Seasonal effects of rainfall on the shallow pyroclastic deposits of the Campania region (southern Italy)

The shallow deposits of unsaturated pyroclastic soils covering the slopes in the Campania region (southern Italy) are systematically affected by various rainfall-induced slope instabilities. The type and triggering of these instabilities depend on several factors, among which in situ soil suction—as an initial condition—and rainfall—as a boundary condition—play a fundamental role. Based on the available database—which includes a comprehensive catalogue of historical data, in situ soil suction measurements and soil laboratory tests along with the results of geomechanical analyses—this paper discusses the relationships among in situ soil suction and rainfall conditions and induced slope instability types. The goal is to reach a better understanding of past events and gain further insight into the analysis and forecasting of future events. In particular, the paper outlines how the season strongly affects the spatial distribution and the type of slope instability likely to develop. For example, erosion phenomena essentially occur at the end of the dry season and originate hyperconcentrated flows while first-time shallow slides prevail in the rainy season and later propagate as debris flows or as debris avalanches.     

Radiological characterization of granitoid outcrops and dimension stones of the Variscan Corsica-Sardinia Batholith

This study focuses on the radiological characterization of granitoid outcrops and dimension stones using in situ gamma-ray spectrometry. Extensive measurements were performed on 210 granitoid outcrops of the Corsica-Sardinia Batholith. The large statistical sample allowed us to improve the analysis by considering a log-normal distribution of radioelements and propagating the uncertainties using Monte Carlo method. The activity concentrations of ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra (²³⁸U) and ²³²Th in C-SB area were 1,177 _?304 ⁺⁴⁰⁸ , 60 _?23 ⁺³⁶ and 69 _?25 ⁺³⁸  Bq/kg (at 1σ uncertainty). The median abundance of K, U and Th on the Variscan C-SB was higher than the average values of the upper continental crust and was comparable with Variscan belt. This corresponds to an outdoor absorbed dose rate of 124 _?26 ⁺³³  nGy/h at 1σ uncertainty which is 3σ higher than the population-weighted average absorbed dose rate (60 nGy/h). Seven commercial granites (Rosa Beta, Ghiandone, Giallo San Giacomo, Rosa Cinzia, Grigio Malaga, Bianco Sardo and Grigio Perla) were investigated to characterize their radiological hazard through 147 measurements taken in 73 extractive quarries. All of the commercial granites were categorized as A2 material based on their activity concentration indices, excluding (at the 3σ level) any restriction on their utilization as superficial materials. Rosa Beta, Grigio Malaga, Grigio Perla and Bianco Sardo can also be used as bulk materials as they can be included in the A1 category. In the case of Ghiandone, Giallo San Giacomo and Rosa Cinzia, we are confident of an A1 classification only at the 1σ level.     

The imprint of accretion on the UV spectrum of young stellar objects: an X-Shooter view

The evolution of protoplanetary disks is regulated by its interaction with the central forming star. This interaction happens through accretion of matter from the disk onto the star, and its most significant signatures are the continuum excess in the UV part of the spectrum and the presence of various emission lines. With the VLT/X-Shooter spectrograph, the excess emission in the UV due to accretion can being studied simultaneously with the signatures in the visible and in the near-infrared, giving a simultaneous and complete view of this phenomenon. Here we present some results we obtained using observation and modeling of the UV-excess in young forming stars, which are: (1) the determination of stellar and accretion properties in candidate older accreting young stellar objects and (2) the study of the star-disk interaction in the early stages of planetary system evolution in transitional disk systems.     

First record of Odontaster penicillatus populations (Philippi, 1870) (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) in the Atacama and Antofagasta regions,Chile (Southeast Pacific)

We report for the first time the presence of local populations of the starfish Odontaster penicillatus in the regions of Atacama and Antofagasta, Chile. This finding indicates an extension of the distribution limit of 500 km with respect to the last observation made in 2007 in Isla Grande de Atacama. A total of 121 specimens of O. penicillatus were recorded at depths of between 8 m and 24 m. They were associated with rocky substrate and with different species of barnacles, sponges and bryozoans. The presence of O. penicillatus expands the knowledge of the benthic biodiversity of the region, and the development of studies on its ecological importance will be promoted.     

Syn-depositional halokinesis in the Zechstein Supergroup (Lopingian) controls Triassic minibasin genesis and location

