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Publications (76)
demise of the Messinian salinity crisis and the beginning of the Zanclean in the northern Mediterranean basin: insight from high-resolution biomagnetostratigraphy (Pollenzo section, NW Italy). Riv. It. Paleontol. Strat., 130(3): 633-649. Abstract: The Messinian-Zanclean boundary in the Mediterranean basin marks the end of the Messinian sali-nity cr...
When a lava flow enters a body of water, either a lake, sea, river or ocean, explosive interaction may arise. However, when it is an 'a'ā lava flow entering water, a more complex interaction occurs, that is very poorly described and documented in literature. In this paper, we analysed the 2–4 ka San Bartolo lava flow field emplaced on the north fla...
Lahars represent some of the most dangerous phenomena in volcanic areas for their destructive power, causing dramatic changes in the landscape with no premonitory signs and impacting the population and infrastructure. In this regard, the Campanian Plain turns out to be very prone to the development of these phenomena, since the slopes of the Somma–...
When a lava flow enters a body of water, either a lake, sea, river or ocean, explosive interaction may arise. However, when it is an 'a'ā lava flow entering water, a more complex interaction occurs, that is very poorly described and documented in literature. In this paper we analysed the 2–4 ka San Bartolo lava flow field emplaced on the north flan...
13 Lahars represent some of the most dangerous phenomena in volcanic areas for their destructive 14 power, causing dramatic changes in the landscape with no premonitory signs and impacting on 15 population and infrastructures. In this regard, the Campanian Plain turns out to be very prone to the 16 development of these phenomena, since the slopes o...
Emplacement dynamics of highly viscous, silicic lava flows remain poorly constrained due to a lack of consideration of crystal-rich cases. Emplacement models mostly apply to glassy or microlitic, vesiculated rhyolitic flows. However, crystalline, vesicle-free silicic lava can flow differently. We studied the Grande Cascade unit, which is a vesicle-...
Heterogeneities in the magnetic signature along intraplate shear zones complicate their
correlation with the physical processes that are involved in the geodynamic evolution of megathrusts. Isolating
the preferred orientation of different magnetic minerals may provide insights into faulting processes, tectonics,
and strain partitioning. Studies of...
Identifying the hydrological and environmental response of the European Alpine region to different combinations of climate boundary conditions is crucial to advance the reliability of predictive climate models and thus shape climate adaptation policies that will impact millions of people in seven countries. Here we present a high-resolution multipr...
A sedimentary sequence of fluvial deposits preserved in the Corchia Cave (Alpi Apuane) provides new chronological constraints for the evolution of the cave system and the timing and rate of uplift of this sector of the Alpi Apuane since the late Pliocene. Supported by magnetostratigraphic analysis performed on fine-grained fluvial deposits, and by...
We present the results of an integrated structural and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) investigation in calcareous and marly rocks from thrust shear zones. A total of 17 sites from six localities along the frontal and oblique ramp of the Olevano-Antrodoco-Sibillini thrust and back thrust (Northern Apennines, Italy) were studied to inves...
In marginal Mediterranean sub-basins the first phase of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) is recorded by primary sulfate evaporites (Primary Lower Gypsum unit); in deeper settings, the gypsum makes lateral transition into shales and marls usually barren of calcareous fossils that can hamper the identification of the MSC onset. The Govone section...
Disentangling the effects of climate and human impact on the long-term evolution of the Earth Critical Zone is crucial to understand the array of its potential responses to the ongoing Global Change. This task requires natural archives from which local information about soil and vegetation can be linked directly to climate parameters. Here we prese...
This data article describes data of magnetic stratigraphy and anisotropy of isothermal remanent magnetization (AIRM) from “Magnetic properties of early Pliocene sediments from IODP Site U1467 (Maldives platform) reveal changes in the monsoon system” [1]. Acquisition of isothermal magnetization on pilot samples and anisotropy of isothermal remanent...
The strong morphological similitude of the block-in-matrix fabric of chaotic rock units (mélanges and broken formations) makes problematic the recognition of their primary forming-processes. We present results of the comparison between magnetic fabric and mesoscale structural investigations of non-metamorphic tectonic, sedimentary, and polygenetic...
Emplacement of silicic lava flows has rarely been observed. To constrain their dynamics, we need to analyze past flows. The study of structures and textures, at macro- and micro-scale, allow us to reconstruct the history of a lava flow. Structures such as folds and faults are used to infer the state (ductile versus brittle) of the lava at a given t...
Reconstructing the distribution of ancient obsidian tools is one of the few ways to trace ancient trade routes during the Neolithic. The use of magnetic properties for obsidian provenance studies has already been applied as a useful inexpensive and non-destructive tool. It is mainly based on the variation of the type, concentration and grain size o...
