Roberto Cabella

Università degli Studi di Genova | UNIGE · Dipartimento di Scienze della terra, dell'ambiente e della vita (DISTAV)

Dense associations of vertical trace fossils are typically used as a proxy for nearshore palaeoenvironments. Here we challenge this assumption by reporting dense associations of vertical tubes occupying vast areas of the deep shelf off Liguria (Italy) at depths ranging from 56 to 85 m. The tubes, produced by the suspension-feeding sabellid Bispira...

The distribution of particulate Fe (pFe), suspended particulate matter (SPM), and other particulate trace metals were investigated in Terra Nova Bay as part of CDW Effects on glaciaL mElting and on Bulk of Fe in the Western Ross sea (CELEBeR) and Plankton biodiversity and functioning of the Ross Sea ecosystems in a changing Southern Ocean (P-ROSE)...

The new mineral isselite, Cu 6 (SO 4 )(OH) 10 (H 2 O) 4 ⋅H 2 O, has been discovered in the Lagoscuro mine, Monte Ramazzo mining complex, Genoa, Eastern Liguria, Italy. It occurs as sprays of blue acicular crystals, up to 0.1 mm long, associated with brochantite and posnjakite. Streak is light blue and the lustre is vitreous. Isselite is brittle, wi...

The geoheritage value of sedimentary building stones has mainly focused on physical sedimentary structures and body fossils. By contrast, little attention has been placed on the geoheritage significance of ichnofabrics, which are the sedimentary fabrics that have been reworked by organisms. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing the ichnofab...

A trace fossil assemblage from the Silurian (Llandovery) black shales of the Genna Muxerru Formation is reported for the first time. The ichnofossil record is abundant, well-preserved and comprises Alcyonidiopsis, Cochlichnus, Phymatoderma, Planolites (large morphotype), Planolites (rough morphotype) and a ‘Small chondritid’. Sedimentological and i...

New images from Mars rover Curiosity display millimetric, elongate stick- like structures in the fluvio-lacustrine deposits of Vera Rubin Ridge, the depositional environment of which has been previously acknowledged as habitable. Morphology, size and topology of the structures are yet incompletely known and their biogenicity remains untested. Here...

The behaviour of the iconic ichnogenus Chondrites is re-evaluated based on review of existing literature and analysis of novel data (macroscopic, thin section and ESEM-EDX observations; CT-scans and resin peels of modern analogues; computer-controlled serial grinding; morphometric analysis and theoretical morphology). The bedding plane expression o...

Lavinskyite-1M, a monoclinic MDO (Maximum Degree of Order) polytype related to the orthorhombic MDO polytype lavinskyite-2O (formerly lavinskyite, now redefined), was identified in samples from the Cerchiara manganese mine (Liguria, Italy). Both polytypes have the same ideal chemical formula, K(LiCu)Cu 6 (Si 4 O 11) 2 (OH) 4. Lavinskyite-1M was ori...

Lavinskyite-1M, a monoclinic MDO (Maximum Degree of Order) polytype related to the orthorhombic MDO polytype lavinskyite-2O (formerly lavinskyite, now redefined), was identified in samples from the Cerchiara manganese mine (Liguria, Italy). Both polytypes have the same ideal chemical formula, K(LiCu)Cu6(Si4O11)2(OH)4. Lavinskyite-1M was originally...

The ware called Taches Noires was developed in Albisola (Liguria, NW Italy) during the 18th century. In just a few years, it spread all over the Mediterranean (Italy, France, Spain, Tunisia, and Greece) and also in the New World (Canada, the Caribbean Islands, and Mexico). The success of the Taches Noires ware was so massive that it was soon copied...

The new mineral species arsenmedaite, ideally Mn ²⁺6 As ⁵⁺ Si 5 O 18 (OH), has been discovered in quartz veinlets in the braunite ore deposit of the Molinello mine, Graveglia Valley, Ne, Genova, Liguria, Italy. It occurs as orange-reddish prismatic crystals, up to 200 μm in length, with a vitreous lustre, associated with braunite, quartz, calcite,...

