Volcanic geomorphology and tectonics of the Aeolian archipelago (Southern Italy) based on integrated DEM data

The geomorphological and morphometric analysis of the sea floor topography surrounding the Aeolian Islands, South Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy, provides insights into the relationships between the volcanological evolution of the islands and their tectonic features. We constructed geomorphological maps of the submarine portions of the seven large edifices constituting the islands on the basis of a DEM with a 5 m resolution step. These maps include constructional and destructional landforms such as submarine volcanic vents located west of Lipari and north of Alicudi, and hummocky surfaces recognised north of Lipari and Salina. The latter landforms, together with the occurrence of large scars affecting the main edifices on land, suggest that sector collapses affected some islands. Geomorphological data indicate that the location of subaerial and submarine vents is strongly controlled by local tectonic structures striking WNW-ESE (Alicudi-Filicudi sector), NNW-SSE (Salina-Lipari-Vulcano sector) and NE-SW (Panarea-Stromboli sector). The islands can be divided into two groups on the basis of some morphometric parameters: a first group with a pancake-like shape, Dp/D (abrasion platform diameter/basal diameter) higher than 0.40 and H/D (total height/basal diameter) lower than 0.13, and a second group with a conical shape, characterised by Dp/D lower than 0.34 and H/D higher than 0.14. These ratios and other morphometric parameters reflect the different volcanological and structural evolution of the Aeolian Islands. The pancake-like shaped complexes have been created, in addition to their submarine stage, by extrusive and highly explosive activity, whereas the cone-shaped edifices have been characterised by effusive or moderate explosive activity.Editorial responsibility: C Kilburn     

Differential uplift on the boundary between the Eastern and the Southern European Alps: Thermochronologic constraints from the Brenner Base Tunnel

The Brenner Base Tunnel will connect Innsbruck (Austria) and Franzensfeste (Italy) by piercing two of the most important fault structures of the Alps: the Periadriatic fault system (PFS) and the Southern limit of Alpine metamorphism (SAM). (U‐Th)/He dating (apatite) and fission‐track analysis (apatite and zircon) on samples taken during excavation reveal a complex pattern of exhumation through time. The results yield temporal constraints for relative vertical block movement and fault activity. Furthermore, they indicate differential uplift of the northern block along the ~E–W striking PFS and allow locating the position of the SAM in the overtilted nappe stack south of the Tauern Window. Our data strongly support, for the first time, an ongoing north‐side‐up movement along this section of the PFS until at least the end of Miocene.     

From river to shelf,anatomy of a high‐frequency depositional sequence: The Late Pleistocene to Holocene Tiber depositional sequence

The Late Pleistocene/Holocene Tiber delta succession represents the most recent and one of the best preserved, high‐frequency/low‐rank depositional sequences developed along the Latium continental margin of the Italian peninsula. Several previous studies have established a robust data set from which it has been possible to describe the stratigraphic architecture of the entire Tiber depositional sequence from the landward to seaward sectors and over a distance of 60 km. The Tiber depositional sequence shows many characteristics found in other Late Pleistocene to Holocene deltaic and coastal successions of the Mediterranean area. The stratigraphic architecture of the Tiber depositional sequence is controlled mainly by glacioeustasy, although factors such as tectonic uplift, volcanism and subsidence, exert an influence at a local scale. The resulting depositional model allowed discussion of some important points such as: (1) the genesis of the Tiber mixed bedrock‐alluvial valley, extending from the coastal plain to the innermost portion of the shelf, recording (i) multiple episodes of incision during relative sea‐level fall, and (ii) a downstream increase of depth and width of the valley during the base‐level fall and the subsequent base‐level rise; (2) the different physical expression of the Tiber depositional sequence boundary from landward to seaward, and its diachronous and composite character; (3) the maximum depth reached by the Tiber early lowstand delta at the end of the sea‐level fall is estimated at ca 90 m below the present sea‐level and not at 120 m as suggested by previous works; (4) the backward position of the Tiber late lowstand delta relative to the deposit of early lowstand; (5) the change of the channel pattern and of the stacking pattern of fluvial deposits within the Lowstand Systems Tract, Transgressive Systems Tract and Highstand Systems Tract. All of these features indicate that the Late Pleistocene/Holocene Tiber delta succession, even if deposited in a short period of time from a geological point of view, represents the result of the close interaction among many autogenic and allogenic factors. However, global eustatic variations and sediment supply under the control of climatic changes can be considered the main factors responsible for the stratigraphic architecture of this sedimentary succession, which has been heavily modified by human activity only in the last 3000 years.     

