Recycling and “re-hydration” of degassed magma inducing transient dissolution/crystallization events at Stromboli (Italy)

Intrusive degassing and recycling of degassed and dense magma at depth have been proposed for a long time at Stromboli. The brief explosive event that occurred at the summit craters on 9 January 2005 threw out bombs and lapilli that could be good candidates to illustrate recycling of shallow degassed magma at depth. We present an extensive data set on both the textures and the mineral, bulk rock and glassy matrix chemistry of the “9 Jan” products. The latter have the common shoshonitic–basaltic bulk composition of lavas and scoriae issued from typical strombolian activity. In contrast they differ by the heterogeneous chemistry of their matrix glasses and their crystal textures that testify to crystal dissolution event(s) just prior magma crystallization upon ascent and eruption. Comparison between mineral paragenesis of the natural products and experimental phase equilibria suggest water-induced magma re-equilibration. We propose that mineral dissolution is related to water enrichment of the recycled degassed magma, via differential gas bubble transfer and to some extents its physical mixing with volatile-rich magma blobs. However, all these features illustrate transient processes. Even though evidence of mineral dissolution is ubiquitous at Stromboli, its effect on the bulk magma chemistry is minor because of the subtle interplay between mineral dissolution and crystallization in magmas having comparable bulk chemistry.     

The Puesto Piris Formation: Evidence of basin-development in the North Patagonian Massif during crustal extension associated with Gondwana breakup

The Marifil Volcanic Complex, exposed in the eastern North Patagonian Massif, Argentina, includes up to 550 m of red conglomerates, sandstones, black siltstones, limestones, and reworked tuff of the Puesto Piris Formation. The basal part of this unit, which was deposited in high-gradient topographic relief, is composed of conglomerates and sandstones with thin layers of reworked tuffs. The lithofacies associations of the basal part indicate that the depositional mechanisms were mantled and gravitational flows.The middle part of the unit consists of fine sandstones, limestones, and black siltstones that were deposited in low-energy fluvial and lacustrine environments. The outcrops are located along the NEe SW direction and the major thickest units represented by limestones and siltstones, occur near the southeastern border of this NEeS W depocenter. Since the rhyolitic and trachytic lava flows and tuffs of the Marifil Volcanic Complex are interbedded with the sedimentary sequences of the Puesto Piris Formation,both units are coeval. Zircon Ue Pb age was obtained for a trachytic lava flow(193.4 ±3.1 Ma) suggesting that sedimentation and volcanism are Sinemurian. This extensional episode was recorded in the eastern,western, and southwestern sectors of the North Patagonian Massif, and is possibly associated with the Gondwana supercontinent breakup.     

Surface moisture area during rainfall–run‐off events to understand the hydrological dynamics of a basin in a plain region

The understanding of the hydrology of plain basins may be improved by the combined analysis of rainfall–run‐off records and remote sensed surface moisture data. Our work evaluates the surface moisture area (SMA) produced during rainfall–run‐off events in a plain watershed of the Argentine Pampas Region, and studies which hydrological variables are related to the generated SMA. The study area is located in the upper and middle basins of the Del Azul stream, characterized by the presence of small gently hilly areas surrounded by flat landscapes. Data from 9 rainfall–run‐off events were analysed. MODIS surface reflectance data were processed to calculate SMA subsequent to the peak discharge (post‐SMA), and previous to the rainfall events (prev‐SMA), to consider the antecedent wetness. Rainfall–run‐off data included total precipitation depth (P), maximum intensity of rainfall over 6 hr (I6max), surface run‐off registered between the beginning of the event and the day previous to the analysed MODIS scene (R), peak flow (Qp), and flood intensity (IF). In contrast with other works, post‐SMA showed a negative relationship with the R. Three groups of cases were identified: (a) Events of low I6max, high prev‐SMA, and low R were associated with slow and weakly channelized flow over plain areas, leading to saturated overland flow (SOF), with large SMA; (b) events of high I6max, low prev‐SMA, and medium to high R were rapidly transported along the gentle slopes of the basin, related to Hortonian overland flow (HOF) and low post‐SMA; and (c) events of medium to high I6max and prev‐SMA with medium R were related to heterogeneous input‐antecedent‐run‐off conditions combined: Local spatial conditions may have produced HOF or SOF, leading to an averaged response with medium SMA. The interactions between the geomorphology of the basin, the characteristics of the events, and the antecedent conditions may explain the obtained results. This analysis is relevant for the general knowledge of the hydrology of large plains, whose functioning studies are still in their early stages.     

