Ricerc@Sapienza

During the Miocene, the upwelling is assumed to be important in the formation of many Mediterranean phosphate deposits in carbonate platform successions. There are different types of upwelling mechanisms such as equatorial upwellings, ice-edge upwellings and coastal upwellings. The carbonate platforms are mainly affected by wind-driven coastal upwelling systems. During upwelling season, the seawater in coastal areas is strongly density stratified and the permanent pycnocline rises inshore forming an inclined frontal layer.

The Eocene-Oligocene transition represents the latest greenhouse-icehouse shift faced by Earth, a major global climate change associated with carbon cycle perturbation. In this paper, we investigate the Massignano stratigraphic section (northern Apennines, Italy), GSSP of the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, by X-ray diffraction analysis of clay minerals and carbon and oxygen stable isotopes to explore the link among climate, paleoweathering and runoff, and carbon cycle in the Neotethys across this major climatic transition.