The determination of deep temperatures by means of the CO-CO2-H2-H2O geothermometer: an example using fumaroles in the Campi Flegrei, Italy. A comment

Three points raised in the paper by Tedesco and Sabroux (1987) are dealt with. (1) The inconsistency between the water partial pressure calculated by Tedesco and Sabroux (1987) and saturation pressure is due to the improper use of the water-gas-shift reaction as a geothermometer. In fact Tedesco and Sabroux (1987) do not take into account the distribution of gas species between the coexisting vapour and liquid phases. (2) The depth of the steam reservoir is evaluated by Tedesco and Sabroux (1987) in too simplistic a way. This matter should be treated with greater care owing to the high social impact of any consideration on the Phlegraean Fields system. (3) The reliability of carbon monoxide determination at the concentration level encountered at Solfatara depends on the collection method rather than on the gas-chromatographic technique.     

An Efficient Tool for Wave Climate Analysis in European Coastal Waters

Abstract. We describe a software system that allows even an inexperienced user to estimate the wave statistics at any location along the European coastal zone. The system is composed of a solid, well verified data set, a geographical tool, a modelling section and a statistical package. Their use is fully transparent to the user.     

Variability of Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages subject to local variation in sediment deposition

This study tested whether the development of coralligenous assemblages on horizontal and vertical surfaces differed between localities of high and low sediment deposition. The development and structure of these assemblages varied in predictable ways according to the level of sediment deposition. These differences were largely independent of the orientation of substratum. Turfs were more extensive in areas of high sediment deposition while erect and encrusting algae were most extensive in areas of low sediment deposition. Encrusting invertebrates characterised vertical surfaces and were most extensive in areas of high sediment deposition. These results are consistent with studies from other temperate regions of the globe, suggesting that effects of sedimentation on temperate coasts are substantial and widespread.     

A numerical model for the simulation of debris flow triggering,propagation and arrest

Natural Hazards - In this paper, it is described the development and the assessment of a 1D numerical procedure for the simulation of debris flow phenomena. The procedure focuses on: (1) the...     

Three‐fold nature of coastal progradation during the Holocene eustatic highstand,Po Plain,Italy – close correspondence of stratal character with distribution patterns

Although general trends in transgressive to highstand sedimentary evolution of river‐mouth coastlines are well‐known, the details of the turnaround from retrogradational (typically estuarine) to aggradational–progradational (typically coastal/deltaic) stacking patterns are not fully resolved. This paper examines the middle to late Holocene eustatic highstand succession of the Po Delta: its stratigraphic architecture records a complex pattern of delta outbuilding and coastal progradation that followed eustatic stabilization, since around 7·7 cal kyr bp . Sedimentological, palaeoecological (benthic foraminifera, ostracods and molluscs) and compositional criteria were used to characterize depositional conditions and sediment‐dispersal pathways within a radiocarbon‐dated chronological framework. A three‐stage progradation history was reconstructed. First, as soon as eustasy stabilized (7·7 to 7·0 cal kyr bp ), rapid bay‐head delta progradation (ca 5 m year^?1), fed mostly by the Po River, took place in a mixed, freshwater and brackish estuarine environment. Second, a dominantly aggradational parasequence set of beach‐barrier deposits in the lower highstand systems tract (7·0 to 2·0 cal kyr bp ) records the development of a shallow, wave‐dominated coastal system fed alongshore, with elongated, modestly crescent beaches (ca 2·5 m year^?1). Third, in the last 2000 years, the development of faster accreting and more rapidly prograding (up to ca 15 m year^?1) Po delta lobes occurred into 30 m deep waters (upper highstand systems tract). This study documents the close correspondence of sediment character with stratal distribution patterns within the highstand systems tract. Remarkable changes in sediment characteristics, palaeoenvironments and direction of sediment transport occur across a surface named the ‘A–P surface’. This surface demarcates a major shift from dominantly aggradational (lower highstand systems tract) to fully progradational (upper highstand systems tract) parasequence stacking. In the Po system, this surface also reflects evolution from a wave‐dominated to river‐dominated deltaic system. Identifying the A–P surface through detailed palaeoecological and compositional data can help guide interpretation of highstand systems tracts in the rock record, especially where facies assemblages and their characteristic geometries are difficult to discern from physical sedimentary structures alone.     

Anatomy of the Holocene succession of the southern Venice lagoon revealed by very high-resolution seismic data

The southern portion of the Venice lagoon contains a relatively thick (up to 20 m) Holocene sedimentary body that represents a detailed record of the formation and evolution of the lagoon. New very high-resolution (VHR) seismic profiles provided a detailed investigation on depositional geometries, internal bounding surfaces and stratal relationships. These informations, combined with core analysis, allowed the identification of large- to medium-scale sedimentary structures (e.g. dunes, point bars), the corresponding sedimentary environment, and of retrogradational and progradational trends. In addition, the availability of dense seismic network produced a 3D reconstruction of the southern lagoon and the recognition of the along-strike and dip variability of the stratal architecture.     

