Cretaceous to Neogene structural evolution of the Lampedusa Shelf (Pelagian Sea, Central Mediterranean)

Studies of multichannel seismic reflection profiles, calibrated with borehole data, have been carried out in the Tunisian shelf surrounding the islands of Lampione and Lampedusa, in order to define the Mesozoic-Cenozoic stratigraphie and structural evolution of this sector of the Pelagian foreland. The stratigraphy and subsidence history show a subsiding Upper Jurassic carbonate platform buried, by syn- and post-rift neritic to deep marine siliciclastics, marls and limestones of Neocomian-early Eocene age. Thick Middle-Upper Eocene shallow-water carbonates (Halk el Menzel Fm.), lie unconformably over the deep-water sediments and exhibit progradational geometries.
Messinian evaporites are confined to the deepest parts of the Neogene basins and Plio-Quaternary sediments are widespread over the area. Several unconformities affect the stratigraphic column and have been interpreted as related to compressive events during Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary times. These compressive events produced uplift, folding and reverse faulting, trending about NW-SE and partly reactivating Lower Cretaceous extensional structures. The uppermost regional unconformity indicates widespread emergence and erosion during Oligocene and Miocene tintes and was probably related to a younger compressional phase. A strong Upper Miocene-Quaternary extension event also affected the area, characterized by WNW-ESE trending normal faults, parallel to faults flanking the main grabens of the Sicily Strait rift zone. Since the Messinian, the structural evolution of the area has been controlled by rift-related processes which triggered crustal extension in the Pelagian foreland.     

Application of newly developed ensemble machine learning models for daily suspended sediment load prediction and related uncertainty analysis

ABSTRACT

Ensemble machine learning models have been widely used in hydro-systems modeling as robust prediction tools that combine multiple decision trees. In this study, three newly developed ensemble machine learning models, namely gradient boost regression (GBR), AdaBoost regression (ABR) and random forest regression (RFR) are proposed for prediction of suspended sediment load (SSL), and their prediction performance and related uncertainty are assessed. The SSL of the Mississippi River, which is one of the major world rivers and is significantly affected by sedimentation, is predicted based on daily values of river discharge (Q) and suspended sediment concentration (SSC). Based on performance metrics and visualization, the RFR model shows a slight lead in prediction performance. The uncertainty analysis also indicates that the input variable combination has more impact on the obtained predictions than the model structure selection.     

Windowless Q-factor tomography by the instantaneous frequency

The estimation of the Q factor of rocks by seismic surveys is a powerful tool for reservoir characterization, as it helps detecting possible fractures and saturating fluids. Seismic tomography allows building 3D macro-models for the Q factor, using methods as the spectral ratio and the frequency shift. Both these algorithms require windowing the seismic signal accurately in the time domain; however, this process can hardly follow the continuous variations of the wavelet length as a function of offset and propagation effects, and it is biased by the interpreter choice. In this paper, we highlight some drawback of signal windowing in the frequency-shift method, and introduce a tomographic approach to estimate the Q factor using the complex attributes of the seismic trace. We show that such approach is particularly needed when the dispersion is broadening the waveforms of signals with a long wave-path. Our method still requires an interpretative event picking, but no other parameters as the time window length and its possible smoothing options. We validate the new method with synthetic and real data examples, involving the joint tomographic inversion of direct and reflected signals. We show that a calibration of the frequency-shift method is needed to improve the estimation of the absolute Q factor, otherwise only relative contrasts are obtained.     

Experimental and Numerical Studies on the Seismic Response of R.C. Hollow Bridge Piers

Appropriate seismic assessment of reinforced concrete bridges is an important challenge in structural engineering in consideration of the number and relevance of bridges built without applying advanced codes of practice and of the strategic role of transportation networks in modern economy. This paper focuses on some relevant aspects of the damage development and collapse modes of hollow piers, as commonly designed in the past. The following aspects have been considered: absence of confinement, inadequate shear strength, shifting of the critical section, insufficient length of lap splices. A series of experimental tests has been designed and performed; the capacity of predicting appropriate results of formulations recommended in codes of practice or proposed in recent research documents has been checked comparing experimental and analytical results.     

