Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources - National Research Council of Italy

Who we are

The Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources (IGG), is an institute of National Research Council of Italy (CNR), and it is devoted to the interdisciplinary study of the Geosciences, including application-oriented approaches.

New data on the initiation and development of the Pennine Basal Thrust (Swiss Alps)

Megathrusts are very large faults that allow one plate to overthrust another, accumulating much of the inter-plate displacement. They can generate very large earthquakes (M_w 8+) but if megathrusts are slipping too slowly or are sufficiently warm (>~300°C), they may creep without breaking.

A new study on Nature Communications about the role of boron in subducting mantle

Researchers from Leeds University and SUERC (UK), along with Samuele Agostini (IGG-CNR, Pisa) published a paper on Nature Communications about the role of boron in subducting mantle.

Fires: A new study using seasonal predictions

In many regions of our planet, forest fires pose a serious threat to homes and infrastructures, causing huge economic damage and also loss of lives.

New article on Nature: CaSiO3 perovskite in diamond indicates the recycling of oceanic crust into the lower mantle

F. Nestola, N. Korolev, M. Kopylova, N. Rotiroti, D. G. Pearson, M. G. Pamato, M. Alvaro, Luca Peruzzo*, J. J. Gurney, A. E. Moore & J. Davidson

A CaSiO₃ perovskite-structured crystal enclosed in a South African natural diamond has been discovered and studied for the first time. The titanium rich composition of this inclusion indicates a bulk composition consistent with derivation from basaltic oceanic crust subducted to pressures equivalent to those present at the depths of the uppermost lower mantle (780 km). The relatively ‘heavy’ carbon isotopic composition of the surrounding diamond, together with the pristine high-pressure CaSiO₃ structure, provides evidence for the recycling of oceanic crust and surficial carbon to lower-mantle depths.

www.nature.com/articles/nature25972

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/super-deep-diamond-found-calcium-silicate-perovskite-spd/

* CNR – Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources (IGG) – Padua territorial Unit

Nature volume 555, pages 237–241 (08 March 2018)

doi:10.1038/nature25972

A review on the European Mountain Cryosphere

IGG contributed to a review article, just published on The Cryosphere, on the state, trends and future challenges of the European mountain cryosphere, as a result of a specialized workshop that took place in Riederalp (Switzerland) in 2016.

The paper is open-access and it is available for download at:

https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/759/2018/

A low-cost geothermal prospecting method viable in flat areas

The paper proposes a geothermal prospecting method to delimit closed thermal anomalies by using simple chemical/physical parameters measured in a shallow unconfined aquifer, by chance found to be thermally anomalous. The paper also suggests how to make a hierarchy of thermal manifestations in a territory and if they are originated by a low enthalpy or a high enthalpy deep geothermal system, accordingly.

New analysis of the structure of the Ethiopian rift valley

Giacomo Corti and colleagues from the Universities of RomaTre, Southampton and Imperial College, London recently published the results of their study in Tectonics

The Ethiopian Rift Valley is a classic example of an area where a continent is splitting apart. Here, active volcanism, earthquakes and fracturing of the Earth's surface break continents and form new oceans. In this paper we analyze the shape and size of the faults and fractures combined with the relief and river drainage of the rift valley, in order to interpret which faults control the shape of the rift, and how they have evolved through time. We find that more than half of the rift is defined by a large fault escarpment along the eastern side of the rift, with the western side defined by a gradual slope (an asymmetric rift). Less than half is a “classical” rift with clear fault escarpments on both sides (a symmetric rift), and we find no evidence for the previously held view of progressive evolution from an asymmetric to symmetric rift. Instead, we find that the morphology of the rift is primarily controlled by the contrasting properties of the rocks beneath the two sides of the rift, with major fault escarpments forming only where the rocks are strong. Surface processes likely amplified the along-axis differences in rift architecture.

