Shear wave velocities and primary influencing factors of Campi Flegrei–Neapolitan deposits

The Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy) has been the site of intense seismic activity over the past decades. This area is densely populated and includes important towns such as Napoli with historical sites and supporting many industries. For the proper use and management of the region, the evaluation of the dynamic properties of near-surface rocks is necessary.

The volcanological pattern has been reconstructed from the lithostratigraphies of several drillings. The most interesting and widespread pyroclastic products are the pozzolana deposit (soil) and the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (rock). Both pozzolana and tuff products are covered by recent eluvial and coastal sandy deposits and younger volcanic products (<12 000 years). The characteristic ranges of the shear wave velocity (V_s) of the Campi Flegrei–Neapolitan soils and tuffs are defined and the primary influencing factors are evaluated. For the sandy deposits, the results show that eluvial and lacustral products have lower shear wave velocities than coastal products. For the volcanic products younger than 12 000 years b.p. the influence of vertical pressure is emphasized. As regards the pozzolana deposit (soil) and the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (rock), a major influencing factor is shown by the textural characteristics and the different hardening degrees as a consequence of the diagenetic processes. The scattering of the V_s velocities for the same formation is so wide that only the variability ranges can be individuated. These results suggest a need to carry out detailed V_s measurements or, at least, to make a parametric study of the effect of the V_s ranges on seismic response analysis in order to give safe building codes.     

Spectral density regression for bivariate extremes

We introduce a density regression model for the spectral density of a bivariate extreme value distribution, that allows us to assess how extremal dependence can change over a covariate. Inference is performed through a double kernel estimator, which can be seen as an extension of the Nadaraya–Watson estimator where the usual scalar responses are replaced by mean constrained densities on the unit interval. Numerical experiments with the methods illustrate their resilience in a variety of contexts of practical interest. An extreme temperature dataset is used to illustrate our methods.     

A study of the geophysical response of distributed fibre optic acoustic sensors through laboratory‐scale experiments

In the past few years, distributed acoustic sensing has gained great interest in geophysics. This acquisition technology offers immense improvement in terms of efficiency when compared with current geophysical acquisition methods. However, the fundamentals of the measurement are still not fully understood because direct comparisons of fibre data with conventional geophysical sensors are difficult during field tests. We present downscaled laboratory experiments that enabled us to characterise the relationship between the signals recorded by conventional seismic point receivers and by distributed fibre optic sensors. Interrogation of the distributed optical fibre sensor was performed with a Michelson interferometer because this system is suited to compact test configurations, and it requires only a very simple data processing workflow for extracting the signal outputs. We show acoustic data that were recorded simultaneously by both the fibre optical interferometer and conventional three‐component accelerometers, thus enabling the comparison of sensor performance. We present results focused on the directionality of fibre measurements, on the amplitude variation with angle of incidence, and on the transfer function that allows accelerometer signals to be transformed into optical fibre signals. We conclude that the optical fibre response matches with the array of the displacement differences of the inline accelerometers deployed along the fibre length. Moreover, we also analysed the influence of various types of coupling and fibre cable coating on the signal responses, emphasising the importance of these parameters for field seismic acquisitions when using the distributed fibre optic technology.     

New Reference Materials and Assessment of Matrix Effects for SIMS Measurements of Oxygen Isotopes in Garnet

Accurate ion microprobe analysis of oxygen isotope ratios in garnet requires appropriate reference materials to correct for instrumental mass fractionation that partly depends on the garnet chemistry (matrix effect). The matrix effect correlated with grossular, spessartine and andradite components was characterised for the Cameca IMS 1280HR at the SwissSIMS laboratory based on sixteen reference garnet samples. The correlations fit a second‐degree polynomial with maximum bias of ca. 4‰, 2‰ and 8‰, respectively. While the grossular composition range 0–25% is adequately covered by available reference materials, there is a paucity of them for intermediate compositions. We characterise three new garnet reference materials GRS2, GRS‐JH2 and CAP02 with a grossular content of 88.3 ± 1.2% (2s), 83.3 ± 0.8% and 32.5 ± 3.0%, respectively. Their micro scale homogeneity in oxygen isotope composition was evaluated by multiple SIMS sessions. The reference δ¹⁸O value was determined by CO₂ laser fluorination (δ¹⁸O_LF). GRS2 has δ¹⁸O_LF = 8.01 ± 0.10‰ (2s) and repeatability within each SIMS session of 0.30–0.60‰ (2s), GRS‐JH2 has δ¹⁸O_LF = 18.70 ± 0.08‰ and repeatability of 0.24–0.42‰ and CAP02 has δ¹⁸O_LF = 4.64 ± 0.16‰ and repeatability of 0.40–0.46‰.     

