Anomalously deep earthquakes in northwestern Italy

It is usually assumed that earthquakes in intraplate regions occur in the upper crust, and northwestern Italy is generally assigned to this kind of normal seismicity. In this work, the depth distribution of the events localized in this area by the Istituto Geofisico Geodetico (IGG) seismic network in the period 1991–1997 is analyzed in detail. In particular, the location capability of the network is discussed, adopting as reference quarry blasts (for the epicentral position) and the locations obtained from a dense temporary network (for the depth estimate). Within the so-obtained error limits, the depth distribution of events show a characteristic pattern: while for most of the area covered by the network the well-located seismicity lies within the first 20 km of depth, in a band following the inner arc of the Western Alps, numerous events have anomalously large focal depths, reaching a maximum of 114 km. These depth determinations cannot be attributed to instabilities of the location procedure: different choices of the propagation models used for the hypocentral determination led to very similar depth values, always significantly larger than the standard values for the surrounding areas. A strong correlation has been found between the 3-dimensional distribution of these foci and the P-wave propagation anomalies obtained from tomographic studies, suggesting a direct link between elastic and rheological properties of lower crust and upper mantle in this area.     

Water table variations in Atacama Desert alluvial fans: discussion of “Evidence of short-term groundwater recharge signal propagation from the Andes to the central Atacama Desert: a singular spectrum analysis approach”*

ABSTRACT

Using a statistical approach, Scheihing attempts to demonstrate the direct influence of recharge events in the Precordillera and the Andean Piedmont on water table variations in downstream alluvial fans. The author “unquestionably” discards the existence of ephemeral recharge processes in alluvial fans although they are frequently impacted by major floods. However, the author does not consider previous publications about recharge processes in arid alluvial fans, the hydraulic setting of the Pampa del Tamarugal Aquifer (PTA) and anthropogenic pressure changes in the PTA. Because the sustainable management of groundwater resources in drylands depends on a good understanding of hydrogeological processes, we propose a thorough reinterpretation of the short- and long-term PTA water table variations addressed by the author. In this comment, we illustrate the limits of the sole use of a statistical approach for characterizing both recharge processes and factors controlling the water table variations in the Atacama Desert.     

Geochronology and magmatic character of the pliocene-pleistocene volcanism in Sardinia (Italy)

The Pliocene-Pleistocene subaerial volcanic activity of the island of Sardinia developed from about five million years ago to the Pleistocene. Volcanism was mainly fissural, related to rifting of the Sardinian crustal block and connected to intraplate tensional tectonics involving at the same time the area of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Areally the most abundant rocks are basic, ranging in serial character from alkaline to subalkaline types. In some areas intermediate and salic lavas also occur; trachytic and phonolitic rocks are mainly associated with basalts of alkaline affinity, whereas rhyolites and dacites are mainly related to subalkalic basalts. K/Ar data show that lavas of different serial character (from alkalic to subalkalic) are produced on the island within the same time range, from about four to two million years; it is to be noted, however, that the early products (about 5 million years) are mildly alkalic in character whereas most of the youngest products (0.6–0.14 million years) are strongly alkalic.     

Seismic safety of reinforced concrete members and structures

Based on cyclic load tests of large-scale reinforced concrete elements and assemblages, a probabilistic model of member failure is developed. The model gives the probability of survival at time t as a functional of damage ratio and dissipated energy up to t. After extension to multivariate survival of several members with correlated resistance, the model is used to calculate the safety of reinforced concrete frames subjected to given input motions. Results are in terms of the probability of local failure and of no failure anywhere in the system.     

The problem of rock assimilation by Somma-Vesuvius magma

New chemical and modal analyses are presented of magmatic rocks and pyroxenes nodules from the Somma-Vesuvius volcano and of trachytes from the surrounding area. Geochemical evidence is employed in checking the generally accepted suggestion that magma composition develops from that of trachyte into phonolitic tephrite and finally into tephritic leucitite (vesuvite) by assimilation of dolomite. At the Somma stage of the volcano, phonolitic tephrites (tephritic phonolites) alone have been produced. Vesuvius lavas (tephritic leucitites) are comparatively high in K₂O, CaO, F, Cl, Mn, Cu, Sr and Ba and low in SiO₂ and Nb. The formation of vesuvites by assimilation of dolomitic sedimentary rocks, combined with gravity-separation of early-formed pyroxenes from a trachytic or tephritic magma, is improbable as shown by chemical balances between the respective igneous and sedimentary rocks.     

