Detecting recent changes in the demographic parameters of drosophilid populations from western and central Africa

Previous genetic studies showing evidence of past demographic changes in African drosophilids suggested that these populations had strongly responded to Quaternary climate changes. We surveyed nine species of Zaprionus, a drosophilid genus mostly present in Africa, in forests located between southern Senegal and Gabon. The mitochondrial COI gene showed contrasted levels of sequence variation across species. Populations of the only cosmopolitan species of the genus, Z. indianus, and of its closely related sibling species, Z. africanus, are highly polymorphic and appear to have undergone a continuous population expansion beginning about 130,000 years ago. Five less variable species probably underwent a population expansion beginning only about 20,000–30,000 years ago. One of them, Z. taronus, was significantly structured between forest blocks. The last two species were nearly monomorphic, probably due to infection by Wolbachia. These results are similar to those obtained in three species from the melanogaster subgroup, and may be typical of the responses of African drosophilid populations to glacial cycles.     

Syn-thrust deformation across a transverse zone: the Grem–Vedra fault system (central Southern Alps, N Italy)

The lateral continuity of the E?CW trending thrust sheets developed within the Lower to Middle Triassic cover of the central Southern Alps (Orobic belt) is disturbed by the occurrence of several N?CS trending transverse zones, such as the poorly known Grem?CVedra Transverse Zone (GVTZ). The GVTZ developed during the emplacement of the up to six S-verging thrust sheets consisting of Lower to Middle Triassic units, occurring immediately south of the Orobic Anticlines. The transverse zone, active during thrust emplacement related to the early Alpine compressions which pre-date the Adamello intrusion, includes three major vertical shear zones, the Grem, Pezzel and Zuccone faults. The major structure of the transverse zone is the dextral Grem fault, forming a deep lateral ramp between thrust sheets 3 and 5. A similar evolution also occurred along the Zuccone and Pezzel faults, which show a left-lateral displacement of syn-thrust folds. The Grem fault was later reactivated as an oblique tear fault during the emplacement of the Orobic Anticlines, due to back-thrusting along out-of-sequence thrust surfaces (Clusone fault). Transpressional deformations along the fault zone are recorded by the rotation of major syn-thrust folds, which also suggest a horizontal offset close to 0.5?km. Records of the first stage of evolution of the Grem fault are better preserved along its northern segment, and structural relationships suggest that it propagated southward and downward in the growing thrust stack. The study of the meso and megascopic structures developed along the GVTZ constrains the evolution of the transverse zone, illustrating the complex deformational phenomena occurring in a transpressional regime. The GVTZ probably reflects the existence of pre-existing tectonic lineaments with a similar orientation. Evidence of pre-existing structures are not preserved in the exposed units, nevertheless the N?CS extensional fault systems that characterize the Norian to Jurassic rifting history of the Lombardian basin are valid candidates.     

Experimental study of gold-hydrosulphide complexing in aqueous solutions at 350-500°C, 500 and 1000 bars using mineral buffers

The solubility of gold was measured in KCl solutions (0.001-0.1 m) at near-neutral to weakly acidic pH in the presence of the K-feldspar-muscovite-quartz, andalusite-muscovite-quartz, and pyrite-pyrrhotite-magnetite buffers at temperatures 350 to 500°C and pressures 0.5 and 1 kbar. These mineral buffers were used to simultaneously constrain pH, f(S₂), and f(H₂). The experiments were performed using a CORETEST flexible Ti-cell rocking hydrothermal reactor enabling solution sampling at experimental conditions. Measured log m(Au) (mol/kg H₂O) ranges from −7.5 at weakly acid pH to −5.9 in near-neutral solutions, and increases slightly with temperature. Gold solubility in weakly basic and near-neutral solutions decreases with decreasing pH at all temperatures, which implies that Au(HS)₂ is the dominant Au species in solution. In more acidic solutions, solubility is independent of pH. Comparison of the experimentally measured solubilities with literature values for Au hydrolysis constants demonstrates that at 350°C dominates Au aqueous speciation at the weakly acidic pH and f(S₂)/f(H₂) conditions imposed by the pyrite-pyrrhotite-magnetite buffer. In contrast, at temperatures >400°C becomes less important and predominates in weakly acid solutions. Solubility data collected in this study were used to calculate the following equilibrium reaction constants:

