Radiocarbon Data on Lateglacial and Holocene Landslides in the Northern Apennines

The Emilia Romagna slope of the Northern Apennines is strewnwith over 32,000 landslides, 5,000 of which are larger than 1 million cubic metres. They representthe remains of geomorphic agents that shaped the Apennines during the Holocene. Dating themby means of radiocarbon methods adds a contribution to the knowledge about the last periodof the geological geomorphological history of the Apennines. They can also be used to examinethe influence of Quaternary climatic changes on the instability of slopes and, for practicalor planning functions, to assess the periodicity of activity phases of the landslides. Thedating has been carried out on wood remnants buried under the landslide bodies. In some cases theentire tree trunk was found.In this paper we present radiocarbon dating of 20 casestudies in the Northern Apennines. Results range approximately from 13790–13670 cal y BP to950–790 cal`y BP. The oldest case is that of the Morsiano earth-flow, while the younger datedevent is represented by the Marano case that represents an example of how radiometric analysescan further enhance the available historical data. In the Cavola case, wood remnants of different ageswere found at different depths (from 9 to 45 m), allowing the dating of the first and followingperiods of activity of the landslide. The results are discussed and some considerations on the correlationbetween landslide occurrence and Holocene climate changes are proposed.     

Assessing the potential of passive seismic receiver functions for ore body exploration

We use a passive seismic high-frequency receiver function method to image the shallow structure around a mine site. This is a relatively new application of a standard method for mapping major discontinuities in the crust and upper mantle at a scale small enough to be relevant in an exploration context. Data collected in a 21-instrument array is inverted for isotropic velocity structure. The retrieved velocities in the south-eastern part of the array match very well with available sonic log measurements in the top 800 m. Based on the differences in receiver function behaviour for stations across the array, recovered velocity profiles and their similarity to sonic log measurements, the target area is split into two separate regions along a north-northeast trending line that correlates well to the strike of the dominant structure in the area – the Navan Fault. Our results demonstrate the ability of receiver functions to provide both qualitative and quantitative information in an exploration environment.     

FxJj43: A window into a 1.5‐million‐year‐old palaeolandscape in the Okote Member of the Koobi Fora Formation,northern Kenya

FxJj43 differs from most other archaeological sites preserved in the Okote Member of the Koobi Fora Formation in ways that make it especially suited to the problem of clarifying the behavioral information encapsulated in fine time‐lines. At this site in northern Kenya, a continuous strip of outcrops, preserving a set of interlocking landforms, can be traced around the modern erosion front for more than half a kilometer. The characteristics and three‐dimensional geometries of the beds making up these outcrops show that they have preserved the southern bank, levee, and floodplain of a westerly flowing sandy channel. Both stone tools and animal bones are strewn across the eroding surfaces of these outcrops, and excavations show that they are derived from a narrow stratigraphic horizon immediately overlying the volcanic ash at the base of the sequence. The blue tuff, and the archaeological horizon that overlies it, have been dated using the ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar method on single crystals of alkali feldspar. Although there is no direct measure of how long it took the archaeological horizon to accumulate, it probably accumulated over a time span of 10²–10³ years. Thus the locality may be used to test the proposition that the analysis of archaeological debris from fine‐time lines will help to resolve ambiguities in the interpretation of early Pleistocene archaeological assemblages. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Role of Humification Processes in Recycling Organic Wastes of Various Nature and Sources as Soil Amendments

Recycling the large amounts of organic wastes produced by agriculture, forestry, urban and industrial activities as soil, organic amendments are the most popular and efficient option for avoiding their dispersion in the environment and restoring, maintaining, and/or improving the content of soil organic matter. Chemical stability and biological maturity are two important factors for the successful use of organic wastes in agriculture with limited risk for the surrounding environment. Stabilization and maturation of raw organic wastes inherently imply the achievement of an extensive humification, that is, a wide conversion of easily degradable organic matter to refractory organic compounds that resemble native soil humic substances (HS). Soil HS are the most important components of soil organic matter responsible of several soil functions and processes. As a consequence, the amount and quality of HS‐like fractions in any organic amendment are believed to be of primary importance for its agronomic efficacy, environmental safety and economic value. The first part of this review focuses on the chemical and physico‐chemical changes occurring in the humic substances (HS) ‐like fractions of organic wastes of various nature and sources subjected to common treatment processes aimed at producing environmentally‐safe soil amendments with beneficial agronomic properties. The second part discusses the composition, structure, and chemical reactivity of the HS‐like components in organic amendments of various origins and nature, and their effects on native soil HS. The review concludes by highlighting the need for innovative research targeted mainly to achieve a better fundamental understanding of the molecular structure and reactivity of soil HS and HS‐like fractions in organic amendments, the mechanisms of HS formation and transformations in the natural environment and during the treatment processes of raw organic wastes, the interactions with metals and organic xenobiotics, and the direct physiological effects that HS may exert on plants.     

Analysis of the landslide triggering mechanism during the storm of 20th–21st November 2000, in Northern Tuscany

A severe rainstorm of high intensity occurred on 20th–21st November 2000, in the region of Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy, which triggered, within the entire province, over 50 landslides. These landslides can be broadly defined as complex earth slides—earth flows, originating as rotational slides that develop downslope into a flow. In this paper, two such landslides have been investigated by modelling the process of rainwater infiltration, the variations in both the positive and negative pore water pressures and their effect on slope stability during the storm. For both sites, results from morphometric and geotechnical analyses were used as a direct input to the numerical modelling. A modified Chu, 1978 approach was used to estimate the surface infiltration rate by adapting the original Green and Ampt, 1911 equations for unsteady rainfall intensity in conjunction with the surficial water balance. For transient conditions, a finite element analysis was used to model the fluctuations in pore water pressure during the storm, with the computed surface infiltration rate as the surface boundary condition. This was then followed by the application of the limit equilibrium Morgenstern and Price, 1965 slope-stability method, using the temporal pore water pressure distributions derived from the seepage analysis. From this methodology, a trend for the factor of safety was produced for both landslide sites. These results indicate that the most critical time step for failure was a few hours following the rainfall peak.     

Flood hydrograph attenuation induced by a reservoir system: analysis with a distributed rainfall‐runoff model

Spatially distributed hydrologic models can be effectively utilized for flood event simulation over basins where a complex system of reservoirs affecting the natural flow regime is present. Flood peak attenuation through mountain reservoirs can, in fact, mitigate the impact of major floods in flood‐prone areas of the lower river valley. Assessment of this effect for a complex reservoir system is performed with a spatially distributed hydrologic model where the surface runoff formation and the hydraulic routing through each reservoir and the river system are performed at a fine spatial and time resolution. The Toce River basin is presented as a case study, because of the presence of 14 active hydroelectric dams that affect the natural flow regime. A recent extreme flood event is simulated using a multi‐realization kriging method for modelling the spatial distribution of rainfall. A sensitivity analysis of the key elements of the distributed hydrologic model is also performed. The flood hydrograph attenuation is assessed. Several possible reservoir storage conditions are used to characterize the initial condition of each reservoir. The results demonstrate how a distributed hydrologic model can contribute to defining strategies for reservoir management in flood mitigation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.