Soil organic carbon data comparison after 85 years and new C/ C compositions: The case study of the Ferrara province (Northeastern Italy).

The main causes of soil organic matter (SOM) loss are land use (e.g., conventional agriculture) and land-use change (e.

The trace element distribution in peat soils affected by natural burning events: A proxy of the original composition and metals mobility assessment.

This work evaluates for the first time the effects on the trace element composition of peat soils affected by natural burning events, a recurrent phenomenon in the reclaimed wetland of the Mezzano Lowland (Padanian plain, NE Italy). The trace element distribution of two neighboring soil profiles, one pristine and one deeply affected by burning events, were compared to identify the original geochemical fingerprint of saltmarsh peat environment. The pre-combustion composition of the fired profile was reconstructed to infer the physico-chemical changes occurred as a consequence of the burning event, with a special attention to the mobility of elements of environmental concern, such as potentially toxic trace metals.

Quartz-bearing rhyolitic melts in the Earth's mantle.

The occurrence of rhyolite melts in the mantle has been predicted by high pressure-high temperature experiments but never observed in nature. Here we report natural quartz-bearing rhyolitic melt inclusions and interstitial glass within peridotite xenoliths. The oxygen isotope composition of quartz crystals shows the unequivocal continental crustal derivation of these melts, which approximate the minimum composition in the quartz-albite-orthoclase system.

Isotope Geochemistry for Seafood Traceability and Authentication: The Northern Adriatic Manila Clams Case Study.

In Italy, the production of manila clams (, Adams and Reeve, 1850) is mainly localized in northern Adriatic lagoons in the Po River delta, where shellfish farming provides important socio-economic revenue. However, in our globalized world, the seafood market is threated by fraudulent activities, in which agri-food products whose provenance is not certified are sold, posing a risk to consumer health. Multi-isotope ratio analysis is commonly used to trace the provenance of goods produced in different countries with different climatic and environmental conditions.

Peat Soil Burning in the Mezzano Lowland (Po Plain, Italy): Triggering Mechanisms and Environmental Consequences.

The effects of peat burning on organic-rich agricultural soils of the Mezzano Lowland (NE Italy) were evaluated on soil profiles variously affected by smoldering. Profiles were investigated for pH, electrical conductivity, bulk density, elemental and isotopic composition of distinct carbon (and nitrogen) fractions. The results suggest that the horizons affected by carbon loss lie at depths 10-70 cm, where the highest temperatures are developed.

Traceability and Authentication of Manila Clams from North-Western Adriatic Lagoons Using C and N Stable Isotope Analysis.

In the Adriatic lagoons of northern Italy, manila clam () farming provides important socio-economic returns and local clams should be registered with the Protected Designations of Origin scheme. Therefore, there is a need for the development of rapid, cost-effective tests to guarantee the origin of the product and to prevent potential fraud. In this work, an elemental analysis (EA) coupled with isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) was employed to identify the isotopic fingerprints of clams directly collected onsite in three Adriatic lagoons and bought at a local supermarket, where they exhibited certification.

Heavy oxygen recycled into the lithospheric mantle.

Magmas in volcanic arcs have geochemical and isotopic signatures that can be related to mantle metasomatism due to fluids and melts released by the down-going oceanic crust and overlying sediments, which modify the chemistry and mineralogy of the mantle wedge. However, the effectiveness of subduction-related metasomatic processes is difficult to evaluate because the composition of arc magmas is often overprinted by interactions with crustal lithologies occurring during magma ascent and emplacement. Here, we show unequivocal evidence for recycling of continental crust components into the mantle.

Natural vs anthropogenic components in sediments from the Po River delta coastal lagoons (NE Italy).

The Sacca di Goro and Sacca di Scardovari are two coastal lagoons of the Po River delta facing the northern Adriatic Sea. They are sensitive ecosystems both from the naturalistic and socio-economic point of view, since they are included in a natural park and are high productivity shellfish sites. Bottom sediments from the two lagoons have been analysed for their textural and geochemical (major and trace elements by XRF) composition in order to identify natural backgrounds and anthropogenic inputs.

Natural and anthropogenic variations in the Po river waters (northern Italy): insights from a multi-isotope approach.

Po is the main Italian river and the δ(18)O and δ(2)H of its water reveal a similarity between the current meteoric fingerprint and that of the past represented by groundwater. As concerns the hydrochemisty, the Ca-HCO3 facies remained constant over the last 50 year, and only nitrate significantly increased from less than 1 mg/L to more than 10 mg/L in the 1980s, and then attenuated to a value of 9 mg/L. Coherently, δ(13)CDIC and δ(34)SSO4 are compatible with the weathering of the lithologies outcropping in the basin, while extremely variable δ(15)NNO3 indicates contribution from pollutants released by urban, agricultural and zootechnical activities.

Thermally based isotopic speciation of carbon in complex matrices: a tool for environmental investigation.

Elemental and isotopic analyses of carbon in environmental matrices usually highlight multiple pools of different composition and (13)C/(12)C (δ(13)C‰) isotopic ratio. Interpretation necessarily needs the characterization of the diverse end-members that usually are constituted by inorganic and organic components. In this view, we developed a routine protocol based on coupling of elemental and isotopic analyses that is able to discriminate the inorganic (IC) and organic (OC) contributions to the total carbon (TC) content.

The Po river water from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea (Italy): new insights from geochemical and isotopic (δ(18)O-δD) data.

Although the Po river is the most important fluvial system of Northern Italy, the systematic geochemical and isotopic investigations of its water are rare and were never reported for the whole basin. The present contribution aims to fill this knowledge gap, reporting a comprehensive data set including oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes as well as major and trace element concentration of dissolved species for 54 Po river water samples, mainly collected in different hydrological conditions (peak discharge in April, drought in August) at increasing distance from the source, i.e.

Geochemical characterization and biomonitoring of reclaimed soils in the Po River Delta (Northern Italy): implications for the agricultural activities.

This geochemical study is focused on the easternmost part of the Po River alluvial plain in Northern Italy, which is interested by widespread agricultural activities, investigating a reclaimed sector of the Province of Ferrara, known as "Valle del Mezzano" (Mezzano Low Land, hereafter reported as MLL) characterized by peat-rich soils. The chemical-mineralogical characterization of these reclaimed soils is important to compare the local geochemical backgrounds with those recorded in other sectors of the River Po plain and to monitor if the observed concentration exceeds critical thresholds. The reported analyses include (a) measurement of the soil salinity, (b) nutrient evaluation, (c) major and trace element concentrations carried out on bulk soils, (d) tests of metal extraction with both aqua regia and EDTA to highlight the distinct elemental mobility and (e) phyto-toxicological measurement of heavy metal concentrations in plants (Lactuca sativa acephala) grown on the studied soils.

Morphological changes during enhanced carbonation of asbestos containing material and its comparison to magnesium silicate minerals.

The disintegration of asbestos containing materials (ACM) over time can result in the mobilization of toxic chrysotile ((Mg, Fe)3Si2O5(OH)4)) fibers. Therefore, carbonation of these materials can be used to alter the fibrous morphology of asbestos and help mitigate anthropogenic CO2 emissions, depending on the amount of available alkaline metal in the materials. A series of high pressure carbonation experiments were performed in a batch reactor at PCO2 of 139atm using solvents containing different ligands (i.