GEOLOGIA STRATIGRAFICA CON LABORATORIOModule GEOLOGIA STRATIGRAFICA
Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher: Agata DI STEFANOExpected Learning Outcomes
The main goal of course is to provide students with the basic principles of Stratigraphic Geology, which aims to describe, order and classify rock sequences and correlate them in time and space.
Therefore, at the end of the course the student will:
a) acquire the fundamental Principles of Stratigraphic Geology, including the mechanisms to define the original setting in which a rock body has formed;
b) know how to describe and classify rock sequences according on the basic stratigraphic units;
c) understand the meaning and apply the methodologies of the stratigraphic correlation;
d) know the main methods of dating a rocky succession and the principles which they are based on;
e) know how to reconstruct the geological history of an area, also in relation to the sea level variations, defining the relative chronology for sedimentary events and tectonic phases;
Course Structure
The course is organized as follows:
-traditional lectures, carried out using a participative approach in order to obtain the maximum involvement of the students;
- practical exercises. Such exercises are supervised in order to be sure that all the students will learn during the class-time how to apply the most important concepts and methods to be used in the field of Stratigraphic Geology;
- periodic tests, aimed to verify the level of understanding of the topic of the course and the problem-solving capacity of the students;
-excursion in the field with practical application of methodologies learnt during lectures.
If the teaching is given in mixed or remote modalities, the necessary changes may be introduced with respect to what previously stated, in order to respect the program envisaged and reported in the syllabus.
Exams can also be carried out in remote modality, should the conditions require it.
Required Prerequisites
Have acquired the concepts of the Physical Geology Course (taught in the I semester of the I year of the three-year CdL in Geological Sciences);
Be familiar with the reading of topographic maps and know how to perform a topographic profile proficiently.
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
Stratigraphic Geology, frontal lessons: 6CFU (42 hours)
PART I: Introduction
Definition and Purposes of Stratigraphic Geology. Rocky successions and stratigraphic record. History of Geology.
PART II: The Basics of Stratigraphic Geology.
Steno’s Principles and exceptions. Concept of "normal" and "overturned", "high" and "low" in geology. Concept of "Stratum" and "Strata orientation". Polarity of strata. Relationship between strata orientation and morphology of the slopes.
PART III: Successions and Stratigraphic Classification
Basic Stratigraphic Units: Lithostratigraphic, Biostratigraphic, Cronostratigraphic. Stratigraphic Codes and the International Stratigraphy Commission. The concept of "stratotype". Definition of "stratigraphic limit". Vertical and horizontal passages. Temporal meaning of stratigraphic limits. The concept of "Stratigraphic Correlation". Condensed and comprehensive sequences: concept of sedimentation rate. Continuous and discontinuous successions: types of unconformities. Stratigraphic lacune and temporal hiatus. Concept of "transgression" and "regression". Sea level variations.
PART IV: The facies
Definition of facies. Horizontal and vertical facies variations. Unconformity Bounded Stratigraphic units” and relationships with sea level variations. The principle of Walther. Main depositional geometries.
PART V: Methods of dating a rocky succession
Unstable isotopes, radioactive decay and radiometric dating. Concept of "half live". Relative dating methods: Smith's principle, "index" fossils, and the concept of "homotaxy". Geological Time. Age of Earth and first subdivisions of the Geological Time. The Geological Time Scale. Paleomagnetism and Magnetostratigraphic Units. Concept of Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP)".
Textbook Information
Testi:
- P. Doyle, M. Bennett, A. Baxter: The key to Earth History – an introduction to Stratigraphy, Ed. Wiley
- G. Nichols: Sedimentology & Stratigraphy, Ed. Blackwell Science
- A. Ferrari: Unità stratigrafiche e correlazioni, Pitagora Editrice Bologna.
- S. Raffi-E. Serpagli: Introduzione alla Paleontologia, Utet Torino (pagg. 3-20; 419-505).
- B. Simpson: Lettura delle Carte Geologiche. Edizione italiana a cura di G. Cusimano e P. Di Stefano. Dario Flaccovio Editore.
- Lecture notes provided by the teacher during the course
Websites:.
- http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/geology.html
- http://www.msnucleus.org/membership/html/jh/earth/stratigraphy/index.html
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | 1); 6) |
| 2 | Stratigraphic geology: definition and purposes; the Stratigraphic Record. | 1); 3); 6) |
| 3 | Stenone and the Principles of Stratigraphy. | 1); 3); 6) |
| 4 | Definition of Layer and Layering of a layer. Principle of Superposition and exceptions. Concept of "straight" and "inverted," "high" and "low" in Geology. Methods of determining the Polarity of strata. Folded and faulted successions. Relationship between layering and slope morphology. | 1); 3); 5); 6) |
| 5 | Principle of Lateral Continuity. Principle of Horizontality of Layers: exceptions. | 1); 3); 6 |
| 6 | Principles of "inclusion" and "intrusion" relations; principle of "cross-cutting" relations. | 1); 3); 6 |
| 7 | Concept of Stratigraphic Classification. International Codes of Stratigraphy. Concept of "Stratotype." | 1); 3); 6 |
| 8 | Stratigraphic Units. Lithologic and lithostratigraphic correlation. Lithostratigraphic units: definitions. | 3); 4); 6) |
| 9 | Concept of Sedimentation Rate. Condensed and Comprehensive Series. Continuous and discontinuous successions. Stratigraphic Gaps. Stratigraphic Limits. | 1); 6) |
| 10 | The Stratigraphic Boundary. Vertical and horizontal transitions. Temporal significance of limits. Relationships between Lithostratigraphic Units and Time. | 1); 6) |
| 11 | The concept of facies. Horizontal and vertical variations of facies. | 2); 6) |
| 12 | Changes in sea level; the "ideal" eustatic curve. | 2); 6) |
| 13 | Concept of Transgression and Regression. Transgressive and regressive series (the "Sedimentary Cycle"). Walther's Principle. | 2); 6) |
| 14 | Types of Unconformity. | 4); 6) |
| 15 | Methods of dating a rock succession: Radiometric Dating. Radiative Decay the Half-life. Main methods of Radiometric Dating. | 1); 6) |
| 16 | Relative dating methods: the Biostratigraphic Units. Smith's Faunal Succession Principle. The Index Fossils. | 4); 6) |
| 17 | The Biostratigraphic Correlation. Types of Biozones and Biorizzonts. The concept of Homotaxy. | 4); 6) |
| 18 | Il Tempo Geologico. L’età della Terra e le prime suddivisioni del Tempo Geologico. Principio di Attualismo e Uniformismo; | 6) |
| 19 | Chronostratigraphic Units.Definitions and hierarchies.The Geologic Time Scale. Relationships between Chronostratigraphic Units and other units. The limits of the Chronostratigraphic Units. Stratotypes and the concept of GSSP (Global Stratigraphic Section and Point = "Golden Spike"). | 4); 6) |
Learning Assessment
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
- Definition and examples of "Stratigraphic Correlation."
- Stenone's Principles and their exceptions;
- Concept of "regression" and "transgression" in Geology;
- Stratigraphic Units and their significance;
- Geologic Time.