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96-467: Monte San Giorgio is a wooded mountain, rising to 1,097 m (3,600 feet) above sea level. It has a roughly pyramidal shape, with a steep north edge sloping towards Lake Lugano and a more shallow South Slope extending towards the Po Plain . The eastern (Swiss) side of the mountain, between the municipalities of Brusino Arsizio , Riva San Vitale , and Meride , was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2003. This

192-679: A dash ; for example, 1-21-00.26 ha would mean 1 hectare, 21 ares, and 0.26 centiares (12,100.26 m ). The metric system of measurement was first given a legal basis in 1795 by the French Revolutionary government. The law of 18 Germinal, Year III (7 April 1795) defined five units of measure: In 1960, when the metric system was updated as the International System of Units (SI), the are did not receive international recognition. The International Committee for Weights and Measures ( CIPM ) makes no mention of

288-404: A double prefix is non-standard. The decimilliare is (100 mm) or roughly a four-inch-by-four-inch square. The centiare is one square metre. The deciare (rarely used) is ten square metres. The are ( / ɑːr / or / ɛər / ) is a unit of area, equal to 100 square metres ( 10 m × 10 m ), used for measuring land area. It was defined by older forms of the metric system , but

384-761: A big contributor to pollution. It delivers more than 40 percent of Italy's milk production, for example, while over half of the Italian pig production is located in the Po Valley. According to research published in The Lancet Planetary Health in January 2021, which estimates the death rate associated with fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) pollution in 1000 European cities, Brescia and Bergamo in Lombardy have

480-470: A deeper basinal environment. These basin sediments are preserved as the Moltrasio Limestone , a thick sheet of micrite (fine-grained limestone) with abundant cherty and marly beds created by turbidites (mudslides). Jurassic sediments are preserved to the east, south, and west of Monte San Giorgio; the position of the modern mountain would have been an island or shallow environment during

576-439: A few other units including the are (and implicitly the hectare ) whose use was limited to the measurement of land. The names centiare , deciare , decare and hectare are derived by adding the standard metric prefixes to the original base unit of area, the are . The decimilliare (dma, sometimes seen in cadastre area evaluation of real estate plots) is 1 ⁄ 10,000 are or one square decimetre. Such usage of

672-477: A geologic feature called the fontanili ("spring") line or zone, a band of springs around the Val Po, heaviest on the north, on the lowermost slopes of the anticline. It varies from a few kilometres to as much as 50 km (30 miles) wide. The fontanili line is the outcrop, or intersection, of the anticline's water table with the surface at the edge of the bassa . The rock above the line is porous. Surface water in

768-617: A lower sea level that allowed big mammals and humans to migrate from Africa and the Middle East to central and western Europe through an empty and open Po valley, avoiding the barrier of the Alps, reaching the Loire Valley, and Iberian Peninsula, and then, when glaciation retreated, the rest of continental Europe. Urban development began in the Po Valley much later than in southern Italy or Greece. The first known ancient inhabitants of

864-764: A lower, very fertile, and well-irrigated section, known in Lombardy and western Emilia as la Bassa , "the low (plain)". The upper areas of the Po valley take local names which reflect in their meanings their being modestly suited for farming. So we have the Piedmontese vaude and baragge , the Lombard brughiere and Groane , or, exiting from the Po valley proper, the Friulian magredi , areas remote from easily reachable water tables and covered with dense woods or dry soils. This specific meaning for "lower plain" derive from

960-550: A measure of land area. The names of the older land measures of similar size are usually used, redefined as exactly one decare: The most commonly used units are in bold . One hectare is also equivalent to: The Unicode character U+33CA ㏊ SQUARE HA , in the CJK Compatibility block, is intended for compatibility with pre-existing East Asian character codes. It is not intended for use in alphabetic contexts. U+3336 ㌶ SQUARE HEKUTAARU

1056-477: A more significant constituent in the average diet and in the agrarian regime compared to the centuries before, leading populations to reconfigure the medieval natural landscape for agricultural purposes. In creating new land for cultivation and settlement, the European communities triggered a massive landscape transformation through woodland clearance, arable intensification, the development of irrigation systems and

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1152-720: A period of rifting which would eventually break up Pangea . By the time of the Rhaetian stage (~208 to 201 Ma), the Dolomia Principale was buried by a shorter but more stable sequence of shallow-water marl and carbonate, the Tremona Series . Rifting continued into the Early Jurassic , alongside marine sedimentation. From the Hettangian to Pliensbachian stages (201 to 183 Ma), the area reacquired

