Introductory Chapter: An Introduction to the Seismic and Sequence Stratigraphy and to the Integrated Stratigraphy: Concepts and Meanings

This is the introductory chapter of the book “Seismic and sequence stratigraphy and integrated stratigraphy - new insights and contributions.” In this chapter, the research themes studied in this book have been introduced referring to the seismo-stratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic techniques and methodologies, pertaining, in particular,the fine-grained shales and the alluvial systems, the seismo-stratigraphic features of Late Miocene deposits offshore the northern Taiwan and to the integrated stratigraphic studies, including the stratigraphy of the Jurassic deposits in the Irkutsk sedimentary basin studied through lithologic and paleobotanical data, the disconformities in stratigraphy, reviewing their theoretical concepts and studying selected examples from Paleozoic successions and the integrated stratigraphy of the foreland basin of the Andean fold and thrust belt. The topics and the research themes developed in this book are of the great actuality and should have a good impact on the scientific research community. In fact, the sequence stratigraphic studies and the seismo-stratigraphic concepts have been typically developed on the deposits pertaining to the marine environment in a geodynamic context of a passive,Atlantic-type continental margin [1–13]. In this book, instead, emphasis is given to the sequence stratigraphic studies performed on the alluvial systems and on the fine-grained shales

Introductory Chapter: An Introduction to the Stratigraphic Setting of Paleozoic to Miocene Deposits Based on Paleoecology, Facies Analysis, Chemostratigraphy, and Chronostratigraphy - Concepts and Meanings

This is the introductory chapter of the book “New insights into the stratigraphic setting of Paleozoic to Miocene deposits: case studies from the Persian Gulf, Peninsular Malaysia and south-eastern Pyrenees.” In this chapter, the research themes studied in this book have been introduced referring to the paleoecological and facies analysis techniques and methodologies, pertaining, in particular, an Oligo-Miocene carbonate succession of the Persian Gulf (Asmari Formation), the chemostratigraphy of Paleozoic carbonates of Peninsular Malaysia through the integration of stratigraphic, sedimentologic, and geochemical data, and the chronostratigraphy of a small ice-dammed paleolake in Andorra, applying the FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) analysis, resulting in sixth-order stratigraphic cycles, which have outlined the occurrence of glacially controlled system tracts and unconformities

Acquisizione, processing ed interpretazione geologica di dati morfo-batimetrici Multibeam e di sismica a riflessione monocanale nell’offshore del vulcano Stromboli (Arco Eolico, Sicilia, Tirreno meridionale) nell’ambito delle attività di ricerca scientifica del progetto di formazione Stigeac (MIUR)

Sono state eseguite l’acquisizione, il processing e l’interpretazione geologica di dati morfo-batimetrici Multibeam e di profili sismici di altissima risoluzione Subbottom Chirp nell’ambito della formazione di borsisti eseguita nelle attività del progetto di ricerca e formazione Stigeac. Il progetto di ricerca STIGEAC ha compreso azioni di ricerca e sviluppo per la realizzazione prototipale di sistemi integrati di acquisizione ed elaborazione di dati multidisciplinari (geofisici ed ambientali). Il raggiungimento di tale obiettivo ha consentito un migliore allineamento delle imprese italiane con le strategie di ricerca e sviluppo sia in ambito europeo che mondiale, come prescritto nell’ambito del programma comunitario denominato GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security). Il progetto è stato caratterizzato da un forte contenuto di “upgrading tecnologico” e ha compreso una fase di start-up riguardante l’analisi dello stato dell’arte sulle tecnologie attualmente disponibili, che ha messo in evidenza gli eventuali punti deboli di tali sistemi tecnologici, anche in relazione alle nuove esigenze di integrazione tecnologica su piattaforme di ultima generazione. Sono stati inoltre considerati gli aspetti critici relativi a problematiche di trasmissione dati e rilevamento da remoto, finalizzati all’implementazione delle conoscenze tecnologiche dei sistemi di early warning e monitoraggio in real-time. In particolare, sono stati realizzati prototipi integrati complessi, tramite blocchi modulari, installabili su piattaforme tecnologiche prototipali e pilota, dedicati alle seguenti attività: acquisizione di dati morfologici da strumenti (Multibeam, Chirp, ADCP, single-beam, posizionamento acustico) installabili a scafo in modo solidale con una generica piattaforma galleggiante mobile; acquisizione di dati morfologici da sistemi integrabili vincolati a cavo (Sidescan Sonar, magnetometro, sonda multiparametrica, vibro-carotiere); acquisizione di dati sismici da sistemi integrabili ad altissima definizione: analisi per innovare il sistema di messa a mare, controllo e recupero degli idrofoni, del sistema di sparo tramite Air-gun o di altri sistemi di energizzazione; controllo di un sistema integrato per la messa a mare e recupero di uno strumento filoguidato. Il progetto STIGEAC ha previsto inoltre azioni di formazione per il personale da impiegare nell’utilizzo e gestione delle attrezzature ed impianti realizzati con le azione di ricerca e sviluppo. L’attività formativa, eseguita in aula e on the job, ha consentito la formazione di quattro borsisti sul processing e l’interpretazione geologica di dati morfo-batimetrici e sismici di altissima risoluzione nell’offshore del vulcano Stromboli, i cui risultati sono stati presentati nel corso di un seminario individuale e come poster collettivo nell’ambito di un workshop finale eseguito il 26 ottobre 2015 presso la sede dell’IAMC-CNR di Napoli