Open access to the manuscript describing this study is available here:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017TC004799/full

For further information, please contact Giacomo Corti (giacomo.corti@igg.cnr.it)

Full reference: Corti G., Molin P., Sembroni A., Bastow I.D., Keir D. (2018). Control of pre-rift lithospheric structure on the architecture and evolution of continental rifts: insights from the Main Ethiopian Rift, East Africa. Tectonics, 37, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017TC004799

New article: Ultrafast syn-eruptive degassing and ascent trigger high-energy basic eruptions

Marisa Giuffrida, Marco Viccaro and Luisa Ottolini recently published the results of their study in Scientific Reports.

The importance of these results, based on SIMS profiles of the ⁷Li/³⁰Si ion ratio in plagioclase crystals from products of the paroxysmal sequence of Mt. Etna (period 2011–2013), relies on the application of methods, recently used exclusively for closedsystem volcanoes producing violent eruptions, to open-conduit systems that have generally quiet eruptive periods of activity, sometimes interrupted by sudden re-awakening and the production of anomalously energetic eruptions.

www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-18580-8

Serpentinites and CO₂ mineralogical sequestration

“Sequestration” (absorption) of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the soils, in the bottom of the ocean or in the rocks is one of the proposed approaches for the mitigation of climate change.

New study on the Upper Mesozoic succession of the High Atlas (Marocco)

Marco Benvenuti, Giovanna Moratti, Ahmed Algouti have recently published a paper on Journal of African Earth Sciences.

Climate change and forest fires

The danger of forest fires in Mediterranean regions is expected to increase in coming decades, owing to drier climatic conditions in summer.

A new study on the habitability of Kepler 452b

The potential habitability of extrasolar planets is usually estimated by resorting to models that take into account the geological, chemical, climatic and astronomical parameters of the body under.

A new approach to unravel pre-eruttive processes in volcanic systems

Constraining the timescales of pre-eruptive magmatic processes in active volcanic systems is paramount to understand magma chamber

The Alpine last glacial maximum in the boreal ice-sheets game

Giovanni Monegato, G. Scardia, I. Hajdas, F. Rizzini and A. Piccin recently published the results of their study in Scientific Reports.

New insights on geothermal resources of western Sicily

Dr. Domenico Montanari and co-workers (Minissale A., Doveri M., Gola G., Trumpy E., Santilano A. and Manzella A.) recently published a study in Earth-Science Reviews.

Top News

Summer school PCES2020 “(Past) Climates and the Earth System”

The summer school PCES2020 “(Past) Climates and the Earth System” will be held in Urbino from 13 to 26 July. The course will provide PhD students and...

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Seminar: “Tephra glass shard geochemistry: applications from climate correlation to modelling magmatic processes"

On February 3rd, at 12:00, in the “Aula Riunioni” of the Institute of Geosciences and Georisources (Area della Ricerca di Pisa), Professor Nicholas...

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Prehistoric earthquakes in Lunigiana and the activity of the Mulazzo fault

The Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources of Florence, as part of the agreement with the Tuscany region for the study of active and capable...

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Prize in memory of the Colleague Geol. David Giuntini

The Geologists Foundation of Tuscany, under the patronage of the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Pisa, the Basin Authority of the...

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Funded Projects

Sedimentary and Tectonic evolution of the Cambrian-Ordovician red beds of the Atlas-Meseta domains (Morocco)

Italy Partner: IGG-CNR. Responsable Dr. Alessandro Ellero
Morocco Partner: Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université Cadi Ayyad, Marrakech. Responsable Prof. Hassan Ouanaimi
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LaMMA Regional Projects

“LaMMA” REGIONAL PROJECT (Tuscany Region funds)
Coordinator: Dr. Alessandro Ellero
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VEGEO

The VEGEO project, funded by the National Park of Vesuvius, is aimed at the definition and the description of the Geosites that are present inside the Park area.
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Sa.Pe.Vo. El Salvador mitigar Peligro Volcanico

The Sa.Pe.Vo. project is a product of the Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources of CNR. The project team includes Unifi, Unipa, UNIRM1 and Universidad de El Salvador. The Italian Agency for International Cooperation has financed the project.
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SMAT Project

