Impact of the 6 April 2009 L'Aquila earthquake on groundwater flow in the Gran Sasso carbonate aquifer,Central Italy

The Mw = 6·3 L'Aquila earthquake on 6 April 2009 produced a mainshock that caused significant changes in the hydrogeology of the Gran Sasso carbonate fractured aquifer: (i) the sudden disappearance at the time of the mainshock of some springs located exactly along the surface trace of the Paganica normal fault (PF); (ii) an immediate increase in the discharge of the Gran Sasso highway tunnel drainages and of other springs and (iii) a progressive increase of the water table elevation at the boundary of the Gran Sasso aquifer during the following months. Using the data collected since the 1990s that include aftershock monitoring as well as data regarding spring discharge, water table elevations, turbidity and rainfall events, a conceptual model of the earthquake's consequences on the Gran Sasso aquifer is proposed herein. In this model that excludes the contribution of seasonal recharge, the short‐term hydrologic effects registered immediately after the mainshock are determined to have been caused by a pore pressure increase related to aquifer deformation. Mid‐term effects observed in the months following the mainshock suggest that there was a change in groundwater hydrodynamics. Supplementary groundwater that flows towards aquifer boundaries and springs in discharge areas reflects a possible increase in hydraulic conductivity in the recharge area, nearby the earthquake fault zone. This increase can be attributed to fracture clearing and/or dilatancy. Simulations by numerical modelling, related to pore pressure and permeability changes with time, show results in accordance with observed field data, supporting the conceptual model and confirming the processes that influenced the answer of the Gran Sasso aquifer to the L'Aquila earthquake. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A detailed analysis of two seismic sequences in Abruzzo, Central Apennines, Italy

A three-component digital seismic network has been installed along central Apennines since the end of 1991. Two seismic sequences having main shocks of magnitudes 3.9 and 3.7 were recorded in August 1992 and June 1994, respectively. A detailed analysis of these sequences, including multiplet relocation, fault-plane solutions and source parameter estimation, is performed in the present paper. A correlation analysis allowed us to recognize a number of correlated events in the two sequences which were used for relative locations using a master event technique. This analysis allowed to obtain a better alignment of epicentral data along two almost orthogonal directions, following an Apenninic and an anti-Apenninic trend. For the two sequences, fault-plane solutions were evaluated by using a first arrival technique, resulting in mechanisms with predominant normal faulting for the 1992 and 1994 swarms. S-wave polarization analysis allowed to check the stability of the previous solutions and to reduce their range of uncertainty. The same technique was also applied to derive the composite fault-plane solutions from the aftershocks, resulting in solutions which are in good agreement with those derived from the main shocks of both sequences. Source parameters were then derived from the three-component records of 28 well-recorded events with seismic moment in the range 8.5 × 10¹⁰–1.0 × 10¹⁴ Nm. Stress drops ranged in the interval 0.3–52.3 bar and source radii were of the order of 100 m. Their scaling relations are in good agreement with other results derived from the analysis of other Italian earthquakes that occurred in regions of predominantly normal faulting tectonics (Apennines and Calabrian arc).     

Geological constraints for earthquake faulting studies in the Colfiorito area (central Italy)

On September 26, 1997, at 00.33 h(GMT), a Mw 5.7 earthquake occurred in the axial zone of theUmbria-Marche Apennines of central Italy, in the Colfiorito basin area. At09.40 h (GMT), a M_w 6.0 earthquake again struck the area withinthe Colfiorito basin, a major intramontane basin filled with Quaternarycontinental deposits. The two main shocks, and the associated aftershockswere within a roughly NNW-SSE trending zone of largest damage (Imax10), in which ground deformation has been observed. Along this trend,Cello et al. (1997a) had mapped a few capable faults, showingtranstensional to pure extensional kinematics. Field inspection of themapped faults, carried out after the main shocks, revealed that some ofthem were locally reactivated (for lengths of several hundreds metres andsurface slip in the range of 2–8 cm) during the September 26, 1997earthquakes.     

Near‐optimal piecewise linear fits of static pushover capacity curves for equivalent SDOF analysis

The piecewise linear (‘multilinear’) approximation of realistic force‐deformation capacity curves is investigated for structural systems incorporating generalized plastic, hardening, and negative stiffness behaviors. This fitting process factually links capacity and demand and lies at the core of nonlinear static assessment procedures. Despite codification, the various fitting rules used can produce highly heterogeneous results for the same capacity curve, especially for the highly‐curved backbones resulting from the gradual plasticization or the progressive failures of structural elements. To achieve an improved fit, the error introduced by the approximation is quantified by studying it at the single‐degree‐of‐freedom level, thus avoiding any issues related to multi‐degree‐of‐freedom versus single‐degree‐of‐freedom realizations. Incremental dynamic analysis is employed to enable a direct comparison of the actual backbones versus their candidate piecewise linear approximations in terms of the spectral acceleration capacity for a continuum of limit‐states. In all cases, current code‐based procedures are found to be highly biased wherever widespread significant stiffness changes occur, generally leading to very conservative estimates of performance. The practical rules determined allow, instead, the definition of standardized low‐bias bilinear, trilinear, or quadrilinear approximations, regardless of the details of the capacity curve shape. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dark matter electron anisotropy: A universal upper limit

