We thank the University of Parma and the first author's major professor, Dr. Giuliana Villa, for supporting his visits to study in residence in Tallahassee, Florida. Drs. James J. Pospichal and Patrick G. Quilty provided helpful reviews of the manuscript. This research used samples and/or data provided by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). ODP is sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and participating countries under management of Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), Inc. Funding for this research was provided by United States Science Advisory Committee (USSAC) funds with laboratory support from NSF-OPP grants 9422893 and 0126218.