Recent Research on Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Paleontology, Geochemistry, Volcanology, Tectonics, and Petroleum Geology

This book is based on the accepted papers for presentation at the 2nd MedGU Annual Meeting, Marrakech 2022. It covers various topics from the fields of (1) sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleontology, (2) geochemistry, mineralogy, petrology, volcanology, (3) structural geology, tectonics, geodynamics, petroleum geology, (4) petroleum and energy sciences and engineering, (5) astrogeology, impact craters and meteorites, and (6) climate and sea level change during the Cenomanian-Turonian Anoxic Event based on a synthesis of sedimentological, micropaleontological, and geochemical records. The content of these papers provides new scientific knowledge based on a series of newest research studies that are relevant to Middle East, Mediterranean region, and Africa.

Attila Ciner

Istanbul Technical University, Turkey

Attila Çiner is a sedimentology and Quaternary geology professor at the Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences at Istanbul Technical University, Turkey. After graduating from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (1985), he obtained his M.Sc. degree at the University of Toledo, USA (1988), and his Ph.D. at the University of Strasbourg, France (1992). He works on the tectono-sedimentary evolution of basins and Quaternary depositional systems such as moraines, fluvial terraces, alluvial fans, and deltas. He uses cosmogenic nuclides to date these deposits. He primarily focuses on the glacial deposits and landscapes and tries to understand paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental changes since the Last Glacial Maximum. Lastly, he was part of the Turkish Antarctic Expedition. He spent two months working on the site recognition and decision of the future Turkish scientific research station to be implemented on the continent. He is the founding editor-in-chief of Mediterranean Geoscience Reviews and the chief editor of Arabian J. of Geosciences, both published by Springer. He received the Humboldt Foundation Georg Forster lifetime achievement award in 2022.

Ahmed Radwan

Institute of Geological Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Dr. Ahmed E. Radwan is an adjunct professor at the Institute of Geological Sciences at the Jagiellonian University (Poland). Dr. Radwan has academic and industrial experience, since he obtained his Ph.D. in geophysics at Sohag University, Egypt, besides his proficient work in the oil and gas industry as the section head at the exploration department of the Gulf of Suez petroleum company (Gupco), Egypt. As a post-doctoral research scientist, he attended Innsbruck University in Austria in 2019. In 2020, he joined the Jagiellonian University in Poland. Despite his youth, he has received numerous awards from international organizations such asthe International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the Geochemical Society (GS), the Clay Minerals Society (CMS), the Austrian Forschungsgemeinschaft (FG), the Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej (NAWA), the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Research (BMBWF), and petroleum companies. Dr. Radwan has authored more than 100 papers in highly indexed international peer-reviewed journals, published four book chapters, and presented at numerous international conferences. Dr. Radwan is an associate editor in Asian earth sciences, marine and petroleum geology, geoenergy sciences and engineering, petroleum exploration and production technology, the Geological Journal, energy geosciences, and petroleum research, in addition to being an editorial board member of unconventional resources.

Stefano Naitza

Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy

Dr. Stefano Naitza was born on 29/05/1965 in Cagliari and was graduated in Geological Sciences at the University of Cagliari. In 1992–93, he attended the degree course in Prospecting and Evaluation of Minerals at the Institute of Mineral Deposits at the University of Cagliari. In 1993–96, he completed his Ph.D. in Mineral Prospecting (IX Cycle) at the University of Cagliari—Department of Geoengineering and Environmental Technologies. In 1998–2000, he is a research contractor at the University of Sassari—Institute of Geological-Mineralogical Sciences. In 2000–2002, he is the winner of a research grant at the Department of Geoengineering and Environmental Technologies at the University of Cagliari. In 2002, he was the winner of the public competition University Researcher—disciplinary sector D03D—Geology of Mineral Deposits at the University Of Cagliari. He has served as a researcher at the Department of Civil Engineering, Environmental and Architecture (DICAAR), Faculty of Engineering, University of Cagliari, from 2002 to February 2017 and currently belongs to the Department of Chemical andGeological Sciences, where he is currently in charge of the Economic Geology Course for the master degree course in Geological Sciences and Technologies. In the period 2012–2017, he was appointed to the Lithology and Geology Module in Applied Geology and Geology—degree course in Environmental Engineering. For the same degree course, he was in the past years in charge of the Rock and Industrial Minerals Course, the Solids Characterization Course, and the Ore Mineralogy Laboratory (2005–2010).