Characterization of sub‐daily thermal regime in alpine rivers: quantification of alterations induced by hydropeaking

The thermal regime of rivers is threatened by anthropogenic stresses at a large variety of timescales. We focus on sub‐daily thermal alterations induced by the release of hypolimnetic water for hydropower production (thermopeaking). We analyse the thermal signal focusing on the following characteristics that are potentially affected by hypolimnetic releases: (i) sub‐daily thermal rate of change and (ii) oscillation frequencies contained in the thermal signal. Through a proper scaling, we derive two dimensionless at‐a‐station indicators to compare alterations among stations with different locations and physiographic characteristics of the basins. Then we analyse the data from two different thermal datasets (Italy/Switzerland) for a total of 48 stations with 10 min time resolution of temperature data. The stations are grouped according to the absence of upstream hydropeaking releases (29 stations, reference group) and the existence of upstream hydropeaking, hence potentially impacted by thermopeaking (19 stations, altered group). Using a simple statistical approach, based on a non‐parametric definition of outliers, we identify the range of variability of the two indicators for the reference, unaltered group. This range measures the ‘natural’ sub‐daily thermal variability of the proposed indicators. Finally, we investigate the seasonality effects on the two proposed indicators and it results, that sub‐daily alterations mostly occur during summer. The two indicators represent a novel tool for the assessment of river thermal regime alterations and can be easily included in existing methodologies to assess river quality. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

PCDD/Fs in sediments of Central Vietnam coastal lagoons: in search of TCDD

Samples from nine Central Vietnam coastal lagoons, together with three soils and sediments collected in two freshwater reservoirs of the Thua Thien-Hué province, were analysed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). Total concentrations are low, from 192 to 2912 pg g⁻¹ and depth profiles in Tam Giang-Cau Hai (TG-CH) sediment cores show only minor changes over time in PCDD/F input and composition. Octachloro dibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) is the prevailing congener (approximately 90%), indicating combustion as the main PCDD/F source to these coastal systems, whereas natural formation might be partly responsible for the presence at depth. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachloro dibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), largely sprayed together with Agent Orange over the study areas during the war (1961–1971), is absent or very low. This result supports the hypothesis of strong degradation soon after spraying. Multivariate statistical analyses account for the presence of local, short-range sources as observed in the northern part of the TG-CH lagoon.     

A multidisciplinary approach to reveal the Sicily Climate and Environment over the last 20 000 years

We present a thorough review of the knowledge on the climate and environment in Sicily over the last 20 000 years, taking into account results of several studies carried using terrestrial and marine records. We obtain a coherent framework of the most important changes succeeded in the island, even if some points need further investigation. All the reconstructions of surface temperatures of the seas and the air surrounding Sicily point out severe climatic conditions during the last glacial period. The steppe- and semisteppe-like vegetation pattern testifies, together with additional evidence from geochemical data of lacustrine evidence, markedly arid conditions. Fi-nally, significant episodes of sea level drop connected Sicily to the Italian Peninsula and favoured the dispersion of faunal elements from southern Italy. The transition between the last glacial and the Holocene was not characterized by a gradual warming but was punctuated by two abrupt suborbital climatic fluctuations: Bølling-Allerød (warm) and Younger Dryas (cold), as recognized in the sediments recovered close to the northern and southern coast of Sicily. A denser arboreal cover is possibly indicated by the occurrence of dormouse and Arvicola remains. Finally the sensitivity of Sicily to climate perturbations is demonstrated by the occurrence of repeated subtle climatic anomalies during the Holocene, including the Little Ice Age, also known from historical chronicles. Forests, woods and Mediterranean maquis developed in the early-middle Holocene. Thereafter was a general decline of arboreal vegetation, following a general aridification trend that seems to be a common feature in southern Europe and North Africa. Science Greek colonization (7^th century before Christ), the landscape was intensively modelled for agriculture and breeding, leading to a significant loss of vegetation cover.     

Is the forward problem of ground water hydrology always well posed?

Complex aquifer systems are often modeled with quasi-three-dimensional models, which consider two-dimensional horizontal flow in the aquifers and one-dimensional vertical flow through aquitards. When the aquifer system consists of a phreatic aquifer and one or more semiconfined aquifers connected by aquitards, the discrete model consists of a nonlinear system of algebraic equations, because the transmissivity of the phreatic aquifer depends on the phreatic head. If the water extraction is very high, the phreatic aquifer can be depleted and the equations of the model must be modified accordingly. There are not simple and general criteria to state if the phreatic aquifer is depleted before solving the system of equations. Therefore, the iterative procedures (e.g., relaxation methods), used to find the solution to the forward problem, must handle these particular conditions and can suffer several problems of convergence. These problems can be caused by the choice of the initial head values or of the relaxation coefficient of the iterative algorithms; however, they can also be caused by the nonexistence or nonuniqueness of the solution to the system of nonlinear equations. The study of existence and uniqueness of the general problem is very difficult and, therefore, we consider a simplified problem, for which the discrete model can be handled analytically. The results of the numerical experiments show that the solution to the forward problem can be nonunique. Only for some cases it is possible to invoke physical arguments to eliminate tentative solutions.     

