Representation of Uncertainty and Integration of PGIS-based Grazing Intensity Maps Using Evidential Belief Functions

In a project to classify livestock grazing intensity using participatory geographic information systems (PGIS), we encountered the problem of how to synthesize PGIS-based maps of livestock grazing intensity that were prepared separately by local experts. We investigated the utility of evidential belief functions (EBFs) and Dempster's rule of combination to represent classification uncertainty and integrate the PGIS-based grazing intensity maps. These maps were used as individual sets of evidence in the application of EBFs to evaluate the proposition that " This area or pixel belongs to the high, medium, or low grazing intensity class because the local expert(s) says (say) so ". The class-area-weighted averages of EBFs based on each of the PGIS-based maps show that the lowest degree of classification uncertainty is associated with maps in which "vegetation species" was used as the mapping criterion. This criterion, together with local landscape attributes of livestock use may be considered as an appropriate standard measure for grazing intensity. The maps of integrated EBFs of grazing intensity show that classification uncertainty is high when the local experts apply at least two mapping criteria together. This study demonstrates the usefulness of EBFs to represent classification uncertainty and the possibility to use the EBF values in identifying and using criteria for PGIS-based mapping of livestock grazing intensity.     

Characteristics of the seismic attenuation in two tectonically active zones of Southern Europe

The seismic energy attenuation in the frequency range of 1–18 Hz was studied in the two tectonically active zones of Irno Valley (Southern Italy) and Granada Basin (South-East Spain). Data were recorded by short period vertical components seismographs for low-magnitude local earthquakes. The method of coda waves, assuming singleS toS scattering approximation, was used to calculate the quality factorQ from the two data set. Results show a quality factor increasing with frequency, following the empirical lawQ=Q _o f ⁿ .Q _o andn are lower for the Irno Valley than for Granada. This result is interpreted in terms of different scattering environments present in the two investigated areas.     

Site response using coda-wave techniques: Applications to short period data from central and southern Italy

The method of coda waves was applied to two different sets of data for the evaluation of the relative site response.The first set of data consists of low magnitude earthquakes with closely spaced locations, recorded at a small aperture array of velocimeters located in the Abruzzo region, central Italy. The second set of data is composed of events with epicentral distance ranging from 20 to 300 km, recorded at a seismological network with an aperture of about 100 km located in the Puglia region, southern Italy.Results show that the coda wave method furnishes stable estimates of the site effect. An amplification, relative to an arbitrary site, of a factor of about 2 occurs in the 1.7–6 Hz frequency band for two stations of the Abruzzo network, while an amplification factor of about 0.5 occurs in the whole frequency band (1–24 Hz) for one of the stations of the Puglia network. This station is located in an area which is correlated with a low macroseismic intensity anomaly.     

Petrogenesis of calc-alkaline,shoshonitic and associated ultrapotassic Oligocene volcanic rocks from the Northwestern Alps,Italy

Along the Western Alps there is geological evidence of late-Alpine (Oligocene) magmatic activity which clearly postdates the Lepontine (Eocene-early Oligocene) metamorphism and related deformation of the Alpine nappe pile. This magmatic activity was notably delayed in relation to the most important convergent processes and may be related to buoyancy of lithosphere, tensional tectonics and thermal updoming subsequent to the collision between the Eurasian and African plates. The geochemical features of the rocks and the geophysical characteristics of the Alpine chain, suggest that: (a) shoshonitic and calcalkaline melts may have been generated by partial melting of metasomatized peridotitic material and subsequent fractional crystallization and crustal contamination; silicic andesites and latites, however, could have been also derived from metasomatized eclogite or deep continental crust material; (b) the ultrapotassic lamprophyres with high K, P, LREE, Th, Zr, U and high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios were generated by partial melting of strongly metasomatized mantle; the varied Sr-isotopic ratios may partially also reflect additional radiogenic component from the continental crust following magma segregation from the source.     