     

On estimating frequency-magnitude relations from heterogeneous catalogs

The paper studies the effect of magnitude errors on heterogeneous catalogs, by applying the apparent magnitude theory (seeTinti andMulargia, 1985a), which proves to be the most natural and rigorous approach to the problem. Heterogeneities in seismic catalogs are due to a number of various sources and affect both instrumental as well as noninstrumental earthquake compilations.The most frequent basis of heterogeneity is certainly that the recent instrumental records are to be combined with the historic and prehistoric event listings to secure a time coverage, considerably longer than the recurrence time of the major earthquakes. Therefore the case which attracts the greatest attention in the present analysis is that of a catalog consisting of a subset of higher quality data, generallyS ₁, spanning the interval T ₁ (the instrumental catalog), and of a second subset of more uncertain magnitude determination, generallyS ₂, covering a vastly longer interval T ₂ (the historic and/or the geologic catalog). The magnitude threshold of the subcatalogS ₁ is supposedly smaller than that ofS ₂, which, as we will see, is one of the major causes of discrepancy between the apparent magnitude and the true magnitude distributions. We will further suppose that true magnitude occurrences conform to theGutenberg-Richter (GR) law, because the assumption simplified the analysis without reducing the relevancy of our findings.The main results are: 1) the apparent occurrence rate exceeds the true occurrence rate from a certain magnitude onward, saym _GR; 2) the apparent occurrence rate shows two distinct GR regimes separated by an intermediate transition region. The offset between the two regimes is the essential outcome ofS ₁ being heterogeneous with respect toS ₂. The most important consequences of this study are that: 1) it provides a basis to infer the parameters of the true magnitude distribution, by correcting the bias deriving from heterogeneous magnitude errors; 2) it demonstrates that the double GR decay, that several authors have taken as the incontestable proof of the failure of the GR law and of the experimental evidence of the characteristic earthquake theory, is instead perfectly consistent with a GR-type seismicity.     

Assessing the Vibrational Frequencies of the Cathedral of Cologne (Germany) by Means of Ambient Seismic Noise Analysis

Ambient seismic noise measurements were conducted inside the Cathedral of Cologne (Germany) for assessing its frequencies of vibration and for checking whether these occur in the range where soil amplification is expected. If this is the case, damages may increase in case of an earthquake due to an increased structural response of the building. Analysis of the ratio between the horizontal and vertical components of the spectra recorded at stations located inside the building as well as the ratio between the corresponding components of the spectra recorded simultaneously inside the building and at a reference station placed in the basement of the cathedral indicated several modes of vibration. Facilitated by these results an assessment of the seismic vulnerability was attempted for a 2D ground motion scenario using the finite element method.     

Large wood transport modelling by a coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian approach

The paper discusses a model which predicts the trajectory of floating rigid bodies and may be applied to compute the motion of woody “debris” mobilized during floods. The model couples a Discrete Element (DE) Lagrangian approach for the calculation of motion of rigid bodies with the Eulerian solution of the shallow water equations (SWE), in order to simulate the transport of a cylinder in a two-dimensional stream. It differs from existing models since it is based on a dynamic approach, adapting the Basset–Boussinesq–Oseen equation. In a first step, forces are computed from flow and log velocities; then, the equations of dynamics are solved to model the planar roto-translation of the body. Model results and physical reliability are clearly affected by the values of the drag and side coefficients, especially since logs, modelled as cylinders, are able to change their orientation towards the flow. Experimental studies to evaluate drag and side coefficients can be found in the literature for a submerged cylinder, with various orientations. To extend such results to the case of a floating log, the authors performed a series of laboratory tests on partially submerged cylinders, implementing the outcomes in the proposed DE-SWE model. The coupled model is validated against existing laboratory data concerning spheres and wooden cylinder transport.     

