Papers by Filippo D'Oriano
Journal of Sedimentary Research, 2015
The different response of depositional systems to changes in accommodation causes lacustrine shor... more The different response of depositional systems to changes in accommodation causes lacustrine shorelines to develop a marked along-strike variability, which is well known in modern lakes but poorly documented in the fossil record. The late Holocene shoreline deposits of Lake Hayk (Southern Wollo, Ethiopia) provide an outstanding example of this variability. The succession is time-calibrated through numerous radiocarbon dates and provides a detailed record of climate-driven, lacustrine oscillations that occurred during the past 3500 yr. These oscillations are also recorded in coeval East Africa lakes and promoted three main highstand phases, which occurred at about 3250-3000, 2600-950, and 650-160 Cal yr BP. Oscillations in lake levels are documented in fluvio-deltaic systems and colluvial fan deltas with stromatolite biostromes along low-and high-relief lake margins, respectively. Along low-relief margins, most rises in lake level were recorded by aggradation of fluvio-deltaic or marsh successions, which range in thickness from 2 to 6 m. Along the high-relief margins the same lake-level rises are documented by 0.2 to 4.5 cm thick, wave-winnowed, sandy lag deposits. Development soils, which stabilized the steep slopes and prevented their erosion, allowed the occurrence of nondepositional transgressions. Isotope data show that stromatolite biostromes formed during phases of intense evaporation and lacustrine contraction, which are also recorded by fluvial erosion in adjacent areas. Changes in accommodation can be differently documented in nearshore lacustrine successions as a consequence of a marked along-strike variability of shoreline depositional dynamics.
Economic Geology, 2014
Hydrothermal alteration processes involve mineralogical, chemical and textural changes as a resul... more Hydrothermal alteration processes involve mineralogical, chemical and textural changes as a result of hot aqueous fluid-rock interaction under evolving boundary conditions. These changes affect the physico-chemical properties of the rocks, enabling high-resolution geophysical prospecting to be an important tool in the detection of seafloor hydrothermal alteration. Here we present the results of recent geophysical investigations of Marsili and Palinuro volcanic complexes, southern Tyrrhenian Sea during the 2010 TIR10 and 2011 MAVA2011 cruises by the R/V Urania. The new dataset includes a dense grid of multibeam bathymetry; seafloor reflectivity, magnetic and gravity lines; and high-resolution single (CHIRP) and multichannel seismic profiles. The surveys were focused on areas known to host intense hydrothermal alteration in order to provide a more detailed description of the Marsili and Palinuro hydrothermal systems. Ground-truthing was based on earlier discoveries of hydrothermal vents and their associated deposits, and on direct observations made by ROV dives. High-resolution morpho-bathymetry, sonar reflectivity, rock magnetization and density distribution together enabled us to assess the extent of seafloor hydrothermal alteration and its relationship to local volcanic and tectonic structures.
Panarea and surrounding Islets form a volcanic edifice, that is part of the Eastern sector of the... more Panarea and surrounding Islets form a volcanic edifice, that is part of the Eastern sector of the Aeolian Arc, Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. It is now considered inactive, since last documented activity is 20 Ka old. However, on 2002-11-03, gas started to flow violently from the seafloor in an area E of the Island, mainly along NE and NW structural lineaments, and lasting up to 2003-2004 with a consistent flux, orders of magnitude larger that 'steady-state' fumarolic activity documented there in historical times. On the same period a strong effusive activity of Stromboli (10 NM to NNE) was present. Since then, several investigations have been conducted at sea and on land, with the aim of focusing on the problem of effusive activity at sea, mainly in the light of volcanic surveillance and risk. Among these investigations, some of which have been repeated over years, we present and discuss some data and results from: (a)visual inspection and sampling by divers and ROV, (b)GPS networks and mapping by multibeam and LIDAR, (c) oceanographical measurements by current meters and CTD, and water flux and dynamics measurements, (d)magnetic and gravimetric surveys, (e) multichannel reflection Seismic with OBS and land station networks. Data were used for compilation of high resolution bathymetric, magnetic and gravimetric maps, including the emerged and submerged portions of the edifice.
