A new porcelaneous foraminifer, Cairoella tricamerata n. gen., n. sp., is here described from the lower Cenomanian of the Monte Cairo area near Cassino (Southern Latium, Italy). The new taxon is characterized by an early stage with triloculine to quinqueloculine coiling, followed by one or two whorls, each consisting of three or more tubular, curved, flattened and undivided chambers, with depressed sutures; it is ascribed to the superfamily Milioloidea, but the inferred attribution to the family Hauerinidae remains uncertain. In the type-locality its occurrence is restricted to the back-edge facies of the Latium-Abruzzi carbonate platform represented by fossiliferous grain-supported limestone rich in Sellialveolina viallii Colalongo, 1963.

The Arabian, African and Eurasian plates interact in the Levantine region. Despite numerous studies of the region, many geological issues relating to Mesozoic times remain unresolved. The Lebanon passive margin is a key area for understanding Neo-Tethyan sedimentary history during this period. The Jurassic succession in Lebanon is well exposed and thick (more than 1000 m). It is more or less complete and relatively undeformed. With a few recent exceptions most studies of the area were made in the 1950s and so the sedimentary evolution of the Jurassic is only partly understood.This study provides (1) a new sedimentary and sequence stratigraphic framework, and (2) a new biostratigraphic framework based on benthic foraminifera and calcareous algae. Palaeoenvironmental and geodynamic conclusions are inferred.Jurassic outcrops occur in both the Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon areas. Here, they were studied essentially in Mount Lebanon. The Jurassic succession can be divided into three parts: (1) the lower part (Kesrouane Formation) is a thick succession of marine limestones or dolomites; (2) the middle part (Bhannes Formation) consists mainly of basaltic eruptive rocks associated with pyroclastic strata; (3) the upper part (Bikfaya Formation) is a succession of marine limestones.During the Bathonian, Callovian, Oxfordian and parts of the Kimmeridgian, a large epicontinental shelf, with very shallow marine environments, extended across Lebanon (Kesrouane Formation). The period was characterized by a stable platform morphology. It was a tectonically quiet period, although intense subsidence allowed the accumulation of a thick sediment package. During the Kimmeridgian, the carbonate platform regime that had dominated Lebanon during the Middle Jurassic came to an abrupt end, as evidenced by a regional unconformity, a regression and block faulting. This rifting phase is associated with a volcanic event (Bhannes Formation) that is recognized from northern to southern Lebanon. During the Lower Jurassic (Kimmeridgian p. p. to Tithonian p. p.) shallow marine carbonate shelf deposits are observed again (Bikfaya Formation), indicating a marine transgression. This last formation exhibits rapid lateral thickness variations, because of active block faulting and erosion, and is overlain by continental sandstones of the basal Cretaceous.

This study summarises the results of a geological survey carried out in the Monte San Vicino-Cingoli area of the Umbria-Marche Apennines. In this area, the axial culmination of the external Apennine ridge and the widespread occurrence of Messinian and Pliocene deposits provide an almost complete record of the deformation history of the external zones of the chain. The prosecution of the Sibillini Thrust North of the Chienti River valley, never previously ascertained, has been identified within the Miocene units exposed in the western limb of the Cingoli anticline, about 4-5 km away from the mountain front. An important role in the tectonic evolution of the study area is also played by inherited (pre-thrusting) structures. These include both those of the rifted continental margin, of Mesozoic age, and those related to Miocene foreland deformation. The former, well known in the geological literature, are organised in two main fault sets (trending NNE-SSW and WNW-ESE). Synsedimentary Miocene faults, mainly trending NNW-SSE, controlled foredeep turbiditic deposition during early (pre-evaporitic) Messinian times. These faults show very limited or no reversal of slip during contractional deformation. In fact, although mild inversion tectonics has produced some uplift and antiformal folding of hanging wall basin fills, only in one instance (i.e. Avenale Fault) has significant fault reactivation occurred. The onset of contractional deformation within the study area coincides with the end of the deposition of the Gessoso-solfifera Fm. Thrusting appears to have migrated in sequence towards the external zones of our study area up to Early Pliocene times (Globorotalia puncticulata biozone).

Sivasella monolateralis Sirel and Gunduz, 1978 (Foraminiferida), a valuable biostratigraphic marker, was found for the first time in Italy, in the Maastrichtian limestones of the Rava Santa Maria stratigraphic section (Lepini Mountains, southern Latium). The taxonomic position of the genus is discussed and its attribution to the new subfamily Sivasellinae is proposed.

The results of the study of some discontinuities within the Middle-Upper Cretaceous series in Abruzzi (Monti d'Ocre and Western Marsica) and Campania (Caserta Mountains) are reported.

Le Groupe de Travail Européen des Grands Foraminifères présente un tableau de répartition stratigraphique de 42 espèces bien définies du Crétacé moyen de la région méditerranéenne. La répartition stratigraphique proposée pour chaque espèce est fondée soit sur des propres observations soit sur des données de la littérature supprimer et est contrôlée par la présence d'Ammonites ou de Foraminifères planctoniques.