1248-587: A sandy coastline dotted with deltas and floodplains . As the Anisian stage continued, the coastal sandstone of the Bellano Formation was replaced with calcareous marine deposits. These were the first of many massive carbonate platforms building up on a branch of the Tethys Sea which was expanding westwards. The shallow carbonate platform of Monte San Giorgio and surrounding areas is known as

1344-540: A search for furnace and lamp oil for Milan , mining projects attempted to establish themselves in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, focusing on the bituminous shale of the Grenzbitumenzone (Besano Formation). Though these early efforts did not last very long, exploitation of the Grenzbitumenzone ramped up in the early 20th century once its pharmaceutical properties were discovered. In 1908,

1440-437: A series of large and systematic excavations in 1924, greatly expanding both the number of known fossil sites and the number of geological layers known to preserve fossils. Peyer's excavations continued until 1938, discovering many new species of fossil animals in the process. World War II paused both Saurol production and fossil collection. The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano (Milan Civic Museum of Natural History, MSNM)

1536-626: A small number of museums, primarily the PIMUZ, MSNM, and MCSN. Local museums in Besano, Meride, and Induno Olona also play a role in promotion of the site and its fossils. The Museo dei fossili del Monte San Giorgio (Museum of fossils from Monte San Giorgio) in Meride was first opened 1973, receiving a 2012 redesign and expansion courtesy of Ticinese architect Mario Botta . The geological layers of Monte San Giorgio span more than 100 million years, from

1632-437: A thin-shelled bivalve adapted to low oxygen. Fossils of free-swimming animals are more diverse, with marine reptiles , fish, and shelled cephalopods being the most prominent. Terrestrial and shallow-water organisms such as shrimps , conifer branches ( Voltzia ), and land reptiles ( Ticinosuchus ) were occasionally washed into the basin as well. The basin responsible for the Grenzbitumenzone continued to persist through

1728-565: A year of their life expectancy. The main reasons for the high amount of air pollution over the Po valley are strictly connected to livestock and factories. The so-called "NPK fertilizers", made of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, along with manure emissions from intensive breeding and high levels of nitrogen dioxide released by diesel and petrol engines are all accountable for this disastrous air condition in Northern Italy. The region of Lombardy produces also vast amounts of animal waste,

1824-439: Is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm ), that is, 10,000 square metres (10,000 m ), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is about 0.405 hectares and one hectare contains about 2.47 acres. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as 100 square metres , or one square decametre , and

1920-530: Is an almost continuous megalopolis stretching from Turin to Trieste . The bassa Padana was settled and farmed earliest, in Etruscan and Roman times. After the collapse of the Roman Empire (5th century AD), lack of maintenance of the irrigation systems associated with a cooling climate phase (i.e. the so-called Migration Period or The Dark Age Cold Period ) led to the progressive waterlogging of

2016-571: Is claimed to be likely to be lost due to soaring sea level in the next centuries. Where the land surface now dips below sea level the river must run at a relative elevation between dikes. The Malossa gas condensate field was discovered in 1973 and produces at depths of 6 km (4 miles) from the Upper Triassic Dolomia Principale dolomite and the Lower Jurassic Zandobbio dolomite, capped by

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2112-455: Is for hydro-electric power, irrigation, and industrial transport. The cost of purifying it for human consumption makes that process less feasible. The fresh drinking water comes from hundreds of thousands of wells concentrated especially in the fontanili zone. The major settlements, therefore, are also in that zone, which has become the centre of economic development and industry in Italy, and now

2208-456: Is now outside the modern International System of Units (SI). It is still commonly used in speech to measure real estate, in particular in Indonesia, India, and in various European countries. In Russian and some other languages of the former Soviet Union , the are is called sotka (Russian: сотка : 'a hundred', i.e. 100 m or 1 ⁄ 100 hectare). It is used to describe

2304-601: Is produced by the flow of the Po. The river is extensively used for irrigation for the region's agriculture. Po valley is considered the worst area in Europe for air quality. In March 2019, the European Space Agency (ESA) published images of nitrogen dioxide concentrations taken from the Sentinel-5P satellite. These images show a big red area, made of nitrogen dioxide and fine particles, situated above

2400-798: Is the only Swiss stronghold for Microtus savii (Savi's pine vole), and hosts breeding sites for amphibians such as Bufo bufo (common toad), Rana temporaria (common frog), Rana dalmatina (agile frog), Hyla intermedia (Italian tree frog), and other species. Invertebrates are even more diverse, including some species which are very rare in Switzerland, such as Pyrgus armoricanus (Oberthur's grizzled skipper), Euchorthippus declivus (Jersey grasshopper), and Pholidoptera littoralis insubrica (littoral dark bush-cricket). The dry meadows are especially diverse, hosting several species of previously undiscovered or undocumented spiders . Isolated populations of crustaceans and millipedes inhabit

