Effects of continuous flow centrifugation on measurements of trace elements in river water: intrinsic contamination and particle fragmentation

Continuous flow centrifugation (CFC) is a well‐established technique used in natural surface water studies to collect large amounts of suspended solids, thus allowing a broad spectrum of measurements. However, a potential contamination or changes in the particle size distribution during the centrifugation may restrain the use of CFC effluents for element analysis in the colloidal and dissolved fractions. In this paper we evaluate the possibility of using the effluent of a Westfalia centrifuge (type KA2‐06‐075, 9700 rpm) for such analysis. This evaluation is based on two laboratory experiments with deionized and tap water and two field experiments in rivers. Elemental concentration changes across the CFC were assessed from the CFC influent and effluent after a filtration at 0·45 µm. Significant increases were found, mainly in the field experiments at a high suspended solids level and a slightly acid pH. A hypothesis was made on the origin of these increases as a superposition of a centrifuge intrinsic contamination and a particle fragmentation effect. A numerical model based on elemental concentration measurements (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) gave a particle fragmentation level of 0·55% (mass percentage of particles broken up into smaller fragments during centrifugation). In another experiment, a direct particle counting (single particle counter) shows an excess of particles smaller than 500 nm in the CFC effluent, corresponding to a fragmentation level of 0·11%. In consequence, the use of CFC effluent for element analysis is possible in low‐turbidity river or lake waters, but should be carefully considered in waters with high suspended matter contents. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thrust front segmentation induced by differential slab retreat in the Apennines (Italy)

New seismic reflection data reveal that the south‐eastward prolongation of the Apennine thrust front in the central Adriatic Sea is most likely located in a more external position with respect to the traditional interpretation. In this new interpretation, the Apennine thrust front shows a segmented geometry in correspondence to the Tremiti lithospheric transfer zone. The available data suggest that the north‐eastward flexural retreat of the subducting Adriatic lithosphere and the related frontal accretion of the Apennine accretionary prism have acted during the last 5 Ma and may be considered still lively in both the Po plain and in the Central Adriatic domain, north of the Tremiti lineament. By analysing the tectonic evolution of the Apulo‐Adriatic areas, it may be argued that the differential slab retreat between the central and southern sectors of the subducting Adriatic plate has been able to induce the segmentation of the Apennine thrust front.     

Turbulent Intensities and Velocity Spectra for Bare and Forested Gentle Hills: Flume Experiments

To investigate how velocity variances and spectra are modified by the simultaneous action of topography and canopy, two flume experiments were carried out on a train of gentle cosine hills differing in surface cover. The first experiment was conducted above a bare surface while the second experiment was conducted within and above a densely arrayed rod canopy. The velocity variances and spectra from these two experiments were compared in the middle, inner, and near-surface layers. In the middle layer, and for the canopy surface, longitudinal and vertical velocity variances () were in phase with the hill-induced spatial mean velocity perturbation (Δu) around the so-called background state (taken here as the longitudinal mean at a given height) as predicted by rapid distortion theory (RDT). However, for the bare surface case, and remained out of phase with Δu by about L/2, where L is the hill half-length. In the canopy layer, wake production was a significant source of turbulent energy for , and its action was to re-align velocity variances with Δu in those layers, a mechanism completely absent for the bare surface case. Such a lower ‘boundary condition’ resulted in longitudinal variations of to be nearly in phase with Δu above the canopy surface. In the inner and middle layers, the spectral distortions by the hill remained significant for the background state of the bare surface case but not for the canopy surface case. In particular, in the inner and middle layers of the bare surface case, the effective exponents derived from the locally measured power spectra diverged from their expected  − 5/3 value for inertial subrange scales. These departures spatially correlated with the hill surface. However, for the canopy surface case, the spectral exponents were near  − 5/3 above the canopy though the minor differences from  − 5/3 were also correlated with the hill surface. Inside the canopy, wake production and energy short-circuiting resulted in significant departures from  − 5/3. These departures from  − 5/3 also appeared correlated with the hill surface through the wake production contribution and its alignment with Δu. Moreover, scales commensurate with Von Karman street vorticies well described wake production scales inside the canopy, confirming the important role of the mean flow in producing wakes. The spectra inside the canopy on the lee side of the hill, where a negative mean flow delineated a recirculation zone, suggested that the wake production scales there were ‘broader’ when compared to their counterpart outside the recirculation zone. Inside the recirculation zone, there was significantly more energy at higher frequencies when compared to regions outside the recirculation zone.     

