Paleomagnetic investigations on the Pleistocene lacustrine sequence of Piànico-Sèllere (northern Italy)

The Piànico-Sèllere is a lacustrine succession from northern Italy that records a sequence of climatic transitions across two Pleistocene glacial stages. The intervening interglacial stage is represented by well-preserved varves with calcitic (summer) and clastic (winter) laminae. There is a tight coupling between climate-driven lithologic changes and magnetic susceptibility variations, and stable paleomagnetic components were retrieved from all investigated lithologies including the largely diamagnetic calcite varves. These components were used to delineate a sequence of magnetic polarity reversals that was interpreted as a record of excursions of the Earth’s magnetic field. Comparison of the magnetostratigraphic results with previously published data allows discussion of two possible models which have generated controversy regarding the age of the Piànico Formation. The data indicates that the Piànico Formation magnetostratigraphy correlates to geomagnetic field excursions across the Brunhes/Matuyama transition, and consequently the Piànico interglacial correlates to marine isotope stage 19. This correlation option is substantially consistent with K-Ar radiometric age estimates recently obtained from a tepha layer interbedded in the Piànico Formation. The alternative option, considering the Piànico interglacial correlative to marine isotope stage 11 within the Brunhes Chron as supported by tephrochronological dating reported in the literature, is not supported by the magnetostratigraphic results

Magnetostratigraphy of the Milan subsurface

Four cores have been taken from the surroundings of the city of Milan, in the framework of the Milan CARG project. The northernmost drillings (Milano Triulza RL10, Milano Parco Nord RL11) were drilled to 100-m depth; the southernmost drillings (Peschiera Borromeo RL8, Gaggiano RL9) reached a depth of 180 m and 150 m, respectively. A total of 530 m of sediments was recovered. The overall core lithostratigraphy is composed by three superimposed lithologic sequences, consisting, from the bottom, of alternated silt and medium- to fine-grained sand, arranged in fining-upward cycles, interpreted as meandering alluvial plain; the central sequence develops with coarse-grained sand, pebbly sand and subordinated gravel, interpreted as distal braidplain. Medium- to coarse-grained, poorly sorted, massive sand and pebbly sand, and clast-supported gravels with sandy matrix, interpreted as proximal braidplain, characterize the upper sequence. As a whole, the central and the upper sequence can be regarded as a prograding braidplain, composed by severall small-scale fining-upward cycles. Paleomagnetic properties were studied on a total of 79 samples collected from cohesive fine-grained sediments with a common average sampling frequency in the order of one sample every 3/4 core-meters. The intensity of the NRM (measured at the Alpine Laboratory of Paleomagnetism) was in the order of 10 -3 - 10-4 A/m and orthogonal projections of demagnetization data typically indicated the existence of a lower unblocking temperature component, superimposed to a higher unblocking temperature component. The higher temperature component was removed to the origin of the demagnetization axes mainly in the magnetite and hematite temperature ranges between ~350 and ~680 °C and it is interpreted as the characteristic component. This characteristic component bears either positive (down-pointing) or negative (up-pointing) inclinations with overall mean values of 60° ± 15 and -54° ± 16, respectively, and is regarded as acquired at or shortly after sediment deposition (DRM or pDRM). At least a magnetic polarity reversal has been recognized in each core, in the depth range of 60-80 m, and it has been interpreted, by means of the available pollen biostratigraphy and the regional framework reported in Carcano & Piccin (2002), Muttoni et al. (2003), Scardia et al. (2006), as the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary; in cores RL 8 and RL9 also the Jaramillo Subchron was recognized. The major lithologic change observed in each core, produced by a depositional switch from distal meandering alluvial plain to a prograding braidplain, occurs during a reverse polarity period, interpreted as Subchron Late Matuyama, and it is well constrained between the Subchron Jaramillo and the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary in cores RL8 and RL9; the same age constrain can be inferred in cores RL10 and RL11. This episode, already observed by Carcano & Piccin (2002), has been correlated by Muttoni et al. (2003) to an important Pleistocene climatic event, related to the onset of the major glaciations at the southern foothills of the Alps occurred at ~0.87 ka, during the Subchron Late Matuyama

Paleomagnetic investigations on the Pleistocene lacustrine sequence of Piànico-Sèllere (northern Italy)