β-Tricalcium phosphate particles were sintered in the presence of different amounts (0–0.72 mol) of zinc oxide (ZnO) to prepare zinc doped β-TCP (Znβ-TCP) particles for further use in novel monetite (DCPA: CaHPO4) zinc incorporated bone cements with osteogenic differentiation potential towards human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). XRD analysis of z...

The use of ceramic sourcing to study the scale of human interaction has revealed new perspectives on Early Neolithic voyaging in the Ligurian Sea (northern Italy). We have documented, through archaeometric analyses and in particular optical microscopy of 50 thin sections, the discovery of imported vessels at important prehistoric sites of the Impre...

The Port-Vendres 4 shipwreck is evidence of coastal export trade between Hispania Citerior and Narbonne in 40/30 BC. The cargo is made up of a particular assemblage of Roman wine amphoras (Pascual 1, Dressel 1B and Lamboglia 2) destined for Gallic markets. Archaeological and archaeometric analyses conducted on a selection of the amphoras allowed th...

A possibly new K-Li-Cu-Mg silicate occurs at the Cerchiara mine (Liguria, Italy) as blue, micaceous aggregates embedded in calcite-filled microfractures and veinlets related to re-equilibration of the ophiolitic sequence during tectonometamorphic overprinting under prehnite-pumpellyite facies conditions (Lucchetti et al., 1988). The associated mine...

IMA No. 2014-035 Liguriaite K(Li,Cu)Cu6(Si4O11)2(OH)4 Cerchiara mine, Borghetto Vara, Vara Valley, Liguria, Italy (44º11’58’’N, 9º42’1’’E) Uwe Kolitsch*, Cristina Carbone, Donato Belmonte, Roberto Cabella and Marco E. Ciriotti *E-mail: uwe.kolitsch@nhm-wien.ac.at A dimorph of lavinskyite Monoclinic: P21/c; structure determined a = 10.224(2), b = 19...

Mcalpineite has been found in the Gambatesa mine (eastern Liguria, Italy). It occurs in a quartz vein mainly as yellowish green earthy crusts consisting of poorly crystallized mcalpineite intergrown with an unidentified Cu-Te phase, as well as quite pure aggregates of well euhedral emerald green crystals (individually reaching up to 50 mu m), assoc...

The importance of wine trade between Roman provinces in the North-Western Mediterranean during the Augustan period is evidenced by several shipwrecks found along the coasts of Catalunya and Southern France. Among them are the Cap del Vol (Port de la Selva) and Els Ullastres (Palafrugell) shipwrecks, located near the northern coast of Catalunya, whi...

Weissite, Cu2–x Te (x ≈ 0.21), a very rare copper telluride, occurs in a sample from the Gambatesa mine, Val Graveglia, Liguria, Italy, where it occurs as purplish black anhedral grains up to 0.1 mm in length and shows a black streak. No cleavage is observed and the Vickers hardness (VHN100) is 142 kg/mm². Weissite is dark bluish black, weakly pleo...

Arran de la troballa d’un taller ceràmic al carrer de Carders de Barcelona, datat entre els segles XII-XIII, s’ha dut a terme la caracterització arqueomètrica de 31 individus per tal de definir les característiques químiques i petrogràfiques de la seva producció. A més, s’han contrastat els resultats amb els obtinguts per l’altre taller del segle X...

Arran de la troballa d’un taller ceràmic al carrer de Carders de Barcelona, datat entre els segles XII-XIII, s’ha dut a terme la caracterització arqueomètrica de 31 individus per tal de definir les característiques químiques i petrogràfiques de la seva producció. A més, s’han contrastat els resultats amb els obtinguts per l’altre taller del segle X...

Bassoite, ideally SrV3O7·4H2O, is a new mineral from the Molinello manganese mine, Val Graveglia, eastern Liguria, northern Apennines, Italy. It occurs as black euhedral to subhedral grains up to 400 m m across, closely associated with rhodonite, quartz and braunite. Bassoite is opaque with a sub-metallic lustre and a black streak. It is brittle an...

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011.

