Zeolitization of Oligo-Miocene volcaniclastic rocks from Logudoro (northern Sardinia, Italy)

The present study reports the results of research on volcaniclastic products from Logudoro (northern Sardinia), a reconstructed stratigraphic succession some hundreds of meters thick, comprising two different ignimbritic units separated by an epiclastic layer (generally ˜10 m thick). Clinoptilolite is the most widely distributed authigenic phase in epiclastite and unwelded units, always associated with opal-CT and sometimes with smectite. An adularia-like feldspar, cristobalite and epigenetic quartz are typical phases of welded units. Within the zeolitized units (unwelded ignimbrite and epiclastic units) clinoptilolite and opal-CT constitute the cement deriving from the transformation of the precursor rhyolitic glass, in agreement with a single zeolitization process that developed after the deposition of the entire succession. Silica increases in zeolitized rocks with respect to the precursor material, leading to hypothesize that the secondary mineralization process was favored by mineralized hydrothermal fluids preferentially circulating through the fault system of the area. Quartz veins in welded subunit and K-feldspar (adularia-like) preferentially located near the faults are in agreement with this hypothesis. The interaction of these fluids with the glassy fraction favored its dissolution and the consequent crystallization of clinoptilolite. Furthermore, the pH increase and the silica supersaturation enhanced the contemporary or subsequent precipitation of opal-CT. Received: 5 June 2000 / Accepted: 14 August 2000     

Occurrence of phlogopite in the Finero Mafic layered complex

Phlogopite-bearing lithologies are the main constituent of the Phlogopite-Peridotite unit of the Finero sequence and the result of pervasive migration of metasomatizing melts/fluids. Conversely, the presence of phlogopite within the associated Finero Mafic Complex, a mafic-ultramafic pluton intruded into the metamorphic basement of the Adria plate, is mentioned in literature as rare. Recent detailed fieldwork has evidenced the presence of two distinct phlogopite-rich ultramafic lithologies within the Amphibole-Peridotite unit of the Finero Mafic Complex, where phlogopite is always associated with amphibole. Field and petrographic features of these occurrences, as well as major- and trace-element mineral chemistry, are here presented to i) place constraints on the nature of the parent melt from which they have been generated and ii) to address their relationship with the other lithologies of the Finero Complex. We find that these rocks were formed by late melt migrations along shear zones under high-T conditions. The geochemical affinity of these lithologies is different to the tholeiitic-transitional affinity reported in literature for the Finero Mafic Complex. The enrichment in LREE, Th, U and Sr of the associated amphibole possibly suggests that these phlogopite-bearing lithologies are genetically related to the metasomatic events that have affected the Finero mantle massif.     

The old calcium plages differential rotation latitudinal profile: Its gross and fine structure evolution with the solar cycle

This work is a study of the rotational properties of the solar calcium plages, during the time interval 1967–1977; only plages older than 4 days have been the object of this research. We have looked systematically for any significant change occurring during the course of the solar cycle, and any kind of ‘anomaly’ or fine structure in the differential rotation latitudinal profile. We find that such a profile undergoes a cyclic transformation, making it assume the highest steepness at the solar maximum; a sudden flattening then occurs in the first years of declining activity; the last years of the cycle, as the first years of the next one, are characterized by intermediate steepness values. Moreover, we find that, in spite of the general belief that the angular rotation rate is continuously decreasing with increasing heliographic latitude, at least two inversions do exist of such an overall tendency:

1. A narrow, minimal angular-rotation-rate strip lies very close to the equatorward margin of the plage production band; this feature shifts continuously, in a wave-like manner, throughout the solar cycle, from 15/18° to 3/6° latitude.
2. A narrow, maximal angular-rotation-rate strip has been observed lying in the neighbourhood of the poleward margin of the activity band; a process of continuous transformation of the rotation rate profile is always active, in a narrow latitude strip on the equatorward side of such a feature, generating new features of the same kind, which replace the older ones, that disappeared due to the equatorward shift of the plage zone. All that simulates an equatorward shift of the observed ‘anomalies’; we observed them until the minimum activity epoch (1976), at 15/18° latitude. Some relations of these features with both torsionai waves (Howard and LaBonte, 1980) and magnetic activity are briefly discussed.