The Piànico-Sèllere is a lacustrine succession from northern Italy that records a sequence of climatic transitions across two Pleistocene glacial stages. The intervening interglacial stage is represented by well-preserved varves with calcitic (summer) and clastic (winter) laminae. There is a tight coupling between climate-driven lithologic changes and magnetic susceptibility variations, and stable paleomagnetic components were retrieved from all investigated lithologies including the largely diamagnetic calcite varves. These components were used to delineate a sequence of magnetic polarity reversals that was interpreted as a record of excursions of the Earth’s magnetic field. Comparison of the magnetostratigraphic results with previously published data allows discussion of two possible models which have generated controversy regarding the age of the Piànico Formation. The data indicates that the Piànico Formation magnetostratigraphy correlates to geomagnetic field excursions across the Brunhes/Matuyama transition, and consequently the Piànico interglacial correlates to marine isotope stage 19. This correlation option is substantially consistent with K-Ar radiometric age estimates recently obtained from a tepha layer interbedded in the Piànico Formation. The alternative option, considering the Piànico interglacial correlative to marine isotope stage 11 within the Brunhes Chron as supported by tephrochronological dating reported in the literature, is not supported by the magnetostratigraphic results

Il contributo dei pozzi perforati dalla Regione Lombardia alla conoscenza del Pleistocene lombardo

Facies analysis applied to several up to 220-m-deep cores, taken by Regione Lombardia in the central-northern Po Plain, allowed to recognize an overall regressive sequence consisting of cyclotemic shallow marine and fluvial-deltaic deposits overlain by distal to proximal braidplain sediments. Magnetostratigraphy, coupled with calcareous nannoplankton biostratigraphy, was used to date marine and fluvial-deltaic sediments to the early Pleistocene and continental sediments to the middle–late Pleistocene. Sediment accumulation rates were of ~0.3-0.4 mm/yr in the early Pleistocene, whereas an overall reduction in sediment accumulation rates to ~0.06-0.08 mm/yr, associated to relevant unconformities, characterized the middle-late Pleistocene. Stratigraphic evidences from petrographic, sedimentologic and palynologic analyses highlight in the Regione Lombardia cores a drastic reorganization of vegetational, fluvial, and Alpine drainage patterns, associated to a sequence boundary termed the “R surface”. The “R surface”, seismically traceable across the Po Plain subsurface, was constrained magnetostratigraphically to the first prominent Pleistocene glacio-eustatic lowstand of marine isotope stage (MIS) 22 at 0.87 Ma at the end of the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution, when climate worsened globally and locally caused the onset of the first major Pleistocene glaciation in the Alps. Most marine deposits in the cores lie above sea level highstands of corresponding age, suggesting that they have been uplifted. In order to estimate the observed rock uplift, sediments were back-stripped to elevations at times of deposition (expressed in meters above current sea level) by applying a simple Airy compensation model. The correlation of the isostatically corrected sedimentary facies to a glacio-eustatic reference curve obtained from classic oxygen isotope studies highlights a positive elevation mismatch (rock uplift) in the range of 70-120 m, which occurred after the onset of the major Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles at rates of at least 0.15-0.09 mm/yr. Although the driving forces of the observed rock uplift cannot be unambiguously identified, but its timing of onset after the beginning of the major Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles and the low seismicity observed in the most of the Regione Lombardia area seem to point to an isostatic readjustment of the chain probably due to the long-term erosional removal of sediments during major Pleistocene glacial advances

Damage as Gamma-limit of microfractures in anti-plane linearized elasticity

A homogenization result is given for a material having brittle inclusions arranged in a periodic structure. <br/> According to the relation between the softness parameter and the size of the microstructure, three different limit models are deduced via Gamma-convergence. <br/> In particular, damage is obtained as limit of periodically distributed microfractures

Understanding the dynamical structure of pulsating stars. HARPS spectroscopy of the delta Scuti stars rho Pup and DX Cet

High-resolution spectroscopy is a powerful tool to study the dynamical structure of pulsating stars atmosphere. We aim at comparing the line asymmetry and velocity of the two delta Sct stars rho Pup and DX Cet with previous spectroscopic data obtained on classical Cepheids and beta Cep stars. We obtained, analysed and discuss HARPS high-resolution spectra of rho Pup and DX Cet. We derived the same physical quantities as used in previous studies, which are the first-moment radial velocities and the bi-Gaussian spectral line asymmetries. The identification of f=7.098 (1/d) as a fundamental radial mode and the very accurate Hipparcos parallax promote rho Pup as the best standard candle to test the period-luminosity relations of delta Sct stars. The action of small-amplitude nonradial modes can be seen as well-defined cycle-to-cycle variations in the radial velocity measurements of rho Pup. Using the spectral-line asymmetry method, we also found the centre-of-mass velocities of rho Pup and DX Cet, V_gamma = 47.49 +/- 0.07 km/s and V_gamma = 25.75 +/- 0.06 km/s, respectively. By comparing our results with previous HARPS observations of classical Cepheids and beta Cep stars, we confirm the linear relation between the atmospheric velocity gradient and the amplitude of the radial velocity curve, but only for amplitudes larger than 22.5 km/s. For lower values of the velocity amplitude (i.e., < 22.5 km/s), our data on rho Pup seem to indicate that the velocity gradient is null, but this result needs to be confirmed with additional data. We derived the Baade-Wesselink projection factor p = 1.36 +/- 0.02 for rho Pup and p = 1.39 +/- 0.02 for DX Cet. We successfully extended the period-projection factor relation from classical Cepheids to delta Scuti stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A (in press

