Open Access Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology, 2020
Abruzzo region, in eastern-Central Italy, is an area undergoing active tectonics. It is prone to ... more Abruzzo region, in eastern-Central Italy, is an area undergoing active tectonics. It is prone to earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, flooding, rapid coastal modification, mud volcanoes, and sinkholes. These natural phenomena, recorded since the Roman age, have impressed the local population, conditioning society, economy, and territory use and giving birth to myths (mythopoiesis).
Very primitive ultramafic igneous rocks occur at Mt. La Queglia (Abruzzo, Italy). They form a str... more Very primitive ultramafic igneous rocks occur at Mt. La Queglia (Abruzzo, Italy). They form a strongly deformed sill–dyke system now tilted vertically. These rocks were initially classified as alnöite and, subsequently, have been suggested to be a carbonatitic olivine melilitite. However, further investigation and interpretation of these rocks is needed due to the presence of hand-specimen-scale textural variation suggesting a complex petrogenesis. We study the texture, mineral chemistry, and whole-rock geochemistry to define three main rock-types. (1) A brecciated rock with an ocellar texture composed of calcite pseudomorphs after olivine and melilite, plus fresh diopside in a groundmass of mica, aegirine, garnet, calcite, apatite, perovskite, titanate and chlorite. Zoned ocelli in this rock show an amoeboid shape, agglutination, and menisci typical of a plastic state. (2) A quenched rock showing a spinifex texture containing long feathery phenocrysts of cpx and mica suspended in a...
Volcanic activity at Mt Vulture lasted throughout the Middle Pleistocene and produced SiO2- under... more Volcanic activity at Mt Vulture lasted throughout the Middle Pleistocene and produced SiO2- undersaturated volcanics. Deposits from the Monte Vulture stratovolcano have been classified into four subsynthems and clustered into the Barile Synthem. In the present investigation, trioctahedral micas from the uppermost units (the Ventaruolo Subsynthem) of the Barile Synthem are considered. The samples are labelled VUT187. The phlogopitic micas were separated from the host rock (an olivinefoidite) and underwent chemical (electron microprobe analysis - EMPA and C-H-N), structural (singlecrystal X-ray diffraction) and spectroscopic (Mössbauer) investigations. The EMPA yielded: MgO (17.62–21.89 wt.%), FeOtot (5.98–9.78 wt.%), TiO2 (1.81–3.92 wt.%) and Al2O3 (14.47–17.98 wt.%), with H2O contents = 2.86 (±0.42) wt.% determined by C-H-N analyses. Mössbauer investigation provided [VI]Fe2+ = 12.6%, [VI]Fe3+ = 87.4%. The chemical and structural data are consistent with the occurrence of Ti-oxy, [VI...
This paper presents a study of melt and fluid inclusions in minerals of an olivine-leucite phonol... more This paper presents a study of melt and fluid inclusions in minerals of an olivine-leucite phonolitic nephelinite bomb from the Monticchio Lake Formation, Vulture. The rock contains 50 vol.% clinopyroxene, 12% leucite, 10% alkali feldspars, 8% hauyne/sodalite, 7.5% nepheline, 4.5% apatite, 3.2% olivine, 2% opaques, 2.6% plagioclase, and <1% amphibole. We distinguished three generations of clinopyroxene differing in composition and
All over the world, archaeological sites, which have alternated destruction and reconstruction fo... more All over the world, archaeological sites, which have alternated destruction and reconstruction following strong earthquakes can disclose important historical / seismological data. Particularly instructive is the case of St. Angel cave in Palombaro (Abruzzo Region, Italy). Combining the geological, archaeological, archaeometrical and chronachistic study, we constrained the seismic history of the last 1000 years of a large area of central Apennines of Italy, and therefore results are of wide interest. This place reveals various phases of worship, confirming itself as a place of religious importance bridging the gap between paganism and Christianity. The lithostratigraphy of the area made possible to practice water-worship, as deduced by a system of tubs present in the cave. The interpretation of the cult refers to chthonian divinities in charge of thaumaturgic properties symbolically linked to endogenous geologic phenomena. A rupestrian church from the 10th-11th -century was built and...
