In the Peloritani Mountains (North-Eastern Sicily, Italy), evidence of several fractured pebbles ... more In the Peloritani Mountains (North-Eastern Sicily, Italy), evidence of several fractured pebbles and cobbles was found in the coarse-grained siliciclastic deposits of the middle-upper Miocene San Pier Niceto Formation. The pattern of this pebble/cobble fracturing is analogous in type and orientation. These broken pebbles and cobbles appear fractured and affected by normal subparallel faults in a single clastic element, with mm- to cm offset. Such peculiar structures have been commonly associated with active tectonics in recent deposits. The present research is therefore devoted to the study of the middle-upper Miocene San Pier Niceto Fm. in Peloritani Mountains for i) characterizing the morphologic properties and orientation of clasts, ii) defining the spatial orientation of faults and principal stresses, iii) understanding their tectono-sedimentary genesis. The goal is to ascertain that broken clasts may or may not represent paleoseismic evidence and coseismic deformation during th...
COCARDE WORKSHOP AND FIEDL SEMINAR - Bridging off-shore and on-land research on carbonate mounds:... more COCARDE WORKSHOP AND FIEDL SEMINAR - Bridging off-shore and on-land research on carbonate mounds: common concepts and technique
In the surroundings of Palagonia area (SE Sicily), several archaelogical sites testify to the exi... more In the surroundings of Palagonia area (SE Sicily), several archaelogical sites testify to the existence of human settlements, since the Mesolithic period (7,000 BC). Examples are the village of St. Febronia and the sanctuary of the ancient city of Palikè, whose favourable position was close to an important communication route connecting the Ionian coastline with the Strait of Sicily. In the same area, an artefact of geological and archaelogical signifi cance is well worth consideration as geo- and archaeological site. The manufacture covers an area of approximately 300 m2 and consists of a system of trenches, circular and squared tanks and staircases dug into calcarenite overlapping volcanoclastic levels. In the whole site and its surroundings (ca. 9 km2) we carried out an integrated geological, petrographic and palaeoenvironmental investigation aimed at unravelling the function and use of the artefact. The stratigraphic succession is represented by a thick horizon of volcanoclastites (late Pliocene-early Pleistocene in age), draped by a thin level of lower Pleistocene calcarenites. Accurate petrographic investigations outlined the degree of weathering of the volcanoclastic intervals. Additionally, the geomorphological survey revealed the existence of a fl atted and depressed area, roughly elliptical in form and reaching a maximum dimension of about 750 m, above the scarp formed by calcarenite rocks. The fl atted area is fi lled with blackish sands and clays containing both continental and shallow marine faunas, suggesting a remnant of a lake, possibly close to the shore. The geological and petrographic data therefore, suggest the presence, during the recent past, of a shallow unconfi ned aquifer within the calcarenite, whose impermeable substratum was given by volcanoclastic levels. The aquifer and the system of channels, descending towards the manufacture location, allowed water storage. The artefact represents an ingenious and interesting invention of the past for water capture and storage, and our investigation pointed out the importance of taking into account the geological context in the interpretation of ancient settlements and puzzling structures. For this reason, we propose the studied site for both archaeological and geo-petrographic interest
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...
Ancient coastal carbonate depositional systems provide exceptional records of past changes in rel... more Ancient coastal carbonate depositional systems provide exceptional records of past changes in relative sea level– globally and locally (tectonics) – and of paleoenvironmental variations. Here we present new work on carbonate outcrops within the UNESCO Rocca di Cerere Geopark in central Sicily (Caltanissetta and Enna districts). They show superb sub-vertical cliffs made of Pleistocene packstones with clinoforms which provide a high-resolution record of relative sea-level changes that correlate with precession cycles. Regionally these successions deposited during Plio-Quaternary forced regression caused by late-orogenic uplift. However, their deposition within local thrust top basins was modulated by local uplift and tectonic tilting. Collectively these global, regional, and local processes are recorded by offlapping of successive depositional cycles. Moreover, the high-resolution photogrammetric surveys we developed, revealed that the underlying anticlines tilted the original beds of...