2496-655: The Apennines in the south to the Alps in the north, including the northern Adriatic. In addition to the Po and its affluents, the contemporary surface may be considered to include the Savio , Lamone and Reno to the south, and the Adige , Brenta , Piave and Tagliamento of the Venetian Plain to the north, among the many streams that empty into the north Adriatic from the west and north. Geo-political definitions of

2592-554: The Guelph-Ghibelline reciprocate bloodbath of the 13th and 14th centuries. The Signorie came from spent out Communal institutions. With Venice 's expansion on the eastern mainland in the first half of the 15th century and Milan 's supremacy in the center and west the region (not significantly diminished by the Black Death of 1348) reached unprecedented peaks of prosperity. Vast areas were irrigated and cultivated with

2688-706: The Neolithic Period , around 6,000 years ago. The south side of the mountain is home to Tremona-Castello Archaeological Park , a fortress and settlement which was continuously inhabited by artisans from the Neolithic up until the 14th century . Artifacts, architecture, and other evidence of Roman and medieval activity are abundant on and around the mountain. Productive limestone quarries were active during this period and beyond in Italy ( Viggiù and Saltrio ) and Switzerland ( Arzo ). The mountain's fossil fuel deposits were exploited more recently. Motivated by

2784-459: The Permian to Jurassic periods. The rocks forming the mountain dip southwards, with older rocks exposed as one travels north and younger rocks exposed as one travels south. The oldest rocks are Permian volcanic basement material on the mountain's steep north slope. These are followed by Triassic sediments and carbonates at higher elevations on the mountain. Middle Triassic layers are

2880-694: The Po river basin; it runs from the Western Alps to the Adriatic Sea . The flatlands of Veneto and Friuli are often considered apart since they do not drain into the Po, but they effectively combine into an unbroken plain, making it the largest in Southern Europe . It has a population of 17 million, or a third of Italy's total population. The plain is the surface of an in-filled system of ancient canyons (the "Apennine Foredeep") extending from

2976-588: The Venetian domain was invaded, forcing Venice into neutrality as an independent power. In the end, Spain prevailed with Charles V 's victory over Francis I of France at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. The Spanish domination was oppressive, adding its burden to the Counterreformation imposed by the archbishopric of Milan ; Protestantism was prevented from making inroads in the area. Burning at

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3072-641: The are in the 2019 edition of the SI brochure, but classifies the hectare as a "Non-SI unit accepted for use with the International System of Units". In 1972, the European Economic Community (EEC) passed directive 71/354/EEC, which catalogued the units of measure that might be used within the Community. The units that were catalogued replicated the recommendations of the CGPM, supplemented by

3168-431: The intermittent streams of the mountains tends to disappear below ground only to spring out again in the spring zone . The spring zone is often called "the middle valley." Surface runoff water (the Po and its affluents) is not of much value to the valley's dense population for drinking and other immediate uses, being unreliable, often destructive, and heavily polluted by sewage and fertilizers. Its main anthropic value

3264-468: The kingdom of Italy , always with its capital in Pavia. The affirmation of large landownership from the eighth/ninth centuries accelerated the process of land reclamation and intensified land use, transforming the landscape of the Po Valley. After the chaotic feudal dissolution of the empire and much fighting among pretenders to the imperial crown, Otto I of Saxony set the stage for the following phase of

3360-528: The 20th century) came the Germanic Lombards , a warrior people who gave their name to almost the whole of the Po valley: Lombardy . In the Middle Ages the term was used to indicate all of northern Italy. The Lombards divided their domain in duchies , often contending for the throne; Turin and Friuli, in the extreme west and east end respectively, seem to have been the most powerful, whereas

3456-503: The Alps. The shoreline of the Adriatic depends on a balance between the sedimentation rate and isostatic factors. Until about 1950, the Po delta was prograding into the Adriatic. After that time due to human alteration of geologic factors, such as the sedimentation rate, the delta has been degrading and the coastline subsiding, resulting in ongoing contemporaneous crises in the city of Venice , where much irreplaceable art and architecture

3552-518: The Grenzbitumenzone (in Switzerland). It represents the first of several sections on the mountain enriched with well-preserved fossils. The Grenzbitumenzone, especially its shale layers, is enriched with organic material derived from cyanobacteria . This accumulation of organic material presumably made the bottom of the basin anoxic or dysoxic, with low oxygen levels in the seawater. The only fossils of seabed-living organisms belong to Daonella ,

