Vertical migration of Coregonid larvae in the first two months of development

Using an acoustic system in a 9 m deep enclosure, the daily vertical distribution patterns of whitefish larvae were studied from hatching to the age of two months. Four patterns of daily vertical distribution and migration were observed in accordance to different developmental stages:

1. Newly hatched larvae dispersed in the enclosure during the day and congregated at the water surface at night.
2. After 2 weeks of age larvae stayed close to the water surface during day and night.
3. At 15 to 18 mm length, larvae showed distinct vertical migration at dawn and dusk, they stayed close to the surface during the day and dispersed at night.
4. At 28 mm length the depth pattern was reversed. These fish frequented greater depths during the day than at night.

No relation was found between larval depth distribution or vertical migration and food availability or water temperature. Low levels of solar radiation triggered the dawn and dusk vertical migration behaviour of the more developed larvae. Possible reasons for the different behaviour patterns occurring over time are discussed.     

Modelling seasonal variations of natural radioactivity in soils: A case study in southern Italy

The activity of natural radionuclides in soil has become an environmental concern for local public and national authorities because of the harmful effects of radiation exposure on human health. In this context, modelling and mapping the activity of natural radionuclides in soil is an important research topic. The study was aimed to model, in a spatial sense, the soil radioactivity in an urban and peri-urban soils area in southern Italy to analyse the seasonal influence on soil radioactivity. Measures of gamma radiation naturally emitted through the decay of radioactive isotopes (potassium, uranium and thorium) were analysed using a geostatistical approach to map the spatial distribution of soil radioactivity. The activity of three radionuclides was measured at 181 locations using a high-resolution ?-ray spectrometry. To take into account the influence of season, the measurements were carried out in summer and in winter. Activity data were analysed by using a geostatistical approach and zones of relatively high or low radioactivity were delineated. Among the main processes which influence natural radioactivity such as geology, geochemical, pedological, and ecological processes, results of this study showed a prominent control of radio-emission measurements by seasonal changes. Low natural radioactivity levels were measured in December associated with winter weather and moist soil conditions (due to high rainfall and low temperature), and higher activity values in July, when the soil was dry and no precipitations occurred.     

Lithological control on thrust-related deformation in the Sassa-Guardistallo Basin (Northern Apennines hinterland, Italy)

The Sassa‐Guardistallo Basin (SGB) is located close to the Tyrrhenian Sea and represents one of the most internal Neogene–Quaternary hinterland basins of the Northern Apennines fold‐and‐thrust belt. Its sedimentary succession consists of ca. 400‐m‐thick Late Tortonian–Messinian continental – largely conglomeratic – units overstepping a mainly shaly substratum (Palombini Shales) and overlain by Late Messinian evaporites and marine to continental Pliocene–Pleistocene sediments. This stratigraphic succession can be approximated to a composite rheological multilayer that dictated the style of basin deformation. Detailed geological mapping and structural analysis revealed that basin deposits were affected by compressional deformations that can be found both at map and outcrop scales. Decametric splay thrusts emanating from the substratum–conglomerate interface locally double the continental succession and are bounded by a roof thrust along the Late Messinian evaporite décollement, defining a deformation pattern consistent with a duplex‐like structure. The time–space structural evolution of the basin inferred from the fieldwork was addressed and tested by analogue modelling that approximated the rheological stratification of the study area to a layered brittle–ductile system. The model results support the hypothesis that the evolution of the thrust system affecting the SGB started as an early floor imbricate fan thrust system that successively evolved to a duplex structure as the link thrusts propagated into the upper décollement layer that resulted from the deposition of the Late Messinian evaporites. Models display many structural features that may be compared with the natural prototype, and highlight the importance of syntectonic sedimentation in the development and evolution of tectonic structures. The results of this study retain relevant implications for the Neogene evolution of the Tyrrhenian Basin–Northern Apennines system. This study also supports that combining between field structural analyses and analogue modelling can give useful hints into the evolutionary history of tectonically complex areas.     

Improved assessment of biodegradation extent and prediction of petroleum quality

Biodegradation of crude oil causes volumetrically important compositional changes, which lead to significant deterioration in quality, in particular during the early stages of alteration. To better understand these effects we focussed on a detailed assessment of light to moderate levels of alteration. We investigated a suite of 40 crude oil samples from five different petroleum systems to evaluate the extent of alteration occurring in reservoirs. Based on a comprehensive geochemical characterization, five individual crude oil sequences were defined, where compositional variability is mainly due to microbial activity in the reservoir. In particular, samples from the Gullfaks field (offshore Norway) and from a petroleum system offshore Angola illustrate that conventional molecular biodegradation parameters, such as the Pr/n-C₁₇ and Ph/n-C₁₈ alkane ratios are not suitable for defining the extent of biodegradation in petroleum reservoirs. Here, we suggest a new molecular biodegradation parameter, the degradative loss, that can be used to quantify depletion in individual crude oil constituents. The approach allows improved assessment of the extent of biodegradation in crude oil samples by means of the mean degradative loss. It is demonstrated that crude oil quality, as assessed from API gravity, can be predicted directly from the molecular composition of crude oils. Our data clearly indicate that the degradation patterns of light hydrocarbons and n-alkanes differ in different petroleum systems. This suggests that microbial communities are different and therefore generate different molecular degradation patterns which have to be evaluated individually for each system.