Terrestrial Sedimentology

Dr. Andrea Aquino

PostDoc - Mineralogist and petrologist

Address: Office:

Geo- and Environmental Research Centre (GUZ)

University of Tübingen

Schnarrenbergstr. 94-96
72076 Tübingen

Germany

Room 2M40, GUZ

+49-(0)7071-29-74790

andrea.aquino@uni-tuebingen.de

Meeting hours: By appointment

Geologist and wanderer, passionate mountain climber and (occasionally) freelance glacier guide in Iceland. I started my studies in geology with a focus on applied and engineering geology, shifting to ore deposits and environmental mineralogy. For my Ph.D. studies I have appplied my skills to studying the influence of mineralogy and microstructures, specifically focusing on the decay of various natural stones used in Architecture, as well as the artificial stones (mortars) used in Cultural Heritage since Ancient Times.

I am currently a PostDoc in the Terrestrial Sedimentology Group as applied mineralogist and petrologist with main focuses on  Loess mineralogy, geochemistry and weathering.

  • Ph.D. in Earth Sciences at the University of Pisa (IT), 2018 – 2021. Thesis Title: “Decay of natural and artificial stones used in historical buildings: influence of mineralogy and microstructure and new restoration methods.”
  • Junior Researcher at the University of Siena (IT) - Department of History and Cultural Heritage, 2018. Archaeometry - Study and analyses of slags coming from Vetricella Area, Siena, Italy.
  • Junior Researcher at the University of Florence (IT)– Department of Earth Sciences, 2017. Study of rock samples of Fe-oxides and hydroxides from Mali.
  • M.Sc. in Geological Sciences and Technologies at the University of Florence (IT), 2016. Thesis Title: “Mineralogy and fluid inclusion investigations of the Pb-Zn Montevecchio deposit, Sardinia, Italy”.
  • B.Sc. in Geological Sciences at the University of Florence (IT), 2014. Thesis Title: “Monitoring activities of Volterra Historical Center: Data Processing and Interpretation”.

Research Interests

  • Applied Mineralogy and Petrography:
    • Loess Mineralogy, Geochemistry and Weathering
    • Decay of Natural and Artificial Stones
    • Stone Conservation & Cultural Heritage
    • Georesources

