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Volume 16
Issue 5
10.3390/min16050505
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Article

Mineralogical Facies and Metal Enrichment in the Shallow-Water Hydrothermal System of Panarea Island (Aeolian Volcanic Arc, Mediterranean Sea)

by
Marcella Di Bella
1,*,
Davide Romano
2,
Valentina Volpi
1,
Francesco Italiano
1,
Giuseppe De Rosa
1,
Alessandro Tripodo
3,
Valentina Esposito
1,
Teresa Romeo
4,5,6 and
Giuseppe Sabatino
1,3
1
Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale–OGS, Borgo Grotta Gigante 42/C, Sgonico, 34010 Trieste, Italy
2
Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale–ISPRA, Via V. Brancati 48, 00144 Rome, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra–MIFT, Università degli studi di Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d’Alcontres, 31, 98158 Messina, Italy
4
Dipartimento di Biologia ed Evoluzione degli Organismi Marini, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Sede Sicilia, Villa Pace, Contrada Porticatello 29, 98167 Messina, Italy
5
Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale–ISPRA, Via dei Mille 46, 98057 Milazzo (ME), Italy
6
National Biodiversity Future Center, NBFC, Piazza Marina 61, 90133 Palermo, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Minerals 2026, 16(5), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/min16050505 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 12 March 2026 / Revised: 30 April 2026 / Accepted: 9 May 2026 / Published: 11 May 2026
(This article belongs to the Section Mineral Deposits)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Shallow-water hydrothermal systems in active volcanic arcs serve as natural analogs for geothermal reservoir characterization and potential sources of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs). This study examines the Panarea hydrothermal system (Aeolian Islands, Tyrrhenian Sea, 37–207 m depth) to characterize its mineralogical facies and assess CRM enrichment patterns. Sixteen sediment samples collected during 2013–2015 research cruises were analyzed using SEM-EDS, XRPD with Rietveld refinement, and XRF. Four hydrothermal alteration facies were identified: (i) a low-temperature iron oxide facies dominated by nanocrystalline goethite with enrichments in As, V, and Mo; (ii) an argillic to propylitic facies containing smectite-group clays and high-temperature silica polymorphs, consistent with alteration at 200–350 °C; (iii) a phyllic to propylitic facies showing exceptional Ba enrichment (up to 46,976 ppm) and base-metal sulfide accumulations; and (iv) an advanced argillic facies including the first documented aluminophosphate–sulfate mineral at Panarea, a svanbergite–woodhouseite solid solution. Vanadium concentrations at Panarea exceed values reported across the Tyrrhenian–Aeolian domain, ranking this site among the highest-V shallow hydrothermal fields in the Mediterranean. These findings support a genetic model involving fault-controlled seawater circulation, magmatic CO2 input, and episodic redox fluctuations, providing baseline data for CRM cycling and geothermal evaluation in Mediterranean submarine volcanic systems.
Keywords: iron oxyhydroxides; chimney-like structures; svanbergite–woodhouseite; hydrothermal vents; XRPD; SEM-EDS; XRF; Panarea island; Italy iron oxyhydroxides; chimney-like structures; svanbergite–woodhouseite; hydrothermal vents; XRPD; SEM-EDS; XRF; Panarea island; Italy

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MDPI and ACS Style

Di Bella, M.; Romano, D.; Volpi, V.; Italiano, F.; De Rosa, G.; Tripodo, A.; Esposito, V.; Romeo, T.; Sabatino, G. Mineralogical Facies and Metal Enrichment in the Shallow-Water Hydrothermal System of Panarea Island (Aeolian Volcanic Arc, Mediterranean Sea). Minerals 2026, 16, 505. https://doi.org/10.3390/min16050505

AMA Style

Di Bella M, Romano D, Volpi V, Italiano F, De Rosa G, Tripodo A, Esposito V, Romeo T, Sabatino G. Mineralogical Facies and Metal Enrichment in the Shallow-Water Hydrothermal System of Panarea Island (Aeolian Volcanic Arc, Mediterranean Sea). Minerals. 2026; 16(5):505. https://doi.org/10.3390/min16050505

Chicago/Turabian Style

Di Bella, Marcella, Davide Romano, Valentina Volpi, Francesco Italiano, Giuseppe De Rosa, Alessandro Tripodo, Valentina Esposito, Teresa Romeo, and Giuseppe Sabatino. 2026. "Mineralogical Facies and Metal Enrichment in the Shallow-Water Hydrothermal System of Panarea Island (Aeolian Volcanic Arc, Mediterranean Sea)" Minerals 16, no. 5: 505. https://doi.org/10.3390/min16050505

APA Style

Di Bella, M., Romano, D., Volpi, V., Italiano, F., De Rosa, G., Tripodo, A., Esposito, V., Romeo, T., & Sabatino, G. (2026). Mineralogical Facies and Metal Enrichment in the Shallow-Water Hydrothermal System of Panarea Island (Aeolian Volcanic Arc, Mediterranean Sea). Minerals, 16(5), 505. https://doi.org/10.3390/min16050505

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