The thermal behaviour of liottite

Thermal behaviour of liottite, the ABABAC six-layer member of the cancrinite-sodalite supergroup, has been investigated in situ real-time using laboratory parallel-beam X-ray powder diffraction data. Thermal expansion has been analysed from 323 to 1,223 K with temperature steps of 25 K. Dependence of the hexagonal cell parameters from temperature indicates a different behaviour with respect to afghanite, an ABABACAC eight-layer member of the supergroup. Three different regimes were observed, the last coincident with the starting of the conversion of liottite to haüyne (prevailing) and leucite-HT (minor). A smaller thermal expansion as compared to afghanite was observed. Isothermal annealing at 1,173 K led to a more extended conversion to haüyne, an a-parameter contraction, and a c-parameter expansion with respect to the starting RT cell parameters.     

A possible impact crater for the 1908 Tunguska Event

The so‐called ‘Tunguska Event’ refers to a major explosion that occurred on 30 June 1908 in the Tunguska region of Siberia, causing the destruction of over 2000 km² of taiga, globally detected pressure and seismic waves, and bright luminescence in the night skies of Europe and Central Asia, combined with other unusual phenomena. The ‘Tunguska Event’ may be related to the impact with the Earth of a cosmic body that exploded about 5–10 km above ground, releasing in the atmosphere 10–15 Mton of energy. Fragments of the impacting body have never been found, and its nature (comet or asteroid) is still a matter of debate. We report results from the investigation of Lake Cheko, located ∼8 km NNW of the inferred explosion epicenter. Its funnel‐like bottom morphology and the structure of its sedimentary deposits, revealed by acoustic imagery and direct sampling, all suggest that the lake fills an impact crater. Lake Cheko may have formed due to a secondary impact onto alluvial swampy ground; the size and shape of the crater may have been affected by the nature of the ground and by impact‐related melting and degassing of a permafrost layer.     

On the presence of silicon and carbon in the pre-maximum spectrum of the Type Ia SN 1990N

The spectrum of the normal Type Ia SN 1990N observed very early on (14 days before B maximum) was analysed by Fisher et al., who showed that the large width and the unusual profile of the strong line near 6000 Å can be reproduced if the line is assumed to be due to C  ii 6578, 6583 Å and if carbon is located in a high-velocity shell. This line is one of the characterizing features of SNe Ia, and is usually thought to be due to Si  ii . A Monte Carlo spectrum synthesis code is used to investigate this suggestion further. The result is that if a standard explosion model is used, the mass enclosed in the shell at the required high velocity (25 000–35 000 km s⁻¹) is too small to give rise to a strong C  ii line. At the same time, removing silicon has a negative effect on the synthetic spectrum at other wavelengths, and removing carbon from the lower velocity regions near the photosphere makes it difficult to reproduce two weak lines which are naturally explained as C  ii , one of them being the line which Fisher et al. suggested is responsible for the strong 6000-Å feature. However, synthetic spectra confirm that although Si  ii can reproduce most of the observed 6000-Å line, the red wing of the line extends too far to be compatible with a Si  ii origin, and that the flat bottom of the line is also not easy to reproduce. The best fit is obtained for a normal SN Ia abundance mix at velocities near the photosphere (15 500–19 000 km s⁻¹) and an outer carbon–silicon shell beyond 20 000 km s⁻¹. This suggests that mixing is not complete in the outer ejecta of an SN Ia. Observations at even earlier epochs might reveal to what extent a carbon shell is unmixed.     

Seismic characterization of shallow bedrock sites with multimodal Monte Carlo inversion of surface wave data

Sites with a limited overburden over a stiff basement are of particular relevance for seismic site response. The characterization of such stratigraphies by means of surface wave methods poses some difficulties in interpretation. Indeed the presence of sharp seismic contrasts between the sediments and the shallow bedrock is likely to cause a relevance of higher modes in the surface wave apparent dispersion curve, which must be properly taken into account in order to provide reliable results. In this study a Monte Carlo algorithm based on a multimodal misfit function has been used for the inversion of experimental dispersion curves. Case histories related to the characterization of stations of the Italian accelerometric network are reported. Spectral ratios and amplification functions associated to each site are moreover evaluated to provide an independent benchmark test. The results show the robustness of the inversion method in such non-trivial conditions and the possibility of getting an estimate of uncertainty related to solution non-uniqueness.     

Is Nereid a binary satellite?

If real, Nereid's recently observed large photometric variations (Schaefer and Schaefer, 1988) can be explained by modelling this Neptunian satellite as a quasi-contact binary system made of two similar, ellipsoidal components distorted by their mutual tides. Both the amplitude and the likely periodicity of the observed luminosity changes are consistent with the binary model, provided Nereid's density is close to 1 g cm^–3 (similar to that of most outer solar system satellites). The assumed binary would be probably stable against Neptune's gravitational perturbations, and its origin - as already suggested for a few suspected binary asteroids, like 624 Hektor (Weidenschilling, 1980; Farinella et al., 1982) - could be due to rotational fission following a catastrophic impact. During the Neptune encounter due for August, 1989, Voyager 2's cameras will provide images adequate to confirm, or disprove, the binary model.     