Salt tectonics is typically caused by the flow of mobile evaporites in response to post-depositional gravity gliding and/or differential loading by overburden sediments. This situation is considerably more complex near the margins of salt basins, where carbonate and clastic rocks may be deposited at the same time as and be interbedded with more mobile, evaporitic strata. In these cases, syn-depositional salt flow may occur due to density differences in the deposited lithologies, although our understanding of this and related processes is relatively poor. We here use 3D seismic reflection and borehole data from the Devil's Hole Horst, West Central Shelf, offshore UK to understand the genesis, geometry, and kinematic evolution of intra-Zechstein Supergroup (Lopingian) minibasins and their effect on post-depositional salt deformation. We show that immobile, pinnacle-to-barrier-like, carbonate build-ups and anhydrite are largely restricted to intra-basin highs, whereas mobile halite, which flowed to form large diapirs, dominates in the deep basin. At the transition between the intra-basin highs and the deep basin, a belt of intra-Zechstein minibasins occurs, forming due to the subsidence of relatively dense anhydrite into underlying halite. Depending on primary halite thickness, these intra-Zechstein minibasins created topographic lows, dictating where Triassic minibasins subsequently nucleated and down-built. Our study refines the original depositional model for the Zechstein Supergroup in the Central North Sea, with the results also helping us better understand the style and distribution of syn-depositional salt flow within other layered evaporitic sequences and the role intra-salt heterogeneity and related deformation may have in the associated petroleum plays.     

Reply to Comment on “Hydrodynamics of karst aquifers in metamorphic carbonate rocks: results from spring monitoring in the Apuan Alps (Tuscany,Italy)”: report published in Hydrogeology Journal (2023) 31:241–255, by Leonardo Piccini,Alessia Nannoni,and Emilio Poggetti

Hydrogeology Journal -     

Aridity indices to assess desertification susceptibility: a methodological approach using gridded climate data and cartographic modeling

Natural Hazards - Desertification is a land degradation phenomenon with dire and irreversible consequences, affecting different regions of the world. Assessment of spatial climate susceptibility to...     

Earthquake-induced reactivation of landslides under variable hydrostatic conditions: evaluation at regional scale and implications for risk assessment

Landslides - Earthquake-induced landslides represent a significant seismic hazard since they can largely increase the damage and losses due to a seismic event, an issue that must be considered in...     

HTLP metamorphism and fluid-fluxed melting during multistage anatexis of continental crust (N Sardinia,Italy)

The Variscan high-grade metamorphic basement of northern Sardinia and southern Corsica record lower Carboniferous anatexis related to post-collisional decompression of the orogen. Migmatites exposed in the Punta Bianca locality (Italy) consist of quartz + biotite + plagioclase + K-feldspar orthogneisses, garnet and cordierite-bearing diatexite and metatexites, derived from metasediments. Field evidence, petrographic observations, ELA-ICP-MS zircon and monazite dating and pseudosection modelling suggest that anatexis was apparently episodic involving two main stages of partial melting. Using pseudosection modelling, we infer that the first stage of partial melting is in the upper amphibolite facies (~0.45 GPa at ~740°C). Cordierite overgrowths replacing sillimanite, combined with the composition of plagioclase and K-feldspar, suggest decompression followed cooling below the solidus at low pressures of ~0.3 GPa. The age of the first anatectic event is not precisely constrained because of extensive resetting of the isotopic systems during the second melting stage, yet few zircons preserve a lower Carboniferous age which is consistent with the regional dataset. This lower Carboniferous migmatitic fabric is offset by a network of pseudotachylyte-bearing faults suggestive of cooling to greenschist facies conditions. Garnet/cordierite-bearing diatexites incorporate fragments of pseudotachylite-bearing orthogneiss and metatexites. Pseudosection modelling indicates nearly isobaric re-heating up to ~750°C, followed by further cooling below the solidus. The inferred P–T path is consistent with decompression and cooling of the Variscan crust through post-collisional extension and collapse of the thickened orogenic crust, followed by nearly isobaric re-heating at low pressures (~0.3 GPa) yielding to a second melting stage under LP-HT conditions. U/Th-Pb monazite ages for diatexite migmatites indicate an upper bound of 310–316 Ma for the second melting stage, suggesting that the second melting stage is coincident with the regional phase of crustal shearing. The cause of the high geothermal gradient required for re-heating during the second melting stage is unknown but likely requires some heat source that was probably related to dissipation of mechanical work within crustal-scale shear zones. According to this interpretation, some upper Carboniferous peraluminous granite precursors of the Corsica–Sardinia Batholith could be the outcome rather than the cause of the late-Variscan high-T metamorphism.     

Integrating remote sensing and GIS techniques for monitoring and modeling shoreline evolution to support coastal risk management

The precise delineation of coastal areas subject to past, present, and future erosive processes plays a fundamental role in coastal risk management. Within this framework, satellite data represent a valuable synoptic and multi-temporal information source. Therefore, this research integrated remote sensing and GIS techniques for mapping and modeling shoreline evolution through time. Long-term shoreline’s proxy rates of advance and retreat were determined using Landsat data from the mid-1980s to 2011 and subsequently, a short-term scenario (3 years) was predicted and validated. Two different coastal environments, Oceanic and Mediterranean, were investigated. In the first, different proxies were analyzed, thereby enabling a multi-proxy analysis. Findings showed that the method provided more accurate results in higher energy environments (Oceanic) and where the coastline is not urbanized. Results also highlighted the importance of performing multi-proxy analyses in given study areas, to more reliably define shoreline modeling. Importantly, during the analyses, particular attention was given to assessing uncertainty, which is crucial when outcomes of scientific research are considered for management.