Growth of the Mediterranean Gorgonian Lophogorgia ceratophyta (L., 1758)

Abstract. Growth of the shallow-water gorgonian Lophogorgia ceratophyta was investigated in an infralittoral station located in La Spezia Gulf, Ligurian Sea. Mean annual height growth rate was estimated to be 2.57 cm · a^-1. The fractal dimension of the colonies was found to gradually evolve in complexity, exhibiting a simpler branching pattern in younger specimens. The maintenance of a low, invariable ramification complexity as an optimal choice in managing relationships between water and the colony's living tissues is also discussed.     

Recent insights into physiological responses to nutrients by the cylindrospermopsin producing cyanobacterium,Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii

The harmful cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii is a widespread species increasingly being recorded in freshwater systems around the world. Studies have demonstrated some key attributes of this species which may explain its global dominance. It has a high level of flexibility with respect to light and nutrients, being capable of growth under low and variable light conditions. However, it is the strategy with respect to nutrient utilization that has received more attention. Unlike many bloom forming species, the dominance of this species is not simply linked to higher nutrient loads. In fact it appears that it is more competitive when phosphorus and nitrogen availability is low and/or variable. An important component of this flexibility appears to be the result of within-population strain variability in responses to nutrients, as well as key physiological adaptations. Strain variability also appears to have an effect on the population-level cell quota of toxins, specifically cylindrospermopsins(CYNs). Field studies in Australia showed that populations had the highest proportion of toxic strains when dissolved inorganic phosphorus was added, resulting in stoichiometrically balanced nitrogen and phosphorus within the cells. These strategies are part of an arsenal of responses to environmental conditions, making it a challenging species to manage. However, our ability to improve bloom prediction will rely on a more detailed understanding of the complex physiology and ecology of this species.     

The Ferrara hard X-ray facility for testing/calibrating hard X-ray focusing telescopes

We will report on the current configuration of the X-ray facility of the University of Ferrara recently used to perform reflectivity tests of mosaic crystals and to calibrate the experiment JEM–X aboard Integral. The facility is now located in the technological campus of the University of Ferrara in a new building (named LARIX laboratory= ̳LARge ̳Italian ̳X-ray facility) that includes a tunnel 100 m long with, on the sides, two large experimental rooms. The facility is being improved for determining the optical axis of mosaic crystals in Laue configuration, for calibrating Laue lenses and hard X-ray mirror prototypes.     

Some space gravity formulas and the dimensions and the mass of the Earth

Summary Adopting thePizzetti-Somigliana method and using elliptic integrals we have obtained closed formulas for the space gravity field in which one of the equipotential surfaces is a triaxial ellipsoid. The same formulas are also obtained in first approximation of the equatorial flattening avoiding the use of the elliptic integrals. Using data from satellites and Earth gravity data the gravitational and geometric bulge of the Earth's equator are computed. On the basis of these results and on the basis of recent gravity data taken around the equator between the longitudes 50° to 100° E, 155° to 180° E, and 145° to 180° W, we question the advantage of using a triaxial gravity formula and a triaxial ellipsoid in geodesy. Closed formulas for the space field in which a biaxial ellipsoid is an equipotential surface are also derived in polar coordinates and its parameters are specialized to give the international gravity formula values on the international ellipsoid. The possibility to compute the Earth's dimensions from the present Earth gravity data is the discussed and the value ofMG=(3.98603×10²⁰ cm³ sec^–2) (M mass of the Earth,G gravitational constant) is computed. The agreement of this value with others computed from the mean distance Earth-Moon is discussed. The Legendre polinomials series expansion of the gravitational potential is also added. In this series the coefficients of the polinomials are closed formulas in terms of the flattening andMG.Publication Number 327, and Istituto di Geodesia e Geofisica of Università di Trieste.     

Contribution of Sponge Spicules to the Composition of Biogenic Silica in the Ligurian Sea

Abstract. The importance of sponge spicules in the turnover of biogenic silica (BSi) in the detritic bottoms of the Eastern Ligurian Riviera was evaluated by studying sediment cores and the detrital matter collected by a trap over a one year period.
This study made evident that: i) Sponge spicules represent the main component of the BSi both in the sediments and in the trapped matter; ii) A correlation exists between the sponge biomass present on the overhanging cliff and the amount of sponge spicules found in the sediment below; iii) Inside the sediments, a superficial layer (10 cm deep) characterized by intensive silica dissolution processes can be observed; and iv) The amount of spicules collected using the trap is not constant throughout the year, but shows a characteristic trend with low values in spring and summer and high values in autumn and winter.     

The historic and artistic heritage facing the earthquake risk: The Italian case

The problem of protection against earthquakes in Italy is made difficult by the presence of a huge historic and artistic heritage. Such a heritage is mainly made up of ancient buildings and monuments situated in the urban centres, which are densely distributed throughout Italy. Therefore, very complex problems are met in the determination of the value parameter concurring with the determination of seismic risk, in addition to hazard and vulnerability. An indication of the monetary value of a building is not sufficient as far as the cultural heritage is concerned: different criteria are necessary in order to distinguish which are the strategic buildings. If we consider that there are more than 2000 museums in Italy, most of which are placed inside historic buildings, it appears that museums should receive the highest priority in future initiatives for seismic rehabilitation.     

