Seismicity of Garfagnana-Lunigiana (Tuscany, Italy) as recorded by a network of semi-broad-band instruments

Eight seismic stations equipped with5-second sensors have recently beeninstalled in the Lunigiana-Garfagnana areato monitor activity in this sector of theNorthern Apennines shaken by the 5.0 Mdearthquake of October 1995. The stations(RSLG network) represent an eastern branchof the RSNI (Regional Seismic network ofNorthwestern Italy) managed by Dipteris,Universita' di Genova.The installation of this dense networkallowed the operators to improve themagnitude detection level, providinginformation about the seismicity of thearea down to magnitude 1.0. Severalanalyses have been carried out to evaluatethe performance of the network and thereliability of the computed locations. Itseems that the epicentral location forevents occurring inside the network isalready constrained using 8–10 P+S phases,but usage of more readings ensuresreliability of depth and the reduction oflocation errors.Though not conclusive, as the network hasonly been fully operating for two years, apreliminary study carried out on a selecteddataset of high-quality locations confirmed that the seismicity of theGarfagnana-Lunigiana is characterised by alow-to-medium magnitude level and it issubdivided into two bands, a superficialone about 30–35 km thick and the secondbelow 50 km. This distribution, confirmedby other studies carried out in the past,reflects the complex structure of this areawhere two tectonic plates (European andAdriatic) meet.     

On local structural changes in lizardite-1T: {Si4+/Al3+}, {Si4+/Fe3+}, [Mg2+/Al3+], [Mg2+/Fe3+] substitutions

Geometrical changes induced by cation substitutions {Si⁴⁺/Al³⁺}[Mg²⁺/Al³⁺], {2Si⁴⁺/2Al³⁺} [2Mg²⁺/2Al³⁺], {Si⁴⁺/Fe³⁺} [Mg²⁺/Al³⁺] or [Mg²⁺/Fe³⁺], where {} and [] indicate tetrahedral and octahedral sheet in lizardite 1T, are studied by ab-initio quantum chemistry calculations. The majority of the models are based on the chemical compositions reported for various lizardite polytypes with the amount of Al in the tetrahedral sheets reported to vary from 3.5% to 8% in the 1T and 2H ₁, up to ~30% in the 2H ₂ polytype. Si⁴⁺ by Fe³⁺ substitution in the tetrahedral sheet with an Al³⁺ (Fe³⁺) in the role of a charge compensating cation in the octahedral sheet is also examined. The cation substitutions result in the geometrical changes in the tetrahedral sheets, while the octahedral sheets remain almost untouched. Substituted tetrahedra are tilted and their basal oxygens pushed down from the plane of basal oxygens. Ditrigonal deformation of tetrahedral sheets depends on the substituting cation and the degree of substitution.     

Radium isotopes in river sediments of Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, river bottom sediments have been systematically monitored since 1999. In the paper, their radioactive contamination due to uranium mining and milling is assessed. The sediments samples were analyzed by gamma spectrometry. Especially the radium-226 and radium-228 activities were further evaluated.The highest values of the radium-226 activities were found at river profiles where the uranium industry impact was obvious. It turned out that the radium-226 and radium-228 activities ratio is more convenient to assess the level of radium-226 contamination than only the radium-226 activity itself. Based on this hypothesis, the sediment classification scheme for uranium industry contamination was suggested. The natural background activities of radium-226 and radium-228 in the Czech Republic were also evaluated. The case of radium-226 contamination due to the uranium industry was studied in details at the Ploučnice River.     

The unlikely independence of Northern Italy

The past fifty years have seen several elements and factors leading to the current homogenization of Italian society: the internal migration from South to North, the development of a more and more industrial and affluent society, the increase of links with Europe/World culture and economy. Nevertheless in the last decade in Northern Italy emerged the political phenomenon of autonomist parties, in particular the most successful of them: the Lega Nord. This success happened in parallel with the loss of power by traditional government parties, also as a consequence of the trial against corruption held in Milan at the beginning of the '90. Italian politics is in turmoil and it is impossible to forecast the duration or even its end. The problem is to determine the most significant elements, and which factors have the greatest effect on the current reality, also to be able to venture a prediction regarding trends. The paper suggests some ethno-nationalism evaluation criteria, useful to assess the more or less successful geopolitical dynamics where there are separatist claims. According with those criteria the Northern Italian political situation has been briefly described and evaluated, with particular attention to electoral results of the Lega Nord party. These results show a well defined geographical distribution and hence the minority condition in the North of the separatist supporters. The actual political debate in Italy has the aim to change some parts of the Constitution in the sense of federalism; it can be a sufficient reply to secessionist claims and it can make the independence of Northern Italy unlikely.     

Climate forcing due to the 8200 cal yr BP event observed at Early Neolithic sites in the eastern Mediterranean

We explore the hypothesis that the abrupt drainage of Laurentide lakes and associated rapid switch of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation 8200 yr ago had a catastrophic influence on Neolithic civilisation in large parts of southeastern Europe, Anatolia, Cyprus, and the Near East. The event at 8200 cal yr BP is observed in a large number of high-resolution climate proxies in the Northern Hemisphere, and in many cases corresponds to markedly cold and arid conditions. We identify the relevant archaeological levels of major Neolithic settlements in Central Anatolia, Cyprus, Greece and Bulgaria, and examine published stratigraphic, architectural, cultural and geoarchaeological studies for these sites. The specific archaeological events and processes we observe at a number of these sites during the study interval 8400–8000 cal yr BP lead us to refine some previously established Neolithisation models. The introduction of farming to South-East Europe occurs in all study regions (Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, Bulgaria) near 8200 cal yr BP. We observe major disruptions of Neolithic cultures in the Levant, North Syria, South-East Anatolia, Central Anatolia and Cyprus, at the same time. We conclude that the 8200 cal yr BP aridity event triggered the spread of early farmers, by different routes, out of West Asia and the Near East into Greece and Bulgaria.     

