Università Roma Tre

The first part of the course is dedicated to the current knowledge about the birth of Planet Earth and its Precambrian evolution.
In the second part of the course the main Paleozoic orogenic events and the formation of Pangea will be illustrated. The third part of the course is dedicated to the main geodynamic events responsible for the current structure of the Alps and the Mediterranean area. The main topics are the following.
Origin of the Solar System: meteorites, the Moon. The Hadean: Early Earth and the magma ocean. Origin and evolution of the atmosphere; origin and evolution of the hydrosphere. Archean: Traces of the first continental crust, the oldest rocks. Proterozoic: the growth of the continents, the banded iron formation (BIF), the Wilson Cycle, the secondary atmosphere, the evolution of life. The beginning of Plate Tectonics, the evolution of Plate Tectonics over time. Paleogeography: methods for paleogeographic reconstructions. Paleozoic paleogeographic evolution. Plates, microplates and oceans in the Paleozoic. Caledonian orogeny. Evolution of the Scottish Caledonides. Evolution of the Scandinavian Caledonides: UHP rock, the supradetachment Devonian basins. The Variscan orogeny: the main structural units, the role of oroclines. Variscan orogeny in Sardinia. The formation of the Pangea Supercontinent. Pangea A and Pangea B. Permo-Triassic basins. The opening of the Atlantic Ocean and the Africa-Europe kinematics. The Alpine cycle: from the passive margin to the construction of the Alpine chains. Main structural units of the Alps and their evolution. Structure and evolution of the Mediterranean area: oroclines, back-arc basins, seismicity and current kinematics. Northern Apennines, from the internal domains to the Padana-Adriatic foredeep. Central Apennines: from the chain to the formation of the Tyrrhenian margin and extensional basins. Southern Apennines: paleogeographic units and present-day structure.

- The Earth Through Time. Harold L. Levin, David T. King Jr. Wiley. ISBN: 978-1-119-22834-9. Scientific articles will be provided by the teacher on specific topics of the course.