Fabiola Caso

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca | UNIMIB · Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Despite the fact that rock textures depend on the 3D spatial distribution of minerals, our tectono-metamorphic reconstructions are mostly based on a 2D visualisation (i.e. thin sections). This work compares 2D and 3D investigations of petrography and microstructures, modal abundances, and local bulk rock composition and their implication for P-T es...

Due to the ongoing development of new technologies, many instruments are available to assist geological in-vestigations at different scales. These techniques, including 3D outcrop modelling from aerial photogrammetryand quantitative microstructural analysis are useful in crystalline basements studies. This contribution combinestraditional and quant...

The Valpelline Series (Dent-Blanche Tectonic System, Western Italian Alps) is a sector of lower continental crust, which consists of Permian migmatitic metapelite with different mineral assemblages (i.e., garnet-, cordierite- and orthopyroxene-bearing), minor amphibolite and marble, intruded by aplite and pegmatite. Widespread melt production in me...

Despite the rise of innovative approaches and high-resolution techniques in Earth Sciences, the reconstruction of the tectono-metamorphic history of crystalline basements is mostly based on a two-dimensional (2D) thin­section investigation. Forward thermodynamic modelling requires the definition of a bulk rock composition, which can be obtained fro...

Melt production in the deep continental crust and migration towards shallow levels are processes that contribute to the chemical differentiation of the continental crust. The Valpelline Series cropping out for ca. 15 km along strike within the Dent-Blanche Nappe in the Western Italian Alps, provides a broad and continuous observation of the deep cr...

Metamorphic reactions are commonly driven to completion within shear zones thanks to fluid circulation, making the re-equilibration of the mineral assemblage one of the dominant processes. Despite the important role of H2O in such processes, forward thermodynamic modelling calculations commonly assume either H2O-saturated conditions or only fluid l...

The digital age, which is the time when a large amount of information is available, has revolutionized the way Geomorphology studies are conducted. These studies were traditionally perfomed through field observations or physical experiments to study the origin, devolvement and composition of landforms. However, freely available satellite images mak...

High temperature (HT) processes culminating in granulitization and partial melting significantly contribute to the growth and internal differentiation of the continental crust. These processes may occur in different geodynamic contexts, under both extensional and compressional regimes, but are often difficult to study in the field due to the challe...

Migmatitic rocks represent one of the most fascinating types occurring along orogenic chains, due to their huge variety of mineral assemblages and complex meso- and microstructures resulting from the interplay between multistage deformation and melt production. For this reason, it is often difficult to reconstruct the relative chronology of the def...

Among the Valpelline Unit migmatites, the cordierite-bearing ones represent the most fascinating type, but little is known about their P-T evolution. Since the complete understanding of these rocks results from the interplay of petrological and multiscale structural investigations, a multidisciplinary approach that combines quantitative microstruct...

High temperature (HT) processes culminating in granulitization and partial melting significantly contribute to the growth and internal differentiation of the continental crust. These processes may be activated in different geodynamic contexts, under both extensional and compressional regimes. The exhumed HT metamorphic rocks are thus crucial to unv...

In the study hereafter presented (Bonasera et al., 2022), a morphostratigraphic and structural analysis along the Capo Faro Promontory cliff was carried out. The studied cliff is located in the NE sector of Salina, Aeolian Islands (Italy), which is visited by thousands of tourists every year. The area is characterised by a flat surface right on the...

High-temperature deformation and metamorphism provide crucial insights into the growth and the evolution of the deep continental crust at different geodynamic contexts (i.e., extensional and compressional). Permian lithospheric extension led to a high-temperature regime that affected the Variscan continental crust, nowadays fragmented and widesprea...

Capo Faro Promontory, located in Salina (Aeolian Islands, southern Italy), is a popular summer destination due to its volcanic morphologies, seaside, and enogastronomy. A flat area, right behind the scarp edge of a coastal cliff, hosts the Capo Faro Estate, one of the most renowned vineyards and residences on Salina Island. The promontory has been...

The Boulder Creek batholith is a Paleoproterozoic intrusion within the Front Range in Colorado (USA) made by two suites: (i) the Boulder Creek granodiorite (1714±5 Ma; Premo & Fanning, 2000) and (ii) the Twin Spruce Quartz Monzonite (ca. 1700 Ma; Gable, 1980). The emplacement of this batholith is syntectonic with respect to the regional deformation...

High-temperature deformation and metamorphism provide key information about the evolution of the deep continental crust at different geodynamic contexts (i.e., extensional and compressional). Permian lithospheric extension is thought to be responsible for the high-temperature regime that affected the Variscan continental crust, nowadays fragmented...

In the last decades, quantitative image analysis has proved to be a powerful tool in Earth Science, in particular for petrological and geochemical investigations. In the study of crystalline basements, the reconstruction of the tectono-metamorphic evolution requires quantitative data such as chemical compositions of the rock-forming minerals. The A...

The Rocca Canavese Thrust Sheet Unit (RCT; Pognante, 1989), located in the inner sector of the Sesia-Lanzo Zone in the Western Alps, represents a captivating example of a basement whose genesis has remained debated for years. Despite the RCT has been associated with a subducted-related mélange, relying on the presence of two different metamorphic p...

The E-W oriented, V-shaped Bognanco Valley is located in the Western Alps (Swiss-Italian Alps). It represents a well-exposed natural section across the continental metamorphic belt (Lower and Middle Penninic units) and the meta-ophiolite rocks (Antrona Unit; Lower Piedmont Zone) (Keller et al., 2005). After the last glaciation its main watercourse,...

In the geological setting of the Italian Western Alps, the Rocca Canavese Thrust Sheet Unit (RCT) is a small unit (only a few km2) marking the innermost sector of the Sesia-Lanzo Zone of the Austroalpine Domain, between the Eclogitic Micaschists Complex to the west and the Canavese Zone of the Southern Alpine Domain to the east. This unit has been...

This work presents the structural evolution of a poorly studied key-area in the middle Ala Valley, Western Alps, where two tectono-metamorphic units are exposed. A geological map at the 1:10.000 scale, integrated with meso- and microstructural analysis, has been realised. We investigated the contact area between Gran Paradiso Massif in the footwall...

An interdisciplinary study has been adopted to investigate the upper Maira Valley (Western Alps, Italy). A geological map of an unmapped area, of about 12 km², at scale 1:10.000, has been realized. The combination of field surveys, GIS database creation, aerial photo observation, local archival data consultation, geo-structural analysis and drillho...

The landscape evolution of the U-shaped Maira Valley was mainly led by glacial dynamics during Pleistocene. The Holocene linear fluvial erosion creates higher steepness slopes in a narrow valley in which gravitational phenomena involves buildings and facilities of Acceglio municipality (Piedmont, Italy). A geomorphological survey in an unmapped are...