Millennial-scale shifts in microtidal ecosystems during the Holocene: dynamics and drivers of change from the Po Plain coastal record (NE Italy)

Framed into a robust stratigraphic context, multivariate analyses on the Holocene palaeobiological record (pollen, benthic foraminifers, ostracods) of the Po coastal plain (NE Italy) allowed the investigation of microtidal ecosystems variability and driving parameters along a 35-km-long land–sea transect. Millennial-scale ecosystem shifts are documented by coeval changes in the meiofauna, reflecting variations in organic matter–water depth (shallow-marine environments) and degree of confinement-salinity (back-barrier settings). In-phase shifts of vegetation communities track unsteady water-table levels and river dynamics in freshwater palustrine areas. Five environmental–ecological stages followed one another crossing four tipping points that mark changes in relative sea level (RSL), climate and/or fluvial regime. At the culmination of Mediterranean RSL rise, after the 8200 event, remarkable growth of peatlands took place in the Po estuary, while low accumulation rates typified the shelf. At the transgressive–regressive turnaround (~7000 cal a bp ), the estuary turned into a delta plain with tidally influenced interdistributary embayments. River flow regime oscillations after the Climate Optimum (post-5000 cal a bp ) favoured isolation of the bays and the development of brackish wetlands surrounded by wooded peatlands. The youngest threshold (~800 cal a bp ), which led to the establishment of the modern delta, reflects a major avulsion of the Po River.     

A Reliable Method for Determining the Oxidation State of Manganese at the Microscale in Mn Oxides via Raman Spectroscopy

Manganese oxides are important geomaterials, widespread in terrestrial and Martian environments. Characterisation of the oxidation state of Mn is a central issue in science; this task has been addressed up to the present by X‐ray spectroscopy or diffraction techniques. The former, however, requires access to synchrotron facilities, while the latter does not provide crystal‐chemical information at the local scale. In this work, we compare a large set of Raman data from well‐characterised samples, already published by the same authors of this paper or as found in the literature. We show a clear correlation between the oxidation state of Mn and the wavenumber of peculiar bands; octahedrally co‐ordinated Mn²⁺ is recognised by a band around 530 cm^?1, Mn³⁺ by a band around 580 cm^?1 and Mn⁴⁺ by a band around 630 cm^?1, while tetrahedrally co‐ordinated Mn²⁺ is recognisable by a band around 650 cm^?1. Strongly distorted Mn³⁺ octahedra are indicated by the appearance of Jahn–Teller modes. Our method allows a reliable, easily accessible tool to characterise the oxidation states of Mn in oxides, also suitable for microscale mapping. It provides a robust analytical basis for the use of these minerals as redox indicators in geology/geochemistry, in exoplanetary research or for monitoring technological processes.     

Application of biotic indices and relationship with structural and functional features of macrobenthic community in the lagoon of Venice: an example over a long time series of data

In the context of the application of WFD, a scientific debate is growing about the applicability of biotic indices in coastal and transitional waters. In the present work, the question about the discriminating power of different biotic indices and the relationships with the structure and functioning of the macrobenthic community in a transitional environment is discussed. A time series of samples collected during the last 70 years in the lagoon of Venice, reflecting different environmental conditions (a sort of 'pristine state' in 1935, the distrophic crisis in 1988 and subsequent modifications in 1990, the invasion by an alien species and the developing of high impacting fishery in 1999) has been used. The comparison of results obtained by applying different biotic indices, such as AMBI, Bentix and BOPA, shows differences in the discriminating power of indices and a general overestimation of environmental conditions. Discrepancies between environmental status as indicated by biotic indices and the structure and functioning of the benthic community have been highlighted.     

Decomposition of the central structure of NGC 2273 in the NIR: A case study

The Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 2273 is a prime target to explore how active nuclei can be fed. It has a star-forming innermost nuclear ring with a radius of 0.33kpc from where material may be funneled to the supermassive black hole in its center. In this article, we discuss high-resolution adaptive optics aided JHKs images of NGC 2273 taken with the Large Binocular Telescope. Using Galfit we decomposed the innermost part of NGC 2273 into a core, a disk, and a ring using 58 parameters, 44 of them were used to describe the ring. The stellar mass of the ring was found to be 12 $\times 10^8{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$, a factor of 10 higher than its molecular gas mass. A continuous gas flow via the main stellar bar of NGC 2273 during the lifetime of the bar of up to 10 ${\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }{\text{yr}}^{-1}$ is required to provide the fuel for the formation of the stars unless the star formation efficiency is on the order of 10%. This does not affect the fueling of the nuclear source as the amount of molecular gas required for this low-luminosity active galaxy to achieve this is on the order of $10^4{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$ only.     

A new method to determine the direction of impact: Asymmetry of concentric impact craters as observed in the field (Lockne), on Mars,in experiments,and simulations

Most impacts occur at an angle with respect to the horizontal plane. This is primarily reflected in the ejecta distribution, but at very low angle structural asymmetries such as elongation of the crater and nonradial development of the central peak become apparent. Unfortunately, impact craters with pristine ejecta layers are rare on Earth and also in areas with strong past or ongoing surface erosion on other planetary bodies, and the structural analysis of central peaks requires good exposures or even on‐site access to outcrop. However, target properties are known to greatly influence the shape of the crater, especially the relatively common target configuration of a weaker layer covering a more rigid basement. One such effect is the formation of concentric craters, i.e., a nested, deeper, inner crater surrounded by a shallow, outer crater. Here, we show that with decreasing impact angle there is a downrange shift of the outer crater with respect to the nested crater. We use a combination of (1) field observation and published 3‐D numerical simulation of one of the best examples of a terrestrial, concentric impact crater formed in a layered target with preserved ejecta layer: the Lockne crater, Sweden; (2) remote sensing data for three pristine, concentric impact craters on Mars with preserved ejecta layers further constraining the direction of impact; as well as (3) laboratory impact experiments, to develop the offset in crater concentricity into a complementary method to determine the direction of impact for layered‐target craters with poorly preserved ejecta layers.     