We report a study of the magnetic stratigraphy and the anisotropy of isothermal remanent magnetization of Pliocene sediments from International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1467 drilled in the Maldives platform (Indian Ocean) during Exp. 359. Magnetic stratigraphy gives a precise record of geomagnetic reversals of the early Pliocene from ap...
Silicic lava flows are a rarely observed style of volcanism for which emplacement models remain poorly constrained. Yet they represent a hazard where oversteeping flow fronts can collapse and generate block-and-ash flows as at Santiaguito (Guatemala) in 1929, 1973 and 1986, Unzen (Japan) in 1991, and Sinabung (Indonesia) in 2014. Here we focus on t...
Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) can have devastating impacts on urban settlements, due to their dynamic pressure and high temperatures. Our degree of understanding of the interplay between these hot currents and the affected infrastructures is thus fundamental not only to implement our strategies for risk reduction, but also to better understan...
Speleothems are potentially excellent archives of the Earth's magnetic field, capable of recording its past variations. Their characteristics, such as the continuity of the record, the possibility to be easily dated, the almost instantaneous remanence acquisition and the high time-resolution make them potentially unique high-quality Paleosecular Va...
We present new chronological constraints for a reference European palaeoflora based on integrated stratigraphic, palaeobotanical, palaeomagnetic and micropalaeontological analysis carried out on the Pliocene section of Ca' Viettone, northwestern Italy. This site is characterized by rich fossil plant records of high taxonomic diversity, good preserv...
Pyroclastic flow deposits, known as ash-flow tuffs or ignimbrites, are invaluable materials for paleomagnetic studies, with many applications for geological and tectonic purposes. However, little attention has been paid to evaluating the consistency and reliability of the paleomagnetic data when results are obtained on a single volcanic unit with u...
We present the results of palaeomagnetic analysis on Late Bronge Age pottery from Santorini carried out in order to estimate the thermal effect of the Minoan eruption on the pre-Minoan habitation level. A total of 170 specimens from 108 ceramic fragments have been studied. The ceramics were collected from the surface of the pre-Minoan palaeosol at...
The temperature of the deposits (Tdep) emplaced by the pyroclastic density current
(PDC) generated by the seven major explosive eruptions from Somma–Vesuvius during the last
22 kyr were investigated using the thermal remanent magnetization of lithic clasts embedded
within the deposits. New data are presented for the Pomici di Base, Greenish Pumice,...
A simple model that provides a quantitative description of the magnetic susceptibility of superparamagnetic to stable single-domain uniaxial magnetic particles can be built in the framework of the theory of stochastic resonance. This model expands that of Mullins and Tile (1973) for superparamagnetic grains by considering the dependence of superpar...
New data on the pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposit temperature ( T dep ) are provided for two prominent eruptions of Mexican volcanoes of the twentieth century: the 1982 eruption of El Chichón and the 1913 eruption of Colima. In spite of similar lithofacies, magma composition and pre-eruptive conditions, the T dep of the PDCs from the 1982 (...
The magnetic fabric of the Pliocene Kızılkaya ignimbrite in the Central Anatolian Volcanic Province has been investigated by anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and isothermal remanent magnetization (AIRM). Seven sections were sampled at various stratigraphic heights within the devitrified portion of the ignimbrite. The magnetic mineralogy...
This study exploits volcanologic and magnetic techniques to the
investigation of the Early-Middle Miocene pyroclastic sequence exposed
in the ~120 x 80 km area comprised between the cities of Eskisehir to
the North and Afyon to the South (Western Anatolia), in order to locate
the source by combining flow directions inferred by field analysis
(clast...
RIASSUNTO Fabric magnetico e strutturale dei mélange tettonici e sedimentari dell'Appennino Settentrionale (Oltrepo pavese) Metodi di magnetismo delle rocce, ed in particolare l'analisi dell'anisotropia della suscettività magnetica (AMS), sono stati applicati a mélange tettonici, sedimentari e poligenici con lo scopo di verificare se tale metodo ra...
The historic Breccia di Commenda (BC) explosive eruption of Vulcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy) opened with a phase that generated a gray fine ash layer dispersed to the northwest (phase 1). The eruption continued with a dilute pyroclastic density current (PDC) that was dispersed to the east, followed by the emplacement of radially distributed, topogr...
Grain size and thickness data of the BC. Symbols: Section, studied log; Phase, phase of the BC eruption (Fig. 2a); Sample, collected samples; Bed t , bed thickness variation; LM, maximum lithic clast diameter; Φ5 up to Φ95percentile; Mz, mean diameter, from Folk and Ward (1957); Md Φ , mean diameter and σΦ, sorting, from Inman (1952); F1, weight pe...
