The particle background of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">X-IFU</Emphasis> instrument

In this paper we are going to review the latest estimates for the particle background expected on the X-IFU instrument onboard of the ATHENA mission. The particle background is induced by two different particle populations: the so called “soft protons” and the Cosmic rays. The first component is composed of low energy particles (< 100s keV) that get funnelled by the mirrors towards the focal plane, losing part of their energy inside the filters and inducing background counts inside the instrument sensitivity band. The latter component is induced by high energy particles (> 100 MeV) that possess enough energy to cross the spacecraft and reach the detector from any direction, depositing a small fraction of their energy inside the instrument. Both these components are estimated using Monte Carlo simulations and the latest results are presented here.     

Predictions on the detection of the free-floating planet population with K2 and spitzer microlensing campaigns

The K2’s Campaign 9 (K2C9) by the Kepler satellite for microlensing observations towards the Galactic bulge started on April 7, 2016, and is going to last for about three months. It offers the first chance to measure the masses of members of the large population of the isolated dark low-mass objects further away in our Galaxy, free-floating planets (FFPs). Intentionally, this observational period of K2 will overlap with that of the 2016 Spitzer follow-up microlensing project expected to start in June, 2016. Therefore, for the first time it is going to be possible to observe simultaneously the same microlensing events from a ground-based telescope and two satellites. This will help in removing the two-fold degeneracy of the impact parameter and in estimating the FFP mass, provided that the angular Einstein ring radius Θ_E is measured. In this paper we calculate the probability that a microlensing event is detectable by two or more telescopes and study how it depends on the mass function index of FFPs and the position of the observers on the orbit.     

Occurrence of pockmarks on the Ortegal Spur continental margin,Northwestern Iberian Peninsula

A total of 445 pockmarks were observed on the upper continental slope of the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula (the Ortegal Spur area) by swath bathymetric and ultrahigh resolution seismic data. The pockmarks are U-, V- and W-shaped and have terraces or indentations in cross-section, and are dish-shaped (circular to oval) in plan view. They occur on the surface of the seabed and buried within the Plio-Quaternary and Neogene sediments. Four types of pockmarks were identified and mapped on the basis of their plan-view and cross-section morphology: regular, irregular, asymmetric and composite. The concentration of pockmarks is attributed to seepage of fluids migrating up-dip from deeper parts of the sedimentary basin. A linear high-density concentration with a NNW to N, NE and ESE trend of pockmarks is observed above inferred basement faults that do not affect the Quaternary succession. These pockmarks are thus caused by seepage of thermogenic gas and/or other pore fluids from deeper Late Cretaceous units, and their distribution may help to improve our understanding of the fluid system and migration regime in this part of the Galicia continental margin.     

Role of African–Eurasian plate setting in the felt areas of intermediate‐depth earthquakes: an investigation using crowdsourced data

Greek intermediate‐depth earthquakes, occurring in the subducted plate of the Hellenic Arc, are felt at greater distances than expected, reaching Italy in some cases. We study in detail macroseismic intensity data from intermediate‐depth Italian and Greek earthquakes collected from Internet users who felt the shaking in Italy. The huge amount of data allowed us to outline the felt/not‐felt limit and to find a correspondence between attenuation areas and the presence of asthenospheric material at shallow depths. We show that plate boundaries, known to produce the majority of earthquakes, are, in some specific cases, the boundaries of areas in which earthquakes are felt. The Ionian subducted lithosphere propagates seismic waves with low attenuation over large distances, whereas high‐attenuation zones in Italy, linked to asthenospheric upwelling, limit the propagation, as evidenced also by PGA values. We identify a typical pattern that can be used to recognize intermediate‐depth earthquakes, and to properly locate historical events.     

Record of enhanced late Pliocene tectono‐volcanic activity in the Lesser Antilles forearc basin: Insights into the long‐term behaviour of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone

In this study, we investigate the Lesser Antilles forearc basin, focusing on the late Pliocene to Pleistocene sedimentary archives in order to track the occurrence of extreme events triggered by enhanced subduction‐related tectono‐volcanic activity. We identify late Piacenzian deposits covering a major regional erosional surface, displaying sedimentary dykes and large marine boulders embedded in a mixed continental–marine matrix, characteristic of tsunamites. We interpret this episode of platform emersion and the successive cataclysmic deposits as resulting from enhanced tectonic activity at the interface of the subduction zone, synchronous with the initiation of the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc. We then discuss the implications in terms of the mechanical behaviour of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone.     

Long‐term final void salinity prediction for a post‐mining landscape in the Hunter Valley,New South Wales,Australia

Opencast mining alters surface and subsurface hydrology of a landscape both during and post‐mining. At mine closure, following opencast mining in mines with low overburden to coal ratios, a void is left in the final landform. This final void is the location of the active mine pit at closure. Voids are generally not infilled within the mines' lifetime, because of the prohibitive cost of earthwork operations, and they become post‐mining water bodies or pit lakes. Water quality is a significant issue for pit lakes. Groundwater within coal seams and associated rocks can be saline, depending on the nature of the strata and groundwater circulation patterns. This groundwater may be preferentially drawn to and collected in the final void. Surface runoff to the void will not only collect salts from rainfall and atmospheric fallout, but also from the ground surface and the weathering of fresh rock. As the void water level rises, its evaporative surface area increases, concentrating salts that are held in solution. This paper presents a study of the long term, water quality trends in a post‐mining final void in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. This process is complex and occurs long term, and modelling offers the only method of evaluating water quality. Using available geochemical, climate and hydrogeological data as inputs into a mass‐balance model, water quality in the final void was found to increase rapidly in salinity through time (2452 to 8909 mg l⁻¹ over 500 years) as evaporation concentrates the salt in the void and regional groundwater containing high loads of salt continues to flow into the void. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An integrated procedure to evaluate hydrological models