Stratigraphic features of the Maltese Archipelago: a synthesis

The present study gathers a large amount of both existing and unpublished biostratigraphic data, which allows a detailed and complete definition of the stratigraphic features of the late Oligocene–late Miocene Maltese Archipelago sedimentary succession, recording in turn the tectonic and eustatic history of the Central Mediterranean region. We selected five sections in the Malta Island and three in Gozo, representative of the entire sedimentary succession, affected by well-known erosional surfaces, correlated to low-stands of the sea level, often associated with phoshatic layers, linked to the subsequent high-stands. The sedimentary interval, and thus the associated hiatuses, was constrained both by the bio-chronostratigraphic attribution and by the comparison with the third-order succession of the New Jersey passive margin, which shows strict analogy with the geodynamic context in which the Maltese succession deposited. The diachroneity at the base of the formations in the different sections, and the presence of intraformational unconformity/hiatuses, highlighted the role of the tectonic, which depicted a complex sedimentary basin, characterized by more distal versus more marginal sectors. Furthermore, the possibility to compare the sedimentary succession with the oxygen isotope curve connects the sedimentation interruptions, recorded within the Maltese Archipelago deposits, to global cooling events.

     

Paleogeography and structure of the central Mediterranean: Sicily and its offshore area

The geology of the mainland and offshore of Sicily is illustrated by a few geologic sections and seismic profiles across the late Cenozoic orogenic belt of central and western Sicily and across the Sardinia Channel and Sicily Straits. This belt is the result of several tectonic events. Deformation involved mainly the sedimentary cover of the old African continental margin characterized by a broad basinal domain, flanked along its external (southern) margin by a shallow-water carbonate platform attached to Africa in the Triassic. Compressional deformation started in the more internal basinal rock assemblages overlying a thinned crust. The most important structural characteristic of the early phase of thrusting is the duplex pile forming the bulk of the chain in Central Western Sicily. The structure consists of a basal allochthon, made up of Permian to Middle Triassic layers, an intermediate duplex wedge, composed of competent Mesozoic carbonates, and a roof complex, including Upper Mesozoic-Lower Tertiary less competent rocks. Large-scale clockwise rotation of the thrusts accompanied transpressional movements in the hinterland during the Pliocene. Right oblique reverse faults modified the previous tectonic contacts between the allochthons in the hinterland zones. Contemporaneous south-directed imbrications affected the southern external areas, progressively incorporating foreland and piggyback basins. Development of the Gela Thrust System appears to be linked to the transpressional event; its accretion is also related to contemporaneous underthrusting at deeper levels of Mesozoic carbonate substratum. The older buried thrust sheets were pushed up to the surface breaching the deformed Tertiary cover of the Gela TS. Northwards in the belt post-Messinian normal growth faults opened half graben whose sedimentary fill underwent structural inversion. Alternation of extension and compression tectonics characterizes the Sicilian continental margin in the last million years.     

Multispectral remote sensing of biomass burning in West Africa

Remote sensing measurements provide a vauable means of determining the extent of burning areas and of estimating the overall distribution of pollutant sources (identified from experimental studies) in time and space. This distribution has to be taken into account in the boundary conditions of chemistry atmospheric models.Recent methods developed for the remote sensing of active fires in tropical or temperated forest zones, have been found to be completely inadequate for fire detection on West African savannas. In order to accurately estimate the active fire distribution in the function of different sorts of West African savannas (Sahelian, Sudanian and Guinean) and forests, a multispectral methodology has been developed based on NOAA/11-AVHRR satellite data, with the purpose of eliminating as much as possible the problems related to large surface heterogeneity, confusion and bias, produced by clouds, smoke, haze, background emissivities, etc.Unlike other methods, the results show that the multispectral method, in spite of its selectivity, provides realistic results, and does not under- or over-estimate the number of fires that can be sensed by the satellite. Consequently, this methodology is more appropriate than the simplest ones for a systematic sensing of this phenomenon.