The ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal

Part of a large male woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) was preserved in permafrost in northern Yakutia. It was radiocarbon dated to ca. 18,500 ¹⁴C yr BP (ca. 22,500 cal yr BP). Dung from the lower intestine was subjected to a multiproxy array of microscopic, chemical, and molecular techniques to reconstruct the diet, the season of death, and the paleoenvironment. Pollen and plant macro-remains showed that grasses and sedges were the main food, with considerable amounts of dwarf willow twigs and a variety of herbs and mosses. Analyses of 110-bp fragments of the plastid rbcL gene amplified from DNA and of organic compounds supplemented the microscopic identifications. Fruit-bodies of dung-inhabiting Ascomycete fungi which develop after at least one week of exposure to air were found inside the intestine. Therefore the mammoth had eaten dung. It was probably mammoth dung as no bile acids were detected among the fecal biomarkers analysed. The plant assemblage and the presence of the first spring vessels of terminal tree-rings of dwarf willows indicated that the animal died in early spring. The mammoth lived in extensive cold treeless grassland vegetation interspersed with wetter, more productive meadows. The study demonstrated the paleoecological potential of several biochemical analytical techniques.     

Zur Geomorphogenie Anatoliens

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Subsidence due to crack closure and depressurization of hydrothermal systems: a case study from Mt Epomeo (Ischia Island,Italy)

Levelling surveys carried out between 1990 and 2003 on the Mt Epomeo resurgent block (Ischia Island) record negative dislocations on its northern and southern flanks with a maximum subsidence rate of 1.27 cm yr⁻¹. This deformation is not associated with the cooling, crystallization or lateral drainage of magma and cannot be explained by a pressure point or prolate ellipsoid source. Results from dislocation models and the available structural and geochemical information indicate that the subsidence is due to crack closure processes along two main ENE–WSW and E–W preexisting faults, which represent the preferred pathway of CO₂ degassing from the hydrothermal system located beneath Mt Epomeo. The monitoring of the dislocations and CO₂ flux along these faults could give useful information on the dynamics of the hydrothermal system.     

Monitoring, prediction, and early warning using ground-based radar interferometry

In order to define adequate prevention measures and to manage landslide emergencies, real-time monitoring is required. This paper presents two different applications of the remote sensing technique: the ground-based synthetic aperture radar interferometry, here proposed as a monitoring and early warning support for slope instability. Data acquisitions carried out through a ground-based synthetic aperture radar interferometer, operating in K_u band, installed in front of the observed slopes, are discussed. Two case studies, based on the use of the same apparatus (formerly developed by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission and by Ellegi-LiSALab srl), are reported: the first one concerns the monitoring of a large landslide, named Ruinon (Valfurva, Italy). The second one deals with the monitoring of the NW unstable slope in the Stromboli island aimed to implementing an early warning system. Acquired interferometric data are processed to provide displacements and velocity maps of the monitored area. The monitoring services ongoing on the Ruinon landslide and on Stromboli demonstrate the capability of this technique to operate in different operative settings (i.e., different phenomena and geological framework) and for different aims (monitoring for prevention, early warning, and emergency assessment). This methodology has also been proved by national and regional authorities of civil protection in order to provide a real-time monitoring for emergency management.     

Volcanic geomorphology and tectonics of the Aeolian archipelago (Southern Italy) based on integrated DEM data

The geomorphological and morphometric analysis of the sea floor topography surrounding the Aeolian Islands, South Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy, provides insights into the relationships between the volcanological evolution of the islands and their tectonic features. We constructed geomorphological maps of the submarine portions of the seven large edifices constituting the islands on the basis of a DEM with a 5 m resolution step. These maps include constructional and destructional landforms such as submarine volcanic vents located west of Lipari and north of Alicudi, and hummocky surfaces recognised north of Lipari and Salina. The latter landforms, together with the occurrence of large scars affecting the main edifices on land, suggest that sector collapses affected some islands. Geomorphological data indicate that the location of subaerial and submarine vents is strongly controlled by local tectonic structures striking WNW-ESE (Alicudi-Filicudi sector), NNW-SSE (Salina-Lipari-Vulcano sector) and NE-SW (Panarea-Stromboli sector). The islands can be divided into two groups on the basis of some morphometric parameters: a first group with a pancake-like shape, Dp/D (abrasion platform diameter/basal diameter) higher than 0.40 and H/D (total height/basal diameter) lower than 0.13, and a second group with a conical shape, characterised by Dp/D lower than 0.34 and H/D higher than 0.14. These ratios and other morphometric parameters reflect the different volcanological and structural evolution of the Aeolian Islands. The pancake-like shaped complexes have been created, in addition to their submarine stage, by extrusive and highly explosive activity, whereas the cone-shaped edifices have been characterised by effusive or moderate explosive activity.Editorial responsibility: C Kilburn     

Geochemistry of the Submarine Gaseous Emissions of Panarea (Aeolian Islands, Southern Italy): Magmatic vs. Hydrothermal Origin and Implications for Volcanic Surveillance

The marine sector surrounding Panarea Island (Aeolian Islands, South Italy) is affected by widespread submarine emissions of CO₂ -rich gases and thermal water discharges which have been known since the Roman Age. On November 3^rd, 2002 an anomalous degassing event affected the area, probably in response to a submarine explosion. The concentrations of minor reactive gases (CO, CH₄ and H₂) of samples collected in November and December, 2002 show drastic compositional changes when compared to previous samples collected from the same area in the 1980s. In particular the samples collected after the November 3^rd phenomenon display relative increases in H₂ and CO and a strong decrease in the CH₄ contents, while other gas species show no significant change. The interaction of the original gas with seawater explains the variable contents of CO₂, H₂S, N₂, Ar and He which characterize the different samples, but cannot explain the large variations of CO, CH₄ and H₂ which are instead compatible with changes in the redox, temperature and pressure conditions of the system. Two models, both implying an increasing input of magmatic fluids are compatible with the observed variations of minor reactive species. In the first one, the input of magmatic fluids drives the hydrothermal system towards atypical (more oxidizing) redox conditions, slowly pressurizing the system up to a critical state. In the second one, the hydrothermal system is flashed by the rising high-T volcanic fluid, suddenly released by a magmatic body at depth. The two models have different implications for volcanic surveillance and risk assessment: In the first case, the November 3^rd event may represent both the culmination of a relatively slow process which caused the overpressurization of the hydrothermal system and the beginning of a new phase of quiescence. The possible evolution of the second model is unforeseeable because it is mainly related to the thermal, baric and compositional state of the deep magmatic system that is poorly known.