One Year of Surface-Based Temperature Inversions at Dome C, Antarctica

In 2005 the Study of Stable Boundary Layer Environment at Dome C (STABLEDC) experimental campaign was conducted at the plateau station of Concordia at Dome C, Antarctica. Temperature profiles measured with a microwave radiometer were used to study the characteristics of surface-based temperature inversions over the course of a year. Statistics of temperature profiles for every month are discussed; the difference between daytime and nocturnal cases observed during the summer months disappears during winter. Surface-based temperature inversions occurred in 70 % of the time during summer, and almost all of the time during winter. During winter the occurrence of warming events leads to a decrease in the temperature difference between the top and the base of the inversion (i.e. the inversion strength). The inversion strength maxima ranged between $3\,^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$ (December) and $35\,^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$ (August) corresponding to gradients of 0.1 and $0.3\,^{\circ }\mathrm{C}\, \mathrm{m}^{-1}$ , respectively. The average surface-based inversion height presents a daily cycle during the summer months with values up to 200 m in the morning hours, while it affects a layer always deeper than 100 m during the winter months. The relationships between inversion strength and the downward longwave radiative flux, absolute temperature, and wind speed are examined. The inversion strength decreases as the longwave radiation increases. A clear anti-correlation between inversion strength and near-surface temperature is evident throughout the year. During the winter, the largest inversion strength values were observed under low wind-speed conditions; in contrast, a clear dependence was not found during the summer.     

Long‐term presence and habitat use of Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) in the Central Tyrrhenian Sea

Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris, G. Cuvier 1823) is a poorly known species and many international agreements have asked for a better understanding of its biology for conservation purposes. In the present study, systematic cetacean surveys were carried out from ferries along a trans‐regional fixed transect in the Central Tyrrhenian Sea (Civitavecchia, Latium – Golfo Aranci, Sardinia), just outside the southeastern border of the Pelagos Sanctuary. This research provided long‐term, consistent data on Cuvier's beaked whale during two research periods (1990–1992 and 2007–2011). The objective of the research was to compare the presence, distribution and habitat use of Cuvier's beaked whale between the two investigated periods. Summer data (June–September) from the two periods were compared in terms of frequency of sightings, group size and spatial distribution related to the main ecogeographical features. A presence‐absence model (generalized additive modelling) was performed to predict habitat suitability in the two study periods. The results highlight long‐term site fidelity of Cuvier's beaked whale in the Central Tyrrhenian Sea with encounter rates comparable to the ones reported for other key areas. Separate suitability models based on 1990s and 2000s data appeared to work for each individual time period but differences were evident between the two periods, indicating changes in habitat selection over time. Our findings of the study appear to expand the definition of suitable beaked whale habitat and underline how the temporal scale of the analysis can affect the results in habitat studies. Moreover, this research highlights the importance of the Central Tyrrhenian Sea marine region for Cuvier's beaked whale and the ability of continuous monitoring to identify changes in cetacean frequency and distribution, necessary for adaptive conservation management approaches.     

Influence of the Po River runoff on the bacterioplankton community along trophic and salinity gradients in the Northern Adriatic Sea

The Po River runoff strongly affects the oceanographic and ecological characteristics of the Northern Adriatic Sea. Catalysed reported deposition ‐ fluorescence in situ hybridization (CARD‐FISH) analysis was employed to assess how the composition of the coastal bacterioplankton community is influenced by the river runoff in two different seasons (spring and autumn). Samples were collected from the water column along a coastal–offshore transect in the Northern Adriatic Sea at different depths. Four clone libraries were then constructed from coastal (0 m) and offshore waters (?65 m). Higher abundances of bacteria were recorded in coastal waters as compared with the offshore samples. This result was mainly due to the trophic state of the water column, and it was related to salinity. Particularly, Actinobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were affected by the riverine inputs, whereas Bacteroidetes and Alphaproteobacteria showed only minor responses. This was particularly clear in the autumn sample, in which a clear difference between the coastal and the offshore samples was found due to a strong influence of the less saline river water with high nutrient concentrations. Analysis of 205 partial length 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated a high diversity with the dominance of Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Gammaproteobacteria mainly affiliated to coastal and marine bacterioplankton clades. Actinobacteria were also detected and, together with Gammaproteobacteria, strongly follow the freshwater intrusion. Overall, our results indicate that the seasonal difference in the Po River discharge greatly affects the bacterioplankton community. In spring we observed a smooth transition from coastal to open‐sea conditions owing to the more superficial freshwater plume. In autumn the deeper freshwater intrusion in the coastal site and thermal stratification offshore resulted in a marked difference between the coastal and offshore microbial communities.     