3648-641: The Jurassic. Its Jurassic sediments are now eroded away to reveal older Triassic and Permian rocks. Conversely, Monte Generoso , immediately to the east of Monte San Giorgio, is composed mostly of Jurassic basinal sediments. Outcrops of Jurassic sediments are also seen close to the Po Plain, at the south edge of Monte San Giorgio (in a broad sense). The productive " marble " quarries found south of Monte San Giorgio actually mined non- metamorphosed limestone, rather than true marble. These limestone units were formed at

3744-562: The Ladinian, though the Grenzbitumenzone itself transitioned into a less fossiliferous formation known as the San Giorgio Dolomite . This formation has lower organic content, no shale, and only a few fragmentary fossils. Higher organic content and finer laminations return a short while later, forming the lower part of the fossil-rich Meride Limestone . The Meride Limestone probably represents a period of increased instability on

3840-497: The Lower Cretaceous Marne di Bruntino marl . The Po Valley is often regarded as a syncline , or dip in the crust due to compression at the edges. Regardless of whether this concept accurately describes its geology, the valley is manifestly a sediment-filled trough, or virtual syncline, continuous with the deeps of the Adriatic Sea . The surface terrain is therefore divided into two overall types of landform :

3936-461: The Po Valley and the natural depressions on the right side of the Po River turned in vast swamp basins. The waterlogging process of the area continued until the 10th century influencing the human sustenance and settling practices. According to historical-archaeological data, indeed, the wetlands were exploited for fishing as well as for transport by boat while the early medieval sites settled on

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4032-602: The Po Valley area, which incorporates the city of Milan , Turin , and Bologna . Milan and Turin share high levels of ozone and nitrogen oxides , which are mainly produced by cars' diesel and petrol engines. To shed light on the danger for humans living polluted environments, Chicago Energy Policy Institute has developed the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), a system capable of analyzing air pollution worldwide. According to AQLI findings, Po valley air pollution affects inhabitants so hard that it cuts off about half

4128-667: The Po Valley during some of his brightest campaigns (1796 and 1800, culminating in the historical Battle of Marengo ), he found an advanced country and made it into his Kingdom of Italy . With Napoleon's final defeat the Austrians came back, but they were no longer welcome. In the west, in Piedmont , the Savoy dynasty would emerge to serve as a springboard for Italian unification. The Risorgimento , after an unsuccessful start in 1848 and 1849, triumphed ten years later in Lombardy , which

4224-521: The Po Valley reached its peak during the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and continued in the Modern Age (17th–18th centuries), with the last marsh areas only being reclaimed in the 20th century: channels and drainage system are still active and allow the Po Valley to be drained and be cultivatable. The Po Valley has a generally humid subtropical (Köppen: Cfa ) climate. The conformation of

4320-476: The Po Valley suffer the most serious impact at European level due to poor air quality, first of all the metropolitan area of Milan, thirteenth in the ranking in terms of fine particulate impact, where any year 3967 premature deaths occur – approximately 9% of the total. 45°19′49″N 9°47′56″E  /  45.33028°N 9.79889°E  / 45.33028; 9.79889 Hectare The hectare ( / ˈ h ɛ k t ɛər , - t ɑːr / ; SI symbol: ha )

4416-465: The SI, being equivalent to a square hectometre. It is widely used throughout the world for the measurement of large areas of land, and it is the legal unit of measure in domains concerned with land ownership, planning, and management , including law ( land deeds ), agriculture, forestry , and town planning throughout the European Union , New Zealand and Australia (since 1970). However,

4512-648: The Salvatore platform, which is now preserved as the San Salvatore Dolomite . It reconstructs a warm, tropical environment, with the most common fossils belonging to algae and shelled invertebrates . Only the lower portion of the San Salvatore Dolomite is preserved on Monte San Giorgio, corresponding to a particularly shallow and saline period in the history of the platform. Stromatolites and other algal laminations are generally

4608-470: The Spinirolo plant was built for the purpose of processing the shale into saurol, an ichthyol -like skin ointment. Saurol production and mining continued until the 1950s, and operations went bankrupt in 1960. Minerals such as barite , fluorite , and galena were also prospected on the mountain during the 20th century. Italian paleontologist Giulio Curioni first mentioned that fossils were present on

4704-521: The Ticino River and are protected by a Biosphere Reserve. The Po Valley has had traces of inhabitation since at least 780,000 years ago, when the first big glaciation of pleistocene took place. Sites like Monte Poggiolo may have served as refuges of human populations fleeing the terribly cold conditions of northern Europe during the subsequent glaciations along pleistocene. The valley was covered by sea level in warm times, but glaciations could cause

