Frasassi: mapping, caves, beautiful views

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We spent the past week working on a mapping project of the Frasassi area, to record different outcrops throughout the area of the varying limestones of the Marche region sedimentary succession. Basically, throughout the formation of the rocks that make up Italy, changes in temperature, oxygen levels and evolutionary changes caused a variety in the limestones that were deposited. Then when the Apennines formed because of the collision of Sardinia and Corsica with mainland Italy, it forced these layers into giant folds called synclines and anticlines that now form the Apennine mountains. We explored the region near Frasassi in the Marche region to track where those different limestones made an appearance along roads and quarries, and ultimately we had to fill in a topographic map with colors according to the pattern of rocks we saw, then also infer what rocks lay below the surface and draw a cross-section that included the below-ground syncline we can't see, as well as above-ground "rocks" that would have been here before they got eroded away. It was a monster of a project, but very fun! The best day was when the professors let us loose in our groups of three to go explore outcrops for eight hours, identify them by the "lick and look" method (licking a rock and looking at it under a hand lens to look more closely at the microfossils within), and record them on our map. It was also fun because we were expiring an area probably 5x7km or so, on mountain peaks on either side of a river, so we got to see the beautiful view of Frasassi over and over and over from every angle. Bellissimo!

One day after mapping, Sandro gave us a personal tour of the Frasassi Cave, one of the biggest tourist attractions in this area of Italy. The cave system within Monte Frasassi is massive, and contains magnificent formations of stalactites and stalagmites from dissolved and reprecipitated calcite from the Calcare Massiccio limestone. Sandro was one of the teen spelunkers who discovered the Frasassi Caves in the early 70's. 17-year-old Sandro, with home-made candlelight headlamp and ball of string in hand, went to explore beyond the deep crevasse that wafted cool sulfur air. Sandro told us of the cave's discovery: The crew sent the oldest member-- a 19-year-old-- down the rope ladder to check out the scene, and had almost gotten to the bottom when one of the ropes broke-- AHHHH! Sandro said that this is the point when a very famous dessert was invented, because the guy shouted "TIRA MI SU! TIRA MI SU!"-- "pull me up! pull me up!" They went back, got a longer ladder and continued down to the ground-- 245 meters below the entrance. The cave was such a maze, with all the karst formations and chambers and levels, that one could get lost within minutes. So Sandro took to mapping the entire cave, by tying a string to a rock and unravelling the ball as he went. Hansel and Gretel, live! And to think this guy, who is currently my professor, not only helped discovered one of the largest cave systems in Italy, but also the extinction of the dinosaurs… pretty badass.

We just had our second weekend break, and as I was getting a bit of a cold, I decided to stay near Coldigioco and relax. Well worth it! I made a bunch of fig jam; slept in; explored San Severino Marche (a beautiful small city 25 minutes from here); and Elcitio, a tiny medieval village built into the side of Monte San Vicino, into the rock faces themselves; cooked LOTS of food; hiked to the nearby reservoir for a swim; played my violin a bit; and began journaling in the journal Nick made me and my mom mailed (I forgot it at home…). Today we started to learn Cyclostratigraphy, which is pretty confusing and involves computer programming, but essentially is a way to track cycles in the rock record and relate them to worldwide climate changes changed by subtle changes in the orbit of the earth over thousands of years. I'll figure it out BEFORE the report is due this time!

Tomorrow its off Urbino to see the Ducal Palace of Federico da Montefeltro for art class day! to Buona notte, for now, ciao!

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