Temperature variation over the past 400.000 years derived from analysis of Antarctic ice core EPICA (orange) and marine sediment core MD012443 (green) sampled at the Iberian margin (modified from Jouzel, J., et al. 2007 and Martrat et al. al. 2007).
Calcareous nannoplankton: Ubellosphaera tenuis and coccoliths of E. huxleyi, photographed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), at 10000x magnification. Southern Adriatic. Photo A. Cascella
Gallery of the Stalactites, Karst complex of Monte Corchia (Levigliani, LU), Photo Ilaria IsolaBy paleoclimate we mean the climate of geological and historical periods preceding the development of instruments for measuring climatic components and atmospheric weather. Paleoclimatology is the scientific discipline that studies the Earth's climate and its variations throughout the long history of our planet. Past climate is reconstructed by studying numerous palaeoclimatic archives including sediments, rocks, ice cores, cave concretions (speleothems), and tree growth rings. These contain some chemical-physical and biological characteristics (climatic indicators or proxies), which vary with the variation of the climatic conditions present at the time of their formation, recording and preserving their testimony. Paleoclimatic research covers the entire history of the Earth. Studies covering the last centuries and millennia produce high-resolution temporal reconstructions of variations in temperatures and rainfall, which form the basis for quantifying and understanding natural climate variability. Studies over the last tens of thousands, millions or hundreds of millions of years reveal climatic changes linked to the reciprocal position of the Sun and the Earth, to variations in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which controlled the advent and end of the ice ages, to changes in ocean circulation, and finally to geological processes such as mountain uplift and continental drift.
The paleoclimatic research activities of the INGV involve the paleomagnetism and environmental magnetism laboratory, the micropaleontology laboratory and the microsampling laboratory for studies on speleothems. This research aims to know how the climate has changed in the past in order to formulate reliable climate scenarios for the future and to evaluate the impact that future climate changes will have on the environment and on human activities. The researches are based on the integrated analysis of climatic indicators (physical, chemical and biological) in marine and continental stratigraphic sequences of the Mediterranean basin, and in polar areas. They allow the identification and dating (relative and radiometric) of paleoclimatic events (cyclical and/or extreme), their characterization in terms of variations in precipitation, temperature and the chemical composition of the air and oceans.
Micropaleontological studies are focused on the study of calcareous Nannoplankton and its fossil remains, the calcareous Nannofossils. The main research activity, carried out in collaboration with other Italian and foreign bodies, concerns studies of integrated micropaleontology (calcareous nannoplankton, foraminifera, pollens) and paleomagnetism of marine sediments of the Mediterranean continental shelf, for the identification of the main climatic oscillations short term, attributable to global and/or local forcings active during the Quaternary. Furthermore, studies are carried out on the variability of atmospheric precipitation over the last 2000 years in Italy and the Mediterranean.
The studies of speleothems conducted in collaboration with other Italian and foreign bodies concern the study of numerous underground chemical deposits (stalagmites and flowstones) from various caves in the Mediterranean basin (Maritime Alps, Apuan Alps, Madonie, Macedonia, Croatia). These studies have led to scientific results of great interest confirming the general value of the palaeoclimatic data provided by speleothems which, thanks to their high sensitivity to climate change, are an essential tool for a detailed analysis of stratigraphic records aimed at palaeoclimatic reconstructions not only at the scale of the sampling area but at a regional and global scale.