Q c of three component seismograms of volcanic microearthquakes at Campi Flegrei volcanic area — Southern Italy

Digital recordings of three component microearthquake codas from shallow seismic events in the volcanic region of Campi Flegrei — Southern Italy — were used with an automatic technique to calculate the attenuation factorQ _c (codaQ) in the hypothesis of singleS toS backscattering.Results show the same value ofQ for each of the three components. This result is interpreted as due to isotropicS wave radiation pattern.A check of the coda method was performed using a single station method based on simple assumptions on the direct SH wave spectrum. Single stationQ was averaged over the stations and over the earthquakes. Results show that the two methods lead to comparable results.A frequency dependence quite different from that evaluated in active tectonic regions was found for coda attenuation, comparable to other volcanic areas throughout the world. This is interpreted as due to the presence of magma that affects anelasticity and scattering.     

New Insights into Crustal Contributions to Large-volume Rhyolite Generation in the Mid-Tertiary Sierra Madre Occidental Province, Mexico, Revealed by U Pb Geochronology

Voluminous (3·9 x 10⁵ km³), prolonged (18 Myr) explosivesilicic volcanism makes the mid-Tertiary Sierra Madre Occidentalprovince of Mexico one of the largest intact silicic volcanicprovinces known. Previous models have proposed an assimilation–fractionalcrystallization origin for the rhyolites involving closed-systemfractional crystallization from crustally contaminated andesiticparental magmas, with <20% crustal contributions. The lackof isotopic variation among the lower crustal xenoliths inferredto represent the crustal contaminants and coeval Sierra MadreOccidental rhyolite and basaltic andesite to andesite volcanicrocks has constrained interpretations for larger crustal contributions.Here, we use zircon age populations as probes to assess crustalinvolvement in Sierra Madre Occidental silicic magmatism. Laserablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry analysesof zircons from rhyolitic ignimbrites from the northeasternand southwestern sectors of the province yield U–Pb agesthat show significant age discrepancies of 1–4 Myr comparedwith previously determined K/Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages from thesame ignimbrites; the age differences are greater than the errorsattributable to analytical uncertainty. Zircon xenocrysts withnew overgrowths in the Late Eocene to earliest Oligocene rhyoliteignimbrites from the northeastern sector provide direct evidencefor some involvement of Proterozoic crustal materials, and,potentially more importantly, the derivation of zircon fromMesozoic and Eocene age, isotopically primitive, subduction-relatedigneous basement. The youngest rhyolitic ignimbrites from thesouthwestern sector show even stronger evidence for inheritancein the age spectra, but lack old inherited zircon (i.e. Eoceneor older). Instead, these Early Miocene ignimbrites are dominatedby antecrystic zircons, representing >33 to 100% of the datedpopulation; most antecrysts range in age between 20 and 32 Ma.A sub-population of the antecrystic zircons is chemically distinctin terms of their high U (>1000 ppm to 1·3 wt %) andheavy REE contents; these are not present in the Oligocene ignimbritesin the northeastern sector of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Thecombination of antecryst zircon U–Pb ages and chemistrysuggests that much of the zircon in the youngest rhyolites wasderived by remelting of partially molten to solidified igneousrocks formed during preceding phases of Sierra Madre Occidentalvolcanism. Strong Zr undersaturation, and estimations for veryrapid dissolution rates of entrained zircons, preclude coevalmafic magmas being parental to the rhyolite magmas by a processof lower crustal assimilation followed by closed-system crystalfractionation as interpreted in previous studies of the SierraMadre Occidental rhyolites. Mafic magmas were more probablyimportant in providing a long-lived heat and material flux intothe crust, resulting in the remelting and recycling of oldercrust and newly formed igneous materials related to Sierra MadreOccidental magmatism. KEY WORDS: ignimbrite; rhyolite; Sierra Madre Occidental; Tertiary; U–Pb geochronology; zircon; antecryst; crustal melting     

Determination of Cosmological Parameters with a Sample of Quasars

We use a sample of 808 quasars selected by Risaliti and Lusso to estimate two important cosmological parameters: the percentage of matter in the Universe Ωm and the Hubble constant. The method is based on an auxiliary experimental correlation between the luminosity of quasars in the Xray band and UV band in the form log L_X = β + γ log L_UV. For the flat ΛCDM model our fit gives Ω _m = 0.21 ± 0.12. Our main results are the following: firstly, the fraction of matter (baryonic + dark) contained in the Universe is 21% according to our estimate and is smaller than the one found by other authors using Type Ia Supernovae (though, considering the large error, our result is consistent with the supernova data). Secondly, the Einstein–de Sitter model is outside the 95% confidence interval of our best fit curve. In order to determine also the Hubble constant, we were compelled to fix one of the free parameters (β, γ,H₀,Ω _m ) and to determine the others with the non-linear least square method. We have proceeded in two different ways. Increasing h₀ = H₀/100 with a step of 0.01 in the range from 0.65 to 0.95, we obtain a Hubble constant H₀ = 74.6± 2.4 (km/s)/Mpc in agreement with the values found using CMB, supernovae and cepheids. On the other hand, increasing the parameter m = β/γ with a step of 0.03 in the range from 13.4 to 14.4, we obtain the same result (but with a greater statistical error), and hence a self-consistentmodel, only assuming β ≥ 8.21.     

