This project aims to understand how the allogenic and autogenic factors control the final sand composition within the depositional sequences starting from their petrographic and paleontological characters. This project comprises two research approaches, carried out by two research teams that will analyze the sedimentary successions of our study through facies and sequence¿stratigraphic analysis and through a quantitative and qualitative sand compositional analysis.
The sedimentary sequences that will be investigated include some of the Messinian siliciclastic deposits of the central-southern Apennines (Arenarie di Manciano, Flysch della Laga, and Flysch di Agnone) and the Upper Pleistocene- Holocene deposits of the Po and Tiber river deltaic systems. In these areas, such sedimentary successions have just a robust sequence-stratigraphic interpretation that constitutes a strong point to constrain the several new sections that will be measured, sampled and correlated to integrate stratigraphic, sedimentologic, biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic data. Particular attention will be addressed to quantitative sand composition and microfacies analysis; this in order to determine changes in arenite composition across and within the different depositional sequences. One of the main expected results of the proposed study is to illustrate, how arenite petrofacies and microfacies can be utilized as a tool for sequence-stratigraphic interpretation of continental to marine clastic sedimentary successions.