Four carbonatite occurrences are now known in Italy. The Polino occurrence, discovered in 1990, i... more Four carbonatite occurrences are now known in Italy. The Polino occurrence, discovered in 1990, is a small, highlevel intrusion, but the occurrences discovered subsequently are all extrusive. At San Venanzo and Cupaello carbonatitic tuffs are intimately involved with phonolitic and meliliitic tuffs and closely related to kamafugite lavas in monogenetic volcanic centres. In contrast, the Monticchio carbonatitic tuffs form the last phase of the relatively voluminous Vulture volcano, but are similar in being closely associated with meliliitic tuffs. [...]
We investigated hellandite-group mineral phases from the Roman Region, alkali syenite ejecta, by ... more We investigated hellandite-group mineral phases from the Roman Region, alkali syenite ejecta, by multimethod analyses. They show a complex crystallisation history including co-precipitation of hellandite-(Ce) with brockite, resorption, sub-solidus substitution with mottanaite-(Ce), exsolution of perthite-like ferri-mottanaite-(Ce), overgrowth of an oscillatory-zoned euhedral shell of ferri-mottanaite-(Ce) and late, secondary precipitation of pyrochlore in the cribrose hellandite-(Ce) core. LREE/HREE crossover and a negative Eu anomaly in hellandite-group minerals follows fO2 increase during magma cooling. The distinction among the hellandite-group minerals is based on the element distribution in the M1, M2, M3, M4 and T sites. Additional information on miscibility relationship among the hellandite sensu strictu, tadzhikite, mottanaite, ferri-mottanaite and ciprianiite endmembers derives from molar fraction calculation. We observed that change in composition of hellandite-group miner...
Open Access Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology, 2020
Abruzzo region, in eastern-Central Italy, is an area undergoing active tectonics. It is prone to ... more Abruzzo region, in eastern-Central Italy, is an area undergoing active tectonics. It is prone to earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, flooding, rapid coastal modification, mud volcanoes, and sinkholes. These natural phenomena, recorded since the Roman age, have impressed the local population, conditioning society, economy, and territory use and giving birth to myths (mythopoiesis).
Very primitive ultramafic igneous rocks occur at Mt. La Queglia (Abruzzo, Italy). They form a str... more Very primitive ultramafic igneous rocks occur at Mt. La Queglia (Abruzzo, Italy). They form a strongly deformed sill–dyke system now tilted vertically. These rocks were initially classified as alnöite and, subsequently, have been suggested to be a carbonatitic olivine melilitite. However, further investigation and interpretation of these rocks is needed due to the presence of hand-specimen-scale textural variation suggesting a complex petrogenesis. We study the texture, mineral chemistry, and whole-rock geochemistry to define three main rock-types. (1) A brecciated rock with an ocellar texture composed of calcite pseudomorphs after olivine and melilite, plus fresh diopside in a groundmass of mica, aegirine, garnet, calcite, apatite, perovskite, titanate and chlorite. Zoned ocelli in this rock show an amoeboid shape, agglutination, and menisci typical of a plastic state. (2) A quenched rock showing a spinifex texture containing long feathery phenocrysts of cpx and mica suspended in a...
