Asbestos and other fibrous minerals contained in the serpentinites of the Gimigliano-Mount Reventino Unit (Calabria,S-Italy)

Serpentinites are metamorphic rocks with good technological properties and valuable ornamental characteristics, which have been exploited since ancient times. Actually, their use is limited and monitored in several countries worldwide because they can contain fibrous asbestos minerals that may be carcinogenic. Furthermore, certain types of fibrous minerals can be confused with asbestos, and must therefore be carefully investigated. We have investigated the possible presence of the asbestos and non-asbestos fibrous phases contained in serpentinitic rocks in a meta-ophiolitic sequence from the Gimigliano-Mount Reventino Unit (Southern Italy), which had not been previously assessed. The detection and quantification of asbestos and the correct distinction of the fibrous non-asbestos minerals are very important not only from a scientific point of view, but also from a legislative one. This is especially the case for the administrative agencies that have to take decisions with regards to the implementation of public and occupational health protection measures (e.g., in road yards and quarry excavations). As a consequence of this, serpentinitic rock samples have been characterized in detail through X-ray powder diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy combined with energy-dispersive spectrometry, analytical electron microscopy (SEM–EDS and TEM–AEM), differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Two kinds of asbestos and four kinds of non-asbestos fibrous silicates have been detected in the examined samples. In order of decreasing abundance these are polygonal serpentine, chrysotile, fibrous antigorite, tremolite, gedrite and magnesiohornblende. The size, morphology, crystallinity and chemical composition of the fibres were also discussed, in the light of the possible role these properties could play in the carcinogenic effect on human health.     

Decomposition of the central structure of NGC 2273 in the NIR: A case study

The Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 2273 is a prime target to explore how active nuclei can be fed. It has a star-forming innermost nuclear ring with a radius of 0.33kpc from where material may be funneled to the supermassive black hole in its center. In this article, we discuss high-resolution adaptive optics aided JHKs images of NGC 2273 taken with the Large Binocular Telescope. Using Galfit we decomposed the innermost part of NGC 2273 into a core, a disk, and a ring using 58 parameters, 44 of them were used to describe the ring. The stellar mass of the ring was found to be 12 $\times 10^8{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$, a factor of 10 higher than its molecular gas mass. A continuous gas flow via the main stellar bar of NGC 2273 during the lifetime of the bar of up to 10 ${\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }{\text{yr}}^{-1}$ is required to provide the fuel for the formation of the stars unless the star formation efficiency is on the order of 10%. This does not affect the fueling of the nuclear source as the amount of molecular gas required for this low-luminosity active galaxy to achieve this is on the order of $10^4{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$ only.     

Waves in Cassini UVIS stellar occultations: 2. The C ring

We performed a complete wavelet analysis of Saturn’s C ring on 62 stellar occultation profiles. These profiles were obtained by Cassini’s Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph High Speed Photometer. We used a WWZ wavelet power transform to analyze them. With a co-adding process, we found evidence of 40 wavelike structures, 18 of which are reported here for the first time. Seventeen of these appear to be propagating waves (wavelength changing systematically with distance from Saturn). The longest new wavetrain in the C ring is a 52-km-long wave in a plateau at 86,397 km. We produced a complete map of resonances with external satellites and possible structures rotating with Saturn’s rotation period up to the eighth order, allowing us to associate a previously observed wave with the Atlas 2:1 inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) and newly detected waves with the Mimas 6:2 ILR and the Pandora 4:2 ILR. We derived surface mass densities and mass extinction coefficients, finding σ = 0.22(±0.03) g cm⁻² for the Atlas 2:1 ILR, σ = 1.31(±0.20) g cm⁻² for the Mimas 6:2 ILR, and σ = 1.42(±0.21) g cm⁻² for the Pandora 4:2 ILR. We determined a range of mass extinction coefficients (κ = τ/σ) for the waves associated with resonances with κ = 0.13 (±0.03) to 0.28(±0.06) cm² g⁻¹, where τ is the optical depth. These values are higher than the reported values for the A ring (0.01-0.02 cm² g⁻¹) and the Cassini Division (0.07-0.12 cm² g⁻¹ from Colwell et al. (Colwell, J.E., Cooney, J.H., Esposito, L.W., Srem?evi?, M. [2009]. Icarus 200, 574-580)). We also note that the mass extinction coefficient is probably not constant across the C ring (in contrast to the A ring and the Cassini Division): it is systematically higher in the plateaus than elsewhere, suggesting smaller particles in the plateaus. We present the results of our analysis of these waves in the C ring and estimate the mass of the C ring to be between3.7(±0.9) × 10¹⁶ kg and 7.9(±2.0) × 10¹⁶ kg (equivalent to an icy satellite of radius between 28.0(±2.3) km and 36.2(±3.0) km with a density of 400 kg m⁻³, close to that of Pan or Atlas). Using the ring viscosity derived from the wave damping length, we also estimate the vertical thickness of the C ring between 1.9(±0.4) m and 5.6(±1.4) m, comparable to the vertical thickness of the Cassini Division.     

