Giovanni Leone (Agrigento, February 10, 1967) - Italian geophysicist and volcanologist. His main activity is the study of planetary geology and volcanology of the solar system. In 2014, he put forward a theory that states that the Mariner valleys were formed on Mars using lava, not water, thereby attracting the attention of newspaper publications from around the world. In the same year, he published the results of his three-dimensional computer simulations, thereby once again demonstrating that the dichotomy of Mars was formed as a result of a gigantic collision with the south pole, although it was previously claimed to be a collision with the north pole; 2D models have already been developed by other authors since 2006. However, it was he who in 2016 confirmed this hypothesis by discovering 12 aligned volcanic peaks in the southern hemisphere of Mars exactly as described in the 3D model. His observations of the great Martian canyons and lava channels that begin with volcanoes, together with the presence of olivine, which has not changed from the Noah period, have changed the understanding of the planet Mars as a warm and humid planet with a similar environment to planet Earth.
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Childhood and Youth
His father, Giuseppe, was a policeman, and his mother, Rosalia Gandolfo, was a housewife. After 6 years spent in Agrigento, where his father worked in a local prefecture, his family moved to their hometown of Palermo in Sicily. As a child, he early showed great interest in science. In his school years, Leone was fascinated by the stars and began to draw in notebooks, which he saw the constellations in the sky. At the age of 15, his father presented him with a 114-mm diameter Newton portable telescope, from which he began to observe the sky from his home, as well as from the Madonie Mountains with his classmate and astrophotographer Carmelo Zannelli. Together they saw the appearance of Comet Halley in 1986 and took some pictures from their little Newton telescopes from a parking lot located in Piano Battaglia in the mountains of Madonie.
Career
Since 1986, after receiving a high school diploma, he began to sharpen his interest on the planets of the solar system with special attention to the rocky planets of the internal solar system. At that moment, he realized that only the study of geological sciences can help him better understand the internal structure of the planets. Therefore, he decided to enroll in a course of geological sciences at the University of Palermo with a degree in Geophysics. Having received a diploma in geophysics, he decided to tackle the spread of astronomy on television. From 1993 to 1995, he was a co-author and presenter on local television in Palermo on channel 21, where he conducted two programs called “What about astronomy” and “Nova”, answering live questions from viewers. In those years, he had his first doubts about the existence of water on Mars. In 1996, Giovanni entered graduate school at the University of Lancaster in the United Kingdom under the supervision of Professor Lionel Wilson. In 1997, due to lack of funding, he transferred to distance learning at the University of Lancaster and returned to Palermo to be with his family and continue his studies from there. In 2001, he received a post-doctorate paid by the University of Lecce in Italy to work on preliminary studies of the Spirit mission on Mars in collaboration with the Ames esResearch Center of NASA. A year later, again due to family reasons, he returned to Palermo to be with his family and at the same time to complete graduate school in Lancaster. In 2007, he finally received his doctorate in Lancaster, and a year later received an invitation from NASA to JPL in Pasadena, for the Io volcanism seminar, which was the main subject of his doctoral dissertation research related to the Galileo mission on Jupiter. After three years of unsuccessfully searching the world for a paid research position, he decided to take another postgraduate course at the Federal Polytechnic University of Zurich in order to improve his knowledge of planets from the surface to the core, as well as have a good financial income to support his family. Thanks to the experience gained in research work in Lecce, as well as the experience in writing a doctoral dissertation, I turned these years into the most fruitful from a scientific point of view. During these years, he used the software of the leader and professor Paul James and an employee, professor Taras Geruyu, to model in 3D a giant collision of the south pole of Mars. This experience, begun as a simple test of thermomechanical software, has turned into an incredible series of discoveries that have changed the understanding of Mars nowadays. The results showed that Mars was a volcanic medium, very different from the one we imagined so far, that is, hot and humid. Mars was a volcanic medium, but cold and dry. In 2013, he gave the name to the following volcanic centers on Mars, whose names were then approved by the working group of the nomenclature of the solar system: Aonia Mons, Aonia Tolus, Electric Mons, Eridanya Mons, Siren Mons, Siren Tolus. In 2016, Leone confirmed his hypothesis of a giant collision of the South Pole by revealing 12 aligned volcanic peaks on the surface of Mars. After receiving his doctorate and two years without work, he received an unexpected offer from Chile from Professor Mauro Barbieri who created the Faculty of Astronomy and Planetary Science at Atacamm University.
Our time
Giovanni Leone works at the Department of Planetary Geology and Volcanology of the Solar System at Atacama University on several interdisciplinary research projects between astronomical and planetary sciences. He is also the editor of Volcanology and Geothermal Research and the editor of Springer’s book project, Mars: The Volcanic World.