Giacomo Criniti

Department of Earth and Environmental Science,
LMU Munich
Theresienstr. 41, 80333 Munich, Germany

g.criniti-at-lmu.de

Welcome!

I am a mineral physicist interested in understanding the chemical and mineralogical composition of the Earth′s deep interior, and how materials from the Earth′s surface are recycled into the deep mantle. I conduct experiments in the laboratory using the multi-anvil press and the diamond anvil cell, that are capable of generating the extreme conditions of high pressure and temperature of Earth and planetary interiors. I combine these techniques with X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic diagnostics, both in house and at synchrotron facilities, to determine the structure, composition, phase equilibria, and physical properties of mineral phases that are expected to comprise mantle rocks. I am also interested in determining the effect of volatiles, such as H, on the structural and physical properties of nominally anhydrous minerals. In this way, I am able to model the mineralogical composition and seismic properties of candidate mantle rocks as a function of pressure, temperature, and bulk chemical composition, which I use interpret one- and three-dimensional seismic models.