Research Area: Chemistry and Physics of the Earth System
Coordinators: Franca Caucia, Luigi Marinoni, Antonio Langone, Mattia Gilio
ERC sectors: PE10_10 Mineralogy, petrology, igneous petrology, metamorphic petrology
1. Italian Gems
The study of gem-quality minerals has been ongoing for several years. Articles have already been published in international journals on opals, morganite, vesuvianite, blue diopside, purple diopside, garnets, and rhodonite. In particular, the geological and geochemical contexts from which the analyzed samples originate, their gemological characteristics, and their commercial importance compared to gems from more renowned deposits are taken into consideration.
2. Geochemical and Gemological Characterization of Opals from New Deposits
Research on opals focuses on amorphous materials (Australian and Italian) and paracrystalline materials characterized by an incipient structural order. This is done through powder diffraction analysis (which allows opals to be classified as amorphous, cristobalitic, and cristobalitic-tridymitic) and LA.ICP-MS analysis of trace elements (to study the causes of color and the type of genesis). In particular, studies are underway regarding opals from new deposits in Madagascar and Ethiopia.
Università di Milano; Università di Padova; Istituto Gemmologico Italiano; Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Progetto Quarzi neri Appennino Tosco-Emiliano
Caucia, F., Scacchetti, M., Marinoni, L. Gilio, M., Langone, A., Bartoli, O., vanotti, M.. Foianini, I. (2021). An attractive Blue Diopside from Sissone Valley, Western Alps, Italy. Minerals, 11, 837-859.
Diella, V., Bocchio, R., Caucia, F., Marinoni, N. Langone, A., Possenti, E. (2021). New Insights for gem-quality Mn-bearing Diopside-Omphacite, violane variety, from Saint Marcel (Val d'Aosta, Italy): its trace elements and spectroscopic characterization. Minerals, 11, 171-192.
Caucia, F., Marinoni, L., Gilio, M., Dal Corso, E. (2021). Characterization of recently discovered green opals from Anosy (Madagascar). Periodico di Mineralogia, 90, 217-228.
Caucia, F., Marinoni, L., Scacchetti, M., Riccardi, M.P. (2020). The vesuvianite gems of the Val d'Ala (Piedmont, Italy). Minerals, 10, 535-548.
Caucia, F., Marinoni, L., Riccardi, M.P., Bartoli, O., Scacchetti, M. (2020) Rhodonite-Pyroxmangite from Tanatz Alp, Switzerland. Gems & Gemmology, 56, 110-123.
Caucia, F., Marinoni L., Bruni, G. (2019). Investigation on the Gemological, Physical and Compositional properties of some green opals from Eastern Rhodopes, Bulgaria. Rendiconti Lincei Scienze Fisiche e naturali. On-line published, 12 pages.
Diella, V., Bocchio, R., marinoni, N., Caucia, F., Spalla M.I., Adamo, I., Langone, A., Mancini, L. (2019). Garnets from Val d'Ala Rodingites, Piedmont, Italy: an investigation of their gemological spectroscopic and crystal chemical properties. Minerals 9, 728-746.
Villani, V, Caucia, F., Marinoni, L, Leone, A., Brusoni, M., Groppali, R., Corana, F., Ferrari, E., Galli, C. (2017). Characterization of Mexican amber from the Yi Kwantsang collection. The Journal of Gemmology, 35, 752-765.
Adamo, I., Bocchio, R., Diella, V., Caucia, F., Schmetzer, K. (2015). Demantoid from Balochistan, Pakistan. Gemmological and Mineralogical characterization. The Journal of Gemmology, 34, 428-433.