Observation of MKN 501 at gamma-ray energies

During a balloon flight in September 1979 of the MISO low-energy -ray telescope, the BL Lac-object MkN 501 was studied in the hard X-ray range above 30 keV and in the low energy -ray range up to 19 MeV. No statistically significant X- and -ray fluxes were detected. The implications of the upper limits obtained are discussed in the light of the relativistic jet theories recently proposed.     

Precursory slope distress prior to the 2010 Mount Meager landslide,British Columbia

In 2010, the south flank of Mount Meager failed catastrophically, generating the largest (53 ± 3.8 × 10⁶ m³) landslide in Canadian history. We document the slow deformation of the edifice prior to failure using archival historic aerial photographs spanning the period 1948–2006. All photos were processed using Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry. We used the SfM products to produce pre-and post-failure geomorphic maps that document changes in the volcanic edifice and Capricorn Glacier at its base. The photographic dataset shows that the Capricorn Glacier re-advanced from a retracted position in the 1980s then rapidly retreated in the lead-up to the 2010 failure. The dataset also documents 60 years of progressive development of faults, toe bulging, and precursory failures in 1998 and 2009. The 2010 collapse was conditioned by glacial retreat and triggered by hot summer weather that caused ice and snow to melt. Meltwater increased pore water pressures in colluvium and fractured rocks at the base of the slope, causing those materials to mobilize, which in turn triggered several secondary failures structurally controlled by lithology and faults. The landslide retrogressed from the base of the slope to near the peak of Mount Meager involving basement rock and the overlying volcanic sequence. Elsewhere on the flanks of Mount Meager, large fractures have developed in recently deglaciated areas, conditioning these slopes for future collapse. Potential failures in these areas have larger volumes than the 2010 landslide. Anticipated atmospheric warming over the next several decades will cause further loss of snow and glacier ice, likely producing additional slope instability. Satellite- and ground-based monitoring of these slopes can provide advanced warning of future landslides to help reduce risk in populated regions downstream.     

Mapping soil liquefaction susceptibility across Europe using the analytic hierarchy process

Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering - Mapping the susceptibility of earthquake-induced soil liquefaction at the continental scale is a challenge. Susceptibility of soils to liquefaction is the...     

Permian continental basins in the Southern Alps (Italy) and peri-mediterranean correlations

The Late Carboniferous to Permian continental successions of the Southern Alps can be subdivided into two main tectono-sedimentary Cycles, separated by a marked unconformity sealing a Middle Permian time gap, generally estimated at over 10 Ma. The lower cycle (1), between the Variscan crystalline basement and the Early Permian, is mainly characterised by fluvio-lacustrine and volcanic deposits of calc-alkaline acidic-to-intermediate composition, which range up to a maximum thickness of more than 2,000 m. The upper cycle (2), which is devoid of volcanics, is mostly dominated through the Mid?–Late Permian by alluvial sedimentation which covered the previous basins and the surrounding highs, giving rise to the subaerial Verrucano Lombardo-Val Gardena (Gröden) red-beds, up to about 800 m thick. The palaeontological record from the terrigenous deposits of both the above cycles consists mainly of macro- and microfloras and tetrapod footprints. The age of the continental deposits is widely discussed because of the poor chronological significance of a large number of fossils which do not allow reliable datings; however, some sections are also controlled by radiometric calibrations. The comparison with some selected continental successions in southern Europe allows to determine their evolution and set up correlations. A marked stratigraphic gap shows everywhere between the above-mentioned Cycles 1 and 2. As in the Southern Alps, the gap reaches the greatest extent during the Mid-Permian, near the Illawarra Reversal geomagnetic event (265 Ma). In western Europe, however, such as in Provence and Sardinia, the discussed gap persists upwardly to Late Permian and Early Triassic or slightly younger times, i.e. to the onset of the “Alpine sedimentary Cycle”, even though in northeastern Spain (Iberian Ranges, Balearic Islands) this gap results clearly interrupted by late Guadalupian–Lopingian deposits. The above two major tectonosedimentary cycles reflect, in our view, two main geodynamic events that affected the southern Europe after the Variscan orogenesis: the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian transformation of the Gondwana–Eurasia collisional margin into a diffuse dextral transform margin and the Middle–Late Permian opening of the Neotethys Ocean, with the onset of a generalised extensional tectonic regime and the progressive westward marine ingression.     