Publications

Publications in peer-reviewed journals

  1. Bizzarri, I., Barghini, D., Colombetti, P., Gardiol, D., Rubinetti, S., Mancuso, S., Di Martino, M., Pratesi, G., Moggi Cecchi, V., Groschopf, N., Aquino, A., Laubenstein, M., Bhandari, N., Taricco, C.: Cosmogenic radionuclides in the Cavezzo meteorite: Gamma-ray measurement and detection efficiency simulations, (2023) Applied Radiation and Isotopes, Volume 194,110651, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110651
  2. Santoro, L., Lezzerini, M., Aquino, A., Domenighini, G., Pagnotta, S.: A Novel Method for Evaluation of Ore Minerals Based on Optical Microscopy and Image Analysis: Preliminary Results, (2022) Minerals, 12 (11), art. no. 1348, https://doi.org/10.3390/min12111348.
  3. Lezzerini, M., Tomei, A., Gallello, G., Aquino, A., Pagnotta, S.: The Crystallization Effect of Sodium Sulfate on Some Italian Marbles, Calcarenites and Sandstones (2022) Heritage, 5 (3), pp. 1449-1461, https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage5030076.
  4. Ramacciotti, M., Gallello, G., Lezzerini, M., Pagnotta, S., Aquino, A., Alapont, L., Antonio Martín Ruiz, J., Pérez-Malumbres Landa, A., Hiraldo Aguilera, R., Godoy Ruiz, D., Morales-Rubio, A., Luisa Cervera, M., Pastor, A.: Smartphone application for ancient mortars identification developed by a multi-analytical approach, (2022) Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 43, art. no. 103433, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103433.
  5. Lezzerini, M., Luti, L., Aquino, A., Gallello, G., Pagnotta, S.: Effect of Marble Waste Powder as a Binder Replacement on the Mechanical Resistance of Cement Mortars, (2022) Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 12 (9), art. no. 4481, https://doi.org/10.3390/app12094481.
  6. Aquino, A., Pagnotta, S., Lezzerini, M.: Effects of thermal ageing on calcarenite from Livorno coast (Italy), (2022) Atti della Società Toscana di Scienze Naturali Residente in Pisa, Memorie, Serie A, 129, 43-52, https://dx.doi.org/10.2424/ASTSN.M.2022.05
  7. Aquino, A., Pagnotta, S., Lezzerini, M., Pecchioni, E., Cecchi, V.M., Columbu, S.: From minerals to artefacts: the role and challenges of 3D modelling, (2021) Archeologia e Calcolatori, 32 (2), pp. 209-218, https://doi.org/10.19282/ac.32.2.2021.19.
  8. Aquino, A., Lezzerini, M., Giaccherini, A., Montegrossi, G., Di Benedetto, F.: Thermochemical stability of delafossite and other relevant ternary phases in the Cu–Fe–S–O–H system, (2020) Applied Geochemistry, 123, art. no. 104795, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2020.104795.
  9. Moroni, M., Naitza, S., Ruggieri, G., Aquino, A., Costagliola, P., De Giudici, G., Caruso, S., Ferrari, E., Fiorentini, M.L., Lattanzi, P.: The Pb-Zn-Ag vein system at Montevecchio-Ingurtosu, southwestern Sardinia, Italy: A summary of previous knowledge and new mineralogical, fluid inclusion, and isotopic data, (2019) Ore Geology Reviews, 115, art. no. 103194, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2019.103194
  10. La Felice, S., Abebe, T., Aquino, A., Landi, S., Lezzerini, M., Principe, C.: Geological and cultural heritage: Dissemination experiences in Tuscany, (2019) Heritage, 2 (3), pp. 2171-2182, https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage2030131
  11. Moroni, M., Rossetti, A., Naitza, S., Magnani, L., Ruggieri, G., Aquino, A., Tartarotti, P., Franklin, A., Ferrari, E., Castelli, D., Oggiano, G., Secchi, F.: Factors controlling hydrothermal nickel and cobalt mineralization—some suggestions from historical ore deposits in Italy, (2019) Minerals, 9 (7), art. no. 429, https://doi.org/10.3390/min9070429
  12. Aquino, A., Lezzerini, M., Pecchioni, E., Giamello, M., Columbu, S., Cantisani, E., Fratini, F.: Stones for the production of binding materials in Florence area (Tuscany, italy), (2019) Journal of the Geological Society

Conference proceedings (peer-reviewed)

