Giovanni Muttoni

• PhD, Full Professor
• Professor (Full) at University of Milan

The sedimentary successions of several basins in Europe show evidence of widespread Late Jurassic aridification that is considered a long‐standing conundrum in paleoclimate modeling. The distinctive feature of this event is that it appears concentrated in a discrete time interval between the Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic) and the Berriasian (Early Cr...

Jurassic paleomagnetic data from North America have long been contentious, generating ambiguities in the shape of the global‐composite apparent polar wander path. Here we show from a restudy of two subdivisions of the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation at the classic locality at Norwood on the Colorado Plateau that the derived paleopoles reflect vari...

The Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) was the penultimate major glaciation of the Phanerozoic. Published compilations indicate it occurred in two main phases, one centered in the Late Carboniferous (~315 Ma) and the other in the Early Permian (~295 Ma), before waning over the rest of the Early Permian and into the Middle Permian (~290 Ma to 275 Ma), an...

Our updated review of sites bearing hominin remains and/or tools from Europe, including new findings from the Balkans, still indicates that the only compelling evidence of main hominin presence in these regions was only since ~0.9 million years ago (Ma), bracketed by the end of the Jaramillo geomagnetic polarity subchron (0.99 Ma) and the Brunhes-M...

Representing the most complete archive of raised marine terraces and associated continental deposits of Atlantic Morocco, the Casablanca Plio-Pleistocene Sequence hosts key Lower Paleolithic assemblages and relevant human fossils. Here we present the magnetostratigraphic and rock magnetic results from ThI and OHQ1 site complexes.

On the Moroccan Atlantic coast of Casablanca, the Thomas-Oulad Hamida quarries yield Acheulean sites dated from the late Early to the early Middle Pleistocene. Given the scarcity of ancient archaeological and palaeontological stratified sites in North Africa, particularly when compared to the record of the eastern and southern parts of the continen...

We provide the magnetostratigraphy of the Ladinian/Carnian Punta Grohmann stratigraphic section (Dolomites, Italy), calibrated with U-Pb ages from the literature (237.58 ± 0.04 Ma; 237.68 ± 0.05 Ma). The FO of ammonoid Zestoceras lorigae, the base of the vigens-densus palynomorphs Zone, and sequence stratigraphy suggest a Carnian age for the upper...

We investigated the geochemical and rock magnetic properties of the magnetostratigraphically calibrated Pignola–Abriola section (Italy) in order to understand the climatic perturbations that characterize the late Norian–early Rhaetian interval (Late Triassic). We performed experiments on anhysteretic and isothermal remanence (ARM and IRM) and on ma...

Two recently published analyses make cases for severe bottlenecking of human populations occurring in the late Early Pleistocene, one case at about 0.9 Mya based on a genomic analysis of modern human populations and the low number of hominin sites of this age in Africa and the other at about 1.1 Mya based on an age inventory of sites of hominin pre...

The Balzi Rossi archaeological complex (comprised of caves, rock shelters, and open-air sites) is a globally significant site for Palaeolithic culture and understanding the transition from Neanderthal to Anatomically Modern Human populations in Europe. It also retains some of the earliest evidence of human interactions with their coastal environmen...

GP11C-0477 -https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm23/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1387922

eLetter Go to the web page and scroll to the bottom https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add9115 Draft manuscript available

Following the unanimous vote of the Executive Committee of International Union of Geological Sciences in October 2022, the Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the Campanian Stage is confirmed as the magnetic polarity reversal from Chron 34n (top of the Long Cretaceous Normal Polarity–Chron) to Chron C33r at the 221.53 m lev...

We studied the Pleistocene subsurface stratigraphy of an area in the northern Po Plain around the isolated tectonic hillocks of Castenedolo and Ciliverghe (Brescia, Italy) in order to estimate their long-term rates of tectonic deformation. Integrated stratigraphy of a new 100-m-long core (RL13) allowed better definition of the regional Y (0.45 Ma)...

The understanding of how archaic humans have reacted to past extreme weather events, where they survived during periods of climatic deterioration, and when they repopulated, abandoned areas is a crucial topic in human evolution for exploring the processes of adaptation and extinction of hominins. The project DYNASTY aims to achieve an accurate and...

We investigated the geochemical and rock magnetic properties of the magnetostratigraphically-calibrated Pignola-Abriola section (Italy) in order to understand the climatic perturbations that characterize the late Norian–early Rhaetian interval (Late Triassic). We performed experiments on anhysteretic and isothermal remanence (ARM, IRM), and on magn...