Zakaria Hamimi Benha

University, Benha, Egypt

Zakaria Hamimi is a structural geologist spent the majority of his academic career at Benha University (Egypt) along with some years at Sana’a University (Yemen,) and King Abdulaziz University (Saudi Arabia). He has graduated (1984) from Assiut University (distinction with honor degree) and holds the M.Sc. (1988) from Zagazig University (Egypt) and the Ph.D. in Structural Geology and Tectonics (1992) from Cairo University. His research interests focus on Structural Geology, Microstructures, and Tectonics. He has worked in many field-related subdisciplines of Earth Sciences including geologic mapping, microstructural analysis, strain analysis, paleostress reconstruction, active tectonics, tectonic geomorphology, crustal deformation, and image processing. He used all these fields to study key areas in the Arabian-Nubian Shield and to decipher their deformation history. Zakaria Hamimi is the president, and one of the founding team, of the Arabian Geosciences Union since 2012. He has received the medal of the Egyptian Geological Society of Egypt in 2015 and also the medal of the Arab Mining and Petroleum Association in 2016. He has co-published 50 research articles in national and international indexed and refereed journals and authored several books. In 2016, Zakaria Hamimi (1) joined the AJGS as an associate editor responsible for evaluating submissions in the fields of Structural Geology, Microstructures, and Tectonics, (2) selected as a member of the Egyptian Universities Promotion Committee, the Supreme Council for Universities (SCU, Egypt), (3) nominated as a secretary of the National Committee for Geological Sciences, Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, and (4) designated as the IUGS representative for Egypt. In November 2017, he attended the Gondwana 16 International Conference held at Bangkok, Thailand, as the representative of the National Committee for Geological Sciences, Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt. On September 15, 2020, Zakaria Hamimi was nominated as the president of the Egyptian National Committee for Geological Sciences, Academy of Scientific Research and Technology. In January 2022, he joined the Journal of African Earth Sciences as an associate editor.

Federico Lucci

Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geoambientali, Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy

Federico Lucci holds a B.Sc. in Earth Sciences (2004), a M.Sc. in Earth Sciences (2006), and a Ph.D. degree in Earth Sciences (2010) from Università degli Studi Roma Tre (Italy). Theses and specialties related to the degrees are petrography, multivariate statistic in Earth Sciences and igneous petrology-structural geology, respectively. He holds the associate professor qualification 04/A1 (2022)—ASN-MIUR in Petrology, Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Volcanology. His main research is focused on modeling and timing of magmatic complexes as key constraint for understanding regional tectonics and geodynamic scenarios, through a multidisciplinary approach that integrates field survey, rock fabric characterization, mineral chemistry (SEM-EDS-BSE, SEM-CL, EMPA, in situ LA-ICP-MS), geochemistry, geochronology, inverse and forward thermobarometry, and FC-AFC-mixing modeling. He has done extensive field work in Alpine and Hercynian orogens (Rif Chain, Corsica, Sardinia, Pyrenees, Central Iran), Gondwanan orogens (Central Iran), Pacific-Cocos convergence zone (Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt), and intraplate volcanic chains (Cameroon Line). His investigations are related to the definition of the magmatic heat source in areas of geothermal interests (Eastern Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt), understanding the granulite-granite connection (Rif Chain and Pyrenees), unravel the Mesozoic geodynamic scenario of the Neo-Tethys realm of Iran through its magmatic record and its cadomian basement, understanding the processes of crust-forming and growth through anatexis processes (Rif Chain in Morocco; Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone of Iran), and understanding the existing relationships between ore deposits, magmatism, and crust structure (Iran). Since February 2022, Federico Lucci is a researcher in Petrography and Petrology at the University of Bari, where he is dealing with the teaching course petrography of metamorphic rocks (semester). He organized in 2022 the short course for Ph.D. candidates dealing with the scientific language required forpublishing paper in international journals. He was the co-tutor of numerous bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. theses, the bulk of them dealing with the evolution of crystalline basements Petrographic fieldwork and laboratory activity were always part of the work in each thesis.

