Role
Postdoctoral Marie Curie Research Fellow
Qualifications & background
Ph.D. in Geophysics (2009)
- Institute: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Rome, Italy.
- Thesis title: Tectonics and kinematics of curved mountain belts: examples from the Alps and the Andes.
- Main subjects: Paleomagnetism, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), magnetic mineralogy, structural geology, fieldmapping.
M.Sc. in Geology (with honours) (2004)
- Institute: Università Roma Tre, Rome, Italy
- Thesis title: Paleomagnetic analyses of the Oligo-Miocene succession of the Tertiary Piedmont Basin.
- Main subjects: Paleomagnetism, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), magnetic mineralogy, structural geology.
Professional membership
- AGU member since 2011
- Geological Association (of Italy) since 2005
Research interests
My main areas of interest are:
- Paleomagnetism applied to local/regional tectonic reconstructions
- Magnetic fabric studies through the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), and anisotropy of the anysteretic remanent magnetization (AARM)
- Magnetic properties of serpentinized peridotites
- Magnetostratigraphy of Cenozoic sedimentary successions
- Brittle/ductile structural geology
Current and previous research projects:
- Paleomagnetism and structural geology of the Mirdita ophiolite (Dinarides, northern Albania) aimed to kinematic reconstructions of a fossilised oceanic detachment fault. Paleomagnetic directions at the hanging-wall (volcanics) and footwall (peridotites) of the fault provided constraints for the formation mechanisms of oceanic core complexes in slow-spreading oceans.
- Paleomagnetism of the thrust-top Gorgoglione basin (southern Apennine, Italy). The study of the rotational pattern of the orogenic pile uppermost nappe allowed a paleogeographic reconstruction of the 700 km-long salient (southern Apennines-Calabrian Arc-Sicilian Maghrebides) encircling the southern Tyrrhenian Sea.
- Magnetic fabric of the hanging-wall of a continental detachment fault (Altotiberina fault, northern Apennines, Italy). Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) analysis provided strong constraints for the reconstruction of the deformation pattern characterising the hanging-wall of a low-angle normal fault, and evidenced new tectonic effects related to the activity of the fault.
- Magnetostratigraphy of the Langhian-Burdigalian boundary in a sedimentary sequence of the northern Apennines (Italy).
- Magnetostratigraphy of the Caltanissetta basin (Sicily)
- Paleomagnetism of the Patagonian orocline (Tierra del Fuego, southern Argentina) in order to determine the age of the orogenic bending and its relationship with the opening of the Drake Passage between the South American and Antarctica plates, and the formation of the Scotia plate.
- Paleomagnetism of the Bolivian orocline (central Andes, Argentina) aimed to the kinematic reconstruction and timing of formation of the central Andean orocline.
- Paleomagnetism of the western Alpine arc (western Alps, Italy). Tectonic rotations at the sedimentary Tertiary Piedmont Basin lying on top of the alpine orogen allowed the kinematic reconstruction and timing of the western Alpine arc formation in the framework of the synchronous Corsica-Sardinia microplate rotation.
Grants & contracts
June 2010 – May 2012: MarieCurie Research fellow (Budget: 176,000 Euros)
- Institute: University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon(UK)
- Advisors: Dr. Antony Morris, Dr. Mark Anderson
- Project title: Detachment faults in ophiolites
- Subjects: Paleomagnetism, magnetic fabric with AMS and AARM analyses, magnetic mineralogy, structural geology analysis of brittle and ductile deformation
- Case study: Ophiolites/northern Albania; ophiolites/Oman; ophiolites/Cyprus; ophiolites/UnitedKingdom
February 2009 - May 2010: Research fellow
- Institute: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Rome, Italy.
- Projects: AMS study of Pleistocene continental clays from the hanging-wall of an active low-angle normal fault (Altotiberina Fault, Italy) ; Paleomagnetism of the Miocene sedimentary succession of the Gorgoglione basin (Southern Apennines, Italy); Magnetostratigraphy of the Burdigalian-Langhian sedimentary succession of the Moria section (Northern Apennines, Marche, Italy).
November 2006 / February 2007 - Marco Polo Grant (Budget: 3,500Euros)
- Description: travel and research grant funded by the Università di Bologna for a paleomagnetic fieldwork in Central Andes(Argentina) and laboratory analyses at the paleomagnetic laboratory of the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Publications
- Maffione Marco, F. Speranza, A. Cascella, S. Longhitano, D. Chiarella. Large-magnitude rotation of the Gorgoglione basin (Basilicata, Italy): new paleomagnetic constraints for the Miocene tectonic evolution of the Southern Apennines. Tectonophysics (submitted in 2012)
- Maffione Marco, S. Pucci, L. Sagnotti, F. Speranza (2012). Magnetic fabric of Pleistocene continental clays from the hanging-wall of an active low-angle normal fault (Altotiberina Fault, Italy). International Journal of Earth Science, 101(3), 849-861. Doi: 10.1007/s00531-011-0704-9
- Maffione Marco, F. Speranza, C. Faccenna, A. Cascella, G. Vignaroli, L. Sagnotti (2010). A synchronous Alpine and Corsica-Sardinia rotation: new paleomagnetic evidences from the Tertiary Piedmont Basin (NW Italy). Trabajos de Geologia, Universitad de Oviedo, 30, 28-36
- Maffione Marco, F. Speranza, C. Faccenna, E.A. Rossello (2010). Paleomagnetic evidence for a pre-early Eocene (~50 Ma) bending of the Patagonian orocline (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina): paleogeographic and tectonic implications. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 289, 273–286, doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.11.015
- Maffione Marco, F. Speranza, C. Faccenna (2009). Bending of the Bolivian orocline and growth of the Central Andean plateau: paleomagnetic and structural constraints from the Eastern Cordillera (22-24°S, NW Argentina). Tectonics, 28, TC4006, doi: 10.1029/2008TC002402
- Maffione Marco, Fabio Speranza, Claudio Faccenna, Antonio Cascella, Gianluca Vignaroli, and Leonardo Sagnotti (2008). A synchronous Alpine and Corsica-Sardinia rotation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, B03104, doi: 10.1029/2007JB005214
Reports & invited lectures
·
Magnetic Interactions 2012, University of Liverpool (UK). Poster presentation
· AGU Fall Meeting 2011, San Francisco (USA). Poster presentation.
· GEOITALIA 2011, Torino (Italy). Oral presentation
· Magnetic Interactions 2011, University of Oxford, Oxford (UK). Oral and poster presentation
· AGU fall meeting 2010, San Francisco (USA). Poster presentation
· CRES Research Conference 2010, Plymouth (UK). Key note oral presentation
· AGU Chapman Conference “Detachments in Oceanic Lithosphere: Deformation, Magmatism, Fluid Flow, and Ecosystems” 2010, Agros (Cyprus). Attendance
· EGU General Assembly 2010, Vienna (Austria). Poster presentation.
· Convegno Nazionale Gruppo Italiano di Geologia Strutturale (GIGS) 2009, Udine (Italy). Oral presentation
· International Meeting of Young Researchers in Structural Geology and Tectonics (YORSGET) 2008, Oviedo (Spain). Poster presentation
· International School of Space Science (ISSS) 2008, L’Aquila (Italy). Oral presentation
Other academic activities
Supervisor of a M.Sc. student. Project title: "Paleomagnetism of dykes of the Troodos ophiolites, Cyprus".
Additional information
- Languages: Italian (mother tongue); English (highly proficient); Spanish (proficient)
- Computer proficiency in all Microsoft Office applications, CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, ArcGIS softwares, AutoCAD, Python programming language
