The 10th International Congress of Tidal Sedimentology (TIDALITES) takes place in Matera (Italy) from 3 to 5 May 2022. TIDALITES, sponsored by the University of Basilicata, the Italian Geological Society, the International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS), and the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), is preceded and followed by seven field trips aimed at illustrating examples of modern and past tidal environments.
The guides for these field trips are published in the journal Geological Field Trips & Maps. The field trips focus on modern and ancient sedimentary environments that record the influence of tides at different time scales.
The guides to the three pre-congress excursions describe Neogene-Quaternary sequences belonging to straits and tidal-influenced bays whose outcrops are today exposed in southern Italy and southern Corsica.
The guide to the first excursion (https://doi.org/10.3301/GFT.2020.06) documents the itinerary through the Pleistocene deposits of the ancient Messina Strait and allows the observation of a variety of sedimentary facies. The stratigraphy records the transition from the narrowest zone of the ancient strait, where the highest current energy occurred, towards the two opposite strait exits characterised by relatively weaker tidal circulation. The discussions will take into account the tidal hydrodynamics and the deposits that now accumulate in the analogous modern Messina Strait.
The second guide (https://doi.org/10.3301/GFT.2021.01) describes a series of Miocene carbonate-clastic deposits today exposed along the Corsican margin of the Strait of Bonifacio. Through the observation of a series of magnificent outcrops, many of which will be observed from the sea, the influence of tidal currents and waves on sediments organised into large tidal dunes is envisaged. The stratigraphy allows the reconstruction of the space-time evolution of an ancient strait system.
The third guide describes tide-influenced mixed siliciclastic-bioclastic lower Pleistocene sequences accumulated in small basins belonging to the southern Apennine foreland (https://doi.org/10.3301/GFT.2021.07). The article presents the diagnostic structures that derive from the interaction between waves and tidal currents in marginal-marine systems, identifying the morpho-structural conditions that have allowed these small depocenters to amplify tidal flows in a microtidal setting similar to the modern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
The field guides to post-congress excursions illustrate additional case studies located in Italy and in France.
The first guide (https://doi.org/10.3301/GFT.2021.02) describes the sedimentary morpho-dynamics and the processes observed in some sectors of the Venice Lagoon. The guide allows to appreciate the physical characteristics of channel bar deposits influenced by tidal processes and to identify the accretion phases during the recent (historical times) and current climatic and hydrodynamic setting.
The guide to the second post-congress field trip (https://doi.org/10.3301/GFT.2021.04) focuses on the Quaternary deposits cropping out in the Ionian sector of the Siderno Basin. These are interpreted to represent the record of infilling of the ancient tidal Strait of Siderno, from the onset of tidal currents until their diminishing. In particular, the guide illustrates the characteristics of tidal-influenced delta deposits exposed along the northern edge of the strait comparing them with those deposited in a more axial and deeper sector of the same basin, recording a rare example of tidal sand ridge accumulated in an ancient strait.
The third post-congress field-trip guide describes the Oligo-Miocene deposits of the Bolognano Formation exposed in the Majella Massif, central Italy (https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3301/GFT.2020.05). These deposits record the migration of large carbonate dunes subjected to tidal regimes that influenced the contouritic circulation along the side of a carbonate ramp.
Finally, two further field trips have been included in the special volume. They belong to past editions of TIDALITES, but have been included in the volume due to their high quality. These guides explore the morpho-dynamics of the modern environments of (1) the Mont-St-Michel macrotidal system in Normandy, north-western France (doi . . . .), and (2) the coastal tidal sedimentary bodies of Denmark (https: //doi.org/10.3301/GFT.2021.03).
The Guest Editors of the Volume
Sergio G. Longhitano, Valentina M. Rossi, Domenico Chiarella, Cornel Olariu