Detection of earthquake clusters on the basis of waveform similarity: An application in the monferrato region (Piedmont, Italy)

In August 2000 and July 2001 two seismic sequences, characterized by mainshocks with Ml (local magnitude) respectively 5.1 and 4.8, occurred in the Monferrato region (Italy). The regional seismic network of North-western Italy (RSNI) recorded more than 250 foreshocks and aftershocks. The routine locations, obtained from the Hypoellipse code, show a seismic activity concentrated in a circular area, of a radius of about 15 km, located near Acqui Terme, and randomly distributed in depth. Location errors, due to an uneven azimuthal station distribution of the regional seismic network, prevent recognition of the geometry of the active zone. Waveform analysis revealed the presence of several multiplets. In order to discriminate and successively relocate them, an automatic cross-correlation procedure was applied. Normalized cross-correlation matrixes, for the RSNI stations which recorded almost 90% of considered events, on the basis of a signal to noise ratio analysis, were computed using only S wave time windows. The use of a relocation procedure, based on the double-difference method which incorporates ordinary absolute travel-time measurements and/or cross-correlation differential travel-times, allowed us to overcome the constraints of the uneven distribution of stations giving a quite different frame of seismicity. The improved locations showed that the seismic activity is mainly arranged along a NE-SW oriented volume, at a depth range of 8–20 km, involving the basement crystalline units. This orientation is confirmed by the analysis of the focal mechanisms: most focal solutions show a strike slip component with one of the nodal planes consistent with the main orientation of the seismic events.     

Adsorptive Separation of 1, 2‐Dichloroethane from Model Wastewater by Natural Clinoptilolite

The adsorptive separation of 1, 2‐dichloroethane from model wastewater by different Slovak natural and octadecylammonium‐modified clinoptilolites has been studied. It was found that the 1, 2‐dichloroethane will be adsorbed by natural as well as by surfactant‐modified clinoptilolites; all clinoptilolites have a similar adsorption loading. There was also no remarkable difference between the natural and surfactant‐modified clinoptilolites in respect to the adsorption kinetics.     

Effective Roughness Calculated from Satellite-Derived Land Cover Maps and Hedge-Information used in a Weather Forecasting Model

In numerical weather prediction, climate and hydrologicalmodelling, the grid cell size is typically larger than the horizontal length scales of variations in aerodynamicroughness, surface temperature and surface humidity. These local land cover variations give rise to sub-gridscale surface flux differences. Especially the roughness variations can give a significantly differentvalue between the equilibrium roughness in each of the patches as compared to the aggregated roughness value,the so-called effective roughness, for the grid cell. The effective roughness is a quantity that secures thephysics to be well-described in any large-scale model. A method of aggregating the roughness step changesin arbitrary real terrain has been applied in flat terrain (Denmark) where sub-grid scale vegetation-drivenroughness variations are a dominant characteristic of the landscape. The aggregation model is a physicaltwo-dimensional atmospheric flow model in the horizontal domain based on a linearized version of theNavier Stoke equation. The equations are solved by the Fast Fourier Transformation technique, hence the codeis very fast. The new effective roughness maps have been used in the HIgh Resolution Limited Area Model(HIRLAM) weather forecasting model and the weather prediction results are compared for a number of casesto synoptic and other observations with improved agreement above the predictions based on currentstandard input. Typical seasonal springtime bias on forecasted winds over land of +0.5 m s^-1 and-0.2 m s^-1 in coastal areas is reduced by use of the effective roughness maps.     

Compositional classification of “kimberlitic” and “non-kimberlitic” ilmenite

Ilmenite is one of the common kimberlitic indicator minerals recovered during diamond exploration, and its distinction from non-kimberlitic rock types is important. This is particularly true for regions where these minerals are present in relatively low abundance, and they are the dominant kimberlitic indicator mineral recovered. Difficulty in visually differentiating kimberlitic from non-kimberlitic ilmenite in exploration concentrates is also an issue, and distinguishing kimberlitic ilmenite from those derive from other similar rocks, such as ultramafic lamprophyres, is practically impossible. Ilmenite is also the indicator mineral whose compositional variety has the most potential to resolve provenance issues related to mineral dispersions with contributions from multiple kimberlite sources.