Numerically enhanced conceptual modelling (NECoM) applied to the Malta Mean Sea Level Aquifer

Conventional hydrogeological practice is to formulate a conceptual model, which is often the basis of a numerical model. The numerical model is then used to test groundwater management strategies. A workflow is proposed, employing the numerically enhanced conceptual model (NECoM) of the Mean Sea Level Aquifer (MSLA) on the island of Malta. The Malta MSLA is overexploited and under threat of salinization. Data (heads, chloride concentrations, electrical conductivity logs, tidal tests and qualitative analyses) were assimilated into a fast-running numerical model. Simultaneously, strategies for optimal acquisition of further data were examined through the modelling process. The model was delivered through the Energy and Water Agency, with suggestions for flexible model deployment. These workflows will, hopefully, spawn model improvements through further revision of the base concepts. The model allows the agency to make predictions, which have uncertainties that are quantified and reduced through data assimilation as new data become available. Contemplated management plans can therefore be properly assessed before implementation. The proposed NECoM approach can be generalized since it bases model usage on the premise that modelling should make maximum use of existing data by assimilating its information content, thereby highlighting the uncertainties of decision-critical predictions that remain because of data insufficiency. Thus, the presently disjointed process of modelling on the one hand, and data acquisition on the other, can be better aligned. Conceptual and numerical model development become parallel, rather than sequential, activities. Together, they enable predictions of future system behaviour for which bias is reduced and uncertainties quantified.

     

Seismic analysis of the Asinelli Tower and earthquakes in Bologna

The existence of a valuable historical heritage of the Medieval age in Bologna has motivated a deeper study on the seismic behaviour of the Asinelli Tower, which, beyond being the town symbol, has a structural configuration prone to seismic damage. Accordingly, in the present paper, the seismicity of Bologna is reviewed and a synthesis of the damage observed in the urban area, based on an accurate historical research, is given, with the objective of evaluating the behavior of the Asinelli Tower within the framework of the effects localized in the municipality. An assessment of the tower's stability with respect to compatible seismic events, at least qualitatively, with the region seismicity is then carried out by means of a non-linear dynamic analysis on a simplified model.     

Seismic reliability‐based ductility demand evaluation for inelastic base‐isolated structures with friction pendulum devices

The aim of this work is to propose seismic reliability‐based relationships between the strength reduction factors and the displacement ductility demand of nonlinear structural systems equipped with friction pendulum isolators (FPS) depending on the structural properties. The isolated structures are described by employing an equivalent 2dof model characterized by a perfectly elastoplastic rule to account for the inelastic response of the superstructure, whereas, the FPS behavior is described by a velocity‐dependent model. An extensive parametric study is carried out encompassing a wide range of elastic and inelastic building properties, different seismic intensity levels and considering the friction coefficient as a random variable. Defined a set of natural seismic records and scaled to the seismic intensity corresponding to life safety limit state for L'Aquila site (Italy) according to NTC08, the inelastic characteristics of the superstructures are designed as the ratio between the average elastic responses and increasing strength reduction factors. Incremental dynamic analyses (IDAs) are developed to evaluate the seismic fragility curves of both the inelastic superstructure and the isolation level assuming different values of the corresponding limit states. Integrating the fragility curves with the seismic hazard curves related to L'Aquila site (Italy), the reliability curves of the equivalent inelastic base‐isolated structural systems, with a design life of 50 years, are derived proposing seismic reliability‐based regression expressions between the displacement ductility demand and the strength reduction factors for the superstructure as well as seismic reliability‐based design (SRBD) abacuses useful to define the FPS properties. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intrinsic and extrinsic galaxy alignment

We show with analytic models that the assumption of uncorrelated intrinsic ellipticities of target sources that is usually made in searches for weak gravitational lensing arising from large-scale mass inhomogeneities ('field lensing') is unwarranted. If the orientation of the galaxy image is determined either by the angular momentum or by the shape of the halo in which it forms, then the image should be aligned preferentially with the component of the tidal gravitational field perpendicular to the line of sight. Long-range correlations in the tidal field will thus lead to long-range ellipticity–ellipticity correlations that mimic the shear correlations arising from weak gravitational lensing. We calculate the ellipticity–ellipticity correlation expected if halo shapes determine the observed galaxy shape, and we discuss uncertainties (which are still considerable) in the predicted amplitude of this correlation. The ellipticity–ellipticity correlation induced by angular momenta should be smaller. We consider several methods for discriminating between the weak-lensing (extrinsic) and intrinsic correlations, including the use of redshift information. An ellipticity–tidal-field correlation also implies the existence of an alignment of images of galaxies near clusters. Although the intrinsic alignment may complicate the interpretation of field-lensing results, it is inherently interesting as it may shed light on galaxy formation as well as on structure formation.