4800-619: The Ticino dry meadows, a unique biome with over 100 plant and species, 38 of which are rare or endangered within Switzerland. Carex humilis (dwarf sedge) and Molinia caerulea arundinacea (tall moor grass) are the most common grasses , while Monte San Giorgio supports the few Swiss populations of wildflowers such as Adenophora liliifolia , Gladiolus imbricatus , Iris graminea , Lotus herbaceus , and Danthonia alpina . 102 species of vertebrates are found on Monte San Giorgio, 37 of which are endangered in Switzerland. The mountain

4896-1010: The United Kingdom, the United States, Myanmar (Burma), and to some extent Canada, use the acre instead of the hectare for measuring surface or land area. Some countries that underwent a general conversion from traditional measurements to metric measurements (e.g. Canada) required a resurvey when units of measure in legal descriptions relating to land were converted to metric units. Others, such as South Africa, published conversion factors which were to be used particularly "when preparing consolidation diagrams by compilation". In many countries, metrification redefined or clarified existing measures in terms of metric units. The following legacy units of area have been redefined as being equal to one hectare: In Mexico, land area measurements are commonly given as combinations of hectares, ares, and centiares. These are commonly written separated by

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4992-485: The World Heritage Site was expanded further, adding 240.34 ha of land from the Italian communes of Besano , Porto Ceresio , and Viggiù. These communes, alongside Clivio and Saltrio, were also included within an 1818.45 ha Italian buffer zone. This additional land brings the total area of UNESCO protected property to 1089.34 ha and the total buffer zone area to 3207.45 ha. Inclusion of the Italian territory

5088-499: The aftermath of the Variscan orogeny . These volcanic rocks are mainly reddish rhyolite and andesite with a porphyritic texture, produce large crystals of quartz, barite, and fluorite. The Permian basement rocks are terminated by an unconformity , an erosional surface succeeded by Triassic sediments. These following Triassic sediments are siliciclastic and terrestrial in origin, mainly sandstone and conglomerate eroded from

5184-524: The ancient name of Bologna . The Etruscan domination left significant marks and introduced urban civilisation, but was short-lived. Its inhabitants, the Venetics , likely being a distinct group who, being skillful merchants, were, in time, also culturally influenced by both Etruscans and Greeks . By 500 BC the Etruscans were gradually displaced from the region by migrating Gauls. By 196 BC, Rome

5280-580: The area, despite the destruction caused by Allied aerial bombing of many cities and heavy frontline fighting in Romagna . The Resistance protected the main industries, which the Third Reich was using for war production, preventing their destruction: on 25 April 1945 a general insurrection in the wake of the German defeat was a huge success. Most cities and towns, notably Milan and Turin, were freed by

5376-476: The capital soon shifted from Verona to Pavia . Monza also was an important town in that time, more so than ruined Milan . The Lombards' harsh, caste -like rule over the natives softened somewhat with their conversion from Arianism to Catholicism . The Lombard kingdom was overthrown in 774 by Charlemagne and his Frankish armies, becoming a prized part of the Carolingian Empire , forming

5472-648: The deep karst and cave systems found on the mountain. Monte San Giorgio is considered a " mycological wonder", with over 500 species of fungi , several of which are endemic. Po plain The Po Valley , Po Plain , Plain of the Po , or Padan Plain ( Italian : Pianura Padana [pjaˈnuːra paˈdaːna] , or Val Padana ) is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy . It extends approximately 650 km (400 mi) in an east-west direction, with an area of 46,000 km (18,000 square miles) including its Venetic extension not actually related to

5568-514: The dekare/decare daa (1,000 m ) and are (100 m ) are not officially "accepted for use", they are still used in some contexts. The hectare ( / ˈ h ɛ k t ɛər , - t ɑː r / ), although not a unit of SI, is the only named unit of area that is accepted for use with SI units . The name was coined in French, from the Latin ārea . In practice the hectare is fully derived from

5664-403: The drainage of wetlands. Land reclamations works profoundly modified many European regions. In Central Po Plain the earliest evidence of attempts to clear the forests and drain the wetlands is mentioned in historical documents from the late 8th century, but only from the 10th to 13th centuries were land and water management activities actually carried out widely. Further civil wars escalated in

5760-417: The fluvial ridges, in topographically higher and strategic position in the surrounding swampy meadows. The Po Valley has been completely turned to agriculture since the Middle Ages , when efforts from monastic orders, feudal lords and free communes converged. The older and smaller cities deriving from ancient times are still located there. According to historical maps and documents the land reclamation of

5856-435: The fossil-rich basin and carbonate system of the Middle Triassic. During the Carnian (around 237 to 227 Ma), the first stage of the Late Triassic, carbonate platforms were replaced by shallow-water and coastal sediments. This formation, the Pizzella Marls , is diagnosed by a higher amount of siliciclastics (sediments eroded down from terrestrial rocks) and evaporites (mineral deposits from dried water), such as gypsum . In

