Structural performance of automated multi-depth shuttle warehouses (AMSWs) under low-to-moderate seismic actions

Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering - Automated Multi-Depth Shuttle Warehouses (AMSWs) are compact storage systems that provide a large surface occupation and therefore maximum storage density....     

OH incorporation in nearly pure MgAl2O4 natural and synthetic spinels

Four nearly pure MgAl₂O₄ spinels, of both natural and synthetic occurrence, have been studied by means of X-ray single crystal diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy in order to detect their potential OH content. Absorption bands that can be assigned to OH incorporated in the spinel structure were only observed in spectra of a non-stoichiometric synthetic sample. The absorption intensity of two bands occurring at 3350 and 3548 cm⁻¹ indicate an OH content of 90 ppm H₂O. Based on correlations of OH vibrational frequencies and O-H?O distances, the observed absorption bands correspond to O-H?O distances of 2.77 and 2.99 Å, respectively, which is close to the values obtained by the structure refinements for ^VIO-O_unsh (2.825 Å) and ^IVO-O (3.001 Å). This indicates that one probable local position for hydrogen incorporation is the oxygens coordinating a vacant tetrahedral site. The present spectra demonstrate that the detection limit for OH in Fe-free spinels is in the range 10-20 ppm H₂O. However, at appreciable Fe²⁺ levels, the detection of OH bands becomes hampered due to overlap with strong absorption bands caused by electronic d-d transitions in Fe²⁺ in the tetrahedral position.     

Optical and X-Ray Observations of the Symbiotic System Ag Draconis During Quiescence and Outburst

We review the main characteristics of the symbiotic system AG Draconis, with special emphasis on its optical and X-ray variations. We also discuss the X-ray to visual energy distribution during quiescence and outburst and describe our spectroscopic and X-ray observations during the 2003 outburst. Based on X-ray observations collected with the XMM–Newton Observatory, on INES data from the IUE satellite, and on optical spectra collected with the Asiago–Cima Ekar, Bologna–Loiano and La Palma–Galileo Italian telescopes.     

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna double black holes: dynamics in gaseous nuclear discs

We study the inspiral of double black holes, with masses in the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna ( LISA ) window of detectability, orbiting inside a massive circumnuclear, rotationally supported gaseous disc. Using high-resolution smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations, we follow the black hole dynamics in the early phase when gas-dynamical friction acts on the black holes individually, and continue our simulation until they form a close binary. We find that in the early sinking the black holes lose memory of their initial orbital eccentricity if they corotate with the gaseous disc. As a consequence, the massive black holes bind forming a binary with a low eccentricity, consistent with zero within our numerical resolution limit. The cause of circularization resides in the rotation present in the gaseous background where dynamical friction operates. Circularization may hinder gravitational waves from taking over and leading the binary to coalescence. In the case of counter-rotating orbits, the initial eccentricity (if present) does not decrease, and the black holes may bind forming an eccentric binary. When dynamical friction has subsided, for equal mass black holes and regardless their initial eccentricity, angular momentum loss, driven by the gravitational torque exerted on the binary by surrounding gas, is nevertheless observable down to the smallest scale probed (≃1 pc). In the case of unequal masses, dynamical friction remains efficient down to our resolution limit, and there is no sign of formation of any ellipsoidal gas distribution that may further harden the binary. During inspiral, gravitational capture of gas by the black holes occurs mainly along circular orbits; eccentric orbits imply high relative velocities and weak gravitational focusing. Thus, the active galactic nucleus activity may be excited during the black hole pairing process and double active nuclei may form when circularization is completed, on distance scales of tens of parsecs.     

Effects of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> flushing on crystal textures and compositions: experimental evidence from recent K-trachybasalts erupted at Mt. Etna

Changes in magmatic assemblages and crystal stability as a response of CO₂-flushing in basaltic systems have rarely been directly addressed experimentally, making the role of CO₂ in magma dynamics still controversial and object of scientific debate. We conducted a series of experiments to understand the response of magmas from Etna volcano to CO₂ flushing. We performed a first experiment at 300 MPa to synthesize a starting material composed of crystals of some hundreds of µm and melt pools. This material is representative of an initial magmatic assemblage composed of plagioclase, clinopyroxene and a water-undersaturated melt with 1.6 wt% H₂O. In a second step, the initial assemblage was equilibrated at 300 and 100 MPa with fluids having different XCO ₂ ^fl (CO₂/(H₂O + CO₂)). At low XCO ₂ ^fl (< 0.2 to 0.4), plagioclase is completely dissolved and clinopyroxene show dissolution textures. For relatively high XCO ₂ ^fl (0.9 at 300 MPa), the flushing of a CO₂-rich fluid phase leads to an increase of the amount of clinopyroxene and a decrease of the abundance of plagioclase at 300 MPa. This decrease of plagioclase proportion is associated with a change in An content. Our experiments demonstrate that flushing basaltic systems with fluids may drastically affect crystal textures and phase equilibria depending on proportions of H₂O and CO₂ in the fluid phase. Since texture and crystal proportions are among the most important parameters governing the rheology of magmas, fluid flushing will also influence magma ascent to the Earth’s surface. The experimental results open new perspectives to decipher the textural and compositional record of minerals observed in volcanic rocks from Mt. Etna, and at the same time offer the basis for interpreting the information preserved in minerals from other basaltic volcanoes erupting magmas enriched in CO₂.     

