Project Abstract
In the framework of western Eurasia, the Fucino Basin, the largest tectonic depression in the core of the Central Apennine, stands out as among the most longeval paleolake, hosting a thick and continuous lacustrine succession from the Early Pliocene to historical times, unique in the European realm. Through integrated, stratigraphic, geochemical and geochronological investigations of volcanic ash (tephra) and lake sediments from the Fucino paleolake sediments, TOTEM aspires extending back to 0.8-1.0 Ma the tephra record of this iconic archive, recognised as a key site for the Mediterranean tephrostratigarphy and for the peri-Tyrrhenian volcanic explosive history. On a longer-term perspective, TOTEM will contribute to set the basis for a wider ICDP project (MEME), aiming at extending the Fucino record and exploring the climate system dynamics and the regional tectonics and volcanism back to 5 Ma.
Objectives
The long and continuous geological history of the Fucino Basin coupled with its proximity to peri-Tyrrhenian volcanic centers (distance: 100 to 150 km), make this archive ideally located to capture the history the volcanic explosive activity with unprecedent temporal resolution and extent. However, despite these promising features, direct evidence documenting the potential of the Fucino succession in providing such a long and continuous tephra record currently limited to the last half million years . The primary aim of TOTEM is thus extending further back in time the Fucino tephrochronological and paleoenvironmental records by performing and investigating a new drilling spanning the last 0.8-1.0 Ma.
Expected Results and Impacts
The accomplishment of the TOTEM objective not only substantially will improve the Fucino tephra record, which is a key node in the lattice of the Mediterranean tephrostratigraphy, as well as for the history of the peri-Tyrrhenian explosive volcanism – which are per se important results – but also will strength the MEME ICDP full proposal, enhancing the chance of approval. Furthermore, recovering such an outstanding long and continuous archive poses the basis for future multi-proxy and trans-disciplinary investigations that cannot be performed within TOTEM, providing opportunities of applying to project calls, in the framework of the Italian (e.g., PRIN and FIS) and European (e.g., ERC, NERC) schemes. A wide and trans-disciplinary spectrum of expertise, spanning from the traditional, well-consolidated methodological approaches to the innovative, frontier ones is already present in network of the MEME team, but the access to the TOTEM cores will be open to the whole international community of the Quaternary sciences.
Project team
Biagio Giaccio (PI), CNR-IGAG, Montelibretti, Roma, Italia
Gianfranco di Vincenzo, CNR-IGG, Pisa, Italia
Alison Pereira, University Paris-Saclay, Orsay, Francia
Bernd Wagner, University of Cologne, Colonia, Germania
Giovanni Zanchetta, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italia