To appear in Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa, Volume 1, chapter 54. Editors: Amanuel Beyin, David K. Wright, Jayne Wilkins, and Deborah I. Olszewski Publisher: Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland. ISBN-13: 978-3031202896

A c. 31 m thick section straddling the fossil find of an Early Pliocene baleen whale (“Brunella”, hereafter), made in 2007 in the sedimentary fill of the Middle Ombrone Basin of Tuscany, is investigated for depositional age and environment combining palaeomagnetic, micropalaeontological (Foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils) and sedimentary fac...

We developed a high-resolution magnetochronology of the Pleistocene stratigraphy of the Monte Netto hillock, a tectonically uplifted structure in the Po Plain of northern Italy. Our data allowed reconstructing the depositional age of the sequence and assessing rates of deformation and rock uplift of the neotectonic structure, thus providing constra...

North Africa is a key area for understanding cultural processes that led to the Acheulean panAfrican emergence and expressions and the related hominin population dynamics. Unfortunately, little is known about the early Acheulean in this vast area of the African continent due to the scarceness of archaeological sites in stratigraphic context with re...

Melka Kunture on the highlands of Ethiopia has provided evidence for the early peopling of the Ethiopian highlands (>2000 m asl). At site Garba IV, an Oldowan technocomplex was retrieved in levels E-F located shortly below the base of the Olduvai subchron, with a currently accepted age of 1.925 Ma, while the early Acheulean was found in level D loc...

Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology constraints to aggradational phases and grain size variations show that the two large gravel beds occurring in the sedimentary filling of the Liri fluvial-lacustrine basin (central Italy) recorded the occurrence of deglaciation events synchronous within uncertainties with global meltwater pulses at ca. 450 and 350 ka. In parti...

L'unité L de la Carrière Thomas I (ThI-L) à Casablanca documente la plus ancienne présence de l'Acheuléen en contexte stratigraphique irréprochable au nord de l’Afrique,. Ces assemblages documentent la forte diversification des processus techniques témoignant de la complexité des schémas mentaux impliqués alors dans la taille de la pierre ainsi que...

In paragraph 4.2 “Age of the C34n/C33r boundary” of Maron and Muttoni (2021) the age of 83.07 ± 0.15 Ma was erroneously assigned to the base of magnetic polarity Chron C34n instead of the base of C33r (page 117). In the same page, the reference to Cronin et al. (2001) was wrongly reported as Cronin et al. (1991). Here we report the entire paragraph...

The African affinity of the deformed Mesozoic continental margins surrounding the Adriatic Sea (a region known as Adria) was recognized in the 1920s. However, over the last several decades, the majority view of Mediterranean Mesozoic paleogeography has featured an ocean (Mesogea) that separated Adria and Africa in Mesozoic and early Cenozoic time....

In the published manuscript, the study presents diverse geochronological and biochronological data providing age constraints on the site of Tsiotra Vryssi (Mygdonia basin, Greece). One of the methods presented is based on burial ages from cosmogenic radionuclides. Table 2 of this study reports cosmogenic simple burial ages of 1.88 ± 0.16 Myr, 2.10...

Thomas Quarry I (ThI; 33.568° N, 7.696° W) is a paleoanthropological site located on the western outskirts of Casablanca, Morocco’s economic capital. The quarry was named after its tenant operator, André Thomas. The site has produced archaeological and faunal remains that shed important light on hominin settlement history and behavioral innovations...

The Norian Stage is the longest stage in the Phanerozoic, and some members of the boundary working group have been evaluating suitable Carnian-Norian boundary sections for roughly two decades. This has identified two possible candidate boundary sections, at Black Bear Ridge (British Columbia, Canada) and Pizzo Mondello (Sicily, Italy). After a form...

40Ar/39Ar geochronology constraints to aggradational phases and grainsize variations show that the sedimentary filling of the Liri fluvial-lacustrine basin (central Italy) recorded the occurrence of deglaciation events associated with global meltwater pulses. Integrating these data with those from the Tiber River catchment basin, we find a precise...

We present new magnetostratigraphic results from the Melka Kunture sedimentary sequence outcropping along the Gombore and Garba gullies in the Upper Awash Valley of Ethiopia that provide a new temporal framework for human presence in this area of the Ethiopian plateau in the Pleistocene. We obtained a time-diagnostic sequence of normal and reverse...

