IN MEMORY OF LAURO MORTEN

Abstract

There are people you can not forget. Lauro Morten was one of them. At a first glance he looked like a rough man, forged in the tradition of mountain people. Indeed, he loved mountains and he spent most of his energy to understand their evolution. He was always enthusiastic in planning new field excursions in every part of the world. We remember his company during long trips on minibus and the lively discussions in the field. We appreciated his honesty and directness in scientific discussion. His scientific career lasted over 40 years and contributed to the improvement of the Italian petrologic community. His first work, dated 1971, dealt with the ultramafic xenoliths collected in the Tertiary volcanics from the Lessini Mts. area. The study of mantle rocks, both as xenoliths enclosed in basaltic volcanics and exposed as orogenic ophiolitic peridotite massifs, was his main research interest that he carried out until his last days. In 1986 he accepted a full professor position at the University of Calabria in Cosenza, where he organized and chaired the Fourth International Eclogite Conference (1993). In those years he addressed other research topics, including the granulite rocks of the Catena Costiera and the ophiolitic units occurring in northern Calabria. In Calabria he was appointed as Head of the Department of Earth Sciences and he was also in charge of the courses for the diploma degree in Geological Sciences. He was deeply involved in the establishment and cultural growth of a local petrological school, which benefited from his brilliant and generous teaching. In his last years Lauro Morten served as full professor of Petrology and Petrography at the University of Bologna. He went back to the basement of his beloved Nonsberg range. His most recent research was devoted to mantle metasomatism and crustmantle interactions. In particular, he always encouraged his post-graduated students to be scientifically critical, honest and thoughtful. Even after he was diagnosed his illness, he continued to work in cooperation with scientists from all over the world. His family, colleagues, students and friends miss his cleverness and company. Thanks a lot, Lauro, for communicating your love of the beauty of rocks and the Nonsberg range, where you now rest in peace.