for future studies in the definition of the Burdigalian GSSP.
Geobios, 2002
High-resolution calcareous plankton (planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils) biostra... more High-resolution calcareous plankton (planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils) biostratigraphy is presented from the Middle to early Late Miocene interval (from 14.45 to 8.86 Ma) at Site 926 (ODP Leg 154, equatorial Atlantic Ocean). The main bioevents used in the low-latitude zonal schemes, and also auxiliary events revealing potential biostratigraphic value have been recognised. The investigated succession ranges from N.10 to N.16
In this work benthonic and planktonic foraminifers of the Middle-Upper Miocene sediments of the P... more In this work benthonic and planktonic foraminifers of the Middle-Upper Miocene sediments of the Ponsano Sandstone have been studied. The investigated outcrops of this formation are located at Ponsano (SE of Siena) and Rencine (NW of Siena) in Tuscany. Some studies on these sediments have been done in the past years to define the age and the characteristic of the abundant fauna contained into the sandstones, but no environmental analyses have been done. The aim of this study is to define the thickness of this formation, the paleo-environmental changing through time, its regressive or trasgressive trend, and to controll its age. In Rencine area the formation lie on the bedrock represented by the Ligurian Unit and it is composed mainly by sandstones and marlstones, only in the upper part of the sequence pebble conglomerates occur. In this area the unit is referred to the Neogloboquadrina continuosa-Paragloborotalia siakensis Zone (Neogloboquadrina continuosa Subzone) and therefore it is late Serravallian in age. In the Ponsano area the base of the formation is not outcropping. On the contrary the top below the late Tortonian lacustrine sediments (“Serie lignitifera”) is well exposed. In this area, the outcropping sediments of the units are referred to Neogloboquadrina acostaensis Zone, therefore they are arly Tortonian in age. Seven stratigraphic sections have been measured and the total thickness of the outcropping sediments is about 500 m. In this area the Ponsano Formation is characterized by two marly and two sandy levels. . Sandstones layers are grey-yellow, medium to fine grained, well cemented, rich of macro fossils and trace fossils of the Skolithos ichnofacies; in the upper sandstone conglomerates occur. Marlstone are composed by grey and massive marls and sandy marls. Benthonic Foraminifers are present in all the lithologies. In Rencine outcrop the most frequent are: Ammonia beccarii, Nonion boueanus, Textularia sagittula, Lobatula lobatula and Elphidium crispum. This assemblage is indicative of the shallow part of the infralitoral zone. The Rencine succession may have the meaning of a trasgressive trend. In the Ponsano area, on the base of the foraminifers assemblages, it is possible to subdivide the succession in 4 part: A - with frequent Ammonia beccari, Nonion boueanum, Textularia sagittula, Ammonia inflata, Nonion commune and Ammomarginulina sp., and common Bigenerina nodosaria, Lagenammina atlantica and Elphidium crispum; B - with abundant Heterolepa bellincionii, Ammonia inflata, Lenticulina calcar, Textularia abbreviata, Valvulinerina bradyana, Hopkinsina bononiensis and common Nonion commune, Spiroplectinella carinata and Haplophragmoides spp.; C - with the same abundant taxa of B, but without Hopkinsina bononiensis (present in only one sample) and with very frequent Uvigerinidae (Hofkeruva rutila and Uvigerina hollicki) and Buliminidae (Bulimina elongata, B. costata, B. affinis) and common Fondbotia wullesdorfi, Pullenia bulloides, Sphaeroidina bulloides. The maximum values of species diversity are recorded in this assemblages; D - with rare Ammonia beccarii, Elphidium crispum, Florilus boueanus, Quniqueloculina sp. and Textularia sagittula. The qualitative and quantitative foraminiferal data indicate a neritic environment. The first marlstone level is referred to the circalitoral zone, while sandstones and the second marlstone levels are referred to the infralitoral. Sediments of the upper part of the succession (sandstones and conglomerates) have been interpreted as deltaic deposits. The succession of the Ponsano outcrop is a regressive trend. Sedimentation of such thick succession of marls and sandstones in a shelf environment is related to a constant tectonic subsidence, while the batimetric fluctuations (Fig. 5) could be related to eustatic changing of the sea level. In particular the boundary between the upper level of marl and sandstone is correlated with Mi7 event of the isotopic zonation. Instead the end of the sedimentation could be associated with a decrease of the subsidence rate and/or to an increase of the sedimentation rate related to the uplifting of near areas
... 52: 513-525. Bossio A., Foresi LM, Mazzei R., Salvatorini G., Sandrelli F., 1996. Evoluzione ... more ... 52: 513-525. Bossio A., Foresi LM, Mazzei R., Salvatorini G., Sandrelli F., 1996. Evoluzione tettonico-sedimentaria neogenica lungo una trasver-sale ai bacini di Volterra e della Val d'Elsa. Studi Geol. Camerti, Volume Speciale 1995/1: 93-104. ... Boll. Soc. Paleont. It. 36: 213-230. ...
The data on Tuscan Pliocene basins (which were acquired during recent years) are revised and re-e... more The data on Tuscan Pliocene basins (which were acquired during recent years) are revised and re-evaluated here in the light of the formal subdivision into three stages (Zanclean, Piacenzian and Gelasian) of the Pliocene Series. Particularly, data on the sediments close to the Zanclean/Piacenzian boundary are considered. These sediments registered important tectonic changes which can be accurately placed both chronostratigraphically and chronologically. The Pliocene sedimentation in Tuscany started at the Messinian/Zanclean boundary (5.33 Ma) and ended in the uppermost Piacenzian (about 2.4 Ma). Some areas were characterised by a continuous sedimentation, while in other areas two depositional cycles were realised. In the second case the youngest sediments of the first cycle are referred to the Reticulofenestra pseudoumbilica LO (3.89 Ma)-Globomtalia puncticulata LCO (3.59 Ma) interval, and the basal levels of the second cycle closely postdate the Globorotalia crassaformis gr. FCO (3.1 Ma). Therefore, a sedimentary hiatus of about 500 ky separates the two cycles. The end of the first cycle and the beginning of the second were caused by events which also determined sedimentary and environmental changes in the continuous succession.
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Papers by LUCA MARIA FORESI