Water-table and discharge changes associated with the 2016–2017 seismic sequence in central Italy: hydrogeological data and a conceptual model for fractured carbonate aquifers

A seismic sequence in central Italy from August 2016 to January 2017 affected groundwater dynamics in fractured carbonate aquifers. Changes in spring discharge, water-table position, and streamflow were recorded for several months following nine Mw 5.0–6.5 seismic events. Data from 22 measurement sites, located within 100 km of the epicentral zones, were analyzed. The intensity of the induced changes were correlated with seismic magnitude and distance to epicenters. The additional post-seismic discharge from rivers and springs was found to be higher than 9 m³/s, totaling more than 0.1 km³ of groundwater release over 6 months. This huge and unexpected contribution increased streamflow in narrow mountainous valleys to previously unmeasured peak values. Analogously to the L’Aquila 2009 post-earthquake phenomenon, these hydrogeological changes might reflect an increase of bulk hydraulic conductivity at the aquifer scale, which would increase hydraulic heads in the discharge zones and lower them in some recharge areas. The observed changes may also be partly due to other mechanisms, such as shaking and/or squeezing effects related to intense subsidence in the core of the affected area, where effects had maximum extent, or breaching of hydraulic barriers.

     

Local Habitat Influences on Feeding and Respiration of the Intertidal Mussels <Emphasis Type="Italic">Perumytilus purpuratus</Emphasis> Exposed to Increased <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Levels

Coastal ecosystems are exposed to changes in physical-chemical properties, such as those occurring in upwelling and freshwater-influenced areas. In these areas, inorganic carbon can influence seawater properties that may affect organisms and populations inhabiting benthic habitats such as the intertidal mussel Perumytilus purpuratus. Feeding and metabolic responses were measured in adult mussels from two geographic regions (central and southern Chile) and two local habitats (river-influenced and non-river-influenced) and three pCO₂ levels (380, 750, and 1200 μatm pCO₂ in seawater). The feeding rates of mussels tend to increase at high pCO₂ levels in seawater; however this response was variable across regions and local habitats. In contrast, there was no difference in the respiratory rate of mussels between geographic areas, but there was a significant reduction of oxygen consumption at intermediate and high levels of pCO_2. The results indicate that river-influenced organisms compensate for reductions in metabolic cost at elevated pCO₂ levels by having their energy demands met, in contrast with non-river-influenced organisms. The lack of regional-scale variability in the physiological performance of mussels may indicate physiological homogeneity across populations and thus potential for local adaptation. However, the local-scale influences of river- and non-river-influenced habitats may counterbalance this regional response promoting intra-population variability and phenotypic plasticity in P. purpuratus. The plasticity may be an important mechanism that allows mussels to confront the challenges of projected ocean acidification scenarios.     

The August 20, 1852 earthquake in Santiago de Cuba

On August 20, 1852, an earthquake caused widespread destruction in the city of Santiago de Cuba and its surroundings. A comprehensive search for contemporary documentation was made. The information gathered was used for a detailed analysis of the damage from and characteristics of the earthquakes. Intensities were evaluated at 45 localities, and an isoseismal scheme has been drawn. Maximum intensity reached 8 degrees (MSK), and 6.4 was the estimated magnitude. Damage to the city of Santiago de Cuba has been studied in detail. The low quality of construction aggravated the damage. The total number of casualties was two dead and approximately 200 injured. The shock was felt within 80,000 km². The epicenter was determined as 19.75º N, 75.32º W, h = 30 km. This study shows that contemporary Cuban documents must be studied with care in their historical and cultural background to avoid overestimating earthquake intensities.     

Radio emission in active galaxies: the starburst scenario

The origin of the radio emission in active galaxies ranging from LINERS to ultraluminous IRAS galaxies is considered under the scenario of a violent nuclear or circumnuclear starburst. The radio luminosity is explained as non-thermal radio emission generated in supernova remnants (SNRs). Implications of this scenario in terms of the radio brightness of SNRs, the supernovae rates, and their detectability are discussed.     

Las Matras Block, Central Argentina (37°S-67°W): the Southernmost Cuyania Terrane and its Relationship with the Famatinian Orogeny

The Las Matras Block in Central Argentina constitutes the southernmost part of the Cuyania terrane, which was accreted to the southwestern margin of Gondwana during the Early to Mid Ordovician Famatinian orogeny. The Grenville-aged rocks of the Las Matras Block are represented by the tonalitic to trondhjemitic Las Matras pluton. A new U-Pb conventional zircon age of 1244±42 Ma confirms previous Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isochron ages of this pluton. Mineral composition data are consistent with the tonalitic-trondhjemitic character of the pluton, and constrain its emplacement level to 1.9 to 2.6 kb. This shallow level of emplacement and the undeformed character of the pluton are distinctive features of this southernmost basement. A regional comparison indicates that the igneous-metamorphic evolution of the Grenville-aged basement rocks of the Cuyania terrane occurred over a period of more than 200 million years, with ages older than 1200 Ma up to those close to 1000 Ma. The shallowest crustal level is found in Las Matras, suggesting a southward shallowing of the exposed level of basement. The deformation and metamorphism associated with the collisional Famatinian orogeny affect both the Cuyania terrane and the adjacent western margin of Gondwana, and the Gondwana margin was also the locus of the related arc magmatism, but the compressive effects of the collision decrease in intensity toward the south. The Famatinian metamorphism and magmatism continue even further south into the Patagonia region, but the southern continuity of the Cuyania terrane into this region remains uncertain.     