A Geoarchaeological Survey of the Marine Extension of the Roman Archaeological Site Villa del Pezzolo,Vico Equense,on the Sorrento Peninsula,Italy

The Roman Villa on the Marina di Equa (Vico Equense, Sorrento Peninsula, Italy), built in the first century A.D., is an important coastal site where the geological effects of the A.D. 79 eruption of Vesuvius are combined with archaeological remains, thus representing an interaction of both human and natural events. At this site, a patrician Roman villa, located at the outlet of a steep V‐shaped valley on the northern flank of a ridge in the Lattari Mountains, was completely destroyed by the A.D. 79 eruption and by subsequent mud/debris flows and floods. During these catastrophic events, the villa was rebuilt twice, in the second and third centuries A.D., as shown by archaeological evidence on the beach. A marine geophysical survey was conducted to study the unexplored portion of this archaeological site. A geographical information system (GIS) analysis of integrated geophysical survey data has identified and mapped (in two and three dimensions) the major underwater archaeological structures on and below the seabed in the villa harbor. A map of the ancient port of the Roman villa has been created by correlating the submerged remains with the construction phases of the villa.     

Sources of ground movement at Vesuvius before the AD 79 eruption: Evidence from contemporary accounts and archaeological studies

Historical sources have recorded earthquake shocks, their effects and difficulties that local inhabitants experienced before the AD 79 Pompeii eruption. Archaeological studies pointed out the effects of such seismicity, and have also evidenced that several water crises were occurring at Pompeii in that period. Indeed numerous sources show that, at the time of eruption, and probably some time before, the civic aqueduct, having ceased to be supplied by the regional one, was out of order and that a new one was being built. Since Roman aqueducts were usually built with a recommended minimum mean slope of 20 cm/km and Pompeii's aqueduct sloped from the nearby Apennines toward the town, this slope could have been easily cancelled by uplift that occurred in the area even if this was only moderate.     

Rupture mechanism and source parameters of Umbria-Marche mainshocks from strong motion data

A long sequence of earthquakes causing few casualties and considerable damage in a wide zone struck Central Italy starting on September 26, 1997. Theearthquakes are characterized by normal faulting mechanism, with a NE-SW(anti-Apenninic direction) tension axis. In this paper we analyze the accelerometric recordings collected by the accelerograph stations belonging to the National Accelerograph Network. About 10 stations were triggered by the mainshocks of the sequence. In particular, a small size foreshock and the two mainshocks that occurred on September,26 (00:33(GMT) M_W = 5.7 and 09:40 M_W = 6.0) have been recorded by two digital 3-C accelerometers located at near source distances (within 30 km from the faults). These records are relevant to investigate the detail of therupture kinematics, due to the close epicentral distance and azimuthallocation relative to the fault orientation and geometry. Using a trial and error approach we modeled the source mechanism through the fit of the arrival times, the apparent source time duration, the main polarization features and the entire waveforms of the recorded signals, in order to get some insight on the rupture evolution, the location of the fracture origin point and the fault geometry. Based on this fault kinematic model, inferences on fault slip distribution are obtained by modeling the S acceleration waveform, comparing the ray theory synthetics with 1–5 Hz band filtered ground velocity records.The final model shows that the seismic ruptures occurred along two adjacent,sub-parallel, low angle dipping normal faults. Ruptures bothnucleated from the fault bottom and propagated up-dip, showing differentrupture velocity and length. The presence of a transfer zone (barrier)can be suggested by the mainshocks rupture evolution. This transfer zonehas probably controlled the amplitude increase of local stressreleased by the first rupture at its NW edge which triggered about 9 hourslater the second rupture. The inferred model was used to compute the predictedground acceleration in the near source range, using a hybridstatistical-deterministic approach.A similar trial and error method has been also applied to the October 14, 199715:23 earthquake (M_W = 5.6). The inferred kinematic model indicates a rupture nucleating from the faultbottom and propagating up-dip, toward the SE direction. Thus the three mainshocks ruptured distinct fault segments, adjacent and slightly offsetfrom one to another.     

Evidence for short-lived oscillations in the biological records from the sediments of Lago Albano (Central Italy) spanning the period ca. 28 to 17 k yr BP

We report the results of analyses of pigments (derived from algae and photosynthetic bacteria), diatoms and invertebrate fossil remains (ostracods, cladocerans, chironomids) in two late Pleistocene sediment cores from Lago Albano, a crater lake in Central Italy. The record contains evidence for oscillations in lake biota throughout the period ca. 28 to 17 k yr BP. The earliest of these are contained in the basal 3.5 m of light olive-gray and yellowish-gray spotted muds sampled in core PALB 94-1E from 70 m water depth. The later oscillations are best represented in the more extended sediment sequence recovered from a second core site, PALB 94-6B, in 30 m water depth. The sediments at site 1E, containing the earlier oscillations (ca. 28-24 k yr BP), predate any sedimentation at the shallower site, from which we infer an initially low lake level rising to permit sediment accumulation at site 6B from ca. 24 k yr onwards. At site 6B, massive silts rich in moss remains are interbedded with laminated silts and carbonates. These sediments span the period ca. 24 to 17 k yr and are interpreted as representing, respectively, times of shallow water alternating with higher lake stands, when the lake was stratified and bottom water was stagnant. A range of mutually independent chronological constraints on the frequency and duration of the oscillations recorded in the lake biota indicate that they were aperiodic and occurred on millennial to century timescales. We interpret them as responses to climate forcing through its impact on lake levels and changing aquatic productivity. The time span they occupy, their frequency and their duration suggest that at least some of these changes may parallel both the Dansgaard-Oeschger events recorded in Greenland Ice Cores and the contemporary oscillations in North Atlantic circulation documented in marine sediment cores.