Research area: Geology - Paleontology
Coordinators: Andrea Di Giulio, Luca Colombera, Chiara Nicola, Silvia Tamburelli
ERC Sectors: PE10_5 Geology, tectonics, volcanology; PE10_7 Physics of earth’s interior, seismology, geodynamics; PE10_12 Sedimentology, soil science, palaeontology, earth evolution
1. Basin and Sediment Analysis
The objective of Basin Analysis is to reconstruct the evolutionary history of sedimentary basins, both in terms of their origin and the stratigraphic architecture of their fill. This, in turn, determines the geometry of sedimentary bodies and the distribution in space and time of different lithological units, and therefore of porous-permeable versus impermeable rocks.
2. Provenance of Rocks and Clastic Sediments
As a complement to Basin Analysis, studying the provenance of clastic sediments allows us to reconstruct the origin of the terrigenous material accumulated in basins over time, defining its provenance area and its geological and geodynamic characteristics. This allows us to complete paleogeographic and paleotectonic reconstructions by combining basins (sinks) and sources (source areas) in a source-to-sink system logic. This research is supported by the petrographic study of clastic rocks and the thermochronological study of apatites developed at the Laboratory for Fluid Inclusion Analysis and Thermochronology (LAIFT).
3. Thermal History and Diagenetic Evolution of Sedimentary Successions
This line of research aims to reconstruct the post-depositional history of sedimentary basins by reconstructing their thermal and diagenetic evolution, which, combined, determine the evolution of the porous system over time at the basin scale. This research is supported by the microthermometric study of fluid inclusions and the thermochronological study of apatites developed at the Laboratory for Fluid Inclusion Analysis and Thermochronology (LAIFT).
4. Modeling of Subsurface Successions
Development and application of approaches for the three-dimensional modeling of the stratigraphic architecture and petrophysical heterogeneity of subsurface successions. This research finds application in the exploration, exploitation, and conservation of natural resources and in geological storage problems. The studies are carried out using both stochastic and deterministic methods, partly through the application of geological analogues.
University of Arizona (USA); Khalifa University (UAE); University of Padua; University of Milan; University of Sassari; University of Leeds; State University of Campinas; Eni; CAP Acque; A2A
1. Circular Economy for Water and Energy (CE4WE; funded by the Lombardy Region under the Innovation-Hub call)
2. From paragenesis to diagenesis model (DIAMOD; funded by Eni)
3. Construction of a 3D geological model of the Po Valley for the protection of water resources and their sustainable exploitation through low-enthalpy geothermal energy (in collaboration with Eni and CAP Acque)
4. Fluvial, Eolian & Shallow-Marine Research Group, in collaboration with the University of Leeds (https://frg.leeds.ac.uk/)
Di Giulio A., Grigo D., Zattin M., Amadori C., Consonni A., Nicola C., Ortenzi A., Scotti P., Tamburelli S. (2021) - Diagenetic history vs. thermal evolution of Paleozoic and Triassic reservoir rocks in the Ghadames-Illizi Basin (Algeria-Tunisia-Libya). 127, doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2021.104979
Ceriani A., Arboit F. Di Giulio A., Decarlis A., Steuber T., Amadori C., Al Suwaidi A. (2021) The influence of tectonic activity on clathrate destabilization: microthermometry and Raman insights from seep carbonates in the Alps-Apennines tectonic knot. Basin Research, doi:10.1111/BRE.12630
Mueller P., Patacci M., Di Giulio A. (2021) - Hybrid event bed distribution in a mixed siliciclastic-calcareous turbidite succession: a cross-current perspective from the Bordighera Sandstone, Ligurian Alps, NW Italy. Italian Journal of Earth Sciences, 140(2), pp. 255-274,
doi: 10.3301/IJG.2020.32
Patacci M., Marini M., Felletti F., Di Giulio A., Setti M., McCaffrey W. (2020) Origin of mud in turbidites and hybrid event beds: insight from ponded mudstone caps of the Castagnola turbidite system (NW Italy). Sedimentology, 67(5), pp. 2625-2644, doi: 10.1111/sed.12713
Amadori C., Ghielmi M., Mancin N., Toscani G. (2020). The evolution of a coastal wedge in response to Plio-Pleistocene climate change: the Northern Adriatic cases. Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2020.104675
Maino M., Casini L., Di Giulio A., Setti M., Seno S. (2020) Time-dependent heat budget of a thrust from geological records and numerical experiments. Journal of Geophysical Research, Solid Earth,125, e2019JB018940, DOI:10.1029/2019JB018940
Sternai P., Sue C., Husson L., Serpelloni E., T. W. Becker T. W., Willett S. D., Faccenna C., Di Giulio A., Spada G., Jolivet L., Valla P., Petit C., Nocquet J., Walpersdorf A., Castelltort S. (2019) Present-day uplift of the European Alps: Evaluating mechanisms and models of their relative contributions. Earth-Science Reviews, 190, 589-604, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.01.005.
