Proximal ejecta of the Bolaven extraterrestrial impact, southern Laos.

Sediments in southern Laos and eastern Thailand confirm that the Australasian tektite strewn field came from an extraterrestrial impact crater on the Bolaven Plateau of southern Laos. The principal evidence is the Bolaven diamicton, a pebbly to bouldery breccia that is thickest and coarsest on the plateau. Tektites, the melted target material strewn widely by the forces of the impact 789.

Terrestrial records of deglaciation events during terminations V and IV in the central Apennines (Italy) and insights on deglacial mechanisms.

Ar/Ar geochronology constraints to aggradational phases and grain size variations show that the two large gravel beds occurring in the sedimentary filling of the Liri fluvial-lacustrine basin (central Italy) recorded the occurrence of deglaciation events synchronous within uncertainties with global meltwater pulses at ca. 450 and 350 ka. In particular, we find a precise match between the ages of gravel deposition and the occurrence of moderate sea-level rise events which anticipate those more marked during the glacial termination V and IV in the Red Sea relative sea level curve, as already verified by data from the Tiber River catchment basin.

Transient rhyolite melt extraction to produce a shallow granitic pluton.

Rhyolitic melt that fuels explosive eruptions often originates in the upper crust via extraction from crystal-rich sources, implying an evolutionary link between volcanism and residual plutonism. However, the time scales over which these systems evolve are mainly understood through erupted deposits, limiting confirmation of this connection. Exhumed plutons that preserve a record of high-silica melt segregation provide a critical subvolcanic perspective on rhyolite generation, permitting comparison between time scales of long-term assembly and transient melt extraction events.

Environmental evolution, faunal and human occupation since 2 Ma in the Anagni basin, central Italy.

We present the study of a composite, yet continuous sedimentary succession covering the time interval spanning 2.6-0.36 Ma in the intramontane basin of Anagni (central Italy) through a dedicated borecore, field surveys, and the review of previous data at the three palaeontological and archaeological sites of Colle Marino, Coste San Giacomo and Fontana Ranuccio.

Monti Sabatini and Colli Albani: the dormant twin volcanoes at the gates of Rome.

This multi-disciplinary work provides an updated assessment of possible future eruptive scenarios for the city of Rome. Seven new Ar/Ar ages from selected products of the Monti Sabatini and Vulsini volcanic districts, along with a compilation of all the literature ages on the Colli Albani and Vico products, are used to reconstruct and compare the eruptive histories of the Monti Sabatini and Colli Albani over the last 900 ka, in order to define their present state of activity. Petrographic analyses of the dated units characterize the crystal cargo, and Advanced-InSAR analysis highlights active deformation in the MS.