Search results for " environment"
showing 10 items of 19900 documents
Mountain building in NW Sicily from the superimposition of subsequent thrusting and folding events during Neogene: structural setting and tectonic ev…
2017
We present a 1:25.000 scale geological map of the Kumeta-Pizzuta ridge in north-western Sicily (Italy), achieved by integrating stratigraphic, structural and geophysical data. In this area, the tectonic edifice results from the piling-up of deep-water-, carbonate platform- and pelagic platform-derived tectonic units (Imerese and Sicilide, Panormide and Trapanese domains, respectively) resulting from deformations of the former southern Tethyan continental margin. The structural setting shows interference of tectonic events, different types of structural styles and different scales of deformational patterns. Early overthrust of the Imerese on the Trapanese units (since the late Serravallian) …
An Integrated Multiscale Method for the Characterisation of Active Faults in Offshore Areas. The Case of Sant’Eufemia Gulf (Offshore Calabria, Italy)
2021
Diagnostic morphological features (e.g., rectilinear seafloor scarps) and lateral offsets of the Upper Quaternary deposits are used to infer active faults in offshore areas. Although they deform a significant seafloor region, the active faults are not necessarily capable of producing large earthquakes as they correspond to shallow structures formed in response to local stresses. We present a multiscale approach to reconstruct the structural pattern in offshore areas and distinguish between shallow, non-seismogenic, active faults, and deep blind faults, potentially associated with large seismic moment release. The approach is based on the interpretation of marine seismic reflection data and …
The Graham Bank (Sicily Channel, central Mediterranean Sea). Seafloor signatures of volcanic and tectonic controls
2018
Abstract Graham Bank is a dominant physiographic element of the NW Sicily Channel (central Mediterranean Sea), affected in the last 100 years by numerous well-documented volcanic eruptions. We present the first results of a geomorphological study where the Graham Bank region in the depth interval 7–350 m was mapped for the first time with multi-beam echosounder and high-resolution seismic and multi-channel seismic reflection profiles. We describe in high resolution the detailed geomorphological features of Graham Bank, and how the superficial expression of different process and dynamics occurring in the sub-seafloor evidence volcanic and tectonic controls on seafloor morphology across a rel…
How Offshore Groundwater Shapes the Seafloor
2018
The MARCAN project, launched last January, is working to fill a gap in our knowledge of how freshwater flowing underground shapes and alters the continental margins.
Historical analysis of rainfall-triggered rockfalls: the case study of the disaster of the ancient hydrothermal Sclafani Spa (Madonie Mts, northern-c…
2017
Abstract. In 1851, the region of Sicily experienced many rainstorm-induced landslides. On 13 March 1851, a rainstorm brought about a severe rockfall disaster near the small town of Sclafani (Madonie Mountains, northern-central Sicily, Italy). Rocks detached from the carbonate crest of Mt Sclafani (813 m above sea level) and fell downslope, causing the collapse of the ancient hydrothermal spa (about 430 m above sea level) and burying it. Fortunately, there were no injuries or victims. Given its geological, geomorphological and tectonic features, the calcareous–dolomitic and carbonate–siliciclastic relief of Mt Sclafani is extremely prone to landsliding. This study combines the findings of de…
Disambiguating the soils of Mars
2020
Abstract Anticipated human missions to Mars require a methodical understanding of the unconsolidated bulk sediment that mantles its surface, given its role as an accessible resource for water and as a probable substrate for food production. However, classifying martian sediment as soil has been pursued in an ad hoc fashion, despite emerging evidence from in situ missions for current and paleo-pedological processes. Here we find that in situ sediment at Gusev, Meridiani and Gale are consistent with pedogenesis related to comminuted basalts mixing with older phyllosilicates – perhaps of pluvial origin – and sulfates. Furthermore, a notable presence of hydrated amorphous phases indicates signi…
Geomorphological evolution of western Sicily, Italy
2017
Abstract This paper proposes a morphoevolutionary model for western Sicily. Sicily is a chain–foredeep–foreland system still being built, with tectonic activity involving uplift which tends to create new relief. To reconstruct the morphoevolutionary model, geological, and geomorphological studies were done on the basis of field survey and aerial photographic interpretation. The collected data show large areas characterized by specific geological, geomorphological, and topographical settings with rocks, landforms, and landscapes progressively older from south to north Sicily. The achieved results display: (1) gradual emersion of new areas due to uplift, its interaction with the Quaternary gl…
Occurrence, distribution, and risk assessment of pharmerciuticals in wastewater and open surface drains of peri-urban areas: Case study of Juja town,…
2020
Abstract The occurrence of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in the environment is becoming a major area of concern due to their undesirable effects on non-target organisms. This study investigated the occurrence and risk of contamination by five antibiotics and three antiretrovirals drugs in a fast-growing peri-urban area in Kenya, with inadequate sewer system coverage. Due to poor sewage connectivity and poorly designed decentralized systems, wastewater is directly released in open drains. Water and sediment samples were collected from open surface water drains, while wastewater samples were collected from centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Solid-phase extraction and u…
2D Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical Modeling of (De)hydration Reactions in Deforming Heterogeneous Rock: The Periclase-Brucite Model Reaction
2020
Deformation at tectonic plate boundaries involves coupling between rock deformation, fluid flow, and metamorphic reactions, but quantifying this coupling is still elusive. We present a new two-dimensional hydro-mechanical-chemical numerical model and investigate the coupling between heterogeneous rock deformation and metamorphic (de)hydration reactions. We consider linear viscous compressible and power-law viscous shear deformation. Fluid flow follows Darcy's law with a Kozeny-Carman type permeability. We consider a closed isothermal system and the reversible (de)hydration reaction: periclase and water yields brucite. Fluid pressure within a circular or elliptical inclusion is initially bel…
Evidence of active fluid seepage (AFS) in the southern region of the central Mediterranean Sea
2018
Abstract Active fluid seepage (AFS) at the seafloor is a global phenomenon associated with seafloor morphologies in different geodynamic contexts. Advanced geophysical techniques have allowed geoscientists to characterise pockmarks, mounds and flares associated with AFS. We present a range of new marine geological data acquired in the southern region of the central Mediterranean Sea (northern Sicily continental margin, northwestern Sicily Channel and offshore of the Maltese Islands), which allow us to identify AFSs. AFSs are spatially distributed as clusters, aligned or isolated at different depths, ranging from few decametres offshore of the Maltese Islands; up to 400 m offshore of norther…