petrology and geochemistry of potassic and ultrapotassic volcanism in central italy petrogenesis and inferences on the evolution of the mantle sources major trace element sr isotopic and mineral chemical data are reported for mafic volcanic rocks mg value 65 from the northern central sector of the potassic volcanic belt of central italy the rocks investigated range from potassic series ks and high k series hks to lamproitic lmp and kamafugitic kam through a transitional series trans thus covering the entire compositional spectrum of potassic and ultrapotassic magmas kam rocks are strongly silica undersaturated and compared with the other rock series have low sio2 al2o3 na2o sc and v and high cao k na na k al ks and hks have high al2o3 cao and variable enrichment in k2o and incompatible elements lmp rocks are saturated in silica and have high sio2 k2o k2o na2 mgo ni and cr and low al2o3 cao na2o sc and v trans rocks display intermediate compositional characteristics between lmp and ks all the rocks under study have fractionated hygromagmaphile element patterns with high lil hfs element values and negative anomalies of ti ta nb and ba negative sr anomalies are observed in the lmp and trans rocks lil elements show overall positive correlations with k2o whereas different trends of sr and hfse vs k2o are defined by lmp trans and ks hks kam 87sr 86sr range from about 0 710 to 0 716 ks hks and kam rocks have similar 87sr 86sr values clustering around 0 710 lmp and trans rocks have the highest 87sr 86sr values geochemical and isotopic data reported for the most primitive italian potassic and ultrapotassic rocks support the hypothesis that the interaction between crustal and mantle reservoirs was a main process in the genesis of italian potassic magmatism simple mass balance calculations exclude however an important role of crustal assimilation during ascent of subcrustal magmas to the surface and indicate that the sources of central italy volcanics underwent contamination with fluids and or melts released by upper crustal material previously brought into the mantle by subduction processes different trends of incompatible elements vs k2o observed in the studied rocks suggest distinct metasomatic processes for the sources of the investigated magmas liquids derived by bulk melting of pelitic sediments are believed to be the most likely contaminants of the source of lmp rocks fluids or melts rich in ca sr and with high lile hfse value and sr isotopic composition around 0 710 are the most likely contaminant of the source region of ks hks and kam volcanics variations in cao na2o and ferromagnesian element abundances and ratios suggest that in some zones the mantle source of potassic magmas experienced partial melting with extraction of basaltic liquids prior to metasomatism

40ar 39ar and 14c geochronology of the albano maar deposits implications for defining the age and eruptive style of the most recent explosive activity at colli albani volcanic district central italy abstract new 40 ar 39 ar and 14 c ages have been found for the albano multiple maar pyroclastic units and underlying paleosols to document the most recent explosive activity in the colli albani volcanic district cavd near rome italy consisting of seven eruptions albano 1 oldest both dating methodologies have been applied on several proximal units and on four mid distal fall surge deposits the latter correlated according to two current different views to either the albano or the campi di annibale hydromagmatic center the 40 ar 39 ar ages on leucite phenocrysts from the mid distal units yielded ages of ca 72 ka 73 ka 41 ka and 36 ka bp which are indistinguishable from the previously determined 40 ar 39 ar ages of the proximal albano units 1 2 5 and 7 thus confirming their stratigraphic correspondence twenty one 14 c ages of the paleosols beneath albano units 3 5 6 and 7 were found for samples collected from 13 proximal and distal sections some of which were the same sections sampled for 40 ar 39 ar measurements the 14 c ages were found to be stratigraphically inconsistent and highly scattered and were systematically younger than the 40 ar 39 ar ages ranging from 35 ka to 3 ka considering the significant consistence of the 40 ar 39 ar chronological framework we interpret the scattered and contradictory 14 c ages to be the result of a variable contamination of the paleosols by younger organic carbon deriving from the superficial soil horizons these results suggest that multiple isotopic systems anchored to a robust stratigraphic framework may need to be employed to determine accurately the geochronology of the cavd as well as other volcanic districts

paleozoic metasomatism at the origin of mediterranean ultrapotassic magmas constraints from time dependent geochemistry of colli albani volcanic products central italy abstract the major processes that control the genesis of potassic volcanic rocks like the timing of multi stage mantle metasomatism remain largely unclear in an attempt to clarify the timing of the metasomatic process a detailed geochronologic and geochemical study has been conducted on the ultrapotassic rocks of the colli albani volcanic district central italy new 40 ar 39 ar data coupled with literature and newly performed 87 sr 86 sr 143 nd 144 nd and chemical data allow us to precisely delineate the time dependent geochemical variations of the magmas erupted at the colli albani volcanic district and to better define mantle source processes responsible for their genesis the temporal geochemical variations observed in the colli albani magmas indicate that i the ultrapotassic magmas originated from a metasomatized mantle source in which phlogopite is the potassium bearing phase ii the partial melting of the mantle source involved mainly phlogopite and clinopyroxene olivine whereas the role of accessory phases was less significant and iii the metasomatic process that led to the formation of the phlogopite in the mantle can be reasonably related to events that have occurred during the paleozoic era

