MASSIMO SBRANA – servizi per la geologia by Dr. Massimo Sbrana started in 1989 as geology office. The office has been joined, from the beginning, with a small petrographic laboratory, which is managed with the support of his wife Annalisa Galeotti who has experienced in the preparation of thin sections made during her university studies.
Initially the lab is only for support to the office and, above all, a test for a personal passion. Over the years, however, it takes on an increasing important aspect, thanks to the collaboration with the ”National Antarctic Project” in the early '90s.
The excellent result of this experience provides to Massimo and Annalisa the right encouragement to deal with complex samples to be treated, such as ceramics and mortars. In particular, they specialize in thin sections for the micro-morphological study of soils, developing either new embedding process and equipment for working soils and glass sizes of large dimensions. This type of sections becomes the peculiarity of the laboratory allowing to expand its services in the field of soil science and geoarchaeology.
The demands of the preparations have increased more and more and eventually the laboratory has become the exclusive activity.
The first machines built by Massimo himself have been substituted over the year with more professional equipment, for example the “Logitech LP50”, and the processing cycle has become the one proposed by the Logitech Ltd for this machine.
The type of sections prepared responds carefully to individual requests, in particular Annalisa is specialized in polished sections, for been examined under electron microscopes.

In the lab “servizi per la geologia” the thin sections are performed on any types of material, conventional or not, including testing of materials not yet subjected to such preparation.
In the almost 30 years of work, Massimo and Annalisa had the opportunity to make thin sections of :
- meteorites ( petrographic studies)
- plaster and mortars ( for architectural and restoration work)
- guano ( of desert and polar environment)
- teeth( paleontological studies)
- bones ( archaeological studies )
- wasps' nest ( biological studies)
- gall-stone ( medical studies)
and we hope we will provide new services