Flexural uplift of a lithospheric slab near the Vema transform (Central Atlantic): Timing and mechanisms

The Vema Transverse Ridge (VTR) is a prominent, long and narrow topographic anomaly that runs for over 300 km along a sea floor spreading flow line south of the Vema transform at 11° N in the Atlantic. It rises abruptly about 140 km from the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) in 10 Myr old crust and runs continuously up to 25 Myr old crust. It reaches over 3 km above the predicted lithospheric thermal contraction level. It is absent in crust younger than 10 Myr; thus, the uplift of the VTR must have ended roughly 10 Ma. The VTR is interpreted as the exposed edge of a flexured and uplifted slab of oceanic lithosphere that was generated at an 80 km long MAR segment. Based on satellite gravimetry imagery this MAR segment was born roughly 50 Ma and increased its length at an average rate of 1.6 mm/yr. Multibeam data show that the MAR-parallel sea floor fabric south of the VTR shifts its orientation by 5° to 10° clockwise in 11–12 Myr old crust, indicating a change at that time of the orientation of the MAR axis and of the position of the Euler rotation pole. This change caused extension normal to the transform, followed between 12 and 10 Ma by flexure of the edge of the lithospheric slab, uplift of the VTR at a rate of 2 to 4 mm/yr, and exposure of a lithospheric section (Vema Lithospheric Section or VLS) at the northern edge of the slab, parallel to the Vema transform. Ages of pelagic carbonates encrusting ultramafic rocks sampled at the base of the VLS at different distances from the MAR axis suggest that the entire VTR rose vertically as a single block within the active transform offset. A 50 km long portion of the crest of the VTR rose above sea level, subsided, was truncated at sea level and covered by a carbonate platform. Subaerial and submarine erosion has gradually removed material from the top of the VTR and has modified its slopes. Spreading half rate of the crust south of the transform decreased from 17.2 mm/yr between 26 and 19 Ma to 16.9 mm/yr between 19 and 10 Ma, to 13.6 mm/yr from 10 Ma to present. The slowing down of spreading occurred close in time to the change in ridge/transform geometry, suggesting that the two events are related. A numerical model relates lithospheric flexure to extension normal to the transform, suggesting that the extent of the uplift depends on the thickness of the brittle layer, consistent with the observed greater uplift of the older lithosphere along the VTR.     

A model for silicate melt viscosity in the system CaMgSi2O6-CaAl2Si2O8-NaAlSi3O8

Five hundred eighty-five viscosity measurements on 40 melt compositions from the ternary system CaMgSi₂O₆ (Di)-CaAl₂Si₂O₈ (An)-NaAlSi₃O₈ (Ab) have been compiled to create an experimental database spanning a wide range of temperatures (660-2175°C). The melts within this ternary system show near-Arrhenian to strongly non-Arrhenian properties, and in this regard are comparable to natural melts. The database is used to produce a chemical model for the compositional and temperature dependence of melt viscosity in the Di-An-Ab system. We use the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation (VFT: log η = A + B/(T − C)) to account for the temperature dependence of melt viscosity. We also assume that all silicate melts converge to a common viscosity at high temperature. Thus, A is independent of composition, and all compositional dependence resides in the parameters B and C. The best estimate for A is −5.06, which implies a high-temperature limit to viscosity of 10^-5.06 Pa s. The compositional dependence of B and C is expressed by 12 coefficients (b_i=1,2.6, c_j=1,2..6) representing linear (e.g., b_i=1:3) and higher order, nonlinear (e.g., b_i=4:6) contributions. Our results suggest a near-linear compositional dependence for B (<10% nonlinear) and C (<7% nonlinear). We use the model to predict model VFT functions and to demonstrate the systematic variations in viscosity due to changes in melt composition. Despite the near linear compositional dependence of B and C, the model reproduces the pronounced nonlinearities shown by the original data, including the crossing of VFT functions for different melt compositions. We also calculate values of T_g for melts across the Di-An-Ab ternary system and show that intermediate melt compositions have T_g values that are depressed by up to 100°C relative to the end-members Di-An-Ab. Our non-Arrhenian viscosity model accurately reproduces the original database, allows for continuous variations in rheological properties, and has a demonstrated capacity for extrapolation beyond the original data.     

