Intellectual Merit:  This research project examined the extent that environmental signals from climate and tectonics are recorded in sedimentary deposits and landscapes. Research was designed to investigate an uplifted depositional sequence along the north-east coast of Sicily, the Pagliara delta complex, that formed during the last several glacial cycles. Data collection included field-based sedimentary and geomorphic descriptions of the delta and river catchment, and collection of samples along a stratigraphic profile through the delta for age control, magnetic mineral content, and past erosion rates. Results of the field data were used to constrain a source-to-sink landscape evolution model where we probed response outcomes to different rates, magnitudes and processes of climate and tectonic change.

Due to covid-related travel restrictions for the first couple years of the project, we applied the same methods planned for Sicily to investigate a smaller catchment and delta system in northern Utah. These early data provided a proof of concept for our research approach and a test of our methods without the  travel and time commitment involved with international research.  Importantly, our research in Utah outlined some key findings that steered our research in Sicily, namely that the luminescence properties of quartz minerals traditionally used to date sediment can record residence time at the Earth’s surface. For example, quartz luminescence properties were found to be enhanced in samples that show indicators of soil development related to magnetic susceptibility and chemical weathering.  Cosmogenic nuclide analysis further indicate that luminescence sensitivity is enhanced by slow erosion rates and longer retention of hillslope sediment in the critical zone at the Earth’s surface. Our findings provide a blueprint for the growing development of quartz luminescence as a new metric of Earth surface processes that is quicker and cheaper than analysis of cosmogenic isotopes to determine erosion rates and surface processes.  

In the third year of the project, we were able to complete our planned research in Sicily. Results of those data include a better understanding of the complex uplift and faulting record of NE Sicily and how driving forces related to uplift and sea-level change are combined to produce the depositional record within the Pagliara delta and the incision and sculpting of the drainage basin. Extension of our mapping along the coast also provided the opportunity to examine marine terraces that constrained the magnitude and rates of coastal warping over the last 0.5 million years.  Using what we learned from our Utah-based mini-research project, we included a collection of modern river and hillslope sediments to help track sources of the luminescence, magnetic susceptibility, and chemical leaching indices in the modern Pagliara River system to help interpret past changes. Observables from both the Utah and Sicily field settings were used to guide landscape evolution model experiments to test propagation rates and depositional outcomes from different scenarios and compounding processes evident in the geologic record.

Broader Impacts at Utah State University: Funding from this research extended far beyond collection of scientific data.  This grant helped to support the training and education of a PhD student who is the daughter of polish immigrants.  Support and synergies from this project also allowed the inclusion of Navajo students in undergraduate research as part of a summer research program.  The grant also provided the opportunity for the PhD student to mentor a student working on a senior research project using samples collected from Sicily.

Last Modified: 12/05/2024
Modified by: Tammy M Rittenour