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Marisa Giuffrida

Fixed-term Assistant Professor (RTDA) of [GEOS-01/C]
Membership Section: Earth Sciences section
Contacts

Office: Corso Italia 57, Palazzo Ramondetta, 2° Piano
Email: marisa.giuffrida@unict.it
Phone: 095-4863600

Keywords

magma dynamics, chemical diffusion, volcano plumbing system, active volcanism.

VERSIONE ITALIANASTUDIUMAREA RISERVATA

Marisa Giuffrida is a Researcher GEOS/01-C affiliated with the University of Catania and an active member of AIV. She completed her PhD at the Catania University, where she focused on the effects of gas flushing on basaltic melts and their role on eruption styles using a combination of geochemistry and experimental petrology techniques. Her career has been devoted to the study of different aspects of magmatism: petrography, petrology and geochemistry of various types of igneous rocks, with special attention to the genesis and evolution of basalts erupted in different geodynamic context. Her research activity mostly focuses on issues regarding the reconstruction of complex plumbing system dynamics at active volcanoes worldwide and the modeling of magma differentiation processes. Her work has reinvigorated the study of volcano plumbing systems and eruption dynamics through the application of various diffusion chronometry techniques on minerals and rocks, specifically designed to quantify the timing of magma storage and remobilization prior to eruption. She has been also involved in various multi-disciplinary scientific collaborations aimed at studying the intratelluric dynamics of fluids (magma and/or gases) and at developing thermal models for geothermal energy exploration and exploitation. Additionally, she has explored the contribution of geothermal fluids in active volcanic areas in terms of Critical Raw Materials supply, and related likelihood of extraction, in the framework of the project PON ˗ Research and Innovation 2014-2020. During her career, Dr. Giuffrida has participated to several national and international congresses, either as Speaker or Convener of thematic sessions, has taken part actively to research projects, and has published many peer-reviewed papers in prestigious national and international journals, as well as dozens of contributions in proceedings. She currently covers editorial roles in international journals and teaches two courses at the graduate levels, supervising students with constant dedication and sense of excellency.

Bibliometric Indexes

h-index =14; Citations =448; Articles in international journals=22; Articles as first author: 8; Congress proceedings =54 .

Researcher unique identifier: ORCID 0000-0003-4533-7515.

Education

2017: PhD in Geological Biological and Environmental Sciences, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Catania.

​2011:  Master Degree in Geological Sciences Applied to Land and Resource Management (110 cum laude), Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali (DSBGA), Università di Catania, Italy.

Current Position

2022 - present:     Researcher TD-A, GEOS-01/C, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, UniCT, Italy.

Previous Positions

2019 – 2021:        Post-doc position GEOS-01/C, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e   Ambientali, UniCT, Italy.

Fellowships and awards

2018     PhD Thesis Award granted by the Gioenia Academy of Catania for the topic “Nature and Life Sciences: recent research developments in the field of Earth Sciences”. Catania, October 26, 2018.

2019 :    Winner of the contest AIVWeb 2019 granted by the Associazione Italiana di Vulcanologia (AIV) for the best research in the session “Magmas and Feeding Systems” at the 3° Rittmann Conference for Young Researchers, Roma,   Italy, January 31, 2019.

Teaching activities

2023 – present:  Lecturer in “Volcanic Hazard and Monitoring”, Master in Geological and  Geophysical Sciences, DSBGA, UniCT, Italy.

2022 - present:  Lecturer in “Geothermal Resources and Applications”, Master in Geological and Geophysical Sciences, DSBGA, UniCT, Italy.

2024: II Level University Master Course "Risanamento Ambientale di aree inquinate per la Transizione Ecologica- RATE”, Teaching 3: “Fonti di energia ed impiego delle energie rinnovabili”, DICAR, UniCT, Italy, 19 April 2024.

2024-present: Training course for PhD students "Diffusion Chronometry: Principles and Applications", DSBGA, UniCT, Italy.

2019 - present: Teaching support activities for the subject “Regional Volcanology and Survey”, Master in Geophysical Sciences, UniCT, Italy.

2019 - present:  Teaching support activities for the subject “Geochemistry‟, Master in Geological Sciences, UniCT, Italy.

2018 - 2019      Qualified Tutor for the subject “General and Inorganic Chemistry and Elements of Organic Chemistry”, Master in Geological Sciences, UniCT, Italy.