     

Flow analysis in a channel with flexible vegetation using double-averaging method

The paper addresses the problem of the resistance due to vegetation in an open channel flow, characterized by partially and fully submerged vegetation formed by colonies of bushes. The flow is characterized by significant spatial variations of velocity between vertical profiles that make the traditional approach based on time averaging of turbulent fluctuations inconvenient. A more useful procedure, based on time and spatial averaging (Double-Averaging Method) is applied for the flow field analysis and characterization. The vertical distribution of mean velocity and turbulent stresses at different spatial locations has been measured with a 3D Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) for two different vegetation densities where fully submerged real bushes (salix pentandra) have been used. Velocity measurements were completed together with the measurements of drag exerted on the flow by bushes at different flow depths. The analysis of velocity measurements allows depicting the fundamental characteristics of both the mean flow field and turbulence. The experimental data show that the contribution of form-induced stresses to the momentum balance cannot be neglected. The mean velocity profiles and the spatially averaged turbulent intensity profiles allow inferring that the vegetation density is a driving parameter for the development of a mixing layer at the canopy top in the case of submerged vegetation. Moreover, the net upward turbulent momentum flux, evaluated with the methodology proposed by Lu and Willmarth (1973), appears to be damped for increased vegetation density; this finding can rationally explain the reduction of the suspended sediment transport capacity typically observed in free surface flows over a vegetated bed.     

Estimation and propagation of volcanic source parameter uncertainty in an ash transport and dispersal model: application to the Eyjafjallajokull plume of 14–16 April 2010

Data on source conditions for the 14 April 2010 paroxysmal phase of the Eyjafjallaj?kull eruption, Iceland, have been used as inputs to a trajectory-based eruption column model, bent. This model has in turn been adapted to generate output suitable as input to the volcanic ash transport and dispersal model, puff, which was used to propagate the paroxysmal ash cloud toward and over Europe over the following days. Some of the source parameters, specifically vent radius, vent source velocity, mean grain size of ejecta, and standard deviation of ejecta grain size have been assigned probability distributions based on our lack of knowledge of exact conditions at the source. These probability distributions for the input variables have been sampled in a Monte Carlo fashion using a technique that yields what we herein call the polynomial chaos quadrature weighted estimate (PCQWE) of output parameters from the ash transport and dispersal model. The advantage of PCQWE over Monte Carlo is that since it intelligently samples the input parameter space, fewer model runs are needed to yield estimates of moments and probabilities for the output variables. At each of these sample points for the input variables, a model run is performed. Output moments and probabilities are then computed by properly summing the weighted values of the output parameters of interest. Use of a computational eruption column model coupled with known weather conditions as given by radiosonde data gathered near the vent allows us to estimate that initial mass eruption rate on 14 April 2010 may have been as high as 10⁸?kg/s and was almost certainly above 10⁷?kg/s. This estimate is consistent with the probabilistic envelope computed by PCQWE for the downwind plume. The results furthermore show that statistical moments and probabilities can be computed in a reasonable time by using 9⁴?=?6,561 PCQWE model runs as opposed to millions of model runs that might be required by standard Monte Carlo techniques. The output mean ash cloud height plus three standard deviations??encompassing c. 99.7?% of the probability mass??compares well with four-dimensional ash cloud position as retrieved from Meteosat-9 SEVIRI data for 16 April 2010 as the ash cloud drifted over north-central Europe. Finally, the ability to compute statistical moments and probabilities may allow for the better separation of science and decision-making, by making it possible for scientists to better focus on error reduction and decision makers to focus on ??drawing the line?? for risk assessment.     

