Buckle-controlled seismogenic faulting in peninsular India

As intraplate earthquakes are often not associated with major known faults their location as well as their timing is unpredictable. In peninsular India the larger (M5.0) events occur mainly on reverse faults in a series of belts 400–800 km apart which are aligned roughly normal to the azimuth of convergence between the Indian and Eurasian plates. The location of the belts is controlled largely by the buckling wavelength of the lithosphere, and the seismogenic faults do not generate folding and sometimes result from it. There is consequently no need to postulate the creation of regularly spaced normal faults in an antecedent extensional phase, and the deformation is consistent with a plate-driving force such as gravity glide which is unlikely to reverse its polarity and which creates structures that are influenced by plate geometry at the leading edge. The thesis is potentially of value to seismic hazard mitigation as it identifies the zones that are most at risk.     

Millennial-scale shifts in microtidal ecosystems during the Holocene: dynamics and drivers of change from the Po Plain coastal record (NE Italy)

Framed into a robust stratigraphic context, multivariate analyses on the Holocene palaeobiological record (pollen, benthic foraminifers, ostracods) of the Po coastal plain (NE Italy) allowed the investigation of microtidal ecosystems variability and driving parameters along a 35-km-long land–sea transect. Millennial-scale ecosystem shifts are documented by coeval changes in the meiofauna, reflecting variations in organic matter–water depth (shallow-marine environments) and degree of confinement-salinity (back-barrier settings). In-phase shifts of vegetation communities track unsteady water-table levels and river dynamics in freshwater palustrine areas. Five environmental–ecological stages followed one another crossing four tipping points that mark changes in relative sea level (RSL), climate and/or fluvial regime. At the culmination of Mediterranean RSL rise, after the 8200 event, remarkable growth of peatlands took place in the Po estuary, while low accumulation rates typified the shelf. At the transgressive–regressive turnaround (~7000 cal a bp ), the estuary turned into a delta plain with tidally influenced interdistributary embayments. River flow regime oscillations after the Climate Optimum (post-5000 cal a bp ) favoured isolation of the bays and the development of brackish wetlands surrounded by wooded peatlands. The youngest threshold (~800 cal a bp ), which led to the establishment of the modern delta, reflects a major avulsion of the Po River.     

Spatio-temporal trends of precipitation,its aggressiveness and concentration,along the Pacific coast of South America (36–49°S)

ABSTRACT

Precipitation is the most critical climatic element that directly affects the availability of water resources. The objective of this study was to describe and discuss spatio-temporal patterns of annual precipitation, its aggressiveness, and its concentration along the southwest coast of South America (36°–49°S) from 1930 to 2006. An annual and multi-decadal analysis was applied to 107 sampling stations distributed throughout this region, using the Mann-Kendall test (MK), and the Sampling Uncertainty Analysis (SUA) coupled with Gumbel probability density function (SUA-Gumbel). The analysis revealed positive but not significant trends in annual precipitation and aggressiveness for the region between 36° and 44°S, at least during the last 50 years of the analysed period. However, a significant decrease in annual precipitation and aggressiveness was observed between 44° and 49°S during the same period. The annual concentration of precipitation became slightly more seasonal in the last 50 years within the entire study area.     

Surface displacements of two landslides evaluated by GPS and inclinometer systems: a case study in Southern Apennines, Italy

This paper reports experimental data on surface and deep displacements evaluated by means of GPS stations and inclinometers in two rototranslational deep landslides in a clayey slope of the Italian Southern Apennines. The displacements of the landslides cause continuous damage to buildings and infrastructures. To study these phenomena and control their effects, the local public administration provided financial support for a geotechnical investigation that started in 2004. Laboratory tests, in situ pore pressure and inclinometer measurements were carried out. In July 2006, systems of fixed-in-place inclinometer probes with continuous data acquisition were installed in two of the eleven guide casings, in correspondence to the slip surfaces detected by previous periodical measurements. In the meanwhile, a GPS network was installed, consisting in six permanent stations and ten non-permanent ones. Among the latter, five were installed on the top of five inclinometer casings. The experimental results show that, in the case under study, the surface displacements evaluated by means of the GPS stations are consistent with the surface displacements evaluated by means of the inclinometer measurements. This implies mutual data validation, availability of considerable amount of continuous data, as well as monitoring continuity when, for some reason, one of the instruments goes out of use.     

Juvenile contribution of the Neoproterozoic Rio Negro Magmatic Arc (Ribeira Belt,Brazil): Implications for Western Gondwana amalgamation

The ca. 790–600 Ma Rio Negro Complex (RNC) of the Ribeira belt (Brazil) consists of a plutonic portion of a magmatic arc built by the E-vergent subduction of the ESE border of the São Francisco paleoplate during the amalgamation of Western Gondwana.The plutonic series comprises low- to medium-K granitoids (ca. 790–620 Ma) and high-K granitoids and shoshonite rocks (ca. 610–605). The age span of 185 m.y. is suggestive of a long history of arc-related magmatism, continuously or not in time. The Nd isotopic signatures of the RNC consist of εNd(t) ratios from ? 3 to + 5 for the medium-K series shoshonite series and from ? 14 to ? 3 for the younger high-K group. This time-dependent trend of Nd isotopes is indicative of progressive maturity of the arc over time. The same evolution is indicated by Sr data, as the medium-K rocks have ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratios < 0.705 while the high-K rocks yield values between 0.705 and 0.710. The predominance of intermediate rocks over mafic ones suggests an initial intra-oceanic to transitional stage, possibly developed in a distal portion of a passive margin, such as the Japanese arc, evolving to a more developed, differentiated felsic rock associations.The role of transform fault zones, such as the Luanda shear zone, is emphasized in order to explain the consumption of a wide oceanic plate in the inner portion of Western Gondwana.     

