Modeling the 2004 Sumatra tsunami at Seychelles Islands: site-effect analysis and comparison with observations

The M _w = 9.1 mega-thrust Sumatra–Andaman earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2004, was followed by a devastating tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people and caused catastrophic effects on human settlements and environments along many coasts of the Indian Ocean, where even countries very far from the source were affected. One of these cases is represented by the Republic of Seychelles, where the tsunami reached the region about 7 h after the earthquake and produced relevant damages, despite the country was more than 4,500 km far from the seismic source. In the present work, we present and discuss a study of the 2004 Sumatra tsunami by means of numerical simulations with the attention focused on the effects observed at the Seychelles Archipelago, a region never previously investigated with this approach. The case is interesting since these islands lay on a very shallow oceanic platform with steep slopes so as the ocean depth changes from thousands to few tens of meters over short distances, with significant effects on the tsunami propagation features: the waves are strongly refracted by the oceanic platform and the tsunami signal is modified by the introduction of additional frequencies. The study is used also to validate the UBO-TSUFD numerical code on a real tsunami event in the far field, and the results are compared with the available observations, i.e., the sea level time series recorded at the Pointe La Rue station, Mahé Island, and run-up measurements and inundation lines surveyed few weeks after the tsunami at Praslin Island, where the tsunami hit during low tide. Synthetic results are found in good agreement with observations, even though some of the observations remain not fully solved. Moreover, simulations have been run in high-tide condition since the 2004 Sumatra tsunami hitting at high tide can be taken as the worst-case scenario for the Seychelles islands and used for tsunami hazard and risk assessments.     

Biogenic stalactites in submarine caves at the Cape of Otranto (SE Italy): dating and hypothesis on their formation

Submarine caves at the Cape of Otranto (SE, Italy) host pseudostalactites. Only recently have they been recognised as originating mainly from the marine tube worm Protula tubularia (Serpulidae, Polychaeta). Their formation depends on the adaptability, life history and behaviour of that species in the cave habitat. The dating of calcareous tubes in the pseudostalactite core represents the first attempt to describe the formation of such bio-construction, and the gregarious behaviour of the species. Calcareous tubes along the core axis of three pseudostalactites removed from the cave lu Lampiùne (Otranto, South East Italy) have been dated using the ¹⁴C method. Measures established ages from 2600 to 5000 years for the three structures. This extremely long period (when compared with the life span of each worm) suggests that each tube aggregation is the result of punctuated growth periods alternated with long standstill phases. At the end of a growth period, each tube aggregation was covered with a brownish concretion, completing the pseudostalactite.     

The dynamics of central Main Ethiopian Rift waters: Evidence from δD, δO and Sr/Sr ratios

Water samples from cold and geothermal boreholes, hot springs, lakes and rivers were analyzed for δD, δ¹⁸O and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr compositions in order to investigate lake water–groundwater mixing processes, water–rock interactions, and to evaluate groundwater flow paths in the central Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) of the Ziway–Shala basin. Different ranges of isotopic values were recorded for different water types: hot springs show δ¹⁸O −3.36 to +3.69 and δD −15.85 to +24.23, deep Aluto-Langano geothermal wells show δ¹⁸O −4.65 to −1.24 and δD −12.39 to −9.31, groundwater wells show δ¹⁸O −3.99 to +5.14 and δD −19.69 to +32.27, whereas the lakes show δ¹⁸O and δD in the range +3.98 to +7.92 and +26.19 to +45.71, respectively. The intersection of the Local Meteoric Water Line (LMWL: δD = 7 δ¹⁸O + 11.2, R² = 0.94, n = 42) and the Local Evaporation Line (LEL: δD = 5.63δ¹⁸O + 8, n = 14, R² = 0.82) was used to estimate the average isotopic composition of recharge water into the basin (δD = −5.15 and δ¹⁸O = −2.34). These values are depleted if compared with the modern-day average precipitation, presumably indicating paleo-groundwater components recharged during previous humid climatic phases. The measured stable isotope values indicate that the geothermal wells, some of the hot springs and groundwater wells mainly consist of meteoric water. The Sr isotopic signatures in all waters are within the range of the Sr isotopic composition of the rift basalts and rhyolites. The variability of Sr isotopic data also pinpoints complex water–rock interaction and mixing processes in groundwater and surface water. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio ranges from 0.70445 to 0.70756 in the hot springs, from 0.70426 to 0.70537 in two deep geothermal wells, and from 0.70673 to 0.70721 in the rift lakes Ziway, Langano, Shala and Awasa. The radiogenic composition recorded by the lakes indicates that the input water was predominantly affected by progressive interaction with rhyolitic volcanics and lacustrine sediments.     