We estimate global surface albedo from the areal proportion of land to sea in climatically-significant latitudinal belts at ten million-year intervals for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic (from 120 million years ago) using modern plate tectonic reconstructions and a composite apparent polar path designed to minimize known biases in the determinatio...

The onset of the Acheulean, marked by the emergence of large cutting tools (LCTs), is considered a major technological advance in the Early Stone Age and a key turning point in human evolution. The Acheulean originated in East Africa at ~ 1.8-1.6 Ma and is reported in South Africa between ~ 1.6 and > 1.0 Ma. The timing of its appearance and develop...

The base of the Priabonian Stage is one of two stage boundaries in the Paleogene that remains to be formalized. The Alano section (NE Italy) was elected by consensus as a suitable candidate for the base of the Priabonian during the Priabonian Working Group meeting held in Alano di Piave in June 2012. Further detailed research on the section is now...

We present an updated look at the Carboniferous brachiopod biozonation from most of the world framed into a revised Carboniferous palaeogeography, based on a selection of the literature published on Carboniferous brachiopods since the Nineteenth century. The biostratigraphic significance of the most important brachiopod taxa is synthetized in seven...

The nearly 2000 m-thick Ikakern Formation is the basal sedimentary unit in the Argana basin of Morocco, consisting of fluvial red and purple conglomerates in the lower part and interbedded red conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones and mudstones in the upper part. It unconformably overlies deformed and metamorphosed Variscan basement rocks and is un...

Background and scope: The late Villafranchian large mammal age (~2.0–1.2 Ma) of the Early Pleistocene is a crucial interval of time for mammal/hominin migrations and faunal turnovers in western Eurasia. However, an accurate chronological framework for the Balkans and adjacent territories is still missing, preventing pan-European biogeographic corre...

Supplementary Figure S1. Cyclostratigraphy of the Cenomanian-Campanian interval of the Bottaccione section. This figure is a modified version of Figure 4 of Sprovieri et al. (2013) in which we named the 405-kyr cycles (EB) and we numbered them progressively from the youngest to the oldest, for a total of 37 cycles. The 405-kyr cycles obtained from...

Supplementary Figure S2. Cumulative distribution of inclination (A) and elongation/inclination (B) values obtained after applying the E/I method of Tauxe and Kent (2004) to correct the ChRM inclinations for sedimentary inclination flattening. In panel A are indicated the corrected mean inclination (If = 39.6°). The 95% confidence interval (I–95 = 3...

We provide an updated and detailed magnetostratigraphy across the C34n/C33r polarity reversal boundary at the Bottaccione section (Gubbio, Italy) that represents a candidate GSSP for the base of the Campanian Stage (Late Cretaceous). The position of the C34n/C33r boundary is stratigraphically located at 221.525 ± 0.075 m in agreement with previous...

This paper investigates the magnetostratigraphy of the ~750 m-thick Costa Grande Member (lower Miocene) from the Castagnola Basin of NW Italy, which represents the turbidite fill of a structurally confined basin where flow ponding resulted in a complete record of deposition from diverse sediment gravity flow types. The magnetostratigraphic profile...

The Earth's magnetic field, generated in the liquid outer core by magnetohydrodynamic processes, reverses polarity non-periodically, producing distinctive and recognizable patterns of alternating normal and reverse magnetic polarity Chrons. Rocks containing ferromagnetic (sensu latu) grains with intrinsic magnetic moments are able, under certain ci...

It has been almost 60 years since the first results from the Early Permian Bolzano Quartz Porphyries from the Trento Plateau of northern Italy (Southern Alps) showed paleomagnetic inclinations steeper than inclinations from broadly coeval units from central Europe. This experimental discrepancy, confirmed ever since at varying levels of magnitude a...

Magnetostratigraphy uses the fossil record of Earth's magnetic polarity reversals to correlate rock sequences. Dating is also possible through correlation to age‐calibrated geomagnetic polarity time scales. The Quaternary contains ten main magnetic polarity reversals, from the base of the Brunhes Chron (∼0.781 Ma) to the top of the Gauss Chron (∼2....

We present new paleomagnetic results for the early and middle Permian (18 sites and 167 samples) from sedimentary and volcanic rocks from northern and central-southern Sardinia (Italy). Characteristic directions magnetization have been retrieved using stepwise thermal demagnetization techniques. The bedding corrected site mean directions for the no...

