- Acronym
- CHIMERA
- Code
- PNRA18_00158_A
- Research area
- Earth science
- Specific research topic
- Study of cryptotephra and tephra (volcanic ash) in marine sediments
- Region of interest
- Antartide, Ross Sea
- Project website
- https://progetti.ingv.it/it/chimera#project-information
- PI
- Paola Del Carlo
- PI establishment
- INGV
- Institutional website
- https://www.ingv.it
- Other institutions and subjects involved
- University of Trieste, ISP, ISMAR-CNR
- Consistency of the research team
- The team consists of 8 researchers including 5 women, 2 technologists (1 man + 1 woman), 2 technicians and 1 postdoc
- Project status
- In progress
- Main stations used
- Attività svolta in Italia
- The project
Antarctic marine sediments may contain the products of explosive volcanic eruptions called "tephra." Tephras are preserved in marine sediments when they are poorly disturbed, not eroded, and the sedimentation rate is relatively high. By properly characterizing the tephras, dating them and correlating them with the volcano of origin, they become stratigraphic and temporal markers, true isochrons, critical for correlations of Antarctic geologic records. Tephras are also very useful for volcanological studies, to understand the nature, magnitude, age and recurrence of volcanic eruptions. The number of tephra identified in marine sequences can be expanded if they are examined for cryptotephra, that is, levels of volcanic ash not visible to the naked eye. Recently, and for the first time in Antarctica, these were recognized in a core sampled in the Joides Basin (Ross Sea). Several other cores have been sampled in previous Italian expeditions in the same area and reasonably contain cryptotephra. This discovery broadens the prospects for research, allowing new targets to be addressed.
- Images
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- Motivation, importance of research
- Objectives of the proposal
As part of innovative and multidisciplinary research, the CHIMERA project proposes to:
1) reexamine cores sampled in the Ross Sea continental basins;
2) identify, date and characterize the cryptotefra contained in these sequences;
3) make the cryptotefra identifiable as stratigraphic markers;
4) use cryptotefra to synchronize and correlate Antarctic archives by extrapolating information obtained at regional/continental scales with special reference to paleoenvironmental reconstructions and ice oscillations.
- Activities carried out and results achieved
a. Review of Ross Sea marine sediment cores at the MNA repository;
b. Performing non-destructive analysis (X-ray, SM magnetic susceptibility curve, XRF core-logging) and sampling for sedimentological analysis, TOC and biostratigraphy;
c. Identification (based on X-ray, SM) and extraction of cryptotephra according to procedures reported in the literature;
d. Characterization of cryptotefra, including their composition, major and trace element composition (EPMA and LA-ICP-MS);
e. Independent and relative dating;
f. Study of magnetic properties of sediment cores;
g. Biostratigraphic and geochemical studies of sediment cores;
h. Presentation of preliminary project results at national or international conferences.
- Products
Abstracts:
SCAR 2022 Antarctic Ice Sheets dynamic in two basins of the western Ross Sea continental shelf: evidence using multidisciplinary stratigraphic markers.Melis R., Capotondi L., Caricchi C., Colizza E., Di Roberto A., Giglio F., Macrì P., Re G., Torricella F., Del Carlo P.
Conferenza Rittmann 2022 Cryptotephra layers in marine sequences of the Ross Sea, Antarctica: implications and potential application. Del Carlo P., Re G., Di Roberto A., Gariboldi K., Langone L., Tesi T. and the Participants to the projects*
*Participants to the projects: Capotondi L., Chiaricchi C., Colizza E., Gallerani A., Galli G., Giglio F., Macrì P., Melis R., Morigi C., Nazzari M., Pambianco C., Petrelli M., B. Scateni, Torricella F.
SCAR 2020 Cryptotephra in marine sequences of the Ross Sea, Antarctica: implications and potential applications. Del Carlo P. Capotondi L., Chiaricchi C., Colizza E., Di Roberto A., Gallerani A., Giglio F., Landucci C., Macrì P., Melis R., Misereocchi S., Nazzari M., Protopsalti I., Winkler A.
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