Thin section, XRPD, and SEM-EDS analyses were carried out on pastes and glazes of 12th-13th c. glazed cooking wares found out at Palazzo Ducale of Genoa (Liguria, NW Italy). Seven productions different in compositional, technical and typological characteristics were recognised. Imports from centres located in the northern Mediterranean sector inclu...

In this paper we develop a consecutive decomposition–sintering dilatometer method (CDSD) to study the effect of limestone impurities on lime microstructure features that are formed during the limestone decomposition. Two experimental parameters, the changing in slope of the dilatometer traces (β˙) and the total shrinkage of the produced lime (Σ) in...

This paper focuses on the mineralogical and petrographic characterisation of ceramic fabrics rich in glauconitic pellets, found out in a few local productions of European and Mediterranean sites dated from Prehistory to the Middle Ages. The main distinguishing features of glauconitic inclusions are their rounded shape, dark colour and peculiar chem...

The Neolithic site of Pian del Ciliegio is a rock shelter located in the Ponci Valley, at 220 m asl, in the Finalese (Liguria, NW Italy), a well-known karstic area characterised by the existence of several caves with prehistoric occupation. Archaeometric investigations (by optical microscopy and XRPD) were carried out on pottery samples mostly belo...

The geochemical characteristics of rills draining pyrite-chalcopyrite tailings impoundments and of bordering streams were investigated at the ophiolite-hosted Libiola and Vigonzano abandoned massive sulphide mines, northern Apennines Italy. Water samples were analysed for major and trace chemical composition, hydrogen and oxygen isotope composition...

Pumpellyite from four‐phase assemblages (pumpellyite + epidote + prehnite + chlorite; pumpellyite + epidote + actinolite + chlorite; pumpellyite + epidote + Na‐amphibole + chlorite, together with common excess phases), considered to be low variance in a CaO‐(MgO + FeO)‐Al 2 O 3 ‐Fe 2 O 3 (+Na 2 O + SiO 2 + H 2 O) system, have been examined in areas...

The Early Neolithic site of San Sebastiano di Perti is the only open-air site of the Impressed Ware Culture so far discovered in Liguria. It is located in the Finalese area, on a river terrace along the Pora Valley. One radiocarbon AMS date of 6760±45 BP (GrA-25715) was obtained from two caryopsis of Hordeum vulgare. The ceramic assemblage consists...

The solubility in the solid state was investigated for the pseudo-binary system SnO2-(FeSb)O4 at high temperature. Stoichiometric amounts of pure SnO2 and (FeSb)O4 powders were mixed and reacted in air at 1373 K. Solid state solubility was ascertained in the whole compositional range at high temperature, whereas at low temperature a miscibility gap...

Vanadiocarpholite, Mn2+V3+Al(Si2O6)(OH)(4), occurs at the Molinello mine (Liguria, Italy) in mm-thick veins and in open fissures in a silicified wood sample from Mn-ore bearing cherts. Vanadiocarpholite is found as millimetric aggregates of acicular crystals associated with coatings and crystals of dark-green volborthite and quartz; rarely strongly...

The tetragonal rutile-type (FeSb)O-4 compound was synthesized reacting Fe2O3 and Sb2O3 in O-2. Solid solubility in the pseudo-binary TiO2-(FeSb)O-4 (rutile tripuhyite) system was investigated annealing powder mixtures characterized by different TiO2/(FeSb)O-4 molar ratios in an O-2 flux. Complete miscibility was found in the whole compositional ran...

Structural refinements were performed on synthetic and natural Fe-Sb-oxides of MO2 type according to the Rietveld method. The refinement in the P42/mnm space group confirms that the synthetic phase (Fe3+Sb5+)O4, corresponding to squawcreekite, is characterised by a rutile-type structure. In contrast to the compositional and structural data (ideally...

Squawcreekite is a rare AO(2) oxide with rutile-type structure. A squawcreekite (FeSbO(4))-rutile (TiO(2)) solid solution has been recognised in quartz veins from the Kajlidongri manganese mine District Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh (India): this finding represents the first occurrence of a chemically pure squawcreekite-rutile solid solution. Transmission...

