On the Intensity Thresholds of the Network and Plage Regions

A period of minimum solar activity in April and May 1996 was used to analyze full-disk CaK spectroheliograms with the aim of deriving the intensity thresholds of the quiet network and the plages by applying the so-called inflexion point method. The average network intensity threshold is found to be influenced mainly by the seeing, whereas the average plage threshold shows an increasing trend from disk center towards the solar limb. Both parameters are compared with the results of other authors.     

Seismic study of the Mesozoic carbonate basement around Mt. Somma–Vesuvius, Italy

Fifteen seismic reflection lines from AGIP surveys, in and around the Campanian Plain and Mt. Somma–Vesuvius (south Italy) have been interpreted. The attention has been focused to the horizon pertinent to the top of the Mesozoic carbonate sequence and the Quaternary faults dissecting it. As a matter of fact, both are very important elements for understanding the origin of the volcanic activity in the area, that often in the past, has been the topic of debates not supported by reliable data. In the study area, referring to the depth of the carbonate basement, comparison between the result achieved by the seismic prospecting and previous gravity studies has been made. It shows coherence in some areas but large discrepancy within others. Near the town of S. Anastasia, the gravity and seismic depth estimates differ as much as 1000 m or more. Furthermore, the seismic data show that the source of the greatest volcanic eruption in the area (the so-called ‘Campanian Ignimbrite') is probably not located in the Acerra depression, as suggested by other authors. A main NE–SW fault directed toward Vesuvius, considered as playing a primary role on volcanogenetic processes and previously recognised only offshore by marine seismic survey, has been now identified also inland using this new seismic information. The results presented here strengthen the hypothesis that Mt. Vesuvius is located at the crossing point of two regional Quaternary sets of fault heading NW–SE and NE–SW.     

Classical constructive methods in KAM theory

Two methods for constructing quasiperiodic solutions as expansion in a small parameter are discussed. The first one is the classical Lindstedt's method; the second one an algorithm based on Kolmogorov's paper (Kolmogorov, 1954). Besides a complete formulation of the algorithms, an overview of the main ideas leading to the proof of convergence of the expansions is given. Some comparison is also made, including in particular the analysis of the effectiveness of the algorithms.     

Phase relations in the partial melting of the Baldissero spinel-lherzolite (Ivrea-Verbano zone,Western Alps,Italy)

The occurrence of various types of mobilizates in the Baldissero spinel lherzolite is due to partial melting of the same body. The study of the relationships between the peridotite and its mobilizates demonstrates that olivine did not take an active part in the fusion. Estimates of the degree of partial melting vary from 10% for the average composition, to 20% for the most depleted samples. These values refer to an initial pyrolitic composition, and thus are relative, as they can vary depending on the actual primary composition.The calculated composition of the liquid generated by partial melting is quite similar to that of a picritic basalt, and is practically the same irrespective of the 10% and 20% fusion. This fact provides strong evidence that melting took place at a unique invariant point of the natural system, producing a liquid with a remarkably constant composition.Projection of the liquid in the fo-an-di-si diagram is fairly well aligned with the modal compositions of the solid residua, but does not coincide with the minimum of the simplified system. The proposed solution is based on the enlargement of the spinel field (at constant pressure), due to the Cr content in this phase. Therefore, the position of the invariant minimum is not fixed, but rather controlled by the Cr content of the spinel. Is is suggested that, by an increase in the Cr content, spinel might at a given moment become refractory. Thus, saturated or over-saturated magmas are produced depending on the phase relations between olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene. This would happen in the case of very advanced fusions or in the case of fusion of already depleted peridotites.The relationships between mobilizates of different generations suggest a non adiabatic mantle upwelling.     

Solar constant and sunspots

Summary The relationship, already found by the authors, between sunspot numbers and the solar constant, as deduced from the highest global irradiance values at noon, is here reexamined and confirmed. Some attempts at explanation and further inferences are presented.     

