Weathering processes affecting granitoid profiles of Capo Vaticano (Calabria,southern Italy) based on petrographic,mineralogic and reaction path modelling approaches

This work focuses on developing multidisciplinary research on weathering profiles of granitoid rocks related to the tectonic and landscape evolution of the Capo Vaticano area, Calabria, southern Italy. During the Pleistocene, the Mediterranean climate plays, on the already decomposed plutonic rocks, important processes of alteration, on both the highest and inland areas and the coastal areas of the Calabrian region, such as the studied area. Field observations coupled to chemical, minero‐petrographical features and geochemical modelling are used to characterize the weathering processes affecting the granitoid complex. The granitoid cut slopes show a generally simple weathering profile characterized by a progressive increase in weathering towards the top of the slopes. The completely weathered rocks (class V) and residual soil (class VI) contain a high percentage of altered minerals, microfractures, and voids. The main mineralogical changes are the partial transformation of biotite and the partial destruction of feldspars (mainly plagioclase) that are associated with the neoformation of secondary clay minerals and ferruginous products during the most advanced stage of weathering. These transformations produce a substitution of the original rock fabric. Geochemical modelling showing the precipitation of kaolinite, illite, vermiculite, ferrihydrite and calcite. These secondary solid phases are similar to those found in this natural system. Thus, the final results of the weathering process is a soil‐like material mainly characterized by mostly a sand to gravel grain‐size fractions related to microfabric changes and mineralogical and chemical variations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An application of EMS98 in a medium-sized city: The case of L��Aquila (Central Italy) after the April 6, 2009 Mw 6.3 earthquake

This paper describes the damage survey in the city of L??Aquila after the 6 April 2009 earthquake. The earthquake, whose magnitude and intensity reached Mw?=?6.3 and Imax?=?9?C10 MCS, struck the Abruzzi region of Central Italy producing severe damage in L??Aquila and in many villages along the Middle Aterno River valley. After the event, a building-to-building survey was performed in L??Aquila downtown aiming to collect data in order to perform a strict evaluation of the damage. The survey was carried out under the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS98) to evaluate the local macroseismic intensity. This damage survey represents the most complex application of the EMS98 in Italy since it became effective. More than 1,700 buildings (99% of the building stock) were taken into account during the survey at L??Aquila downtown, highlighting the difficult application of the macroseismic scale in a large urban context. The EMS98 revealed itself to be the best tool to perform such kind of analysis in urban settings. The complete survey displayed evidence of peculiar features in the damage distribution. Results revealed that the highest rate of collapses occurred within a delimited area of the historical centre and along the SW border of the fluvial terrace on which the city is settled. Intensity assessed for L??Aquila downtown was 8?C9 EMS.     

The impact of groundwater on the excavation of tunnels in two different hydrogeological settings in central Italy

To double the capacity of the Orte?CFalconara railway line (central Italy), the Santa Croce tunnel was constructed (1985?C1995), which runs between the Nera Montoro and Narni stations. In the same period, to double the capacity of the Ancona?CBari railway line, the Moro, Cintioni, S. Giovanni and Diavolo tunnels were constructed between the Ortona and Casalbordino stations. The high likelihood of intercepting a significant volume of groundwater in calcareous rocks of the Santa Croce tunnel led to a shift in the layout of the tunnel, which allowed construction of the tunnel by more rapid and less expensive means. Groundwater along the Moro tunnel layout, in a sandy aquifer, has been drained by the excavation of a preliminary tunnel, which allowed a discharge of up to 0.080?m³/s. In the S. Giovanni and Diavolo tunnels, a particular hydrogeological setting was found to exist in the form of lens-shaped bodies of fine grey sand-and-silt aquitards intercalated between the bottom muddy-sandy deposits (very low permeability) and the sandy aquifer; this caused sudden groundwater inflow and tunnel collapse. The S. Giovanni tunnnel, excavation was completed using the HydroShield system, whereas in the Diavolo tunnel, a well-point system was adopted, which avoided any environmental hazards.     

