Forschung Silvia Volante

Research Interests of Dr. Silvia Volante

I am a structural geologist and a metamorphic petrologist with a strong field background. During my BSc and MSc studies at the University of Milan (Italy), I investigated the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Argentera–Mercantour Massif, one of the external massifs of the Western Alps, which encompasses relicts of a Variscan suture zone.

My PhD project was also field-based, and it focused on unraveling the tectonic evolution of NE Australia during the Palaeo–Mesoproterozoic to better understand its role during the evolution of the Precambrian supercontinent Nuna (Columbia). Starting from multi-scales field observations, I combine structural and microstructural analysis with igneous and metamorphic petrology, petrochronology of accessory minerals such as monazite, zircon and garnet and bulk and mineral geochemistry to reconstruct the tectonic evolution of Precambrian and Phanerozoic terranes.

Currently I am a postdoc at the Ruhr-University Bochum in the Tectonic and Resources Research Group in Bochum (Germany) and my research focuses on understanding Early Earth processes in Archean terranes by applying a multi-disciplinary approach which combines metamorphic and igneous petrology with geochemistry and geochronology.