Morphology and variability of the Titan ringlet and Huygens ringlet edges

We present a forward modeling approach for determining, in part, the ring particle spatial distribution in the vicinity of sharp ring or ringlet edges. Synthetic edge occultation profiles are computed based on a two-parameter particle spatial distribution model. One parameter, h, characterizes the vertical extent of the ring and the other, δ, characterizes the radial scale over which the ring optical depth transitions from the background ring value to zero. We compare our synthetic occultation profiles to high resolution stellar occultation light curves observed by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) High Speed Photometer (HSP) for occultations by the Titan ringlet and Huygens ringlet edges.More than 100 stellar occultations of the Huygens ringlet and Titan ringlet edges were studied, comprising 343 independent occultation cuts of the edges of these two ringlets. In 237 of these profiles the measured light-curve was fit well with our two-parameter edge model. Of the remaining edge occultations, 69 contained structure that could only be fit with extremely large values of the ring-plane vertical thickness (h > 1 km) or by adopting a different model for the radial profile of the ring optical depth. An additional 37 could not be fit by our two-parameter model.Certain occultations at low ring-plane incidence angles as well as occultations nearly tangent to the ring edge allow the direct measurement of the radial scale over which the particle packing varies at the edge of the ringlet. In 24 occultations with these particular viewing geometries, we find a wide variation in the radial scale of the edge. We are able to constrain the vertical extent of the rings at the edge to less than ∼300 m in the 70% of the occultations with appropriate viewing geometry, however tighter constraints could not be placed on h due to the weaker sensitivity of the occultation profile to vertical thickness compared to its sensitivity to δ.Many occultations of a single edge could not be fit to a single value of δ, indicating large temporal or azimuthal variability, although the azimuthal variation in δ with respect to the longitudes of various moons in the system did not show any discernible pattern.     

Earthquakes in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2009

This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2009. During this period, 450 earthquakes and 68 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. The three strongest events occurred about 15 km NW of Basel in southern Germany (M_L 4.2), near Wildhaus in the Toggenburg (M_L 4.0) and near Bivio in Graubünden (M_L 3.5). Although felt by the population, they were not reported to have caused any damage. With a total of 24 events with M_L ≥ 2.5, the seismic activity in the year 2009 was close to the average over the previous 34 years.     

Application of Binary Permeability Fields for the Study of $${\hbox {CO}_{2}}$$ Leakage from Geological Carbon Storage in Saline Aquifers of the Michigan Basin

The feasibility of geological carbon storage (GCS) sites depends on their capacity to retain safely \({\hbox {CO}_{2}}\). While deep saline formations and depleted gas/oil reservoirs are good candidates to sequester \({\hbox {CO}_{2}}\), gas/oil reservoirs typically have a limited storage capacity compared to ideal targets (\(\sim \) 1 Mt/year) considered for \({\hbox {CO}_{2}}\) disposal (Celia et al. in Water Resour Res 51(9):6846–6892, 2015. doi: 10.1002/2015WR017609). In this respect, deep saline aquifers are considered more appropriate formations for GCS, but present the disadvantage of having limited characterization data. In particular, information about the continuity of the overlying sealing formations (caprock) is often sparse if it exists at all. In this work, a study of \({\hbox {CO}_{2}}\) leakage is conducted for a candidate GCS site located in the Michigan Basin, whose sealing properties of the caprock are practically unknown. Quantification of uncertainty on \({\hbox {CO}_{2}}\) leakage from the storage formation is achieved through a Monte Carlo simulation approach, relying on the use of a computationally efficient semi-analytical leakage model based upon the solution derived by Nordbotten et al. (Environ Sci Technol 43(3):743–749, 2009), which assumes leakage occurs across “passive” wells intersecting caprock layers. A categorical indicator Kriging simulator is developed and implemented to represent the caprock sealing properties and model the permeability uncertainty. Binary fields of caprock permeability are generated and exhibit mostly low permeability, with sparsely-occurring local high permeability areas where brine and \({\hbox {CO}_{2}}\) may leak out of the storage formation. In addition, the feasibility of extending the use of the semi-analytical model to large-area leakage pathways is studied. This work advances a methodology for preliminary uncertainty quantification of \({\hbox {CO}_{2}}\) leakage at sites of GCS with little or no information on the sealing properties of the caprock. The implemented analysis shows that, for the considered site, \({\hbox {CO}_{2}}\) leakage may not be negligible even for relatively low (\(\sim \) 1%) probabilities of finding permeable inclusions in the caprock and highlights the importance of being able to characterize caprock sealing properties over large areas.