A note on climate change adaptation for seaports: a challenge for global ports, a challenge for global society

With 80 % of world trade carried by sea, seaports provide crucial linkages in global supply-chains and are essential for the ability of all countries to access global markets. Seaports are likely to be affected directly and indirectly by climatic changes, with broader implications for international trade and development. Due to their coastal location, seaports are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events associated with increasing sea levels and tropical storm activity, as illustrated by hurricane “Sandy”. In view of their strategic role as part of the globalized trading system, adapting ports in different parts of the world to the impacts of climate change is of considerable importance. Reflecting the views of a diverse group of stakeholders with expertise in climate science, engineering, economics, policy, and port management, this essay highlights the climate change challenge for ports and suggests a way forward through the adoption of some initial measures. These include both “soft” and “hard” adaptations that may be spearheaded by individual port entities, but will require collaboration and support from a broad range of public and private sector stakeholders and from society at large. In particular, the essay highlights a need to shift to more holistic planning, investment and operation.     

The Central-Western Mediterranean: Anomalous igneous activity in an anomalous collisional tectonic setting

The central-western Mediterranean area is a key region for understanding the complex interaction between igneous activity and tectonics. In this review, the specific geochemical character of several ‘subduction-related’ Cenozoic igneous provinces are described with a view to identifying the processes responsible for the modifications of their sources. Different petrogenetic models are reviewed in the light of competing geological and geodynamic scenarios proposed in the literature.Plutonic rocks occur almost exclusively in the Eocene–Oligocene Periadriatic Province of the Alps while relatively minor plutonic bodies (mostly Miocene in age) crop out in N Morocco, S Spain and N Algeria. Igneous activity is otherwise confined to lava flows and dykes accompanied by relatively greater volumes of pyroclastic (often ignimbritic) products. Overall, the igneous activity spanned a wide temporal range, from middle Eocene (such as the Periadriatic Province) to the present (as in the Neapolitan of southern Italy). The magmatic products are mostly SiO₂-oversaturated, showing calcalkaline to high-K calcalcaline affinity, except in some areas (as in peninsular Italy) where potassic to ultrapotassic compositions prevail. The ultrapotassic magmas (which include leucitites to leucite-phonolites) are dominantly SiO₂-undersaturated, although rare, SiO₂-saturated (i.e., leucite-free lamproites) appear over much of this region, examples being in the Betics (southeast Spain), the northwest Alps, northeast Corsica (France), Tuscany (northwest Italy), southeast Tyrrhenian Sea (Cornacya Seamount) and possibly in the Tell region (northeast Algeria).Excepted for the Alpine case, subduction-related igneous activity is strictly linked to the formation of the Mediterranean Sea. This Sea, at least in its central and western sectors, is made up of several young (< 30 Ma) V-shaped back-arc basins plus several dispersed continental fragments, originally in crustal continuity with the European plate (Sardinia, Corsica, Balearic Islands, Kabylies, Calabria, Peloritani Mountains). The bulk of igneous activity in the central-western Mediterranean is believed to have tapped mantle ‘wedge’ regions, metasomatized by pressure-related dehydration of the subducting slabs. The presence of subduction-related igneous rocks with a wide range of chemical composition has been related to the interplay of several factors among which the pre-metasomatic composition of the mantle wedges (i.e., fertile vs. refractory mineralogy), the composition of the subducting plate (i.e., the type and amount of sediment cover and the alteration state of the crust), the variable thermo-baric conditions of magma formation, coupled with variable molar concentrations of CO₂ and H₂O in the fluid phase released by the subducting plates are the most important.Compared to classic collisional settings (e.g., Himalayas), the central-western Mediterranean area shows a range of unusual geological and magmatological features. These include: a) the rapid formation of extensional basins in an overall compressional setting related to Africa-Europe convergence; b) centrifugal wave of both compressive and extensional tectonics starting from a ‘pivotal’ region around the Gulf of Lyon; c) the development of concomitant Cenozoic subduction zones with different subduction and tectonic transport directions; d) subduction ‘inversion’ events (e.g., currently along the Maghrebian coast and in northern Sicily, previously at the southern paleo-European margin); e) a repeated temporal pattern whereby subduction-related magmatic activity gives way to magmas of intraplate geochemical type; f) the late-stage appearance of magmas with collision-related ‘exotic’ (potassic to ultrapotassic) compositions, generally absent from simple subduction settings; g) the relative scarcity of typical calcalkaline magmas along the Italian peninsula; h) the absence of igneous activity where it might well be expected (e.g., above the hanging-wall of the Late Cretaceous–Eocene Adria–Europe subduction system in the Alps); i) voluminous production of subduction-related magmas coeval with extensional tectonic régimes (e.g., during Oligo-Miocene Sardinian Trough formation).To summarize, these salient central-western Mediterranean features, characterizing a late-stage of the classic ‘Wilson Cycle’ offer a ‘template’ for interpreting magmatic compositions in analogous settings elsewhere.