RU Ferrara

Research unit of Ferrara

Aims

The RU of Ferrara is focusing its research activity on the behaviour and circulation of fluids within the lithosphere in rift- to subduction-related settings. This topic is addressed by studying: i) a large set of mantle xenoliths from worldwide localities; ii) melt inclusions hosted in early-forming phenocrysts in basic magmas; iii) chemical/textural zoning of phenocrysts from volcanic products emitted by active volcanoes.

Direct evidences of fluid circulation within the Sub-Continental Lithospheric Mantle (SCLM) will be obtained by the textural and petrological investigation of mantle xenoliths rich in amphibole and/or phlogopite from various rifts or subduction-related settings, namely Antarctica, Europe (Eifel and Eger Rifts, Transylvania), New Zealand, Patagonia and Australia. This approach encompasses the measurement of volatiles (H, F and Cl) content in amphibole and phlogopite, H in Nominally Anhydrous Minerals (NAMs) and CO₂ in melt and fluid inclusions. The determination of noble gases and CO₂ in separated mineral and bulk rocks of the same xenolith populations will enable to have a comprehensive view of volatiles origin and budget in the SCLM portions that record significant melt extraction and/or multiple enrichment episodes. In this framework, the ³He/⁴He ratio is particularly helpful, since it provides strict evidences on the geodynamic context where fluids infiltrating the SCLM were originated. On the other hand, the C isotopic signature of CO₂ enables to identify the amount and type of material recycled into the lithosphere. Finally, the comparison between the volatiles budget measured on mineral phases and that measured on bulk xenoliths, correlated with 3D estimates of the volume of voids will be used to speculate about nature and origin of intergranular fluids.

Indirect evidences on the fluids budget and circulation within the SCLM is also provided by the study of melt inclusions hosted in olivine in basic products emitted during rift-related magmatism (e.g., Antarctica), as well as by the textural/chemical characterization of the main phenocrysts populations in basic to mildly evolved volcanites. This branch of the research is developed via the measurement of the volatile budget (C-H-F-Cl-S) inside olivine-hosted melt inclusions, and by the determination of major and trace element zoning in the phenocryst phases. Ultimately, the comparison between the amount of volatiles retained in melt inclusions and that stored into the mantle xenoliths will bring to significant advancements in the comprehension of the circulation of fluids within the lithosphere, and between the SCLM and the volcanic plumbing systems.

People

	Prof. Massimo Coltorti clt@unife.it
	Dr. Barbara Faccini fccbbr@unife.it
	Dr. Pier Paolo Giacomoni gcmppl@unife.it
	Dr. Federico Casetta cstfrc@unife.it
	Dr. Luca Faccincani luca.faccincani@unife.it

Facilities/skills of the RU

The laboratories of the Department of Physics and Earth Sciences of the University of Ferrara are equipped with an ARL Advant-XP automated X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer and a Thermo Scientific iCAP Triple Quadrupole (TQ) ICP-MS.

Links

http://fst.unife.it/it/ricerca/aree-di-ricerca-1/petrologia-del-mantello-terrestre

http://fst.unife.it/it/ricerca/aree-di-ricerca-1/petrologia-dei-complessi-vulcano-plutonici

http://fst.unife.it/it/ricerca/aree-di-ricerca-1/studio-dei-sistemi-di-alimentazione-di-vulcani-a-condotto-aperto

Publications

Coltorti, M., Bonadiman, C., Casetta, F., Faccini, B., Giacomoni, P.P., Pelorosso, B., & Perinelli, C. (2020). Nature and evolution of the northern Victoria Land Lithospheric Mantle (Antarctica) as revealed by ultramafic xenoliths. Geological Society of London Memoirs: The Antarctic Mantle. Accepted manuscript

Casetta, F., Ickert, R. B., Mark, D. F., Giacomoni, P. P., Bonadiman, C., Ntaflos, T., ... & Coltorti, M. (2020). The Variscan subduction inheritance in the Southern Alps Sub-Continental Lithospheric Mantle: Clues from the Middle Triassic shoshonitic magmatism of the Dolomites (NE Italy). Lithos, 105856.

Giacomoni, P. P., Bonadiman, C., Casetta, F., Faccini, B., Ferlito, C., Ottolini, L., ... & Coltorti, M. (2020). Long-term storage of subduction-related volatiles in Northern Victoria Land lithospheric mantle: Insight from olivine-hosted melt inclusions from McMurdo basic lavas (Antarctica). Lithos, 105826.

Faccini, B., Rizzo, A. L., Bonadiman, C., Ntaflos, T., Seghedi, I., Grégoire, M., ... & Coltorti, M. (2020). Subduction-related melt refertilisation and alkaline metasomatism in the Eastern Transylvanian Basin lithospheric mantle: Evidence from mineral chemistry and noble gases in fluid inclusions. Lithos, 105516.

Casetta, F., Giacomoni, P. P., Ferlito, C., Bonadiman, C., & Coltorti, M. (2020). The evolution of the mantle source beneath Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy): from the 600 ka tholeiites to the recent trachybasaltic magmas. International Geology Review, 62(3), 338-359.

Melchiorre, M., Faccini, B., Grégoire, M., Benoit, M., Casetta, F., & Coltorti, M. (2020). Melting and metasomatism/refertilisation processes in the Patagonian sub-continental lithospheric mantle: A review. Lithos, 354, 105324.

Casetta, F., Ickert, R. B., Mark, D. F., Bonadiman, C., Giacomoni, P. P., Ntaflos, T., & Coltorti, M. (2019). The alkaline lamprophyres of the Dolomitic Area (Southern Alps, Italy): markers of the Late Triassic change from orogenic-like to anorogenic magmatism. Journal of Petrology, 60(6), 1263-1298.