Jasper Knight

University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

He is a geoscientist with research interests in the spatial and temporal variability in morphosedimentary system responses to rapid hemispheric-scale climatic and environmental changes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. He focuses thematically on glaciers, rivers, coasts, and mountains. He focuses geographically on Africa, Ireland, northwest USA, Australia, the European Alps, and various places in Asia and South America.

Santanu Banerjee

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India

Santanu Banerjee currently works as a professor at the Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Santanu does research in sedimentology and petroleum geology. His research areas include authigenic iron silicates, microbially induced sedimentary structures, basin analysis, provenance interpretations, and alternate potash fertilizer. He is on the editorial board of Journal of Palaeogeography, Minerals, Arabian Journal of Geosciences, and Journal of Earth Systems Science. He teaches Sedimentology, Sedimentary Basins, and Petroleum exploration in his institute. He has published close to 130 papers in SCI-indexed journals, which received more than 5000 citations.

Ciro Cucciniello

Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Napoli, Italy

He was a researcher in Petrology and Petrography (GEO/07) from 30/12/2013 to 26/12/2020 • an associate professor in Petrology and Petrography (GEO/07) from 27/12/2020 to present main scientific interests • Petrological and geochemical study of large igneous provinces (e.g., Madagascar, Deccan, Karoo) • Petrological and geochemical study of intrusive complexes from ultramafic to felsic (e.g., India) • Petrological and geochemical study of alkaline, strongly alkaline and peralkaline rocks (e.g., Madagascar, Libya) • Analytical chemistry of magmatic rocks and minerals using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) • Isotopic analysis (87Sr/86Sr, 143Nd/144Nd, 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb) of magmatic rocks by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) research funding principal investigator •

Hasnaa Chennaoui

Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco

Education and Research. Hasnaa Chennaoui Aoudjehane is a Moroccan scientist in the field of Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences and Geochemistry. She is a professor in the Department of Geology at the Hassan II University of Casablanca, the former director of the GAIA Laboratory, and the coordinator of the Centre of Research on Geo-resources and the Environment. She became the first woman to graduate with a degree in meteoritics in Morocco and the Arabic countries. She obtained her first Ph.D. in noble gas geochemistry from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, France, in 1992. She defended a "Thèse d'état" at the Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco, in meteoritics in 2007. She has studied and classified many meteorites from Morocco including the latest 14 falls. One of her most influential projects characterized "Tissint", the fifth eyewitnessed Martian meteorite, which proved the origin of all Martian meteorites and demonstrated the presence of fluids on Mars in these Martian rocks. Honors and Awards. Hasnaa has received several honors and awards for her research, including the Paul Doistau-Émile Blutet Prize from the French Academy of Sciences in 2009 and the Moroccan National TV SNRT Trophy for “Distinguished Women in Morocco” in 2016.

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy

Dr. Domenico M. Doronzo holds a B.Sc., a M.Sc., and a Ph.D. degrees in Earth Sciences from Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy. Investigation specialties related to those degrees are physical volcanology, experimental and computational fluid dynamics, petrology, and natural hazards. Then, he has worked in volcanology and sedimentology, fluid dynamics and combustion, environmental sciences, and rock physics in the USA, Mexico, Spain, and Italy. Currently, he is a contract researcher at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Vesuviano, Italy. Particularly, he has received the Rittmann Medal from Associazione Italiana di Vulcanologia and Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, which is assigned to the best young Italian volcanologist. His research interests focus on integrating theory, field measurements, numerical modeling, laboratory, and outdoor experiments to study geological processes and products in volcanic areas (Vesuvio, Campi Flegrei, Etna, Vulcano, Colli Albani, Tenerife, Altiplano Puna, Colima) from fluid dynamic and natural hazard perspectives.

Jesús Rodrigo-Comino

University of Granada, Spain

Ph.D. D.Eng. Jesús Rodrigo-Comino is a member of the Department of Regional and Physical Geography at the University of Granada (Spain). He completed his first Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Málaga (Spain) and Trier (Germany) in 2018 and the second one in the engineering of Geomatics and Topography at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (2023). His current research interests include soil geography, regional geography, and land degradation. He coordinates the Terra Lab 2 EGEMAP (Environmental Geography and Mapping) www.egemap.eu.