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

radon distribution in groundwater of the po sedimentary basin italy abstract 222 rn in groundwaters from some areas of the po sedimentary basin characterized by different hydrological conditions has been determined by alpha ray activity aquifers of three different lithological domains have been considered a an apennine one mainly sedimentary emilia b an alpine one predominantly igneous acid subacid lombardy and c another alpine one mainly calcareous verona plain in the first two areas recent continental waters waters with a long residence in the aquifers paleowaters and sodium chloride waters formed by squeezing of underlying marine sediments have been investigated in the verona area thermal waters coming from deep fissured carbonate formations were analyzed rn content is significantly different in the various areas averages lombardy plain 392 emilia upper plain 291 emilia lower plain 142 sodium chloride waters 160 paleowaters 168 pci l for the verona thermal waters the rn values correlate with temperature and geothermal indicators sio 2 etc hydrodynamic parameters within the aquifers seem to control the rn distribution in groundwaters circulating in unconsolidated sediments factors governing the generation of 222 rn in the rock grains as well as parameters and processes contributing to its transport into the circulating fluids are discussed besides known parameters the effect of water molecules bonded to solid fluid interfaces on the rn concentration in the fluids is considered the release of rn from these molecules into the circulating fluids is discussed in relation to fluid movement and temperature

quaternary fluvial volcanic stratigraphy and geochronology of the capitoline hill in rome in and around rome coastal and fluvial sediments influenced by quaternary sea level changes interfinger with accurately datable highly potassic pyroclastic volcanic units we describe the complex internal geology of the capitoline hill for centuries a place of leading importance in ancient rome and more recently a focus of archaeological research outcrops and many new drill cores reveal at least four cycles of valley cutting and filling probably recording the history of the tiber river in response to changes in sea level single crystal 40 ar 39 ar dates on sanidine give ages of 518 6 413 5 and 353 2 ka for three prominent volcanic units filling separate paleovalleys the roman region offers the potential for direct age calibration of the quaternary sea level record

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

age constraints on the india asia collision derived from secondary remanences of tethyan himalayan sediments from the tingri area abstract we report paleomagnetic results from the zhepure shan formation and the youxia formation of the tingri section 28 42 n 86 43 e and the longjiang section 28 27 n 86 40 e in southern tibet a lower coercive component demagnetized below 30 mt and a higher coercive component demagnetized between 30 mt and 100 mt were separated rockmagnetic analyses reveal magnetite as the remanence carrier the differences in coercivity are probably due to a wider grain size spectrum and therefore different domain states remanence directions of the low coercive component are highly scattered and were not considered for further analysis directions of the high coercive component of members a c of the zhepure shan fm are fairly well grouped within sites k 8 for most sites whereas those of member d and the overlying youxia fm are highly dispersed applied fold tests indicate a postfolding remanence for members a c the latest possible time for remanence acquisition of members a c is constrained to a mean of 48 ma by comparing the determined paleolatitudes to the curve of expected paleolatitudes versus age calculated from the apwp of india deformation of the rocks is likely related to india asia collision and therefore the remanence age yields a constraint on the latest possible age of the india asia collision in consideration of an extended pre collisional northern indian margin greater india the determined values of 48 ma mean and 37 ma youngest possible age within 95 confidence limits underestimate the age of the continental collision

plinian activity during the early eruptive history of the sabatini volcanic district central italy abstract the early activity of the sabatini volcanic district svd central italy was characterised by highly explosive eruptions that produced widespread subplinian and plinian fall deposits in this study four major eruptive units informally named as units a b c and d were recognised in the 514 449 ka age interval in particular unit d was emplaced during the early phase of the 449 ka tufo rosso a scorie nere pyroclastic flow forming eruption the most important event in the whole svd activity history estimates of relevant eruptive parameters indicate tephra fall volumes up to 4 km3 for individual units peak eruption column heights in the range of 14 29 km and corresponding mass eruption rates of 7 8 106 1 3 108 kg s isopach and isopleth maps of fallout deposits as well as the distribution of the proximal lag breccia of the tufo rosso a scorie nere consistently indicate a common vent area which does not correspond to any volcanic centre identified up to now in the svd this was located along ne sw trending tectonic lineaments that also controlled the location of the other major volcanic centres of the svd the characterisation by means of field aspects grain size componentry and density and chemical composition of juvenile clasts renders the studied fall deposits as valuable stratigraphic markers for the svd and well beyond it in fact their wide areal dispersals toward the e and se may allow correlations on a regional scale for the quaternary successions of intermountain basins of the central apennine and the adriatic sea basin successions finally the correct identification of distal tephra from plinian and co ignimbrite plumes and their attribution to specific explosive eruptions of the svd and the other volcanic districts of the roman province rather than to local intra apennine centres provides crucial implications for geodynamic reconstructions

