Lethal and estrogenic effects of 4-nonylphenol in the cockle Cerastoderma glaucum

The lethal and sublethal effects of the xenoestrogen 4-nonylphenol (NP) were evaluated in the cockle Cerastoderma glaucum. In a 96-h lethality test, bivalves were exposed to 0, 0+ acetone, 0.19, 0.38, 0.75, 1.5 and 3.0 mg NP/l. The 96-h LC₅₀ value was 0.3 mg NP/l. No mortality was observed at 0.1 mg NP/l. The potential estrogenicity of NP was studied in both sexually undifferentiated (resting phase) and differentiated (pre-spawning phase) cockles, exposed for 7 and 14 days to 0, 0+ acetone, 0.0125, 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 mg NP/l. Vitellogenin (Vg)-like protein levels were determined in both haemolymph and digestive gland by the alkali-labile phosphate (ALP) assay. In the resting phase, exposure for 7 days to 0.1 mg NP/l resulted in significant increases in ALP in both haemolymph and digestive gland, compared with controls. A significant increase was also observed in digestive gland of animals exposed to 0.0125 mg NP/l-exposed animals. After 14 days of exposure, haemolymph ALP levels were significantly increased in exposed animals at all NP concentrations tested, whereas no difference was recorded in digestive gland. In the pre-spawning phase, exposure for 7 days to NP significantly increased ALP levels in haemolymph from males exposed at all NP concentrations tested, whereas no significant variations were found in haemolymph from females. NP (0.05 and 0.1 mg/l) was also shown to increase ALP concentrations significantly in digestive gland of males, but not in those of females. Likewise, after 14 days’ exposure, ALP levels significantly increased in haemolymph from males only at 0.1 mg NP/l. Conversely, NP caused significant increases in ALP levels in digestive gland from both males (at all NP concentrations tested) and females (at 0.025 and 0.1 mg NP/l). These results demonstrate that NP induces Vg synthesis in C. glaucum. Interestingly, males were more responsive to NP than females.     

Enhancing the credibility of ecology: Interacting along and across hierarchical scales

A wide range of space and time scales characterize the processes and phenomena which interact to shape environmental condition and trends. Important perspectives of environmental space and time include the role of terrestrial and astronomical factors in shaping climatic change, insights to be gained from the pre-historical record, relations between disturbance and biotic responses, episodic extreme events and large-scale phenomena, cumulative impacts, fast — slow processes and memory reservoirs. Scales in physical, chemical and biological phenomena have parallels in human driving forces, societal relations and decision — making processes, and environmental scales of space and time thus have perceptual as well as physical (objective) dimensions. Scale is clearly more than just size and dimension, and there is a growing body of examples on how zooming along and across hierarchical scales can help in seeking explanation (how) and significance (why), and in revealing emergent properties. Scaling can also act as a motor for new approaches to scientific cooperation. Such evolving scales in scientific cooperation are examined in relation to three international research programmes (IBP, MAB, IGBP), to various sub-disciplines of ecology and biogeography, and to the restructuring of a largish research institute in Montpellier (France). An overall conclusion is that scaling issues may provide a stimulus to increased coherence within the science of ecology itself, and may facilitate mutually supportive links with other scientific domains and society at large.The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the authors' employers.     

Occupation surfaces sealed by the Avellino eruption of Vesuvius at the Early Bronze Age village of Afragola in southern Italy: A micromorphological analysis

This paper reconstructs the use of space and defines activity areas within a single hut (Hut 8) at the Early Bronze Age village of Afragola (southern Italy). The village, consisting of a number of huts and other structures, was covered by approximately 1m of volcanic ash during the eruption of Vesuvius in 3550 ± 20BP. Thirteen samples were collected from inside the hut to analyze the spatial variability in sedimentary characteristics among three areas of Hut 8—the apsidal, central, and entrance areas. The micromorphological analysis revealed details about the occupation surface and its relationship to features and material remains in the hut not apparent in the field. The apsidal area was probably used for storage but not of solids, as no significant quantities of organic material were found. The central area contains a small oven, calcareous ash from fires, and organic material composed of charred remains and bone fragments and was likely used for small‐scale household tasks. A possible connection exists between the lithics and the microstratigraphic sequencing in the area west of the oven, suggesting that people congregated there to perform specific tasks. The entrance area contains highly compacted and heterogeneous sediments that were brought in from outside. Notable is the paucity of anthropogenic materials found inside the hut, especially given the remarkable preservation offered by the thick cover of volcanic ash. We hypothesize that Hut 8 was not occupied long enough to produce a large amount of debris or that it had limited indoor activities and was thoroughly cleaned. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The carbonate fraction in carbonatitic Italian lamprophyres

