the mis 5 5 terraced deposit of fosso del cupo montecelio central italy and its mousterian lithic assemblage re evaluation of a nineteenth century discovery abstract by means of a geomorphological study and the correlation with the geochronologically constrained terraced deposits of the greater area of rome we attribute to the aggradational phase during marine isotopic stage mis 5 5 a terraced deposit firstly described in the earliest local geological reports of the 19th century in which a small set of lithic artifacts and vertebrate fossil remains was recovered after this correlation the sedimentary deposit of fosso del cupo represents the only inland occurrence of an aggradational deposit of mis 5 5 so far recognized in the area of rome where a rich record of lithic industries and faunal assemblages has been yielded by the sedimentary successions deposited in response to deglaciation during sea level rises of mis 15 through mis 7 we have implemented the lithic and faunal assemblages through a collection during the geological survey performed in the area where the terraced deposit crops out with an age tightly constrained around 125 ka the lithic industry and the faunal assemblage from fosso del cupo although limited in number represent an important witness of the early development of the local pontinian culture and should be considered a regional marker which may concur to improve the knowledge on the mousterian of central italy

pulsed uplift estimated from terrace elevations in the coast of rome evidence for a new phase of volcanic activity abstract the most recent phase of activity from the roman volcanoes since 45 ka has been interpreted to be the waning stage of the older explosive activity that peaked between 550 and 250 ka yet substantial regional uplift from approximately 250 ka suggests that magma chambers beneath the area are growing rather than shrinking we have estimated the uplift history of the region using radioisotopically and paleomagnetically constrained coastal terrace elevation data that allow us to correlate these terraces with marine oxygen isotopic stages 1 22 elevations have been corrected for glacio eustatic sea level change our study shows that over the last million years regional uplift of coastal terraces occurred in pulses that preceded volcanic activity at roughly 800 ka in the monti sabatini and 600 ka in the alban hills the recent pulse of uplift since 250 ka occurred primarily during a period of relative volcanic dormancy that lasted from 250 to 45 ka we hypothesize that the most recent volcanic activity since 45 ka may reflect the completion of magma chamber recharge suggesting the start of a new volcanic epoch it is also possible that the local tectonic stress field changed recently from one dominated by transpression to one dominated by extension allowing magma to more easily reach the surface via normal faults

major explosive activity in the monti sabatini volcanic district central italy over the 800 390 ka interval geochronological geochemical overview and tephrostratigraphic implications abstract a review of the existing chronological stratigraphic and chemo petrologic data of the major eruptive units from the early phase of activity 800 390 ka in the monti sabatini volcanic district msvd belonging to the ultra potassic magmatic region of central italy is presented along with new radioisotopic age determinations and geochemical analyses through the combined use of electron microprobe glass compositions selected trace element compositions and single crystal 40ar 39ar age determinations we provide a new chrono and chemo stratigraphic classification of the products emplaced in the 800 390 ka time interval besides giving insights on the petrologic evolution of the roman comagmatic region the large dataset provides fundamental information that is applicable to tephrostratigraphic studies in the wide region encompassing the tyrrhenian sea margin to the adriatic sea basin distal tephras from this volcanic activity also act as important geochronologic markers for the coastal sedimentary successions deposited in response to glacio eustatic fluctuations as well as for successions in the quaternary tectonic basins of the central and southern apennines an innovative approach based on the use of discrimination diagrams of zr y vs nb y ratios for fingerprinting altered volcanic rocks recently developed and successfully employed in archaeometric studies is here combined to the glass compositions for classifying the msvd deposits and tested on two distal tephra layers showing its potentiality for tephrostratigraphic correlation

history of glacial terminations from the tiber river rome insights into glacial forcing mechanisms 1 we document the aggradational history of the tiber river delta through the last 17 000 years by means of 17 new 14c ages from peat or wood collected from the delta sediment an abrupt change in sediment clast size grading from gravel to clay occurred between 13 63 0 20 and 12 80 0 15 ka indicating that it was synchronous with the last glacial termination with no appreciable phase lag knowing this phase relationship enables us to reduce the magnitudes of age uncertainties for aggradational sections corresponding to glacial terminations ix through iii which we had dated previously by 40ar 39ar methods glacial terminations viii vi and iv precede beyond 95 confidence the ages predicted by northern hemisphere summer insolation maxima additionally we find that each of these seven glacial terminations follows particularly mild insolation minima which we suggest may be regarded as the preconditioning factor to trigger a glacial termination