Inheritance of Jurassic rifted margin architecture into the Apennines Neogene mountain building: a case history from the Lucretili Mts. (Latium, Central Italy)

The western Lucretili Mts. in the central Apennines (Latium, Italy) have been recently re-mapped in great detail and are the subject of combined stratigraphic, sedimentological and structural investigations. In this paper, we present a new stratigraphic interpretation of the Jurassic paleogeography of western Lucretili Mts., where a rift-derived intrabasinal paleo-high of the Alpine Tethys has been identified for the first time by means of facies analysis and biostratigraphic dating. Recognised facies associations, combined with dated stratigraphic sections, allow to define the morphology of the structural paleo-high and to identify the associated gravity-driven deposits (olistoliths) accumulated in the surrounding basin. Furthermore, we investigated the modes of interaction between Jurassic extensional structures and the subsequent contractional patterns developed during the Tertiary mountain building. In detail, the role played during Apennines tectonics by the paleo-escarpments bounding the paleo-high and by the surrounding olistoliths has been analysed. The paleo-escarpments either acted as focussing features for ENE-directed frontal thrust ramp localisation and were offset with small shortening amounts or reactivated as NNE striking high angle transpressional faults or preserved the original geometries as a result of variable orientation of paleo-escarpments with respect to the Neogene compressive stress field (with ENE oriented sigma1). Newly formed ENE striking tear faults connect these either inherited or neo-formed discontinuities. This complex stratigraphic and structural pattern is substantially different from the previous interpretations of this portion of the central Apennines based on a hypothesised layer-cake stratigraphy deformed by neo-formed Neogene thrusts. This contribution strengthens the importance of integrating facies analyses and structural investigations to detect the influence of pre-orogenic structures on compressive structural patterns, in an area where commercial seismic lines are not available and cannot help in reconstructing the subsurface geometries.     

Variability of the health effects of crystalline silica: Fe speciation in industrial quartz reagents and suspended dusts—insights from XAS spectroscopy

We investigated the speciation of Fe in bulk and in suspended respirable quartz dusts coming from ceramic and iron-casting industrial processes via X-ray absorption spectroscopy, with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of the variability of crystalline silica toxicity. Four different bulk industrial quartz powders, nominally pure quartz samples with Fe contents below 200 ppm, and three respirable dusts filters were selected. Fe speciation was determined in all samples through a coupled study of the X-ray absorption near-edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure regions, operating at the Fe–K edge. Fe speciation revealed common features at the beginning of the different production processes, whereas significant differences were observed on both respirable dusts and bulk dusts exiting from the production process. Namely, a common pollution of the raw quartz dusts by elemental Fe was evidenced and attributed to residuals of the industrial production of quartz materials. Moreover, the respirable samples indicated that reactivity occurs after the suspension of the powders in air. The gravitational selection during the particle suspension consistently allowed us to clearly discriminate between suspended and bulk dusts. On the basis of the obtained results, we provide an apparent spectroscopic discrimination between the raw materials used in the considered industrial processes, and those that are effectively inhaled by workers. In particular, an amorphous Fe^III oxide, with an unsaturated coordination sphere, can be related to silica reactivity (and health consequences).     

Warmer early instrumental measurements versus colder reconstructed temperatures: shooting at a moving target

Comparison of tree-ring-based warm-season temperature reconstructions and their instrumental target data reveals substantial divergence between (warmer) early instrumental measurements and (colder) proxy estimates. Here we detail this systematic misfit for the Northern Hemisphere before 1900 and the European Alps before 1850. Five hypotheses related to both proxy and target uncertainties are presented towards explaining this phenomenon. These include: (1) tree-ring detrending methods, (2) biological persistence in the proxy time-series, (3) uncertainties and instabilities in the growth response to given climatic parameters, (4) reduced instrumental station availability back in time, and (5) instrumental data homogeneity. We suggest that uncertainties in the choice of instrumental targets at the hemispheric scale, and instrumental data inhomogeneities at the Alpine and possibly also the hemispheric-scale are the most important factors in explaining this offset. Assessment of homogeneity at larger scales remains challenging. Attention is drawn to possible warm biases in early thermometer shelters and the relevance of proxy/target discrepancies for understanding and quantifying the amplitude of both recent anthropogenic and past natural forced climate fluctuations.