Climate Change and Groundwater resources
Principal Investigator for CNR-IGG: Antonello Provenzale (antonello.provenzale(at)cnr(dot)it)
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ECOPOTENTIAL

Ecosystems are the product of the interaction between the biosphere and the geosphere, between living organisms and the physical, chemical and

NextData

Mountains are sentinels of climate and environmental change and many marine regions provide information on past climate variations.
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VIGOR

VIGOR was a four year Project launched at the end of 2010, coordinated at national level by CNR-IGG and dedicated to a comprehensive assessment of geothermal energy and its technological applications in four regions of southern Italy (Calabria, Campania, Apulia and Sicily, the “Regioni Convergenza”).
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ATLANTE

The Geothermal Atlas of southern Italy is a project aimed at characterizing, assessing and mapping of conventional and unconventional geothermal resources for power production in southern Italy.
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GEMex Project

GEMEx is a project of international cooperation in the geothermal field between Europe and Mexico, funded by Horizon 2020 EU framework programme for research and innovation.
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DESCRAMBLE

DESCRAMBLE, is a European project, co-funded for three years by the European Commission within Horizon 2020.
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Geothermal ERA-NET Project

Geothermal ERA-NET is a European project co-funded for four years by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development 2007-2013.
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GEOENVI project

CNR Scientific Responsible: Dr. Adele Manzella, CNR-IGG (adele.manzella(at)igg.cnr(dot)it). Link to project web site: https://www.geoenvi.eu/.

IMAGE

IMAGE is a European project, co-funded for four years by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development 2007-2013.
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ERA4CS

The ERA-NET Consortium “European Research Area for Climate Services”, so-called ERA4CS, has been designed to boost the development of efficient Climate Services in Europe.
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Bilateral Project Italy-Taiwan

Geochemical tracers and indicators for the evaluation of geothermal resources is a Joint Research Project between National Council of Research of Italy and Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, funded for 2 years.
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Bilateral Project Italy - Moldova

Italy Partner: Dr. Barbara Nisi
Moldova Partner: Dr. Oleg Bogdevici
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VAPORE project

VAPORE project points to quantify the residual capacity of Stabilised Organic Fraction (SOF) and already buried waste, to produce biogas in anaerobic conditions.

DG-ETIP project

Deep Geothermal ETIP (Support to the activities of the European Technology and Innovation Platform on Deep Geothermal) is a geothermal project, funded by the European Commission within the Framework Programme Horizon 2020.

ASTERIS project

Project coordinator: Prof. Simone Galeotti, Università degli studi di Urbino “Carlo Bo”; CNR Scientific Responsible: Dr.ssa Barbara Nisi, CNR-IGG (barbara.nisi(at)igg.cnr(dot)it)

MoST project

Project coordinator: Prof. Paolo Salandin University of Padova, Department ICEA (paolo.salandin(at)unipd(dot)it);CNR Scientific Responsible: Dr. Luigi Tosi, CNR-IGG (luigi.tosi(at)igg.cnr(dot)it)

EUROVOLC project

The H2020 EUROVOLC Project aimed at creating a European network of observatories and research infrastructures for volcanology. CNR Scientific Responsible: Dr. Maddalena Pennisi, CNR-IGG (maddalena.pennisi(at)igg.cnr(dot)it). Link to project web site: https://eurovolc.eu/.

OT4CLIMA project

The general objective of the OT4CLIMA project is to develop advanced Earth Observation (EO) technologies and methodologies for improving our knowledge of the effects of Climate Change (CC) and our capability to mitigate them at the regional and sub-regional scale.

VIOLA project

The VIOLA project is one of the activities funded under POR Puglia. The IGG is involved in the project for activities concerning the isotopic applications of O, H, B, and Sr in the study of the interactions between the waters selected and the carbonate aquifers of the Apula platform.

Geodynamics of the Living Planet