Geophysical Survey and Archaeological Data at Masseria Grasso (Benevento,Italy)

The use of geophysical methods in metrology is a significant tool within the wide research topic of landscape archaeology context. Since 2011, the Ancient Appia Landscapes Project aims to recognize dynamics, shapes and layout of the ancient settlement located along the Appia road east of Benevento, and cyclical elements and human activities that influenced the choice of landscapes. The integration of geophysical data with an archaeological infra-site analysis allowed us to investigate the area of Masseria Grasso, about 6 km from Benevento (Campania region, Italy). In this framework, an archaeogeophysical approach (Geomagnetic and Ground Penetrating Radar) was adopted for detecting anomalies potentially correlated with buried archaeological evidences. The geomagnetic results have given a wide knowledge of buried features in a large survey highlighting significant anomalies associated with the presence of buildings, roads and open spaces. These geophysical results permitted us to define the first archaeological excavations and, successively, a detailed Ground Penetrating Radar approach has been provided highlighting the rooms and paved spaces. The overlap between archaeological dataset and geophysical surveys has also allowed recognizing the path of the ancient Appia road near the city of Benevento and hypothesize the settlement organization of the investigated area, which has been identified with the ancient Nuceriola.     

The high-supply,current-dominated continental margin of southeastern South America during the late Quaternary

The continental margin off the La Plata Estuary (SE South America) is characterized by high fluvial sediment supply and strong ocean currents. High-resolution sediment-acoustic data combined with sedimentary facies analysis, AMS-¹⁴C ages, and neodymium isotopic data allowed us to reconstruct late Quaternary sedimentary dynamics in relation to the two major sediment sources, the La Plata Estuary and the Argentine margin. Sediments from these two provinces show completely different dispersal patterns. We show that the northward-trending La Plata paleo-valley was the sole transit path for the huge volumes of fluvial material during lower sea levels. In contrast, material from the Argentine margin sector was transported northwards by the strong current system. Despite the large sediment volumes supplied by both sources, wide parts of the shelf were characterized by either persistent non-deposition or local short-term depocenter formation. The location and formation history of these depocenters were primarily controlled by the interplay of sea level with current strength and local morphology. The high sediment supply was of secondary importance to the stratigraphic construction, though locally resulting in high sedimentation rates. Thus, the shelf system off the La Plata Estuary can be considered as a hydrodynamic-controlled end-member.     

Varying Fundamental Constants from a String-inspired Brane World Model

We report results on the construction of cosmological braneworld models in the context of the Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, which include the leading correction to the Einstein-Hilbert action suggested by superstring theory. We obtain and study the equations governing the dynamics of the standard cosmological models. We find that they can be written in the same form as in the case of the Randall-Sundrum model but with time-varying four-dimensional gravitational and cosmological constants. Finally, we discuss the cosmological evolution predicted by these models and their compatibility with observational data. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

European dry spell length distributions, years 1951–2000

Daily precipitation records of 267 European rain gauges are considered to obtain dry spell length (DSL) series along the second half of the twentieth century. A dry spell consists of consecutive days with daily rain amount below a given threshold, R ₀. Four DSL series are obtained for R ₀ values equal to 0.1, 1.0, 5.0, and 10.0 mm/day, and their empirical distributions are properly fitted to different statistical models: Pearson type III (PE3), Weibull (WEI), generalised Pareto, (GPA) and lognormal distributions. The parameters of every model are estimated by L-moments, and the goodness of fit is assessed by quantifying discrepancies between empirical and theoretical distributions in the L-skewness–kurtosis diagrams. The most common best-fitting model is PE3, especially for 0.1 and 1.0 mm/day. Nevertheless, a few stations in southern Europe are better modelled by the WEI distribution. For 5.0 and 10.0 mm/day, the spatial distribution of the best-fitting model is more heterogeneous than for the lowest thresholds. While PE3 is still the preferred model for Western Europe, some DSL series are better fitted to WEI or GPA models. Maps of DSL average and standard deviation and expected lengths for return periods of 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 years show some common features. Whereas for thresholds of 0.1 and 1.0 mm/day, a N–S gradient is detected, especially in Mediterranean areas; for 5.0 and 10.0 mm/day, a NW–SE gradient is observed in the Iberian Peninsula and a SW–NE gradient in the Scandinavian Peninsula. Then, the vicinity to Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as orographic features, are more determining factors than the latitude in patterns associated with the highest R ₀ thresholds. Finally, a regional frequency analysis based on a clustering algorithm is attempted for the four thresholds R ₀, with the PE3 model as the parent distribution for the largest clusters.     

Macrobenthos and multi-molecular markers as indicators of environmental contamination in a South American port (Mar del Plata,Southwest Atlantic)

We evaluated benthic habitat quality along a presumed contamination gradient in the Mar del Plata port (Southwestern Atlantic) by coupling biological and chemical proxies in a multidisciplinary approach. Organic matter and photosynthetic pigment contents were higher in silty-clay bottoms of the inner port sites. Levels of all fecal steroids decreased from the inner sites to the port inlet. High concentrations of coprostanol in the inner sites seemed to derive from a permanent population of sea lions rather than from sewage outfalls due to coprostanol/epicoprostanol ratio (IV) values <2.5. PAHs levels were also higher in the inner sector, related to both biomass combustion and petroleum combustion associated to local marine traffic. High disturbance and low ecological status were reflected in low benthic diversity and high AMBI values in the inner sites.