Secondary gravitational anisotropies in open universes

The applicability of the potential approximation in the case of open universes is tested. Great Attractor-like structures are considered in the test. Previous estimates of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies produced by these structures are analysed and interpreted. The anisotropies corresponding to inhomogeneous ellipsoidal models are also computed. It is proved that, whatever the spatial symmetry may be, Great Attractor-like objects with extended cores (radii ∼10 h ⁻¹), located at redshift z =5.9 in an open universe with density parameter Ω₀=0.2, produce secondary gravitational anisotropies of the order of 10⁻⁵ on angular scales of a few degrees. The amplitudes and angular scales of the estimated anisotropy decrease as the Great Attractor size decreases. For comparable normalizations and compensations, the anisotropy produced by spherical realizations is found to be smaller than that of ellipsoidal models. This anisotropy appears to be an integrated effect along the photon geodesics. Its angular scale is much greater than that subtended by the Great Attractor itself. This is easily understood by taking into account the fact that the integrated effect is produced by the variations of the gravitational potential, which seem to be important in large regions subtending angular scales of several degrees. As a result of the large size of these regions, the spatial curvature of the universe becomes important and, consequently, significant errors (∼30 per cent) arise in estimates based on the potential approximation. As is emphasized in this paper, two facts should be taken into account carefully in some numerical estimates of secondary gravitational anisotropies in open universes: (1) the importance of scales much greater than those subtended by the cosmological structures themselves, and (2) the compatibility of the potential approximation with the largest scales.     

Do Solar Flares Affect Total Ozone?

An analysis of total ozone from Hradec Králové (50.25°N, 15.21°E) and of radio wave absorption in the lower ionosphere at 1539 kHz (reflection point 50.3°N, 11.8°E) shows that there is no detectable effect of strong solar flares in total ozone, no correlation between total ozone and absorption on a day-to-day time scale, and that strong solar flares do not affect this correlation. Thus the long-term correlation of monthly average values (Alberca et al., 1996) is not reproduced on a day-to-day time scale, and the effects of strong geomagnetic storms in total ozone (Latovika et al., 1992; Mlch and Latovika, 1996) have no counterpart in effects of strong solar flares.     

南菲律宾地区类埃达克岩和富铌玄武质熔岩的成因

埃达克岩（adakite)最初 是指由消减板片玄武岩物质熔融形成的富硅、富钠、高Sr/Y和La/Yb比值的弧火山熔岩。它通常产在会聚带，这个部位的年轻的、因而仍然是热的大洋板片正在发生俯冲消减。富铌的岛弦玄武央进则是吕等到高碱的镁铁质熔岩，它们相对于正常的岛弦玄武岩含有较多的高场强元素（HFSE）。这些玄武岩通常与埃达克央共生， 这一组合是直被用于论证他们的高HFSE含量是因为他们的地幔源区受到板片来源的熔体的交代。先前的区域研究结果表明，南菲律宾是埃达克岩和富铌岛孤玄武岩的一个典型产地。然而最近的详细研究显示，尽管该地区的一些岛弧火山岩是类埃达克岩的，但是它们很可能是来自地幔楔的母岩浆的分异作用的产物，而这里的地幔楔主要是受沉积来源的成分交代的，此外，菲律宾南部最典型的富铌熔岩中HFSE的富集，也很有可能是起因于似乎是西太平洋边缘特有的富集地幔组分的熔融。这些结果提出了如下问题：南菲律宾是否存在真正的板片来源的熔体？这里的富铌岛弧 熔岩是否起因于地幔楔被这种熔体交代？     

Transport of dissolved organic nitrogen in Mississippi River plume and Texas-Louisiana continental shelf near-surface waters

Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in near-surface (<20 m depth) waters of the Texas-Louisiana continental shelf is the predominant form of total dissolved nitrogen that is advected by the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River plume. Relatively high DON concentrations associated with low-salinity (<33 psu) waters throughout the year can be traced within the plume along the Texas-Louisiana inner shelf. DON concentrations throughout the shelf were significantly higher near the Mississippi-Atchafalaya outflow region relative to downstream inner Gulf shelf locations. Significant intercruise variations were also evident, with the highest concentrations during May 1992 and lower values in October 1992. At a fixed location off the Mississippi River outflow region DON concentration covaried inversely with salinity on time scales of hours to months, confirming that source water is a determining factor for variations of bulk DON concentrations in the region. Similar variations in upper water DON concentrations at different locations and seasons occurred in both plume and nonplume waters, which resembled the seasonal concentration changes of riverine nitrogen, and show that this pool is useful in tracing the influence of riverine-derived nitrogen on the overall nitrogen balance of the NW Gulf of Mexico’s continental shelf. Plume and nonplume DON concentrations deviated from mixing lines between riverine and oceanic endmembers, suggesting that plume waters may be a sink and nonplume waters may be a source of a labile fraction of DON in the region.