New insights on the late Quaternary geologic evolution of the Ischia Island coastal belt based on high-resolution seismic profiles

The study of the seismo-stratigraphic architecture of Late Quaternary-Holocene volcanic and sedimentary units in the Ischia Island offshore and their correlation with the coastal units of the adjacent onshore sectors allowed for a detailed reconstruction of the seismic stratigraphy of the northern, southern and western sectors of the island. Five (southern Ischia) to nine (western Ischia) seismic units and related seismic facies were identified. The volcanic areas and their detailed seismo-stratigraphic setting fit well in the geological context of a passive margin and confirm that the stratal architecture in the Ischia Island Quaternary marine deposits is controlled by the interaction between glacio-eustatic fluctuations, volcanism, tectonics and sedimentary supply

Introductory Chapter: Volcanoes - From Their Geological and Geophysical Setting to Their Impact on Human Health

This is the introductory chapter of the book “Volcanoes: Geological and Geophysical Seting,Theoretical Aspects and Numerical Modelling, Applications to Industry and Their Impact on the Human Health”. In this chapter, the research themes studied in this book have been introduced referring to the geological and geophysical seting of volcanoes, pertaining, in particular, to the correlation between seismic and volcanic activity in volcanic ediices of Southern Italy (Somma-Vesuvius) carried out on a regional scale, the volcanic emissions of the submarine ediice of the Tagoro volcano (Canary Islands, Atlantic Ocean) and the corresponding implications on the chemical and physical properties of the oceanic water, the volcanological studies on the base of the volcanoes and the discovery of a new volcanic ediice, namely the Hiyamizuyama volcano, allowing to evaluate the long-term variations of volcanic and magmatic processes in Northeastern Japan, the volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, a land hosting 147 volcanoes (76 active volcanoes) spreading along the islands of Java, Lesser Sunda, Sumatra and Celebes and mostly characterised by stratovolcanoes and inally, the geologic, petrographic and geodynamic study of the layered gabbroids of Pekulney Ridge, a complex volcanic structure located in Northeastern Russia

Indicatori geomorfologici di episodi di stazionamento basso del livello marino in base a dati morfobatimetrici e sismici di alta risoluzione nell’alto morfo-strutturale di Punta Licosa (Tirreno meridionale)

