Serpentinite Carbonation for CO2 Sequestration in the Southern Apennines: Preliminary Study

Abstract During "Mineral CO2 sequestration" the CO2 is chemically stored in solid carbonates by the carbonations of minerals. The sequestration of CO2 is permanent and safe. Mineral carbonation is an exothermic reaction and occurs naturally in the subsurface as a result of fluid–rock interactions within serpentinite. In situ carbonation aims to promote these reactions by injecting CO2 into porous, subsurface geological formations. In the northern sector of the Pollino Massif (southern Italy) extensively occur serpentinites; they are the subject of a project devoted to their possible use for in situ geological sequestration of CO2

Mineralogical Asbestos Assessment in the Southern Apennines (Italy): A Review

This paper deals with petrography and mineralogy of serpentinitic rocks occurring in the Southern Apennines (Italy) with the aim to review the already available literature data and furnish new details on asbestos minerals present in the studied area. Two sites of Southern Italy were taken into account: the Pollino Massif, at the Calabrian-Lucanian border, and the surroundings of the Gimigliano and Mt. Reventino areas where serpentinites of Frido Unit are mainly exposed. Textural and mineralogical features of the studied rocks point to a similar composition for both sites including asbestos minerals such as chrysotile and tremolite-actinolite series mineral phases. Only in the Pollino Massif serpentinites edenite crystals have been detected as well; they are documented here for the first time. This amphibole forms as fibrous and/or prismatic crystals in aggregates associated with serpentine, pyroxene, and calcite. Metamorphism and/or metasomatic alteration of serpentinites are the most probable processes promoting the edenite formation in the Southern Apennine ophiolitic rocks

Environmental and Health: The Importance of Tremolite Occurence in the Pollino Geopark (Southern Italy)

Worldwide studies have been done about the toxicity and carcinogenicity of asbestos minerals occurring in ophiolitic rocks. Inhalation of asbestos due to environmental exposure could cause malignant mesothelioma and lung cancers. In particular, the ophiolitic rocks in Tethyan realm represents a serious enivironmental concern due to both the presence of asbestos-like minerals and the large Cr abundance that is prone to solubilisation as CrVI. At the Pollino Geopark (southern Apennines, Italy), serpentinites-rich ophiolite rocks and sediments of the Frido Unit crop-out. In these rocks, tremolite, an asbestos-like mineral, is typically intergrown with fibrous antigorite and chrysotile. Tremolite shows acicular, friable, fibrous, and elongated habitus, can be easily released into the environment as a result of both natural processes and anthropogenic activities. In the analyzed rocks, tremolite is present mainly in veins as much as in the matrix and forms crowns around clinopyroxene porphyroclasts. The different analytical techniques showed the recognition of the amphibole-like minerals (actinolite and tremolite) that are the dominant phases, with a small percentage of Fe2+. The presence of Fe in the “ideal” tremolite asbestos could cause pathological effects for the human living in the Pollino Geopark. This study has several environmental relevant implications, including, for example, the realization of national health protecting programs and the mapping of natural sites characterized by the presence of asbestos minerals in Pollino Geopark and in others area where outcrop asbestos bearing ophiolitic rocks

An Integrated Study of the Serpentinite‐Hosted Hydrothermal System in the Pollino Massif (Southern Apennines, Italy)

A comprehensive study of the serpentinite and associated veins belonging to the Frido Unit in the Pollino Massif (southern Italy) is presented here with the aim to provide new constraints about the hydrothermal system hosted by the accretionary wedge of the southern Apennines. The studied serpentinites are from two different sites: Fosso Arcangelo and Pietrapica. In both sites, the rocks show myloniticcataclastic structures and pseudomorphic and patch textures and are traversing by pervasive carbonate and quartz‐carbonate veins. The mineralogical assemblage of serpentinites consists of serpentine group minerals (with a predominance of lizardite), amphiboles, pyroxene, chlorite, titanite, magnetite, and talc. In some samples, hydro‐garnet was also detected and documented here for the first time. As for cutting veins, different mineralogical compositions were observed in the two sites: calcite characterizes the veins from Fosso Arcangelo, whereas quartz and dolomite are the principal minerals of the Pietrapica veins infill, suggesting a different composition of mineralizing fluids. Stable isotopes of C and O also indicate such a different chemistry. In detail, samples from the Pietrapica site are characterized by δ13C fluctuations coupled with a δ18O shift documenting calcite formation in an open‐system where mixing between deep and shallow fluids occurred. Conversely, δ13C and δ18O of the Fosso Arcangelo veins show a decarbonation trend, suggesting their developing in a closed‐system at deeper crustal conditions. Precipitation temperature calculated for both sites indicates a similar range (80 °C to 120 °C), thus suggesting carbonate precipitation within the same thermal system