Chiara Boschi

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• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Italian National Research Council

The magnesite deposits of Malentrata (Tuscany, Italy) were derived from serpentinite silicification-carbonation of the Ligurian ophiolite, and represent a natural analogue of in Situ CO2 mineral sequestration. Carbonation of magnesium silicate minerals (e.g. serpentine, olivine) at temperatures below 200 degrees C is an exothermal process, involvin...

Mantle peridotites from an exposed lithospheric section (Vema Lithospheric Section, VLS), generated during ~ 26 Ma at a ~ 80 km long Mid Atlantic Ridge segment (11° N), have been sampled and studied to understand the evolution of the serpentinization process. The VLS was uplifted due to a 10 Ma transtensional event along the Vema transform. Before...

Understanding low temperature carbon sequestration through serpentinite-H2O-CO2 interaction is becoming increasingly important as it is considered a potential approach for carbon storage required to offset anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In this study, we present new insights into spontaneous CO2 mineral sequestration through the formation of hydromag...

___________________________________________________________________________ Session: The Role of Ultramafic Rocks in Carbon Capture and Storage-Poster Mineral carbonation represents one of the most favourable CO2 storage options, as it ensures the permanent trapping of CO2 in stable carbonate minerals. Serpentinites are an ideal starting material b...

Understanding the behavior of fluids in seismically active faults and their chemical-physical (dis)equilibrium with the host rock is important to understand the role of fluids upon seismicity and their possible potential for forecasting earthquakes. The small number of case studies where seismic and geochemical data are available and the lack of ac...

Small Cu–Fe–Zn VMS deposits are widespread in Tuscan ophiolites (Ligurian Units). Industrial production was small and definitively ceased from the 1960s. Locally, massive ore (chalcopyrite-bornite-chalcocite) having exceptionally high grade was found. The Montecatini Val di Cecina mine exploited the largest “bonanza” and, for few decades in ninetee...

Several Jurassic, ophiolite-hosted Cu-Zn VMS deposits occur in Tuscany. They are hosted by tectonic units of oceanic affinity (Ligurian Units), such as the well-known deposits of nearby Liguria. Industrial production was small and definitively ceased in the 1960s. Locally, massive ore (chalcopyrite-bornite-chalcocite) with an exceptionally high gra...

Understanding Earth’s changing climate is a crucial challenge. However, the available time series of direct measurements are often insufficient to fully capture climatic process that unfolds over centuries and millennia. Combining History and Geology can fill this gap. Focusing on rainfall and flood events, this research proposes a multidisciplinar...

Keywords: coseismic breccia CO 2 decompression earthquake gas expansion dolostone South Matese, Apennines, is a hydrothermally and seismically active extensional area characterized by CO 2 outgassing and Mw ≤ 7.1 earthquakes. There, meters-sized pockets of incohesive pulverized dolostone are hosted within Mesozoic carbonates at the hanging wall of...

Post-orogenic back-arc magmatism is accompanied by hydrothermal ore deposits and mineralizations derived from mantle and crustal sources. We investigate Zannone Island (ZI), back-arc Tyrrhenian basin, Italy, to define the source(s) of mineralizing hydrothermal fluids and their relationships with the regional petrological-tectonic setting. On ZI, ea...

Along the Peruvian coast, the sedimentary succession of the East Pisco Basin is exposed in the Ica Desert. At Cerro Los Quesos, laterally continuous dolomite layers characterise the diatomaceous sediments of the P2 sequence of the Miocene Pisco Formation, where a large number of marine vertebrates are exceptionally preserved, many enclosed in dolom...

Ultramafic rocks are a major component of the ocean lithosphere commonly exposed near and along slow and ultra-slow spreading ridges and in ophiolites environments. The serpentinization of mantle rocks is the reaction of water with the mineral phases olivine and pyroxene to predominantly form serpentine, brucite, and magnetite. The mineralogical as...

Carbonation of ultramafic rocks is a key piece of the global carbon cycle taking place from the seafloor to the surficial environment and becoming particularly efficient in the genesis of ultramafic-hosted magnesite deposits in the shallow crust. Even though these are exceptional occurrences for the study of carbonation reactions and the implementa...

Early Pleistocene marine deposits in southwestern Umbria (Orvieto–Allerona area, Italy) recently revealed the presence of more than forty carbonate conduits distributed over 2 km along the Paglia riverbed. In order to investigate their origins, analyses of their mineralogy, δ18O and δ13C stable isotopes, and organic geochemistry were conducted. All...

La CO2 in forma gassosa o disciolta in acqua si combina con ossidi di magnesio, sodio e calcio e forma dei minerali, ovvero carbonato di magnesio, di sodio e di calcio. Questa reazione chimica permette un “sequestro mineralogico” della CO2 che può essere così tolta dall’atmosfera o “catturata” direttamente da sorgenti puntiformi: industrie, impiant...