Fully probabilistic seismic risk assessment considering local site effects for the portfolio of buildings in Medellín,Colombia

A fully probabilistic seismic risk analysis using a comprehensive approach is conducted for Medellin, the second largest city of Colombia, using a building by building database constructed and complemented from aerial images, considering characteristics such as building use categories, socio-economic levels and replacement values. The seismic hazard used for the analysis corresponds to the most updated study available in the country with the same model that was included in the national building code maps definition. Spectral transfer functions are determined for each of the seismic microzonation zones in order to take into account the dynamic soil response and amplification effects in the risk analysis. Several building types are defined for the city and individual vulnerability functions are assigned to each of them. Risk results are presented in the state of the art metrics such as the loss exceedance curve, probable maximum losses for different return periods, average annual losses and risk maps. The obtained results can be classified by use and socio-economic sectors as well as by structural systems that may help the stakeholders to identify where the risk concentrates.     

National Civil Protection Organization and technical activities in the 2012 Emilia earthquakes (Italy)

On May 2012, a severe seismic sequence occurred in the central part of the Po Plain (Northern Italy). It was characterized by two main shocks displaying local magnitudes 5.9 (on May 20th) and 5.8 (on May 29th), respectively; the maximum observed intensity was VII–VIII on the MCS scale. The emergency response was coordinated as usual by the Department of Civil Protection (DPC), within the general framework provided by the components and operational structures of the National Civil Protection Service. In addition to the search and rescue and to the population assistance activities, many technical activities were carried out to support the civil protection management of the recovery phase. Among these, mentioning is deserved by: the acquisition and dissemination of the accelerometric data from the National Accelerometric Network and the Seismic Observatory of the Structures, owned and operated by DPC; the evaluation of the liquefaction phenomena; the damage and building safety assessment; the regulations for the seismic safety assessment of industrial buildings, aimed at a rapid re-establishment of the productive activities; the actions undertaken following the evaluations by the Grandi Rischi Commission on the possible evolution of the seismic sequence. All these aspects will be examined under a civil protection perspective.     

Characterization of an Area Polluted by Copper and Zinc:the Relation between Soil Texture,Mineralogy and Pollutant Concentration

Abstract: Twenty-four soil samples were collected at three depths from an approximately 2.5 acre contaminated site in southern Piedmont (Italy) and then analyzed. The main soil parameters determined were: pH, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), particle size distribution, total organic carbon (TOC) content and retained metal concentration. The mineral phases were identified by X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD). All of the samples contained Zn and Cu resulting from industrial contamination during the last century, and those obtained at depths of 20-40 cm consistently showed the highest levels. To determine which size fraction was most active in the retention process, the samples were separated into four fractions (≤2 mm, ≤63 μm, ≤30 μm and ≤2 μm) and the amount of pollutant measured in each. It was found that metal retention was the highest in the clayey fraction, whose clay minerals were identified by XRPD after K+ and Mg2+ saturation, glycerol treatment and heating to 550°C. The clayey fraction was also the richest in TOC, and a direct correlation between TOC amount and metal retention was observed.     

Mercury resolved spectroscopy from NTT

Mercury has been observed in June 2006 with the SofI instrument at NTT. Resolved spectroscopy was performed in the range. The observations were acquired close to a favorable quadrature with maximum elongation, and span mostly the southern hemisphere in the 235–315°E longitude area.In contrast to recent observations from IRTF, the present study does not indicate any pyroxene absorption in the near-infrared range, neither in the region nor at . Detailed spectral analysis allows to derive an upper limit of 1.5% type-A pyroxene (hedenbergite) or 1.1% enstatite (assuming minimum lunar iron content) in the regions observed, at the 700 km scale. Assuming lunar-like maturity effects on band depth, this corresponds to an upper limit of 0.15 and 0.6 wt.% FeO content in silicates, an order of magnitude less than previous estimates.     

The influence of local topography for wind direction on Mars: two examples of dune fields in crater basins

In this work, we perform an analysis of large dark dunes within Moreux Crater and Herschel Crater on Mars using High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and Context Camera (CTX) data sets. These data allow us to conduct a detailed analysis of dune morphology and slip faces, concluding that the studied dune fields are influenced by topographically‐controlled complex wind directions. Our morphological analysis reveals that inside Moreux Crater in particular, the topographic setting dominates the wind flow direction, leading to the development of a sand transport pathway encircling the central peak of the crater. The dune fields in Herschel Crater are also affected by winds controlled by variable topography as suggested by the presence of complex dunes and dune fields. Our analysis indicate that the studied dune systems is not the result of paleo‐wind regimes. Furthermore, we perform thermal inertia measurements using thermal emission spectrometer (TES) data, which indicate that the studied dune fields consist of medium sand 250–500 µm in diameter. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.