Multiplatform observation of the surface circulation in the Gulf of Naples (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea)

The Gulf of Naples (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) is a highly urbanised area, where human activities and natural factors (e.g. river runoff, exchanges with adjacent basins) can strongly affect the water quality. In this work we show how surface transport can influence the distribution of passively drifting surface matter, and more in general if and how the circulation in the basin can promote the renovation of the surface layer. To this aim, we carried out a multiplatform analysis by putting together HF radar current fields, satellite images and modelling tools. Surface current fields and satellite images of turbidity patterns were used to initialise and run model simulations of particle transport and diffusion. Model results were then examined in relation to the corresponding satellite distributions. This integrated approach permits to investigate the concurrent effects of surface dynamics and wind forcing in determining the distribution of passive tracers over the basin of interest, identifying key mechanisms supporting or preventing the renewal of surface waters as well as possible areas of aggregation and retention.     

Multi-method radiometric dating of volcano-sedimentary layers from northern Italy: Age and duration of the Priabonian stage

A comparison between conventional KAr (biotite) ages and fission track (zircon and apatite) and UPb (zircon) ages obtained from stratigraphically well-constrained Priabonian (Late Eocene) volcano-sedimentary deposits of northern Italy is presented. Two sections at Priabona (one level) and Possagno (two levels) were dated. The application of fission track dating appears fruitful for obtaining reasonably precise (±4 to 5% 2σ errors) ages useful for time-scale calibration. The concordancy of apatite and zircon fission track ages, and the reproducibility of results provide the time of volcanic eruption and deposition. The UPb analysis of the zircons has not been unsuccessful, but discordancy does not permit accurate dating. Significant dates obtained from Possagno are: KAr method, 35.0 ± 0.5 Ma (duplicate analysis on K-rich biotite from the same level); fission track dating method, 35.8 ± 1.4 Ma (weighted mean age on 2 apatite and 3 zircon separates from the same level); UPb method, 36.7 ± 1.0 Ma (maximum age of discordant zircons from the same level). The comparison between the present results and recent multi-method and multi-laboratory results obtained from time equivalent Priabonian (Late Eocene) biotite-rich layers from the Apennines shows perfect agreement and supports the location of a Priabonian stage between about 37.5 Ma and about 33.7 (±0.5) Ma; the alternative ages preferred by the Decade of North American Geology convention should be abandoned and a large portion of this scale revised accordingly.     

Some results and comments on the Tidal Flow Forum exercise

Two approaches are followed to estimate the fit between ‘observations’ and the results obtained with different numerical models within the frame of the Tidal Flow Forum exercise. The first approach (i.e. the computation of the RMS errors on the timeseries for a specific day) is shown to be insufficient because the RMS error computed over a short period of time is strongly dependent on the selected test period. Such RMS values are significant if and only if they are computed over a sufficiently long period of time, T. Hence, the model validation must be done on the basis of the results of long term simulations. The limit of the RMS values as T becomes arbitrarily large is related to the maximum error made on each constituent. Those maximum errors are easily calculated from the harmonic constants (computed versus observed) of the constituents. The results of the calculation of the maximum errors indicate that the M₂, S₂, N₂ and M₄ components are the largest contributors to the overall error for the area under consideration. On the basis of maximum errors, the TFF results obtained so far are almost of the same order of accuracy. The errors affecting the TFF results are not much larger than those affecting most reported results of similar models used in similar applications     

Cancellation exponents and multifractal scaling laws in the solar wind magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Some signed measures in turbulence are found to be sign-singular, that is their sign reverses continuously on arbitrary finer scales with a reduction of the cancellation between positive and negative contributions. The strength of the singularity is characterized by a scaling exponent , the cancellation exponent. In the present study by using some turbulent samples of the velocity field obtained from spacecraft measurements in the interplanetary medium, we show that sign-singularity is present everywhere in low-frequency turbulent samples. The cancellation exponent can be related to the characteristic scaling laws of turbulence. Differences in the values of , calculated in both high- and low-speed streams, allow us to outline some physical differences in the samples with different velocities.     