stratigraphic and tectonic features of the middle pleistocene sedimentary and volcanic deposits in the area of rome italy the analysis of a large number of stratigraphic logs from boreholes as well as an extensive field survey suggests that the middle pleistocene sedimentary deposits in the area of rome can be subdivided into two groups each one characterised by a different stratigraphy and tectonic setting a north eastern sector corresponding to the eastern urban area of rome and a south western sector corresponding to the ponte galeria area in the north eastern sector the distribution of sediments is influenced by vertical block faulting showing a predominantly north south trend superimposed on a middle pleistocene ne sw extensional tectonic domain in the south western sector we suggest that the ponte galeria formation auct can be subdivided into two depositional sequences that can be linked to isotope stages 19 and 21 in addition a sedimentary hiatus is proposed at the top of the ponte galeria sequence it corresponds to the deposition of a continental succession in the north eastern sector before the emplacement of pyroclastic deposits from the colli albani and sabatini volcanic districts the correlation between these two depositional sequences that have been identified and the oxygen isotope time scale allowed us to extend our investigation across to the urban area of rome where we have recognised six sedimentary cycles all of pleistocene age which have been tentatively related to particular isotopes stages

40ar 39ar geochronology of roman volcanic province tephra in the tiber river valley age calibration of middle pleistocene sea level changes the close proximity of the roman volcanic province to the tyrrhenian sea coastline provides a unique opportunity to combine clastic stratigraphy with 40 ar 39 ar geochronology to constrain the timing of pleistocene sea level oscillations the main eruptions from the monti sabatini volcanic district occurred during the interval 560 280 ka and the alban hills volcanic district main eruptions span 560 350 ka the interfingering of volcanics from these two centers with fluvial and shallow marine sediments of the tiber river and delta provides a datable relative sea level record for this portion of middle pleistocene time we calculate the timing of glacial terminations using analytical errors only then assess age uncertainties that include analytical plus systematic errors the latter is required to compare 40 ar 39 ar ages with those from other dating methods terminations iii v and vi occur at 278 261 285 ka 95 confidence interval 430 422 442 ka and 534 520 541 ka respectively when only analytical uncertainties are used to calculate the ages of bracketing volcanic horizons the confidence interval expands significantly when full external errors are considered with predicted ages of 276 258 289 ka 430 416 448 ka and 533 512 548 ka for the terminations the resultant 40 ar 39 ar chronology is generally consistent with the deep sea 18 o record of sea level change tuned to earth9s obliquity cycle for glacial terminations vi v and iii in addition the 40 ar 39 ar constrained tiber river delta sea level record has the added benefit of identifying when coastal sections respond to complex multistep terminations

post caldera activity in the alban hills volcanic district italy 40ar 39ar geochronology and insights into magma evolution we present 24 40ar 39ar ages for the youngest volcanic products from the alban hills volcanic district rome combined with petrological data on these products we have attempted to define the chronology of the most recent phase of activity and to investigate the magma evolution of this volcanic district the early mainly explosive activity of the alban hills spanned the interval from 561 1 to 351 3 ka after approximately 50 kyr of dormancy a mainly effusive phase of activity took place accompanied by the strombolian activity of a small central edifice monte delle faete this second phase of activity spanned the interval 308 2 to 250 1 ka after another dormancy period of approximately 50 kyr a new hydromagmatic phase of activity started at 200 ka at several centers located to the southwest of the monte delle faete edifice after an initial recurrence period of approximately 50 kyr which also characterized this new phase of activity the longest dormancy period approximately 80 kyr in the history of the volcanic district preceded the start of the activity of the albano and giuturna centers at 70 1 ka results of our study suggest a quasi continuous magmatic activity feeding hydromagmatic centers with a new acme of volcanism since around 70 ka based on data presented in this paper we argue that the alban hills should not be considered an extinct volcanic district and a detailed re assessment of the volcanic hazard for the area of rome is in order

a novel multidisciplinary bio and geo chronological approach for age determination of palaeolithic bone artifacts in volcanic settings an example from eastern sabatini latium italy in this study we provide combined biochronologic and chronostratigraphic constraints to the fluvial lacustrine succession cropping out near the village of rignano flaminio 35 km north of rome where two bone instruments have been recovered along with several vertebrate fossil remains the presence of bone tools is characteristic of the latium region whereas it is rare in the rest of italy but very few sites in which such artifacts occur have precise geochronological constraints in the investigated site the presence of cervus elaphus eostephanoceros among other taxa indicates a time interval limited to marine isotopic stage mis 13 and mis 11 the occurrence of the tufo rosso a scorie nere pyroclastic flow deposit dated 449 2 ka at the base of the sedimentary deposits hosting the faunal assemblage allows us at restricting the interval to mis 11 moreover applying a recently validated conceptual model accounting for an aggradational mechanism linked with sea level rise during glacial termination for the sedimentary successions of the tiber river and its tributaries in a relatively wider area around rome we further constrain the age to 430 405 ka following this approach we present a review of the archaeological sites of latium yielding bone instruments remarking that only other four sites have been recently provided with geochronological constraints through the application of the multidisciplinary methodology applied here