The introduction and establishment of non-native fish species is a widespread phenomenon in freshwater ecosystems, including small and shallow lakes. However, these ecosystems are often not considered in conservation and ecological studies and a few information is available on their fish communities and the impacts of biological invasions. Here, st...

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 357 drilled 17 shallow sites distributed ~10 km in the spreading direction (from west to east) across the Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30°N). Mantle exposed in the footwall of the Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex is predominantly nearly wholly serpentinized har...

We provided the first multi-species study investigating the presence and organotropism of trace elements in three tissues of 12 elasmobranch species. Shark species showed comparable TE loads, although milk sharks and juvenile scalloped hammerhead sharks exhibited the highest Cd and Hg levels, respectively. Fins accumulated higher levels of Pb, Co,...

To meet Paris Agreement's goal of limit global warming to +1.5/2°C from pre-industrial level, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies are required to sequester 100 to 1000 Gt of CO2 over the 21st century. Most of the existing large-scale CCS facilities are based on enhanced oil recovery, where CO2 is trapped, mainly physically, below an imper...

The Mt. Gorzano Fault (MGF) is a major seismically active extensional fault of the central Apennines, responsible for the destructive Mw 6.0 Amatrice earthquake in 2016. The MGF developed during post-orogenic extensional tectonics, generating a continental basin in the hanging wall. The age of the onset of the MGF and the relationship among faultin...

The interaction between CO2-rich fluids and ultramafic rocks triggers carbonation reactions that result in the bonding of CO2 into the structure of newly formed carbonate minerals. This process is responsible for the genesis of magnesite deposits in ophiolite sequences and it is generally considered the result of the downward infiltration of meteor...

Fluid‐rock interaction in ultramafic rocks considerably affects the chemical and isotopic composition of the oceanic lithosphere. We present a geochemical and petrological study of serpentinites and ophicalcites of the Northern Apennine ophiolite, Italy. This ophiolite sequence represents fragments of Jurassic oceanic lithosphere that have been den...

Interaction of fluids with ultramafic rocks has a major impact on the global geochemical cycles and supports life due to the release of chemical species that serve as an energy source for chemolithoautotrophic communities. Along ocean ridge spreading centers, seawater-exposed peridotites undergo an extensive mineralogical and chemical transformatio...

Numerous studies exist on exhumed tectonic mélanges along subduction channels whereas, in accretionary wedge interiors, deformation mechanisms and related fluid circulation in tectonic mélanges are still underexplored. We combine structural and microstructural observations with geochemical (stable and clumped isotopes and isotope composition of nob...

Fault inversion may lead to significant obliteration of earlier tectonic structures, thus preventing the straightforward interpretation of the complete kinematics and deformation history of faults. We adopt a multidisciplinary approach to: (1) reconstruct the tectonic evolution through space and in time of the extensionally-inverted Mt. Tancia Thru...

Key Points Thermometric quantification betweenfaulted and undeformed rocks are compared with numerically calculated shearheating during thrusting Distributed cataclastic flow of alarge shallow thrust (5‐7 km depht) produces a persistent temperature incrementof few tens of degrees Higher and more localized temperature increase(50‐150 degrees) requir...

We present a stable isotope (δ13C and δ18O) and growth rate record from a southern Balkans stalagmite, LID1, de-posited between ca. 8.4 and 4.1 ka. Both stable isotope time series show significant changes at the centennial-millennial time scale, which are broadly consistent with variations in growth rate. The δ13C signal and the growth rate appear...

The EU H2020 GECO (Geothermal Emission Gas Control) project is aimed to produce new technologies to limit emissions from geothermal power generation by either gas re-injection or its use to produce commercial material through serpentinite carbonation. In this framework, the realization of a closed loop geothermal power plant has been planned in the...

We defined deformation mechanisms and syn-tectonic fluid circulation within the Mt. Massico intra-wedge tectonic mélange, developed at depths <5 km and at maximum burial temperature of 140 °C, located in the inner part of the Apennines fold-and-thrust belt, Italy. This mélange developed at the base of a heterogeneous clastic succession, characteriz...

Zannone is a very important island, located in the Neogene-Quaternary extensional domain of the Tyrrhenian back-arc basin, as it is the unique spot where the Paleozoic (?) crystalline basement is hypotesized to be exposed in central Apennines. The exposure of such hypothetical basement in the Zannone Island is very problematic as it implies very la...

The EU H2020 GECO project is primarily aimed to setup technologies to lower emissions from geothermal power generation by capturing them for either reuse or storage, to turn captured emissions in to commercial products and demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of the injection method. To achieve this goal a site specific characterizati...

The goal of the GECO (Geothermal emission gas control) project is to advance our ability to provide cleaner, and cost-effective non-carbon emitting geothermal energy. GECO is based on the application of an innovative technology that can limit the emissions from geothermal plants by condensing and re-injecting gases or utilising them to produce comm...