Jitter radiation images, spectra and light curves from a relativistic spherical blastwave

We consider radiation emitted by the jitter mechanism in a Blandford–McKee self-similar blastwave. We assume the magnetic field configuration throughout the whole blastwave meets the condition for the emission of jitter radiation and we compute the ensuing images, light curves and spectra. The calculations are performed for both a uniform and a wind environment. We compare our jitter results to synchrotron results. We show that jitter radiation produces slightly different spectra than synchrotron, in particular between the self-absorption and the peak frequency, where the jitter spectrum is flat, while the synchrotron spectrum grows as  ν^1/3  . The spectral difference is reflected in the early decay slope of the light curves. We conclude that jitter and synchrotron afterglows can be distinguished from each other with good quality observations. However, it is unlikely that the difference can explain the peculiar behaviour of several recent observations, such as flat X-ray slopes and uncorrelated optical and X-ray behaviour.     

Origin of the Multiple Metric Type II Radio Burst Structure Associated with the 2002 July 23 CME

We report on the analysis of a fast (>2,000 km/s) CME-driven shock event observed with the UVCS telescope operating aboard SoHO on 23 July 2002. The same shock was also detected in the metric band by several ground-based radiospectrographs. The peculiarity of this event is the presence in the radio spectra of two intense metric type II bursts features drifting at different rates, together with clear shock/related broadenings of the O VI doublet lines observed by UVCS that were found to be temporally associated with the above radio features. The nature of these multiple radio lanes in the metric band is still under debate. One possible explanation is that they are produced by multiple shock waves generated by different ejections or, alternatively, by the flare and the associated CME. Also, emission from the upstream and downstream shock regions can produce split bands. By adopting a plausible CME model, together with a detailed analysis of the white-light, UV, and radio data associated with this event, we are able to conclude that both the radio and the UV shock signatures were produced by a single shock wave surface generated by the expanding CME.     

Shoshonite and sub-alkaline magmas from an ultrapotassic volcano: Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data on the Roccamonfina volcanic rocks,Roman Magmatic Province,Southern Italy

The Roccamonfina volcano is characterised by two stages of volcanic activity that are separated by volcano-tectonic caldera collapses. Ultrapotassic leucite-bearing rocks are confined to the pre-caldera stage and display geochemical characteristics similar to those of other volcanoes in the Roman Province. After the major sector collapse of the volcano, occurred at ca. 400 ka, shoshonitic rocks erupted from cinder cones and domes both within the caldera and on the external flanks of the pre-caldera Roccamonfina volcano. On the basis of new trace element and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data, we show that the Roccamonfina shoshonitic rocks are distinct from shoshonites of the Northern Roman Province, but are very similar to those of the Neapolitan volcanoes. The last phases of volcanic activity erupted sub-alkaline magmas as enclaves in trachytic domes, and as lavas within the Monte Santa Croce dome. Ultrapotassic rocks of the pre-caldera composite volcano are plagioclase-bearing leucitites characterised by high levels of incompatible trace elements with an orogenic signature having troughs at Ba, Ta, Nb, and Ti, and peaks at Cs, K, Th, U, and Pb. Initial values of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr range from 0.70926 to 0.70999, ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ranges from 0.51213 to 0.51217, while the lead isotope rations vary between 18.788–18.851 for ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, 15.685–15.701 for ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, and 39.048–39.076 for ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb. Shoshonites show a similar pattern of trace element depletions and enrichments to the earlier ultrapotassic leucite-bearing rocks but have a larger degree of differentiation and lower concentrations of incompatible trace elements. On the other hand, shoshonitic rocks have Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes consistently different than pre-caldera ultrapotassic leucite-bearing rocks. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ranges from 0.70665 to 0.70745, ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ranges from 0.51234 to 0.51238, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ranges from 18.924 to 19.153, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ranges from 15.661 to 15.694, and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ranges from 39.084 to 39.212. High-K calc-alkaline samples have intermediate isotopic values between ultrapotassic plagioclase leucitites and shoshonites, but the lowest levels of incompatible trace element contents. It is argued that ultrapotassic magmas were generated in a modified lithospheric mantle after crustal-derived metasomatism. Interaction between the metasomatic agent and lithospheric upper mantle produced a low-melting point metasomatised veined network. The partial melting of the veins alone produced pre-caldera leucite-bearing ultrapotassic magmas. It was possibly triggered by either post-collisional isotherms relaxation or increasing T°C due increasing heat flow through slab tears. Shoshonitic magmas were generated by further melting, at higher temperature, of the same metasomatic assemblage with addition 10–20% of OIB-like astenospheric mantle material. We suggest that addition of astenospheric upper mantle material from foreland mantle, flowing through slab tearing after collision was achieved. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Changes in the rainfall–streamflow regimes related to climate change in a small catchment in Northern Italy