Stability of Al- and F-rich titanite in metacarbonate: petrologic and isotopic constraints from a polymetamorphic eclogitic marble of the internal Sesia Zone (Western Alps)

Al- and F-rich titanite (3.862O₃ <9.33 wt%, 0.931(F, OH)₁Ti_-1O_-1 substitution within single crystals, particularly at grain boundaries with omphacite and/or phengite. In-situ ion microprobe U-Pb analysis of titanite domains that have various Al and F contents yielded apparent ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages scattering between 283 and 153 Ma. Chemical and petrological data are indispensable to interpret this complex age distribution, and the good correlation between ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ratios and Al content indicates that the Al- and F-rich titanite was formed during pre-Alpine metamorphism (𔕑ᆟ Ma). Progressively younger ages are obtained in domains with decreasing Al and F content, suggesting that partial chemical re-equilibration was responsible for the incomplete isotopic resetting during Alpine metamorphism. Petrological and U-Pb data show that Al- and F-rich titanite should be used with caution to infer high-pressure conditions in polymetamorphic carbonate systems.     

Contrasting styles of Mount Vesuvius activity in the period between the Avellino and Pompeii Plinian eruptions,and some implications for assessment of future hazards

Intense explosive activity occurred repeatedly at Vesuvius during the nearly 1,600-year period between the two Plinian eruptions of Avellino (3.5 ka) and Pompeii (79 A.D.). By correlating stratigraphic sections from more than 40 sites around the volcano, we identify the deposits of six main eruptions (AP1-AP6) and of some minor intervening events. Several deposits can be traced up to 20 km from the vent. Their stratigraphic and dispersal features suggest the prevalence of two main contrasting eruptive styles, each involving a complex relationship between magmatic and phreatomagmatic phases. The two main eruption styles are (1) sub-Plinian to phreato-Plinian events (AP1 and AP2 members), where deposits consist of pumice and scoria fall layers alternating with fine-grained, vesiculated, accretionary lapilli-bearing ashes; and (2) mixed, violent Strombolian to Vulcanian events (AP3-AP6 members), which deposited a complex sequence of fallout, massive to thinly stratified, scoria-bearing lapilli layers and fine ash beds. Morphology and density variations of the juvenile fragments confirm the important role played by magma-water interaction in the eruptive dynamics. The mean composition of the ejected material changes with time, and shows a strong correlation with vent position and eruption style. The ranges of intensity and magnitude of these events, derived by estimations of peak column height and volume of the ejecta, are significantly smaller than the values for the better known Plinian and sub-Plinian eruptions of Vesuvius, enlarging the spectrum of the possible eruptive scenarios at Vesuvius, useful in the assessment of its potential hazard.     

S-wave splitting intensity analysis and inversion

Analysing S-wave splitting has become a routine step in processing multicomponent data. Typically, this analysis leads to determining the principal directions of a transversely isotropic medium with a horizontal symmetry axis, which is assumed to be responsible for azimuthal anisotropy, and to the time delays between the fast and slow S-waves. These parameters are commonly estimated layer-by-layer from the top. Errors in layer stripping occurring in shallow layers might propagate to deeper layers. We propose a method for S-wave splitting analysis and compensation that consists of inverting interval values of splitting intensity to obtain a model of anisotropic parameters that vary with time and/or depth. Splitting intensity is a robust attribute with respect to structural variations and is commutative, which means that it can be summed along a ray (or throughout a sensitivity kernel volume) and can be linearly related to anisotropic perturbations at depth. Therefore, it is possible to estimate anisotropic properties within a geological formation (e.g. the reservoir) by analysing the differences of splitting intensity measured at the top and at the bottom of the layer. This allows us to avoid layer stripping, in particular, for shallow layers where anisotropic parameters are difficult to estimate due to poor coverage, and it makes S-wave splitting analysis simpler to apply. We demonstrate this method on synthetic and real data. Because the splitting intensity attribute shows usefulness in S-wave splitting analysis in transversely isotropic media, we extend the splitting intensity theory to lower symmetry classes. It enables the characterization of tilted transversely isotropic and tilted orthorhombic media, opening new opportunities for anisotropic model building.