On the criteria to create a susceptibility map to debris flow at a regional scale using Flow-R

Studies on susceptibility to debris flows at regional scale(100-1000 km~2) are important for the protection and management of mountain areas. To reach this objective, routing models, mainly based on land topography, can be used to predict susceptible areas rapidly while necessitating few input data. In this research, Flow-R model is implemented to create the susceptibility map for the debris flow of the Vizze Valley(BZ, North-Eastern Italy; 134 km~2). The analysis considers the model application at local scale for three sub-catchments and then it explores the model upscaling at the regional scale by verifying two methods to generate the source areas of debris-flow initiation. Using data of an extreme event occurred in the Vizze Valley(4 August 2012) and historical information, the modeling verification highlights that the propagation parameters are relatively simple to set in order to obtain correct runout distances. A double DTM filtering-using a threshold for the upslope contributing area(0.1 km~2) and a threshold for the terrain-slope angle(15°)-provides a satisfactory prediction of source areas and susceptibility map within the geological conditions of the Vizze Valley.     

Reionization and the Cosmic Dawn with the Square Kilometre Array

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will have a low frequency component (SKA-low) which has as one of its main science goals the study of the redshifted 21 cm line from the earliest phases of star and galaxy formation in the Universe. This 21 cm signal provides a new and unique window both on the time of the formation of the first stars and accreting black holes and the subsequent period of substantial ionization of the intergalactic medium. The signal will teach us fundamental new things about the earliest phases of structure formation, cosmology and even has the potential to lead to the discovery of new physical phenomena. Here we present a white paper with an overview of the science questions that SKA-low can address, how we plan to tackle these questions and what this implies for the basic design of the telescope.     

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.     

Radiometric age evidences of a Triassic Thermal Event in the Southern Alps

In the Southern Alps several K/Ar age determinations point out the existence of a thermal event of Upper-Triassic age. Radiometric evidences concern overprinting on K/Ar ages of biotites belonging to hercynian periadriatic massives, and of muscovites of pegmatites in which also a Sr isotopic re-equilibration has taken place. Some evidences are also recognizable in ancient metamorphic basement. In the same time an extensive extrusive and intensive magmatic activity of alkaline affinity occurred. These facts are interpreted as predrift events shortly preceeding the set up of lower Jurassic oceanic conditions of alpine area.     

A possible theoretical explanation of metallicity gradients in elliptical galaxies

Models of chemical evolution of elliptical galaxies taking into account different escape velocities at different galactocentric radii are presented. As a consequence of this, the chemical evolution develops differently in different galactic regions; in particular, we find that the galactic wind, powered by supernovae (of Type II and I) starts, under suitable conditions, in the outer regions and successively develops in the central ones. The star formation is assumed to stop after the onset of the galactic wind in each region. The main result found in the present work is that this mechanism is able to reproduce metallicity gradients, namely the gradients in the Mg₂ index, in good agreement with observational data. We also find that in order to honour the constant [〈Mg/Fe〉] ratio with galactocentric distance, as inferred from metallicity indices, a variable initial mass function as a function of galactocentric distance is required. This is only a suggestion, as trends on abundances inferred purely from metallicity indices are still uncertain.     

Geochemical and geochronological data on Triassic volcanism of the Southern Alps of Lombardy (Italy): Genetic implications

Summary A widespread volcanism mainly consisting of pyroclastic products and lava flows is found in the Southern Alps of Lombardy. The volcanics are interbedded with Anisian-Ladinian carbonatic sequences and continental terrigenous or transitional deposits of Ladinian-Carnian age. The petrographic and geochemical data for this volcanism indicate a calc-alkaline affinity with characters similar to those of convergent continental margins. In this sector of the Alps the geological evidences show that in the middle Triassic general extensional movements were the dominant deformation event, and do not support the existence of a subduction zone during this period. The apparent contrast between the tectonic environment and the type of magmas erupted in the Anisian-Carnian is tentatively explained by partial melting during the early stage of rifting of an upper mantle deeply modified during the previous Hercynian orogenesis and contaminated by crustal material. This hypothesis is in agreement with the preliminary Sr isotopic ratios (0.705 and 0.709). K/Ar and Rb/Sr ages on biotites date the beginning of the volcanism at around 225 m.y.

