Today was a hot day goodness! BUT this allowed us to get acquainted with Sicilian work style. We met Professore Fabio Lentini from the University of Catania on our way to a quarry near the Loddiero valley, passing by Lentini lake, which sits on top of the sequence that we were about to study. All these units were present before Mt. Etna formed. Our first stop was a gorgeous carbonate outcrop, rich in fossils, burrows and interesting stratigraphic features such cross-beds and troughs. While fascinating, we really felt the heat and while Prof. Lentini gave us a background on the rocks, we discretely
moved towards the shade. We finally arrived at the quarry, but parked the vans at “The Park” bed and breakfast: a charming locality with goats and our prize: more shade! But that didn’t last long, we headed into the blazing sun to go explore some amazing corals, that were likely rapidly buried, as they were lithified essentially intact! We then went into the quarry (and blazing sun!) to measure and describe the stratigraphy: a curious alternation of carbonate rocks and pillow (submarine) and subaerial lavas, clearly showing a transition from marine sediments to terrestrial sediments. Cool! However, not even 2hrs into to work, and finishing our descriptions, we are all fried. We returned to the shade of “The Park” very tired. Luckily, the owner switch on an outdoor shower! Oh the joy!! How refreshing it was; who knew cold showers could feel so good! After chatting a little about what we saw, the owner of “The Park” came and announced that Prof. Lentini would be late for lunch, so we decided to wait for 30 mins, and some of us went black-berry picking for an upcoming pie!! Lentini was, surprise surprise, 45 mins late, but the lunch was extraordinary, like most of Sicilian culinary experiences. We spent more time at having lunch than at the quarry hehe. Following this, we drove to a chert (microcrystalline quartz) quarry in Udica, which displays unique stratigraphy of (beautiful) deep water sediments. We knew it was deep water from the total absence of carbonates, which are limited in the depositional depth by the “carbonate compensation depth” a oceanographic “boundary”, below which all carbonates redissolve in the sea-water. The drive there was quite interesting, in that the roads were in a terrible state, clearly revealing that the rocks on which they were built on were easily deformed: evaporates and cherts. It was hard to say good-bye to a passionate Professore Lentini, but as an amazing Sicilian host, he said “I’m sorry about the weather. I can organize the eruption of Mt. Etna next time you come, but the weather….”. Ah Sicilians ☺ Everyone returned home exhausted, thrilled about the rocks observed, and looking forward to our day of rest tomorrow.
moved towards the shade. We finally arrived at the quarry, but parked the vans at “The Park” bed and breakfast: a charming locality with goats and our prize: more shade! But that didn’t last long, we headed into the blazing sun to go explore some amazing corals, that were likely rapidly buried, as they were lithified essentially intact! We then went into the quarry (and blazing sun!) to measure and describe the stratigraphy: a curious alternation of carbonate rocks and pillow (submarine) and subaerial lavas, clearly showing a transition from marine sediments to terrestrial sediments. Cool! However, not even 2hrs into to work, and finishing our descriptions, we are all fried. We returned to the shade of “The Park” very tired. Luckily, the owner switch on an outdoor shower! Oh the joy!! How refreshing it was; who knew cold showers could feel so good! After chatting a little about what we saw, the owner of “The Park” came and announced that Prof. Lentini would be late for lunch, so we decided to wait for 30 mins, and some of us went black-berry picking for an upcoming pie!! Lentini was, surprise surprise, 45 mins late, but the lunch was extraordinary, like most of Sicilian culinary experiences. We spent more time at having lunch than at the quarry hehe. Following this, we drove to a chert (microcrystalline quartz) quarry in Udica, which displays unique stratigraphy of (beautiful) deep water sediments. We knew it was deep water from the total absence of carbonates, which are limited in the depositional depth by the “carbonate compensation depth” a oceanographic “boundary”, below which all carbonates redissolve in the sea-water. The drive there was quite interesting, in that the roads were in a terrible state, clearly revealing that the rocks on which they were built on were easily deformed: evaporates and cherts. It was hard to say good-bye to a passionate Professore Lentini, but as an amazing Sicilian host, he said “I’m sorry about the weather. I can organize the eruption of Mt. Etna next time you come, but the weather….”. Ah Sicilians ☺ Everyone returned home exhausted, thrilled about the rocks observed, and looking forward to our day of rest tomorrow.
1 comment:
Hi Mom! Hi Bre!
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