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5952-399: The growing carbonate platforms, sending surges of carbonate grains into the basin. Skeletons tend to be even better preserved than in the Grenzbitumenzone, suggesting that the basin deepened further or acquired extensive microbial mats. A section of dolomite, the "Dolomitband", forms the top of the Lower Meride Limestone. It also marks the start of the Upper Meride Limestone, which is similar to

6048-407: The hectare (" hecto- " + "are") was thus 100 ares or 1 ⁄ 100  km (10,000 square metres). When the metric system was further rationalised in 1960, resulting in the International System of Units ( SI ), the are was not included as a recognised unit. The hectare, however, remains as a non-SI unit accepted for use with the SI and whose use is "expected to continue indefinitely". Though

6144-599: The highest death rate from fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) in Europe. Vicenza ( Veneto ) and Saronno (Lombardy) are in fourth and eighth place, respectively, in a top ten of ten cities. Turin and Milan are also at the top of the European ranking – 3rd and 5th respectively – in terms of increased mortality from nitrogen dioxide, a gas that is produced mainly from traffic and in particular from diesel vehicles, while Verona , Treviso , Padova , Como and Venice rank eleventh, fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth and twenty-third respectively. The data show that many cities in

6240-430: The lower part of the formation but has only a few fossiliferous sections. The Upper Meride Limestone eventually becomes dominated by very finely-laminated marls and shales with increased clay content. This clay-rich interval, indicative of increased terrestrial runoff within the shrinking basin, is known as the "Kalkschieferzone". By the beginning of the Late Triassic, a major marine regression (sea level fall) threatened

6336-468: The most fossiliferous and extraordinary from a global perspective, and are encompassed by the protected area north of Meride. South of Meride, they are replaced by Late Triassic coastal sediments which give way to Early Jurassic limestone overlooking the Po Plain. The stratigraphically lowest rocks exposed on Monte San Giorgio are Lower Permian in age, around 290-280 Ma (million years old). They are remnants of early rifting and volcanic activity in

6432-403: The most modern techniques available. The population averaged some 50 people per square kilometer, a very high standard for those times. In 1494, the ruinous Italian Wars began between France and Spain , which lasted for decades. Land changed hands frequently. Even Switzerland received some Italian-speaking lands in the north ( Canton Ticino , not technically a part of the Padan region), and

6528-439: The mountain in 1847. The first paper focusing on Monte San Giorgio fossils in particular was published by Emilio Cornalia in 1854. Small excavations by Milanese paleontological societies in 1863 and 1878 provided more specific context on the paleontology of Monte San Giorgio. Shale extraction brought the fossil deposits to the attention of University of Zurich paleontologist Bernhard Peyer in 1919. Peyer and his associates began

6624-405: The north. The Po Valley and the Adriatic overlay a foreland basin and a system of deeply buried ancient canyons surviving from the tectonic collision of an offshore land mass, Tyrrhenis, with the mainland, an incident within the collision of the African and Eurasian plates. Since the Messinian (7–5 mya ) the system has been filling with sediment mainly from the older Apennines but also from

6720-429: The only fossils found in the Lower Salvatore Dolomite. Near the end of the Anisian, the southern edge of the Salvatore platform deepens abruptly, giving way to a more sterile basin developed between carbonate platforms. The basin is now preserved as a relatively narrow band of dark dolomite and shale, running east to west along the edge of Monte San Giorgio. This formation has been called the Besano Formation (in Italy) or

6816-418: The partisans days before the Allies arrived. After the war, the Padan area took the lead in the economic miracle of the 1950s and 60s. Since 1989, Lega Nord , a federation of Northern regionalist parties, has promoted either secession or larger autonomy for the Padan area which they call Padania . The Po Valley is one of the most important industrial and agricultural areas in Europe. Hydroelectricity

6912-400: The plain north of the Adriatic and the territory south of the lower Po, as shown in the regional depiction included with this article. The law defines the Po basin as "the territory from which rainwater or snow and glacier melt flows on the surface, gathers in streams of water either directly or via tributaries...". The United Nations Environment Program includes the Alps and Apennines as far as

7008-458: The plain, or flat surface of the fill, and the anticline at the edges, taking the form of hilly country in which the outcrops of the original rock are visible along with alluvial fans formed from the outwash of the more severe anticlinal terrain; that is, the Apennines and the Alps. The valley is broadly divided into an upper, drier part, often not particularly suited for agriculture, and