Supervision of graduate students, PhD PostDoc students

2014 - present:       Advisor of 13 Master and 5 Bachelor Theses at the DSBGA, UniCT.

Organization of scientific meetings

2024     Convener at the 6° A. Rittmann Conference, Catania, Italy, 18-20 September.

2024     Logistic Committee of the 6° Rittmann Conference, Catania, Italy.

2023     Convener at the SGI-SIMP-SOGEI-AIV Congress, Potenza, Italy, 19-21 September.

2022     Convener at the 5° Rittmann Conference 2022, Catania, Italy, 29 September-1October.

2022     Logistic Committee of the 5° Rittmann Conference, Catania, Italy.

2021     Convener at the 4° AIV-INGV Rittmann Conference for Young Researchers, online, 6-9 Aprile.

2020     Convener, 4° Rittmann Conference, Catania, Italy, 12-14 February.

2020    Logistic Committee of the 4° Rittmann Conference, Catania, Italy.

Institutional responsibilities

2024:    Elected member of the Department Board, DSBGA UniCT, as Researchers’ Delegate.

Reviewing and editorial activities

March 2025-present:   Associate Editor of the magazine "Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana".

2022-present:             Review Editor- Section Volcanology for Frontiers in Earth Science.

2022-present:             Guest Associate Editor - Special Article Collection “Reviews in Volcanology 2023” of Frontiers in Earth Science.

2020:                          Expert Panel for the National Science Foundation (NSF), CH Division of Earth Sciences - Petrology and Geochemistry Program.  

2018-2023:                 Reviewer for the international magazines: Scientific Reports - Springer Nature; Minerals – MDPI.

 

