The A.D. 79 eruption as a future explosive scenario in the Vesuvian area: evaluation of associated risk

 Due to the lack of an effective policy of planning and prevention, over the past decades the area around Mt. Vesuvio has undergone a steady increase in population and uncontrolled housing development. Consequently, it has become one of the most hazardous volcanic areas in the world. In order to mitigate the damage that the impact of an explosive event would cause in the area, the Department of Civil Defense has worked out an Emergency Management Plan using the A.D. 1631 subplinian eruption as the most probable short-term event. However, from 25 000 years B.P. to present, the activity of the Somma-Vesuvio volcano has shown a sequence of eight eruptive cycles, which always began with a strong plinian eruption. In this paper we utilize the A.D. 79 eruption as an example of a potential large explosive eruption that might occur again at Vesuvio. A detailed tephrostratigraphic analysis of the eruption products was processed by a multivariate statistical analysis. This analysis proved useful for identifying marker layers in the sequences, thus allowing the recognition of some major phases of synchronous deposition and hence the definition of the chronological and spatial evolution of the eruption. By combining this reconstruction with land-use maps, a scenario is proposed with time intervals in the eruptive sequence similar to those reported in Pliny's letter. Thus, it was calculated that, after 7 h from the start of the eruption, a total area of approximately 300 km² would be covered with the eruption products. In the following 11 h, a total area of approximately 500 km² would be involved. The third and last phase of deposition would not cause significant variation in the total area involved, but it would bring about an increase in the thickness of the pyroclastic deposits in the perivolcanic area. Received: 30 November 1996 / Accepted: 29 May 1997     

Soil–pile–structure interaction: experimental outcomes from shaking table tests

An effective way to study the complex seismic soil‐structure interaction phenomena is to investigate the response of physical scaled models in 1‐g or n‐g laboratory devices. The outcomes of an extensive experimental campaign carried out on scaled models by means of the shaking table of the Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamics Engineering, University of Bristol, UK, are discussed in the present paper. The experimental model comprises an oscillator connected to a single or a group of piles embedded in a bi‐layer deposit. Different pile head conditions, that is free head and fixed head, several dynamic properties of the structure, including different masses at the top of the single degree of freedom system, excited by various input motions, e.g. white noise, sinedwells and natural earthquake strong motions recorded in Italy, have been tested. In the present work, the modal dynamic response of the soil–pile–structure system is assessed in terms of period elongation and system damping ratio. Furthermore, the effects of oscillator mass and pile head conditions on soil–pile response have been highlighted, when the harmonic input motions are considered. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the seismic performances of rigid block‐like structures coupled with an oscillating mass working as a TMD

In this paper, the effects of a mass damper on the rocking motion of a non‐symmetric rigid block‐like structure, subject to different seismic excitation, are investigated. The damper is modelled as a single degree of freedom oscillating mass, running at the top of the block and connected to it by a linear visco‐elastic device. The equations of rocking motion, the uplift and the impact conditions are derived. A nondimensionalisation of the governing equations is performed with the aim to obtain an extensive parametric analysis. The results are achieved by numerical integration of these equations. The slenderness and the base of the rigid block, and the eccentricity of the centre of mass are taken as variable parameters in the analyses. The main objective of the study is to check the performance of the damper versus the spectral characteristics of the seismic input. Three earthquake registrations with different frequency contents are used in the analyses. The results show that the presence of the mass damper leads to different levels of improvement of the response of the system, depending on the spectral characteristics of the seismic input. Curves providing the overturning slenderness of blocks of specific sizes versus the characteristics of the TMD are obtained. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Misinterpretation of the Kenessey method for the determination of the runoff coefficient: a review

The calculation of runoff and infiltration parameters is a fundamental task for water budget estimation and water resources management. The “Kenessey method” allows these values to be calculated and its use is widespread among water scientists and practitioners. Due to language barriers and inefficient translation in past decades, the method has undergone some misinterpretations and is now far from its original usefulness and purpose. The use of the modified method can give unreal results for specific climatic zones. The purpose of this paper is to point out these methodological variations and to return to the original approach, improving it with modern technology.     

A novel methodological approach for land subsidence prediction through data assimilation techniques

Computational Geosciences - Anthropogenic land subsidence can be evaluated and predicted by numerical models, which are often built over deterministic analyses. However, uncertainties and...     

Geochemistry of eocene calc-alkaline volcanic rocks from the Kastamonu area,Northern Turkey

Analytical data for Sr, Rb, Cs, Ba, Pb, rare earth elements, Y, Th, U, Zr, Hf, Sn, Nb, Mo, Ni, Co, V, Cr, Sc, Cu and major elements are reported for eocene volcanic rocks cropping out in the Kastamonu area, Pontic chain of Northern Turkey. SiO₂% versus K₂O% relationship shows that the analyzed samples belong to two major groups: the basaltic andesitic and the andesitic ones. High-K basaltic andesites and low-K andesites occur too. Although emplaced on continental type basement (the North Anatolian Crystalline Swell), the Pontic eocene volcanics show elemental abundances closely comparable with typical island arc calc-alkaline suites, e.g. low SiO₂% range, low to moderate K₂O% and large cations (Cs, Rb, Sr, Ba, Pb) contents and REE patterns with fractionated light and almost flat heavy REE patterns. REE and highly charged cations (Th, U, Hf, Sn, Zr) are slightly higher than typical calc-alkaline values. Ferromagnesian elements show variable values. Within the basaltic andesite group the increase of K%, large cations, REE, La/Yb ratio and high valency cations and the decrease of ferromagnesian element abundances with increasing SiO₂% content indicate that the rock types making up this group developed by crystalliquid fractionation of olivine and clinopyroxene from a basic parent magma. Trace element concentration suggest that the andesite group was not derived by crystal-liquid fractionation processes from the basaltic andesites, but could represent a distinct group of rocks derived from a different parent magma.     

