Geology and geochemistry of Jurassic pelagic sediments, Scisti silicei Formation, southern Apennines, Italy

A better understanding of genesis and palaeoenvironmental setting of the Scisti silicei Formation (Lagonegro units, southern Italy) was achieved by means of geochemical analysis integrated with new stratigraphic information. Data show that major and trace element geochemistry of ancient clay-rich beds and banded cherts add new insights into the Mesozoic evolution of the Lagonegro basin. Sedimentary contributions to Jurassic shales sampled during this study were mainly derived from two major sources: (i) a dominant terrigenous fine-grained component, having affinity with average upper continental crust that had not undergone intense weathering and (ii) biogenic siliceous material. The latter component occurs in clay-rich layers from the “basal member” of the Scisti silicei Formation.

Composition varies up section and accounts for changes in the detrital supply due to bathymetric oscillations. The compositional variations from the basal to the overlying member are consistent with a distal source passing in time to a more “proximal” source, as indicated by sharp changes in the concentrations of detrital elements (Ti, Zr and Nb). It is likely that increased detrital input occurred through turbidity current deposition. Finally, the chemical features of the clay-rich layers from the upper cherty portion of the studied succession imply a progressive deepening of the basin.

The lack of any mafic and hydrothermal contributions in the Jurassic shales as well as the continental nature of detrital input suggests that the Lagonegro basin was located between two carbonate platforms, in accordance with the classical restoration of the African–Apulian palaeomargin. Thus, the basin acted as a preferential sink connected to the African cratonic areas through a southern entry point.     

Thermal springs,fumaroles and gas vents of continental Yemen: Their relation with active tectonics,regional hydrology and the country’s geothermal potential

Most thermal springs of continental Yemen (about 65 emergences at 48 sampling sites) and a couple of fumaroles and boiling water pools have been sampled and analyzed for chemical and isotopic composition in the liquid phase and the associated free-gas phase. Whatever the emergence, all the water discharges have an isotopic signature of meteoric origin. Springs seeping out from high altitudes in the central volcanic plateau show a prevalent Na–HCO₃-composition, clearly affected by an anomalous flux of deep CO₂ deriving from active hydrothermal systems located in the Jurassic Amran Group limestone sequence and/or the Cretaceous Tawilah Group, likely underlying the 2000–3000 m thick volcanic suite. At lower elevations, CO₂ also affects the composition of some springs emerging at the borders of the central volcanic plateau.     

Numerical simulation of internal boundary-layer development and comparison with atmospheric data

A finite-volume numerical model is employed to investigate the adaptation of the atmospheric boundary layer to a change in the underlying surface roughness, such as that existing in the transition from land to the free surface of a water body. Numerical results are validated by comparison with neutral stratification atmospheric data and compared with the internal boundary-layer (IBL) heights computed using a number of existing empirical formulae. The numerical analysis allows an extension of the fetch range in which the existing formulae, calibrated only by comparison with short fetch data, may be applied. An argument is offered that the spatial variability of the water surface roughness should be also taken into account for the IBL development over the surface of a water body.     

Temporal Variability of Major and Trace Element Concentrations in the Groundwaters of Mt. Etna (Italy): Effects of Transient Input of Magmatic Fluids Highlighted by Means of Cluster Analysis

Data for major, minor and trace elements in groundwaters from Mt. Etna volcano collected in 1994, 1995 and 1997 were analyzed using Cluster Analysis (CA). Two groups of sampling sites were identified (named clusters A and B), mainly on the basis of their different salinity and content of dissolved CO₂. The highest levels of both of these parameters were observed in the sites of cluster A, located in the lower south-western and central eastern flanks of the volcano. For both of the statistical groups CA was repeated, taking into account the mean values of each parameter in time, and the results allowed us to recognize four distinct groups of parameters for each group of sites on the basis of their temporal patterns. Four different types of temporal patterns were recognized: concave, convex, increasing, decreasing. The observed changes were basically interpreted as a result of the different response of dissolved chemical elements to changes in the aqueous environment and/or in their solubility/mobility in water due to different rates of input of magmatic gases to Etna’s aquifers. The main changes occurred in 1995, when Etna’s volcanic activity resumed after a two-year period of rest. The temporal changes of the majority of the studied parameters (water temperature, water conductivity, Eh, pH, Al, Mg, B, Ca, Cl⁻, Hg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Se, Si, Sr, Cr Zn and pCO₂) were not cluster-dependent, therefore they were not apparently affected by differences in water salinity between the two groups of sampling sites. A limited number of parameters (Ti, K, Li, HCO₃⁻, As, Fe, SO₄²⁻, Cu and V), however, manifested different behaviors, depending on the cluster of sites to which they belonged, thus suggesting their apparent dependency on water salinity.     