Misattributed tsunami 3: the Mw 7.7 2013.9.24 SE Pakistan earthquake

The M_w 7.7 earthquake that struck SE Pakistan on 24 September 2013 at 11.29.48 UTC was a sinistral strike-slip event on a branch of the Ornach-Nal-Chaman fault system which hereabouts separates the Eurasian Plate from the Indian Plate. Although the focus was at a depth of 15 km and 400 km inland the earthquake was accompanied by the emergence of an island off the Makran coast and the generation of a tsunami with a peak amplitude of 27 cm at Muscat (Oman) and 20 cm at Chah Bahar (Iran). At DART marine buoy 23228 in the Indian Ocean 500 km to the south a series of seismic Rayleigh waves about 4 min after the main shock was followed 54 min later by a tsunami with a peak amplitude of 1 cm. The Rayleigh series is here attributed to seafloor vibration during accelerated subduction of the Arabian Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate, and the tsunami to the development or reactivation of one or more reverse faults on the seaward portion of the Makran imbricate fan. As in the 2010.2.27 M_w 8.8 Maule (Chile), the 2004.12.26 M_w 9.2 Sumatra–Andaman, the 2005.3.28 M_w 8.7 Nias (Indonesia) and the 2011.3.11 M_w 9.0 Tohoku (Japan) earthquakes, the link between tsunami generation and slip on the megathrust is thus very indirect, to the detriment of attempts to mitigate coastal hazards using teleseismic data when nearshore seafloor monitoring would probably prove more effective.     

Relationships between seep-carbonates,mud volcanism and basin geometry in the Late Miocene of the northern Apennines of Italy: the Montardone mélange

The Montardone mélange (Mm) is a chaotic, block-in-matrix unit outcropping in the Montebaranzone syncline in the northern Apennines. The Mm occurs in the uppermost part of the Termina Fm, the Middle–Late Miocene interval of a succession deposited in a wedge-top slope basin (Epiligurian succession). The Mm is closely associated with bodies of authigenic carbonates, characterized by negative values of δ¹³C (from ?18.22 to ?39.05 ‰ PDB) and chemosynthetic benthic fauna (lucinid and vesicomyid bivalves). In this paper, we propose that the Mm is a mud volcano originated by the post-depositional reactivation and rising of a stratigraphically lower mud-rich mass transport body (Canossa–Val Tiepido sedimentary mélange or olistostrome) triggered by fluid overpressure. We base our conclusion on (1) the Mm pierces the entire Termina Fm and older Epiligurian units and represents the direct continuation of the underlying Canossa–Val Tiepido mélange; (2) the geometry and facies distribution of the Montebaranzone sandstone body, which are compatible with a confined basin controlled by the rising of the Mm; (3) the systematic presence of large-scale (lateral extension 300–400 m) seep-carbonates associated with the mélange, suggesting a persistent gas-enriched fluid vent from the ascending overpressured mud; (4) blocks and clasts sourced from the Mm, hosted by the authigenic carbonates, conveyed by ascending mud and gas-enriched fluids. The Mm represents one of the few fossil examples of reactivation of a basin-scale sedimentary mélange (olistostrome); a three-stage model showing mechanisms of Mm raising is proposed.     

Estimating the hydraulic properties of an aquitard from in situ pore pressure measurements

A workflow is described to estimate specific storage (S _s) and hydraulic conductivity (K) from a profile of vibrating wire piezometers embedded into a regional aquitard in Australia. The loading efficiency, compressibility and S _s were estimated from pore pressure response to atmospheric pressure changes, and K was estimated from the earliest part of the measurement record following grouting. Results indicate that S _s and K were, respectively, 8.8?×?10^?6 to 1.2?×?10^?5 m^?1 and 2?×?10^?12 m s^?1 for a claystone/siltstone, and 4.3?×?10^?6 to 9.6?×?10^?6 m^?1 and 1?×?10^?12 to 5?×?10^?12 m s^?1 for a thick mudstone. K estimates from the pore pressure response are within one order of magnitude when compared to direct measurement in a laboratory and inverse modelled flux rates determined from natural tracer profiles. Further analysis of the evolution and longevity of the properties of borehole grout (e.g. thermal and chemical effects) may help refine the estimation of formation hydraulic properties using this workflow. However, the convergence of K values illustrates the benefit of multiple lines of evidence to support aquitard characterization. An additional benefit of in situ pore pressure measurement is the generation of long-term data to constrain groundwater flow models, which provides a link between laboratory scale data and the formation scale.     

Stability of equilibrium solutions in the critical case of even-order resonance in periodic Hamiltonian systems with one degree of freedom

The stability in the Lyapunov sense of an equilibrium position in a periodic Hamiltonian system with one degree of freedom is studied. It is assumed that the equilibrium is stable in the first approximation and that there exists an even resonance of order $k$ k , arbitrary. The critical case is considered, i.e., when the system of parameters is such that, in order to draw rigorous conclusions about the stability of the equilibrium position in the Lypaunov sense, terms or order higher than three in the series expansion of the Hamiltonian function must be taken into account. Sufficient conditions are derived for stability and instability.