Petrology and Petrography 

Strutturati: Cucciniello Ciro, Fedele Lorenzo, Franciosi Luigi, Melluso Leone, Morra Vincenzo, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,  Daniele Morgavi

Non strutturati: Attianese Gianpaolo, Cariddi Bruna, Liguori Mara

The research group in Petrology and Petrography of DiSTAR is involved in the study of the genesis and differentiation processes of igneous effusive, intrusive and mantle rocks using mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical (major and trace elements and isotopic systematic Sr-Nd-Pb -O-Hf-Os on bulk-rock and / or mineralogical phases), geochronological techniques (radiometric dating with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, U-Pb methods) and in the subsequent modeling of evolution processes and mantle sources.

The rocks studied range from tholeiitic to calc-alkaline (s.l.) to alkaline (from weakly to strongly undersaturated in silica included ultrapotassic, melilitic, carbonatitic and kimberlitic rock types), as well as the ultramafic mantle xenoliths often associated with the mafic alkaline rocks. The areas studied are: Campi Flegrei, Ischia, Somma-Vesuvio, Sardinia, Monte Vulture, Roccamonfina, Colli Albani, Pontine Islands, Provenza, Eastern Carpathians, continental flood basalts associated with the fragmentation of Gondwana (Madagascar, Deccan Traps in India, Antarctica, Paraná, Angola, Mozambique), the intrusive and effusive alkaline products of continental areas (Brazil, India, Madagascar) and the products of African magmatism (Rift of Ethiopia, Rift del Congo, Cameroon).

Additional research studies are focused on metamafic and metapelitic high gradient P/T metamorphic rocks outcropping in the Southern Apennines/Calabria-Peloritani system, aimed at defining the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the investigated sequences (through microtectonic, petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical studies and phase equilibria modeling).

Main collaborations and partnerships:

Università di Roma La Sapienza (Prof. M. Lustrino); Università di Firenze (Prof. S. Conticelli); Università di Pavia e CNR, Pavia (Prof. A. Zanetti); IAMC (Dr. D.D. Insinga); Università di Padova (Prof. A. Marzoli); USGS, Menlo Park (Dr. A.T. Calvert); Università di San Paolo, Brasile (Prof. C. B. Gomes, Prof. E. Ruberti, Prof. C. Tassinari, Prof. R.G. Azzone); BRGM, Orleans, France (Prof. R.D. Tucker); COAS Oregon State University (Prof. R. Duncan); Indian Institute of Technology, India (Prof. H.C. Sheth); University of Leoben, Austria (Dr. T. Meisel); University of Cape Town, Sudafrica (Prof. A.P. le Roex); University of Roskilde, Danimarca (Dr. M. Storey); University of Benares, India (Prof. R.K. Srivastava); British Museum (Dr. C.M. Petrone); University of Maputo, Mozambico (Prof. L. Vasconcelos); University of Curtin, Australia (Prof. F. Jourdan), Univeristy of Melbourne, Australia (Prof. J.M. Hergt); Chinese Academy of Sciences (Prof. F.-Y. Wu); Institute of Geodynamics of Romanian Academy, Bucarest, Romania (Dr. I. Seghedi); Department of Earth Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon (Prof. Jean Pierre Tchouankoue).