Since the early days of its history, our planet has been compelled to cope with unceasing changes in regional and global climates, which occurred on different time scales, magnitudes, and extents. These changes have been, in turn, the triggers for dramatic modifications of past terrestrial and ocean environments.

The understanding on how the biosphere and geosphere have interacted and the reconstructions of the mechanisms and dynamics in diverse environmental domains during time frames characterized by different climate regimes could serve to improve our ability to forecast future scenarios of the consequences of the ongoing anthropogenic impact. This anti-paradigmatic approach is the basis for our ongoing research lines that focus on discrete periods characterized by climate conditions associated to major changes in the Earth’s climatic regime as well as boring background phases of the climate state (e.g., the Carnian Pluvial Event (Late Triassic), the hothouse climate of the early Paleogene, the Oligocene onset of icehouse regime, the last and the definitive establishment of the Quaternary glacial/interglacial variability and many others).

Professors coordinating and developing projects related to this research pathway: Claudia Agnini, Cristina Stefani, Anna Breda, Luca Capraro, Eliana Fornaciari, Luca Giusberti, Nereo Preto, Manuel Rigo, Roberto Gatto