We used vitrinite reflectance and mixed-layered clay minerals to investigate levels of diagenesis of the Oligocene-Miocene basin developed on the nappes of the Alpine orogen exposed in the Peloritani Mountains (NE Sicily). Paleothermal indicators were integrated with stratigraphic and structural analyses and published apatite fission-track and (U-Th-Sm)/He ages to define the late evolutionary stages of the Peloritani Mountains.This multi-method approach allowed us to reconstruct the paleogeothermal gradient of the basin in Oligocene-Miocene times, to constrain its burial evolution, and discriminate between areas where it has been affected by sedimentary and/or tectonic load. In the southern area of the basin, organic and inorganic thermal parameters increase as function of depth, suggesting that their evolution was ruled by sedimentary burial. They record a decrease in paleogeothermal gradient values marking the evolution of the basin from a forearc to a thrust-top setting during the convergence-collision process between the Calabria-Peloritani Arc and the African plate. On the other hand, in the northern edge of the basin, vitrinite reflectance values(0.46%–0.58%) indicate that the Thermal evolution of this area was controlled by tectonic burial related to late Langhian–early Serravallian out-of-sequence thrust tectonics.The tectonic overburden has been totally removed by extensional tectonics and/or erosion since the late Miocene. The short timespan at maximum temperature (<2 m.y.) elapsing between thrust stack emplacement and the beginning of tectonic overburden removal has allowed only vitrinite reflectance and thermochronological indicators to record this compressive reactivation
Previous research on the RAG color-coded prioritization systems for the discovery of clandestine graves has not considered all the factors influencing the burial site choice within a GIS project. The goal of this technical note was to discuss a GIS-based quantitative approach for the search of clandestine graves. The method is based on cross-referenced RAG maps with cumulative suitability factors to host a burial, leading to the editing of different search scenarios for ground searches showing high-(Red), medium-(Amber), and low-(Green) priority areas. The application of this procedure allowed several outcomes to be determined: If the concealment occurs at night, then the "search scenario without the visibility" will be the most effective one; if the concealment occurs in daylight, then the "search scenario with the DSM-based visibility" will be most appropriate; the different search scenarios may be cross-referenced with offender's confessions and eyewitnesses' testimonies to verify the veracity of their statements.
A litho-biostratigraphic analysis has been carried out in the Gador-Turon unit of the Sierra de Gador (Alpujarride complex, Betic Cordillera, SE Spain). The Triassic succession of this unit is composed of a lower meta-detrital formation overlain by an upper meta-carbonate formation divided in six members. In the latter, a Ladinian-Carnian-rich fossil association has been found (foraminifers, algae, bivalves, microproblematica, trace fossils). Facies analysis has enabled the recognition of 22 facies of platform origin. This succession accumulated as a subsiding margin-type carbonate platform with homoclinal ramp geometry (Anisian?-Ladinian) evolving into a faultblock-type platform with a steeper-margined geometry (Ladinian-Carnian). Slope deposits of this latter platform show a prism-like geometry with progradational patterns and include syn-sedimentary structures associated with normal faults capped by younger beds. The results of the present research indicate that the architecture of the platform studied has been controlled mainly by climate and oceanic factors during the development of the ramp, and by syn-sedimentary extensional tectonics during the development of the steeper-margined platform. The LadinianCarnian tectonic activity was probably also responsible for the siliciclastic input and the shift to a mixed terrigenouscarbonate platform.
The mineral and geological historical collections reported here were part of the original collections of the Mineralogy Institute at the University of Messina, most of which date back to the 1880s. These historical collections, today hosted by the Earth Sciences Section of the Department of Mathematical and Computers Sciences, Physical Sciences and Earth Sciences at the University of Messina, comprise a thousand specimens of minerals, gemstones, ores, rocks, hundreds of topographic, geographical, and geological maps, mineralogical and geological models, and numerous original documents and instruments. They represent an essential geoscientific cultural heritage to preserve and valorize for future generations. The restoration and cataloging of this geoscientific naturalist heritage are necessary to make it accessible to scientists, students, tourists, and citizens worldwide. The preliminary results presented in this study are part of an ongoing project devoted to restoring, analyzing, and cataloging the mineral and geological historical collections of the University of Messina.
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