The early Toarcian sedimentary record is frequently characterized by the occurrence of marls, shales, and organic rich facies comprising the Toarcian oceanic anoxic event (T-OAE), which are broadly synchronous to the emplacement of the Karoo-Ferrar large igneous province (LIP) with a main pulse at ~181.7 Ma. Here we describe the chronology and rock...

Obituary

We investigated the magnetostratigraphy of the Megalopolis basin in central Peloponnese, Greece, which encompasses a record of Pleistocene lacustrine and lignite-bearing sedimentation, where lithic tools stratigraphically associated with remnants of an almost complete skeleton of Palaeoloxodon antiquus were recently found at the Marathousa 1 site....

The Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic) stage has proven difficult to define in modern timescales essentially because the land sections used to describe it are typically condensed and discontinuous. Thus far, no single land section has been able to replicate the full record of magnetic polarity reversals recorded on the ocean floor as marine magnetic anom...

We present a new sedimentological profile and a magnetostratigraphy of the tool-bearing Kozarnika cave sediments from Bulgaria. Modal analysis of cave infilling sedimentary texture indicates that the tool-bearing layers contain a sizable fraction of sediment interpreted as loess. We also find evidence for a relatively thick and well defined normal...

High levels of air particulate matter (PM) have been positively correlated with respiratory diseases. In this study we performed a biomonitoring investigation using samples of bark obtained from trees in a selected study area in the city of Milan (northern Italy). Here, we analyze the magnetic and mineralogical properties of the outer and inner bar...

In an effort to improve the calibration of the Late Triassic time scale, two stratigraphic successions in Italy were investigated for magnetostratigraphy: the Pignola-2 (Southern Apennines) and the Dibona (Dolomites) sections. These sections reveal a sequence of biostratigraphically calibrated (conodonts and palynomorphs) magnetic polarity zones en...

TERRA PIANETA ABITABILE (Muttoni, Capoccia, Carelli, Di Paola), UNA PROPOSTA NUOVA per le secondarie superiori. Un corso totalmente nuovo, concepito, progettato e scritto da docenti di alto profilo scientifico e grande esperienza didattica. Il programma è strutturato nel pieno rispetto delle indicazioni nazionali, ma con attenzione alla prassi dida...

Recent research reveals evidence of a major event of global plate motion during the Jurassic, with a magnitude and tempo hitherto not fully appreciated. Yet, its legacy persists today as the potent Jurassic source-reservoir-seal oil systems in the Persian Gulf region. We suggest that these formed as a consequence of a sweeping tectonic movement whe...

Although the geology of Italy offers substantial geothermal resources the opportunities for energy production are underexploited and the potential of such resources is almost unknown to the general public. In order to study the societal context of geothermal energy the Italian National Research Council conducted two homogenous case studies that wer...

We investigated the magnetostratigraphy of the Arda River section (northern Italy) where the transition from marine to continental sedimentation occurring in the Po River basin during the Pleistocene is registered. Four magnetic polarity reversals were used to construct an age model of sedimentation aided by marine biostratigraphy and tied to a sta...

Abstract – The Pignola-Abriola section (Southern Apennines, Italy) fulfills all the qualifications required by the Subcommission on Triassic Stratigraphy to be proposed as Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) candidate for the Norian/Rhaetian Boundary (NRB). The Pignola-Abriola section consists of pelagic basinal strata, well exposed...

We present records of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, CaCO3 content, and changes in calcareous nannofossil assemblages across an 81 m thick section of upper Paleocene–lower Eocene marine sedimentary rocks now exposed along the Cicogna Stream in northeast Italy. The studied stratigraphic section represents sediment accumulation in a bathyal hemip...

We present records of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, CaCO3 content, and changes in calcareous nannofossil assemblages across an 81 m thick section of upper Paleocene lower Eocene marine sedimentary rocks now exposed along the Cicogna Stream in northeast Italy. The studied stratigraphic section represents sediment accumulation in a bathyal hemip...

At the Drmno open-pit coal mine near Kostolac in Serbia, a nearly complete skeleton of Mammuthus trogontherii (nicknamed Vika) was discovered in a fluvial deposit overlain by a loess–paleosol sequence where a second pa- leontological level named Nosak with remains of M. trogontherii was found. We studied the magnetostratigraphy of the Kostolac sedi...

We present records of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, CaCO3 content, and changes in calcareous nannofossil assemblages across an 81 m thick section of upper Paleocene-lower Eocene marine sedimentary rocks now exposed along Cicogna Stream in northeast Italy. The studied stratigraphic section represents sediment accumulation in a bathyal hemipelag...