middle pleistocene magnetostratigraphy and susceptibility stratigraphy data from a carbonate aeolian system mallorca western mediterranean abstract this study shows that successions of pleistocene carbonate aeolian deposits can be placed successfully in a geochronologic framework using magnetostratigraphic and susceptibility stratigraphic analysis supplemented by luminescence dating studies of wave cut platforms and biostratigraphic evidence the investigated aeolian system covers a significant part of southernmost mallorca and is exposed in impressive coastal cliff sections at the study site at els bancals the aeolian system has a maximum thickness of 16 m and is composed of alternating dark red colluvial deposits and greyish red aeolian dune and sand sheet deposits forming seven cyclostratigraphic units each cyclostratigraphic unit represents landscape stabilisation colluviation and soil formation followed by dunefield development when marine carbonate sand was transported far inland by westerly or north westerly winds the aeolian system is located on top of a wave cut marine platform 12 14 m a s l this platform probably formed during a sea level highstand in marine isotope stage mis 11 427 364 ka and renewed marine activity probably later in mis 11 is indicated by the formation of beach deposits two sections at els bancals were sampled for a paleomagnetic study additional samples were taken to detect variations in magnetic susceptibility ms the characteristic remanent magnetisation has been recovered for the most part of the succession in spite of diagenetic overprinting there is evidence for two probably three reversal polarity excursions possible connected to the levantine cr1 and cr0 biwa iii episodes if this correlation is correct the sampled succession represents a time interval in the middle pleistocene between ca 410 and ca 260 ka this age estimate is supported by the ms study and by luminescence dates of 333 70 ka aeolianite from lower part of the succession and 275 23 ka aeolianite from the top of the succession the nature of the succession suggests deposition during alternating warm and moist colluvial deposition soil formation and cold dry and windy conditions dunefield formation the susceptibility signal can be correlated with the insolation signal at 65 n suggesting that environmental variation on mallorca was linked to orbitally forced climate change and it seems that aeolian activity and dunefield formation were linked to glacial or stadial periods

40ar 39ar dating of the brunhes matuyama geomagnetic field reversal magnetostratigraphic studies are widely used in conjunction with the geomagnetic polarity time scale gpts to date events in the range 0 to 5 million years ago a critical tie point on the gpts is the potassium argon age of the most recent brunhes matuyama geomagnetic field reversal astronomical values for the forcing frequencies observed in the oxygen isotope record in ocean drilling project site 677 suggest that the age of this last reversal is 780 ka thousand years ago whereas the potassium argon based estimate is 730 ka results from 4039 ar incremental heating studies on a series of lavas from maui that straddle the brunhes matuyama reversal give an age of 783 11 ka in agreement with the astronomically derived value the astronomically based technique appears to be a viable tool for dating young sedimentary sequences

chronostratigraphic constraints on middle pleistocene faunal assemblages and acheulian industries from the cretone lacustrine basin central italy integrated 40ar 39ar trace element stratigraphic palaeontological and palaethnological data provide geochronological and biochronological constraints for the sedimentary and tectonic history of a middle pleistocene fluvial lacustrine basin near rome cretone basin central italy which has yielded a significant record of mammal fossil remains and palaeolithic industry this work is a case study of the interplay between tectonics and glacio eustacy which strongly influenced the evolution of the tyrrhenian sea margin of central italy dating of tephra layers interbedded within the cretone basin lacustrine succession and reconstruction of relict terraced surfaces allow correlation with similar geochronologically constrained marine isotopic stages mis 15 5 terraced deposits along the coast coupled extensional tectonics and regional uplift over the last 600 ka caused the progressive uplifting and westward migration of the main fluvial lacustrine basin and the formation of a smaller satellite basin at its eastern margin here stable environmental conditions during mis 13 5 indicated continuous human and large mammal frequentation as testified by lithic industry and fossil remains ascribable to the acheulean and later early middle palaeolithic technocomplexes and galerian aurelian mammal faunas respectively in addition to providing independent age constraints to glacial sea level oscillations of this region the reconstructed chronostratigraphic setting for the cretone basin provides evidence for one of the oldest acheulean lithic assemblage of central italy as well as new biochronological and palaeobiogeographical data for some middle pleistocene mammal species of italy

paleo surfaces of glacio eustatically forced aggradational successions in the coastal area of rome assessing interplay between tectonics and sea level during the last ten interglacials abstract recently acquired geochronological and stratigraphic data provide new information on the sedimentary successions deposited by the paleo tiber river in the coastal and near coastal area of rome in consequence of the glacio eustatic changes allowing to better define their inner geometry and palaeogeographic spatial distribution in the present work we use this revised sedimentary dataset to provide a geochronologically constrained and tectonically adjusted record of paleo sea level indicators aimed at this scope we review literature data acquired in the last 35 years and using the new geochronological constraints we pinpoint the coastal to fluvial terraces of mis 5 and mis 7 mapping their relic surfaces in an area of 30 km along the coast north and south of the tiber river mouth and 20 km inland of the fluvial valleys of tiber and aniene rivers the geometry of these paleo surfaces provides constraints on the relative elevation of the sea level during the last interglacials and on the uplift rates in this region during the last 200 ka in particular we recognize the previously undetected terraces of mis 5 3 and mis 5 1 interstadials and we assess their spatial relationship with respect to mis 5 5 providing important information on sea level oscillations during this time span comparison with sea level indicators provided by previous aggradational successions deposited during past interglacials spanning mis 9 through mis 21 in the coastal area of rome also allows us to reconstruct the tectonic history and investigate its relationships with the middle pleistocene volcanic activity of the roman comagmatic region along the tyrrhenian sea margin of italy in the last 900 ka