Uncertainty maps for motion around binary asteroids

Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy - Ballistic capture orbits offer safer Mars injection at longer transfer time. However, the search for such an extremely rare event is a computationally...     

Planform architecture,stratigraphic signature and morphodynamics of an exhumed Jurassic meander plain (Scalby Formation,Yorkshire, UK)

Modern fluvial meander plains exhibit complex planform transformations in response to meander‐bend expansion, downstream migration and rotation. These transformations exert a fundamental control on lithology and reservoir properties, yet their stratigraphic record has been poorly evaluated in ancient examples due to the lack of extensive three‐dimensional exposures. Here, a unique exhumed meander plain exposed to the north of Scarborough (Yorkshire, UK) is analysed in terms of architecture and morphodynamics, with the aim of developing a comprehensive model of facies distribution. The studied outcrop comprises tidal platforms and adjacent cliffs, where the depositional architecture of un‐tilted deposits was assessed on planform and vertical sections, respectively. In its broader perspective, this study demonstrates the potential of architectural mapping of extensive planform exposures for the reconstruction of ancient fluvial morphodynamics. The studied exhumed meander plain is part of the Scalby Formation of the Ravenscar Group, and originally drained small coastal incised valleys within the Jurassic Cleveland Basin. The meander plain is subdivided into two storeys that contain in‐channel and overbank architectural elements. In‐channel elements comprise expansional and downstream‐migrating point bars, point‐bar tails and channel fills. Overbank elements comprise crevasse complexes, levées, floodplain fines and lake fills. The evolution of the point bars played a significant role in dictating preserved facies distributions, with high flood‐stage nucleation and accretion of meander scrolls later reworked during waning flood‐stages. At a larger scale, meander belt morphodynamics were also a function of valley confinement and contrasts in substrate erodibility. Progressive valley infilling decreased the valley confinement, promoting the upward transition from prevalently downstream migrating to expansional meander belts, a transition associated with enhanced preservation of overbank elements. Strikingly similar relations between valley confinement, meander‐bend transformations and overbank preservation are observed in small modern meandering streams such as the Beaver River of the Canadian prairies and the Powder River of Montana (USA).     

Parallel inexact constraint preconditioning for ill-conditioned consolidation problems

Constraint preconditioners have proved very efficient for the solution of ill-conditioned finite element (FE) coupled consolidation problems in a sequential computing environment. Their implementation on parallel computers, however, is not straightforward because of their inherent sequentiality. The present paper describes a novel parallel inexact constraint preconditioner (ParICP) for the efficient solution of linear algebraic systems arising from the FE discretization of the coupled poro-elasticity equations. The ParICP implementation is based on the use of the block factorized sparse approximate inverse incomplete Cholesky preconditioner, which is a very recent and effective development for the parallel preconditioning of symmetric positive definite matrices. The ParICP performance is experimented with in real 3D coupled consolidation problems, proving a scalable and efficient implementation of the constraint preconditioning for high-performance computing. ParICP appears to be a very robust algorithm for solving ill-conditioned large-size coupled models in a parallel computing environment.     

