Dates: 2022-2025

Thales

“High-stress earTHquakes by fAuLting in dEep dry rockS” with a multidisciplinary cutting-edge scientific approach which will involve researchers with different background (structural geology, mineralogy, rock mechanics, petrology and seismology), exploits two of the best examples worldwide of exposed sources of IDEs (Musgrave Ranges, Central Australia, for the lower continental crust; Lanzo Massif, W-Alps, for oceanic subduction) to unravel the mechanics of these earthquakes.

Coordinator: Giorgio Pennacchioni (U Padova)

Fundings: Ministero Italiano Università e Ricerca (MUR), € 398,514

Dates: 2019-2022

Dynastar

“The Dynamic Mass Transfer from Slabs to Arcs” constraints the evolution of fluid-melt/rock interaction through temperature, space and time adopting an interdisciplinary approach that integrates microstructural, petrologic and geochemical studies of natural rocks (from slab, to cold and hot mantle wedge, ultimately to arc crust) serving as strong basis for comparison with laboratory experiments defining the physical and chemical properties of minerals, melts and fluids at high pressure-temperature conditions.

Coordinator: Marco Scambelluri (U Genova)

Fundings: Ministero Italiano Università e Ricerca (MUR), € 384,084

Dates: 2018-2021

IMPACt

“StackIng disorder in diaMonds as a marker for the history of Pre-solAr Carbon” addresses questions related to the investigation of deformation in diamond and their use as a marker for the history of their formation and relationship with impact cratering processes.

The IMPACt project will address these questions using an approach that combines X-ray diffraction, μ-Raman spectroscopy and ab-initio methods to investigate the preserved traces of stacking disorder in laboratory-shocked diamonds to provide a shock vs. stacking disorder scale that will be used for a systematic investigation of diamonds retrieved from different impact craters, comet fragments and meteorites and thereby determine how the diamonds formed.

Principal Investigator: Matteo Alvaro (U Pavia)

Fundings: Ministero Italiano Università e Ricerca (MUR), € 234,255

Dates: 2017-2022

TRUE DEPTHS

“deTeRmine the trUe dEpth of DeEp subduction from PiezobaromeTry on Host –inclusions System” tackled one of the fundamental question for the quantitative understanding of the rates and true depths of subduction.

The TRUE DEPTHS project developed X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman methods together with the theoretical background for the analysis of the anisotropic elastic interactions of inclusion minerals trapped inside host minerals to determine whether significant deviatoric stresses are recorded by Ultra High Pressure Metamorphic (UHPM) rocks.

Principal Investigator: Matteo Alvaro (U Pavia)

Fundings: European Research Council (ERC), Starting Grant, € 1.697,500

Dates: 2015-2018

MILE DEEp

“Mineral IncLusion Elasticity for a new deep subDuction gEobaromEter” addresses the need for a method of P and T determination that does not rely on the detailed chemistry of the rock, nor on whether chemical equilibrium has
been obtained.

The MILE DEEp project will addressed these needs with the development of the basic theoretical principles for a geothermobarometric method that exploits the elastic behavior of mineral inclusions trapped in host minerals phase contained in Ultra High Pressure Metamorphic rocks.

Principal Investigator: Matteo Alvaro (U Pavia)

Fundings: Ministero Italiano Università e Ricerca (MUR), € 449,900