  1. Viccaro M., Giuffrida M., Nicotra E., Ozerov A.Yu. (2012). Magma storage, ascent and recharge history prior to the 1991 eruption at Avachinsky Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia: inferences on the plumbing system geometry. Lithos, 140-141, 11-24, doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2012.01.019.
  2. Viccaro M., Calcagno R., Garozzo I., Giuffrida M., Nicotra E. (2015). Continuous magma recharge at Mt. Etna during the 2011 – 2013 period controls the style of volcanic activity and compositions of erupted lavas. Mineralogy and Petrology, 109, 67-83, doi:10.1007/s00710-014-0352-4.
  3. Viccaro M., Giuffrida M., Nicotra E., Cristofolini R. (2016). Timescales of magma storage and migration recorded by olivine crystals in basalts of the March-April 2010 eruption at Eyjafjallajökull volcano, Iceland. American Mineralogist, 101, 222-230, doi:10.2138/am-2015-5365.
  4. Viccaro M., Barca D., Bohrson W.A., D’Oriano C., Giuffrida M., Nicotra E., Pitcher B.W. (2016). Crystal residence times from trace element zoning in plagioclase reveal changes in magma transfer dynamics at Mt. Etna during the last 400 years. Lithos, 248-251, 309-323, doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2016.02.004.
  5. Giuffrida M., Viccaro M. (2017). Three years (2011-2013) of eruptive activity at Mt. Etna: working modes and timescales of the modern volcano plumbing system from micro-analytical studies of crystals. Earth-Science Reviews 171, 289-322, doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.06.003.
  6. Giuffrida M., Holtz F., Vetere F., Viccaro M. (2017). Effects of CO2 flushing on crystal textures and compositions: experimental evidence from recent K-trachybasalts erupted at Mt. Etna. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 172, 90, doi:10.1007/s00410-017-1408-3.
  7. Giuffrida M., Viccaro M., Ottolini L. (2018). Ultrafast syn-eruptive degassing and ascent trigger high-energy basic eruptions. Scientific Reports 8, 147, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-18580-8.
  8. Cannata A., Di Grazia G., Giuffrida M., Gresta S., Palano M., Sciotto M., Viccaro M., Zuccarello F. (2018). Space-time evolution of magma storage and transfer at Mt. Etna volcano (Italy): the 2015-2016 reawakening of Voragine crater. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 19 (2), 471-495, doi:10.1002/2017GC007296.
  9. Nicotra E., Giuffrida M., Viccaro M., Donato P., D’Oriano C., Paonita A., De Rosa R. (2018). Timescales of pre-eruptive magmatic processes at Vulcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy) during the last 1000 years. Lithos, 316-317, p. 347-365, doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2018.07.028.
  10. Viccaro M., Giuffrida M., Zuccarello F., Scandura M., Palano M., Gresta S. (2019). Violent paroxysmal activity drives self-feeding magma replenishment at Mt. Etna. Scientific Reports 9, 6717, doi:10.1038/s41598-019-43211-9.
  11. Giuffrida M., Nicotra E., Viccaro M. (2020). Changing modes and rates of mafic magma supply at Pantelleria (Sicily Channel, Southern Italy): new perspectives on the volcano factory drawn upon olivine records. Journal of Petrology 61, p. 1-22, doi:10.1093/petrology/egaa051.
  12. Borzì A.M., Giuffrida M., Zuccarello F., Palano M., Viccaro M. (2020). The Christmas 2018 eruption at Mt. Etna: enlightening how the volcano factory works through a multi-parametric inspection. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 21, e2020GC009226, doi:10.1029/2020GC009226.
  13. Viccaro M., Cannata A., Cannavò F., De Rosa R., Giuffrida M., Nicotra E., Petrelli M., Sacco G. (2021) Shallow conduit dynamics fuel the unexpected paroxysms of Stromboli volcano during the summer 2019. Scientific Reports 11, 266, doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-79558-7.
  14. Giuffrida M., Scandura M., Costa G., Zuccarello F., Sciotto M., Cannata A., Viccaro M. (2021). Tracking the summit activity of Mt. Etna volcano between July 2019 and January 2020 by integrating petrological and geophysical data. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 418, 107350, doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2021.107350.
  15. Visalli R., Giuffrida M., Viccaro M. (2023). Image-assisted analysis for unravelling textural and chemical features of volcanic rocks: A case study from the 2019 paroxysmal eruptions of Stromboli. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems. 24, e2022GC010774. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010774.
  16. Giuffrida M., Cardone M., Zuccarello F., Viccaro M. (2023). Etna 2011–2022: Discoveries from a decade of activity at the volcano.Earth Science Reviews, 245, 104563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104563
  17. Branca S., Cinquegrani A., Cioni R., Conte A.M., Conticelli S., De Astis G., de Vita S., De Rosa R., Di Vito M.A., Donato P., Forni F., Francalanci L., Gaeta M., Giaccio B., Giordano G., Giuffrida M., Isaia R., Lucchi F., Marra F., Massaro S. Nicotra E., Palladino D., Perinelli C., Petrosino P., Pistolesi M., Sepulveda-Birke J.P., Sottili G., Romagnoli C., Rotolo S., Sulpizio R., Tranne C.A., Viccaro M. (2023). The Italian Quaternary Volcanism. Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary 36(2), 221–284.   https://doi.org/10.26382/AMQ.2023.09
  18. Cardone, M., Cannata, A., Giuffrida M., Iozzia A., Minio V., Viccaro M., Gambino, S. (2024). Changing magma recharge/discharge dynamics during the 2020–22 lava fountaining activity at Mt. Etna revealed by tilt deformation and volcanic tremor. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 449, 108074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2024.108074
  19. Giuffrida M., Nicotra E., Viccaro M. (2024). How an embryonic magma feeding system evolves: Insights from the primordial pulses of Mt. Etna volcano. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 451, 108113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2024.108113
  20. Floridia G., Giuffrida M., Viccaro M. (2024). Sicilia, terra promessa della Geotermia. Geologicamente, vol. 14, luglio 2024.  ISSN: 2705-0149.
  21. Giuffrida M., Salerno G., Viccaro M. (2025). Multiple magma recharges over prolonged period ultimately trigger eruptions at Vulcano, Aeolian Islands. Scientific Reports 15, 1260. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85496-z.
  22. Visalli R., Giuffrida M., Cardone M., Costa G., Ortolano G., Viccaro M. (2025). Image-assisted textural analysis of plagioclase crystals in volcanic rocks: an application to lavas erupted on 2021 at Pacaya volcano, Guatemala. Frontiers in Earth Science, 1527797. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2025.1527797
  23. Giuffrida M., Floridia M., Cacace, M., Viccaro M. (2025). Thermal model of the Pantelleria island (Sicily Channel, Southern Italy): new insights for promoting the sustainable exploitation of geothermal resources on the island. Geothermal Energy, 13(1), 14.
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