In the Peloritani Mountains (North-Eastern Sicily, Italy), evidence of several fractured pebbles ... more In the Peloritani Mountains (North-Eastern Sicily, Italy), evidence of several fractured pebbles and cobbles was found in the coarse-grained siliciclastic deposits of the middle-upper Miocene San Pier Niceto Formation. The pattern of this pebble/cobble fracturing is analogous in type and orientation. These broken pebbles and cobbles appear fractured and affected by normal subparallel faults in a single clastic element, with mm- to cm offset. Such peculiar structures have been commonly associated with active tectonics in recent deposits. The present research is therefore devoted to the study of the middle-upper Miocene San Pier Niceto Fm. in Peloritani Mountains for i) characterizing the morphologic properties and orientation of clasts, ii) defining the spatial orientation of faults and principal stresses, iii) understanding their tectono-sedimentary genesis. The goal is to ascertain that broken clasts may or may not represent paleoseismic evidence and coseismic deformation during th...
COCARDE WORKSHOP AND FIEDL SEMINAR - Bridging off-shore and on-land research on carbonate mounds:... more COCARDE WORKSHOP AND FIEDL SEMINAR - Bridging off-shore and on-land research on carbonate mounds: common concepts and technique
In the surroundings of Palagonia area (SE Sicily), several archaelogical sites testify to the exi... more In the surroundings of Palagonia area (SE Sicily), several archaelogical sites testify to the existence of human settlements, since the Mesolithic period (7,000 BC). Examples are the village of St. Febronia and the sanctuary of the ancient city of Palikè, whose favourable position was close to an important communication route connecting the Ionian coastline with the Strait of Sicily. In the same area, an artefact of geological and archaelogical signifi cance is well worth consideration as geo- and archaeological site. The manufacture covers an area of approximately 300 m2 and consists of a system of trenches, circular and squared tanks and staircases dug into calcarenite overlapping volcanoclastic levels. In the whole site and its surroundings (ca. 9 km2) we carried out an integrated geological, petrographic and palaeoenvironmental investigation aimed at unravelling the function and use of the artefact. The stratigraphic succession is represented by a thick horizon of volcanoclastites (late Pliocene-early Pleistocene in age), draped by a thin level of lower Pleistocene calcarenites. Accurate petrographic investigations outlined the degree of weathering of the volcanoclastic intervals. Additionally, the geomorphological survey revealed the existence of a fl atted and depressed area, roughly elliptical in form and reaching a maximum dimension of about 750 m, above the scarp formed by calcarenite rocks. The fl atted area is fi lled with blackish sands and clays containing both continental and shallow marine faunas, suggesting a remnant of a lake, possibly close to the shore. The geological and petrographic data therefore, suggest the presence, during the recent past, of a shallow unconfi ned aquifer within the calcarenite, whose impermeable substratum was given by volcanoclastic levels. The aquifer and the system of channels, descending towards the manufacture location, allowed water storage. The artefact represents an ingenious and interesting invention of the past for water capture and storage, and our investigation pointed out the importance of taking into account the geological context in the interpretation of ancient settlements and puzzling structures. For this reason, we propose the studied site for both archaeological and geo-petrographic interest
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...
Ancient coastal carbonate depositional systems provide exceptional records of past changes in rel... more Ancient coastal carbonate depositional systems provide exceptional records of past changes in relative sea level– globally and locally (tectonics) – and of paleoenvironmental variations. Here we present new work on carbonate outcrops within the UNESCO Rocca di Cerere Geopark in central Sicily (Caltanissetta and Enna districts). They show superb sub-vertical cliffs made of Pleistocene packstones with clinoforms which provide a high-resolution record of relative sea-level changes that correlate with precession cycles. Regionally these successions deposited during Plio-Quaternary forced regression caused by late-orogenic uplift. However, their deposition within local thrust top basins was modulated by local uplift and tectonic tilting. Collectively these global, regional, and local processes are recorded by offlapping of successive depositional cycles. Moreover, the high-resolution photogrammetric surveys we developed, revealed that the underlying anticlines tilted the original beds of...
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Papers by Rosanna Maniscalco