Scientist

Patrizia Fumagalli is Associate Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Milan. Her main scientific interests focus on deep geological processes, investigated by high pressure experimental petrology, with particular emphasys to petrological processes at divergent margins and their implications for the evolution of oceanic lithosphere, to the volatile transfer at convergent margins, to the stability, crystal chemistry, thermodynamics and phase relations of hydrates at high pressure.

Lab

The Department of Earth Sciences “Ardito Desio” of the University of Milan (49 scientists, 36 postdocs/PhDs) has a broad expertise in Earth Sciences and hosts the first Laboratory of Experimental Petrology of Italy (LEPMI). The LEPMI has focused its activity in:
–    Experimental constraints to the evolution of oceanic lithosphere;
–    The role of volatiles in subsolidus high pressure processes;
–    Experimental and theoretical modelling of the physical behavior of minerals;
–    R&D studies on ceramic materials in collaboration with industry
The University of Milan hosts furnaces operating at controlled oxygen fugacity up to 1800°C, piston cylinders and multianvil (0.4-20 GPa, 1700-2500°C) operating also in a 600 ton “rocking” frame to avoid chemical zonation, Electron Microphobe (Jeol 8200 Superprobe), Transmission Electron Microscope (FEI-TECNAI, FEG 200kV, EDS) and powder and single-crystal X-ray diffractometers.

Team

• Patrizia Fumagalli, Professor (Experimental petrology of mantle rocks, Phase equilibria, Transformations of minerals)
• Stefano Poli, Professor (Experimental petrology at high pressure and high temperature, Thermodynamics modelling)
• Simone Tumiati, Staff scientist (Image analysis, Experimental petrology of COH fluids-bearing systems)