We study the dipole anisotropy in the arrival directions of high energy CR electrons and positrons (CRE) of dark matter (DM) origin. We show that this quantity is very weakly model dependent and offers a viable criterion to discriminate among CRE from DM or from local discrete sources, like e.g. pulsars. In particular, we find that the maximum anisotropy which DM can provide is to a very good approximation a universal quantity and, as a consequence, if a larger anisotropy is detected, this would constitute a strong evidence for the presence of astrophysical local discrete CRE sources, whose anisotropy, instead, can be naturally larger than the DM upper limit. We further find that the main source of anisotropy from DM is given by the fluctuation in the number density of DM sub-structures in the vicinity of the observer and we thus devote special attention to the study of the variance in the sub-structures realization implementing a dedicated Montecarlo simulation. Such scenarios will be probed in the next years by Fermi-LAT, providing new hints, or constraints, about the nature of DM.     

Long-term growth and metropolitan spatial structures: an analysis of factors influencing urban patch size under different economic cycles

Urban forms are increasingly reflective of socio-economic change in metropolitan regions. The present study illustrates an original approach to identify latent mechanisms of urban growth through the analysis of metropolitan spatial structures and their proximate drivers of change. Urban transformations are evaluated here using built-up patches as the elementary analysis unit and background socio-economic attributes at four stages of the “city life cycle” (urbanization, suburbanization, dis-urbanization, re-urbanization). Regression models based on 13 indicators assessing urban patch area and shape, nearest neighbour urban patch area and shape, elevation, distance from 5 urban centres, 2 road infrastructures and sea coastline, were run with the aim to investigate direction and intensity of metropolitan growth in post-war Athens (1948–2012), a southern European city shifting from a compact mono-centric form towards discontinuous urban structures. Mono-centric configurations were characterized by linear dependence of urban patch size from the distance to central cities. Shifts toward scattered urban forms were associated with changes in the multivariate relationship between urban patch size and territorial drivers, pointing out the increased complexity of dispersed metropolitan structures. Our approach integrates economic and ecological visions of urban landscapes and contributes to understanding long-term mechanisms of metropolitan growth under dynamic spatial equilibriums. Investigating the multiple relationships between form and functions at the base of socio-economic transformations are relevant issues when identifying and profiling urbanization cycles.     

Al-Cu-Fe alloys in the solar system: Going inside a Khatyrka-like micrometeorite (KT01) from the Nubian Desert,Sudan

A recently described micrometeorite from the Nubian desert (Sudan) contains an exotic Al-Cu-Fe assemblage closely resembling that observed in the Khatyrka chondrite (Suttle et al., 2019; Science Reports 9:12426). We here extend previous investigations of the geochemical, mineralogical, and petrographic characteristics of the Sudan spherule by measuring oxygen isotope ratios in the silicate components and by nano-scale transmission electron microscopy study of a focused ion beam foil that samples the contact between Al-Cu alloys and silicates. O-isotope work indicates an affinity to either OC or CR chondrites, while ruling out a CO or CM precursor. When combined with petrographic evidence we conclude that a CR chondrite parentage is the most likely origin for this micrometeorite. SEM and TEM studies reveal that the Al-Cu alloys mainly consist of Al metal, stolperite (CuAl), and khatyrkite (CuAl₂) together with inclusions in stolperite of a new nanometric, still unknown Al-Cu phase with a likely nominal Cu₃Al₂ stoichiometry. At the interface between the alloy assemblage and the surrounding silicate, there is a thin layer (200 nm) of almost pure MgAl₂O₄ spinel along with well-defined and almost perfectly spherical metallic droplets, predominantly iron in composition. The study yields additional evidence that Al-Cu alloys, the likely precursors to quasicrystals in Khatyrka, occur naturally. Moreover, it implies the existence of multiple pathways leading to the association in reduced form of these two elements, one highly lithophile and the other strongly chalcophile.     

List of papers from other journals

List of papers from other journals     

Medium‐term fluvial island evolution in a disturbed gravel‐bed river (Piave River,Northeastern Italian Alps)

River islands are defined as discrete areas of woodland vegetation surrounded by either water‐filled channels or exposed gravel. They exhibit some stability and are not submerged during bank‐full flows. The aim of the study is to analyze the dynamics of established, building, and pioneer islands in a 30‐km‐long reach of the gravel‐bed Piave River, which has suffered from intense and multiple human impacts. Plan‐form changes of river features since 1960 were analyzed using aerial photographs, and a LiDAR was used to derive the maximum, minimum and mean elevation of island surfaces, and maximum and mean height of their vegetation. The results suggest that established islands lie at a higher elevation than building and pioneer islands, and have a thicker layer of fine sediments deposited on their surface after big floods. After the exceptional flood in 1966 (RI > 200 years) there was a moderate increase in island numbers and extension, followed by a further increase from 1991, due to a succession of flood events in 1993 and 2002 with RI > 10 years, as well as a change in the human management relating to the control of gravel‐mining activities. The narrowing trend (1960–1999) of the morphological plan form certainly enhanced the chance of islands becoming established and this explains the reduction of the active channel, the increase in established islands and reduction of pioneer islands.