Various published data sets from selected kimberlitic (including kimberlites, lamproites, and various ultramafic lamprophyres) and non-kimberlitic rock types have been compiled and evaluated in terms of their major element compositions. Compositional fields and bounding reference lines for ilmenites derived from kimberlites (sensu stricto), ultramafic lamprophyres, and other non-kimberlitic rock types have been defined primarily on MgO–TiO₂ graphs as well as MgO–Cr₂O₃ relationships.     

Intercomparison of Boron Isotope and Concentration Measurements. Part II: Evaluation of Results

The Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse (IGG), on behalf and with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), prepared eight geological materials (three natural waters and five rocks and minerals), intended for a blind interlaboratory comparison of measurements of boron isotopic composition and concentration. The materials were distributed to twenty seven laboratories - virtually all those performing geochemical boron isotope analyses in the world -which agreed to participate in the intercomparison exercise. Only fifteen laboratories, however, ultimately submitted the isotopic and/or concentration results they obtained on the intercomparison materials. The results demonstrate that interlaboratory reproducibility is not well reflected by the precision values reported by the individual laboratories and this observation holds true for both boron concentration and isotopic composition. The reasons for the discrepancies include fractionations due to the chemical matrix of materials, relative shift of the zero position on the δ¹¹B scale and a lack of well characterized materials for calibrating absolute boron content measurements. The intercomparison materials are now available at the IAEA (solid materials) and IGG (waters) for future distribution.     

Bridging Political Expectations and Scientific Limitations in Climate Risk Management – On the Uncertain Effects of International Carbon Sink Policies*

Despite great advances in carbon cycle research during the past decade the climatic impact of terrestrial ecosystems is still highly uncertain. Although contemporary studies suggest that the terrestrial biosphere has acted as a net sink to atmospheric carbon during the past two decades, the future role of terrestrial carbon pools is most difficult to foresee. When land use change and forestry activities were included into the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the requirements for scientific precision increased significantly. At the same time the political expectations of carbon sequestration as climate mitigation strategy added uncertainties of a social kind to the study of land-atmosphere carbon exchange that have been difficult to address by conventional scientific methods. In this paper I explore how the failure to take into account the effects of direct human activity in scientific projections of future terrestrial carbon storage has resulted in a simplified appreciation of the risks embedded in a global carbon sequestration scheme. I argue that the social limits to scientific analysis must be addressed in order to accommodate these risks in future climate governance and to enable continued scientific authority in the international climate regime.     

Stresses induced by loading of an artificial basin

Geomagnetic effects related to the stresses induced by the water load of the Chiotas reservoir (NW Italy) were studied, with measurements of the geomagnetic field at different stages of filling. The highest effect, mean 7 nT, was recorded at three-quarters full; subsequently, as the volume of water increased, the anomalous variations fell to about 2 nT.     

Complex bedding geometries and facies associations of the turbiditic fill of a confined basin in a transpressive setting (Castagnola Fm., Tertiary Piedmont Basin, NW Italy)

