Susceptibility of intrusion-related landslides at volcanic islands: the Stromboli case study

Susceptibility of intrusion-related landslides in an active volcano was evaluated coupling the landslide susceptibility estimation by random forest (RF), and the probabilistic volcanic vent opening distribution, as proxy for magma injection, using the QVAST tool. In order to develop and test the method proposed here, the RF/QVAST approach was adopted for Stromboli volcano (Southern Italy) since it experienced moderate to huge instability events, it is geomorphologically prone to instability events, and it is affected by active intense volcanic activity that can produce slope instability. The main destabilizing factors of the volcanic flanks are the slope, the aspect, the terrain roughness, the land cover and the litho-technical features of the outcropping rocks. Estimation of volcanic susceptibility shows that the areas with high probability of new vent opening are located in the north-western unstable volcano flank (Sciara del Fuoco), in the volcano summit and the north-eastern volcano flank coherent with the possible re-activation of the eruptive fissures related to the regional tectonic setting. The areas with higher probability of intrusion-related landslides are located in the upper part of the Sciara del Fuoco, while the rest of the island show moderate to low probability of intrusion-related landslide occurrence.     

Using expert knowledge to map the level of risk of shallow landslides in Brazil

Shallow landslides are common in Brazil's urban areas. Geomorphology and land use are contributing factors, and rainfall is the triggering one. In these urban areas, anthropogenic activities that increase the level of landslide risk are common, such as cutting and filling or discharging wastewater onto the slopes. The Brazilian Government has developed a methodology to map the risk level in landslide-prone areas. The methodology is based on field observation and divides the risk into four main categories: low, moderate, high, and very high. Technicians in the field decide the sector's landslide risk level based on their professional and personal experiences, but without mathematical calculations or without using specific weights for the contributing factors. This study proposes a method for automatically computing the risk level by involving many experts for deriving each classifier weight, thereby reducing the subjectivity in selecting the final risk level. The weights were calculated using the Analytical Hierarchical Process based on 23 experts on landslides, and the standard deviation was used to define the risk level threshold. We validated the study using a prior risk mapping of São Paulo city. Finally, an application (app) that can be used on a tablet, computer, or smartphone was created to facilitate data collection during fieldwork and to automatically compute the risk level. Risk areas in Brazil are frequently changing as new residents move to the area or changes in the buildings or terrain are made. In addition, mapping the risk areas is expensive and time-demanding for municipalities. Therefore, an application that gathers the data easily and automatically computes the risk level can help municipalities rapidly update their risk sectors, allowing them to use updated risk mapping during the rainy season and be less dependent on rarely available financial resources to hire a risk mapping service.

     

Wildfire impacts on schools and hospitals following the 2018 California Camp Fire

Natural Hazards - Wildfire impacts on communities have become more pronounced in recent years as the intensity and frequency of wildfires have increased in densely populated areas of the...     

Spatial and temporal prokaryotic variability in the northern Adriatic Sea

The prokaryotic community, both in terms of abundance and activity (exoenzymatic hydrolysis of proteins, polysaccharides and phosphorylated molecules and leucine uptake), was investigated seasonally for a 3‐year period (2004–2006) in the Gulf of Venice (northern Adriatic Sea). By focusing on spatial and temporal variability, the prokaryote dynamics showed significant variations on a horizontal and seasonal scale, but no substantial differences were observed among years. The basin‐scale variability was mainly influenced by allochthonous inputs from the Po river and the Venice Lagoon, which were the main source of nutrients, acting as a ‘bottom up’ control on prokaryotes. On a seasonal scale, all the microbial parameters (except the polysaccharide degradation) showed significant variations following the temperature fluctuations. The annual rate of change was very low for all the chemical, physical and biological parameters and only the abundance and phosphatase activity of the prokaryotes differed significantly among years.     

Cloud distributions over the coastal Arctic Ocean: surface-based and satellite observations

All-weather Arctic cloud analyses primarily derived from a surface-based hemispheric all-sky imager are compared against ISCCP D-1 cloud amount, type, and phase during the sunlit polar season. Increasing surface temperatures and decreasing ice cover over the past decade have altered heat and moisture fluxes around the Arctic, providing conditions more conducive for cloud generation. Shipboard and ice camp measurements from field experiments conducted over an 8-year period show cloudy skies in 70–95% of the record. Most of these occurrences are stratiform or multi-level, multi-form cloud, increasing in amount with time through the season. Collocated ISCCP retrievals underestimate cloud amount at small solar zenith angles and overestimate at large angles, sometimes by as much as 50%. Satellite assessments of cloud form classify 95% of scenes as having multiple cloud types, the majority of which are mid-level ice cloud and low-level liquid cloud. Despite large discrepancies in diurnal cloud amount, regional averages of ISCCP pixel cloudiness over the length of the experiments agree within ±5% of surface observations.     