Some geomorphological evidences of the occurrence of sea level lowstand episodes in the morpho-structural high of Punta Licosa (Southern Tyrrhenian sea) based on a densely spaced grid of high resolution seismic reflection profiles (Subbottom Chirp) are here presented. These evidences are represented by terraced surfaces disposed at several water depths under the sea level and incised in the rocky acoustic basement, widely cropping out in the seaward prolongation of the morpho-structural high of Punta Licosa (Southern Tyrrhenian sea). The geological structures and the related seismic sequences, unconformably overlying wide outcrops of the acoustic basement, have been studied with detail. This allowed to analyse the stratigraphic architecture of Quaternary marine deposits. They are well developed in the depocentral areas located between the mouth of the Solofrone river and the town of Agropoli. In the Punta Licosa morpho-structural high the rocky outcrops result from the seaward prolongation of the stratigraphic-structural units, widely cropping out onshore in the adjacent emerged sector of the Cilento Promontory (“Flysch del Cilento” Auct.; CIAMPO et al., 1984; BONARDI et al., 1988). The Cilento Promontory represents a morpho-structural high, interposed between the coastal depressions of the Sele Plain-Salerno Gulf and of the Policastro Gulf. Its reliefs are composed of thick successions of turbidite siliciclastic and carbonatic sequences, dipping landwards into the main carbonatic reliefs of the Southern Apennines (“Alburno Cervati Unit” Auct. ). The terrains cropping out in the Cilento Promontory are formed by siliciclastic rocks, accumulated into deep basins during a time interval ranging from the Late Mesozoic and the Late Miocene. The oldest one of these formations is the North Calabrian Unit, the highest stratigraphic-structural unit in this sector of the Southern Apenninic chain. In the Cilento area this is represented by a formation ranging in age from the Malm to the Oligocene, composed of dark clays, marls and marly limestones, reaching a thickness of 1300 meters. The North Calabria unit is overlain by Early Miocene synorogenic units, showing a degree of deformation minor with respect to the overlying tectonic units. The Cilento Flysch includes the Formations of Pollica, S. Mauro and Monte Sacro, showing an overall thickness of about 1500 meters (BONARDI et al., 1988). In the western sector of the Cilento Promontory several morphological depressions filled by alluvional deposits, whose origin has to be attributed to NNE-SSW (Plain of the Alento) and NW-SE (Plains of S. Maria di Castellabate and S. Marco) trending structural elements, occur. The formation of these depressions has to be attributed to the late Middle Pleistocene (BRANCACCIO et al., 1995); they include transgressive-regressive cycles referred to the glacio-eustatic oscillations of the isotopic stages 9, 7 and 5 (SHACKLETON & OPDYKE, 1973), downthrown of several tens of meters with respect to their original altitude, between the end of the Middle Pleistocene and the beginning of the Late Pleistocene. The Cilento Promontory has been involved by a vertical uplift of more than 400 m during the late Early Pleistocene and the Middle Pleistocene. Absolute estimates of the entity of the Pleistocene uplift which involved the Cilento Promontory have been obtained by the vertical distribution of the Pleistocene marine terraces along the Cilento coasts. In the Northern Cilento the oldest marine terraces (Middle Pleistocene) are located at a maximum altitude of 350 m s.l.m. (CINQUE et al., 1994). At the Bulgheria Mt. (southern Cilento) the marine terraces of the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene are lifted at altitudes of 450 m s.l.m.; on the other side, the terraces of the Emilian are lifted at altitudes of 350 m s.l.m. (BAGGIONI et al., 1981; LIPPMANN-PROVANSAL, 1987; BORRELLI et al., 1988). Morphological elements of the coastal areas relative to palaeo-stands of the sea level during the Late Pleistocene (isotopic stages 5e and 5c) evidence an overall tectonic stability of this tract of the shore from the Tyrrhenian stage to present-day (ROMANO, 1992). The lack of relevant vertical movements during the last thousand of years is evidenced by the altimetric position of the Versilian beach deposits; these deposits have been observed in the fluvial coastal depressions, incised during the previous glacial regression, for more than 2 km in the inner of the shoreline (CINQUE et al., 1994). The present-day coastal cliffs are incised in the arenaceous and silty successions of the Pollica Formation. The geological survey of the Quaternary deposits between the towns of Agropoli and Ogliastro Marina has evidenced the occurrence of five sea level palaeostands at altitudes ranging between 25 m and 1.5 m a.s.l. The oldest levels, the Comenale Complex and the S.Antonio-S. Marco sandstones Complex have been tentatively ascribed to the stages 9 and 7 of the isotopic stratigraphy. The successive paleostands (+ 8, + 10, + 4 m a.s.l.) are represented by abrasion terraces and notches, ascribed to the stages 5e and 5c of the isotopic stratigraphy. The stratigraphic units individuated in the adjacent offshore through the seismo-stratigraphic analysis belong to the Late Quaternary Depositional Sequence; in this sequence, the spatial and temporal evolution and the lateral and vertical migration of marine coastal, continental shelf and slope depositional environments of the Late Pleistocene to Holocene glacio-eustatic cycle have been recognised. The stratigraphic succession records the variations of the accommodation space of the Late Quaternary deposits during the last 4th order glacio-eustatic cycle, ranging between 128 ky B.P. (Tyrrhenian stage) and the present-day (isotopic stage 5e). Several local unconformities overlie coarse- grained deposits, filling intra-basinal depressions or palaeo-channels located at the top of the acoustic basement. Ii is worth to underline the polycyclic nature of these unconformities. This suggests that the acoustic basement was involved in several phases of erosion/emersion, development of terraces and successive transgression, as a consequence of both Late Quaternary glacio-eustatic sea level fluctuations and of Pleistocene tectonic uplift. The geologic interpretation of seismic reflection profiles localised in the morpho-structural high of Punta Licosa has evidenced the occurrence of the acoustic basement (unit S), cropping out at the sea bottom nearshore and dipping seawards under the Quaternary deposits, which form the recent sedimentary cover. Remnants of terraced surfaces located at several depths evidence the complex morpho-evolution of the acoustic basement during the Late Quaternary. In particular, four main orders of terraced surfaces have been recognised. The oldest ones are located at water depths ranging between – 50 m and – 43 m and are genetically related with the terraced surfaces disposed at water depths ranging between – 46 m and – 44 m in the Capo Palinuro area. The second order of terraced surfaces has been identified at water depths ranging between – 27 m and – 17 m and is genetically related with the terraced surfaces located at water depths ranging between – 18 m and – 24 m in the Capo Palinuro area. The third order of terraced surfaces has been recognised at water depths ranging between – 10 m and – 14 m and is related with similar surfaces disposed at water depths ranging between – 12 m and – 14 m in the Palinuro Cape. Finally, the terrace rims occurring at – 8 m are coeval, if not precedent, the last interglacial and are related with the last part of the isotopic stage 3. On the basis of high resolution reflection seismics it has not been possible to recognise the Eutyrrhenian paleo-sea level mark or related deposits