Thermal characterization of the Vulcano fumarole field

Ground-based thermal infrared surveys can contribute to complete heat budget inventories for fumarole fields. However, variations in atmospheric conditions, plume condensation and mixed-pixel effects can complicate vent area and temperature measurements. Analysis of vent temperature frequency distributions can be used, however, to characterise and quantify thermal regions within a field. We examine this using four thermal infrared thermometer and thermal image surveys of the Vulcano Fossa fumarole field (Italy) during June 2004 and July 2005. These surveys show that regions occupied by low temperature vents are characterised by distributions that are tightly clustered around the mean (i.e., the standard deviation is low), highly peaked (positive kurtosis) and skewed in the low temperature direction (negative skewness). This population is associated with wet fumaroles, where boiling controls maximum temperature to cause a narrow distribution with a mode at 90–100°C. In contrast, high temperature vent regions have distributions that are widely spread about the mean (i.e., the standard deviation is high), relatively flat (negative kurtosis) and skewed in the high temperature direction (positive skewness). In this dry case, fumaroles are water-free so that maximum temperatures are not fixed by boiling. As a result greater temperature variation is possible. We use these results to define two vent types at Vulcano on the basis of their thermal characteristics: (1) concentrated (localized) regions of high temperature vents, and (2) dispersed low temperature vents. These occur within a much larger region of diffuse heat emission across which surfaces are heated by steam condensation, the heat from which causes elevated surface temperatures. For Vulcano's lower fumarole zone, high and low temperature vents occupied total areas of 3 and 6 m², respectively, and occurred within a larger (430 m²) vent-free zone of diffuse heat emission. For this lower zone, we estimate that 21–43 × 10³ W of heat was lost by diffuse heat emission. A further 4.5 × 10³ W was lost by radiation from high temperature vents, and 6.5 × 10³ W from low temperature vents. Thus, radiative heat losses from high and low temperature vents within Vulcano's lower fumarole zone respectively account for 10% and 15% of the total heat lost from this zone. This shows that radiation from open vents can account for a non-trivial portion of the total fumarole field heat budget.     

The role of site effects in the comparison between code provisions and the near field strong motion of the Emilia 2012 earthquakes

A damaging seismic sequence hit a wide area mainly located in the Emilia-Romagna region (Northern Italy) during 2012 with several events of local magnitude \(\hbox {M}_\mathrm{l} \ge 5\) , among which the \(\hbox {M}_\mathrm{l}\) 5.9 May 20 and the \(\hbox {M}_\mathrm{l}\) 5.8 May 29 were the main events. Thanks to the presence of a permanent accelerometric station very close to the epicentre and to the temporary installations performed in the aftermath of the first shock, a large number of strong motion recordings are available, on the basis of which, we compared the recorded signals with the values provided by the current Italian seismic regulations, and we observed several differences with respect to horizontal components when the simplified approach for site conditions (based on Vs30 classes) is used. On the contrary, when using the more accurate approach based on the local seismic response, we generally obtain a much better agreement, at least in the frequency range corresponding to a quarter wavelength comparable with the depth of the available subsoil data. Some unresolved questions still remain, such as the low frequency behaviour ( \(<\) 1 Hz) that could be due either to complex propagation at depth larger than the one presently investigated or to near source effects, and the behaviour of vertical spectra whose recorded/code difference is too large to be explained with the information currently available.     

The masses of black holes in the nuclei of spirals

We use the innermost kinematics of spirals to investigate whether these galaxies could host the massive black hole remnants that once powered the quasi-stellar object (QSO) phenomenon. Hundreds of rotation curves of early- and late-type spirals are used to place upper limits on the central black hole (BH) masses. We find that (i) in late-type spirals, the central massive dark objects (MDOs) are about 10–100 times smaller than the MDOs detected in ellipticals, and (ii) in early-type spirals, the central bodies are likely to be in the same mass range as the elliptical MDOs. As a consequence, the contribution to the QSO/active galactic nuclei (AGN) phenomenon by the BH remnants eventually hosted in spirals is negligible: ρ _BH(Sb–Im)<6×10⁴ M_⊙ Mpc⁻³ . We find several hints that the MDO mass versus bulge mass relationship is significantly steeper in spirals than in ellipticals, although the very issue of the existence of such a relation for late Hubble type objects remains open. The upper limits on the masses of the BHs resident in late-type spirals are stringent: M _BH10⁶–10⁷ M_⊙, indicating that only low-luminosity activity could possibly have occurred in these objects .