Isotopic and geochemical characterization of salinization in the shallow aquifers of a reclaimed subsiding zone: The southern Venice Lagoon coastland

The coastal plain bordering the southern Venice Lagoon is a reclaimed lowland characterized by high subsidence rate, and ground level and water-table depth below sea level. In this agricultural region, where the surface hydrologic network is entirely artificially controlled by irrigation/drainage canals, salinization problems have long been encountered in soils and groundwaters. Here we use isotopic and geochemical tracers to improve our understanding of the origin of salinization and mineralization of the semi-confined aquifer (0–40 m), and the freshwater inputs to this hydrological system. Water samples have been collected at different seasons in the coastal Adriatic Sea, lagoon, rivers and irrigation canals, as well as in the semi-confined aquifer at depths between 12 and 35 m (14 boreholes), and in the first confined aquifer (three boreholes drilled between 40 and 80 m depth). Stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O and δD) and conductivity profiles show that direct saline intrusion from the sea or the lagoon is observed only in a restricted coastal strip, while brackish groundwaters are found over the entire topographic and piezometric depression in the centre of the study area. Fresh groundwaters are found only in the most western zone. The sharp isotopic contrast between the western and central regions suggests disconnected hydrological circulations between these two parts of the shallow aquifer. The border between these two regions also corresponds to the limits of the most strongly subsiding zone.Our results can be interpreted in terms of a four end-member mixing scheme, involving (1) marine water from the lagoon or the open sea, (2) alpine and pre-alpine regional recharge waters carried either by the main rivers Adige, Bacchiglione and Brenta (irrigation waters) or by the regional groundwater circulation, (3) local precipitation, and (4) evaporated waters infiltrated from the surface. Infiltration from the surface is also revealed by the stratification of the electrical conductivity profiles, showing that the brackish groundwaters are overlain by a shallow layer of less saline water all over the central depression. In the first confined aquifer, the groundwaters have isotopic compositions similar to the deep groundwaters of the Venetian confined aquifers (40–400 m depth). The isotopic data and the Br/Cl ratio show that the origin of the salinization of the phreatic aquifer can be ascribed to seawater intrusion alone, with no indication of the involvement of deep brines (identified at 450 m depth) in the process.The chemical composition of the saline and brackish groundwaters is characterized by an excess of sodium and a deficit of calcium compared to conservative mixing between fresh groundwaters and seawater. This suggests that the phreatic aquifer is progressively freshening, as a consequence of the beneficial influence of the extensive irrigation/drainage network, including raised canals acting as a hydraulic barrier along the coast. This freshening tendency may have been lasting since the reclamation in the mid-twentieth century, and has probably been accelerated by the ban on groundwater abstraction since the 1970s.     

Investigating Ionospheric Scintillation Effects on Multifrequency GPS Signals

Surveys in Geophysics - Over the last 15 years, the satellite constellation of the global positioning system (GPS) has been modernized for more precise applications, with the introduction...     

Qualitative and quantitative aspects of the evolution of the planktonic populations in Lake Lugano

This study is a summary of all available information on the long-term and on the more recent development of the planktonic populations in Lago di Lugano with regard to its trophic evolution. The first effects of the lake eutrophication became manifest beginning in the 1950's and brought to important changes in the planktonic community as the appearance and the rapid increase of the filamentous algaeOscillatoria rubescens andStephanodiscus hantzschii, and the disappearance of the zooplanktonic Diaptomidae. Since 1980 the phosphorus concentration began to decrease in lake's epilimnion and the planktonic community showed a new composition, evidencing the presence of others predominant species:Oscillatoria redekei, Lyngbya limnetica, Stephanodiscus sp. (little form). Since 1989 algal standing crop reduced its value below 2 g m^–2 (dry weight); furthermore a strong decrease of the Cyanophceae and the appearance of new predominant species (Tabellaria fenestrata, div. Ulotrichales) occurred. At the same time an increase of the herbivorous zooplankton (Daphnia hyalina) and the come-back of the Diaptomidae was observed. Only in the northern basin a decrease tendency of the primary production was observed, changing from 480 to about 300 g C m^–2 yr^–1 during the last 10 years.