Error analysis in hypocentral locations at Phlegraean Fields

The location reliability of the earthquakes occurred at Phlegraean Fields has been analyzed, and the theoretical errors, inferred from the diagonal elements of the covariance matrix, have been estimated. Using only first P-phase arrivals to the local network (22 stations) and assuming a reading error of 0.05 sec., the average error on the spatial coordinates is estimated to be of the order of 0.2 km.Shallow events (depth<1 km) are very poorly constrained in depth at the borders of the network. The use of both P and S arrival times, recorded by a smaller three component network (10 stations), improves the depth determination.Further analysis has been performed on a set of about 350 selected earthquakes, using two different velocity models.Differences in depth considerably greater than the theoretical errors, and showing highly different patterns have been found.Tests with artificial events, randomly distributed in space, indicate that the observed depth distribution is essentially due to the used velocity model.     

An adaptive capacity spectrum method for assessment of bridges subjected to earthquake action

Estimating seismic demands on structures, to predict their performance level with confidence, requires explicit consideration of the structural inelastic behaviour: to this end, the use of nonlinear static procedures is inevitably going to be favoured over complex nonlinear time-history methods. The currently available assessment procedures have been tested predominantly against building frames. A newly derived assessment procedure is proposed within the scope of bridge applications, based on an innovative displacement-based adaptive pushover technique. The procedure, which can be incorporated into a performance-based engineering philosophy, is applicable to MDOF continuous span bridges with flexible or rigid superstructures, and for varying degrees of abutment restraint. As a first application to determine the viability of the proposed procedure, a parametric study is conducted on a ensemble of bridges subjected to earthquake motion. It is shown that, compared to the seismic demand estimated by means of the more accurate nonlinear dynamic analysis tool, the novel static assessment method can lead to the attainment of satisfactory predictions, both in terms of displacement as well as moment demand on members.     

Tertiary age and paleostructural inferences of the eclogitic imprint in the Austroalpine outliers and Zermatt–Saas ophiolite, western Alps

The Austroalpine Sesia-Lanzo inlier and upper Austroalpine Dent Blanche, Mt. Mary and Pillonet outliers occur on top of the western-Alpine orogenic wedge and, as a whole, override the structurally composite ophiolitic Piemonte zone. Instead, the Mt. Emilius, Glacier-Rafray, Etirol-Levaz and other lower Austroalpine eclogitic outliers are inserted within the Piemonte zone, between its upper (Combin) and lower (Zermatt-Saas) tectonic elements, or within the latter. Rb-Sr dating on phengitic micas show that the eclogitic imprint in the lower Austroalpine outliers, conventionally regarded as Late Cretaceous by comparison with the Sesia-Lanzo inlier, is of Eocene age (49-40 Ma), like the underlying Zermatt-Saas ophiolite (45-42 Ma) between the Aosta valley and Gran Paradiso massif. ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar plateau ages on the same mica concentrates of the ophiolitic Zermatt-Saas nappe (46-43 Ma) are consistent with Rb-Sr dating, whereas that on the Austroalpine Glacier-Rafray klippe (92 Ma) is influenced by argon excess. The lower Austroalpine outliers underwent the subduction metamorphism concurrently with the Zermatt-Saas nappe, 20-25 Ma later than the eclogitic Sesia-Lanzo inlier and blueschist Pillonet klippe. The temporal gap and present intra-ophiolitic position mean that the lower Austroalpine outliers were probably derived from an intraoceanic extensional allochthon (Mt. Emilius domain) stranded inside the Piemonte-Ligurian ocean far from the Dent Blanche-Sesia domain and Adriatic margin.     

Petrographic and geochemical evidence for the formation of primary, bacterially induced lacustrine dolomite: La Roda 'white earth' (Pliocene, central Spain)