tephrochronology of the central mediterranean mis 11c interglacial 425 395 ka new constraints from the vico volcano and tiber delta central italy abstract through a systematic integrated approach which combined lithostratigraphic geochronological and geochemical analyses of tephra from near source sections of the peri tyrrhenian volcanoes and mid to distal settings here we provide an improved tephrochronological framework for the marine isotope stage 11c interglacial mis 11c 425 395 ka in the central mediterranean area specifically we present the complete geochemical dataset and new high precision 40ar 39ar ages of the previously poorly characterized earliest pyroclastic products of the vico volcano 420 400 ka including the plinian eruptions of vico and vico and the immediately post dating lower magnitude explosive events furthermore we also provide new geochronological and geochemical data for the distal tephra layers preserved in the aggradational succession of the tiber delta san paolo formation roman area which records sea level rise relating to the mis 12 glacial to mis 11 interglacial transition five pyroclastic units were recognized in vico volcanic area four out of which vico vico vico top a minor eruption immediately following vico and temporally very close to it and vico were directly dated at 414 8 2 2 ka 406 5 2 4 ka 406 4 2 0 ka and 399 7 3 2 ka respectively 2 analytical uncertainties these new data allow a critical reappraisal of the previously claimed identifications of vico tephra from mid distal to ultra distal successions i e vico sabatini volcanic districts roman san paolo formation and castel di guido archaeological site sulmona basin valdarno and lake ohrid which were unavoidably biased by the poor and incomplete geochemical and geochronological reference datasets previously available such an improvement of the tephrochronological framework brings great benefits to any future investigations e g paleoclimatology archaeology active tectonic volcanology in the dispersal areas of the studied eruptions at the key point in time that is mis 11

complexity of quaternary aeolian dynamics canary islands abstract carbonate aeolianites are important quaternary archives at the point of intersection between marine and terrestrial systems since they are composed of alternating aeolian sediments and several paleosol units these sequences are highly suitable to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental conditions in northern fuerteventura at least five different areas are characterised by successions of different dune generations and paleosols few studies have addressed the stratigraphic order of individual dune areas therefore a comprehensive consideration spanning several dune fields is needed here we aim to present a detailed stratigraphy of two different dune areas and to identify the contribution of different materials shelf origin dust origin volcanic origin along with processes accumulation soil formation erosion preservation that build up these archives four key sections were selected and sampled for laboratory analyses texture elemental composition caco3 content palaeoenvironmental magnetics luminescence dating and gastropod assemblages based on main stratigraphic features five major sedimentary sequences were identified indicating differences in prevailing sediment supply humidity and volcanic activity first luminescence dating irsl of the sequences revealed sedimentation ages between 360 ka and 15 ka finally we are able to demonstrate that different dune areas show comparable stratigraphic patterns but each studied site is defined by certain characteristics depending on the respective features of the closer surrounding the knowledge of these peculiarities and the underlying background is essential in order to correlate different sites and to attempt an appropriate environmental interpretation of the sedimentary sequences

tiber delta co2 ch4 degassing a possible hybrid tectonically active sediment hosted geothermal system near rome fiumicino town in the tiber river delta near rome international airport italy is historically affected by large amounts of carbon dioxide co2 in the ground and gas eruptions triggered by shallow drilling while it is known that co2 originates from carbonate thermometamorphism and or mantle degassing the origin of methane ch4 associated with co2 is uncertain and the outgassing spatial distribution is unknown combining isotope gas geochemistry soil gas and structural stratigraphic analyses we provide evidence for a hybrid fluid source system classifiable as sediment hosted geothermal system shgs where biotic ch4 from sedimentary rocks is carried by deep geothermic co2 through active segments of a half graben molecular and isotopic composition of ch4 and concentration of heavier alkanes ethane and propane obtained from gas vents and soil gas throughout the delta area reveal that thermogenic ch4 up to 3 7 vol in soil gas 13cch4 37 to 40 vpdb vienna peedee belemnite and 2hch4 162 to 203 vsmow vienna standard mean ocean water in gas vents prevails over possible microbial and abiotic components the hydrocarbons likely result from known meso cenozoic petroleum systems of the latium tyrrhenian coast overmaturation of source rocks or molecular fractionation induced by gas migration are likely responsible for increased c1 c2 ratios co2 and ch4 soil gas anomalies are scattered along nw se and w e alignments which based on borehole geomorphologic and structural stratigraphic analyses coincide with active faults of a half graben that seems to have controlled the recent evolution of the tiber delta this shgs can be a source of considerable greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere and hazards for humans and buildings