Ensemble smoothing of land subsidence measurements for reservoir geomechanical characterization

Geomechanical models are often used to predict the impact on land surface of fluid withdrawal from deep reservoirs, as well as investigating measures for mitigation. The ability to accurately simulate surface displacements, however, is often impaired by limited information on the geomechanical parameters characterizing the geological formations of interest. In this study, we employ an ensemble smoother, a data assimilation algorithm, to provide improved estimates of reservoir parameters through assimilation of measurements of both horizontal and vertical surface displacement into geomechanical model results. The method leverages the demonstrated potential of remote sensing techniques developed in the last decade to provide accurate displacement data for large areas of the land surface. For evaluation purposes, the methodology is applied to the case of a disk‐shaped reservoir embedded in a homogeneous, isotropic, and linearly elastic half space, subject to a uniform change in fluid pressure. Multiple sources of uncertainty are investigated, including the radius, R, the thickness, h, and the depth, c, of the reservoir; the pore pressure change, Δp; porous medium's vertical uniaxial compressibility, c_M, and Poisson's ratio, ν, and the ratio, s, between the compressibilities of the medium during loading and unloading cycles. Results from all simulations show that the ensemble smoother has the capability to effectively reduce the uncertainty associated with those parameters to which the variability and the spatial distribution of land surface displacements are most sensitive, namely, R, c, c_M, and s. These analyses demonstrate that the estimation of these parameters values depends on the number of measurements assimilated and the error assigned to the measurement values. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Plan‐form evolution of ancient meandering rivers reconstructed from longitudinal outcrop sections

The mode of channel‐bend transformation (i.e. expansion, translation, rotation or a combination thereof) has a direct bearing on the dimensions, shape, bedding architecture and connectivity of point‐bar sandstone bodies within a fluvial meander belt, but is generally difficult to recognize in vertical outcrops. This study demonstrates how the bend transformation mode and relative rate of channel‐floor aggradation can be deciphered from longitudinal outcrop sections aligned parallel to the meander‐belt axis, as a crucial methodological aid to the reconstruction of ancient fluvial systems and the development of outcrop analogue models for fluvial petroleum reservoirs. The study focuses on single‐storey and multi‐storey fluvial meander‐belt sandstone bodies in the Palaeogene piggyback Boyabat Basin of north‐central Turkey. The sandstone bodies are several hundred metres wide, 5 to 40 m thick and encased in muddy floodplain deposits. The individual channel‐belt storeys are 5 to 9 m thick and their transverse sections show lateral‐accretion bed packages representing point bars. Point bars in longitudinal sections are recognizable as broad mounds whose parts with downstream‐inclined, subhorizontal and upstream‐inclined bedding represent, respectively, the bar downstream, central and upstream parts. The inter‐bar channel thalweg is recognizable as the transition zone between adjacent point‐bar bedsets with opposing dip directions into or out of the outcrop section. The diverging or converging adjacent thalweg trajectories, or a trajectory migrating in up‐valley direction, indicate point‐bar broadening and hence channel‐bend expansion. A concurrent down‐valley migration of adjacent trajectories indicates channel‐bend translation. Bend rotation is recognizable from the replacement of a depositional riffle by an erosional pool zone or vice versa along the thalweg trajectory. The steepness of the thalweg trajectory reflects the relative rate of channel‐floor aggradation. This study discusses further how the late‐stage foreland tectonics, with its alternating pulses of uplift and subsidence and a progressive narrowing of the basin, has forced aggradation of fluvial channels and caused vertical stacking of meander belts.     

Potential evidence for slab detachment from the flexural backstripping of a foredeep: Insight on the evolution of the Pescara basin (Italy)

The discrepancy between the size of the Apenninic chain and the depth of the Adriatic foredeep is investigated using 2D flexural backstripping on well‐constrained depth‐converted cross‐sections in the Pescara basin (Central Italy). The procedure consisted of removal, uplift, unfolding and unfaulting of the Pliocene–Pleistocene foreland deposits to produce a palaeogeographic map of the basin at the end of the Messinian and to constrain sedimentary rates since the Miocene. Results are found to support the contribution of an external load to the foreland evolution together with the Apenninic chain load. The interplay of the two types of loads resulted in spatial and temporal variations of the foredeep evolution that are quantified by palaeogeographic maps and sedimentation rates obtained through backstripping. Results are interpreted as representing the effects of a southward‐migrating wave linked to slab detachment beneath the Adriatic foredeep. This procedure can be useful to investigate similar problems on other chains worldwide.