7104-582: The plain, surrounded by the Alps and the Apennines , and the influence of the Adriatic Sea cause high levels of relative humidity throughout the year. The climate is increasingly warmer and more humid farther south and east. Winters are cool and damp, with January mean temperatures ranging between 0 and 5 °C (32 and 41 °F). Fog and mist are frequent, although the urban heat effect has made winters less foggy and cold than before in some areas. Snow and winter droughts can deny sufficient moisture to

7200-688: The present day, managed by the MSNM, University of Milan (UNIMI), and the Museo Cantonale di Storia Naturale di Lugano (Cantonal Museum of Natural History, MCSN). Over 21,000 fossil specimens have been collected in total by 2010. In 2003, the Monte San Giorgio was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 849 ha ( hectares ) of protected land from the Swiss communes of Meride , Brusino Arsizio , and Riva San Vitale . This protected area

7296-652: The region's history by adding the Po Valley to the Holy Roman Empire of the Germanic nation in 962. In Veneto , the lagoon capital of Venice , emerged a great sea power in alliance with its old master, the Byzantine Empire . In time the Comuni emerged, as towns thrived in commerce. Soon Milan became the most powerful city of the central plain of Lombardy proper, and despite being razed in 1162, it

7392-676: The river's origin in the southern Piedmontese province of Cuneo , also known as the Provincia granda . The valley is crossed by a number of affluents running down from the Alps in the north and from the Apennines in the south. The Po's major affluents include the Tanaro , Scrivia , Trebbia , Panaro and Secchia in the south, Dora Riparia , Dora Baltea , Sesia , Ticino (draining Lake Maggiore ), Lambro , Adda (draining Lake Como ), Oglio (draining Lake Iseo ) and Mincio (draining Lake Garda and called Sarca in its upper reaches) in

7488-497: The same general time as the Moltrasio Limestone. The fauna and flora of Monte San Giorgio are diverse, with some species found nowhere else in Switzerland. The prevailing ecosystems are mixed broadleaf forests and meadows influenced by the mountain's sub-Mediterranean climate . Monte San Giorgio is one of the southernmost areas of Switzerland, with mild winters, high humidity, and many hours of sunshine. Due to

7584-595: The size of suburban dacha or allotment garden plots or small city parks where the hectare would be too large. Many Russian dachas are 6 ares in size (in Russian, шесть соток ). The decare or dekare ( / ˈ d ɛ k ɑːr , - ɛər / ) is derived from deca and are , and is equal to 10 ares or 1000 square metres. It is used in Norway and in the former Ottoman areas of the Middle East and Bulgaria as

7680-403: The soil for agriculture. Summers are hot and humid, with July mean temperatures ranging between 22 and 25 °C (72 and 77 °F) (1971–2000 averages). Frequent thunderstorms and sudden hailstorms can produce large hail, dump large quantities of rain, and destroy crops. Supercell thunderstorms produce large hail, with significant agricultural costs. Tornadoes are common in the plains of

7776-507: The sources of the tributaries of the Po but excludes Veneto and that portion of Emilia-Romagna south of the lower Po; that is, it includes the region drained by the Po but only the Po and its tributaries. The altitude of the valley through which the Po flows, exclusive of its tributaries, varies from approximately 4 m (15 feet) below sea level in the Polesine subregion (the delta around Ferrara ) to about 2,100 m (6,900 feet) at

7872-494: The stake became common practice during witchhunts , especially in the neighboring Alpine lands. During this bleak period, however, Lombard industry recovered, especially the textile branch, its pillar. When the War of Spanish Succession traded Milan to Austria , government and administration improved significantly. Though the peasantry began a century-long plunge into misery, cities prospered and grew. When Napoleon I entered

7968-484: The succeeding Norian stage (around 227 to ~208 Ma), carbonate platforms and rising sea levels were renewed with vigor, depositing a massive expanse of carbonate known as the Dolomia Principale or Hauptdolomit. The Dolomia Principale is a brittle, crystalline rock mass which was fractured by normal faults not long after it was first formed. This is an early pulse of an overall extensional tectonic regime,

8064-625: The thick forests and swamps were the Ligurians , who may have been an Indo-European people. After the progressive immigration in the 7th century BC of Celtic peoples known as the Insubres (hence the name of Insubria sometimes being given to northwestern Lombardy ), the southern and central regions were conquered and colonised here and there by a pre-Indo-European people, the Etruscans , who left names such as Parma , Ravenna and Felsina,

8160-627: The underlying volcanic material. " Servino " is the name given to older sediments from the Early Triassic (about 252-247 Ma). Slightly younger sediments from the late Anisian (the first stage of the Middle Triassic, 247-242 Ma) are called the Bellano Formation . The Servino and Bellano Formation can be difficult to differentiate, but together they reconstruct a period of transgression (rising sea levels) encroaching onto