Alkaline and ultramafic lamprophyres represent the majority of pre-Pleistocene alkaline mafic magmatic activity in Italy and have been described from several localities. The age of magmatism ranges from Triassic to Lower Oligocene. Some contain appreciable amounts of carbonate. The primary carbonate of the Italian carbonatitic lamprophyres is mainly Sr- or Mn-rich calcite that occurs mostly as immiscible ocelli or as groundmass. Its textural occurrence, composition, and relationship with co-precipitating silicate phases is taken as evidence of an igneous origin. Low BaO and REE contents in the carbonate are explained by early crystallization of essential mica and subordinate apatite. Whole rock analyses and isotopic data (Rukhlov, A.S., Bell, K., Vichi, G., Stoppa, F., submitted for publication. The heterogeneous deep mantle: the Sr, Pb and Nd isotopic evidence from Early Cretaceous alkaline lamprophyres of Southern Tuscany, Italy. Lithos.) suggest a mantle origin for these rocks and rule out contamination in either high or low pressure regimes. The bulk compositions of the carbonatitic lamprophyres have high HFSE / LILE and LREE / HREE ratios and although the abundances of these elements are generally lower than for carbonatites s.s., they are comparable with the abundances in other ‘carbonate-free’ Italian lamprophyres and Italian carbonatites, suggesting similar mantle sources. Moreover, the age of the Italian lamprophyres, ranging from Middle Triassic to Lower Oligocene, is much greater than the Pleistocene age of Italian carbonatites and indicates that the source remained similar over a long time span.     

Metrics for quantifying anthropogenic impacts on geomorphology: road networks

This work tests the capability of a recently published topographic index, the Slope Local Length of Auto‐correlation (SLLAC), to portrait and delineate anthropogenic geomorphologies. The patterns of the anthropogenic pressure are defined considering the road network density and the Urban Complexity Index (UCI). First, the research investigates the changes in the SLLAC in two derived parameters (average SLLAC and the SLLAC surface peak curvature – Spc – per km²) connected to the increasing of the anthropogenic structures. Next, natural and anthropogenic landscapes are clustered and classified. The results show that there is a direct correlation between the road network density and the UCI, and the mean SLLAC per km². However, the Spc is inversely correlated with the anthropogenic pressure (network density and urban complexity). This shows that the surface morphology (slope) of regions presenting anthropogenic structures tends to be well organized (low Spc) and, in general, self‐similar at a long distance (higher average SLLAC). The results of the clustering approach show that the procedure can correctly depict anthropogenic landscapes having a road network density greater than about 3 km/km², also in areas covered by vegetation. This latter result is promising for the use of such a procedure in regions that cannot be seen directly from orthophotos or satellite images. The proposed method can actively capture the alteration produced by road networks on surface morphology identifying different signatures of urban development: exploration and densification networks that are responsible for increasing the local density of the network and expanding the network into new areas, respectively. The effects of this alteration on surface processes could be significant for future research, creating new questions about differences due to human or landscape forcing on Earth surface processes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Landslide distribution and size in response to Quaternary fault activity: the Peloritani Range,NE Sicily,Italy

Landslides contribute to dismantle active mountain ranges and faults control the location of landslides. Yet, evidence of the long‐term, regional dependency of landslides on active faults is limited. Previous studies focused on the transient effects of earthquakes on slope stability in compressive and transcurrent regimes. Here we show that in the Peloritani range, NE Sicily, Italy, one of the fastest uplifting areas in the Mediterranean, a clear geographical association exists between large bedrock landslides and active normal faults of the Messina Straits graben. By interpreting aerial photographs, we mapped 1590 landslides and sackungs and 626 fault elements and their facets in a 300 km² area in the eastern part of the range. We used the new landslide and fault information, in combination with prior geological and seismic information, to investigate the association between bedrock landslides and faults. We find that the distribution and abundance of landslides is related to the presence of large active normal faults, and matches the pattern of the local historical seismicity. Landslide material is more abundant along the East Peloritani Fault System where the long‐term activity of the faults, measured by the average yearly geological moment rate, is larger than in the West Peloritani Fault System where landslides are less abundant. Along the fault systems landslide material concentrates where the cumulated fault throws are largest. We conclude that large landslides and their cumulated volume are sensitive to local rates of tectonic deformation, and discriminate the deformation of the single fault segments that dissect the Peloritani range. Our findings are a direct test of landscape evolution models that predict higher rates of landslide activity near active faults. Our work opens up the possibility of exploiting accurate landslide and fault maps, in combination with geological and seismic information, to characterize the long‐term seismic history of poorly instrumented active regions. © 2015 The Authors Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Model complexity and data requirements in snow hydrology: seeking a balance in practical applications

