Caisson breakwaters embodying an OWC with a small opening—Part II: A small-scale field experiment

A common and intuitive idea is that, before an absorbing breakwater, waves are smaller than before a conventional reflecting breakwater. The theory of Part I has shown that, on the contrary, before a breakwater converter, in some cases, the wave height may be greater than before a conventional reflecting breakwater. Now, an experiment off the eastern coast of the Straits of Messina provides a confirmation of the theory: some huge amplifications of swells are common at a breakwater converter, and as a consequence the energy absorption gets very large. Here, we show the results of the experiment, and, basing ourselves on these results and on the theory of Part I, we suggest some practical way of calculation.     

Isostasy and paleotemperatures in the Southern Tyrrhenian Basin,Mediterranean Sea

The present-day basement depth of the seafloor in the absence of sediment loading was inferred along a traverse crossing the Southern Tyrrhenian Basin. A correction for sediment loading was proposed on the basis of density, seismic velocity and porosity data from selected deep boreholes. The empirical relation between sediment correction and seismic two-way travel time was extrapolated downward by applying the Nafe–Drake curve and a specific porosity–depth relation. The sediment loading response of the basement calculated for flexural isostasy is on average about one hundred meters lower than results for local isostasy. A pure lithosphere extensional model was then used to predict quantitatively the basement subsidence pattern on the margins of the basin. The basement depth is consistent with uniform extension model predictions only in some parts of the margins. The observed variability in the region of greatest thinning (transition from continental to oceanic crust) is attributable to the weakening effect caused by diffuse igneous intrusions. Subsidence of the volcanic Calabrian–Sicilian margin is partly accounted for by magmatic underplating. The comparison of the calculated subsidence with an oceanic lithosphere cooling model shows that subsidence is variable in some areas, particularly in the Marsili Basin. This argues for a typical back-arc origin for the Tyrrhenian Basin, as a result of subduction processes. By taking into account the geodynamic setting, stratigraphic data from the deepest hole and the terrestrial heat flow, we reconstructed the paleotemperatures of cover sediments. The results suggest that low temperatures generally have prevailed during sediment deposition and that the degree of maturation is expected not to be sufficient for oil generation processes.     

Vertical dynamics of disc galaxies in modified Newtonian dynamics

We investigate the possibility of discriminating between modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) and Newtonian gravity with dark matter, by studying the vertical dynamics of disc galaxies. We consider models with the same circular velocity in the equatorial plane (purely baryonic discs in MOND and the same discs in Newtonian gravity embedded in spherical dark matter haloes), and we construct their intrinsic and projected kinematical fields by solving the Jeans equations under the assumption of a two-integral distribution function. We find that the vertical velocity dispersion of deep MOND discs can be much larger than in the equivalent spherical Newtonian models. However, in the more realistic case of high surface density discs, this effect is significantly reduced, casting doubt on the possibility of discriminating between MOND and Newtonian gravity with dark matter by using current observations.     

Dissociation constants of protonated methionine species in seawater media

The dissociation constants (pK₁ and pK₂) for methionine have been measured in artificial seawater as a function of salinity (S = 5 to 35) and temperature (5 to 45 °C). The seawater pK₂ values were lower than the values in NaCl at the same ionic strength while the pK₁ values in seawater were lower only at S = 35. In an attempt to understand these differences, we have made measurements of the constants in Na–Mg–Cl solutions at 25 °C. The measured values have been used to determine the formation of Mg²⁺ complexes and Pitzer interaction parameters for Mg²⁺ with methionine. The seawater model with the interaction parameters accounts for the differences between the value of pK₁ and pK₂ between NaCl and seawater. This study demonstrates that it is important to consider all of the ionic interactions in natural waters when examining the dissociation of organic acids.     

The Bushveld granites around Rooiberg,Transvaal, South Africa

The detailed investigation of the Bushveld granites, around the Rooiberg area, has revealed the existence, in the field, of at least three main types:

1. Granophyric rocks, which form a belt (transition-zone) between the country rocks (sediments and felsite) and the Main granite.
2. Main granite, which is the most common type of granite.
3. Younger granites, which are responsible for the tin mineralization.

All evidence points to a metasomatic origin for the granophyric rocks. For the Main granite, a probable anatectic origin is proposed, which is borne out by the presence of ghost-stratigraphy patterns, detected by trend surface analysis. The younger granites are undoubtely magmatic. On account of parallelism between the structural lines of the granitic rocks and the country rocks, an hypothesis based on deformation contemporaneous with the emplacement of the granites is advanced to explain the structure of the Rooiberg Area. In view of this hypothesis, the “Rooiberg roof-pendant” is considered to be probably a portion of the roof in its normale position.     

A new general frequency-magnitude relationship

A new frequency-magnitude relationship which takes into account the existence of an upper limit for the magnitude, and generalizes the previous ones, is proposed. The formula obtained has been applied to the Western Alps area activity during the period 1950–75, and in addition to the limiting magnitude value, some useful results for the calculation of the seismic risk have been deduced using Gumbel's theory. The use of the present relationship appears to be necessary when long periods of time are considered, while for the study of the annual probabilities the Gutenberg and Richter formula is shown to be sufficiently accurate.     

A possible mechanism for the thermal asymmetry of the Ligurian basin

ABSTRACT We propose a thermo-mechanical model and a new interpretation of heat flux data for the Ligurian basin that may be a key to understanding the evolution of the NW Mediterranean. The model incorporates the removal of a portion of mantle lithosphere to explain the heat-flux and subsidence anomaly of the eastern (Corsican) margin of the basin. This process is envisaged as a result of eastward asthenosphere flow induced by the Apennines subduction system. After a heating phase, time-dependent conductive cooling and re-thickening of the lithosphere result in re-equilibrium of the thermal gradient to its initial value. Such a rifting mode can account for the asymmetric heat-flux and subsidence pattern observed across the basin and the present-day lithospheric thickness.     

The gamma ray background from large scale structure formation

Hierarchical clustering of dark matter halos is thought to describe well the large scale structure of the universe. The baryonic component of the halos is shock heated to the virial temperature while a small fraction of the energy flux through the shocks may be energized through the first order Fermi process to relativistic energy per particle. It has been proposed that the electrons accelerated in this way may upscatter the photons of the universal microwave background to gamma ray energies and indeed generate a diffuse background of gamma rays that compares well to the observations. In this paper, we calculate the spectra of the particles accelerated at the merger shocks and re-evaluate the contribution of structure formation to the extragalactic diffuse gamma ray background (EDGRB), concluding that this contribution adds up to at most 10% of the observed EDGRB.