Volcanic activity at Mt Vulture lasted throughout the Middle Pleistocene and produced SiO2- under... more Volcanic activity at Mt Vulture lasted throughout the Middle Pleistocene and produced SiO2- undersaturated volcanics. Deposits from the Monte Vulture stratovolcano have been classified into four subsynthems and clustered into the Barile Synthem. In the present investigation, trioctahedral micas from the uppermost units (the Ventaruolo Subsynthem) of the Barile Synthem are considered. The samples are labelled VUT187. The phlogopitic micas were separated from the host rock (an olivinefoidite) and underwent chemical (electron microprobe analysis - EMPA and C-H-N), structural (singlecrystal X-ray diffraction) and spectroscopic (Mössbauer) investigations. The EMPA yielded: MgO (17.62–21.89 wt.%), FeOtot (5.98–9.78 wt.%), TiO2 (1.81–3.92 wt.%) and Al2O3 (14.47–17.98 wt.%), with H2O contents = 2.86 (±0.42) wt.% determined by C-H-N analyses. Mössbauer investigation provided [VI]Fe2+ = 12.6%, [VI]Fe3+ = 87.4%. The chemical and structural data are consistent with the occurrence of Ti-oxy, [VI...
This paper presents a study of melt and fluid inclusions in minerals of an olivine-leucite phonol... more This paper presents a study of melt and fluid inclusions in minerals of an olivine-leucite phonolitic nephelinite bomb from the Monticchio Lake Formation, Vulture. The rock contains 50 vol.% clinopyroxene, 12% leucite, 10% alkali feldspars, 8% hauyne/sodalite, 7.5% nepheline, 4.5% apatite, 3.2% olivine, 2% opaques, 2.6% plagioclase, and <1% amphibole. We distinguished three generations of clinopyroxene differing in composition and
All over the world, archaeological sites, which have alternated destruction and reconstruction fo... more All over the world, archaeological sites, which have alternated destruction and reconstruction following strong earthquakes can disclose important historical / seismological data. Particularly instructive is the case of St. Angel cave in Palombaro (Abruzzo Region, Italy). Combining the geological, archaeological, archaeometrical and chronachistic study, we constrained the seismic history of the last 1000 years of a large area of central Apennines of Italy, and therefore results are of wide interest. This place reveals various phases of worship, confirming itself as a place of religious importance bridging the gap between paganism and Christianity. The lithostratigraphy of the area made possible to practice water-worship, as deduced by a system of tubs present in the cave. The interpretation of the cult refers to chthonian divinities in charge of thaumaturgic properties symbolically linked to endogenous geologic phenomena. A rupestrian church from the 10th-11th -century was built and...
Four carbonatite occurrences are now known in Italy. The Polino occurrence, discovered in 1990, i... more Four carbonatite occurrences are now known in Italy. The Polino occurrence, discovered in 1990, is a small, highlevel intrusion, but the occurrences discovered subsequently are all extrusive. At San Venanzo and Cupaello carbonatitic tuffs are intimately involved with phonolitic and meliliitic tuffs and closely related to kamafugite lavas in monogenetic volcanic centres. In contrast, the Monticchio carbonatitic tuffs form the last phase of the relatively voluminous Vulture volcano, but are similar in being closely associated with meliliitic tuffs. [...]
We investigated hellandite-group mineral phases from the Roman Region, alkali syenite ejecta, by ... more We investigated hellandite-group mineral phases from the Roman Region, alkali syenite ejecta, by multimethod analyses. They show a complex crystallisation history including co-precipitation of hellandite-(Ce) with brockite, resorption, sub-solidus substitution with mottanaite-(Ce), exsolution of perthite-like ferri-mottanaite-(Ce), overgrowth of an oscillatory-zoned euhedral shell of ferri-mottanaite-(Ce) and late, secondary precipitation of pyrochlore in the cribrose hellandite-(Ce) core. LREE/HREE crossover and a negative Eu anomaly in hellandite-group minerals follows fO2 increase during magma cooling. The distinction among the hellandite-group minerals is based on the element distribution in the M1, M2, M3, M4 and T sites. Additional information on miscibility relationship among the hellandite sensu strictu, tadzhikite, mottanaite, ferri-mottanaite and ciprianiite endmembers derives from molar fraction calculation. We observed that change in composition of hellandite-group miner...
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