Chromitite segregations in dunites of the Uktus Uralian-Alaskan-type complex (Central Urals, Russia) display large variation of the chromite composition: Cr/(Cr+Al)=0.46-0.77, Fe2+/(Fe2++Mg)=0.28-0.66, and Fe3+/(Fe3++Fe2+)=0.23-0.59. Three types of PGM assemblages have been recognized, varying in accordance with chromite composition: type I, domina...

The reaction between Fe2O3 (hematite) and Sb2O3 leading to the formation of the rutile-type compound FeSbO4 was analysed by means of DTA and TG, performed under various O2 partial pressures up to 1673 K. The reaction products were identified by means of XRD analysis. Three transformations occur in the analysed temperature range: 1. oxidation of Sb2...

The Ligurian Alps expose several Alpine and pre-Variscan tectono-metamorphic units which record pressures in the range 0.9-1.7 GPa and temperatures of 300°- 750°C. Sodic and sodic-calcic clinopyroxenes were analysed in rocks of basic (basalt, gabbro and Fe-Ti oxide-gabbro), intermediate (Fe-Ti oxide-diorite, diorite) and acidic (rhyolite, rhyodacit...

Monazite-(Ce) and xenotime-(Y) were found in the metacherts (pumpellyite-actinolite-facies conditions: 3 less than or equal to P less than or equal to 4 kbars and 300 less than or equal to T less than or equal to 350 degreesC) of the Monte Figogna Unit, Sestri-Voltaggio Zone, Liguria, in Italy, as scattered submillimetric grains in pelitic beds and...

Transmission electron microscope-analytical electron microscope analyses have been carried out on secondary minerals from pillow basalts with various degrees of alteration from the Juan de Fuca Ridge (ODP Leg 168). The electron microscopic data indicate that the alteration products consist mainly of phyllosilicate mixtures. The least altered sample...

We report about the occurrence of geigerite, a rare Mn-arsenate, recently found in the abandoned manganese mine of Monte Nero (Rocchetta Vara, La Spezia, Italy). This ore deposit occurs near the base of the chert sequence overlaying the Jurassic ophiolites of the Bracco Unit (Ligurian-Piedmontese oceanic basin). Geigerite has been found as radial a...

With this study, we investigate the mineralogical variations associated with the low-temperature (<100°C) alteration of nor-mal tholeiitic pillow basalts varying in age from 0.8 to 3.5 Ma. Their alteration intensity varies systematically and is related to several factors, including (1) the aging of the igneous crust, (2) the increase of temperature...

With this study, we investigate the mineralogical variations associated with the low-temperature (

This paper describes the occurrence of Th-rich hellandite-(Ce) and britholite-(Ce) within a volcanic ejectum from a pyroclastic formation of the Vico volcanic complex, north of Rome, Italy. The host rock is a saturated alkali-syenite which consists mainly of potassium feldspar and plagioclase, together with fluor-biotite, plagioclase, titanite, cli...

We report the occurrence of some rare and unknown LREE- and Y-arsenates. They are present within the Ponte dei Gorrazzi Fe-Mn deposit, associated with quartz arenites and subordinately with marbles of the Corsaglia Valley sequence, in the Ligurian Brianconnais Domain, Maritime Alps, Italy. These minerals mainly occur within microveins and microcavi...

Unknown Fe-bearing Ru-Os-Ir minerals were discovered as inclusions (5-35 μm) in chromitites of the Nurali ultramafic complex, southern Urals, Russia. Low analytical totals and semiquantitative determination of oxygen by electron microprobe analysis suggest that the minerals probably are oxides. Chemical compositions indicate (Ru + Os + Ir)/(Fe + Ni...

Loveringite and baddeleyite are found within layers of chromian spinel in gabbroic cumulates from the ophiolitic Bracco Unit, Liguria, northern Apennines, Italy. Altered plagioclase or olivine represent the major phases interstitial to the chromian spinel; loveringite and baddeleyite, together with magnesian or manganoan ilmenite, sodium phlogopite...