Crystal-rich mass flow deposits related to the eruption of a sublacustrine silicic cryptodome (Early Permian Collio Basin, Italian Alps)

Sedimentological, granulometric and petrographic data are presented from a detailed study on a crystal-rich mass flow deposit, which is presumably related to the eruption of a sublacustrine cryptodome. The deposit forms a prominent intercalation in the Lower Permian Collio Formation in the Italian Alps north of Brescia. Outcrops of the 10–20-m-thick volcaniclastic deposit (Dasdana I Beds, DB) can be traced over 12 km from east to west. The DB consists of a thick, crystal-rich, sandy–gravelly lower subunit representing a sequence of amalgamated Bouma-a(b) divisions overlain by a thin, well-bedded, sandy–muddy subunit that is rich in outsize porphyritic silicic fragments. Modal and computer-aided image analyses reveal that the crystal-rich lower subunit contains up to 80% of volcanogenic crystals. Some samples contain up to 60% of porphyritic fragments, which have a phenocryst content of about 20%. The wide textural range from cryptocrystalline, poikilomosaic, to rarer medium-grained granophyric groundmass, the irregular to lensoid shapes of the porphyritic fragments, and the presence of basement and sedimentary clasts suggest that the DB originated from a sublacustrine eruption of a partially extrusive cryptodome (ca. 1.6 km³). Two other porphyritic felsic cryptodomes (Dosso dei Lupi, Dosso del Bue), described briefly here, emplaced into the Collio Formation sometime after the DB event, and expose flat bases and tilted sediments at their sides. Textures observed in these domes are comparable to those found in the DB porphyritic fragments.     

Gas hydrate and free gas distribution from inversion of seismic data on the South Shetland margin (Antarctica)

Travel-time inversion is applied to seismic data to produce acoustic velocity images of the upper 800 m of the South Shetland margin (Antarctic Peninsula) in three different geological domains: (i) the continental shelf; (ii) the accretionary prism; (iii) the trench. The velocity in the continental shelf sediments is remarkably higher, up to 1000 m/s at 600–700 m below seafloor, than that of the other two geological domains, due to the sediment overcompaction and erosion induced by the wax and waning of a grounded ice sheet. Pre-stack depth migration was applied to the data in order to improve the seismic image and to test the quality of the velocity fields. Where the Bottom Simulating Reflector (BSR) is present, positive and negative velocity anomalies were found with respect to a reference empirical velocity profile. The 2D-velocity section was translated in gas hydrate and free gas distribution by using a theoretical approach. The analysis revealed that the BSR is mainly related to the presence of free gas below it. The free gas is distributed in the area with variable concentration and thickness, while the gas hydrate is quite uniformly distributed across the margin.     

Low reproductive success for copepods during a bloom of the non‐aldehyde‐producing diatom Cerataulina pelagica in the North Adriatic Sea

Egg production rates and/or hatching success in the copepods Acartia clausi, Calanus helgolandicus and Temora longicornis were negatively affected by a late spring (May–June 2003) phytoplankton bloom in the North Adriatic Sea, dominated mainly by the large diatom Cerataulina pelagica. Highest total concentrations of 3.3·10⁴ cells·ml^?1 were located in the vicinity of the Po River, which also corresponded to the area where the highest numbers of phaeophorbides were measured (0.779, 0.528 and 0.419 μg·l^?1, respectively, compared to an average of the remaining stations of 0.183 ± 0.049 SD), suggesting some grazing on the bloom. Phytoplankton biomass in terms of carbon was dominated by diatoms, representing on average 42% of total phytoplankton carbon and more than 80% at several stations. Cerataulina pelagica, Cyclotella spp., Chaetoceros spp. and small unidentified centric diatoms dominated the diatom community numerically but C. pelagica was by far the dominant diatom in terms of carbon due to its large cell size. This species represented more than 60% of the diatom biomass at nine of the 14 stations sampled, and was absent only at one station, which was the most offshore station sampled during the cruise. Although polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) were not detected, other oxylipins which are hydroxy and keto derivatives of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids that affect copepod reproduction were found in these samples. Hence, we can attribute the negative impact of diatoms not only to PUAs, as previously believed, but also to these compounds. This is the first direct evidence of the presence of oxylipins other than PUAs in marine blooms dominated by diatoms.     

Fractional crystallization models and B–Be–Li systematics at Mt Somma-Vesuvius volcano (Southern Italy)

A compilation of B–Be–Li data on rocks that cover the entire eruptive history of Somma-Vesuvius is presented and interpreted in the light of evolution models for the Somma-Vesuvius rocks. Using major and trace element data, fractional crystalllization models are presented for different geochemical units. These data were used to constrain the source mineralogy of the Somma-Vesuvius rocks (ol-opx-cpx-gar-amp of 0.4-0.3-0.1-0.1-0.1), the amount of sediment added (5–10%) and the melt fraction from batch partial melting computations (0.05–0.1). From the B–Li data it is inferred that the main process responsible for the B isotopic signature is sediment recycling. However, the B–Li data show a major variation in Li abundances respect to B which is explained with Li dehydration before the fluid enriched the mantle wedge that produced the arc magmas. The Somma-Vesuvius B isotope composition is intermediate between that of the Campi Flegrei and the broad field of the Eolian Island arc. A low Be isotopes in the recent volcanic rocks can be explained as: (a) the top 1–22 m of the incoming sediment is accreted, (b) large amounts of sediment erosion, (c) a slow rate of subduction which have provoked a long magmatic history for the Vesuvius magma, (d) the sediment component takes several Myr longer than the subducting plate to reach the magma source region beneath Italy.