Italian Society of Mineralogy and Petrology

http://simp.dst.unipi.it

SIMP PRIZES FOR 2007

E L E M E N T S JUNE 2008

SOCIETY NEWS

207

PETROLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF THE EUROPEANLITHOSPHERIC MANTLE: FROM ARCHEAN TO PRESENT DAY (EMAW2007)

The first workshop on European mantle petrology (EMAW2007) was

held in Ferrara, Italy, August 29–31, 2007. It was organized by M.

Coltorti, H. Downes, M. Grégoire, and S. Y. O’Reilly and sponsored by

the University of Ferrara, the Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori

(IUSS) of the same university, the Gruppo Nazionale di Petrografia

(GNP), and the Federazione Italiana di Scienze della Terra (FIST). The

workshop assessed the state of petrological knowledge of the European

subcontinental lithospheric mantle and gathered about 100 researchers.

Some 20% of them were MSc or PhD students or postdoctoral

researchers, who were able to attend thanks to a special reduced fee.

Participation of the Australiangroup (GEMOC) was particularlysignificant. The technology theyhave been developing in recentyears has led to the concept of 4-Dmapping (space and time) of theupper mantle in many regions(e.g. Australia, Siberia, NorthAmerica, Africa). Furthermore,the development of in situgeochronological methods onzircon and sulfides has revealedconnections between geological

events recorded in the crust andmantle. This approach allowsmodeling of lithosphericcomposition and evolution on alarge scale, thus improving thesynergy with geophysics.

Material regarding the workshop(abstracts, list of participants, andselected presentations as pdf files)is available at www.unife.it/dipartimento/scienze-terra/emaw-2007.

The workshop provided anopportunity for researchers workingon European mantle petrology todiscuss their different ideas andmodels. The meeting highlightedsignificant discrepancies in theway mantle material is studied invarious countries, often due todifferent technological capabilities.Some areas of Europe are wellstudied, while others are poorlyknown. In some cases modeldevelopment seems to depend onthe available facilities, resultingin limitations in scope. Thisfragmentation, together withlimited financial means, is not

beneficial to scientific andtechnological advancement.Thus, greater interaction andcooperation among Europeanmantle petrologists is required.For this reason the participantswere enthusiastic in recommend-ing continuation of this forum ona biennial basis (in 2009 it willprobably be held in Toulouse).They were also keen to developways of sharing instrumentationand technical equipment availablein Europe, in order to spreadknowledge and develop a commonscientific language amongdisciplines.

Bianchi Prize in Petrology – 2 Winners ex aequoPatrizia Fumagalli completed a degreein Earth sciences at the University ofMilan (Italy) in 1997 and a PhD in high-pressure experimental petrology inJanuary 2000. After a postdoctoral fel-lowship at the University of Michigan(USA), she was introduced to first-prin-ciples calculations as a tool to under-standing high-pressure behavior of phases.Currently, she is carrying out researchin petrology in the Department of EarthSciences of the University of Milan. Hermain interests lie in the understandingof metamorphic phase equilibria in sub-

duction zones and extensional settings. She combines variousmethodologies in different disciplines (e.g. mineralogy, geophysics,first-principles calculations) with the petrology of subduction zonesto define the thermodynamics and crystal chemistry of high-pressureminerals (chlorite, phlogopite, amphibole, dense hydrous magnesiumsilicates). She applies high-pressure techniques (diamond anvil cell,piston cylinder, multianvil cell) and analytical techniques (X-ray dif-fraction, Raman spectroscopy, electron microprobe work, scanningelectron microscopy) to studies in the fields of materials science andgemmology.

Daniele Brunelli is a researcher inpetrology at the University of Modena(Italy) and an associated researcher atthe Institute for Marine Sciences of theItalian Research Council in Bologna. Hegraduated from Padova University in1997 and received a PhD in Earth sciencesfrom the University of Bologna in 2002.His research deals with the processes ofmelt production and extraction in thesuboceanic mantle. He has worked ontrace-element distribution in mantleresidua, associated MORBs, and earlymelts in melt inclusions in order to

characterize long- (My) and short-time scale (ky) magmatic cycles atmid-ocean ridges. He recently worked on oceanic core complex for-mation and ultraslow spreading ridges associated with mantle coldspots. Since his university studies he has participated as a petrologistin several oceanic expeditions along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and theSouthwest Indian Ridge. He was a Euromelt postdoctoral researcher atthe Laboratoire Pierre Sue (CEA, Paris) and at the Institut de Physiquedu Globe de Paris from 2003 to 2006.