L'area delle risorgive nel sistema insediativo mesolitico: alcuni esempi dal pordenonese

The authors present the work undertaken on the lithic material collected in the spring area between Orcenico Superiore and Savorgnano (Pordenone-Italy). The sites are located on an NE-SW elongated Lateglacial gravel ridge, which to the present day is to be considered a stable area (i.e. preserved from alluvial and erosive action of Tagliamento and Meduna rivers). Different periods are represented in the lithic industries, spanning from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age. This paper presents the results of the study carried out on the Mesolithic industries, mainly to be ascribed to the Castelnovian tradition. The typological composition of the assemblages shows different activities which could be associated with residential camps, without any particular specialization although this kind of interpretation could be biased by the non systematic nature of the findings. Different operational chains were in place, aiming to produce either bladelets or flakes. Raw materials are mostly of local origin, although few pieces were brought in from the Prealps, showing a North-South mobility along river routes. At the same time, there are scarce lithic materials imported from the upper part of the Udine plain, which is rich in good quality flint pebbles. Further technological and typological differences show a rather neat separation between sites on either sides of Tagliamento river. When we consider the distribution of Mesolithic sites in Friuli, a logistical settlement system seems to emerge: bigger sites are located at the edge of ecologically differentiated areas in connection with stable water sources such as the spring area between Orcenico and S. Vito al Tagliamento and the piedmont; complementary to those, task-related short-term sites characterised by less materials and fewer lithic types are found in the Prealps at middle altitude

Magnetostratigrafia, sondaggi e cambiamenti climatici nei depositi continentali del Pleistocene italiano

Il record stratigrafico continentale è per sua natura discontinuo e difficilmente databile. A questo bisogna aggiungere anche il fatto che la maggior parte dei depositi continentali affioranti sono accessibili grazie alla dissezione del territorio, avvenuta generalmente per cause tettoniche (uplift). Ne consegue che i depositi continentali accessibili allo studio, oltre a essere discontinui per loro natura, lo sono a maggior ragione per essere il prodotto di una competizione tra tassi di sedimentazione e tassi di sollevamento, che porta a successioni stratigrafiche tendenzialmente condensate e/o discontinue. Serie più complete ed espanse si possono al contrario recuperare laddove la subsidenza è attiva, garantendo una registrazione più o meno continua degli eventi stratigrafici. Le aree subsidenti, essendo aree depresse, sono caratterizzate da affioramenti molto scarsi e limitati alla parte più superficiale e recente della successione sedimentaria ivi contenuta. Tuttavia, è possibile recuperare una maggiore stratigrafia mediante sondaggi. Recentemente, molti sforzi sono stati fatti per ottenere sequenze sedimentarie relativamente lunghe grazie all’utilizzo di sondaggi ubicati sia in bacini di avampaese (Pianura Padana), sia in bacini intermontani (Ceprano, Bagaggera, Leffe, Pianico). I sondaggi sono stati oggetto di analisi interdisciplinari che hanno permesso di datare e riconoscere eventi nella serie stratigrafica carotata. Il contributo maggiore per le datazioni è sempre venuto dall’applicazione della magnetostratigrafia, calibrata con il vincolo biostratigrafico fornito dalla palinologia o la micropaleontologia. In Pianura Padana è stato possibile datare un evento regionale quale l’intensificazione dell’attività glaciale del Pleistocene, riconosciuto in 11 sondaggi profondi e tracciato sismicamente dal Piemonte al Mare Adriatico, vincolandolo con la magnetostratigrafia al Subchron tardo Matuyama (0.78–0.99 Ma). Lo stesso evento è stato riconosciuto e datato nei bacini intermontani di Leffe e Bagaggera. Nel bacino di Ceprano invece la magnetostratigrafia applicata a un sondaggio ha permesso di datare il cranio dell’ominide più antico d’Italia, riferendolo, mediante un modello di età, alla parte media del Chron Brunhes. Gli esempi illustrati sono riportati con lo scopo di sottolineare il fondamentale contributo che può derivare dall’applicazione di sondaggi e metodi di analisi interdisciplinari nella datazione di depositi continentali e nel riconoscimento di eventi stratigrafici, altrimenti poco apprezzabili nei singoli e discontinui affioramenti