static and dynamic characterization of alluvial deposits in the tiber river valley new data for assessing potential ground motion in the city of rome 1 the paper presents the results of a case study conducted on the holocene alluvial deposits of the tiber river valley in the city of rome the main test site selected for the study valco s paolo is located about 2 km south of rome s historical centre the alluvial deposits were dynamically characterized in a comprehensive way via site investigations and geotechnical laboratory tests normalized shear modulus decay and damping curves g g0 and d d0 vs were obtained for the dominantly fine grained levels the curves demonstrate that these levels have a more marked shear stiffness decay if compared with the underlying pliocene bedrock decay curves from laboratory tests for the tiber alluvia correlated well with the trend of the function proposed by hardin and drnevich making it possible to derive their specific interpolation function coefficients use was made of the extrapolation of the findings from the valco s paolo test site to a large part of rome s historical centre by means of two other test sites supported by an engineering geology model of the complex spatial distribution of the tiber alluvia the experimental valco s paolo vs profile was extrapolated to the other test sites on the basis of a stratigraphic criterion the analysis of seismic noise measurements obtained for the three test sites validated the engineering geology based extrapolation and showed that the main rigidity contrast occurs inside the alluvial body at the contact with the underlying basal gravel level g and not between the alluvia and the plio pleistocene bedrock composed of highly consistent clay marne vaticane the 1d modeling of local seismic response to the maximum expected earthquakes in the city of rome confirms that the deposits have one principal mode of vibration at about 1 hz however the simulation also evidenced that the silty clay deposits level c making up the most part of the tiber alluvial body play a key role in characterizing the soil column deformation profile since it can be affected by non linear effects induced by the maximum expected earthquake when some stratigraphic conditions are satisfied

mis 9 to mis 5 terraces along the tyrrhenian sea coast of latium central italy assessing interplay between sea level oscillations and tectonic activity abstract we present a review of the geomorphology of the tyrrhenian sea coast of central italy integrated by a novel structural geomorphological study coupled with statistical analysis of topographic culminations and comparison with a digital elevation model aimed at reconstructing a suite of paleo surfaces corresponding to remnant portions of marine terraces we performed geochronological sedimentological micromorphological and mineralogical investigations on the deposits forming the different paleo surfaces between civitavecchia and anzio towns in order to provide chronostratigraphical paleogeographical and paleoenvironmental constraints using the newly achieved dataset we correlate these paleo surfaces with the coastal terraces formed during past sea level highstands as recognized by previous studies and we refine their correlation with the marine isotope stage mis timescale in particular we have extended our geomorphological analyses landward in the area between the tiber river mouth and anzio in order to include the oldest paleo surface developed above the deposits of the last large explosive eruption at 365 4 ka in the colli albani volcanic district results of this study allow us to recognize a set of higher paleo surfaces at elevation ranging 108 thought 71 m a s l which we interpret as one tectonically displaced widespread coastal terrace originated during the mis 9 1 highstand we correlate the previously identified paleo surfaces of 66 62 m a s l and 56 52 m a s l with the equivalent coastal terraces developed during the sea level highstands of sub stages 7 5 and 7 3 7 1 moreover based on data from literature on relative elevation of maximum sea level during the highstands of mis 11 through mis 5 1 we assess the regional uplift and the concurrent tectonic displacements that have occurred since 900 ka in this area

a contribution to the understanding of late pleistocene dune sand paleosol sequences in fuerteventura canary islands abstract this paper describes dune sand paleosol sequences of four pits in northern fuerteventura canary islands the elaborated stratigraphy is reinforced with luminescence dating to provide a first chronological estimation apart from a holocene colluvial layer the sequence spans the period from ca 50 ka to ca 280 ka paleosols were formed during glacial times and point to a standstill in sand supply the isotopic composition of terrestrial gastropod shells retrieved from soil horizons reflects fluctuations in humidity conditions during different edaphic phases because eolian sands were deposited during glacial times as well it is inferred that soil development was simply caused by a decrease in sand supply independent of climate change our geomorphic geochronological and isotopic results are discussed considering different perspectives of dune sand paleosol intercalation and more broadly soil forming conditions in general

radioisotopic age constraints for glacial terminations ix and vii from aggradational sections of the tiber river delta in rome italy abstract buried sedimentary aggradational sections deposited between 800 ka and 600 ka in the tiber river coastal alluvial plain have been studied using borecores from around rome 40ar 39ar ages on sanidine and or leucite from intercalated tephra layers and paleomagnetic investigation of clay sections provide geochronologic constraints on the timing of aggradation of two alluvial sections demonstrating that they were deposited in response to glacio eustatic sea level rise caused by glacial terminations ix and vii 40ar 39ar age data indicate ages of 802 8 ka 1 full errors and 649 3 ka 1 full errors for glacial terminations ix and vii respectively providing a rare test beyond the range of u series dating for corals and speleothems 500 ka of the astronomically calibrated timescale developed for oxygen isotope records from deep sea cores