Effects of Soft Corals on Scleractinian Coral Recruitment. II: Allelopathy, Spat Survivorship and Reef Community Structure

Abstract. Two field experiments were performed on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, at Orpheus Island and Lizard Island, respectively, to investigate the effects of allelopathic soft corals on survivorship and community structure of scleractinian coral spat. Ceramic tiles were placed around the allelopathic soft corals Sinularia flexibilis (Quoy & Gaimard 1833) and Sarcophyton glaucum (Quoy & Gaimard 1833), and controls. One control consisted of settlement plates surrounding a scleractinian coral (non‐allelopathic planktivore); another control had no adult soft or scleractinian coral present. The experimental soft corals affected the recruitment of various taxonomic groups of coral spat differentially, as evidenced by the diversity of coral spat settling in treatments and controls. At Orpheus Island (O.I., n = 1038 spat) and Lizard Island (L.I., n = 7032 spat), there were significant differences between recruitment success of the two dominant coral taxa, Pocilloporidae (O.I., 61.4 %; L.I., 20.5 %) and Acroporidae (O.I., 33.7 %; L.I., 53 %). Settlement plates exposed to Sinularia flexibilis at either site had the lowest proportion of acroporid recruits. Diversity indices (Shannon‐Wiener Indices) varied significantly between treatments at both Orpheus and Lizard Islands. This appears to be due to selective inhibition of acroporid spat by Sinularia flexibilis at both sites. Growth of coral spat was higher on settlement plates in the presence of Sarcophyton at Lizard Island. Settlement of most associated epibiota was generally inhibited under these conditions. Coral spat survivorship was highest in the presence of Sinularia at Orpheus ­Island; at Lizard Island, this was the case with the Sarcophyton treatment. Higher survivorship, and in some cases growth, of coral spat near soft corals was apparently due to reduced competition for space between spat and associated epibiota. This hypothesis is supported by the results of a sister experiment where a coating of Sinularia flexibilis extract on settlement tiles significantly decreased fouling by sessile epibiota. Soft corals have an allelopathic effect on recruitment and early development of scleractinian corals and, consequently, on early coral reef community succession.     

Investigating the impact of surface wave breaking on modeling the trajectories of drifters in the northern Adriatic Sea during a wind-storm event

An accurate numerical prediction of the oceanic upper layer velocity is a demanding requirement for many applications at sea and is a function of several near-surface processes that need to be incorporated in a numerical model. Among them, we assess the effects of vertical resolution, different vertical mixing parameterization (the so-called Generic Length Scale –GLS– set of k–ε, k–ω, gen, and the Mellor–Yamada), and surface roughness values on turbulent kinetic energy (k) injection from breaking waves.First, we modified the GLS turbulence closure formulation in the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) to incorporate the surface flux of turbulent kinetic energy due to wave breaking. Then, we applied the model to idealized test cases, exploring the sensitivity to the above mentioned factors. Last, the model was applied to a realistic situation in the Adriatic Sea driven by numerical meteorological forcings and river discharges. In this case, numerical drifters were released during an intense episode of Bora winds that occurred in mid-February 2003, and their trajectories compared to the displacement of satellite-tracked drifters deployed during the ADRIA02-03 sea-truth campaign.Results indicted that the inclusion of the wave breaking process helps improve the accuracy of the numerical simulations, subject to an increase in the typical value of the surface roughness z₀. Specifically, the best performance was obtained using α_CH = 56,000 in the Charnok formula, the wave breaking parameterization activated, k–ε as the turbulence closure model. With these options, the relative error with respect to the average distance of the drifter was about 25% (5.5 km/day). The most sensitive factors in the model were found to be the value of α_CH enhanced with respect to a standard value, followed by the adoption of wave breaking parameterization and the particular turbulence closure model selected.     

Hydrological and biogeochemical features of the Northern Adriatic Sea in the period 2003–2006

This paper reports on the main biogeochemical properties of the Northern Adriatic Sea in the period May 2003–November 2006 within the framework of the European program INTERREG III Italy‐Slovenia. Spatial and temporal distributions of water density, dissolved oxygen, nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous and silicon) and chlorophyll a are presented. Multivariate methods such as fuzzy k‐means, self‐organising maps and cluster analysis were used to identify the different water masses and to characterise the temporal and spatial variability of the main biogeochemical features present in the area. The results confirm that the Po River outflows and the meteorological forcing factors are the main components triggering the alternation of stratification and mixing of the water column and that strongly affect the trophic state of the basin. In general, oligotrophic conditions dominate, and were more pronounced offshore, but mesotrophy occurred episodically in May 2004 and July 2005, when phytoplankton blooms were observed concomitant with vertical stability of the water column. A marked interannual variability was also observed, supporting the importance of maintaining long‐term observations of the basin.