New results of 40Ar/39Ar dating constrain the timing of transition from fissure-type to central volcanism at Mount Etna (Italy)

Recent geological studies performed at Etna allow reassessing the stratigraphic frame of the volcano where distinct evolutionary phases are defined. This stratigraphic reconstruction was chronologically constrained on the basis of a limited number of U–Th and K–Ar age determinations whose uncertainty margins are sometimes too wide. For this reason, we successfully adopted at Etna the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar technique that allowed obtaining more precise age determinations. The incremental heating technique also gives information on sample homogeneity, and potential problems of trapped argon. Five samples were collected from stratigraphically well-controlled volcanic units in order to chronologically define the transition between the fissure-type volcanism of the Timpe phase to the central volcanism of the Valle del Bove Centers. Isotopic ages with an uncertainty margin of 2–4% have been obtained emphasizing that this transition occurred (130–126 ka) without significant temporal hiatus.     

Early and middle Holocene in the Aegean Sea: interplay between high and low latitude climate variability

Changes in the orbital parameters, solar output, and ocean circulation are widely considered as main drivers of the Holocene climate. Yet, the interaction between these forcings and the role that they play to produce the pattern of changes observed in different domains of the climate system remain debated. Here, we present new early to middle Holocene season-specific sea surface temperature (SST) and δ¹⁸O_seawater results, based on organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst and planktonic foraminiferal data from two sediment cores located in the central (SL21) and south-eastern (LC21) Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean). Today, this region is affected by high to mid latitude climate in winter and tropical/subtropical climate in summer. The reconstructed δ¹⁸O_seawater from LC21 displays a marked (～1.3%) negative shift between 10.7 and 9.7 ka BP, which represents the regional expression of the orbitally driven African monsoon intensification and attendant freshwater flooding into the eastern Mediterranean. A virtually contemporaneous shift, of the same sign and magnitude, is apparent in the δ¹⁸O_speleothem record from Soreq Cave (Northern Israel), an important part of which may therefore reflect a change in the isotopic composition of the moisture source region (Aegean and Levantine Seas). Our SST reconstructions show that Aegean winter SSTs decreased in concert with intensifications of the Siberian High, as reflected in the GISP2 nss [K⁺] record. Specifically, three distinct sea surface cooling events at 10.5, 9.5–9.03 and 8.8–7.8 ka BP in the central Aegean Sea match increases in GISP2 nss [K⁺]. These events also coincide with dry interludes in Indian monsoon, hinting at large (hemispheric) scale teleconnections during the early Holocene on centennial timescales. A prominent short-lived (～150 years) cooling event in core SL21 – centred on 8.2 ka BP – is coeval to the ‘8.2 ka BP event’ in the Greenland δ¹⁸O_ice, which is commonly linked to a melt-water related perturbation of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and associated ocean heat transport. By deciphering the phasing between a recently published record of reduced overflow from the Nordic Seas into the northern North Atlantic, the Greenland δ¹⁸O_ice ‘8.2 ka BP event’ anomaly, and the short-lived cooling in SL21, we demonstrate severe far-field impacts of this North Atlantic event in the Aegean Sea. The Aegean is isolated from the North Atlantic oceanic circulation, so that signal transmission must have been of an atmospheric nature.     