The base of the Rhaetian stage (Norian/Rhaetian boundary, NRB) is still awaiting formal designation by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. At present, only the 4.30-m-thick Steinbergkogel section (Austria) has been proposed as GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) candidate for the base of the Rhaetian. Here we present data from the...

A detailed magnetostratigraphic investigation of the Pignola-Abriola section of Norian to Rhaetian age permits the identifi cation of 22 magnetic polarity reversals grouped in 10 magnetozones. We correlate the magneto-stratigraphy of the Pignola-Abriola section with the Newark astrochronological polarity time scale (APTS). In total, 19 correlation...

The Pramollo Basin (Italy-Austria) is one of the richest body and trace fossil sites of the Alps, and exhibits a well-preserved Permian- Carboniferous fluvio-deltaic to marginalmarine sedimentary succession. Despite the exceptionally abundant and well-preserved ichnological heritage, the trace fossils of the Pramollo Basin are not well studied, par...

his paper presents the results of an assessment of public views on eventual geothermal energy development in Sicily. The research was carried out under a much wider research project, VIGOR, with the aim to explore the feasibility of geothermal energy utilization in southern Italy. This study has two primary objectives: (1) to explore the views and...

The Mead Stream section (South Island, New Zealand) consists of a 650-m-thick series of continuous, well-exposed strata deposited on a South Pacific continental slope from the Late Cretaceous to the middle Eocene. We examined the uppermost Paleocene–middle Eocene part of the section, which consists of ~360 m of limestone and marl, for detailed magn...

Although Italy has any possible reason to be considered a geothermal country, there appears to be little knowledge or understanding of the potentials of this energy source and its implications for the general society. This paper presents the results of a cultural and social acceptability assessment of geothermal energy exploitation in southern Ital...

New magnetostratigraphic data for the Carnian have been obtained from the Pignola 2 section (Southern Apen-nines, Italy) and the Dibona section (Dolomites, Italy), obtaining 6 and 9 magnetozones respectively, both calibrated with conodonts and pollens. These new data cover the Julian/Tuvalian interval (Carnian) that is currently lacking of a clear...

Different versions of a composite apparent polar wander (APW) path of variably selected global poles assembled and averaged in North American coordinates using plate reconstructions show either a smooth progression or a large (∼30°) gap in mean paleopoles in the Late Jurassic, between about 160 Ma and 145 Ma. In an effort to further examine this is...

We update critical reviews of sites bearing hominin remains and/or tools from Europe (including the Balkans and Greece) and conclude that the only compelling evidence of hominin presence in these regions was after -0.9 Ma (million-years-ago), bracketed by the end of the Jaramillo subchron (0.99 Ma) and the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary (0.78 Ma) and st...

The Hellenides fold-and-thrust range comprises two subparallel ophiolite belts of Triassic to Jurassic age - the external ophiolite belt (e.g., Mirdita, Pindos, Argolis) in the west, and the internal ophiolite belt in the east - broadly separated by the continental crust units of the Korabi-Pelagonian Zone. It is still a matter of debate whether th...

a b s t r a c t According to previous paleomagnetic analyses, the northward latitudinal drift of Iran related to the closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean resulted in the Late Triassic collision of Iran with the Eurasian plate and Cimmerian orogeny. The post-Cimmerian paleogeographic and tectonic evolution of Iran is instead less well known. Here we pr...

The Norian/Rhaetian section of Pignola-Abriola (Southern Apennines, Italy), consisting in ca. 60 m of pelagic sediments (cherty limestones and shales), provided new magnetostratigraphic data for the upper Norian (Sevatian) and the lower Rhaetian. The magnetostratigraphic sequence, subdivided in 10 magnetozones, is calibrated with conodont and radio...

In order to improve the magnetostratigraphy of the Carnian, we studied the sections of Pignola 2 (Southern Apennines, Italy) and Dibona (Dolomites, Italy), both covering the Julian/Tuvalian boundary (lower/upper Carnian). This boundary is characterized by an important climate change to more humid conditions called Carnian Pluvial Event (Simms & Ruf...

Modern generations of apparent polar wander paths (APWPs) show the occurrence in North American and African coordinates of a major and rapid shift in pole position (plate shift) during the Middle to Late Jurassic (175-145 Ma) that alternative curves from the literature tend to underestimate. This Jurassic massive polar shift (JMPS), of vast and as-...