A detailed tephrostratigraphic study supported by stable isotope (δ18O) analyses and AMS 14C dating was carried out on a high sedimentation rate deep-sea core recovered in the northern Ionian Sea. Eight tephra layers were recognised, all originated from explosive eruptions of southern Italian volcanoes. These tephra layers are correlated with terre...
The potential of magnetic grain-size variations as an obsidian source characteristic is investigated using geological and archaeological obsidians from five islands of the Mediterranean Sea: Lipari, Sardinia, Palmarola, Pantelleria, Melos. Four parameters are used: magnetic (χ) and anhysteretic (χa) susceptibilities, saturation isothermal remanent...
We analyse 10 representative intrusions from two sets of inclined diabase (Ferrar Dolerite) sheets exposed at Allan Hills (South Victoria Land, Antarctica), using petrographic and rock magnetic methods to determine microfabrics and infer magma flow directions. At least one diabase sample was collected at the margins of each intrusion. Magnetite and...
This paper reports on the complex relation between rock emplacement and remanence acquisition in tuffs deposited by pyroclastic
density currents, disclosed by systematic measurements of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and natural remanent magnetization
(NRM). Thermal demagnetization shows that the NRM consists of two components with diffe...
We report on a series of experiments designed to test the ability of hematite-bearing colors to record the direction of the ambient magnetic field. Plasterboards accurately oriented with respect to the Earth's magnetic field were painted with red tempera colors prepared with hematite pigments. Magnetic measurements indicate that the color film reta...
Public works in progress in the Campanian plain north of Somma-Vesuvius recently encountered the remains of a prehistoric settlement close to the town of Afragola. Rescue excavations brought to light a Bronze Age village partially destroyed and buried by pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) of the Vesuvian Pomici di Avellino eruption (3.8 14C ka BP)...
Public works in progress in the Campanian plain north of Somma- ^ Vesuvius recently encountered the remains 15 of a prehistoric settlement close to the town of Afragola. Rescue excavations brought to light a Bronze Age 16 village partially destroyed and buried by pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) of the Vesuvian Pomici di 17 Avellino eruption (3....
The deposition temperature of the pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits emplaced during the AD 472 Pollena eruption (Somma-Vesuvius, Italy) has been investigated using the thermal analysis of the magnetic remanence carried by lithic clasts embedded within the deposits. A total of 310 lithic clasts were collected from all the PDC units in the P...
Thermal remanent magnetization (TRM) analyses were carried out on lithic fragments from two different typologies of pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits of the 1982 eruption of El Chichón volcano, in order to estimate their equilibrium temperature (Tdep) after deposition. The estimated Tdep range is 360–400 °C, which overlaps the direct measu...
1] During the A.D. 79 eruption of Vesuvius, Italy, the Roman town of Pompeii was covered by 2.5 m of pyroclastic fall pumice and then partially destroyed by pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). Thermal remanent magnetization measurements performed on the lithic and roof tile fragments embedded in the PDC deposits allow us to quantify the variations...
To assess ways in which the products of explosive eruptions interact
with human settlements, we performed volcanological and rock magnetic
analyses on the deposits of the A.D. 79 eruption at the Pompeii
excavations (Italy). During this eruption the Roman town of Pompeii was
covered by 2.5 m of fallout pumice and then partially destroyed by
pyroclas...
During the sixth Italian expedition to Victoria Land (Antarctica), Jurassic Ferrar dolerite sills were sampled at 23 sites in the northern Prince Albert Mountains. The rock magnetic properties were similar in all sites. Saturation remanence, remanent coercive force and Curie-temperature values pointed to titanomagnetite as the main carrier of magne...
b
The island of Lipari is formed by Pleistocene volcanites emplaced during four main periods of volcanic activity. A study has been made of their magnetic properties, primarily with the aim of determining changes in the palaeomagnetic directions. Titanomagnetite is always the primary ferromagnetic mineral and its magnetic characteristics are common...
During the ancient Bronze Age (Palma Campania Facies) a violent plinian eruption, known as the Avellino eruption, occurred at the Somma-Vesuvius, Italy. The eruption was characterised by two main phases: plinian and phreatomagmatic, respectively. The plinian phase dispersed fallout products across the Italian peninsula in a NE direction, while the...
This paper shortly reviews the various factors which concur to the accuracy of archaeomagnetic dating of volcanic rocks: the error on the laboratory procedure; the assumption that the archaeomagnetic direction matches the paleofield direction present when the rocks formed; the limits of the model used for dating. The very small "analytical error" c...
The AD 472 Pollena eruption of Somma Vesuvius, Italy, was a complex subplinian event which generated several pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). PDC deposits were emplaced by dilute-to-highly concentrated stratified currents both during the magmatic and phreatomagmatic phases of the eruption. PDCs are the most devastating of all volcanic phenomena...
