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Radiolarians Laboratory

Tuesday, 31 March 2009 17:40 Florence Laboratories List
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Responsible staff member:

Dr. Marco Chiari (CNR Researcher)

 

People:

Prof. Marta Marcucci (University of  Florence)

 

Telephone Number:

055 2757518

E-mail:

Dr. Marco Chiari :  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Instruments:

Laboratory for sample preparation:

  • BEAL chemical hood, to etch the samples with HCl and  HF.
  • ECOCELL oven, to dry the radiolarian residues.

Sample analyses:

  • LEICA MZ12,5 microscope with planapo 1x lens
  • LEICA MZ8 microscope with planapo 1,6x lens
  • LEICA M3c microscope with planapo 1,5x lens
  • OLYMPUS BX51 microscope with PlanFL lenses

Current Applications:

Radiolarians are planktonic protozoa, they are widespread in all oceanic basins and in the water column, from the surface to the bottom. They have siliceous skeletons (opal) that range from 30 micron to 2 mm. During diagenesis the opal is transformed into quartz.

Radiolarians occur as fossils in different sedimentary rocks (both siliceous and carbonatic) and their study has been essential for paleoceanography research and for dating and reconstructing the oceanic realms preserved in orogenic belts. 

Radiolarians are extracted from the carbonatic rocks using HCL and from siliceous rocks using HF. Afterwards they are picked with a brush from the residues under a stereomicroscope and then it is possible to prepare stubs for observation at the scanning electron microscope (SEM).

 

Projects in progress:

  • Integrated stratigraphic research on the Jurassic and Cretaceous sequences of the Southern Alps, Sicily and on the Cretaceous anoxic levels of the Umbro-Marche Apennines.

  • Radiolarian biostratigraphy of the sedimentary cover of ophiolites in the Northern Apennines (Italy), Central America and the Carribean area.

  • Biostratigraphic study of the Triassic and Jurassic oceanic and continental sequences in the Dinaric-Hellenic chain (Albania and Greece).

  • Taxonomic research on Middle-Late Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous radiolarians.

 

Related Pubblications:

1) Chiari M., (1994). Radiolarian assemblage from Ophiolite sequence of Northern Apennines: 1- Figline di Prato sections. Ofioliti, 19 (2a), 177-192.
2) Chiari M., Cortese G., Marcucci M. and Nozzoli N., (1997). Radiolarian biostratigraphy in the sedimentary cover of the ophiolites, of south-western Tuscany, Central Italy. Eclogae Geol. Helv., 90, 55-77. 
 3) Coccioni R., Baudin F., Cecca F., Chiari M., Galeotti S., Gardin S. and Salvini G., (1998). Integrated stratigraphic, palaeontological, and geochemical analysis of the uppermost Hauterivian Faraoni Level in the Bosso section, Umbria-Marche Apennines, Italy. Cretaceous Research, 19, 1-23. 
 4) Chiari M., Marcucci M. and Prela M., (2002). New species of Jurassic radiolarian in the sedimentary cover of ophiolites in the Mirdita area, Albania. Micropaleontology, vol. 48, suppl. 1, 61-87. 
 5) Chiari M., Baldanza A. and Parisi G., (2004). Integrated stratigraphy (radiolarians and calcareous nannofossils) of the Jurassic siliceous sediments from Monte Kumeta (western Sicily, Italy). Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 110 (1), 129-140. 
 6) Scopelliti G., Bellanca A., Coccioni R., Luciani V., Neri R., Baudin F., Chiari M. and Marcucci M., (2004). High-resolution geochemical and biotic records of the Tethyan ‘Bonarelli Level’ (OAE2, Latest Cenomanian) from the Calabianca-Guidaloca composite section, nortwestern Sicily, Italy. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 208 (3-4), 293-317. 
 7) Chiari M., Dumitrica P., Marroni M., Pandolfi L. and Principi G., (2006). Radiolarian biostratigraphic evidence for a Late Jurassic age of the El Tambor group ophiolites (Guatemala). Ofioliti 31 (2), 141-150. 
 8) Chiari M., Cobianchi M. and Picotti V., (2007). Integrated stratigraphy (radiolarians and calcareous nannofossils) of the Middle to Upper Jurassic Alpine radiolarites (Lombardian Basin, Italy): Constraints to their genetic interpretation. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 249, 233-270. 
 9) Chiari M., Di Stefano P., Parisi G. (2008). New stratigraphic data on the Middle-Late Jurassic biosiliceous sediments from the Sicanian basin, Western Sicily (Italy). Swiss J. Geosci. 101, 415–429.
 10) Bortolotti V., Carras N., Chiari M., Fazzuoli M., Marcucci M., Nirta G., Principi G., Saccani E., (2009). The ophiolite-bearing Mèlange in the Early Tertiary Pindos Flysch of Etolia (Central Greece). Ofioliti 34 (2), 83-94.
 
Last Updated on Friday, 21 May 2010 11:16