Upper Pliocene dolomites (‘white earth’) from La Roda, Spain, offer a good opportunity to evaluate the process of dolomite formation in lakes. The relatively young nature of the deposits could allow a link between dolomites precipitated in modern lake systems and those present in older lacustrine formations. The La Roda Mg‐carbonates (dolomite unit) occur as a 3·5‐ to 4‐m‐thick package of poorly indurated, white, massive dolomite beds with interbedded thin deposits of porous carbonate displaying root and desiccation traces as well as local lenticular gypsum moulds. The massive dolomite beds consist mainly of loosely packed 1‐ to 2‐μm‐sized aggregates of dolomite crystals exhibiting poorly developed faces, which usually results in a subrounded morphology of the crystals. Minute rhombs of dolomite are sparse within the aggregates. Both knobbly textures and clumps of spherical bodies covering the crystal surfaces indicate that bacteria were involved in the formation of the dolomites. In addition, aggregates of euhedral dolomite crystals are usually present in some more clayey (sepiolite) interbeds. The thin porous carbonate (mostly dolomite) beds exhibit both euhedral and subrounded, bacterially induced dolomite crystals. The carbonate is mainly Ca‐dolomite (51–54 mol% CaCO₃), showing a low degree of ordering (degree of ordering ranges from 0·27 to 0·48). Calcite is present as a subordinate mineral in some samples. Sr, Mn and Fe contents show very low correlation coefficients with Mg/Ca ratios, whereas SiO₂ and K contents are highly correlated. δ¹⁸O‐ and δ¹³C‐values in dolomites range from ?3·07‰ to 5·40‰ PDB (mean=0·06, σ=1·75) and from ?6·34‰ to ?0·39‰ PDB (mean=?3·55, σ=1·33) respectively. Samples containing significant amounts of both dolomite and calcite do not in general show significant enrichment or depletion in ¹⁸O and ¹³C between the two minerals. The correlation coefficient between δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C for dolomite is extremely low and negative (r=?0·05), whereas it is higher and positive (r=0·47) for calcite. The lacustrine dolomite deposit from La Roda is interpreted mainly as a result of primary precipitation of dolomite in a shallow, hydrologically closed perennial lake. The lake was supplied by highly saturated HCO₃^?/CO₃^2? groundwater that leached dolomitic Mesozoic formations. Precipitation of dolomite from alkaline lake waters took place under a semi‐arid to arid climate. However, according to our isotopic data, strong evaporative conditions were not required for the formation of the La Roda dolomite. A significant contribution by bacteria to the formation of the dolomites is assumed in view of both petrographic and geochemical evidence.     

M1, M2 site populations and distortion parameters in synthetic Mg-Fe orthopyroxenes from Mössbauer spectra and X-ray structure refinements

Synthetic orthopyroxenes free of trivalent cations Mg _x Fe _2-x Si₂O₆ (x=0; 1; 1.6) were investigated using both Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) in order to compare the results obtained on the same samples by the two techniques. The Mg-Fe distribution over M1 and M2 octahedral sites was determined on compounds with x = 1 and x=1.6, unheated and annealed at 650, 850 and 1040° C for 29 to 42 hours to obtain different degrees of order. The data obtained by the two techniques are in very good agreement, thus suggesting, for these compositions, the absence of systematic errors. The investigation of a synthetic compound with x=0 (ferrosilite) confirmed that the accuracy of both methods is very good. The observed small discrepancies between the results are not significant if compared with the relevant standard deviations which, for both methods, were derived by leastsquares calculations. The best fit is obtained for Fe(M1)/ Fe(tot) parameters that, in both methods, are directly calculated without using data from chemical analysis. For the unheated samples the values by MS and XRD are respectively: 0.185(9) and 0.180(4) for x = 1.6; 0.282(8) and 0.285(2) for x=1; 0.503(7) and 0.502(1) for x=0. For all the investigated samples the correlation between the geometrical distortion parameters, calculated by X-ray refinement, and the quadrupole splitting values, measured by Mössbauer spectroscopy, agrees with the theoretical model of Ingalls (1964).     

Geodynamic implications of deep mantle upwelling in the source of Tertiary volcanics from the Veneto region (South-Eastern Alps)

Major and trace element and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotopic data for the most primitive Tertiary lavas from the Veneto region (South-Eastern Alps, Italy) show the typical features of HIMU hotspot volcanism, variably diluted by a depleted asthenospheric mantle component (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i=0.70306–0.70378; _Ndi=+3.9 to +6.8; _Hfi=+6.4 to +8.1, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_i=18.786–19.574). P-wave seismic tomography of the mantle below the Veneto region shows the presence of low-velocity anomalies at depth, which is consistent with possible upwellings of plume material. Between the depths of 100–250 km the velocity anomalies are approximately 2–2.5% slower than average, implying a temperature excess of about 220–280 K, in agreement with estimates for other mantle plumes in the world. In this context, the Veneto volcanics may represent the shallow expression of a mantle upflow. The presence of a HIMU-DM component in a collision environment has significant geodynamic implications. Slab detachment and ensuing rise of deep mantle material into the lithospheric gap is proposed to be a viable mechanism of hotspot magmatism in a subduction zone setting.