Discussion 2 on "Introspection on improper seismic retrofit of Basilica Santa Maria di Collemaggio after 2009 Italian earthquake" by G.P.Cimellaro,A.M.Reinhorn and A.De Stefano

This discussion will address two aspects found in the paper:lack of proper information and some mistakes. Lack of proper information In Section 2 of the paper,a short review of the seismic events suffered by the Basilica and of the interventions of reconstruction which have followcd is presented,but the main effects of these events are not sufficiently highlightcd.In what follows,additional information is provided to allow a better understanding of the most recent retrofit intervention and of the seismic behavior of the Basilica in 2009.     

A.—A. I. H. S.—I. A. S. H.

Abstract

When a river flows into a reservoir, the solid materials it carries sink to the bottom thus reducing the potential reservoir capacity. The suspended load of eight major western rivers flowing into Kainji Lake was determined as a part of the investigation of the suspended sediment of the reservoir. The sediment content in each sample was determined in parts per million.

On the whole the results of this study is in agreement with the previous conclusion that the sediment load of the Niger was low. A range of 29–221 ppm was observed within the reservoir whereas the concentration in the inflowing rivers varied from 122–953 ppm. It was however not possible to determine the total sediment load because discharge data were lacking.

The data presented herein confirm the earlier conclusion that the rate of silting is slow but indicate that locally high rate of sediment supply should give cause for anxiety regarding the possible growth of deltas as the months of these rivers.

The full potential of this study is difficult to assess at this stage but it has revealed a number of problem areas worth looking into in future years. A number of future studies believed to be capable of giving the necessary data for operation and management of the reservoir are recommended.     

A) A.I.H.S.—I.A.S.H.

Abstract

Mathematical models are the means to characterize variables quantitatively in many groundwater problems. Recent advances in applied mathematics have perfected what is now called Adomian's decomposition method (ADM), a simple modelling procedure for practical applications. Decomposition exhibits the benefits of analytical solutions (i.e. stability, analytic derivation of heads, gradients, fluxes and simple programming). It also offers the advantages of traditional numerical methods (i.e. consideration of heterogeneity, irregular domain shapes and multiple dimensions). In addition, decomposition is one of the few systematic procedures for solving nonlinear equations. By far its greatest advantage is its simplicity of application. It may produce simple results for preliminary simulations, or in cases with scarce information. The method is described with simple applications to regional groundwater flow. Many applications in groundwater flow and contaminant transport are available in the literature.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor Xi Chen

Citation Serrano, S.E., 2013. A simple approach to groundwater modelling with decomposition. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (1), 1–9.     

Reply to the Comment by V.A. Saltykov on the Paper “The Relationship between Multifractal and Entropy Properties of Seismic Noise in Kamchatka and Irregularity of the Earth’s Rotation” by A.A. Lyubushin,G.N. Kopylova,and Yu.K. Serafimova

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth -     

Reply to “Discussion 1 on ‘Introspection on improper seismic retrofit of Basilica Santa Maria di Collemaggio after 2009 Italian earthquake' by G.P.Cimellaro, A.M.Reinhorn and A.De Stefano” by Vincenzo Ciampi

The authors thank the discusser for his interest and careful review of the paper and his valuable comments.They also welcome this discussion,because it gives the authors the opportunity to clarify several points which were not explained in sufficient detail in the paper,due to space limitations. The paper does not provide any personal or professional criticism of the discusser or his work and if any statement may have raised an ambiguous interpretation,this should be clarified and dismissed.Any inaccuracy in the reference's citation was not intentional.Some of the authors do not speak Italian;therefore they could not read directly and understand the paper cited by the discusser,which is in Italian.     

Reply to “Discussion 2 on ‘Introspection on improper seismic retrofit of Basilica Santa Maria di Collemaggio after 2009 Italian earthquake' by G.P.Cimellaro, A.M.Reinhorn and A.De Stefano” by Enzo Cartapati

The authors thank the discusser for the additional information,which is provided related to the historical interventions of the church through the centuries.This information was known to the authors,however they decided not to include it in the paper because of lack of space.Additional details regarding the retrofit interventions of the church can also be found in the MCEER report regarding the L'Aquila earthquake (Cimellaro et al.,2010).     

In memory of G.P. Kalinin (1916–1975)

Chronicles

In memory of G.P. Kalinin (1916–1975)     

Comment on the paper “The Relationship between Multifractal and Entropy Properties of Seismic Noise in Kamchatka and Irregularity of the Earth’s Rotation” by A.A. Lyubushin,G.N. Kopylova,and Yu.K. Serafimova

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth - Abstract—In my comment on the paper by A.A. Lyubushin, G.N. Kopylova, and Yu.K. Serafimova, I focus on the problem of legitimacy of seismological data...     

Comment on Hearty,P.J. and O'Leary,M.J., 2008. Carbonate eolianites,quartz sands,and Quaternary sea-level cycles,Western Australia: A chronostratigraphic approach. Quaternary Geochronology 3: 26–55

A proposal that the yellow sands which commonly overlie Pleistocene eolianites along the west coast of Western Australia may have their origin from major extensions of inland deserts during times of severe aridity, is refuted on several grounds. The eolianites typically are deeply degraded remnants of the original coastal dunes, which contained a high content of non-calcareous detritus. Hence plentiful residual sand will accumulate during weathering of a dune. Studies on heavy mineral content of the yellow sands have shown that there is an inland ageing trend consistent with local derivation from successive dune belts, and have also pointed to local sources for yellow color in the sand, without need to postulate a distant source. Localized denudations have however occurred, during which sand is blown inland to leave tracts of bared limestone. No remnants of the alleged desert extensions exist in the hinterland of the coastal belt.     

Separation of P. and SV-wavefields from multi-componen seismic data

In multi-component seismic exploration, the horizontal and vertical components both contain P- and SV-waves. The P- and SV-wavefields in a seismic record can be separated by their horizontal and vertical displacements when upgoing P- and SV-waves arrive at the sea floor. If the sea floor P wave velocity, S wave velocity, and density are known, the separation can be achieved in ther-p domain. The separated wavefields are then transformed to the time domain. A method of separating P- and SV-wavefields is presented in this paper and used to effectively separate P- and SV-wavefields in synthetic and real data. The application to real data shows that this method is feasible and effective. It also can be used for free surface data.