Electron density and temperature measurements, and abundance anomalies in the solar atmosphere

Using spectra obtained from the SUMER (Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation) spectrograph on the spacecraft SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory), we investigate the height dependence of electron density, temperature and abundance anomalies in the solar atmosphere. In particular, we present the behaviour of the solar FIP effect (the abundance enhancement of elements with first ionization potential < 10 eV in the corona with respect to photospheric values) with height above an active region observed at the solar limb, with emphasis on the so-called transition region lines.     

Turbulence in the Stable Boundary Layer at Higher Richardson Numbers

We present some algebraic and numerical simulations of the stable boundary layer. We also discuss the problem of the existence of a critical Richardson number (Ri), beyond which the turbulence is suppressed. We compare the results of a second-order algebraic model with those of a third-order numerical model and, to this purpose, numerical simulations of a wind-tunnel flow, which is characterized by various Richardson numbers, were performed. As far as the second-order model is concerned, solutions, for the Richardson number greater than any critical value, can be obtained by modifying the time scales of the second-order equation pressure correlation terms in order to account for a buoyancy damping factor. We show that using a third-order model allows the same results (no critical Richardson number) to be obtained without modifications to the time scales. It is suggested that the non-locality, accounted for by the third-order moments, could allow the turbulence to persist also for Ri > 1.     

Global and regional ocean carbon uptake and climate change: sensitivity to a substantial mitigation scenario

Under future scenarios of business-as-usual emissions, the ocean storage of anthropogenic carbon is anticipated to decrease because of ocean chemistry constraints and positive feedbacks in the carbon-climate dynamics, whereas it is still unknown how the oceanic carbon cycle will respond to more substantial mitigation scenarios. To evaluate the natural system response to prescribed atmospheric ??target?? concentrations and assess the response of the ocean carbon pool to these values, 2 centennial projection simulations have been performed with an Earth System Model that includes a fully coupled carbon cycle, forced in one case with a mitigation scenario and the other with the SRES A1B scenario. End of century ocean uptake with the mitigation scenario is projected to return to the same magnitude of carbon fluxes as simulated in 1960 in the Pacific Ocean and to lower values in the Atlantic. With A1B, the major ocean basins are instead projected to decrease the capacity for carbon uptake globally as found with simpler carbon cycle models, while at the regional level the response is contrasting. The model indicates that the equatorial Pacific may increase the carbon uptake rates in both scenarios, owing to enhancement of the biological carbon pump evidenced by an increase in Net Community Production (NCP) following changes in the subsurface equatorial circulation and enhanced iron availability from extratropical regions. NCP is a proxy of the bulk organic carbon made available to the higher trophic levels and potentially exportable from the surface layers. The model results indicate that, besides the localized increase in the equatorial Pacific, the NCP of lower trophic levels in the northern Pacific and Atlantic oceans is projected to be halved with respect to the current climate under a substantial mitigation scenario at the end of the twenty-first century. It is thus suggested that changes due to cumulative carbon emissions up to present and the projected concentration pathways of aerosol in the next decades control the evolution of surface ocean biogeochemistry in the second half of this century more than the specific pathways of atmospheric CO₂ concentrations.     

Seismic characterization of rigid sites in the ITACA database by ambient vibration monitoring and geological surveys

The problem of seismic characterization of rock-mass or stiff-soil outcrops by the use of passive seismic prospecting techniques is discussed. Difficulties in the application of this kind of procedure in the presence of rugged morphology, high surface wave velocities and low ambient vibration powers, typical of stiff-soil/rock-mass sites are examined. A methodology to face these problems is here proposed, which is based on the strict synergy of detailed geologic surveys and application of robust seismic prospecting techniques, jointly considering single-station and multi-station tools. The application of this approach for the characterization of a number of sites belonging to the Italian Accelerometric Network is described, focusing on two representative case histories.