Asbestiform tremolite within the Holocene late pyroclastic deposits of Colli Albani volcano (Latium, Italy): occurrence and crystal chemistry

Abstract

This work relates the occurrence and the characterization of fibrous tremolite within the latest pyroclastic deposits of the Colli Albani (Alban Hills) volcano, to the south-east of Rome (Italy). These mineralizations were observed during a systematic rock-sampling undertaken to complete the geological survey for the new 1:50 000 map of this volcanic area. The examined specimens were collected inside distal deposits correlated to the last Albano Maar activity, which are geographically located within the boundaries of the Nemi community. Tremolite occurs within both carbonate ejecta and G. Della Ventura (☺) Dipartimento di Scienze, Università di Roma Tre, Largo S. Leonardo Murialdo 1, I-00146 ROMA e-mail: giancarlo.dellaventura@uniroma3.it 2 the host pyroclastic rocks. It shows up as whitish to light gray coloured aggregates of crystals with fibrous aspect and sericeous brightness. Due to the extremely small crystal dimensions, never exceeding 0.5 µm in diameter, the micro-chemical composition of the fibres could be obtained only by combining P-XRD, SEM-EDX and FTIR methods.Infrared spectroscopy, in particular, proved to be a valuable technique to characterize the studied amphibole. The composition determined is that of a Fe-free F-rich (c. 53%) tremolite with significant (c. 20%) richterite components in solid-solution. The occurrence of fibrous tremolite in an inhabited place, occurring as natural geological material rather than being due to anthropogenic pollution, should be examined with concern, because it implies complex health and legal responsibilities in the case of mobilization due to extreme climatic events.

Infra Red Spectroscopy of the Regulated Asbestos Amphiboles

“…Details on how the exact position of the bands observed in the OH-stretching spectra of amphiboles can be used as a tool for their characterization can be found is a vast body of literature (see [21,32] for a complete list of references). Specifically, applications to the study of fibrous amphiboles can be found in References [8,26,33].…”