Structural response to non-stationary multiple-support random excitation

The seismic behaviour of large-size structures subjected to multiple-support excitation is studied by means of a random vibration approach. Ground motion is modelled as a non-stationary stochastic process having an evolutionary spectral density. To describe the spatial variability of the input motion a model is adopted which accounts for finite propagation velocity and for loss of correlation as a function of distance and frequency. Structural analysis is entirely performed in the frequency domain and full advantage is taken of FFT properties and capabilities. An example is given regarding the behaviour of a 800 m long viaduct. Results are shown in terms of response evolutionary spectral density, variance and reliability with respect to a fixed threshold.     

High energy electrons detected during solar flares

The S 79 experiment on board of the HEOS-A1 European Satellite has been designed to electrons detection whose kinetic energies should be equal or greater than 7.5 MeV. From December 1968 to July 1970, 11 events were observed.Their main characteristics are described in this article. Two different categories of events may be sorted out from these observations. The propagation conditions in the interplanetary space are now discussed to find out a possible interpretation.     

Effect of solar corona conditions on flare particle propagation

Data on high energy electrons and protons in different energy windows are analyzed and compared for two solar flares which occurred at 37 W solar longitude on the 25th February 1969 and the 29th March 1970. While the data for the first of these flares can be interpreted in the framework of a diffusion model with suitable values of the parallel diffusion coefficient, in order to explain the time behaviour of the different particles after the second event, we are led to suppose that the coronal magnetic fields are such that particles of different rigidity are ejected at different longitudes and that there is no good magnetic connection of the Earth with the flare region.     

The transition between the two major Permian tectono-stratigraphic cycles in the central Southern Alps: results from facies analysis and U/Pb geochronology

The Val Daone Conglomerate (VDC) is a continental clastic unit that crops out eastwards of the central Southern Alps, from the NE sector of the Collio Basin to the W as far as the Tione Basin to the E. This significant but as yet relatively unknown formation lies just above the regional unconformity that marks the boundary between the two Permian major tectono-sedimentary cycles (TSU1 and TSU2) and grades upwards paraconformably (?) to the fluvial red beds of Verrucano Lombardo/Val Gardena Sandstone, generally associated with Late Permian times. Recent palynological investigations on the VDC suggested a Guadalupian age (late Roadian–early Wordian), owing to the remarkable presence of diversified pollen associations; therefore, this sedimentary unit is to date the first one ascribed, on a palaeontological basis, to the Middle Permian in the entire Southern Alps domain. A detailed facies analysis of VDC shows deposition in amalgamated alluvial fan-braided and fluvial environments with wide channels and longitudinal bars. In its type area and Val Rendena, the VDC rests unconformably above the last volcanic episode of the TSU1. LA ICP-MS U–Pb dating on zircon from two samples of such topmost Lower Permian volcanic rocks, known as Ponte Murandin dacitic lava and Malga Plan rhyodacitic Ignimbrites (Tione Basin), provided Concordia ages of 278 ± 2 Ma (MSWD = 0.01) and 279 ± 2 Ma (MSWD = 0.16), respectively. As well as allowing us to better define the duration of the time gap between the two Permian megacycles in the central Southern Alps in almost 10 Ma, these radiometric age determinations are also significant because they enable us to regionally link the coeval volcanic bodies which crop out in the Collio Basin to the SW and in the “Athesian Volcanic Group” to the NE, respectively.