Geoprospecting Survey in the Archaeological Site of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aquinum</Emphasis> (Lazio,Central Italy)

In this paper, the results of a ground penetrating radar (GPR) prospecting survey performed in the Roman archaeological site of Aquinum are shown. The prospecting was performed in two distinct areas. The first one was close to the remains of the ancient thermal baths, where a public project intends to build a car park. The second area is close to an apsidal Roman building, and it was of interest to establish whether, and possibly up to what extent, the remains of this partially revealed structure continue, or maybe whether meaningful further structures are present.     

Stochastic coupled simulation of strong motion and tsunami for the 2011 Tohoku,Japan earthquake

This study conducts coupled simulation of strong motion and tsunami using stochastically generated earthquake source models. It is focused upon the 2011 Tohoku, Japan earthquake. The ground motion time-histories are simulated using the multiple-event stochastic finite-fault method, which takes into account multiple local rupture processes in strong motion generation areas. For tsunami simulation, multiple realizations of wave profiles are generated by evaluating nonlinear shallow water equations with run-up. Key objectives of this research are: (i) to investigate the sensitivity of strong motion and tsunami hazard parameters to asperities and strong motion generation areas, and (ii) to quantify the spatial variability and dependency of strong motion and tsunami predictions due to common earthquake sources. The investigations provide valuable insights in understanding the temporal and spatial impact of cascading earthquake hazards. Importantly, the study also develops an integrated strong motion and tsunami simulator, which is capable of capturing earthquake source uncertainty. Such an advanced numerical tool is necessary for assessing the performance of buildings and infrastructure that are subjected to cascading earthquake–tsunami hazards.     

Seasonal changes of microbial populations in the sediments of the basins of Lugano and Agno

This research was carried out with the aim to explore the heterotrophic microbial population of two sediments in different oxic conditions of the Lake of Lugano (Lago di Lugano). The values of the viable bacterial counts found in our sediment samples were typical for an eutrophic lake.The increase in the proportion of anaerobic to aerobic bacteria at 30 °C observed in the sediment samples of Agno may reflect the depletion of oxygen concentrations in the water column.The generaAeromonas, Pseudomonas, Bacillus andClostridium, as well as strains belonging to the Coryneform-group, represented the major taxonomic groups of heterotrophic bacterial communities in the water-sediment interface.     

A closed-form solution for the failure interaction diagrams of pile groups subjected to inclined eccentric load

The work at hand proposes a method for assessing, under reasonable hypotheses from an engineering perspective, the failure envelope of a pile group subjected to generalized loading conditions involving a vertical and a lateral force along with a moment. Following different assumptions of increasing complexity, a simple closed-form expression, which is however capable of considering also the strong dependence of sectional yielding moment on the axial force, is derived. The use of such formula, which allows a practical hand calculation of the interaction diagrams at failure, returns conservative yet very accurate results. As a follow up, with reference to reinforced concrete piles, design considerations involving both structural and geotechnical failure under lateral load are reported. It is found that for most cases, if steel reinforcement is established to resist the design bending moment, the geotechnical Ultimate Limit State checks are automatically satisfied.

     

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.     

From flood risk mapping toward reducing vulnerability: the case of Addis Ababa

Natural Hazards - Flood risk maps for the built environment can be obtained by integrating geo-spatial information on hazard, vulnerability and exposure. They provide precious support for strategic...     

Land cover and land use change in the Italian central Apennines: A comparison of assessment methods

Analyses of land-use cover changes (LUCC) are fundamental to the understanding of numerous social, economical and environmental problems and can be carried out rapidly, using either cartographic or census data. However, the trends of the two methods differ in direction and quantity.For this study, a historical and a recent remote sensing-derived map were homogenized to reduce misleading changes and to assess spatial aggregation errors. This was carried out by means of a data integration procedure based on landscape metrics, allowing cartographic and census trends to be compared. Discrepancies between data were thus highlighted, both in absolute surface value and in evolution.The methodology presented, and the results obtained, could be employed to evaluate and improve LUCC analyses aimed at assessing landscape identity, both in the case of analyses based only on LU census data, or of those based only on LC cartographic data. This could lead to benefits for both biodiversity conservation and environmental planning on a large scale.