INNOVATIVE METHODS IN MARINE GEOLOGY

Descriptor 1: Students will acquire in-depth knowledge of specific topics in Marine Geology, with practical applications and statistical data processing, through the use of specialized software.

Descriptor 2: Students will be able to relate marine sediment deposition to small- and large-scale sea level changes, having acquired knowledge of cyclostratigraphy and astrochronological dating of marine sediments, the coastal marine environment, and its dynamics.

Descriptor 3: Students will benefit from exercises related to statistical methods of signal analysis, techniques for quantitative assessment of coastal erosion rates in a GIS environment, 2D and 3D analysis of offshore seismic profiles, and reconstruction of sedimentary bodies, through the use of specialized software.

Descriptor 4: Students will have the necessary tools to take the exam, demonstrating the knowledge they have acquired, including through a presentation developed independently.

Descriptor 5: Students will have access to information and scientific material that will allow them to further explore the topics covered during the course.

The laboratory part will involve the processing of seismic data and profiles, through use of PCs and specific software.

To ensure equal opportunities and in compliance with current legislation, interested students may request a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures, based on educational objectives and specific needs. You can also contact the department's CInAP (Center for Active and Participatory Integration - Services for Disabilities and/or SLDs) liaison professor, Prof. Giorgio De Guidi, and/or the academic secretary, Dr. C. Ursino.

Part I. Milankovitch cycles and cyclostratigraphy. Effects of changes in insolation on marine sedimentary successions. Indicators of cyclicity in marine sedimentary successions. Astrochronological dating methods. Statistical methods of cyclic signal analysis in sedimentary successions.

Part II. Characters of the coastal marine environment. Marine waves and related coastal processes. Elements of coastal dynamics. Techniques for quantitative assessment of coastal erosion rates in a GIS environment.

Part III. Evolution of sedimentary bodies in relation to eustatic variations with special reference to the shelf environment; elaboration of bathymetric data; 2D and 3D analysis of offshore seismic profiles and reconstruction of sedimentary bodies.

   1   Schwarzacher W., 1993. Cyclostratigraphy and the Milankovitch Theory. Developments in Sedimentology 52, Elsevier, 225 pp.      

2.    Hilgen F., 2003. Astronomical Solution: from Solar System to Insolation; Astronomical Time Scale: from Cycles to Geological Time. In “Paleoceanography: Theory and Field 3. evidence”, Paleoceanography School, Naples 25 September-2 October 2003, pp. 2-16.

3.    Komar P.D., 1998. Beach processes and sedimentation. Second edition. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ (USA). 544 pp.

4.    French P.W., 2001. Coastal defences. Processes, problems and solutions. Routledge, London (UK). 366 pp.

5.    Masselink G., Hughes M.G., 2003. Introduction to coastal processes & Geomorphology. Arnold, London (UK). 354 pp.

6.    Reading H.G., 1996. Sedimentary Environments: Processes, Facies and Stratigraphy. Blackwell Science, Oxford (UK). 688 pp. 

Additional readings for further study of the topics covered will be suggested at the end of each lecture.

Effects of variation in insolation on marine sedimentation.

Elements of a beach.

Subdivision of a depositional sequence. 

Spectral analysis of data from calcimetry.

Estimation of the shoreline variation of an area in the long-medium and short term.

3D reconstruction of a continental shelf sector from seismic profiles.