Monte dei Tre Abati, Coli, Piacenza Province, Emilia-Romagna, Italyi

Regional Level Types
Monte dei Tre Abati	Mountain
Coli	Commune
Piacenza Province	Province
Emilia-Romagna	Region
Italy	Country

Minerals are found at various sites of the ophiolitic complex of Monte dei Tre Abati, mainly in grey-green serpentinite. Chlorite, antigorite, chrysotile, lizardite, and magnetite are the most abundant replacement minerals in serpentinite.

Lizardite occurs together with calcite as a massive filling of veins, several meters long and a few centimeters thick. Two different lizardite polytypes have been identified (Mellini & Zanazzi, 1987). Lizardite-1T crystallises as trigonal truncated pyramids and lizardite-2H1 as hexagonal truncated pyramids or hexagonal plates. The two polytypes can also be found within the same vein, but never admixed. This is the first reported locality for distinct crystals of lizardite-2H1.

To reach the geikielite site, you have to cross Coli and the village of Fontana, continue for three kilometres, at the fork turn to the left towards Val Perino and reach the small bridge over the creek which descends from Monte dei Tre Abati.

Other lizardite sites are known:
- along the road connecting Coli to Sant’Agostino, near a memorial plaque of the Military Engineers;
- along the road to Val Perino, a few hundreds of metres before the geikielite site;
- near the fork of the roads to Sant’Agostino on the right and to the geikielite site and Val Perino on the left.

Note: Monte dei Tre Abati (Three Abbots Mt.) evokes the walking trails of the monks of Bobbio Abbey (or Saint Columbanus Abbey) and the medieval “Abbots Way” or “Via Francigena di montagna”, a route that connected the famous Bobbio Abbey with Pontremoli, in Tuscany, and Rome.

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References