Decadal Climatic Anomalies in the Northern Adriatic Sea Inferred from a New Oceanographic Data Set

Abstract. In 1997, Artegiani et al. depicted for the first time the seasonal climatology of the Adriatic Sea; they used the ATOS data set, formed by 5540 oceanographic stations sampled over this continental basin from 1911 to 1980. Lately, two Italian institutes working on the Adriatic Sea for long time, IBM and IRPEM, merged their recent data sets for the northernmost part of the basin. This yielded 3600 new oceanographic stations, concentrated in an area where 809 ATOS stations were located. The new data were quality checked, and then a seasonal climatology was drawn up as a first analysis step. The new climatology differed significantly from the ATOS results; this could be explained, at least partially, by the climatic changes that have occurred on this area. For example, air temperature increased significantly over northern Italy starting from 1988. Variations of the observed air temperature and Po River runoff qualitatively agree with sea surface temperature and salinity variations. A preliminary computation of heat fluxes based on ECMWF reanalysis confirms an increased heat flux to the Northern Adriatic Sea starting from 1988.     

Faulting on the western flank of Mt Etna and magma intrusions in the shallow crust

Surface deformations on the western flank of Mt Etna volcano, spanning 1980–2004, have been analysed as they pertain to stress interactions between magma intrusions within the shallow crust along the S–SE Rift and faulting sensitivity. During this period, an accurate analysis of strain parameters, computed by inversion of SW electro‐optical distance data, suggested that the observed strong displacements on this flank of the edifice can also be related to dextral shear movements along a roughly NE–SW buried fault crossing the area covered by this network, as supported by seismic observations of the 20–24 April 2001 swarm. Moreover, Coulomb stress change model analysis confirms that the displacement along this fault, heralding the July–August 2001 eruption 2 months earlier can be related to major stresses applied by a dike intrusion at depth along the S–SE Rift, as testified by the microseismicity occurring between November 2000 and 19 April 2001.     

Analytical Estimation of the Scale of Earth-Like Planetary Magnetic Fields

In this paper we analytically estimate the magnetic field scale of planets with physical core conditions similar to that of Earth from a statistical physics point of view. We evaluate the magnetic field on the basis of the physical parameters of the center of the planet, such as density, temperature, and core size. We look at the contribution of the Seebeck effect on the magnetic field, showing that a thermally induced electrical current can exist in a rotating fluid sphere. We apply our calculations to Earth, where the currents would be driven by the temperature difference at the outer-inner core boundary, Jupiter and the Jupiter’s satellite Ganymede. In each case we show that the thermal generation of currents leads to a magnetic field scale comparable to the observed fields of the considered celestial bodies.     

Detection of detached forced-regressive nearshore wedges: a case study from the central-southern Siena Basin (Northern Apennines, Italy)

The detection of detached nearshore wedges formed in response to relative sea-level drops is considered one of the hottest topics in sequence stratigraphic analysis due to their importance as reservoir analogues. In fact, they usually constitute sandy and porous bodies generally encased in impermeable clay, thus presenting a good potential as traps for fluids. This paper focuses on the sequence stratigraphic analysis of the Pliocene deposits cropping out in the central-southern sector of the Siena Basin (Tuscany, Italy), a post-collisional basin of the Northern Apennines. The exposed sedimentary succession was investigated through a detailed sedimentological and stratigraphic approach, integrated by biostratigraphic analyses, aimed at a better characterization of the infilling history of this sector of the basin. Specifically, this study revealed the occurrence of repeated facies shifts that allowed the identification of two depositional sequences. In detail, a thick sand-rich body far from the basin margins, and previously considered as a turbiditic lobe, has been reinterpreted as formed in a nearshore setting during a fall in relative sea level. This body is totally encased in offshore clay, and due to the lack of physical connection with the related HST deposits, it has to be considered as a detached forced-regressive wedge. The present work led to the recognition of some sedimentological and stratigraphic features typical of falling stage systems tract deposits (e.g. presence of intrabasinal recycled materials, sedimentological evidence of a pre-existing fluvial network subsequently eroded) that can provide useful clues for the identification of detached forced-regressive nearshore wedges in core studies and poorly exposed settings.     

