Solar-Terrestrial Relations: Magnetic Turbulence in the Earth’s Magnetosphere and Geomagnetic Activity

Recent spacecraft observations of magnetic turbulence in the ion foreshock, in the magnetosheath, in the polar cusp regions, and in the magnetotail will be reviewed. Turbulence features like the fluctuation level, the spectral power law index, the turbulence anisotropy and intermittency, and the turbulence driver will be addressed.     

Radial jet reattachment force

Dedicated to Prof. Dr. -Ing. K. Gersten on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Elastic model for the gravity and elevation changes before the 2001 eruption of Etna volcano

For 5 months before the 2001 Mt. Etna eruption, a progressive gravity decrease was measured along a profile of stations on the southern slope of the volcano. Between January and July 2001, the amplitude of the change reached 80 μGal, while the wavelength of the anomaly was of the order of 15 km. Elevation changes observed through GPS measurements during a period encompassing the 5-month gravity decrease, remained within 4–6 cm over the entire volcano and within 2–4 cm in the zone covered by the microgravity profile. We review both gravity and elevation changes by a model assuming the formation of new cracks, uniformly distributed in a rectangular prism. The inversion problem was formulated following a global optimization approach based on the use of Genetic Algorithms. Although it is possible to explain the observed gravity changes by means of the proposed analytical formulation, the results show that calculated elevation changes are significantly higher than those observed. Two alternative hypotheses are proposed to account for this apparent discrepancy: (1) that the assumptions behind the analytical formulation, used to invert the data, are fallacious at Etna, and thus, numerical models should be utilized; (2) that a second process, enabling a considerable mass decrease to occur without deformation, acted together with the formation of new cracks in the source volume.     

Complexity in Sequences of Solar Flares and Earthquakes

In this paper the statistical properties of solar flares and earthquakes are compared by analyzing the energy distributions, the time series of energies and interevent times, and, above all, the distributions of interevent times per se. It is shown that the two phenomena have different statistics of scaling, and even the same phenomenon, when observed in different periods or at different locations, is characterized by different statistics that cannot be uniformly rescaled onto a single, universal curve. The results indicate apparent complexity of impulsive energy release processes, which neither follow a common behaviour nor could be attributed to a universal physical mechanism.     

Origin of salt giants in abyssal serpentinite systems

International Journal of Earth Sciences - Worldwide marine salt deposits ranging over the entire geological record are generally considered climate-related evaporites, derived from the...     

Sedimentary evolution of basins in mobile belts: examples from the Tertiary terrigenous sequences of the Peloritani Mountains (NE Sicily)

The Tertiary covers of the Peloritani Mountain Belt (NE Sicily) provide a complete stratigraphical record of tectonic events related to collision in the Central Mediterranean region. The tectonosedimentary evolution is inferred from interpretation of new field data and indicates various stages of polyphase deformation. The Peloritani Mountain Belt is composed mostly of crystalline units representing the active margin of the European Plate that was thrust over the descending African Plate during the Tertiary. Late Eocene-early Oligocene syn-orogenic deposition took place within a fore-arc basin located along the leading edge of the Peloritani Mountain Belt. From the late Oligocene to late Langhian, terrigenous deposition occurred throughout the mountain belt and extended into perched basins, located in southern areas. The basin was fed from the north, from source areas located in the hinterland of the orogenic belt. Deposition was controlled by a combination of active thrusting, regional subsidence and sea-level change. During the early Serravallian sudden tectonic inversion took place, associated with collapse of hinterland areas and uplift of former low-lying southern areas of the mountain belt. These processes were related to onset of opening of the Tyrrhenian Sea that was completed during the Serravallian-Tortonian, and resulted in the deposition of a northwestward prograding clastic fan, fed by source areas located in the southern area of the mountain belt. This setting characterized Messinian and Plio-Pleistocene deposition, and was controlled by both active tectonics and eustasy. The Recent evolution of the Peloritani Mountain Belt is characterized by major progressive uplift of the southern margins of the Tyrrhenian Basin, and local active subsidence related to downfaulting. Such processes resulted in the uplift of mid-Pleistocene fan-delta deposits and late Pleistocene marine terraces deposits to various altitudes above present sea-level.     

Persistence of solar activity on small scales: Hurst analysis of time series coming from Hα flares

We calculated the Hurst exponent H for the daily averaged intensity Q of optical flares, an index which describes the solar activity. We found that H0.74±0.02 in the range of scales from about 20 days up to 450 days. This value is well beyond H= , expected for a stochastic Brownian process, thus indicating that the solar cycle could show persistence on small scales, in agreement with what has been found using other indices of the solar cycle.     

Mineralogical and chemical evolution of ochreous precipitates from the Libiola Fe–Cu-sulfide mine (Eastern Liguria,Italy)

The mineralogical and chemical evolution of ochreous precipitates forming from acid mine drainage (AMD) from the abandoned Libiola Fe–Cu-sulfide mine (Eastern Liguria, Italy) was followed through a multianalytical approach (XRD, TEM, XRF, ICP) applied to surface precipitates and associated waters collected from several mine adits. The mineralogy of the precipitates changed significantly as a consequence of the variations of the chemical parameters of the circulating solutions (mainly pH, Eh, and sulfate concentrations) which, in turn, were mainly controlled by mixing with unpolluted stream and rill waters of the mining area. A progressive transition from jarosite-, to schwertmannite-, to goethite-, to ferrihydrite-, to amorphous-dominated precipitates was observed, mainly as a consequence of an increase in the pH of the associated solutions. This mineralogical evolution agrees well with the aqueous speciation and Eh–pH stability calculations performed on the waters associated with the different precipitate types. Furthermore, TEM analysis indicated that metastable pristine phases (schwertmannite) tend to transform progressively to well-crystallized more stable species, here represented by goethite. The comparison of the water chemistry and the crystal chemistry of the different precipitates showed a significant decrease in the Zn, Cu, Ni, Co contents in waters where the coexisting precipitates were almost exclusively composed of goethite. The distribution of V, Sr, As concentrations within the different precipitates showed that the most efficient scavenging phase for these elements was jarosite, whereas ferrihydrite efficiently took up Pb ions, and schwermannite acted as a natural sink for Cr.     

Landslide triggers along volcanic rock slopes in eastern Sicily (Italy)

A new dataset of landslides, occurred in a tectonically active region, has been analysed in order to understand the causes of the slope instability. The landslides we have dealt with took place along the volcanic rock cliff of S. Caterina and S. Maria La Scala villages (eastern Sicily, Italy), a densely inhabited area located on the eastern margin of Mt. Etna, where some seismogenic faults, locally named Timpe system, slip during moderate local earthquakes and also move with aseismic creep mechanisms. The results show that landslides are triggered by heavy rainfalls, earthquakes and creep fault episodes. Indeed, they occur along discrete fault segments, exhibiting a combination of both brittle failure, indicated by the earthquake occurrence, and aseismic creep events. The analysis of seismicity occurred on the Timpe fault system has shown that the active Acireale fault, in its southernmost segment, is subject to an aseismic sliding, which increases after the stick–slip motion in the nearby faults. Therefore, aseismic creep seems to concur in the predisposition of a rock to fail, since strains can increase the jointing of rock masses leading to a modification in the slope stability. Understanding the factors concurring to the slope instability is a useful tool for future assessments of the landslide hazard in densely settled areas, located on a volcanic edifice, such as Etna that is slowly sliding seawards, and where active faults, seismicity and heavy rains affect the deeply fractured slopes.