B015671 - GEOLOGY II AND LABORATORY

Italian

Stress, strain, rock mechanics and rheology. Brittle and ductile deformation. Composition of the Earth. Gravimetry, Isostasy, magnetism and paleomagnetism. Seismisity and earthquakes. Internal structure of the Earth. Continental drift and plate tectonics. Physiography and distribution of modern crustal structures: continental and oceanic lithosphere. Regional Geology: the Northern Apennines and the Alps.

CASATI P. - Scienze della Terra- CLUED
BOSELLINI A., la Tettonica delle Placche e la Geologia, Bovolenta
GUIDE GEOLOGICHE REGIONALI n° 4 e n° 6 - BEMA
KEAREY P., KLEPEIS K.A. & VINE F.J. Global Tectonics, Wiley –Blackwell, 482 pp.
TREVISAN L. & GIGLIA G. Introduzione alla geologia, Pacini editore, Pisa, 448 pagine

The aim of the course is to train the students in Global Tectonics. The course will provide basic knowledge on the deformation of rocks and their structures, it will introduce the fundamental geological and geophysical observations responsible for the development of Plate Tectonics, and it will review the types of plate boundaries and the processes characterizing each of them. The course will end with the fundamentals of regional geology of the Northern Apennines and an introduction to the geology of the Alps.

Attendance of Geology I and knowledge of the relative programme.

The course is delivered through frontal lectures - power point-aided - and practical lessons held both in the classroom and in the field. A three-days field trip is usually held at the end of the course.

12 CFU. The students are strongly recommended to follow the practicals aimed at the construction of geological cross sections. The attendance of the field trips is also strongly recommended.

The final exam consists of a script and an oral part. The script involves the construction of a geological cross section. The oral exam, that can be held only after a positive response of the script, consists of questions on the topics covered during the course, namely structural geology, global tectonics and regional geology of the Northern Apennines.

Elements of Structural Geology
Stress and strain: definitions, spatial representation (ellipsoids), and measurements. Rock mechanics and rheology. Stress profiles of the lithosphere. Brittle and ductile deformations. Fractures and faults. Folds classifications and morphology. Structural associations in contractional, extensional and transcurrent tectonic regimes.
Elements of Geophysics.
The origin of the Earth and the Solar system. Earth’s composition. Gravimetry and Isostasy. Earth’s magnetic field and paleomagnetism. Heat flow. Seismics and earthquakes.
Internal structure of the Earth: Crust, Mantle and Core; litosphere and asthenosphere.
Global Tectonics
Orogenic theories before Plate Tectonics: fissism and mobilism.
Continental drift and Wegener’s revolution. Plate tectonics: physiography of oceans and continents. Oceanic and continental Lithosphere. Cratons and orogenic belts. Oceanic basins. Divergent, convergent and transform plate boundaries. Hot spots and plumes.
Regional Geology
Apennine orogenic system in the frame of the central Mediterranean.
Main tectonic units of the Northern Apennines: Internal and External Ligurian Units; Sub-Ligurian Units and Epiligurian successions.
Tuscan metamorphic and non metamorphic units. Umbro-Marche units.
Neogene –Quaternary basins and element of volcanism.
Po Plain. Structure of the Northern Apennines. Main theories about the development and evolution of the Northern Apennines. Alps structure.