Minor changes in surface-water fertility across the oceanic anoxic event 1d (latest Albian,SE France) evidenced by calcareous nannofossils

The latest Albian sediments deposited in the Vocontian basin in south-eastern France record the oceanic anoxic event (OAE) 1d, locally named the Breistroffer interval. They are represented by argillaceous marls and marls, containing organic matter (total organic carbon varying from 0.8 to 1%). Changes in calcareous nannofossil abundance and assemblage composition as well as macrofauna abundance, ichnofossil assemblage, and bioturbation intensity were analysed in order to evaluate the main palaeoenvironmental factors controlling the deposition of the OAE 1d sediments in this area. The pelagic carbonate production is limited and the carbonate fraction is predominantly of nektonic/benthic, and of allochthonous origin from carbonate platforms. The enrichment in organic carbon within the Breistroffer interval is weak and not associated with high surface-water productivity. The organic matter is mainly terrigenous. Its record is due to (1) a good preservation under dysoxic conditions within the sediments, and (2) a weak input of allochthonous carbonates. Eustatic fluctuations strongly influenced the variations of nannofossil and macrofauna abundances. Distinctive patterns in nannofossil assemblages and macrofauna abundances within the Breistroffer interval are also recognized, reflecting changes from mesotrophic to more oligotrophic conditions which are probably controlled by climate.     

New application of open source data and Rock Engineering System for debris flow susceptibility analysis

This research describes a quantitative,rapid,and low-cost methodology for debris flow susceptibility evaluation at the basin scale using open-access data and ge...     

Predictive assessment of the asbestos content in the Western Italian Alps: an essential tool for an effective approach to risk analysis and management in tunneling operations and muck reuse

The modern approach to the design and management of tunnel excavation, and muck reuse, can be influenced to a great extent by the possible presence of rock formations containing asbestos minerals. This situation creates problems concerning the protection of the workers’ health and the expectable environmental criticalities, while a drastic re-consideration of the muck destination is necessary. Since, in the case of carcinogens, corrective action following exposure or dispersion is not acceptable, detailed knowledge of the characteristics of the material to be excavated is all the more essential. Only on this basis it is possible to design the tunneling operations in a prevention through design approach, so that the tunnel driving techniques, fittings and technologies, and special equipment and modus operandi, can grant, where necessary, minimized risk conditions, and make a correct decision on whether, how and when these measures must be fully activated, since such an approach involves a remarkable impact on costs and work organization. In the Western Alps a detailed identification and quantification of the asbestos content in rocks is a difficult task, due to the fact that the asbestos in the host rocks, mainly serpentinite, shows a highly variable distribution, typical of ophiolitic belts throughout the world, as it is mostly associated with joints and shear zones. The possibilities of a predictive assessment of the asbestos content in the formations to be excavated are here discussed, with special reference to the reliability of the achievable results.     

Debris flow burial of ancient wall system in the Upper Po River valley

The regrouping area, where Hannibal is thought to have reformed his army after forging a path through a massive rockfall in the Cottian Alps, has been reshaped by a blanket of sediment deposited from debris flows following heavy rain in spring, 2008. Analysis of precipitation data for the period mid‐May to mid‐June, 2008, shows that 722 mm of rain fell at 2150 m, falling off to half that amount at 3325 m on the flanks of Mon Viso. Following exhaustive analysis of environmental factors connected with the invasion of Italy at the start of the Second Punic War (218 bc ), identification of the regrouping area for the Carthaginian Army centred on the presence of an ancient stone wall system which possibly dates from Hannibalic times. Lichen cover, lichen diameters, weathering characteristics, degree to which boulders had sunk into the resident soil, and presence of ancient hearths all combined to make this area a choice locale for reconstructive geoarchaeology. Large scale mass wasting off a prominent bedrock bar adjacent to the wall system in the Upper Po River Valley resulted in burial of most of the prominent wall structures which will complicate any exploration geoarchaeology attempts in future.