In situ U–Th–Pb dating of allanite and monazite provides a robust record of polymetamorphism in greenschist facies metapelites in the Austroalpine Unit. Variations in bulk rock Ca, Al and Na contents produced a wide range of REE-mineral-phase relationships and microstructures, making them excellent geochronometers in complex tectonic settings. Our new pressure, temperature, time and deformation data reveal Permian metamorphism and a major crustal-scale Cretaceous detachment.

The growing interest in lithium (Li) diffusion for the determination of timescales of magmatic events increases the necessity to better understand Li diffusion in common mineral phases. In this context we analyzed Li diffusion in plagioclase, one of the most common mineral phases. Our study is the first to confirm two diffusion mechanisms for Li in plagioclase, and our results indicate timescales derived from Li diffusion data in previous studies were underestimated by a factor of up to 100.

Nannoniite, Al₂(OH)₅F, is a new mineral species discovered in the Cetine di Cotorniano mine (Tuscany, Italy). Its description was possible through a multi-technique approach, and its crystal structure was solved through three-dimensional electron diffraction, revealing close relations with gibbsite. The partial replacement of (OH) by F induces subtle by detectable structural changes. This study reveals that Al hydroxides could be a source of F in geological environments.

We examined the influence of Al₂O₃ and H₂O on the position of the coesite–stishovite transition by means of in situ X‑ray diffraction measurements with the large-volume press at the synchrotron PETRA III in Hamburg. The position of the transition was found to be shifted almost in parallel by about 1.5 GPa to lower pressures compared to results for the pure SiO₂ system by Ono et al. (2017). Stishovite of this study containing Al and H is only partially quenchable but transforms back to coesite.