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

geochronology of the most recent activity in the sabatini volcanic district roman province central italy abstract the presence of young highly explosive volcanoes in the densely populated roman area central italy makes the evaluation of the long term volcanic hazard a crucial point the sabatini volcanic district svd part of the potassic quaternary roman province extends over an area of 1800 km2 including the city of rome here we report twenty six new 40ar 39ar age analyses of pyroclastic and lava units in order to put time constraints on the most recent svd eruptive activity i e post dating 400 ka as a groundwork for a detailed reconstruction of the whole volcano tectonic evolution integrated geochronological and field evidence shows that svd volcanism maintained a typical areal character through the whole history both effusive and explosive activity phases from different source areas and volcano tectonic settings overlapped in time and space while climactic phases migrated repeatedly through time in particular new geochronological data better constrain a climactic phase of activity at around 300 ka related to the bracciano volcano tectonic depression and the sacrofano caldera and point out that the most recent eruptive activity in the svd took place from time space clustered hydromagmatic centres at least up to 90 ka in addition we remark some parallelism among major activity phases in the svd and the nearby districts of the roman province with possible implications on quaternary regional tectonics finally new age data put constraints on tephrostratigraphic correlations through the apennine chain and the adriatic sea

geochemical monitoring of the 2012 po valley seismic sequence a review and update abstract a seismic swarm characterized by a ml 5 9 mainshock occurred in the po valley northern italy in 2012 the area has been studied for active compressional tectonics since the beginning of the twentieth century a variety of geophysical and geochemical parameters have been utilized with the purpose of identifying possible precursory signals this paper considers groundwater level data and geochemical data both in groundwaters and in gases all considered parameters have led to the conclusion that possible long and medium precursory trends have been identified in geofluids no short term precursors have been clearly identified hydrogeological and geochemical monitoring could be more effectively utilized in a different geological context and seismic hazard reduction procedures could benefit from geofluid monitoring

the history of the monti sabatini and alban hills volcanoes groundwork for assessing volcanic tectonic hazards for rome abstract the volcanic rocks of rome provide chronostratigraphic constraint that is of use to geologists archaeologists and paleontologists identifying the areal distribution of these rocks their mode of emplacement and a detailed chronology of the eruptive events also is crucial for assessing local natural hazards in a volcanic tectonic context and for recognizing whether the volcanoes may erupt again in the future we have identified and dated many of the volumetrically significant eruptive units from the monti sabatini and alban hills colli albani and propose a formalized volcanic stratigraphy for rome it is probable that seismic events triggered some eruptions as several ignimbrites from the two volcanoes have statistically indistinguishable ages following a 200 kyr period of dormancy that was coincident with a pulse of regional uplift the alban hills appears to have begun recently circa 45 ka a new eruptive cycle therefore accurate assessment of volcanic tectonic hazards and estimation of possible future volcanic activity is necessary for the safety of the five million people living near these volcanoes

origins and energetics of maar volcanoes examples from the ultrapotassic sabatini volcanic district roman province central italy maar volcanoes represent a common volcano type which is produced by the explosive interaction of magma with external water here we provide information on a number of maars in the ultrapotassic sabatini volcanic district svd roman province as young as 90 ka the svd maars are characterised in terms of crater and ejecta ring morphologies eruptive successions and magma compositions in light of the local substrate settings with the aim of assessing magma water interaction conditions eruption energetics and genetic mechanisms feeder magmas spanned the whole svd differentiation trend from trachybasalts shoshonites to phonolites from the ejected lithic fragments from aquifer rocks the range of depth of magma water explosive interaction is estimated to have been mostly at 400 600 m below ground level with a single occurrence of surficial interaction in palustrine lacustrine environment in particular the interaction with external water may have triggered the explosive behaviour of poorly differentiated magmas whereas it may have acted only as a late controlling factor of the degree of fragmentation and eruption style for the most differentiated magma batches during low flux ascent in an incipiently fragmented state crater sizes ejecta volumes and ballistic data allow a reconstruction of the energy budget of svd maar forming eruptions erupted tephra volumes from either monogenetic or polygenetic maars ranged 0 004 0 07 km3 during individual maar forming eruptions with corresponding total magma thermal energies of 8 1015 4 1017 j based on energy partitioning and volume balance of erupted magmas and lithic fractions vs crater holes we consider the different contributions of explosive excavation of the substrate vs subsidence in forming the svd maar craters following available models based on crater sizes highly variable fractions 5 50 of the magma thermal energies would have been required for crater excavation it appears that subsidence may have played a major role in some svd maars characterised by low lithic contents whilst substrate excavation became increasingly significant with increasing degrees of aquifer fragmentation

