A global view on the Ordovician stratigraphy of south-eastern Europe

The Ordovician documented in south-eastern Europe reflects different sedimentary environments, from shallow water to basin, belonging to diverse palaeogeographical domains. Some of these geological sectors and their palaeontological content have been well described for a long time, like the Carnic Alps, that represent one of the most continuous Palaeozoic sequence in the world. For some other areas, the quality of the data is variable and the knowledge is less detailed, sometimes with lithostratigraphic units still to be formalized, also reflecting the fragmentary nature of the outcrops. The Ordovician stratigraphy of diverse successions of south-eastern Europe has been herein revised and integrated with new data in the attempt of detecting a global scenario for this critical time interval in the evolution of life.This research was undertaken within the framework and with the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, project PID2021-125585NB-100 (to JCG-M and JC).Peer reviewe

Storia del Geoparco di Brisighella

Ideazione, sviluppo e realizzazione del primo parco-museo geologico d'Italia

Late Carboniferous to Early Permian palaeogeography of the Italian and central Mediterranean area

Volume: 19Start Page: 221End Page: 22

A history of chronostratigraphy

ABSTRACT Chronostratigraphy has a “prehistory” beginning with Leonardo’s and Steno’s twofold relative geologic time division. It developed further with Marsili’s (1728), Lehmann’s (1756), Arduino’s (1759-60) and Werner’s (1787) threefold, fourfold, and fivefold divisions respectively. Meanwhile, the initial steps were being taken in understanding Earth’s chronometry. Geological mapping exponentially increased the number of lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic units and forced the need for a common language and practice by international agreement. That objective became feasible with the establishment of the International Geological Congress (IGC), and the bipolar or dual classification of chronostratigraphic and chronologic units was formally established during the 2nd IGC in Bologna in 1881. Chronostratigraphic classification has displayed a remarkable nomenclatural stability, notwithstanding continuously changing criteria of use, correlation, improvement, and redefinition of the standard chronostratigraphic units. The development of chronostratigraphy was by scientific research and the necessary stability was through the IGC, as it appears from this review of the main chronostratigraphic resolutions and recommendations adopted by the IGC sessions from Bologna in 1881 to Sydney in 1976. An hierarchical classification and an historical approach underpin the evolution of chronostratigraphic classification. Five stages of evolution are outlined. Their succession illustrates changing paradigms, ongoing improvement by new tools of correlation, and the stability of names defined and used in a permanent common language. This flexibility should guide future developments in chronostratigraphy

Morfologia delle bellezze naturali

Si tratta di uno studio dello sguardo estetico ripreso più volte sin dall'antichità. Tutto ruota attorno al problema della Gestalt e del Bildung al fine di identificare il senso e il significato della forma e della formazione, cioè del processo. In tal modo viene in luce il valore dell'Aesthesis cioè della sensibilità che domina l'alone estetico nelle poetiche e nelle filosofie tra Sette e Ottocento in Germania. Il saggio è il risultato di un confronto con l'area scientifica, con i colleghi di Scienze della Terra e Geologico-ambientale

Ulisse Aldrovandi and the origin of geology and science

The Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605) - often reductively considered as a mere encyclopedist and avid collector of natural history curiosities - lived an adventurous youth and a long maturity rich of manuscripts, books, and outstanding achievements. He assembled the largest collections of animals, plants, minerals, and fossil remains of his time, which in 1547 became the basis of the first natural history museum open to the public. Shortly after that, he established the first public scientific library. He also proposed a complete single classification scheme for minerals and for living and fossil organisms, and he defined the modern meaning of the word "geology" in 1603. Aldrovandi tried to bridge the gap between simple collection and modern scientific taxonomy by theorizing a "new science" based on observation, collection, description, careful reproduction, and ordered classification of all natural objects. In an effort to gain an integrated knowledge of all processes occurring on Earth and to derive tangible benefits for humankind, he was a strenuous supporter of team effort, collaboration, and international networking. He anticipated and influenced Galileo Galilei's experimental method and Francis Bacon's utilitarianism, providing also the first attempt to establish the binomial nomenclature for both living and fossil species and introducing the concept of a standard reference or type for each species. His books and manuscripts are outstanding contributions to the classification of geological objects, and to the understanding of natural processes such as lithification and fossilization, thereby also influencing Steno's stratigraphic principles. The importance given to careful observation induced Aldrovandi to implement a unifor-mitarian approach in geology for both the classification of objects and the interpretation of processes. Aldrovandi influenced a school in natural history that reached its climax with the Istituto delle Scienze of Bologna in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with scientists such as Cospi, Marsili, Scheuchzer, Vallisneri, Beccari, and Monti in geology, and Malpighi, Cassini, Guglielmini, Montanari, Algarotti in other fields