  1. Pagnotta, S., Aquino, A., Lezzerini, M.: Image Segmentation for Reflected-Light Microscopy: Some Theoretical Approaches, (2021) IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 906 (1), art. no. 012121, https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/906/1/012121.
  2. Lezzerini, M., Civita, J., Aquino, A., Pagnotta, S.: Marbles from Castagneto Carducci Area (Tuscany, Italy), (2021) IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 906 (1), art. no. 012122, https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/906/1/012122.
  3. Aquino, A., Pagnotta, S., Lezzerini, M.: Artificial Thermal Decay: Influence of Mineralogy and Microstructure of Sandstone, Calcarenite and Marble, (2021) IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 906 (1), art. no. 012123, https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/906/1/012123.
  4. Aquino, A., Pagnotta, S., Polese, S., Tamponi, M., Lezzerini, M.: Panchina calcarenite: A building material from tuscany coast, (2020) IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 609 (1), art. no. 012077, https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/609/1/012077.
  5. Aquino, A., Pagnotta, S., Pecchioni, E., Cecchi, V.M., Columbu, S., Lezzerini, M.: The role of 3D modelling for different stone objects: From mineral to artefact, (2020) 2020 IMEKO TC-4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, pp. 184-188.
  6. Columbu, S., Giamello, M., Pagnotta, S., Aquino, A., Lezzerini, M.: Ca-oxalate films on the stones of the medieval architecture: The case-study of Romanesque Churches, (2020) 2020 IMEKO TC-4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, pp. 196-201. https://www.imeko.org/publications/tc4-Archaeo-2020/IMEKO-TC4-MetroArchaeo2020-038.pdf
  7. Lezzerini, M., Pagnotta, S., Aquino, A., Spampinato, M.: The local black limestones used to make the typical black-and-white alternation of the Pisa’s Romanesque Style, (2020) 2020 IMEKO TC-4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, pp. 179-183. https://www.imeko.org/publications/tc4-Archaeo-2020/IMEKO-TC4-MetroArchaeo2020-035.pdf
  8. Aquino, A., Antola, M., Pacchini, A., Pagnotta, S., Lezzerini, M.: Thermal decay of monzogranite from Elba Island (western Tuscany, Italy): Properties of an ancient building material, (2020) 2020 IMEKO TC-4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, pp. 38-43. https://www.imeko.org/publications/tc4-Archaeo-2020/IMEKO-TC4-MetroArchaeo2020-008.pdf
  9. Aquino, A., Baglini, P., Pagnotta, S., Tamponi, M., Lezzerini, M.: Macigno sandstone from Monti d’Oltre Serchio: Chemical, mineralogical, petrographic and physical characterization of a building material, (2020) 2020 IMEKO TC-4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, pp. 50-54. https://www.imeko.org/publications/tc4-Archaeo-2020/IMEKO-TC4-MetroArchaeo2020-010.pdf
  10. Aquino, A., Di Petta, C., Pagnotta, S., Tamponi, M., Lezzerini, M.: Macigno sandstone from Garfagnana and Vellano (north-western Tuscany): Chemical, mineralogical, petrographic and physical characterization of a building material, (2020) 2020 IMEKO TC-4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, pp. 44-49. https://www.imeko.org/publications/tc4-Archaeo-2020/IMEKO-TC4-MetroArchaeo2020-009.pdf 
  11. Aquino, A., Pecchioni, E., Fratini, F., Cantisani, E., Felice, S.L., Abebe, T., Principe, C., Lezzerini, M.: The production of binding materials in southern Florence area: Stones and their properties (Greve in Chianti, Italy), (2019) 2019 IMEKO TC4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, MetroArchaeo 2019, pp. 90-94. https://www.imeko.org/publications/tc4-Archaeo-2019/IMEKO-TC4-METROARCHAEO-2019-16.pdf
  12. Lezzerini, M., Aquino, A., Legnaioli, S., Pagnotta, S., Palleschi, V.: The source materials for lime production in the Monte Pisano Area (NW Tuscany, Italy), (2020) IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 609 (1), art. no. 012078, https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/609/1/012078.
  13. Tamponi, M., Aquino, A., Pagnotta, S., Lezzerini, M.: A fast and user-friendly software for quantitative chemical analysis through XRF, (2020) IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 609 (1), art. no. 012058, https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/609/1/012058.
  14. Lezzerini, M., Spampinato, M., Montevecchi, N., Borgoni, L., Grönberg, H., Aquino, A.: A petrographic study of the mortars from the Villa Reale di Marlia (NW Tuscany, Italy), (2019) 2019 IMEKO TC4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, MetroArchaeo 2019, pp. 478-482.
  15. Lezzerini, M., Spampinato, M., Sutter, A., Montevecchi, N., Aquino, A.: Petrographic characteristics of the mortars from the Pisa’s Cathedral apse, (2019) 2019 IMEKO TC4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, MetroArchaeo 2019, pp. 459-463.
  16. Aquino, A., Lezzerini, M.: Performance of consolidants in marble and sandstone from Tuscany: A comparison, (2019) 2019 IMEKO TC4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, MetroArchaeo 2019, pp. 294-298, https://www.imeko.org/publications/tc4-Archaeo-2019/IMEKO-TC4-METROARCHAEO-2019-54.pdf