Induced polarization,resistivity, and self-potential: a case history of contamination evaluation due to landfill leakage

This article compares the efficiency of induced polarization (IP) and resistivity in characterizing a contamination plume due to landfill leakage in a typical tropical environment. The resistivity survey revealed denser electrical current flow that induced lower resistivity values due to the high ionic content. The increased ionic concentration diminished the distance of the ionic charges close to the membrane, causing a decrease in the IP phenomena. In addition, the self-potential (SP) method was used to characterize the preferential flow direction of the area. The SP method proved to be effective at determining the flow direction; it is also fast and economical. In this study, the resistivity results were better correlated with the presence of contamination (lower resistivity) than the IP (lower chargeability) data.     

Integration of EO-based vulnerability estimation into EO-based seismic damage assessment: a case study on L’Aquila, Italy, 2009 earthquake

Remote sensing is proving very useful for identifying damage and planning support activities after an earthquake has stricken. Radar sensors increasingly show their value as a tool for damage detection, due to their shape-sensitiveness, their extreme versatility and operability, all weather conditions. The previous work of our research group, conducted on 1-m resolution spotlight images produced by COSMO-SkyMed, has led to the discovery of a link between some selected texture measures, computed on radar maps over single blocks of an urban area, and the damage found in these neighbourhoods. Texture-to-damage correlation was used to develop a SAR-based damage assessment method, but significant residual within-class variability makes estimations sometimes unreliable. Among the possible remedies, the injection of physical vulnerability data into the model was suggested. The idea here is to do so while keeping all the sources of data in the EO domain, by estimating physical vulnerability from the observation of high-resolution optical data on the area of interest. Although preliminary results seem to suggest that no significant improvement can be directly obtained on classification accuracy, there appears to be some link between estimated damage and estimated accuracy on which to build a more refined version of the damage estimator.     

The Last Pterosaurs: First Record from the Uppermost Maastrichtian of the Tremp Syncline (Northern Spain)

Pterosaur bones are for the first time reported from the Tremp Syncline(Spain) and the southern Pyrenees.They come from the Torrebilles-2 site(Isona,Lleida Province) in the upper Maastrichtian part of the Tremp Formation,which falls within the C29r magnetochron.Fragmentary long bones are referred to the Pterosauria based on their cortical thinness,micro-architecture,and histological features.They belong to very large to possibly giant individuals.The most complete specimen is possibly a partial right femur.The review of the Maastrichtian pterosaur record shows that only a few specimens can be referred to the C29r(which contains the K/Pg boundary).The identification of fragmentary remains could improve our knowledge about the abundance and distribution of these flying sauropsids just before the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.     

The significance of Late Devonian ophiolites in the Variscan orogen: a record from the Vosges Klippen Belt

The present work examines the lithological, structural, geochemical and geochronological records from the Klippen Belt located in the southern Vosges Mountains (NE France). The Klippen Belt is represented by discontinuous exposures of serpentinized harzburgite, ophicalcite, gabbro, gneiss and polymictic conglomerate overlain by deep marine pelitic sediments. Structural data and Bouguer anomalies reveal that the Klippen Belt coincides with a significant discontinuity now occupied by a granitic ridge. Gabbro geochemistry indicates a MOR-type affinity similar to recent slow-spreading ridges, but positive Ba, Sr, Th or U anomalies do not exclude the influence of fluids expelled from a subduction zone. A Sm–Nd isochron age of 372?±?18?Ma is thought to reflect gabbro emplacement from a highly depleted mantle source (ε_Nd?=?+11.3), and U–Pb zircon ages from a gneiss sample indicate that the basement found in the Klippen has a Neoproterozoic origin. Combined data indicate the formation of a deep basin during Late Devonian rifting. The Klippen lithologies could testify for the presence of an ocean–continent transition environment subsequently inverted during the Early Carboniferous. Basin inversion during the Middle Visean was probably controlled by rift-related structures, and resulted in folding of the sedimentary successions as well as exhumation along thrust zones of deep parts of the basin represented by the Klippen Belt. Based on correlations with the neighbouring Variscan massifs, it is proposed that the southern Vosges sequences represent a back-arc basin related to the North-directed subduction of the southern Palaeotethys Ocean. This geodynamic reconstruction is tentatively correlated with similar ophiolitic remnants in the northern part of the French Massif Central (Brévenne) and with the evolution of the southern Black Forest. The Late Devonian ophiolites are interpreted as relicts of small back-arc marginal basins developed during general closure of the Palaeozoic subduction systems.