In the framework of Horizon 2020 program, the European Commission funded GECO project that has the overall aim to generate viable, safe and cost-effective technologies for cleaning geothermal power plant exhaust gases to be applied widely at European and global scale. The rationale of GECO project relays on a successful technology recently tested i...

What is the strength and fluid content of materials entering a subduction zone, that may play a role in slow slip? International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 375 aimed to investigate processes and in situ conditions of subduction zone slow slip events (SSEs) at the northern Hikurangi Subduction Margin. Two drill sites were cored to characteri...

Hydrothermal alteration and serpentinization of ultramafic rocks at oceanic core complexes involve extensive element exchange between fluid and rock and a wide range of biogeochemical processes. These processes influence the global sulfur cycle due to both biogenic and abiogenic removal of seawater sulfate. Hence, ocean floor serpentinization conne...

In the DEEP core from the Lake Ohrid ICDP drilling project, the carbon isotope composition of bulk organic matter (δ¹³CTOC) over the last 516 ka shows a negative correlation with total organic carbon (TOC) and total inorganic carbon (TIC). This relationship is marked by periods of lower δ¹³CTOC values corresponding to higher TIC and TOC. Along with...

Expedition 357 "Atlantis Massif Serpentinization and Life" was the first Mission Specific Platform (MSP) expedition implemented by the ECORD Science Operator (ESO) in the current phase of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP; Früh-Green et al., 2016). An east-west transect across the southern wall of the Atlantis Massif was cored to stud...

IODP Expedition 357 used two seabed drills to core 17 shallow holes at 9 sites across Atlantis Massif ocean core complex (Mid-Atlantic Ridge 30°N). The goals of this expedition were to investigate serpentinization processes and microbial activity in the shallow subsurface of highly altered ultramafic and mafic sequences that have been uplifted to t...

The weathering of serpentinized peridotites, typically in ophiolite complexes, results in alkaline groundwater that may react with atmospheric or soil-derived CO2, resulting in rapid precipitation of anhydrous or hydrous carbonate minerals. The origin and composition of mineralizing solutions associated with natural magnesium carbonate precipitatio...

Serpentinized and metasomatized peridotites intruded by gabbros and dolerites have been drilled on the southern wall of the Atlantis Massif (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30°N) during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 357. They occur in seven holes from five sites making up an east-west trending, spreading-parallel profile that crosscut...

The oceanic lithosphere is exposed to extensive water-rock interaction during and after its formation along mid-ocean ridge spreading centers. In particular at slow-spreading ridges, exhumation and alteration of mantle rock is associated with considerable chemical, physical and mineralogical transformations, and H 2 , CH 4 , and formate formed duri...

The period corresponding to Marine Isotope Stages 9 (MIS 9) offers the opportunity to study orbital and sub-orbital scale climate variability under boundary conditions different from those of better studied intervals such as the Holocene and the Last Interglacial. Yet, it is poorly represented in independently-dated continental archives around the...

The main purpose of this work is to make a first evaluation of the potential of the carbonate lacustrine sediment of the Mercure Basin (Basilicata region), to preserve palaeoclimatic information during the Middle Pleistocene. For this purpose a multi-proxy analysis of the lacustrine sediments from a selected section of the basin was undertaken. The...

Understanding the mechanism of serpentinite weathering at low temperature-that involves carbonate formation-has become increasingly important because it represents an analog study for a cost-efficient carbon disposal strategy (i.e. carbon mineralization technology or mineral Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage, CCS). At Montecastelli (Tuscany, Italy...

A paleosol from the Middle Pleistocene lacustrine-fluvial succession of Sulmona Basin, central Italy, was analysed for the land snail shell content, and the stable isotope composition of the shells and associated pedogenic carbonates. The paleosol – known as Fiorata Paleosol – is covered by a thick tephra layer dated to ca. 527 ka allowing the pedo...

Here we present a multiproxy record (δ13C, δ18O, major and minor element composition, mineralogy, and low-resolution biogenic silica content) from a lacustrine succession in the Sulmona Basin, central Italy. Based on previous tephrochronological constraints and a new 40Ar/39Ar dating of a tephra matching the widespread X-6 tephra, the record spans...

This chapter documents the primary procedures and methods employed by the operational and scientific groups during the offshore and onshore phases of International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 357. This information concerns only shipboard and Onshore Science Party (OSP) methods described in the site chapters. Methods for postexpedition...

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 357 successfully cored an east–west transect across the southern wall of Atlantis Massif on the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) to study the links between serpentinization processes and microbial activity in the shallow subsurface of highly altered ultra- mafic and mafic sequence...

