Syn-thrust deformation across a transverse zone: the Grem–Vedra fault system (central Southern Alps, N Italy)

The lateral continuity of the E?CW trending thrust sheets developed within the Lower to Middle Triassic cover of the central Southern Alps (Orobic belt) is disturbed by the occurrence of several N?CS trending transverse zones, such as the poorly known Grem?CVedra Transverse Zone (GVTZ). The GVTZ developed during the emplacement of the up to six S-verging thrust sheets consisting of Lower to Middle Triassic units, occurring immediately south of the Orobic Anticlines. The transverse zone, active during thrust emplacement related to the early Alpine compressions which pre-date the Adamello intrusion, includes three major vertical shear zones, the Grem, Pezzel and Zuccone faults. The major structure of the transverse zone is the dextral Grem fault, forming a deep lateral ramp between thrust sheets 3 and 5. A similar evolution also occurred along the Zuccone and Pezzel faults, which show a left-lateral displacement of syn-thrust folds. The Grem fault was later reactivated as an oblique tear fault during the emplacement of the Orobic Anticlines, due to back-thrusting along out-of-sequence thrust surfaces (Clusone fault). Transpressional deformations along the fault zone are recorded by the rotation of major syn-thrust folds, which also suggest a horizontal offset close to 0.5?km. Records of the first stage of evolution of the Grem fault are better preserved along its northern segment, and structural relationships suggest that it propagated southward and downward in the growing thrust stack. The study of the meso and megascopic structures developed along the GVTZ constrains the evolution of the transverse zone, illustrating the complex deformational phenomena occurring in a transpressional regime. The GVTZ probably reflects the existence of pre-existing tectonic lineaments with a similar orientation. Evidence of pre-existing structures are not preserved in the exposed units, nevertheless the N?CS extensional fault systems that characterize the Norian to Jurassic rifting history of the Lombardian basin are valid candidates.     

A roadmap for a dedicated Earth Science Grid platform

Due to its intensive data processing and highly distributed organization, the multidisciplinary Earth Science applications community is uniquely positioned for the uptake and exploitation of Grid technologies. Currently Enabling Grids for E-sciencE, and other large Grid infrastructures are already deployed and capable of operational services. So far however, the adoption and exploitation of Grid technology throughout the Earth Science community has been slower than expected. The Dissemination and Exploitation of GRids in Earth sciencE project, proposed by the European Commission to assist and accelerate this process in a number of different ways, had between its main goals the creation of a roadmap towards Earth Science Grid platform. This paper presents the resulting roadmap.     

Polyphase thrusting and dyke emplacement in the central Southern Alps (Northern Italy)

The Triassic succession of the central Southern Alps (Italy) is stacked into several units bounded by south-verging low-angle thrust faults, which are related to two successive steps of crustal shortening. The thrust surfaces are cut by high-angle extensional and strike-slip faults, which controlled the emplacement of hypabissal magmatic intrusions that post-date thrusts motions. Intrusion ages based on SHRIMP U–Pb zircon dating span between 42 ± 1 and 39 ± 1 Ma, suggesting close time relationships with the earliest Adamello intrusion stages and, more in general, with the widespread calc-alkaline magmatism described in the Southern Alps. Fission-track ages of magmatic apatites are indistinguishable from U–Pb crystallization ages of zircons, suggesting that the intrusion occurred in country rocks already exhumed above the partial annealing zone of apatite (depth < 2–4 km). These data indicate that the central Southern Alps were already structured and largely exhumed in the Middle Eocene. Although we describe minor faults affecting magmatic bodies and local reactivations of older structures, no major internal deformations have occurred in the area after the Bartonian. Neogene deformations were instead concentrated farther south, along the frontal part of the belt.     

Archaeoseismology: Methodological issues and procedure

Archaeoseismic research contributes important data on past earthquakes. A limitation of the usefulness of archaeoseismology is due to the lack of continuous discussion about the methodology. The methodological issues are particularly important because archaeoseismological investigations of past earthquakes make use of a large variety of methods. Typical in situ investigations include: (1) reconstruction of the local archaeological stratigraphy aimed at defining the correct position and chronology of a destruction layer, presumably related to an earthquake; (2) analysis of the deformations potentially due to seismic shaking or secondary earthquake effects, detectable on walls; (3) analysis of the depositional characteristics of the collapsed material; (4) investigations of the local geology and geomorphology to define possible natural cause(s) of the destruction; (5) investigations of the local factors affecting the ground motion amplifications; and (6) estimation of the dynamic excitation, which affected the site under investigation. Subsequently, a ‘territorial’ approach testing evidence of synchronous destruction in a certain region may delineate the extent of the area struck by the earthquake. The most reliable results of an archaeoseismological investigation are obtained by application of modern geoarchaeological practice (archaeological stratigraphy plus geological–geomorphological data), with the addition of a geophysical-engineering quantitative approach and (if available) historical information. This gives a basic dataset necessary to perform quantitative analyses which, in turn, corroborate the archaeoseismic hypothesis. Since archaeoseismological investigations can reveal the possible natural causes of destruction at a site, they contribute to the wider field of environmental archaeology, that seeks to define the history of the relationship between humans and the environment. Finally, through the improvement of the knowledge on the past seismicity, these studies can contribute to the regional estimation of seismic hazard.     