ABSTRACT This paper details the influence of syndepositional tectonics in controlling the architecture of a well‐exposed confined turbiditic sandbody, which crops out in the eastern part of the Tertiary Piedmont Basin (Castagnola Basin, northern Italy). The Castagnola Basin was tectonically active during sedimentation of the sandbody, and the lateral distribution of turbidity‐current deposits has been used to constrain both how the basin subsided and the impact of basin topography on flow behaviour and deposition. The sandbody occurs in the lower member of an Upper Oligocene–Lower Miocene turbidite system (the Castagnola Formation). The sandbody is ≈30 m thick and can be followed laterally for ≈1·8 km; it shows onlap terminations onto both northern and southern basin margins. The outcrop is sufficiently large to allow a detailed analysis of the facies and geometrical heterogeneity, as viewed approximately parallel to the average palaeocurrent trend (SW–NE). Correlation between 41 sedimentological logs reveals the diachronous development of a succession of sandstone packages (subunits). Nine vertically stacked and laterally juxtaposed packages have been recognized (subunits B to I from oldest to youngest), which reflect changes in basin floor accommodation as a result of synsedimentary tectonism. Each package shows the development of different vertical stacking patterns with thinning‐ and ‐fining‐upward small‐scale sequences and variable lateral facies arrangements, as a consequence of the position relative to the basin margins. The geometry, stratigraphic relationships, facies distribution and palaeocurrent directions indicate that turbidite deposition during accumulation of most of the sandbody was controlled by (1) synsedimentary tilting of the basin slopes; (2) the distribution of structural and depositional relief within the basin; (3) the thickness and volume of the turbidite flows; and (4) the angle of impingement of turbidity currents against the basin slopes.     

The high-pressure C2/c–P21/c phase transition along the LiAlSi2O6–LiGaSi2O6 solid solution

Two synthetic single-crystals with composition Li(Al_0.53Ga_0.47)Si₂O₆ and LiGaSi₂O₆ and space group C2/c at room conditions have been studied under pressure by means of X-ray diffraction using a diamond anvil cell. The unit-cell parameters were determined at 12 and 10 different pressures up to P = 8.849 and P = 7.320 GPa for Li(Al_0.53Ga_0.47)Si₂O₆ and LiGaSi₂O₆, respectively. The sample with mixed composition shows a C2/c to P2₁/c phase transformation between 1.814 and 2.156 GPa, first-order in character. The transition is characterised by a large and discontinuous decrease in the unit-cell volume and by the appearance of the b-type reflections (h + k = odd) typical of the primitive symmetry. The Ga end-member shows the same C2/c to P2₁/c transformation at a pressure between 0.0001 and 0.39 GPa. The low-pressure value at which the transition occurred did not allow collecting any data in the C2/c pressure stability field except that on room pressure. Our results compared with those relative to spodumene (LiAlSi₂O₆, Arlt and Angel 2000a) indicate that the substitution of Al for Ga at the M1 site of Li-clinopyroxenes strongly affects the transition pressure causing a decrease from 3.17 GPa (spodumene) to less than 0.39 GPa (LiGaSi₂O₆) and decreases the volume discontinuity at the transition. As already found for other compounds, the C2/c low-pressure phases are more rigid than the P2₁ /c high-pressure ones. Moreover, the increase of the M1 cation radius causes a decrease in the bulk modulus K _T0. The axial compressibility among the Li-bearing clinopyroxenes indicates that the c axis is the most rigid for the C2/c phases while it becomes the most compressible for the P2₁ /c phases.     

Submerged archaeological sites along the Ionian coast of southeastern Sicily (Italy) and implications for the Holocene relative sea-level change

Precise measurements of submerged archaeological markers in the Siracusa coast (Southeastern Sicily, Italy) provide new data on relative sea-level change during the late Holocene. Four submerged archaeological sites have been studied and investigated through direct observations. Two of them are Greek archaic in age (2.5–2.7 ka) and are now 0.98–1.48 m below sea level; the other two developed during the Bronze age (3.2–3.8 ka) and are now 1.03–1.97 m below sea level. These archaeological data have been integrated with information derived from a submerged speleothem collected in a cave located along the Siracusa coast at − 20 m depth. The positions of the archaeological markers have been measured with respect to present sea level, corrected for tide and pressure at the time of surveys. These data were compared with predicted sea-level rise curves for the Holocene using a glacio-hydro-isostatic model. The comparison with the curve for the southeastern Sicily coast yields a tectonic component of relative sea-level change related to regional uplift. Uplift rates between 0.3 and 0.8 mm/yr have been estimated.