Trends and variability of ocean waves under RCP8.5 emission scenario in the Mediterranean Sea

Ocean Dynamics - Wind-generated ocean waves are key inputs for several studies and applications, both near the coast (coastal vulnerability assessment, coastal structures design, harbor...     

Redistribution of riverine and rainfall freshwater by the Bay of Bengal circulation

Ocean Dynamics - We use satellite-derived currents and a Lagrangian approach to investigate the redistribution of the precipitation minus evaporation (P-E) and river freshwater inputs into Bay of...     

Refractory Metal Nuggets – Formation of the first condensates in the Solar Nebula

As gas flowed from the solar accretion disk or Solar Nebula onto the proto-Sun, magnetic pressure gradients in the solar magnetosphere and the inner Solar Nebula provided an environment where some of this infalling flow was diverted to produce a low pressure, high temperature, gaseous, “infall” atmosphere around the inner Solar Nebula. The pressure in this inner disk atmosphere was mainly dependant on the accretion flow rate onto the star. High flow rates implied relatively high pressures, which decreased over time as the accretion rate decreased.In the first hundred thousand years after the formation of the Solar Nebula, accretional flow gas pressures were high enough to create submicron-sized Refractory Metal Nuggets (RMNs) – the precursors to Calcium Aluminum Inclusions (CAIs). Optimal temperatures and pressures for RMN formation may have occurred between 20,000 and 100,000 years after the formation of the Solar Nebula. It is possible that conditions were conducive to RMN/CAI formation over an 80,000 year timescale. The “infall” atmosphere and the condensation of refractory particles within this atmosphere may be observable around the inner disks of other protostellar systems.The interaction of forces from magnetic fields with the radiation pressure from the proto-Sun and the inner solar accretion disk potentially produced an optical-magnetic trap above and below the inner Solar Nebula, which provided a relatively stable environment in which the RMNs/proto-CAIs could form and grow. These RMN formation sites only existed during accretion events from the proto-solar disk onto the proto-Sun. As such, the formation and growth time of a particular RMN was dependent on the timescale of its nascent accretion event.Observational evidence suggests that RMNs were the nucleation particles for CAIs. As a consequence, the observed bimodal distribution of ²⁶Al in CAIs, where some CAIs have ²⁶Al while others do not, is probably due to the injection ²⁶Al during the short CAI formation period, where ²⁶Al was not present when the first CAIs were formed.     

New thermoelastic parameters of natural <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis>2/<Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis> omphacite

The compressibility at room temperature and the thermal expansion at room pressure of two disordered crystals (space group C2/c) obtained by annealing a natural omphacite sample (space group P2/n) of composition close to Jd₅₆Di₄₄ and Jd₅₅Di₄₅, respectively, have been studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Using a Birch–Murnaghan equation of state truncated at the third order [BM3-EoS], we have obtained the following coefficients: V ₀ = 421.04(7) Å³, K _T0 = 119(2) GPa, K′ = 5.7(6). A parameterized form of the BM3 EoS was used to determine the axial moduli of a, b and c. The anisotropy scheme is β _c  ≤ β _a  ≤ β _b , with an anisotropy ratio 1.05:1.00:1.07. A fitting of the lattice variation as a function of temperature, allowing for linear dependency of the thermal expansion coefficient on the temperature, yielded α_V(1bar,303K) = 2.64(2) × 10⁻⁵ K⁻¹ and an axial thermal expansion anisotropy of α _b  ≫ α _a  > α _c . Comparison of our results with available data on compressibility and thermal expansion shows that while a reasonable ideal behaviour can be proposed for the compressibility of clinopyroxenes in the jadeite–diopside binary join [K _T0 as a function of Jd molar %: K _T0 = 106(1) GPa + 0.28(2) × Jd_(mol%)], the available data have not sufficient quality to extract the behaviour of thermal expansion for the same binary join in terms of composition.     

Bridge pier scour mitigation under steady and unsteady flow conditions

Watercourse morphology is affected by local scouring when the flow interferes with anthropic structures. Controlling the scour hole size is of predominant importance to guarantee bridge safety as well as to limit the variations of river morphology. A combined countermeasure against bridge pier scour is proposed and tested in order to reduce the maximum scour depth and deviate it away from the bridge foundation. In the first part of the laboratory campaign, combination of two countermeasures (bed-sill and collar) was evaluated for a circular pier under clear-water and live-bed steady flow conditions. The proposed combined countermeasure exhibited an efficiency of about 64% in terms of scour depth reduction. Afterwards, it was tested in unsteady flow conditions, first for a circular pier, then in the case of a rectangular pier with round nose and tail, two circular in-line piers and two rectangular in-line piers, under a hydrograph with a peak flow velocity slightly above the threshold condition of sediment motion. Results showed that the combined countermeasure had an efficiency of about 63% for a single circular pier; however, higher efficiency (about 75%) was obtained in applications to rectangular pier and two in-line circular or rectangular piers.     