On Measuring Net Ecosystem Carbon Exchange Over Tall Vegetation on Complex Terrain

To assess annual budgets of CO₂ exchange betweenthe biosphere and atmosphere over representativeecosystems, long-term measurements must be made overecosystems that do not exist on ideal terrain. How tointerpret eddy covariance measurements correctlyremains a major task. At present, net ecosystemCO₂ exchange is assessed, by members of themicrometeorological community, as the sum of eddycovariance measurements and the storage of CO₂ inthe underlying air. This approach, however, seemsunsatisfactory as numerous investigators are reportingthat it may be causing nocturnal respiration fluxdensities to be underestimated.A new theory was recently published by Lee (1998, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 91: 39–50) for assessing net ecosystem-atmosphere CO₂ exchange(N_e) over non-ideal terrain. Itincludes a vertical advection term. We apply thisequation over a temperate broadleaved forest growingin undulating terrain. Inclusion of the verticaladvection term yields hourly, daily and annual sums ofnet ecosystem CO₂ exchange that are moreecologically correct during the growing season.During the winter dormant period, on the other hand,corrected CO₂ flux density measurements of anactively respiring forest were near zero. Thisobservation is unrealistic compared to chambermeasurements and model calculations. Only duringmidday, when the atmosphere is well-mixed, domeasurements of N_e match estimatesbased on model calculations and chamber measurements. On an annual basis, sums of N_ewithout the advection correction were 40% too large,as compared with computations derived from a validatedand process-based model. With the inclusion of theadvection correction term, we observe convergencebetween measured and calculated values ofN_e on hourly, daily and yearly time scales. We cannot, however, conclude that inclusion of aone-dimensional, vertical advection term into thecontinuity equation is sufficient for evaluatingCO₂ exchange over tall forests in complexterrain. There is an indication that the neglected term,( c¯/ x), isnon-zero and that CO₂ may be leakingfrom the sides of the control volume during the winter. In this circumstance, forest floor CO₂ effluxdensities exceed effluxes measured above the canopy.     

Attitudes toward climate change mitigation policies: a review of measures and a construct of policy attitudes

Research on policy support or public acceptability of climate change policies is proliferating. There is, however, a great diversity in how these evaluative responses have been defined, operationalized, and measured across studies. In order to shed some light on this subject, we reviewed 118 studies published over the last 15 years aiming at measurement of policy acceptability, acceptance, support, and other responses to climate change mitigation policies. We found that conceptual vagueness and weak theoretical embedding are pervasive in the field, which leads to uncertainty over what is being measured, ambiguity of policy recommendations, and difficulties in comparing empirical results. In response, we propose a construct of policy attitudes as an overarching concept comprising the diversity of measures and constructs already in use. The purpose of the construct is to serve as a common basis for operationalization and survey design. In order to inform policy makers, researchers should be clear in how they formulate surveys with a focus on questions of importance to research and policy-making.

Key policy insights

• Acceptability, acceptance, and support are defined as distinct and possibly empirically distinguishable classes of responses evaluating a policy proposal. These responses are expressions of underlying policy attitudes.

• People may respond to policies in other ways as well, including lack of interest.

• There is no popularity threshold for a policy to be safe to implement, but instead it is a matter of identifying the conditions of policy support or other responses.

• Results obtained using different measures of mitigation policy attitudes vary widely with respect to the characteristics of the policy in question and the measured response. Thus, great care must be taken when designing surveys and interpreting their results.

     

The Footprint Database and Web Services of the Herschel Space Observatory

Data from the Herschel Space Observatory is freely available to the public but no uniformly processed catalogue of the observations has been published so far. To date, the Herschel Science Archive does not contain the exact sky coverage (footprint) of individual observations and supports search for measurements based on bounding circles only. Drawing on previous experience in implementing footprint databases, we built the Herschel Footprint Database and Web Services for the Herschel Space Observatory to provide efficient search capabilities for typical astronomical queries. The database was designed with the following main goals in mind: (a) provide a unified data model for meta-data of all instruments and observational modes, (b) quickly find observations covering a selected object and its neighbourhood, (c) quickly find every observation in a larger area of the sky, (d) allow for finding solar system objects crossing observation fields. As a first step, we developed a unified data model of observations of all three Herschel instruments for all pointing and instrument modes. Then, using telescope pointing information and observational meta-data, we compiled a database of footprints. As opposed to methods using pixellation of the sphere, we represent sky coverage in an exact geometric form allowing for precise area calculations. For easier handling of Herschel observation footprints with rather complex shapes, two algorithms were implemented to reduce the outline. Furthermore, a new visualisation tool to plot footprints with various spherical projections was developed. Indexing of the footprints using Hierarchical Triangular Mesh makes it possible to quickly find observations based on sky coverage, time and meta-data. The database is accessible via a web site http://herschel.vo.elte.hu and also as a set of REST web service functions, which makes it readily usable from programming environments such as Python or IDL. The web service allows downloading footprint data in various formats including Virtual Observatory standards.     

Building participatory landscape-based conservation alternatives: A case study of Michoacán, Mexico

Michoacán, as one of the most species-rich provinces of Mexico and with high levels of endemism, was used for testing the potential of a conservation approach based on biodiversity as determined by scientists and local stakeholder's preferences. The resulting zones covered over 17% of the area of Michoacán in 18 zones. As a result of this study the first “large” tropical dry forest biosphere reserve in Mexico is currently being established. In conclusion, landscape-based conservation zoning based on local stakeholders' perspectives as well as on critical biodiversity indicators, proved to be effective for achieving science-based and politically acceptable nature conservation schemes.