Heavy metal concentrations and biomarkers of oxidative stress in native mussels (Mytilus edulis chilensis) from Beagle Channel coast (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of oxidative stress biomarkers of pollution in native mussels Mytilus edulis chilensis from the Beagle Channel. Spatial and seasonal variations of catalase, glutathione-S-transferase and lipid peroxidation in gills and digestive gland were analyzed in relation to environmental parameters, heavy metals in sediment and in tissue. Four sites with anthropogenic impact and a control site were selected and monitored during the four seasons of 2007. We found significant differences among sites in concentrations of dissolved nutrients and heavy metals in sediments, with the highest values recorded at sites with anthropogenic pressure. Different patterns were observed between concentrations of metals in tissues and in sediments suggesting differences in bioavailability. There were also significant differences in biomarker responses among sites, despite the strong seasonal variability. Our results showed relatively moderate levels of pollution in the study area as a result of urban influences.     

Soil Budget,Net Export,and Potential Sinks of Nitrogen in the Lower Oglio River Watershed (Northern Italy)

A nitrogen mass balance, realized for the lower Oglio River basin (Po River Plain, northern Italy), suggested an elevated impact of agricultural activities in this watershed. Livestock manure, synthetic fertilizers, biological fixation, atmospheric deposition, and wastewater sludge contributed 51, 34, 12, 2, and 1% of total N (TN) input, respectively (basin average 450 kg N ha^?1 arable land (AL) year^?1, overall input 100 115 t N year^?1). Crop uptake, ammonia volatilization and denitrification in soils contributed 65, 21, and 14%, respectively, of TN output (basin average 270 kg N ha^?1 AL year^?1, overall output 60 060 t N year^?1). N inputs exceeded outputs by 40 056 t N year^?1, resulting in a basin average surplus of about 180 kg N ha^?1 AL year^?1. About 34% of the N surplus was exported annually from the basin while the remaining amount (about 26 800 t N year^?1) underwent other unaccounted for processes within the watershed. The relevance of nitrogen removal via denitrification in aquatic compartments within the watershed was evaluated. Denitrification in the secondary drainage network can represent a relevant nitrogen sink due to great linear extension (over 12 500 km), with estimated nitrogen loss up to 8500 t N year^?1. Denitrification in the riverbed and in perifluvial wetlands have the potential to remove only a small fraction of the nitrogen surplus (<3%). Evidence suggests the relevance of groundwater as a site of nitrogen accumulation.     

Watersheds dynamics following wildfires: Nonlinear feedbacks and implications on hydrologic responses

In recent years, wildfires in the western United States have occurred with increasing frequency and scale. Climate change scenarios in California predict prolonged periods of droughts with even greater potential for conditions amenable to wildfires. The Sierra Nevada Mountains provide 70% of water resources in California, yet how wildfires will impact watershed-scale hydrology is highly uncertain. In this work, we assess the impacts of wildfires perturbations on watershed hydrodynamics using a physically based integrated hydrologic model in a high-performance-computing framework. A representative Californian watershed, the Cosumnes River, is used to demonstrate how postwildfire conditions impact the water and energy balance. Results from the high-resolution model show counterintuitive feedbacks that occur following a wildfire and allow us to identify the regions most sensitive to wildfires conditions, as well as the hydrologic processes that are most affected. For example, whereas evapotranspiration generally decreases in the postfire simulations, some regions experience an increase due to changes in surface water run-off patterns in and near burn scars. Postfire conditions also yield greater winter snowpack and subsequently greater summer run-off as well as groundwater storage in the postfire simulations. Comparisons between dry and wet water years show that climate is the main factor controlling the timing at which some hydrologic processes occur (such as snow accumulation) whereas postwildfire changes to other metrics (such as streamflow) show seasonally dependent impacts primarily due to the timing of snowmelt, illustrative of the integrative nature of hydrologic processes across the Sierra Nevada-Central Valley interface.