Introduction à la climatologie dynamique de l'Amerique du Nord,de l'Atlantique Nord et de l'Europe

Résumé Nous appliquons dans ce mémoire la théorie des perturbations, développée antérieuremet par l'un de nous, à la déduction des principales caractéristiques normales des perturbations compatibles avec un champ moyen donné de pression et de température. Cette deduction comprend la détermination: 1) de la configuration moyenne des perturbations dans les différentes régions étudiées; 2) des zones de creusement et de comblement et en particulier des foyers de formation et de disparition des perturbations; 3) des trajectoires, vitesses, fréquences et amplitudes moyennes des perturbations. C'est à l'ensemble de ces propriétés moyennes que nous donnons le nom de «climatologie dynamique» d'une période donnée.Après une première partie théorique, nous donnons des exemples d'application des résultats généraux à la climatologie dynamique des mois de Janvier et de Juillet pour l'Amérique du Nord, l'Atlantique Nord et l'Europe.

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Summary In this paper we apply the theory of perturbations, previously developed by one of us, to the deduction of the main normal characteristics of the perturbations that are compatible with a given mean field of pressure and temperature. This deduction comprises the determination: 1) of the mean configuration of the perturbations for the different regions under examination; 2) of the normal deepening and filling regions of the perturbations, and particularly their formation and vanishing focuses; 3) of the mean paths, speeds, frequencies and amplitudes of the perturbations. The «dynamical climatology» we are contemplating here is concerned with all these mean properties of the perturbations for a given period.After a first theoretical part, we give some examples of the application of the general results to the dynamical climatology of January and July for North America, North Atlantic and Europe.

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à ce mémoire a été assigné le Prix 1956 de la « Società Italiana di Geofisica e Meteorologia ».     

The continental record of Ediacaran volcano‐sedimentary successions in southern Brazil and their global implications

The Ediacaran is one of the most important periods on Earth evolution, including the first appearance of soft‐bodied macrofossils, major climatic changes and a supposed rise in free oxygen. In southernmost Brazil, this period is represented by Camaquã Supergroup, including the Bom Jardim Group and the Acampamento Velho Formation, both of which record continental palaeoenvironmental changes in a more than 5000 m thick stratigraphic succession. Age constraints are given by seven Ar‐Ar and U‐Pb determinations on volcanic rocks, which bracket these units between c. 605 and 574 Ma, revealing the best dated and most continuous documented Ediacaran continental succession to date. Depositional systems evolution supports a Phanerozoic‐type glacial context during the last Neoproterozoic glacial event and presents the Picada das Graças Formation (580 ± 3.6 Ma) as the first dated non‐glacial unit coeval to the Gaskiers Formation.     

Vorticity analysis of the Palmi shear zone mylonites: new insights for the Alpine tectonic evolution of the Calabria–Peloritani terrane (southern Italy)

New microstructural data on the mylonites from the well‐exposed Palmi shear zone (southern Calabria) are presented with the aim to shed light on both the kinematics and the geometry of the southwestern branch of the Alpine belt during Eocene. In the study area, located between the Sardinia–Corsica block and the Calabria–Peloritani terrane, previous large‐scale geodynamic reconstructions suggest the presence of strike–slip or transform fault zones dissecting the southwestern branch of the Alpine belt. However, there are no field data supporting the occurrence of these structures. This paper uses vorticity analysis technique based on the aspect ratio and the long axis orientation of rigid porphyroclasts in mylonitic marbles and mylonitic granitoids, to estimate the contribution of pure and simple shear of deformation during the movement of the Palmi shear zone. Porphyroclasts aspect ratio and orientation were measured on thin sections using image analysis. Estimates of the vorticity number, W_m, indicate that the Palmi shear zone recorded general shear with a contribution of pure shear of c. 65%. Then, the Palmi shear zone can be interpreted as a segment of a left‐lateral transpressive bend along the southern termination of the Eocene Alpine front. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.