Geological Evolution of Coastal and Marine Environments off the Campania Continental Shelf Through Marine Geological Mapping - The Example of the Cilento Promontory

The geological evolution of coastal and marine environments offshore the Cilento Promontory through marine geological mapping is discussed here. The marine geological map n. 502 “Agropoli,” located offshore the Cilento Promontory (southern Italy), is described and put in regional geologic setting. The study area covers water depths ranging between 30 and 200 m isobaths. The geologic map has been constructed in the frame of a research program financed by the National Geological Survey of Italy (CARG Project), finalized to the construction of an up-to-date cartography of the Campania region. Geological and geophysical data on the continental shelf and slope offshore the southern Campania region have been acquired in an area bounded northward by the Gulf of Salerno and southward by the Gulf of Policastro. A high-resolution multibeam bathymetry has permitted the construction of a digital elevation model (DEM). Sidescan sonar profiles have also been collected and interpreted, and their merging with bathymetric data has allowed for the realization of the base for the marine geologic cartography. The calibration of geophysical data has been attempted through sea-bottom samples. The morpho-structures and the seismic sequences overlying the outcrops of acoustic basement reported in the cartographic representation have been studied in detail using single-channel seismics. The interpretation of seismic profiles has been a support for the reconstruction of the stratigraphic and structural setting of the Quaternary continental shelf successions and the outcrops of rocky acoustic basement in correspondence to the Licosa Cape morpho-structural high. These areas result from the seaward prolongation of the stratigraphic and structural units, widely cropping out in the surrounding emerged sector of the Cilento Promontory. The cartographic approach is based on the recognition of laterally coeval depositional systems, interpreted in the frame of system tracts of the Late Quaternary depositional sequence

Methodologies and techniques of processing of deep multichannel seismic data in the Gulf of Naples (Southern Italy)

The techniques and methodologies of seismic data processing applied to deep multichannel seismic data recorded in the Gulf of Naples are herein shown and presented. The processing techniques used for the elaboration of the seismic profiles are up-to-date and some of them are based on complex mathematical models, which have allowed to carry out a good attenuation of multiples (especially the sea bottom multiples) and to perform good velocity analyses for the production of the stacked sections, on which the geological interpretation has been carried out. The procedures of treatment of the multichannel seismic data starting from the field data are reported in sketch diagrams of data elaboration applied to the different phases of the whole data processing. The used software are the Promax 2D (Landmark Ltd) and the Seismic Unix (Colorado School of Mines). The predictive deconvolution and the spiking deconvolution have been applied to three processed seismic profiles. The best results have been obtained through the application of the spiking deconvolution, allowing for a simple definition of the different seismic reflectors during the geologic interpretation of the processed lines

Techniques and methods of seismic data processing in active volcanic areas: some applications to multichannel seismic profiles (Gulf of Naples, Southern Tyrrhenian sea, Italy)

The techniques of seismic surveying,especially reflection seismic,considerably varied during lastyear’s.The contribution to this variation mainly came from the oil industry,which has developed the geophysical methods for oil searching.The basic techniques of seismic exploration consist of the generation of seismic waves artificially in the ground(source)and of the measurement of the requested times to cover thesource receiver path.Seismic data processing of three multichannel seismic profiles located in the Gulf of Naples for an overall length of 150 kilometers is herein presented.The techniques of seismic processing used forthe elaboration of the seismic data are up-to date.Some of them are based on complex mathematical models,allowing obtaining good velocity analysis for the production of stacked sections,ready to be interpreted.In this paper theprocedures of processing of multichannel seismic data starting from the field data are shown.Sketch diagrams of the elaboration processes applied during several phases of the whole processing have been constructed.The used software are the Promax2D(LandmarkLtd.)and the Seismic Unix(Colorado School of Mines).The steps of the seismic data processes included thepre processing,the sorting,the velocity analysis,the normal move-out(NMO),the stacking, the band-pass filtering, the multiple removals, the predictive deconvolution and the spiking deconvolution