Field Trip Leaders:

Alessandro Iannace

Stefano Tavani

Mariano Parente

(University of Naples Federico II, Italy)

Fee:

£150

Participant Limit:

Min. 10 - Max. 20

Themes

The Cretaceous platform carbonates of the Sorrento Peninsula offer wonderful outcrop analogues for the reservoirs of the Monte Alpi and Tempa Rossa oil fields of subsurface Basilicata and for fractured carbonate reservoirs of other Tethyan carbonate systems.

During this 1-day field trip we will see how the facies, diagenetic characters and stacking patterns of cyclical Barremian-Albian inner platform carbonates controls mechanical stratigraphy and fracture distribution. We will look at the fracture network at different scales, from stratabound fractures to reservoir-scale fracture corridors, combining panoramic observations of subvertical cliffs of the Mt. Faito ridge, exposing a >300m thick stratigraphic interval, with detailed observations of the same beds along roadcuts. Then, we will move to a road cut near Positano where we will observe a small-scale intraplatform basin, developed in Aptian-Albian carbonates, focusing on soft-sediment deformation, organic-rich dolostones, fault-zone architecture and breccia bodies.

Itinerary and Stops

Transfer from Naples to Mt Faito by minibuses (about 1h drive)

Stop 1 – Ticciano village: general introduction to the geology of the southern Apennines and to the Apennine Carbonate Platform; panorama of the Mesozoic platform carbonates of the Monte Faito ridge

Stop 2 – Croce dell’Eremita roadcut: facies and fracture distribution of Barremian-Albian inner platform interbedded dolostones-limestones

Lunch

Stop 3 – Santa Maria del Castello: panoramic view of Monte Conocchia cliff: distribution and arrest of vertical through-going joints and fracture corridors in a seismic scale carbonate platform exposure

Stop 4 – roadcut north of Positano: middle Cretaceous synsedimentary tectonics, soft sediment deformation, organic-rich dolostones and breccia bodies in a small intraplatform trough.

Driving back to Naples (about 90min drive)

Field Trip Leaders:

Jean Borgomano – CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université, France

Michele Morsilli – University of Ferrara, Italy

Fees:

€450 + VAT

Fee Includes:

Transportation during the field trip

Overnight Accommodation

Breakfast, lunch 2 days and dinner

Themes

The Gargano Promontory (southern Italy) offers the opportunity to investigate a complete carbonate facies transect from inner platform to basin and to reconstruct the various events that shaped and controlled the evolution of the Apulia Carbonate Platform during the Cretaceous and Paleogene.

This area can be considered a wonderful outcrop analog to better understand and visualize facies, depositional geometries, stratigraphic relationships and to compare them with other carbonate platforms.

The exposed carbonate rocks show well-preserved original reservoir properties and form relevant analogues of subsurface reservoirs located in different structural settings; e.g. inner platform palaeokarst (Ombrina Mare, Rospo Mare oil fields), subthrust setting (Monte Alpi, Tempa Rossa), slope, base-of-slope resedimented carbonate facies (Elsa, Miglianico, Aquila, Rovesti), as well as relevant for the comparison with the specular Adriatic Carbonate Platform (AdCP) or other Tethyan carbonate systems.

Main goals of this field trip are the observation of the facies and stratigraphic architecture of the inner platform and of slope and base-of-slope units deposited during the Early - Late Cretaceous and Eocene, as well as the carbonate production and exporting/resedimentation processes.

The Apulia Carbonate Platform represents a well-known case study of a carbonate platform with different evolution through time. Facies distribution from inner platform to base-of-slope, stratigraphic architecture and depositional geometries, together with retreat and drowning of the platform or margin collapses, and seismic-scale outcrops, in a relatively poorly deformed context, constitute a text book examples of a Cretaceous Carbonate System.

Itinerary and Stops

Day 1

Naples (or Bari airport) to Apricena by bus (travel about 3 h)

Stop 1.1 - Apricena quarries district: stop on peritidal cycles of Lower Cretaceous, fractured and karst reservoir (outcrop analog of the Rospo Mare oil field).

Lunch

Stop 1.2 - Belvedere di Ruggiano: stop on scalloped/faulted platform margin of mid-Cretaceous and base of slope to basin facies associations.

Night in Monte Sant’Angelo

Day 2

Stop 2.1 Monte Sant’Angelo: slope to basin facies of the Lower Cretaceous and facies observation of the resedimented succession of the Upper Cretaceous.

Lunch

Stop 2.2 Monte Sant’Angelo to Manfredonia road – Upper Cretaceous slope to base of slope facies and architecture of the systems.

Stop 2.3 (optional) - Monte Saraceno-Mattinata: panoramic view of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous sequence and Valanginian retreating/drowning of the Apulia Platform and depositional geometries of the Eocene clinoforms.

End of the Excursion (travel to Naples or Bari airport)