Degree Study Track in Earth Dynamics

Period: second semester

Course Units Contents:

Part 1: Carbonate rocks, depositional environments, carbonates and climate (ca. 2.5 CFU mostly lectures)
- Carbonate rocks in hand sample and under the microscope; the classification of carbonate rocks, or: where does the carbonate comes from?
- Precipitation of carbonate sediments in seawater as a suite of chemical and biological processes;
- The concepts of carbonate factory and carbonate platform;
- Types of carbonate platform;
- Phanerozoic reefs, and present threats;
- the Mg/Ca of seawater and the evolution of carbonate producers;
- causes and effects of ocean acidification, today and in the past, i.e.: how ocean acidification can be identified in the geological record? What are the effects of the surging acidification on the chemistry of seawater and on carbonate-secreting marine organisms?

Part 2: Carbonate petrography (ca. 2 CFU mostly lab.)

- Skeletal and inorganic carbonate grains;
- Fabrics of carbonate rocks;
- Microbial carbonates;
- Porosity of carbonate rocks;
- Carbonate cements and carbonate diagenesis;
- The origin of sedimentary dolomite, dolomitization processes, and the “dolomite problem”.

Part 3: C and O stable isotopes in carbonates (1.5 CFU mostly lab + field)

A case study is selected in which carbonates yield a climatic signal (e.g., a major carbon isotopic excursion, or a T shift, etc. - this part of the course is essentially anexercise on how to extract the climatic and/or diagenetic signal from carbonates, without falling into the many pitfalls of oxygen and carbon isotopic analysis in fossil carbonates.
- Introduction to C and O stable isotopes (a very brief recall of what everyone should know already);
- Field excursion: logging a carbonate succession, sampling for thin sections and isotopic analyses (e.g., Eocene-Oligocene boundary in the Vicentinian Prealps; Early Jurassic Calcari Grigi Group);
- Lab: carbonate microfacies of the field excursion materials;
- Lab: sampling with dental drill - how to choose components;
- Isotopic Ratio Mass Spectrometer: functioning and see the instrument;
- Lab: sample preparation and set up of the instrument;
- Lab: representing and interpreting results with cross-plots, plot VS log, etc. and assessment of the diagenetic processes.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods:

Teaching will be mostly practical, and will include lectures, labs and one day of field trip.

Lectures will make use of traditional tools, as presentations, as well as of teaching resources in the internet (e.g., https://carbonateworld.com/), Google Earth. There will be a part of interactive teaching.

Lab activities will be of two types: (1) the study of carbonate rocks under the microscope, and (2) preparation of samples and interpretation of C and O stable isotope analyses.

Observations and samples collected in the field trip will be then used in the lab activities.