A single-crystal neutron and X-ray diffraction study of pezzottaite, Cs(Be2Li)Al2Si6O18

The chemical composition and the crystal structure of pezzottaite [ideal composition Cs(Be₂Li)Al₂Si₆O₁₈; space group: ${\it{R}} \overline{\text{3}} $ c, a?=?15.9615(6) ?, c?=?27.8568(9) ?] from the type locality in Ambatovita (central Madagascar) were investigated by electron microprobe analysis in wavelength dispersive mode, thermo-gravimetric analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray (at 298?K) and neutron (at 2.3?K) diffraction. The average chemical formula of the sample of pezzottaite resulted ^Cs1,Cs2(Cs_0.565Rb_0.027K_0.017)_Σ0.600 ^Na1,Na2(Na_0.101Ca_0.024)_Σ0.125Be_2.078Li_0.922 ^Al1,Al2(Mg_0.002Mn_0.002Fe_0.003Al_1.978)_Σ1.985 ^Si1,Si2,Si3(Al_0.056Si_5.944)_Σ6O₁₈·0.27H₂O. The (unpolarized) IR spectrum over the region 3,800–600?cm^?1 was collected and a comparison with the absorption bands found in beryl carried out. In particular, two-weak absorption bands ascribable to the fundamental H₂O stretching vibrations (i.e. 3,591 and 3,545?cm^?1) were observed, despite the mineral being nominally anhydrous. The X-ray and neutron structure refinements showed: (a) a non-significant presence of aluminium, beryllium or lithium at the Si1, Si2 and Si3 sites, (b) the absence (at a significant level) of lithium at the octahedral Al1, Al2 and Al3 sites and (c) a partial lithium/beryllium disordering between tetrahedral Be and Li sites.     

The ‘urban–rural divide’ at question: exploring the long-term shift of marital age in Greece

GeoJournal - While marital age is the highest worldwide, spatial disparities still exist among European regions. Although Mediterranean societies were traditionally characterized by high propensity...     

German tanks and historical records: the estimation of the time coverage of ungauged extreme events

The use of historical data can significantly reduce the uncertainty around estimates of the magnitude of rare events obtained with extreme value statistical models. For historical data to be included in the statistical analysis a number of their properties, e.g. their number and magnitude, need to be known with a reasonable level of confidence. Another key aspect of the historical data which needs to be known is the coverage period of the historical information, i.e. the period of time over which it is assumed that all large events above a certain threshold are known. It might be the case though, that it is not possible to easily retrieve with sufficient confidence information on the coverage period, which therefore needs to be estimated. In this paper methods to perform such estimation are introduced and evaluated. The statistical definition of the problem corresponds to estimating the size of a population for which only few data points are available. This problem is generally refereed to as the German tanks problem, which arose during the second world war, when statistical estimates of the number of tanks available to the German army were obtained. Different estimators can be derived using different statistical estimation approaches, with the maximum spacing estimator being the minimum-variance unbiased estimator. The properties of three estimators are investigated by means of a simulation study, both for the simple estimation of the historical coverage and for the estimation of the extreme value statistical model. The maximum spacing estimator is confirmed to be a good approach to the estimation of the historical period coverage for practical use and its application for a case study in Britain is presented.     

Spatial variability of volcanic features in early‐stage rift settings: the case of the Tanzania Divergence,East African rift system

Close relationships between deformation and volcanism are well documented in relatively late evolutionary stages of continental rifting, whereas these are poorly constrained in less mature rifting stages. To investigate the control of inherited structures on faulting and volcanism, we present a statistical analysis of volcanic features, faults and pre‐rift fabric in the Tanzania Divergence, where volcanic features occur extensively in in‐rift and off‐rift areas. Our results show that in mature rift sectors (Natron), magma uprising is mostly controlled by fractures/faults responding to the far‐field stress, whereas the distribution of volcanism during initial rifting (Eyasi) is controlled by inherited structures oblique to the regional extension direction. Off‐rift sectors show a marked control of pre‐rift structures on magma emplacement, which may not respond to the regional stress field. Thus, the use of off‐rift magmatic features as stress indicators should take into account the role of pre‐existing structures.     

Database of geo-hydrological disasters for civil protection purposes

This paper presents the results of a research concerning available historical information about natural hazards (landslides and floods) and consequent disasters in the Consortium of Mountain Municipalities of Valtellina di Tirano, in Northern Italy. A geo-referenced database, collecting information till 2008, was designed with the aim of using available data of historical events for hazard estimation and the definition of risk scenarios as a basis for Civil Protection planning and emergency management purposes. This database and related statistics about landslides and floods are shown, and a brief overview of historical disasters caused by natural hazards in the study area is presented. A case study showing how useful the database can be to define a simple but realistic scenario is described. Information availability and reliability is discussed and possible uncertainties are underlined. The study shows that collecting and making use of historical information for the definition of hypothetical scenarios and the evaluation of territorial threats is a fundamental source of knowledge to deal with future emergencies.     

Characterizing solute transport with transient storage across a range of flow rates: The evidence of repeated tracer experiments in Austrian and Italian streams

Solute transport in rivers and streams with hyporheic zone exchange and/or in-stream storage is typically affected by the prevailing flow rate. The research reported here focuses on stream tracer experiments repeated many times along the same Austrian (Mödlingbach) and Italian (Torrente Lura) channel reaches to characterize parameter dependency on flow rate. Both groups of data sets showed an increase of storage zone area and main stream area with discharge. In either case, a strong negative correlation was obtained between storage zone residence time and flow rate. From the Mödlingbach data, no clear relationship with Q emerged for the dispersion coefficient and the dead zone ratio, whereas Torrente Lura showed a clear positive correlation of the dispersion coefficient with the flow rate and a slightly negative Q-dependency for the dead zone ratio. Mödlingbach and Torrente Lura results are presented against the background of other repeat experiments reported in literature.