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Zusammenfassung In den Südalpen der Lombardei befindet sich ein weitverbreiteter Vulkanismus, der hauptsächlich aus pyroklastischen Produkten und Lavaströmen besteht. Vulkanische Produkte sind mit anisisch-ladinischen beckenartigen Karbonat-Schichtfolgen oder mit ladinisch-karnischen kontinental-terrestrischen oder Übergangsablagerungen eingebettet. Die petrographischen und geochemischen Daten für diesen Vulkanismus weisen auf eine den konvergenten Kontinentalschelfen ähnliche kalkalkaline Affinität hin. In diesem Sektor der Alpen zeigen die geologischen Beobachtungen, daß die dominanten Verformungsereignisse der mittleren Trias allgemeine Dehnungsbewegungen waren und weisen nicht auf die Existenz einer Subduktionszone zu dieser Zeit hin. Der scheinbare Widerspruch zwischen dem tektonischen Milieu und dem im Anis bis Karn ausgeworfenen Magmatyp wird versuchsweise mit einer Teilaufschmelzung eines während der vorhergehenden herzynischen Orogenese tief veränderten und mit Krustenmaterial verunreinigten oberen Mantels während der Frühphase einer Grabenbildung erklärt. Diese Hypothese ist im Einklang mit den präliminaren Sr-Isotopenverhältnissen (0.705 und 0.709). K/Ar und Rb/Sr Altersmessungen an Biotiten datieren den Anfang der vulkanischen Tätigkeit um 225 Ma.

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Résumé Un volcanisme très répandu constitué surtout par des produits pyroclastiques et par des coulées de lave se trouve dans les Alpes Méridionales en Lombardie. Ces produits volcaniques sont intercalés dans la série carbonatique du bassin d'âge Anisien-Ladinien et dans les dépôts terrigènes continentaux ou transitionnels d'âge Ladinien-Carnien. Les données pétrographiques et géochimiques de ces produits volcaniques montrent une affinité calcoalcaline avec des caractères semblables à ceux des marges continentales convergentes. Dans le Trias moyen de cette partie des Alpes, les données géologiques indiquent que le motif dominant de la déformation est un mouvement d'extension très répandu, tandis qu'il n'y a aucune évidence de l'existence d'une zone de subduction durant cette période. Le contraste entre le style tectonique et le type de magma mis en place dans l'Anisien-Carnien, peut être expliqué par une fusion partielle du manteau supérieur pendant un stade précoce d'effondrement modifié intensément pendant la précédente orogenèse hercynienne et contaminé par des matériaux d'origine crustale. Cette hypothèse est en accord avec des données préliminaires des rapports isotopiques du Sr (0.705 et 0.709). Des âges K/Ar et Rb/Sr sur des biotites donnent 225 m.a. environ pour le début de l'activité volcanique.

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Intercomparison of Boron Isotope and Concentration Measurements. Part I: Selection, Preparation and Homogeneity Tests of the Intercomparison Materials

In 1999 the Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse (IGG), with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), undertook the collection, preparation and distribution of eight geological materials intended for a blind interlaboratory comparison of measurements of boron isotopic composition and concentration. The materials came from Italian sources and consist of three natural waters (Mediterranean seawater and two groundwaters) and five rocks and minerals (tourmaline, basalt, obsidian, limestone and clay). The solid materials were crushed, milled and mixed, in preparation for distribution. Extensive assays performed at the IGG on these materials demonstrated that their boron isotopic and chemical compositions are homogeneous.
Additional homogeneity tests were carried out on solid material fragments at the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, with the specific objective of investigating the suitability of some of them for the calibration in situ of micro-analytical techniques. Two materials, B4 (tourmaline) and B6 (obsidian), proved to be isotopically homogeneous and may become excellent references for in situ microanalyses of boron isotopes.
The materials described here were used as the basis of a major laboratory intercomparison study and are now available for further distribution from either the IAEA (solid materials) or the IGG (waters).     

Seagrass meadows at the extreme of environmental tolerance: the case of Posidonia oceanica in a semi-enclosed coastal lagoon

Atoll‐like structures of the endemic Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica were encountered in the innermost area of the Stagnone di Marsala, a semi‐enclosed coastal lagoon along the western coasts of Sicily. The area is characterized by limited water exchange with the open sea and by a marked seasonal variation of water salinity and temperature, reaching beyond the theoretical tolerance limits of the species. In the present study we determined the genetic composition of the atoll‐like structures, as well as the growth performance and flowering rate of these stands. We also assessed whether and to what extent the atoll‐like structures are genetically isolated from plants growing in meadows outside the lagoon. For this purpose we utilized 13 microsatellite markers to genotype single shoots sampled inside and outside the lagoon. Lepidochronological analyses were performed on the same shoots to determine the annual rhizome growth rate, the number of leaves and the inflorescences formed as an estimate of growth‐ and reproductive performance over the years. The innermost area of the lagoon showed a lower number of alleles, a lower percentage of polymorphic loci, a lower clonal diversity, but higher heterozygosis excess with respect to the other areas analysed. Spatial autocorrelation was here significant, up to slightly below 300 m. Shoots collected in the atolls exhibited a 25% lower vertical growth rate and 16% lower leaf formation in comparison to those in open‐sea meadows. No flowering events were recorded during 24 years of investigation, whereas inflorescences were observed frequently in meadows outside the lagoon. Results from F_st and factorial correspondence analysis confirmed the expected genetic isolation of the confined atolls with respect to the meadows outside the lagoon and revealed limited gene flow within the lagoon itself. Apparently, the enclosed system of the Stagnone lagoon is genetically isolated, with a possible selection of genotypes adapted to persistent stressful conditions, consistent with reduced growth and lack of flowering events.