First study of fault trench stratigraphy at Mt. Etna volcano, Southern Italy: understanding Holocene surface faulting along the Moscarello fault

Paleoseismology, the study of past earthquakes based on their geological record in the stratigraphy and landscape, is a successful newly developing field of research. The application of fault trench studies in volcanic environments is one of the youngest branches of paleoseismology. In this paper, we present the results of the first exploratory trenches excavated at Mt. Etna in Sicily, the largest European volcano. Modern surface faulting at Etna is a very well known feature, which poses significant hazard to the local community, both in terms of ground displacement of essential lifelines and ground shacking from frequent damaging earthquakes. However, while the geomorphology and the seismicity of the active fault in the Etna region consistently show very high rates of tectonic activity, the Holocene cumulative throw and slip-rates, along with the nature (coseismic vs. creeping fault slip), dimension and timing of the displacement events, are still poorly constrained. For this purpose, we selected as a sample area the Moscarello fault, one of the most outstanding segment of the Timpe system of active normal faults in the volcano’s lower eastern flank. Displaced landforms and volcanic units at the Fondo Macchia basin, in the central sector of this fault, indicate some hundreds of meters of vertical offset in the last ca. 80 kyr, with a long-term slip-rate substantially higher than 1.5–2.0 mm/yr. According to the historical sources and instrumental observations, the Moscarello fault ruptured four times in the last 150 years during shallow (H < 5 km) and moderate magnitude (M < 4.8) earthquakes. These events were associated with severe damage in a narrow epicentral area (macroseismic intensities up to the IX–X grade of the MSK scale) and extensive surface faulting (end-to-end rupture length up to 6 km, vertical offsets up to 90 cm). This clearly indicates very high modern rates of deformation along this fault. We conducted trench investigations at the Fondo Macchia site, in a point where eyewitnesses observed ca. 20 cm of coseismic vertical displacement after the April 21, 1971, M_s=3.7, earthquake. The excavated sections provided direct stratigraphic evidence for a vertical slip-rate of 1.4–2.7 mm/yr in the last ca. 6 kyr. This should be regarded as a minimum slip-rate for the central section of the fault. We explored a single scarp at a single site, while we know from recent historical observations that several parallel scarps may rupture coseismically at Fondo Macchia. Thus, the relevant deformation rate documented for the modern period might be likely extended back in the past to a time-span of some thousands of years at least. As expected, for such a volcanic environment, the activity rates of the Moscarello fault are also significantly higher than for the Apennines normal faults, typically showing slip-rates lower than 1 mm/yr. The agriculturally reworked trench hangingwall stratigraphy did not allow to recognize individual displacement events. Nevertheless, the sedimentary structures observed in the trench footwall strongly suggest that, as for the last 150–200 years of detailed historical record, fault behavior at Fondo Macchia is governed by coseismic surface displacement rather than fault creep. This research confirms that paleoseismology techniques can be effectively applied also in active volcanic environments, typically characterized by rheology and, consequently, seismicity and fault dynamics very different from those of other tectonic environments in which paleoseismology has been firstly developed and is today extensively applied.     

The effectiveness of high-resolution LiDAR data combined with PSInSAR data in landslide study

The spatial resolution of digital elevation models (DEMs) is an important factor for reliable landslide studies. Multi-interferometric techniques such as persistent scatterer interferometric synthetic aperture radar (PSInSAR) are used to evaluate the landslide state of activity and its ground deformation velocity, which is commonly measured along the satellite line of sight (LOS). In order to compare velocities measured by different satellites in different periods, their values can be projected along the steepest slope direction, which is the most probable direction of real movement. In order to achieve this result, DEM-derived products are needed. In this paper, the effectiveness of different DEM resolutions was evaluated in order to project ground deformation velocities measured by means of PSInSAR technique in two different case studies in the Messina Province (Sicily, southern Italy): San Fratello and Giampilieri. Three DEMs were used: (i) a 20-m resolution DEM of the Italian Military Geographic Institute (IGM), (ii) a 2-m resolution DEM derived from airborne laser scanning (ALS) light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data for the San Fratello 2010 landslide, and (iii) a 1-m resolution DEM derived from ALS LiDAR data for the area of Giampilieri. The evaluation of the applied method effectiveness was performed by comparing the DEMs elevation with those of each single permanent scatterer (PS) and projecting the measured velocities along the steepest slope direction. Results highlight that the higher DEM resolution is more suitable for this type of analysis; in particular, the PS located nearby the watershed divides is affected by geometrical problems when their velocities are projected along the steepest slope.     

Food Diaries to Measure Food Access: A Case Study from Rural Cuba

This article aims to make a contribution to current debates in the literature on food access by describing a mixed-methods approach to study the access to food in one rural community in Cuba. Each of the forty households in our study was asked to complete a detailed food diary in which they indicated what they ate and where they acquired each of the ingredients that they used for a full week. Although in Cuba the state plays a central role in organizing the distribution of food items, this method revealed a much more complex web of rural food access. By addressing alternative networks of food access and informal social relations, we aim to show how the use of food diaries, in combination with qualitative data from interviews and participant observation, can provide detailed insights in the complex processes and networks of food access.     

