Mattia Tagliavento

California Institute of Technology | CIT · Geological and Planetary Sciences

During the Middle Miocene, the Earth shifted from a warm state, the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO, 16.9–14.7 Ma), to a colder state associated with the formation of extensive and permanent ice sheets on Antarctica. This climatic shift, the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (MMCT, 14.7–13.8 Ma) strongly affected the composition and structure of maj...

Methane-derived authigenic carbonate often constitutes the sole remaining record of relic methane seeps. The clumped (∆ 47 ) and oxygen isotopic composition of seep carbonates often yield inaccurate temperatures, attributed to kinetic isotope effects and modification of seawater isotope composition by hydrate water. Here, we analyzed the dual-clump...

The dry continental interior of Asia has remained arid throughout most of its geological history, yet the future of this unique ecosystem remains unclear. Here we use palynological and isotopic records to track vegetation and moisture throughout the warm early Eocene (57 to 44 million years ago) as an analogue for extreme atmospheric CO2 scenarios....

Rationale: Clumped isotope (Δ47) analysis of bioapatite-derived CO2 is a powerful tool to determine body temperatures of extinct vertebrates. The common acid bath technique in combination with dual-inlet-based mass spectrometric measurements has been the preferred method of choice for this purpose, but the large amount of material necessary and the...

The geochemical and ultrastructural properties of thermally altered skeletal carbonate are expected to be compromised to varying degrees by disequilibrium processes between solids and the ambient aqueous fluids. When assessing the alteration history of carbonates, it is important to apply models that quantitatively describe these diagenetic process...

The stable oxygen and clumped isotope composition of brachiopod calcite are important proxies for the reconstruction of Phanerozoic seawater temperatures and δ18O values. The utility of brachiopods as a temper- ature archive is nonetheless challenged by indications that their shells precipitate out of isotopic equilibrium with ambient seawater, tho...

The dinosaur-bird transition involved several anatomical, biomechanical, and physiological modifications of the theropod bauplan. Non-avian maniraptoran theropods, such as Troodon, are key to better understand changes in thermophysiology and reproduction occurring during this transition. Here, we applied dual clumped isotope (Δ47 and Δ48) thermomet...

Geochemical analyses of carbonate minerals yield multiple parameters which can be used to estimate the temperature and water composition at which they formed. Analysis of fluid trapped in minerals is a potentially powerful tool to reconstruct paleotemperatures as well as diagenetic and hydrothermal processes, as these could represent the parent flu...

The stable (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) and clumped (Δ47) isotope compositions of coral carbonate are valuable archives for paleoclimate reconstructions. However, the Δ47-temperature relationships of warm and cold-water corals deviate from that of inorganic carbonate precipitated at equilibrium. Dual clumped isotope thermometry of carbonates (i.e., simultaneous...

Chalk is usually thought to be a homogeneous sediment with a relatively simple early diagenetic history. Here, clumped isotope analyses of samples from a core of Campanian Maastrichtian chalk are presented, indicating that material smaller than 5 µm has a different origin than the coccolith-dominated coarser fraction. The smallest size fraction (1...

The Cretaceous Earth, with its greenhouse climate and absence of major ice caps in the polar regions, represents an extreme scenario for modeling future warming. Despite considerable efforts, we are just at the verge of fully understanding the conditions of a warm Earth, and better, more extensive proxy evidence is needed to solve existing discrepa...

This study investigates the use of pyrite framboid data to increase insight in sea floor environmental conditions during deposition of chalk-marl cycles in the Upper Cretaceous of the Danish Basin, NW Europe. Framboid data have been used successfully to differentiate stages of oxygen reduction in siliciclastic mud rocks, and the data presented here...

The Chalk Group forms important hydrocarbon reservoirs offshore and water aquifers onshore Denmark. Within a day of fieldwork, a 450 m long reflection seismic profile was acquired onshore in an area in southeast Denmark, where the Chalk Group extends almost to the surface and is approximately 900 m thick. The main objective of the study was to imag...

The Chalk Group is of special interest because it contains groundwater aquifers onshore Denmark and hydrocarbon reservoirs in the North Sea. The Stevns peninsula, eastern Zealand offers a unique opportunity to study a reservoir analogue. Based on different data types from this area, we examine the influence of rock physical parameters linked to spe...

This work illustrates the evolution the Lower Jurassic shallow-water carbonates known as the Calcare Massiccio Formation in the Central Apennines (Italy). The Calcare Massiccio is characterized by lateral and vertical variability in the facies associations, related to an articulated physiography of the Triassic to Lower Jurassic carbonate platform...