Sciences and Teaching of Natural Systems

FRANCESCO LATINO CHIOCCI
FRANCESCO LATINO CHIOCCI
ENRICO ZAMBIANCHI
ENRICO ZAMBIANCHI

The course aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of marine environments,
ranging from oceanic ridges to coastal shorelines. It covers the sedimentary processes
characteristic of different marine settings and the key factors that influence them.
Additionally, the course explores offshore applications, including service-related studies, the
assessment of marine geohazards, environmental investigations, and geological mapping of
marine areas.

Knowledge of ability to use the main tools for seabed exploration.
Ability to design and interpretation of marine surveys.
Knowledge of the marine environment and of the geological processes acting in the different domains.
Knowledge of the evolution of continental margins in the long, short and very short term, even in relation to global change.
Knowledge of the Italian seas and their correlation with the geodynamic, sedimentary and vulcanotettonic setting.
Knowledge of applicative jobs on various fields of marine geology.

Basic knowledge of geology, physics (optics and acoustics) physical oceanography and marine chemistry

General Part
1.1 Historical developments: From the Challenger cruise to Count Marsili, the contribution of marine geology in the definition of the models of global tectonics, DSDP/ODP/IODP projects, current situation and future developments on marine geology.
Bathyal plains and ocean circulation
2.1 The mid-ocean ridges: Morphology and structure of the oceanic crust, heat flow, mechanisms of effusion, hydrothermal vent, benthic communities.
2.2 Physical Oceanography: The pycnocline, the surfacial circulation, the boundary currents; Coriolis and Eckman. The deep water circulation, formation of bottom water, the geostrophic currents. Upwelling phenomena and influences on productivity and climate. Estuarine and antiestuarine system, superficial and deep water circulation in the Mediterranean Sea.
2.3 Bathyal Plain: Deep sea morphology and sedimentation. Transport mechanisms and compensation depth. Biological productivity and sedimentation. Sedimentation and climate, paleoclimatic indicators ( transfer equations, stable isotopes ). Sapropel.
The continental slopes
3.1 Gravitational instability: Types and factors controlling instability, the evolution of the phenomenon ( pre-syn and post-break). Granular debris, turbidity.
3.2 Canyon and turbidity currents: Canyon and ocean passages. the turbidity currents, evidence and hypotheses. Alluvial fans and turbidite channels.
3.3 Currents and contourity: The contur currents and the thermohaline circulation, erosive and depositional features. Cascadity and nepheloyid layers.
The continental shelves
4.1Physiography: The shelf break, shelf morphology and geodynamic context, shelves in glacial and periglacial areas, temperate and tropical shelves.
4.2 Depositional processes: wave, current and tide dominated shelves. Coastal and deltaic environment, tempestites. Sedimentation modern palimpsest and relict sediment.
4.3 Stratigraphy of the sheft: Regression and transgression, mechanisms of shoreline retreat, relict morphologies. Geological mapping of the continental shelves.
The sequence stratigraphy
5.1 The seismic stratigraphy: Terminations and basal unconformity, acoustic facies, coastal onlap.
5.2 The sequence stratigraphy: The accommodation space available, depositional sequences, lowstand, transgressive, highstand systems tracts and forced regression. Parasequences and their stacking pattern.
5.3 The sea level changes: Change of relative sea level and its controlling factors. Quaternary glacioeustatisy and its characteristics (amplitude, frequency, asymmetry, depth range ). Application of sequence stratigraphy to Quaternary.
Applicative studies
6.1 Mineral resources: polymetallic nodules, phosphorites, placers, gas hydrates, offshore oil exploration, search of relict sand for artificial beach nourishment. Rights of exploitation and Law Of the Sea (LOS)
6.2 Risks: submarine landslides, tsunamis, extreme storm surges, coastal erosion, volcanic activity, dispersion of pollutants. Neotectonic studies for coastal settlements.
6.3 Civil engineering and other applications of submarine cables laying out. Emplacement of oil rigs. Marine archaeology. Pollution and environmental studies.
6.4 Geological mapping of continental shelf: UBSU, systems tracts and depositional systems. Mechanisms of retreat of the shoreline, landforms and erosional remnants. Variability of methods and techniques according to the characteristics of the area.
The Italian seas
7.1 The Tyrrhenian Sea: The central volcanoes and bathyal plains of the southern Tyrrhenian, the ODP Leg 107, the 41°n parallel, the canyon of the Sardinian, Calabrian, Sicilian and Ligurian margins.
7.2 The Ionian: The Taranto valley, Ionian offshore.
7.3 The Sicily Channel: physiography and regional tectonics, volcanism and mineral resources.
7.4 The Adriatic: physiography and stratigraphy, the Po and Apennine sediment distribution, mineral resources.

E. Seibold and W.H. Berger, The sea floor. An introduction to Marine Geology, Springer Verlag, Third edition
J. Kennett, Marine Geology, Prentice Hall

The course is delivered exclusively through in-person frontal lectures, during which the instructor systematically presents and discusses the theoretical contents included in the syllabus. The lectures aim to provide students with a solid conceptual and methodological foundation on the topics covered, while also fostering a critical understanding of the processes and interpretative models characteristic of the discipline.
Lectures are supported by multimedia teaching materials, including digital presentations, conceptual diagrams, images, graphs, thematic maps, and interpretative sections, which are used to illustrate the main phenomena and processes discussed during the course. When appropriate, examples drawn from the scientific literature and real case studies are presented in order to link theoretical aspects with their applications in scientific research and professional practice.
Although the course is structured around frontal lectures, student participation is encouraged through questions and discussion during the class, allowing clarification of complex concepts and promoting interaction between students and the instructor.
Teaching materials presented during the lectures may be made available to students through the university’s online learning platform, in order to support individual study and facilitate the review of key concepts discussed in class.
Attendance at lectures is strongly recommended, as the explanation of concepts, the discussion of examples, and the integration of different topics are an essential part of the learning process.

in lecture room twice per week

The evaluation of the profit will be made by an oral examination designed to assess the knowledge acquired during the course. During the oral examination may be interpreted geophysical data or metric layers of the seabed, to test the ability of interpretation of the same.

• Fundamentals of Marine Geology and Ocean Dynamics


• eep-Sea Sedimentary Processes and Gravitational Instabilities on Continental Margins


• Continental Shelves and Coastal–Marine Depositional Systems


• Seismic and Sequence Stratigraphy and Applications of Marine Geology