The growing concern for health‐related problems deriving from pollutants leaching is driving national and international administrations to support the development of tools for evaluating the effects of alternate management scenarios and identifying vulnerable areas. Cropping systems models are powerful tools for evaluating leachates under different environmental, social, and management conditions. As percolating water is the transport vehicle for pollutants transport in soil, a reliable evaluation of water balance models is a fundamental prerequisite for investigating pesticides and nitrate fate. As specific approaches for the evaluation of multi‐layer evolution of state variables are missing, we propose a fuzzy‐based, integrated indicator (I_SWC: 0, best; 1, worst) for a comprehensive evaluation of soil water content (SWC) simulations. We aggregated error metrics with others quantifying the homogeneity of errors across different soil layers, the capability of models to reproduce complex dynamics function of both time and soil depth, and model complexity. We tested I_SWC on a sample dataset where the models CropSyst and CERES‐Wheat were used to simulate SWC for winter wheat systems. I_SWC revealed that, in the explored conditions, the global assessment of the two models' performances allowed identification of CropSyst as the best (average I_SWC = 0·441, with a value of 0·537 obtained by CERES‐Wheat), although each model prevailed for some of the metrics. CropSyst presented the highest accuracy (average agreement module = 0·400), whereas CERES‐Wheat's accuracy was slightly worse, although achieved with a simplified modelling approach (average Akaike Information Criterion = − 230·44), thereby favouring large‐area applicability. The non‐univocal scores achieved by the models for the different metrics support the use of multi‐metric evaluation approaches for quantifying the different aspects of water balance model performances. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Process length variation of the cyst of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum in the North Pacific and Baltic‐Skagerrak region: calibration as an annual density proxy and first evidence of pseudo‐cryptic speciation

Process length variation of cysts of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum (Claparède et Lachmann) Bütschli in surface sediments from the North Pacific was investigated. The average process length showed a significant inverse relation to annual seawater density: σ_{t annual} = ?0.8674 × average process length + 1029.3 (R² = 0.84), with a standard error of 0.78 kg m^?3. A sediment trap study from Effingham Inlet in British Columbia revealed the same relationship between average process length and local seawater density variations. In the Baltic–Skagerrak region, the average process length variation was related significantly to annual seawater density: σ_{t annual} = 3.5457 × average process length ? 993.28 (R² = 0.86), with a standard error of 3.09 kg m^?3. These calibrations cannot be reconciled, which accentuates the regional character of the calibrations. This can be related to variations in molecular data (small subunit, long subunit and internal transcribed spacer sequences), which show the presence of several genotypes and the occurrence of pseudo‐cryptic speciation within this species. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Scots Bay formation, Nova Scotia, Canada, a Jurassic carbonate lake with Silica-rich hydrothermal springs

During Early Jurassic time, the Scots Bay Formation accumulated in an aerobic lake on the floor of the subtropical Fundy rift valley. A diverse biota flourished in the lake as evidenced by algal stromatolites, oncolites, charophytes, ostracods, gastropods, conchostracans, fish bones, calcispheres and logs. Carbonate wackestone and packstone were deposited in the littoral zone and lime mudstone accumulated offshore on a proximal slope. Silica-rich hydrothermal springs and seeps around and on the floor of the lake precipitated siliceous tufa and silicified adjacent carbonate strata. The tufa is characterized by the progressive sequence: (1) open-framework, porous substrate of goethite spheres, (2) encrusting chalcedony spherulites where goethite inclusions decrease in size and number outwards towards the surfaces of the spherulites, (3) a fringe of quartz on the chalcedony spherulites and (4) coarsening inwards mosaics of quartz that filled the remaining voids. Carbonate diagenesis included conversion of low-Mg calcite ooze to micrite and microspar-pseudospar, and local dissolution and reprecipitation of calcite cement. At times the lake shrank in size, concentrating silica in increasingly alkaline lake water which then silicified some of the carbonate strata and logs. The latest cements were calcite, zeolites and celadonite.     

Seismic activity related to the 1991 eruption of Colima Volcano,Mexico

Ten years after the last effusive eruption and at least 15 years of seismic quiescence, volcanic seismic activity started at Colima volcano on 14 February 1991, with a seismic crisis which reached counts of more than 100 per day and showed a diversity of earthquake types. Four other distinct seismic crises followed, before a mild effusive eruption in April 1991. The second crisis preceded the extrusion of an andesitic scoriaceous lava lobe, first reported on 1 March; during this crisis an interesting temporary concentration of seismic foci below the crater was observed shortly before the extrusion was detected. The third crisis was constituted by shallow seismicity, featuring possible mild degassing explosion-induced activity in the form of hiccups (episodes of simple wavelets that repeat with diminishing amplitude), and accompanied by increased fumarolic activity. The growth of the new lava dome was accompanied by changing seismicity. On 16 April during the fifth crisis which consisted of some relatively large, shallow, volcanic earthquakes and numerous avalanches of older dome material, part of the newly extruded dome, which had grown towards the edge of the old dome, collapsed, producing the largest avalanches and ash flows. Afterwards, block lava began to flow slowly along the SW flank of the volcano, generating frequent small incandescent avalanches. The seismicity associated with the stages of this eruptive activity shows some interesting features: most earthquake foci were located north of the summit, some of them relatively deep (7–11 km below the summit level), underneath the saddle between the Colima and the older Nevado volcanoes. An apparently seismic quiet region appears between 4 and 7 km below the summit level. In June, harmonic tremors were detected for the first time, but no changes in the eruptive activity could be correlated with them. After June, the seismicity decreasing trend was established, and the effusive activity stopped on September 1991.