Carla Candeias

GeoBioTec, Geosciences Department, University of Aveiro, Portugal

She is a researcher/GeoBioTec Research Centre/Geosciences Department, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; candeias@ua.pt, Researcher ID: A-2521-2014/Scopus: 37062910200/Ciencia ID: D912-6FC4-79CC / ORCID: 0000-0001-6664-8545 Keywords: Medical geology, water and sediment quality, soil quality, air quality, indoor and outdoor dust, pelotherapy, environmental geochemistry, human health risk assessment, epidemiology, geophagy students’ supervisor; a member of international and national projects, including as PI; a member of scientific and organizing committees of international conferences; and the editor of books and special issues. She published papers indexed on Science Citation Index, e.g., 1. Carla Candeias, Paula Ávila, Cristina Sequeira, Albuquerque Manuel, Fernando Rocha (2022).

Roohollah Kalatehjari

Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

Dr. Roohollah (Roo) Kalatehjari is a highly accomplished academic and researcher with over 15 years of experience in geotechnical engineering. He is a senior lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering, an associate head of school—Learning andTeaching at the School of Future Environments (SoFE) at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), the director of the Advanced Construction Research cluster, and the founder and director of the Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory. His research focuses on preserving the environment and finding sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions for soil stabilization and slope stability. Roo is also an active member of several professional engineering and education organizations, including Engineering New Zealand, the New Zealand Geotechnical Society, and the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. He is a fellow of HEA, UK, and a member of Life Cycle Assessment New Zealand.

Afroz Ahmad Shah

Shah Afroz is a senior assistant professor of Structural Geology at the Department of Geosciences, Universiti of Brunei Darussalam (UBD). He graduated from IIT Kanpur, India, in 2006, and then completed Ph.D. at James Cook University, Australia, in 2010, a post-doctorate at Earth Observatory of Singapore in 2013, and joined his first academic job as a senior lecturer of Structural Geology at Curtin Sarawak, Miri, Malaysia, before joining UBD. His research mainly involves the brittle deformation of lithospheric plates, focusing on earthquake-causing faults in South and Southeast Asia. It also includes floods, landslides, and land subsidence hazards. Shah works on earthquake science education and outreach and frequently writes in newspapers, magazines, and blogs. He is a national geographic explorer, and his work on earthquake hazards in Kashmir has been featured in the National Geographic Magazine. He loves writing and has been involved in writing about geological and climatic hazards.

Matteo Gentilucci

University of Camerino, School of Science and Technology, Geology division, Camerino, Italy

Matteo Gentilucci had his B.Sc. degree in “Geological Sciences” from University of Camerino, Italy, in 2009 and then earned M.Sc. degree in 2012 from University of Camerino, Italy, in “Geoenvironmental Resources and Risks”. He earned a first-level master’s degree in GIS for the governance of the territory in 2012 and a Ph.D. in “Sciences and technology: Earth Science” from the University of Camerino in 2017. From February 2017 to October 2018, he is a researcher at the Experimental Geophysical Observatory of Macerata, and in 2018, he became an honorary fellow in Advanced GIS. In 2018 and 2019, he is a contract professor of the University of Camerino. Since 2022, he has been a researcher at the University of Camerino and holds courses in meteorology, climatology, and GIS. He is the editorial board member of the Journal of Experimental Sciences, of Journal Sustainability, of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences, and of the International Research Conference Committee. He is the author of numerous articles in international journals.

Dionysia Panagoulia

National Technical University of Athens, Greece

Dr. Dionysia G. Panagoulia is an associate professor at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, with expertise in hydrology, hydroclimatology, and water systems. She is the author of more than 145 published research works, including being the co-editor of the book “River Basin Management - Under a Changing Climate”, and lately has extended her research work to water economics theory and complex time/dark matter approaches. She has over 30 years of research experience in floods and their risk and hazard, extreme events, precipitation, global climate contribution to local climate, climate change, low flows, droughts, maximum/minimum temperatures, sediment transport, groundwater/streamflow interaction, ANN, WEF nexus, and water economics and management. She has cooperated in joint research with the University of Stuttgart, Germany; CNRS Laboratory of Oceanology and Geosciences Wimereux, France; Wageningen University, Netherlands; and McGill University, Canada. She was/is a member of twelve scientific societies, a reviewer and a guest editor for thirty-two international journals, and a recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Reviewer Award from Water MDPI.