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

eruptive history and petrologic evolution of the albano multiple maar alban hills central italy a comprehensive volcanological study of the albano multiple maar alban hills italy using i 40ar 39ar geochronology of the most complete stratigraphic section and other proximal and distal outcrops and ii petrographic observations phase analyses of major and trace elements and sr and o isotopic analyses of the pyroclastic deposits shows that volcanic activity at albano was strongly discontinuous with a first eruptive cycle at 69 1 ka producing at least two eruptions and a second cycle with two peaks at 39 1 and 36 1 ka producing at least four eruptions contrary to previous studies we did not find evidence of magmatic or hydromagmatic eruptions younger than 36 1 ka the activity of albano was fed by a new batch of primary magma compositionally different from that of the older activity of the alban hills moreover the ree and 87sr 86sr data indicate that the albano magma originated from an enriched metasomatized mantle according to the modeled liquid line of descent this magma differentiated under the influence of magma limestone wall rock interaction our detailed eruptive and petrologic reconstruction of the albano maar evolution substantiates the dormant state of the alban hills volcanic district

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

earthquake forerunners in a selected area of northern italy recent developments in automatic geochemical monitoring abstract this article describes the monitoring of certain mud volcanoes in the northern apennines of italy this monitoring was carried out from a geochemical point of view and its aim was to verify the seismic precursory nature of the mud volcano fluids the operational strategy began by determining the regional character of the main physical and chemical precursors and a multidisciplinary approach to the historical research was used to achieve this the utility of such an approach in monitoring strategy has been confirmed a series of experiments was carried out to identify the physical model the main geochemical characteristics and the origin of the seismic precursory phenomena with particular reference to radon 222 the technological apparatus necessary for a reliable automatic continuous monitoring system of the geochemical parameters of mud volcanoes were then extensively tried out the first results of this monitoring system refer to dec 1988 jan 1989 in this period there were some seismic events which were preceded by certain phenomena we can call precursory an interpretative model has been created from all the information collected so that similar situations can be better understood from a physical and chemical point of view

in the elephant everything is good carcass use and re use at castel di guido italy abstract castel di guido is a typical middle pleistocene elephant site where intentionally fragmented bones of elephant and of other large mammals were found together with acheulean biface like industry including bifaces made of various stone types and of elephant bone associated with flint tools on pebbles and flakes following a first interpretation of the evidence the site represented a single and short phase of use and elephants horses aurochs and few other species were killed and butchered on site or partly brought to the site to be butchered after having been killed elsewhere the bones were intentionally fractured for marrow extraction and left to season before being used as raw material for artefact production further evidence deriving from more recent studies suggests that the site lasted for much longer time and is in fact an intricate palimpsest of several phases of human use and partial reworking castel di guido results largely from anthropic processes deriving from peculiar behavioural aspects of the early neandertal groups that frequented the site the carcasses of various taxa were exploited for food and the elephant ones also for raw material in bone tool production this choice was probably due to limited availability of good quality flint or other hard rocks in the area because of these characteristics castel di guido is an ideal ground for exploring the aspects of use re use and recycling of food and raw material resources and of tools several stone and some bone tools show clear evidence of recycling such as subsequent knapping or refashioning phases put into evidence by different wear of the surfaces these characteristics point to long continuity of use of the site for similar purposes which is in accordance with the very different preservation of the remains that were partly reworked by short range fluvial processes these aspects indicate that the bones of large taxa mostly elephant were part of a complex subsistence system characterised by hunting and scavenging on one side and an extremely fuzzy boundary among use re use and recycling on the other one this system was based on the recycling or transfunctionalisation of the carcasses which were exploited for food consumption meat and possibly marrow and later for raw material procurement over a long time of permanence and availability on the surface of the site

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