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RESEARCH PROGRAM

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Research Units
Similar research programs:
Scientific and education field classification
International Patent Classification
  • HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
      • DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (analysing biological material G01N, e.g. G01N33/48; obtaining records using waves other than optical waves, in general G03B42/00)
  • PHYSICS
    • MEASURING (counting G06M); TESTING
      • GEOPHYSICS; GRAVITATIONAL MEASUREMENTS; DETECTING MASSES OR OBJECTS (detecting or locating foreign bodies for diagnostic, surgical or person-identification purposes A61B; means for indicating the location of accidentally buried, e.g. snow-buried persons A63B29/02; investigating or analysing earth materials by determining their chemical or physical properties G01N; measuring electric or magnetic variables in general, other than direction or magnitude of the earth\'s field G01R; electronic or nuclear magnetic resonance arrangements G01R33/20; radar, sonar or analogous methods in general, detecting masses or objects involving these methods G01S)
Geographical classification
Keywords
NON-MARINE PALAEOENVIRONMENT; ISOTOPES; PALYNOLOGY; NON-MARINE MOLLUSCS; MAMMALS; APPLIED PALAEOECOLOGY; NEONTOLOGY; PLEISTOCENE/HOLOCENE; ITALY

Pleistocene-Holocene non marine palaeoenvironments: integrating multidisciplinary reconstructions.

Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"
Abstract
The reconstruction of the evolution of past paleoenvironments and of the action of single biotic and non-biotic factors on the surroundings and on the structure of the land vertebrate paleocommunities is a challenging study, which requires the cultural and methodological support of disciplines of apparently remote specialized sectors, such as geochemistry, paleontology and paleoecology, sedimentology, palinology, neontology.
The study of past climatic changes, of faunal turnovers, of the evolution of the surroundings has been hitherto performed autonomously by the different scientific fields; there are only rare examples of true interdisciplinary methodological approaches involving the examination of a high number of variables, the mutual interchange of the results between the various collaborating disciplines and a cross-checking of the reciprocal inferences.
The major task of the project therefore is the development of a methodology of investigation of fossiliferous deposits that can permit to decipher all possible information for reconstructing, on one hand, the dynamics and interactions of the biostratinomic and diagenetic processes accountable for the formation of accumulations, and, on the other hand, the characters of the paleoenvironment both during the formation of the fossiliferous deposits and in the general framework of the changes of climate, of the surroundings and of the medium- and long-term animal peopling.
This final goal can be >>>

Principal Investigator
Mario BARBIERI Università degli Studi di ROMA "La Sapienza"
Research Objectives
The major task of the project is therefore the development of a truly multidisciplinary methodology of investigation of non-marine fossiliferous deposits and modern communities that can permit the extraction of all the possible information for reconstructing, on one hand, the dynamics and interactions of the biostratinomic and diagenetic processes accountable for the formation of the fossiliferous assemblages, and, on the other hand, the characters of the paleoenvironment both during the formation of the fossiliferous deposits, and in the general framework of the changes of climate, of the surroundings and of the medium- and long-term animal peopling. This final goal can be reached testing and defining the validity and the limits of each analytic technique used (sedimentological investigations; taphonomic observations; mineralogy; isotope analysis of C, O, N, Sr in teeth and bones of vertebrates and in the mollusc shells, as well as of the phosphates; palynology; paleoecology of molluscs and vertebrates; neontological observations on micromammals) according to the typology of the accumulation, of the characteristics of the depositional and diagenetical environment, as well as of the age of the deposit (Early – Middle Pleistocene, Holocene).
The disciplines cooperating to the accomplishment of the goals of the research project are concisely the following:
1)sedimentology: it sheds light on the dynamical constraints under which fossil deposits are formed;
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Timescale
24 months
National and international background
The reconstruction of the evolution of paleoenvironments and of the action of single biotic and non-biotic factors on the surroundings and on the structure of the land vertebrate and invertebrate paleocommunities is a challenging study,which requires the cultural and methodological support of disciplines of apparently remote specialized sectors,such as geochemistry, paleontology and paleoecology,physical geography,sedimentology,palynology.The methodological and cultural cooperation of these disciplines is crucial though when treating about topics like climatic changes and their influence on the evolution of the biosphere,and identification of the factors affecting biodiversity and its fluctuations. Atmosphere,hydrosphere,lithosphere and biosphere form an open,highly integrated system,in dynamical balance:single perturbations affect the whole complex and are recorded by the physical environment and by living beings.The Third IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Report (2001) alleges that there was a mean rise of 0,6°C in earth surface temperature over the last150 year (the areas most affected are those located between 40°and70°N) Using climatic models, IPCC predicted a 1,5°-6°C range of earth's average temperature by 2100. The direct or indirect influence of climate perturbations on the abiotic component of ecosystems causes severe changes in natural settings.Geological history shows that gradual climatic change permitted the adaptation of living beings, thus >>>