Indirect observation of planets through experiment has always been the key for understanding processes occurring on our planet and other planetary bodies. The investigation of macroscopic-scale processes requires the understanding of atomic-scale mechanisms and the knowledge of the thermodynamic properties of minerals and materials. This is the key to understand mechanisms, processes and parameters that regulates dynamic processes from planetary surface to their interior.

Through experimental mineralogy and mineral physics our group investigates shallow and deep geodynamic processes and planetary scale phenomena from the subduction of Earth’s crust to the impact of meteorites at the Earth’s surface.

The Experimental Mineralogy Lab has been established in the 80’s for the advancement of high-pressure-temperature research. The available equipment has been funded by the Italian Ministry for University and Research (MIUR), the European Research Council (ERC). It also receives financial support through collaborative research studies from a variety of private and public entities.

The laboratory is located in Pavia (30km south of Milan, Italy) at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the scientific campus of the University of Pavia.