Magmatism and fenitization in the Cretaceous potassium-alkaline-carbonatitic complex of Ipanema S?o Paulo State, Brazil

The Ipanema alkaline-carbonatitic complex is part of the Meso-Cenozoic alkaline magmatism located within the southeastern part of the Brazilian Platform. Drill-core and field sampling have indicated the occurrence of glimmerites, with subordinate shonkinites (mela-syenites), clinopyroxene-bearing glimmerites, diorites and syenites. The glimmerites are cross-cut by lamprophyric dykes and calciocarbonatites. Fenitization has deeply affected the country rocks, originating dioritic and syenitic rocks. The Ipanema rocks show a distinct potassic affinity. The initial Sr-Nd- isotopic composition of the Ipanema rocks (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr?=?0.70661–0.70754 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd?=?0.51169–0.51181) is similar to that of tholeiitic and potassium-rich-alkaline rocks of the Eastern Paraguay. Stable isotope data for the Ipanema calciocarbonatite suggest interaction with fluids at temperatures typical of hydrothermal stages, as hypothesized for other carbonatite complexes from southeastern Brazil. The chemical differences between the lamprophyre, glimmerites, carbonatites, apatitites and magnetitites, and the absence of marked REE enrichment in the evolved lithologies, all indicate that fractional crystallization and accumulus of liquidus phases in a magma reservoir, likely coupled with liquid immiscibility processes, may have played an important role in the genesis of the Ipanema rocks.     

The Cathedral of S. Giorgio in Ragusa Ibla (Italy): characterization of construction materials and their chromatic alteration

The Cathedral of St. Giorgio in Ragusa Ibla (Sicily) is one of the most important Baroque monuments of eastern Sicily. The restoration of the monument underway has put forward notable questions regarding the stone materials used and their state of degradation. The façade appears to be made mainly of a creamy white calcarenite, and of mortars and plasters. However, detailed analysis has highlighted a more complex use of the raw material. The mortar and plaster have a different composition in regards to their architectural use while the natural stone material is distinguished not only by a creamy-white calcarenite but also by a dark coloured bituminous calcarenite (pitch rock), which now appears whiter because of superficial chromatic alterations. This process was reproduced in the laboratory using an accelerated aging technique on samples of bituminous calcarenite, which allowed the cause of the alternation to be identified as photo-oxidation of the asphaltenes. Following this process of photo-oxidation, other forms of chromatic alterations affected the façade (brown–orange-coloured patinas). FTIR, Scanning Electron Microscope and thin section microscopic observation allowed the characterization of also the products of this process to be carried out, highlighting the complex mechanism which the processes underwent.     

Lacustrine records of Holocene flood pulse dynamics in the Upper Paraguay River watershed (Pantanal wetlands,Brazil)

The Pantanal is the world's largest tropical wetland and a biodiversity hotspot, yet its response to Quaternary environmental change is unclear. To address this problem, sediment cores from shallow lakes connected to the Upper Paraguay River (PR) were analyzed and radiocarbon dated to track changes in sedimentary environments. Stratal relations, detrital particle size, multiple biogeochemical indicators, and sponge spicules suggest fluctuating lake-level lowstand conditions between ~ 11,000 and 5300 cal yr BP, punctuated by sporadic and in some cases erosive flood flows. A hiatus has been recorded from ~ 5300 to 2600 cal yr BP, spurred by confinement of the PR within its channel during an episode of profound regional drought. Sustained PR flooding caused a transgression after ~ 2600 cal yr BP, with lake-level highstand conditions appearing during the Little Ice Age. Holocene PR flood pulse dynamics are best explained by variability in effective precipitation, likely driven by insolation and tropical sea-surface temperature gradients. Our results provide novel support for hypotheses on: (1) stratigraphic discontinuity of floodplain sedimentary archives; (2) late Holocene methane flux from Southern Hemisphere wetlands; and (3) pre-colonial indigenous ceramics traditions in western Brazil.