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Climate change has become an important issue for scientific community, for its numerous impacts, especially on agriculture and environment. To shed light on...     

Seismic design of floor–wall joints of multi-storey CLT buildings to comply with regularity in elevation

The effects of irregularity in elevation of cross-laminated timber buildings have not been fully analysed in literature to provide useful information for the design. In this work, a number of building configurations, regular or irregular in elevation, characterized by a different arrangement per storey of the floor–wall joints have been analysed by means of non-linear dynamic analyses. Comparative results in terms of ratio between the behaviour q-factor of the investigated irregular configurations and that of reference regular ones, show that less dissipative capacity can be expected if the building is irregular due to a disequilibrium among storeys between the actual and the required strength provided by the floor–wall joints. A correlation method to estimate the behaviour q-factor for perfectly regular cross-laminated timber buildings is here presented and extended to in-elevation irregular ones. A new empirical formulation to assess the reliable corrective factor accounting for the irregularity in elevation of cross-laminated timber buildings, according to Eurocode 8 provisions, is also proposed. A final discussion about the implications of in-elevation irregularity on the building design is reported.     

Deep tunnel fronts in cohesive soils under undrained conditions: a displacement-based approach for the design of fibreglass reinforcements

The fronts of tunnels excavated under particularly difficult ground conditions by employing conventional tunnelling methods are commonly supported: the stabilization is usually achieved either by improving the mechanical properties of the soil (injections, jet grouting, soil freezing, etc.) or by introducing linear inclusions. This last technique, consisting in the introduction of pipes (usually made of fibreglass reinforced polymers) in the front, is particularly popular since it is very simple to adapt the reinforcement geometry, length and number to the different conditions encountered during the excavation. The design of this reinforcement technique is nowadays based on very simplified approaches: on either empirical formula or the limit equilibrium method. In a previous paper, the authors numerically studied the mechanical response of unreinforced fronts in cohesive soils and defined a non-dimensional front characteristic curve. In this paper, the authors intend to take into consideration the role of reinforcements by following the same approach. A procedure allowing the definition of the reinforced non-dimensional front characteristic curve, once the reinforcement pattern is assigned, is introduced. The practical use of this curve is described.

     

A semi-empirical approach to model pressure dependence of elastic moduli in granular media accounting for variations of coordination-number and Poisson-ratio

The effective medium theory based on the Hertz–Mindlin contact law is the most popular theory to relate dynamic elastic moduli (or elastic velocities) and confining pressure in dry granular media. However, many experimental results proved that the effective medium theory predicts pressure trends lower than experimental ones and over-predicts the shear modulus. To mitigate these mispredictions, several evolutions of the effective medium theory have been presented in the literature. Among these, the model named modified grain contact theory is an empirical approach in which three parametric curves are included in the effective medium theory model. Fitting the parameters of these curves permits to adjust the pressure trends of the Poisson ratio and the bulk modulus. In this paper, we present two variations of the modified grain contact theory model. First, we propose a minor modification in the fitting function for the porosity dependence of the calibration parameters that accounts for non-linearity in the vicinity of the critical porosity. Second, we propose a major modification that reduces the three-step modified grain contact theory model to a two-step model, by skipping the calibration parameter–porosity fit in the model and directly modelling the calibration parameter–pressure relation. In addition to an increased simplicity (the fitting parameters are reduced from 10 to 6), avoiding the porosity fit permits us to apply the model to laboratory data that are not provided with accurate porosity measurements. For this second model, we also estimate the uncertainty of the fitting parameters and the elastic velocities. We tested this model on dry core measurements from literature and we verified that it returns elastic velocity trends as good as the original modified grain contact theory model with a reduced number of fitting parameters. Possible developments of the new model to add predictive power are also discussed.