independent 40ar 39ar and 14c age constraints on the last five glacial terminations from the aggradational successions of the tiber river rome italy we use 13 new 40ar 39ar and 4 new 14c datings of volcanic deposits and organic material found within near coastal aggradational successions deposited by the tiber river near rome italy to integrate a larger dataset previously achieved in order to offer independent age constraints to the sea level fluctuations associated with late quaternary glacial cycles during the last 450 ka results are compared with the chronologically independently constrained red sea relative sea level curve and with the astronomically tuned deep sea benthic 18o record we find good agreements for the timings of change and in several cases for both the amplitudes and timings of change during glacial terminations t 1 t 2 t 3 and t 5 there is one striking exception namely for glacial termination t 4 that led into interglacial marine isotope stage mis 9 t 4 in our results is dated a full 18 ka earlier than in the red sea and deep sea benthic 18o records which are in good agreement with each other in spite of their independent chronological constraints the observed discrepancy is beyond the scale of the combined age uncertainties one possible explanation is that the documented aggradation represents an early phase triggered by a smaller event in the sea level record but the thickness of the aggradational sediment sequence then suggests that the amplitude of this earlier sea level rise is underestimated in the red sea and benthic 18o records also this would imply that the aggradational succession of the main t 4 deglaciation has not yet been located in the study region which is hard to reconcile with our extensive fieldwork and borehole coverage unless unlikely non deposition or complete erosion resolving this discrepancy will improve understanding of the timing of deglaciations relative to the orbitally modulated insolation forcing of climate and will require further focused research both into the nature and chronology of the tiber sequences of this period and into the chronologies of the red sea and deep sea benthic 18o records

influence of lateral heterogeneities on strong motion shear strains simulations in the historical center of rome italy abstract the influence of lateral heterogeneities on alluvial deposits is a topic of particular interest in the field of urban planning and engineering design of structures and infrastructures this work focuses on the effects of such heterogeneities on the shear strains produced within the recent alluvial deposits of the tiber river in the historical center of rome in case of the worst expected earthquake scenario to this aim a 3d engineering geology model of the subsoil is used to derive four geological sections across the tiber river valley as well as 48 soil columns to perform numerical simulations various models are considered a viscoelastic equivalent linear rheology in a 1d finite difference model for one component horizontal input a nonlinear elastoplastic model in a 1d finite element scheme for three component input and a nonlinear viscoelasto plastic rheology in a 2d finite difference model under one component horizontal input after comparing these different simulations results have shown that lateral heterogeneities play a key role with respect to the expected shear strains within multilayered soils to this aim some specific indexes are introduced to estimate the maximum shear strain mss concentration within the soil layers as well as to highlight their effect due to the stratigraphic position of the layers within the soil column independently from its depth a final differential index leads to the evaluation of the lateral heterogeneity effect on the estimated mss demonstrating their prevalent role with respect to the bedrock shape i e the angle of inclination of the buried valley slopes from these results an mss zoning map is obtained for the historical center of rome showing that the local seismic response should be modeled by assuming 1d or 2d conditions depending on the location considered

paleomagnetism and geochronology of early middle pleistocene depositional sequences near rome comparison with the deep sea δ18o record abstract a sequence stratigraphic analysis was carried out on clastic coastal deposits ponte galeria formation pgf of the tiber river delta cropping out to the southwest of rome in order to correlate these sequences to pleistocene eustasy tectonic subsidence affected sedimentation but is distinguished from the glacio eustatic signal showing that the pgf consists of four depositional sequences that correlate to two fourth order cycles a paleomagnetic investigation of clay horizons deposited before and after the brunhes matuyama reversal combined with 40 ar 39 ar ages from a tuff horizon within the pgf constrain the timing of the relative sea level changes and allow us to tie it to the astronomically calibrated deep sea 18 o record the brunhes matuyama boundary in the pgf postdates a set of highstand systems tract sediments suggesting that the reversal occurs late in 18 o stage 19 this position is consistent with the recent study of deep sea cores by bassinot et al earth planet sci lett 126 1994 91 108 the assumption of a common continental stage marking the start of the middle pleistocene 18 o stage 22 in the mediterranean region is not supported by the tiber river sections which in our interpretation begin at stage 20