Amadori C., Toscani G., Di Giulio A., Maesano F., D’ambrogi C., Ghielmi M., Fantoni R. (2019) From cylindrical to non-cylindrical foreland basin: Pliocene-Pleistocene evolution of the Po Plain-Northern Adriatic Basin (Italy). Basin Research, v. 31 (5). DOI: 10.1111/bre.12369. hdl:11571/1289466
Mueller P., Langone A., Patacci M., Di Giulio A. (2019) Towards a Southern European Tethyan Palaeomargin provenance signature: sandstone detrital modes and detrital zircon U–Pb age distribution of the Upper Cretaceous–Paleocene Monte Bignone Sandstones (Ligurian Alps, NW Italy). International Journal of Earth Sciences, 109, pages 201–220(2020), doi.org/10.1007/s00531-019-01797-5.
Marchionda E., Deschamps R., Cobianchi M., Nader F.H., Di Giulio A., Morad D.J., Al Darmaki F. & Ceriani A. (2018) Field-scale depositional evolution of the Upper Jurassic Arab Formation (onshore Abu Dhabi, UAE). Marine and Petroleum Geology, 89, 350-369.
Amadori C., Garcia-Castellanos D., Toscani G., Sternai P., Fantoni R., Ghielmi M. & Di Giulio A. (2018) Restored topography of the Po Plain‐Northern Adriatic region during the Messinian base‐level drop ‐ implications for the physiography and compartmentalisation of the paleo‐Mediterranean basin. Basin Research, 30, 1247-1263, DOI: 10.1111/bre.12302
Mueller P., Langone A., Patacci M. & Di Giulio A. (2018) Detrital signatures of impending collision: the deep-water record of the Upper Cretaceous Bordighera Sandstone and its basal complex (Ligurian Alps, Italy). Sedimentary Geology, 377, 147-161, DOI:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2018.10.002
Amadori C., Fantoni R., Ghielmi M., Toscani G. & Di Giulio A. (2018) – 14. Po Plain MSC surfaces. In “Seismic Atlas of the Messinian Salinity Crisis Markers in the Mediterranean Sea – Vol. 2” (Lofi J. Ed.), Societe Geologique de France, 50, doi:10.10682/2018MESSINV2.
Mueller P. Patacci M., Di Giulio A. (2017) Hybrid event beds in the proximal to distal extensive lobe domain of the coarse-grained and sand-rich Bordighera turbidite system (NW Italy). Marine and Petroleum Geology, 86, 908-931.
Di Giulio A., Ronchi A., Sanfilippo A., Balgord E.A., Carrapa B. & Ramos V. A. (2017) Cretaceous evolution of the Andean margin between 36°S and 40°S latitude through a multiproxy provenence analysis of Neuquen Basin strata (Argentina). Basin Research, 29/3, 284-304. doi:10.1111/bre.12176
Carrapa B., Di Giulio A., Mancin N., Stockli D., Fantoni R, Hughes A. and Gupta5 S. (2016) - Tectonic significance of Cenozoic exhumation and foreland basin evolution in the Western Alps. Tectonics , 35/8, 1892-1912; DOI:10.1002/2016TC004132
Maino M., Casini L., Ceriani A., Decarlis A., Di Giulio A., Seno S., Setti M., Stuart F. M. (2015) Dating shallow thrusts with zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronometry - the shear heating connection. Geology, 43, p. 495-498, doi:10.1130/G36492.1.
Cosgrove, G. I., Colombera, L., & Mountney, N. P. (2023). Quantitative analysis of aeolian stratigraphic architectures preserved in different tectonic settings. Earth-Science Reviews, 104293.
Li, W., Colombera, L., Yue, D., & Mountney, N. P. (2023). Controls on the morphology of braided rivers and braid bars: An empirical characterization of numerical models. Sedimentology, 70, 259-279.
Colombera, L., & Mountney, N. P. (2022). Scale dependency in quantifications of the avulsion frequency of coastal rivers. Earth-Science Reviews, 104043.