Dependence of clinopyroxene composition on cooling rate in basaltic magmas: Implications for thermobarometry

The compositional variation of clinopyroxene and the partitioning of major elements between clinopyroxene and melt are estimated as a function of the cooling rate. Clinopyroxenes were crystallized under variable cooling regimes (15, 9.4, 3, 2.1, and 0.5 °C/min from 1250 down to 1000 °C) and at isothermal conditions of 1000 °C from a basaltic composition at a pressure of 500 MPa under anhydrous and hydrous (H₂O = 1.3 wt.%) conditions. The clinopyroxene chemistry shows that, as the cooling rate increases, crystals are progressively depleted in Ca, Mg, Fe²⁺ and Si and enriched in Na, Fe³⁺, Al (mainly Al^IV), and Ti. Di and Hd versus CaTs and CaFeTs form a continuous binary solid solution characterized by higher amounts of tschermakitic components with increasing cooling rate. Two parameters (DH = Di + Hd and TE = CaTs + CaFeTs + En) are calculated to describe the effect of cooling rate on the clinopyroxene composition. The variation of DH/TE with increasing cooling rate evidences the kinetic process induced by rapid cooling in basic rocks under hydrous and anhydrous conditions.Dynamic crystallization conditions affect the partitioning of major elements between clinopyroxene and melt; with increasing cooling rate, the value of crystal–melt partition coefficient departs from that obtained at the isothermal condition. However, in spite of these variations, the values of ^cpx–meltKd_Fe–Mg remain almost constant. Therefore, the Fe²–Mg exchange between clinopyroxene and melt is not suitable to prove the (dis)equilibrium conditions in basaltic cooling magmas, giving rise to possible mismatches in the application of thermobarometers. The results of our study are consistent with that observed at the margin of dikes or in the exterior portions of lavas, where the cooling rate is maximized and disequilibrium compositions of clinopyroxene have been found.     

The Effect of Temporal Changes and Environmental Trophic Condition on the Isotopic Composition (ω13C and ω15N) of Atherina boyeri (Risso, 1810) and Gobius niger (L., 1758) in a Mediterranean Coastal Lagoon (Lake of Sabaudia): Implications for Food Web Structure

Abstract. ω¹³C and ω¹⁵N of organic matter sources and consumers were employed to analyse trophic differentiation between a benthic consumer, Gobius niger (L., 1758) (Pisces, Osteichthyes), and a pelagic consumer, Atherina boyeri (Risso, 1810) (Pisces, Osteichthyes) in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Lake of Sabaudia) in winter and summer 1999. Trophic differences between the two species throughout the two sampling periods were related to the environmental trophic condition (i. e. nutrient and phytopigment concentrations). Although these two fish have different habitats, they both exploited benthic organisms, above all in summer. When the nutrient and phytopigment concentrations were higher (summer), the most abundant benthic organisms were the main food sources for both species. In winter A. boyeri apparently shifted its feeding preferences to include zooplankton, confirming its opportunistic feeding strategy. Par-ticulate organic matter and algae seemed to play the main trophic role in the food web structure. Benthic invertebrates used both sources, while zooplankton seemed to rely exclusively on the particulate fraction. The overlapping and very depleted signatures of sedimentary and particulate organic matter highlights a strong link between sediments and water column, rarely observed in other aquatic ecosystems using stable isotopes. Such a finding further substantiates the importance of particulate organic matter as a food source in the study area.     

Central Mediterranean tephrochronology between 313 and 366 ka: New insights from the Fucino palaeolake sediment succession

Thirty-two tephra layers were identified in the time-interval 313–366 ka (Marine Isotope Stages 9–10) of the Quaternary lacustrine succession of the Fucino Basin, central Italy. Twenty-seven of these tephra layers yielded suitable geochemical material to explore their volcanic origins. Investigations also included the acquisition of geochemical data of some relevant, chronologically compatible proximal units from Italian volcanoes. The record contains tephra from some well-known eruptions and eruptive sequences of Roman and Roccamonfina volcanoes, such as the Magliano Romano Plinian Fall, the Orvieto–Bagnoregio Ignimbrite, the Lower White Trachytic Tuff and the Brown Leucitic Tuff. In addition, the record documents eruptions currently undescribed in proximal (i.e. near-vent) sections, suggesting a more complex history of the major eruptions of the Colli Albani, Sabatini, Vulsini and Roccamonfina volcanoes between 313 and 366 ka. Six of the investigated tephra layers were directly dated by single-crystal-fusion ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating, providing the basis for a Bayesian age–depth model and a reassessment of the chronologies for both already known and dated eruptive units and for so far undated eruptions. The results provide a significant contribution for improving knowledge on the peri-Tyrrhenian explosive activity as well as for extending the Mediterranean tephrostratigraphical framework, which was previously based on limited proximal and distal archives for that time interval.