the subsurface geology of rome sedimentary processes sea level changes and astronomical forcing abstract in this paper we present a reconstruction of the stratigraphic setting of the continental sedimentary sequences that were deposited by the paleo tiber river within the greater area of rome between 0 9 and 0 6 ma carried out through analyses of a large number of borehole data through palinspastic restoration of several cross sections we depict the original geometry of the sedimentary record that has been dislocated by intense tectonic activity linked to volcanism and we reconstruct the geologic and paleogeographic evolution of this area moreover we provide a complete review of the chronostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic data reported in previous work and we extend paleomagnetic analyses to three new clay sections these geochronological constraints allow us to compare aggradation of the paleo tiber sedimentary successions with the 18o record evidencing a strict link between sedimentation and sea level changes in the rome area by doing so we provide a direct test on the timing of the sea level rise for mis 19 through mis 15 a record of data for which no equivalent exists in the literature

reconstruction of the mis 5 5 5 3 and 5 1 coastal terraces in latium central italy a re evaluation of the sea level history in the mediterranean sea during the last interglacial abstract we present a geomorphological stratigraphical and geochronological study reconstructing a suite of paleo surfaces in a 200 km long coastal sector of the central tyrrhenian sea between argentario and circeo promontories identification of the near shore deposits associated with these paleo surfaces allow us to define corresponding marine terraces and paleo sea levels 40ar 39ar and esr u th geochronologic constraints on key deposits provide correlation with the terraces previously recognized in the coast of central latium refining their correlation with the marine isotopic stages results of this study enable us to propose a re assessment of the ages for the sea level markers of mis 5 5 5 3 5 1 in the central tyrrhenian sea suggest that a continuous tectonic uplift with an average rate of 0 224 mm yr affects the latium coast since 200 ka provide new evidence for a mis 5 5 paleo sea level marker occurring at 35 m a s l on the coastal sector extending from montalto di castro to latina while it possibly drops down and connects to a paleo sea level ranging 10 5 m between monte circeo and gaeta previously attributed to this interglacial discussing possible evidence of similar elevation of the sea level during mis 5 5 5 3 and 5 1 interglacials in the tyrrhenian sea compare this datum with those from the western pacific and several coral reefs where the differences with respect to tectonically stable regions were attributed either to tectonics or to the glacial isostatic adjustment showing that the presented record of sea level markers may have a strong impact on modeling the post glacial effects in the mediterranean sea and on the paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic studies in this region

a review of the stratigraphy of rome italy according to geochronologically and paleomagnetically constrained aggradational successions glacio eustatic forcing and volcano tectonic processes abstract in this paper we provide a critical review of the studies conducted on the geology of rome since the first half of the 20th century aimed at presenting an updated state of the art on the stratigraphy of this area following this introductory summary we present a complete reconstruction of the geological evolution and the resulting chrono litho stratigraphic setting of the greater area of rome according to a series of works that in the last 20 years have adopted an innovative methodological approach based on the conceptual model of aggradational successions deposited in response to sea level rise during the glacial terminations and on the strict geochronologic constraints to the sedimentary record achieved by paleomagnetic investigation of clay sections and 40ar 39ar dating of interbedded volcanic materials we also present a complete overview on the chronostratigraphy of the two volcanic districts of colli albani and monti sabatini located se and nw of rome respectively that has been achieved integrating the field work with the large number of radiometric ages provided in these years on their eruptive products moreover we propose a revised stratigraphic column to compare the most recent official 1 50 000 and 1 10 000 geologic mapping of rome which is intended as a tool of correlation for an international audience of quaternary scientists to approach the study of this area a detailed discussion of the proposed revisions is also provided as supplementary information to this paper

a new age within mis 7 for the homo neanderthalensis of saccopastore in the glacio eustatically forced sedimentary successions of the aniene river valley rome abstract field observations as well as borehole sedimentological and geochronologic data allow us to reconstruct the geologic setting of the aniene river valley in northern rome framing it within the recently recognized picture of temporally constrained glacio eustatically forced aggradational successions of this region the sedimentary successions cropping out in this area include those described in the literature of the early 20th century in saccopastore where two skulls of homo neanderthalensis were recovered based on the geometry elevation and sedimentologic features of the investigated sedimentary deposits the stratigraphic record of saccopastore is correlated with the aggradational succession deposited in response to sea level rise during glacial termination iii at the onset of mis 7 i e 250 ka corresponding to the local vitinia formation as opposed to previous correlation with the mis 5 interglacial and a locally defined tyrrhenian stage 130 ka this previous attribution was based on the interpretation of the sedimentary succession of saccopastore occurring between 15 and 21 m a s l as a fluvial terrace formed around 130 ka during the riss wurm interglacial ca 6 m above the present day alluvial plain of the aniene river in contrast to this interpretation a 40ar 39ar age of 129 2 ka determined for this study on a pyroclastic flow deposit intercalated in a fluvial lacustrine sequence forming a terrace 37 m a s l near the coast of rome constrains the aggradational succession in this area to mis 5 precluding the occurrence of an equivalent fluvial terrace at lower elevation in the inland sector of saccopastore we therefore interpret the stratigraphic record of saccopastore as the basal portion of the aggradational succession deposited in response to sea level rise during mis 7 whose equivalent fluvial terrace occurs around 55 m a s l in this region we also review the published paleontological and paleoethnological records recovered in saccopastore and demonstrate their compatibility with the faunal assemblages and lithic industries occurring in the sedimentary deposits of the vitinia formation while we show the lack of any unequivocal late pleistocene mis 5 affinity we therefore propose that the chronostratigraphic position of the saccopastore deposits containing the two skulls should be around 250 000 years as opposed to a previously preferred age of 130 000 years the revised age makes these skulls the oldest italian occurrences of h neanderthalensis and provides evidence for a substantially coeval appearance and evolutionary path with respect to central northern europe