Integrating field observations and rock-magnetic measurements, we report how a tur-bulent pyroclastic density current interacted with and moved through an urban area. The data are from the most energetic, turbulent pyroclastic density current of the A.D. 79 eruption of Vesuvius, Italy, which partially destroyed the Roman city of Pompeii. Our result...
Integrating field observations and rock-magnetic measurements, we report how a turbulent pyroclastic density current interacted with and moved through an urban area. The data are from the most energetic, turbulent pyroclastic density current of the A.D. 79 eruption of Vesuvius, Italy, which partially destroyed the Roman city of Pompeii. Our results...
This paper reports a reconnaissance archeomagnetic study of mural paintings in various pre-Columbian sites in Mexico. The magnetic measurements of the pigments show that at least four murals (sites: Cacaxtla, Cholula and Templo Mayor) retain a remanent magnetization carried by a mixture of magnetite and minor hematite grains. In most specimens, a c...
This paper deals with a definition of the lower boundary stratotype of the Tithonian Stage in the Upper Jurassic succession of Monte Inici, Western Sicily. The upper member of the Rosso Ammonitico Fm. is 27 m thick and shows a typical nodular-calcareous lithofacies; its lower beds have been sampled for biostratigraphic and paleomagnetic purposes. T...
The temperature of the deposits left by different types of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) of the A.D. 79 ``Pompei'' eruption of Vesuvius was estimated by measuring the thermal remanent magnetization (TRM) of lithic clasts carried by the currents. More than 200 lava clasts and roof tile fragments were collected at different sites and distances...
This work investigates the magnetic remanence associated with the mural paintings at three archeological sites in Central Mexico dated between 200 AD and 1450 AD (Cholula, Cacaxtla and Templo Mayor). The remanence of the murals is shown, using X-ray analyses and rock-magnetic measurements, to be carried by both magnetite and hematite. In most speci...
Paleosecular variation (PSV) of the Earth’s magnetic field during the last 135 kyr has been investigated in lavas, scoriae and pyroclastic rocks of Vulcano (Aeolian Islands). About 1000 samples have been collected at 77 sites from 25 distinct volcanic units, whose age is either known from published isotopical data or constrained on the grounds of s...
Geological and volcanological studies were performed in the Herculaneum excavations, 7 km west of Vesuvius, Italy, to reconstruct the main features of the pyroclastic density currents and the temporal sequence of the ad 79 eruptive events that destroyed and buried the town. The identification of two distinctive marker beds allows correlation of the...
Palaeomagnetic and geochronological measurements have been carried out on the late Pleistocene basaltic–andesitic unit of Monte Chirica–Costa Rasa, on the island of Lipari (Aeolian Archipelago). The lava flow sequence is about 10 m thick and has been sampled in detail. Magnetic properties are rather uniform; Curie temperatures of 540° to 580 °C, an...
This paper deals with the magnetic fabric and remanent magnetization of welded scoriae fall deposits. Four scoriae blankets were emplaced on Vulcano (Aeolian Islands) from about 50 to 8 ka. Their detailed chronostratigraphic position has been debated in the literature and they have therefore been given a different interpretation in the reconstructi...
This work investigates the magnetic remanence associated with red pigments from murals at Pompeii and compares their directions to those of the pyroclastic rocks from the Vesuvius AD 79 eruption. The remanence of the murals is shown, using X-ray analyses, to be carried by haematite. Murals in Thermae Stabianae, known to have been painted a few year...
Tufi di Grotte dei Rossi Inferiori are unwelded, fine-grained pyroclastic deposits of hydromagmatic origin emplaced between 21 and 11–8.6 ka at Vulcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy) by deposition through surges spreading laterally from inside the La Fossa caldera. In this study, the deposit's magnetic properties were investigated and interpreted in term...
A paleomagnetic investigation has been carried out on Pleistocene volcanic rocks from Pantelleria, in the Sicily Channel. This island is characterised by a bimodal volcanism of peralkaline rhyolite to trachyte and basalt composition. The radiometric data indicate that volcanic activity started around 324 ka BP. Samples have been collected from 30 s...
A combined geochronologic () and palaeomagnetic study has been conducted on five volcanic sections (70 flows) on the island of Vulcano. The sections span the interval from 15 ± 2 to 135 ± 4 ka, with large hiatuses. Rock magnetic investigations indicate that the natural remanent magnetisation (NRM) is carried by titanomagnetites in the four oldest s...
The role of remanent and induced magnetization as sources of magnetic anomalies in the Lipari and Vulcano islands has been studied by systematic sampling. Remanent magnetization is higher than induced magnetization in almost all lithotypes. Its polarity is normal, and the mean directions are close to the present magnetic field. A slight thermal enh...