Eruptive history and petrologic evolution of the Albano multiple maar (Alban Hills, Central Italy)

A comprehensive volcanological study of the Albano multiple maar (Alban Hills, Italy) using (i) ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology of the most complete stratigraphic section and other proximal and distal outcrops and (ii) petrographic observations, phase analyses of major and trace elements, and Sr and O isotopic analyses of the pyroclastic deposits shows that volcanic activity at Albano was strongly discontinuous, with a first eruptive cycle at 69±1 ka producing at least two eruptions, and a second cycle with two peaks at 39±1 and 36±1 ka producing at least four eruptions. Contrary to previous studies, we did not find evidence of magmatic or hydromagmatic eruptions younger than 36±1 ka. The activity of Albano was fed by a new batch of primary magma compositionally different from that of the older activity of the Alban Hills; moreover, the REE and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr data indicate that the Albano magma originated from an enriched metasomatized mantle. According to the modeled liquid line of descent, this magma differentiated under the influence of magma/limestone wall rock interaction. Our detailed eruptive and petrologic reconstruction of the Albano Maar evolution substantiates the dormant state of the Alban Hills Volcanic District. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at Editorial responsibility: J. Donnelly-Nolan An erratum to this article can be found at     

Sub-seismic scale fracture pattern and in situ permeability data in the chalk atop of the Krempe salt ridge at Lägerdorf, NW Germany: Inferences on synfolding stress field evolution and its impact on fracture connectivity

Chalk is exposed in the Heidestrasse quarry at Lägerdorf, at the top of the NE-SW trending Krempe salt ridge. Structural data indicate the presence of two joint sets, striking almost parallel and perpendicular to the salt ridge, respectively, and of a set of conjugate extensional faults and fault zones striking NW-SE, i.e. almost perpendicular to the salt ridge. Within the overall NW-SE trend of joints and faults, strike variations occur from the massive chalk exposed in the lower half of the quarry, to the overlying layered chalk. A large variability characterizes the normalized spacing of both joint sets, which does not show any clear trend with layer dip. In situ measurements indicate that the cross-sectional permeability of tight joints increases 1-2 orders of magnitude with respect to the undeformed chalk. We propose that joint and fault azimuthal variability resulted from changes through time of the stress ellipsoid at the top of the salt ridge, while joint spacing variability is associated with the weak mechanical influence of bedding in chalk. Azimuthal variability improves fracture connectivity and, hence, permeability and fluid flow.     

Estimation procedures for exchangeable Marshall copulas with hydrological application

Complex phenomena in environmental sciences can be conveniently represented by several inter-dependent random variables. In order to describe such situations, copula-based models have been studied during the last year. In this paper, we consider a novel family of bivariate copulas, called exchangeable Marshall copulas. Such copulas describe both positive and (upper) tail association between random variables. Specifically, inference procedures for the family of exchangeable Marshall copulas are introduced, based on the estimation of their (univariate) generator. Moreover, the performance of the proposed methodologies is shown in a simulation study. Finally, an illustration describes how the proposed procedures can be useful in a hydrological application.     

The heating history of Vesta and the onset of differentiation

In this work, we study the link between the evolution of the internal structure of Vesta and thermal heating due to ²⁶Al and ⁶⁰Fe and long‐lived radionuclides, taking into account the chemical differentiation of the body and the affinity of ²⁶Al with silicates. We explored several thermal and structural scenarios differing in the available strength of energy due to the radiogenic heating and in the postsintering macroporosity. By comparing them with the data supplied by the HEDs and the Dawn NASA mission, we use our results to constrain the accretion and differentiation time as well as the physical properties of the core. Differentiation takes place in all scenarios in which Vesta completes its accretion in <1.4 Ma after the injection of ²⁶Al into the solar nebula. In all those scenarios where Vesta completes its formation in <1 Ma from the injection of ²⁶Al, the degree of silicate melting reaches 100 vol% throughout the whole asteroid. If Vesta completed its formation between 1 and 1.4 Ma after ²⁶Al injection, the degree of silicate melting exceeds 50 vol% over the whole asteroid, but reaches 100 vol% only in the hottest, outermost part of the mantle in all scenarios where the porosity is lower than 5 vol%. If the formation of Vesta occurred later than 1.5 Ma after the injection of ²⁶Al, the degree of silicate melting is always lower than 50 vol% and is limited only to a small region of the asteroid. The radiation at the surface dominates the evolution of the crust, which ranges in thickness from 8 to about 30 km after 5 Ma: a layer about 3–20 km thick is composed of primitive unmelted chondritic material, while a layer of about 5–10 km is eucritic.