multiple mechanisms of remagnetization involving sedimentary greigite fe3s4 sedimentary greigite fe3s4 is being increasingly implicated as the carrier of late diagenetic remagnetizations in fine grained marine and terrestrial sediments we have conducted detailed scanning electron microscope observations on polished sections from such sediments coupled with elemental microanalysis to identify greigite and to characterize the mode of occurrence and the relationships between the observed greigite and other authigenic and detrital mineral phases this detailed observational work in conjunction with recently published work has enabled identification of several mechanisms for remagnetization involving greigite 1 neoformation of greigite on the surfaces of early diagenetic framboidal and nodular pyrite 2 greigite growth within cleavages of detrital sheet silicate grains 3 neoformation of greigite on the surfaces of authigenic clays smectite illite 4 greigite nucleation on the surfaces of siderite 5 greigite growth on the surface of gypsum that resulted from earlier oxidation of nodular pyrite many other mechanisms for greigite neoformation are conceivable the key variables are appropriate redox conditions for generation of sulphide and availability of iron from the dissolution of a wide range of possible reactive detrital and authigenic iron bearing minerals documentation of a wide range of mechanisms for neoformation of greigite provides compelling evidence that sediments containing greigite should be routinely suspected of remagnetization which will complicate or compromise studies of environmental magnetism and geomagnetic field behaviour

correlation of fluviodeltaic aggradational sections with glacial climate history a revision of the pleistocene stratigraphy of rome volcanic horizons interbedded with fluviodeltaic clastic sediments of the tiber and fosso galeria river valleys near rome provide a unique opportunity to date five middle pleistocene fining upward aggradational sections 40 ar 39 ar ages from the interbedded volcanic beds illustrate that aggradation occurred on an approximate 100 k y cycle and was initiated by sea level rise associated with glacial melting the age constraint additionally shows that aggradation occurs rapidly in response to sea level change and thus ages from volcanic strata within the aggradational sections provide high resolution constraint on the timing of relative sea level rise the established chronology is consistent with other glacial proxies and their radioisotopically or orbitally based time scales for the timing of glacial terminations vi and v but is significantly older than most records for the timing of termination iii ultimately the age of each termination should be determined by radioisotopic means and to that end the work here shows that fluviodeltaic sedimentology provides valuable information for middle pleistocene time scale calibration

reassessing the sedimentary deposits and vertebrate assemblages from ponte galeria area rome central italy an archive for the middle pleistocene faunas of europe abstract the ponte galeria area is part of the larger campagna romana and hosted the inner delta of the tiber river since the beginning of the middle pleistocene allowing the deposition of a series of glacio eustatically controlled fluvial lacustrine sedimentary successions very rich in fossil mammal remains due to its richness of fossiliferous sites this area represents an exceptional archive for the study and understanding of the biochronological paleobiogeographical and paleoenvironmental evolution during the middle pleistocene in europe a series of recent studies using the 40 ar 39 ar ages of tephra intercalated within the sedimentary deposits provided a large amount of geochronological data linking these aggradational successions to the different marine isotopic stages in the present paper we present a complete review of the faunal assemblages identified so far in the ponte galeria area and we constrain the ages of the faunal units by placing them within the new chronostratigraphic scheme by means of this interdisciplinary approach we re calibrate the mammal assemblages collected in this area and reconstruct a new biochronological and paleobiogeographic framework for the italian peninsula during the middle pleistocene in particular we distinguish six well defined biochronological units slivia ponte galeria isernia fontana ranuccio torre in pietra and vitinia in the studied area covering a time span of ca 0 6 myr from the early to middle pleistocene transition to at least marine isotope stage 7 this period is characterized in europe by the mid pleistocene revolution global climate change and by the transition at first between villafranchian and galerian taxa and later between the galerian and aurelian ones according to the reviewed data the persistence of villafranchian taxa is recorded in italy at the beginning of the middle pleistocene probably due to favorable climatic conditions or delay in dispersal of competitive species while the faunal turnover between the villafranchian and galerian species was completed around 0 6 0 5 ma during this time bos primigenius and other temperate warm taxa were widespread in the peninsula earlier than in western europe in contrast typical aurelian taxa usually related with temperate cold climatic conditions ursus spelaeus megaloceros giganteus occurred later in italy than in other western european areas