Wavefield Migration plus Monte Carlo Imaging of 3D Prestack Seismic Data

Prestack wave‐equation migration has proved to be a very accurate shot‐by‐shot imaging tool. However, 3D imaging with this technique of a large field acquisition, especially one with hundreds of thousands of shots, is prohibitively costly. Simply adapting the technique to migrate many superposed shot‐gathers simultaneously would render 3D wavefield prestack migration cost‐effective but it introduces uncontrolled non‐physical interference among the shot‐gathers, making the final image useless. However, it has been observed that multishot signal interference can be kept under some control by averaging over many such images, if each multishot migration is modified by a random phase encoding of the frequency spectra of the seismic traces. In this article, we analyse this technique, giving a theoretical basis for its observed behaviour: that the error of the image produced by averaging over M phase encoded migrations decreases as M^?1 . Furthermore, we expand the technique and define a general class of Monte‐Carlo encoding methods for which the noise variance of the average imaging condition decreases as M^?1 ; these methods thus all converge asymptotically to the correct reflectivity map, without generating prohibitive costs. The theoretical asymptotic behaviour is illustrated for three such methods on a 2D test case. Numerical verification in 3D is then presented for one such method implemented with a 3D PSPI extrapolation kernel for two test cases: the SEG–EAGE salt model and a real test constructed from field data.     

Formation of an ‘a’ā lava delta: insights from time-lapse multibeam bathymetry and direct observations during the Stromboli 2007 eruption

Five consecutive multibeam bathymetries collected before, during, and after the 2007 Stromboli eruption, combined with visual inspections, allowed us to document the morphological evolution of an ‘a’ā lava-fed delta and to reconstruct the main processes acting during its submarine emplacement. The 2007 Stromboli delta extended down to 600-m water depth and covered an area of 420?×?10³ m², with a maximum thickness of 65 m and a total estimated volume of ≈7?×?10⁶ m³, i.e., three times larger than its subaerial counterpart. The lava delta grew mainly through the emplacement of discrete lobes about 50–150 m in size. Lobes were fed from point sources along the paleoshoreline, and their subaqueous pathways seem to be mainly controlled by the submarine morphology, with flows mostly filling in depressions left by previous lobes. The main controlling factors on the lobe morphology and thickness are the effusion rates and the pre-eruption morphology, i.e., the geometry and gradients of the basal surface. Data also shows that sudden slope failure of portions of the submarine delta may occur simultaneously with accretion, implying that a significant part of the delta material can be transported to greater depths by submarine gravity flows. The present study is relevant for future monitoring and hazard assessment during the growth of active lava-fed deltas as well as for a better interpretation of ancient volcaniclastic successions inland.     

Integrating airborne and multi‐temporal long‐range terrestrial laser scanning with total station measurements for mapping and monitoring a compound slow moving rock slide

A slow moving compound rock slide located in the northern Apennines of Italy was mapped and monitored through the integration of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), multi‐temporal long‐range Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), and Automated Total Station (ATS) measurements. Landslide features were mapped using a High Resolution Digital Terrain Model (HR‐DTM) obtained by merging ALS and TLS data in an Iterative Closest Point (ICP) procedure. Slope movements in the order of centimeters to a few decimeters were quantified with Differential TLS (D‐TLS) based on a Surface Matching approach and supported by ATS data to define stable reference surfaces. The integrated approach allowed mapping of the composite geomorphic features of the rock slide under examination, revealing its complex dynamic nature and further proving that laser scanning is a versatile and widely applicable tool for slope process analysis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On estimating frequency-magnitude relations from heterogeneous catalogs

The paper studies the effect of magnitude errors on heterogeneous catalogs, by applying the apparent magnitude theory (seeTinti andMulargia, 1985a), which proves to be the most natural and rigorous approach to the problem. Heterogeneities in seismic catalogs are due to a number of various sources and affect both instrumental as well as noninstrumental earthquake compilations.The most frequent basis of heterogeneity is certainly that the recent instrumental records are to be combined with the historic and prehistoric event listings to secure a time coverage, considerably longer than the recurrence time of the major earthquakes. Therefore the case which attracts the greatest attention in the present analysis is that of a catalog consisting of a subset of higher quality data, generallyS ₁, spanning the interval T ₁ (the instrumental catalog), and of a second subset of more uncertain magnitude determination, generallyS ₂, covering a vastly longer interval T ₂ (the historic and/or the geologic catalog). The magnitude threshold of the subcatalogS ₁ is supposedly smaller than that ofS ₂, which, as we will see, is one of the major causes of discrepancy between the apparent magnitude and the true magnitude distributions. We will further suppose that true magnitude occurrences conform to theGutenberg-Richter (GR) law, because the assumption simplified the analysis without reducing the relevancy of our findings.The main results are: 1) the apparent occurrence rate exceeds the true occurrence rate from a certain magnitude onward, saym _GR; 2) the apparent occurrence rate shows two distinct GR regimes separated by an intermediate transition region. The offset between the two regimes is the essential outcome ofS ₁ being heterogeneous with respect toS ₂. The most important consequences of this study are that: 1) it provides a basis to infer the parameters of the true magnitude distribution, by correcting the bias deriving from heterogeneous magnitude errors; 2) it demonstrates that the double GR decay, that several authors have taken as the incontestable proof of the failure of the GR law and of the experimental evidence of the characteristic earthquake theory, is instead perfectly consistent with a GR-type seismicity.