8256-499: The valley depend on the defining authority. The Po Basin Water Board ( Italian : Autorità di bacino del fiume Po ), authorized in 1989 by Law no. 183/89 to oversee "protection of lands, water rehabilitation, the use and management of hydro resources for the national economic and social development, and protection of related environment" within the Po basin, has authority in several administrative regions of north Italy, including

8352-528: The valley. The Friuli-Venezia Giulia ,beyond the Po River plain itself, is downwind of the mountains and upwind of moisture sources from nearby is an exception. Spring and autumn are well-marked and pleasant. Both winter and summer are less mild in the lower parts along the Po, while the Adriatic Sea and the great lakes moderate the local climate in their proximity. Rainfall varies between 700 and 1,200 mm (30 and 45 inches) and equally distributed during

8448-699: The variation in underlying geology, both acidic and alkaline soils are developed, supporting different vegetation communities. The rhyolite -based northern slope is mostly covered by Castanea sativa (sweet chestnut), Quercus petraea (sessile oak), and Fraxinus excelsior (European ash). The dolomite -based southern slope is more diverse in its plant life and soil quality, with common plants including Carpinus betulus (common hornbeam), Ostrya carpinifolia (European hop-hornbeam), Tilia (linden), Asperula taurina , Quercus pubescens (pubescent oak), and Fraxinus ornus (manna ash). The driest and most alkaline soils of Monte San Giorgio are home to

8544-658: The year. Rainfall maximums are during autumn and spring. Winds are usually weak, although sudden bursts of foehn or thunderstorms can sweep the air clean. The almost enclosed nature of the Padan basin with much road traffic, makes it prone to a high level of pollution in winter, when cold air clings to the soil . The natural potential vegetation of the Po basin is a mixed broadleaf forest of pedunculate oak , poplars , European hornbeam , alders , elderberry , elms , willows , maples , ash , and other central-European trees. The largest remaining fragments of forest are located around

8640-551: Was a Milan-driven Lombard League with Papal benediction that defeated emperor Frederick Barbarossa at the Battle of Legnano in 1176. Between the 10th and 13th centuries, concurrent with the Medieval Warm Period climate phase, the European population grew substantially, almost tripling (in Northern and Central Italy, the urban population doubled), and increasing the demand for cultivated lands. Cereals became

8736-571: Was bombed in 1943, destroying its collection of Monte San Giorgio specimens. Fossil excavations resumed in 1950 under the helm of Emil Kuhn-Schnyder , Peyer's successor and former student. Kuhn-Schnyder established the Palaeontological Institute and Museum of the University of Zurich (PIMUZ) in 1956, which now hosts over 15,000 specimens of Monte San Giorgio fossils. Collection campaigns have continued intermittently up until

8832-564: Was conquered by a Franco-Piedmontese army. In 1866 Veneto joined young Italy, thanks to Prussia 's defeat of Austria . Poverty in the countryside increased emigration to the Americas , a phenomenon which subsided in the central region towards the end of the 19th century, but persisted in Veneto well into the 20th century. Industry grew rapidly, thanks to an abundance of water and literate manpower. The World Wars did not significantly damage

8928-487: Was in recognition of its cultural, biological, and especially paleontological significance. The site is renowned for its fossil content, one of the best known records of marine life in the Middle Triassic period. The Italian region west of Poncione d'Arzo ( Porto Ceresio ) was added as an extension to the World Heritage Site in 2010. Humans have inhabited Monte San Giorgio at least since the area's equivalent of

9024-408: Was master of the woody plains and soon displaced the Etruscans, dotting the region with bustling colonies, clearing the land, fighting the last rebel tribes and gradually imposing its own civilisation. The Gothic War and Justinian's plague devastated the Padan population. In this scenario of desolation, from which many people had fled to the mountains for safety (making them fairly populated till

9120-493: Was motivated for its paleontological heritage. Each side of the site is managed by separate Swiss and Italian organizations, as well as a transnational board which moderates between the management organizations. The site is not in any particular danger from overutilization or degradation, so management is mainly related to closely-regulated fossil excavations, promotion, and maintenance of low-impact tourism facilities. Monte San Giorgio fossils are collected, curated, and displayed by

9216-434: Was surrounded by a 1389 ha buffer zone overlapping six additional communes. The nomination of Monte San Giorgio was inspired by its exceptional paleontological value, with multiple fossiliferous levels preserving among the best records of Middle Triassic life in the world. Monte San Giorgio also presents a link between local geology and culture, as well as unique ecological heritage relative to the rest of Switzerland. In 2010,

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