Helder Chaminé

School of Engineering of Porto (ISEP), Portugal

Helder I. Chaminé is a skilled geologist (B.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc.) and a professor of engineering geosciences at the School of Engineering (ISEP) of the Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal, with over 33 years of experience in multidisciplinary geosciences research and practice. Before joining the academy in 2001, he worked for over 13 years on international and national projects for mining hydrogeomechanics and geology, structural geology mapping, applied mineralogy, rock engineering, exploration geology, and groundwater. His major research interests are GIS mapping techniques for applied geology, geotechnics and natural hazards, engineering geosciences and hydrogeomechanics, hard-rock hydrogeology, urban groundwater, water resources, and thermal waters management. He has interests in geomining heritage, geoethics, history of cartography, military geosciences, higher education dissemination, and geo-professional core values. Presently, he is the head of the Laboratory of Cartography and Applied Geology (LABCARGA|ISEP), a senior researcher at Centre GeoBioTec| U.Aveiro and Centre IDL| U.Lisbon, as well as belongs to the executive board of the M.Sc. Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering program (OE+EUR-ACE Label) and the Department of Geotechnical Engineering (ISEP). Furthermore, he was a consultant and or responsible for over 70 projects of applied geology, hydrogeomechanics, slope geotechnics, mining geology, exploration hydrogeology, hard-rock hydrogeology, water resources, urban groundwater, and applied mapping (Mozambique, Portugal, and Spain). He has co-authored over 220 publications in indexed journals, conference proceedings/full papers,book chapters, technical, and professional papers. He co-edited over 16 special volumes (journals and Springer Series Books) and is presently editing topical collections for several international journals. He serves as an associate editor (SN Applied Sciences, Discover Water, Arabian Journal of Geosciences, Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration) and on the editorial or advisory boards (Mediterranean Geoscience Reviews, Geotechnical Research ICE, Journal of Geoethics and Social Geosciences, Cadernos do Laboratório Xeolóxico de Laxe, Revista Geotecnia SPG, Geología Aplicada a la Ingeniería y al Ambiente ASAGAI). He also served as an associate editor in the Hydrogeology Journal.

Maurizio Barbieri

University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy

Maurizio Barbieri is a skilled geologist (B.Sc., Ph.D.) with over 27 years of experience and a full professor of Geochemistry in the Department of Chemical, Materials and Environmental Engineering (DICMA) at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Presently he is a fellow of the Association of Applied Geochemists and the European chair (Italy) of the Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health. He has been on the editorial board of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences, Chemie der Erde, Environmental Geochemistry and Health, Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration, Water, Geofluids, and Discover Water. In addition, he is the editor-in-chief (Hydrogeology Section) for Geosciences MDPI. Main R&D fields: Environmental Geochemistry, Environmental Hydrogeology; Hydrogeochemistry; Water-Rock Interaction; Water Resources Management; Geoenvironment; and Geo-hazards.

Zeynal Abiddin Ergüler

Kutahya Dumlupinar University, Geological Engineering Department, Kutahya, Turkey

Prof. Dr. Zeynal Abiddin Erguler is a full professor in the geological engineering department at Kutahya Dumlupinar University (Turkey). Dr. Erguler holds a B.Sc. (1998), an M.Sc. (2001), and a Ph.D. degree (2007) in Geological Engineering from Hacettepe University (Turkey). His research interests mainly focus on rock mechanics, engineering geology, environmental geology, and soil mechanics. His current investigation is to understand and model the thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of shale rocks in the area of shale gas production. In addition to performing many types of research and industry-funded projects, he has also taught and supervised undergraduate and graduate students. In 2017, Dr. Erguler joined the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (AJGS) as an editor responsible for evaluating submissions in the fields of rock mechanics, engineering geology, environmental geology, and soil mechanics.