Loki's Castle at 73°30′ N along the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (AMOR) provides a natural laboratory to study the evolution of hydrothermal circulation in an ultraslow-spreading environment. In addition, a sedimentary input into the Loki's Castle hydrothermal circulation cell is indicated by vent fluid and gas chemistry. Here we present B and Sr isotope...

Much of our knowledge and understanding of the spatiotemporal variability and mechanisms underlying Quaternary climatic changes rely on regionally representative, high-sensitivity and chronologically well constrained proxy records. Quaternary lacustrine successions from Central Apennine tectonic basins in central Italy, have been shown to fulfill t...

We examine the potentially-seismic right-lateral transtensional–extensional Tre Monti Fault (central Apennines, Italy) with structural and geochemical methods and develop a conceptual evolutionary model of extensional faulting with fluid involvement in shallow (≤3 km depth) faults in carbonate rocks. In the analysed fault zone, multiscale fault roc...

Tuscany (Italy) is characterized by numerous, large outcrops of ophiolites, i.e. serpentinites, gabbros and basalts, representing remnants of the Jurassic Ligurian Tethys. At Montecastelli (Tuscany), spontaneous CO 2 mineral sequestration is an ongoing process locally affecting serpentinites along fractures and at surface. Here, the ophiolite outcr...

A 82 m-long borehole was retrieved from the Fucino Basin, the largest intermountain tectonic depression of the Central Apennine. It hosts a ca. 900 m-thick and continuous succession of fine-grained lacustrine sediments, interbedded with several fall-out deposits from the pery-Tyrrhenian Quaternary volcanic centers, and potentially spanning back to...

IODP Preliminary report for Expedition 357 10.14379/ iodp.pr.357.2016

Coexistence of thermal springs, travertine deposits and tectonic activity is a recurring feature for most geothermal areas. Although such a certainty, their relationships are debated mainly addressing on the role of the tectonic activity in triggering and controlling fluids flow and travertine deposition. In this paper, we present the results of an...

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 357 successfully cored an east–west transect across the southern wall of Atlantis Massif on the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to study the links between serpentinization processes and microbial activity in the shallow subsurface of highly altered ultramafic and mafic sequences that h...

Structural and geochemical methods applied to the seismically-active extensional Tre Monti Fault (central Apennines, Italy) were used to develop a conceptual evolutionary model of seismic faulting with fluid involvement for shallow (≤ 3 km depth) extensional faults in carbonate rocks. The relative chronology of these structures was reconstructed th...

An 82m long sedimentary succession was retrieved from the Fucino Basin, the largest intermountain tectonic depression of the central Apennines. The basin hosts a succession of fine-grained lacustrine sediments (ca. 900 m-thick) possibly continuously spanning the last 2 Ma. A preliminary tephrostratigraphy study allows us to ascribe the drilled 82m...

The Złoty Stok Au-As deposit (SW Poland) hosts two distinct nephrite varieties: ‘type 1’ – a grayish green or pale green, translucent, with waxy to greasy luster nephrite composed of actinolite and abundant löllingite; ‘type 2’ – a deep or intense green, less-translucent, with sub-vitreous to dull luster nephrite composed of tremolite and actinolit...

Guidebook of the Geological Field Trips, Goldschmidt Conference, 2013. Marco Benvenuti, Chiara Boschi, Andrea Dini, Giovanni Ruggieri, Alessia Arias Geol.F.Trips, Vol.7 No.1.2 (2015), 91 pp., 67 figs. (DOI 10.3301/GFT.2015.02); Periodico semestrale del Servizio Geologico d'Italia - ISPRA e della Società Geologica Italiana

Southern Tuscany (Italy) hosts geothermal anomalies with associated widespread CO2 gas-rich mani- festations and active travertine-deposing thermal springs. Geothermal anomalies have been active since the Late Miocene and have led to the formation of widespread Late Miocene–Pleistocene travertine deposits and meso- and epithermal mineralizations. T...

The Gogołów-Jordanów Massif (GJM) in the Fore-Sudetic Block, SW Poland, hosts nephrites traditionally in terpreted as serpentinite-related (ortho-nephrite). This contribution confirms the serpentinite-related origin of the nephrites on the basis of mineralogy, bulk-rock chemistry, and O and H isotopes. Rock-forming amphiboles from nephrites of the...

The provenance of the marbles used for the five ancient sculptures on display in the Tribune of the Uffizi—the Venere Medici, the Apollo Medici, the Satiro danzante, the Arrotino and the Lottatori—has been determined using a well-established multi-method approach that includes isotopic, petrographic and EPR data. The Arrotino was found to be made o...

Geometric analysis of vein systems hosted in upper crustal rocks and de-veloped in high and low temperature hydrothermal systems is presented. The high temperature hydrothermal system consists of tourmaline-rich veins hosted within the contact aureole of the upper Miocene Porto Az-zurro pluton in the eastern Elba Island. The low temperature hydroth...