of methodologies, technical details and ship-board results of the TIR2010 geophysical, geological... more of methodologies, technical details and ship-board results of the TIR2010 geophysical, geological and oceanographical survey in the Central and Southern Tyrrhenian Sea with R/V Urania is presented. Sommario -Vengono presentati le metodologie e l'insieme dei risultati ottenuti durante la campagna TIR2010. E' stata utilizzata la nave da ricerca R/V Urania del CNR,
PloS one, 2015
Leiopathes glaberrima is a tall arborescent black coral species structuring important facies of t... more Leiopathes glaberrima is a tall arborescent black coral species structuring important facies of the deep-sea rocky bottoms of the Mediterranean Sea that are severely stifled by fishing activities. At present, however, no morphological in vivo description, ecological characterization, age dating and evaluation of the possible conservation actions have ever been made for any population of this species in the basin. A dense coral population was reported during two Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) surveys conducted on a rocky bank off the SW coasts of Sardinia (Western Mediterranean Sea). L. glaberrima forms up to 2 m-tall colonies with a maximal observed basal diameter of nearly 7 cm. The radiocarbon dating carried out on a colony from this site with a 4 cm basal diameter revealed an approximately age of 2000 years. Considering the size-frequency distribution of the colonies in the area it is possible to hypothesize the existence of other millennial specimens occupying a supposedly very...
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2012
This paper presents a stratigraphical and geomorphological analysis supported with geochronologic... more This paper presents a stratigraphical and geomorphological analysis supported with geochronological dating aiming to reconstruct the Late Holocene lake-level fluctuations and paleohydrological history of Lake Hayk. This lake (23 km 2 in surface) is located in the eastern side of the northern Ethiopia highlands, at an altitude of around 2000 m above sea level. Along the northern margin of the lake, which is mainly characterized by steep rocky slopes, the studied succession consists of colluvial and stromatolitic deposits. Along the southern margin, which is characterized by a wide coastal plain drained by the main watercourse feeding the lake (the Ankarka River), the study deposits are mainly palustrine, deltaic and fluvial in origin. Geomorphological and sedimentological data, integrated with a radiocarbon chronology, highlighted that during the last 3500 years the lake was affected by three main highstand phases, which occurred at about 3250-3000, 2600-950 and 650-160 cal yrs BP, respectively. These highstands are documented by aggradation of siliciclastic systems both along the southern and northern margins, whereas isotope data highlight that most of the stromatolitic deposits developed during phases of intense evaporation. This peculiar feature could be differently explained: i) stromatolite growth was triggered by rapid lacustrine rises, but mainly occurred during the long-lasting lacustrine falls; ii) stromatolite developed during tectonic-induced transgressions, which occurred during phases of intense evaporation. Despite the possible effects of local tectonics, the Lake Hayk record shows a good correlation with those of several late Holocene lakes of East Africa lakes (Naivasha, Tanganyika, Victoria, Turkana, Abhè, Ziway-Shala, Bosumtwi and Abyiata), highlighting that it can be considered as a suitable climatic proxy for late Holocene time span. In particular, by both siliciclastic and stromatolitic deposits occurring in the uppermost part of the sedimentary succession record high-frequency oscillations, which have been ascribed to three main droughts that occurred during the Little Ice Age. These droughts were previously documented only in Lake Naivasha and Lake Victoria.
An updated bathy-morphological setting of the Aeolian Islands is presented, based on new detailed... more An updated bathy-morphological setting of the Aeolian Islands is presented, based on new detailed bathymetric maps of the western, central and eastern sectors of the archipelago. In recent years, the acquisition of multibeam swath bathymetry has greatly expanded knowledge of the submarine portions of the Aeolian volcanic edifices, revealing that their submarine extension is much wider than that of the islands. Indications given by the submarine setting are fundamental for better understanding of the evolution of volcanism and the control exerted by main structural lineaments, as well as to locate large-scale flank instability events and recent submarine eruptive activity.