We investigate the problem of balancing model complexity and input data requirements in snow hydrology. For this purpose, we analyze the performance of two models of different complexity in estimating variables of interest in snow hydrology applications. These are snow depth, bulk snow density, snow water equivalent and snowmelt run‐off. We quantify the differences between data and model prediction using 18 years of measurements from an experimental site in the French Alps (Col de Porte, 1325 m AMSL). The models involved in this comparison are a one‐layer temperature‐index model (HyS) and a multilayer model (Crocus). Results show that the expected loss in performance in the one‐layer temperature‐index model with respect to the multilayer model is low when considering snow depth, snow water equivalent and bulk snow density. As for run‐off, the comparison returns less clear indications for identification of a balance. In particular, differences between the models' prediction and data with an hourly resolution are higher when considering the Crocus model than the HyS model. However, Crocus is better at reproducing sub‐daily cycles in this variable. In terms of daily run‐off, the multilayer physically based model seems to be a better choice, while results in terms of cumulative run‐off are comparable. The better reproduction of daily and sub‐daily variability of run‐off suggests that use of the multilayer model may be preferable for this purpose. Variation in performance is discussed as a function of both the calibration solution chosen and the time of year. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sustainability of Mediterranean Deltaic and Lagoon Wetlands with Sea-Level Rise: The Importance of River Input

We report on a decadal trend of accretionary dynamics in the wetlands of several northwestern Mediterranean deltas and a lagoon system, all of them with high rates of wetland loss. Wetland vertical accretion and surface elevation change were measured at 55 riverine, marine, and impounded sites in four coastal systems: the Ebro delta, Spain; the Rhône delta, France; and the Po delta and Venice Lagoon, Italy. Vertical accretion and elevation change ranged between 0 and 25 mm year^?1 and were strongly correlated. The highest rates of elevation gain occurred at riverine sites where vertical accretion was highest. We conclude that areas with high sediment input, mainly riverine, are the only ones likely to survive accelerated sea-level rise, especially if recent higher estimates of 1 m or more in the twenty-first century prove to be accurate. This is the first study where the importance of river input on wetland survival has been demonstrated at a decadal time scale over a broad geographical area.     

Italian strong motion database relative to the period 1972–2004: motivations and aims

The Italian Accelerometic Archive (ITACA) was created in 2007 during a joint project between the Italian Institute for Geophysics and Vulcanology (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, INGV) and the Italian Civil Protection (Dipartimento della Protezione Civile, DPC). The project, started in 2006, had the aim of filling the data gap of existing strong motion databases and facilitating strong motion data users in obtaining good quality waveforms, through the collection, homogenization and distribution of strong motion data acquired during the period 1972–2004 in Italy by different institutions (Ente Nazionale per l’Energia Elettrica, ENEL, Italian electricity company; Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, l’Energia e l’Ambiente, ENEA, Italian energy and environment organization DPC). The compiled database contains 2,182 three-component waveforms generated by 1,008 earthquakes with a maximum moment magnitude of 6.9 (1980 Irpinia earthquake) and can be accessed on-line at the portal denominated ITACA at the site , where a wide range of search tools enables the user to interactively retrieve events, recording stations and waveforms with particular characteristics, whose parameters can be specified, as needed, through user friendly interfaces. A range of display options allows users to view data in different contexts, extract and download time series and spectral data. This article describes the state of the art up to 2006 and the activities which led to the completion of the project.     

Nonstationary modeling of a long record of rainfall and temperature over Rome

A long record (1862–2004) of seasonal rainfall and temperature from the Rome observatory of Collegio Romano are modeled in a nonstationary framework by means of the Generalized Additive Models in Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS). Modeling analyses are used to characterize nonstationarities in rainfall and related climate variables. It is shown that the GAMLSS models are able to represent the magnitude and spread in the seasonal time series with parameters which are a smooth function of time. Covariate analyses highlight the role of seasonal and interannual variability of large-scale climate forcing, as reflected in three teleconnection indexes (Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, and Mediterranean Index), for modeling seasonal rainfall and temperature over Rome. In particular, the North Atlantic Oscillation is a significant predictor during the winter, while the Mediterranean Index is a significant predictor for almost all seasons.