New paleomagnetic results from the Contessa section of the Umbrian Apennines (northern Italy) fill a 14 my sampling gap in previous studies and reveal a series of Albian reversed polarity intervals within the Cretaceous Normal Polarity Superchron. These new data imply a drastic revision of the mid Cretaceous polarity pattern. These reversed intervals could have broad applications in the correlation of the striking geologic characteristics of mid-Cretaceous sections, such as black shale deposition. This proposal seeks to confirm the presence of the Contessa reversed polarity intervals by a joint paleomagnetic and paleontologic investigation of the following two sections: (1) Poggio le Guaine (Umbrian Apennines, northern Italy) and (2) Tignale (Lombardian Basin, northern Italy). Project may enable refinement of geologic time scale and may reveal timing of deposition of important petroleum source rocks.