Bathy-morphological Map Central Aeolian Sector
Scientific Reports, 2012
The Messina Strait, that separates peninsular Italy from Sicily, is one of the most seismically a... more The Messina Strait, that separates peninsular Italy from Sicily, is one of the most seismically active areas of the Mediterranean. The structure and seismotectonic setting of the region are poorly understood, although the area is highly populated and important infrastructures are planned there. New seismic reflection data have identified a number of faults, as well as a crustal scale NE-trending anticline few km north of the strait. These features are interpreted as due to active right-lateral transpression along the north-eastern Sicilian offshore, coexisting with extensional and right-lateral transtensional tectonics in the southern Messina Strait. This complex tectonic network appears to be controlled by independent and overlapping tectonic settings, due to the presence of a diffuse transfer zone between the SE-ward retreating Calabria subduction zone relative to slab advance in the western Sicilian side.
Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 2013
An updated bathy-morphological setting of the Aeolian Islands is presented, based on new detailed... more An updated bathy-morphological setting of the Aeolian Islands is presented, based on new detailed bathymetric maps of the western, central and eastern sectors of the archipelago. In recent years, the acquisition of multibeam swath bathymetry has greatly expanded knowledge of the submarine portions of the Aeolian volcanic edifices, revealing that their submarine extension is much wider than that of the islands. Indications given by the submarine setting are fundamental for better understanding of the evolution of volcanism and the control exerted by main structural lineaments, as well as to locate large-scale flank instability events and recent submarine eruptive activity.
Geophysical Journal International, 2010
New high-resolution bathymetric and magnetic data from the western Aeolian sector, southern Tyrrh... more New high-resolution bathymetric and magnetic data from the western Aeolian sector, southern Tyrrhenian Sea, provide insights into structural and volcanic development of the area, suggesting a strong interaction between volcanism and tectonics. The analysis of these data combined with relocated earthquake distribution, focal plane solutions and strain rate evaluation indicates that the dextral strike-slip Sisifo-Alicudi shear zone is a complex and wide area of active deformation, representing the superficial expression of the deep seated lithospheric tear fault separating the subduction slab below Sicily and Calabria. Most of the observed volcanic features are aligned along a NW-SE trend, such as the Filicudi island-Alicudi North Seamount and Eolo-Enarete alignments, and are dissected by hundred-metre-high scarps along conjugate NNE-SSW trending fault systems. The magnetic field pattern matches the main trends of volcanic features. Spectral analysis and Euler deconvolution of magnetic anomalies show the existence of both deep and shallow sources. High-amplitude, high-frequency anomalies due to shallow sources are dominant close to the volcanic edifices of Alicudi and Filicudi, while the main contribution on the surrounding Eolo, Enarete, Alicudi North and Filicudi North seamounts is given by low-amplitude anomalies and/or deeper magnetic sources. This is probably related to different ages of the volcanic rocks, although hydrothermal processes may have played an important role in blanketing magnetic anomalies, in particular at Enarete and Eolo seamounts. Relative chronology of the eruptive centres and the inferred deformation pattern outline the Quaternary evolution of the western Aeolian Arc: Sisifo, Alicudi North and Filicudi North seamounts might have developed in an early stage, following the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene SE-ward migration of arc-related volcanism due to the Ionian subduction hinge retreat; Eolo, Enarete and Filicudi represent later manifestations that led volcanoes to develop during Mid-Late Pleistocene, when the stress regime in the area changed, due to the SSE-ward propagation of the subduction slab tear fault and the consequent reorientation and decrease of trench migration velocity. Finally, volcanic activity occurred in a very short time span at Alicudi, where an almost conical volcanic edifice emerged, suggesting negligible interactions with regional fault systems.
Coral Patch and Ormonde seamounts as a product of the Madeira hotspot, Eastern Atlantic Ocean
Terra Nova, 2010
Abstract New detailed swath bathymetry and bottom samples from Coral Patch and Ormonde seamounts ... more Abstract New detailed swath bathymetry and bottom samples from Coral Patch and Ormonde seamounts provide constraints on the emplacement of the Madeira hotspot in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. Swath bathymetric data document that Coral Patch is a composite structure, made up of at least nine distinct volcanic centres. Lithified pelagic carbonates infilling fissures in lava blocks constrain a minimal age for the volcanism in the Early Miocene and represent the first documentation of Coral Patch acting as an offshore ...
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Papers by Filippo D'Oriano