Phylogeography of Ophryotrocha labronica (Polychaeta,Dorvilleidae) along the Italian coasts

Species of the genus Ophryotrocha are a well‐studied group of organisms but, despite the relatively large body of biological studies, little is known about their intra‐specific patterns of genetic diversity. In the present study, we analysed the patterns of genetic variation in samples of Ophryotrocha labronica (Polychaeta, Dorvilleidae) collected along the Italian coasts within three regions with different thermal regimes: the Northern Adriatic Sea (NAS), the Ligurian Sea (LS), and the South/Southeast Sicilian Sea (SS). A partial sequence of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene was used as a genetic marker. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed significant genetic differentiation between the NAS and the other regions. Conversely, little or no genetic structuring was found between the LS and the SS or amongst locations within a given region. A Bayesian phylogenetic tree and a median‐joining network provided evidence for the occurrence of two highly divergent genetic lineages characterized by a high average sequence divergence (17.2%, Kimura two‐parameter distance). The spatial patterns of genetic variation found in O. labronica may reflect the signature of past expansion events of the two genetic lineages. Although the high sequence divergence suggested that cryptic speciation within O. labronica may have occurred, other traits such as the absence of reproductive isolation, pattern of phenotypic variation and habitat specificity prompted us to regard the two groups as distinct COI lineages of O. labronica.     

Light’s Orbital Angular Momentum and Optical Vortices for Astronomical Coronagraphy from Ground and Space Telescopes

The properties of optical vortices produced with spiral phase plates have recently found interesting applications in astronomical coronagraphy. Here we review the characteristics of the optical vortex coronagraph. Our simulations show that the intensity of an on-axis star can be fainted by 10 orders of magnitude, thus allowing the detection of close faint sources like extrasolar planets. We also discuss the expected coronagraphic performances achievable with a stepped spiral phase plate.     

Comparing predictive capability of statistical and deterministic methods for landslide susceptibility mapping: a case study in the northern Apennines (Reggio Emilia Province, Italy)

Statistical and deterministic methods are widely used in geographic information system based landslide susceptibility mapping. This paper compares the predictive capability of three different models, namely the Weight of Evidence, the Fuzzy Logic and SHALSTAB, for producing shallow earth slide susceptibility maps, to be included as informative layers in land use planning at a local level. The test site is an area of about 450 km² in the northern Apennines of Italy where, in April 2004, rainfall combined with snowmelt triggered hundreds of shallow earth slides that damaged roads and other infrastructure. An inventory of the landslides triggered by the event was obtained from interpretation of aerial photos dating back to May 2004. The pre-existence of mapped landslides was then checked using earlier aerial photo coverage. All the predictive models were run on the same set of geo-environmental causal factors: soil type, soil thickness, land cover, possibility of deep drainage through the bedrock, slope angle, and upslope contributing area. Model performance was assessed using a threshold-independent approach (the ROC plot). Results show that global accuracy is as high as 0.77 for both statistical models, while it is only 0.56 for SHALSTAB. Besides the limited quality of input data over large areas, the relatively poorer performance of the deterministic model maybe also due to the simplified assumptions behind the hydrological component (steady-state slope parallel flow), which can be considered unsuitable for describing the hydrologic behavior of clay slopes, that are widespread in the study area.     

Chromite composition and platinum-group mineral assemblage in the Uktus Uralian-Alaskan-type complex (Central Urals,Russia)

Chromitite segregations in dunites of the Uktus Uralian-Alaskan-type complex (Central Urals, Russia) display large variation of the chromite composition: Cr/(Cr+Al)=0.46-0.77, Fe²⁺/(Fe²⁺+Mg)=0.28-0.66, and Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺+Fe²⁺)=0.23-0.59. Three types of PGM assemblages have been recognized, varying in accordance with chromite composition: type I, dominated by Ru-Os-Ir (sulfides), is associated with magnesiochromite having Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺+Fe²⁺)<0.30, in the southern dunite body. Type II, containing abundant Pt-Ir (alloys, minor sulfides), is found in magnesiochromite with Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺+Fe²⁺)=0.40-0.44; type III, consisting of Ir-Rh-Pt-Pd (alloys, sulfarsenides, antimonides) in Fe-rich chromite having Fe²⁺/(Fe²⁺+Mg)=0.66 and Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺+Fe²⁺)=0.59. Positive anomalies of Ir and Pt, and a negative peak of Ru characterize the PGE patterns of chromitites with type II and III PGM assemblages, whereas a positive Pt anomaly is observed in their dunite host. Intensive fractionation of Pt-Fe alloys in the Uktus chromitites reflects the anomalous behavior of Pt which is decoupled from Rh and Pd. Among other factors, the high iron activity and oxygen fugacity in the parent melt appear to exert a major control on precipitation of Pt-Fe alloys, below sulfur saturation. The strong Pt anomaly in chromitites from Uktus may indicate that Uralian-Alaskan-type magmas were derived from a Pt-rich mantle source.     

GOCE: The Earth Gravity Field by Space Gradiometry

An artificial satellite, flying in a purely gravitational field is a natural probe, such that, by a very accurate orbit determination, would allow a perfect estimation of the field. A true satellite experiences a number of perturbational, non-gravitational forces acting on the shell of the spacecraft; these can be revealed and accurately measured by a spaceborne accelerometer. If more accelerometers are flown in the same satellite, they naturally eliminate (to some extent) the common perturbational accelerations and their differences are affected by the second derivatives of the gravity fields only (gradiometry). The mission GOCE is based on this principle. Its peculiar dynamical observation equations are reviewed. The possibility of estimating the gravity field up to some harmonic degree (200) is illustrated.