A time-dependent extension of the projected normal regression model for longitudinal circular data based on a hidden Markov heterogeneity structure

The modelling of animal movement is an important ecological and environmental issue. It is well-known that animals change their movement patterns over time, according to observable and unobservable factors. To trace the dynamics of behaviors, to identify factors influencing these dynamics and unobserved characteristics driving intra-subjects correlations, we introduce a time-dependent mixed effects projected normal regression model. A set of animal-specific parameters following a hidden Markov chain is introduced to deal with unobserved heterogeneity. For the maximum likelihood estimation of the model parameters, we outline an expectation–maximization algorithm. A large-scale simulation study provides evidence on model behavior. The data analysis approach based on the proposed model is finally illustrated by an application to a dataset, which derives from a population of Talitrus saltator from the beach of Castiglione della Pescaia (Italy).     

Methods for point source analysis in high energy neutrino telescopes

Neutrino telescopes are moving steadily toward the goal of detecting astrophysical neutrinos from the most powerful galactic and extragalactic sources. Here we describe analysis methods to search for high energy point-like neutrino sources using detectors deep in the ice or sea. We simulate an ideal cubic kilometer detector based on real world performance of existing detectors such as AMANDA, IceCube, and ANTARES. An unbinned likelihood ratio method is applied, making use of the point spread function and energy distribution of simulated neutrino signal events to separate them from the background of atmospheric neutrinos produced by cosmic ray showers. The unbinned point source analyses are shown to perform better than binned searches and, depending on the source spectral index, the use of energy information is shown to improve discovery potential by almost a factor of two.     

Ultramafic intrusion triggers hydrothermal explosions at Colle Fabbri (Spoleto, Umbria), Italy

The eroded Colle Fabbri volcano comprises intrusive and extrusive rocks which cover an area of about 10,000 m² in the Umbria region, Central Italy. The outcrop is located at the SW boundary of the Umbria Valley Graben (Umbria Region) on an N140 normal fault inside the Intramountain Ultra-Alkaline Province of carbonatite and melilitite rocks of central–southern Italy. A field survey of the outcrop allowed a reconstruction of igneous activity events of this unusual small-scale volcano. It is younger than 0.7 m.y. and rests on Lower Pleistocene conglomerates with intercalated clay beds. A palaeosoil marks the base of the volcanic sequence. It follows several metres of extrusive breccias composed of fragments of thermometamorphosed clay and travertine. Key features of these breccias are mud shells on blocks, plastic mud lumps, slumps, and mechanical injection from one layer into another, as well as plastic and vesiculated, micro-brecciated matrix. The breccias are cemented by a variety of silicate, sulphate, and sulphate–carbonate minerals deposited by intense hydrothermal circulation. The breccias are related to phreatic explosions triggered by the eruption of a superficial hydrothermal system. Up to 1 m thick sill and a dykelet swarm intrude the breccias. In the southern part of the outcrop there is a plug of melilitolitic composition which intrudes the breccias and deforms them upward. A variety of contact breccias is also scattered around the sill and the plug. In some places, hyaloclastite formed when melt invaded water pockets contained in the encasing rocks under hydrostatic pressure conditions. A thermal aureole, which moves up to 10 m away from the contact, is characterised by cordierite–trydimite association, thus indicating high-temperature (>>1000 °C) contact phenomena.     

The Effect of Velocity Inversions on H/V

We analyzed the phenomenology of microtremor H/V curves under inversions in the shear-wave velocity (V_s) profile in the subsoil. Under no V_s inversion the spectral signature of the H/V peaks is found to be ‘eye-shaped’ with the horizontal components higher than the vertical. Conversely, under negative velocity gradients, numerous of differences emerge. I) A H/V ratio below 1 is observed for a wide range of frequencies, due to the decrease of the horizontal components below the vertical one. II) In the presence of persistent H/V < 1, small bumps in the H/V ratio given by local minima in the vertical spectral component may represent the relics of the peaks indicating resonances and stratigraphic discontinuities. As a consequence, in the presence of velocity inversions the H/V > 2 SESAME (2004) criterion fails but a stratigraphic interpretation may still be possible. III) The H/V curves should always be interpreted together with the single component spectra. IV) Microtremor H/V measurements for stratigraphic/microzonation purposes on stiff artificial soils, (asphalt, concrete, cement, pavements) should always be avoided since the latter often produce velocity inversions. This may have consequences in the intermediate to high frequency domain ( > 1 Hz) also in the application of reference site methods, like H_site/H_bedrock, to microtremor. Theoretical modeling confirms these experimental findings.