Tall building performance‐based seismic design using SCEC broadband platform site‐specific ground motion simulations

The scarcity of strong ground motion records presents a challenge for making reliable performance assessments of tall buildings whose seismic design is controlled by large‐magnitude and close‐distance earthquakes. This challenge can be addressed using broadband ground‐motion simulation methods to generate records with site‐specific characteristics of large‐magnitude events. In this paper, simulated site‐specific earthquake seismograms, developed through a related project that was organized through the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) Ground Motion Simulation Validation (GMSV) Technical Activity Group, are used for nonlinear response history analyses of two archetype tall buildings for sites in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino. The SCEC GMSV team created the seismograms using the Broadband Platform (BBP) simulations for five site‐specific earthquake scenarios. The two buildings are evaluated using nonlinear dynamic analyses under comparable record suites selected from the simulated BBP catalog and recorded motions from the NGA‐West database. The collapse risks and structural response demands (maximum story drift ratio, peak floor acceleration, and maximum story shear) under the BBP and NGA suites are compared. In general, this study finds that use of the BBP simulations resolves concerns about estimation biases in structural response analysis which are caused by ground motion scaling, unrealistic spectral shapes, and overconservative spectral variations. While there are remaining concerns that strong coherence in some kinematic fault rupture models may lead to an overestimation of velocity pulse effects in the BBP simulations, the simulations are shown to generally yield realistic pulse‐like features of near‐fault ground motion records.     

The Imaclim-R model: infrastructures, technical inertia and the costs of low carbon futures under imperfect foresight

This paper analyzes the transition costs of moving towards a low carbon society when the second-best nature of the economy is accounted for. We emphasize the consequences on mitigation costs of considering the interplay between a) technical systems inertia, including slow infrastructure turnover in transportation and construction; and b) imperfect foresight influencing investment decisions. To this end, the hybrid general equilibrium modeling framework Imaclim-R is employed as it allows for transitory partial adjustments of the economy and captures their impact on the dynamics of economic growth. The modeling exercise quantitatively emphasizes the a) specific risks that the interplay between inertia and imperfect foresight leads to high macroeconomic costs of carbon abatement measures; b) opportunities of co-benefits from climate policies permitted by the correction of sub-optimalities in the reference scenarios. The article draws insights for the framing of future climate architectures by studying the role of measures that act complementarily to carbon pricing in the transport sector. In particular, reallocating public investment towards low-carbon transport infrastructure significantly reduces the overall macroeconomic costs of a given GHG stabilization target and even creates the room for long-term net economic benefits from climate policies.     

Assessment of the impact of climate change on the olive flowering in Calabria (southern Italy)

In phenological studies, plant development and its relationship with meteorological conditions are considered in order to investigate the influence of climatic changes on the characteristics of many crop species. In this work, the impact of climate change on the flowering of the olive tree (Olea europaea L.) in Calabria, southern Italy, has been studied. Olive is one of the most important plant species in the Mediterranean area and, at the same time, Calabria is one of the most representative regions of this area, both geographically and climatically. The work is divided into two main research activities. First, the behaviour of olive tree in Calabria and the influence of temperature on phenological phases of this crop are investigated. An aerobiological method is used to determine the olive flowering dates through the analysis of pollen data collected in three experimental fields for an 11-year study period (1999–2009). Second, the study of climate change in Calabria at high spatial and temporal resolution is performed. A dynamical downscaling procedure is applied for the regionalization of large-scale climate analysis derived from general circulation models for two representative climatic periods (1981–2000 and 2081–2100); the A2 IPCC scenario is used for future climate projections. The final part of this work is the integration of the results of the two research activities to predict the olive flowering variation for the future climatic conditions. In agreement with our previous works, we found a significant correlation between the phenological phases and temperature. For the twenty-first century, an advance of pollen season in Calabria of about 9?days, on average, is expected for each degree of temperature rise. From phenological model results, on the basis of future climate predictions over Calabria, an anticipation of maximum olive flowering between 10 and 34?days is expected, depending on the area. The results of this work are useful for adaptation and mitigation strategies, and for making concrete assessments about biological and environmental changes.     

Combined effect of YORP and collisions on the rotation rate of small Main Belt asteroids

The rotation rate distribution of small Main Belt asteroids is dominated by YORP and collisions. These mechanism act differently depending on the size of the bodies and give rise to non-linear effects when they both operate. Using a Monte Carlo method we model the formation of a steady state population of small asteroids under the influence of both mechanisms and the rotation rate distribution is compared to the observed one as derived from Pravec et al. (Pravec, P. et al. [2008]. Icarus 197, 497-504). A better match to observations is obtained with respect to the case in which only YORP is considered. In particular, an excess of slow rotators is produced in the model with both collisions and YORP because bodies driven to slow rotation by YORP have a random walk-like evolution of the spin induced by repeated collisions with small projectiles. This is a dynamical evolution different from tumbling and it lasts until a large impact takes the body to a faster rotation rate. According to our model, the rotational fission of small asteroids is a very frequent event and might explain objects like P/2010 A2 and its associated tail of millimeter-sized dust particles. The mass loss during fission of small asteroids might significantly influence the overall collisional evolution of the belt. Fission can in fact be considered as an additional erosion mechanism, besides cratering and fragmentation, acting only at small diameters.