Search results for "Planet"
showing 10 items of 5662 documents
A multidisciplinary approach to reveal the Sicily Climate and Environment over the last 20 000 years
2010
Abstract We present a thorough review of the knowledge on the climate and environment in Sicily over the last 20 000 years, taking into account results of several studies carried using terrestrial and marine records. We obtain a coherent framework of the most important changes succeeded in the island, even if some points need further investigation. All the reconstructions of surface temperatures of the seas and the air surrounding Sicily point out severe climatic conditions during the last glacial period. The steppe- and semisteppe-like vegetation pattern testifies, together with additional evidence from geochemical data of lacustrine evidence, markedly arid conditions. Fi-nally, significan…
Partitioning between “wedge-top” river- and wave-dominated successions: an example from the late Tortonian — early Messinian Terravecchia Formation (…
2011
AbstractDetailed field sedimentological and facies analyses have been performed in the Terravecchia Formation cropping out in NW Sicily, in order to differentiate and describe, for the first time, wave- and river-dominated shallow-marine (deltaic) siliciclastic successions. The latter were deposited filling syntectonic basins, developed between the late Tortonian and early Messinian time, within the wedge-top depozone of the Sicilian Foreland Basin System. It has been observed that river-dominated successions, recording the deposition of small fan-deltas are characterized by fining- to coarsening upward, transgressive-regressive sequences which were mostly deposited filling relatively narro…
Recent Activity and Kinematics of the Bounding Faults of the Catanzaro Trough (Central Calabria, Italy): New Morphotectonic, Geodetic and Seismologic…
2021
A multidisciplinary work integrating structural, geodetic and seismological data was performed in the Catanzaro Trough (central Calabria, Italy) to define the seismotectonic setting of this area. The Catanzaro Trough is a structural depression transversal to the Calabrian Arc, lying in-between two longitudinal grabens: the Crati Basin to the north and the Mesima Basin to the south. The investigated area experienced some of the strongest historical earthquakes of Italy, whose seismogenic sources are still not well defined. We investigated and mapped the major WSW–ENE to WNW–ESE trending normal-oblique Lamezia-Catanzaro Fault System, bounding to the north the Catanzaro Trough. Morphotectonic …
Plio-Pleistocene geological evolution of the northern Sicily continental margin (southern Tyrrhenian Sea): new insights from high-resolution, multi-e…
2003
High-resolution seismic profiles were acquired in the north Sicily offshore region with an innovative, multi-tip sparker array which lacks ringing and has a base frequency around 600 Hz. The new data, combined with published data, suggest that intra-slope and extensional basins formed as a consequence of the late Miocene (?)–early Pliocene shortening and thrusting, and the middle (?)–late Pliocene continental rifting affecting the internal side of the Sicilian-Maghrebian chain. Early (?) Pleistocene to Holocene high-amplitude and high-frequency sea-level changes resulted in repeated sub-aerial exposure and flooding of the shelf, and the deposition of cyclically arranged hemipelagic and shel…
Structure, evolution, and dynamics of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea in the Blue Road Geotraverse area
1981
The orogeny of the Scandinavian and Greenland Caledonides is shortly reviewed, and a structural sketch map of the Scandinavian Caledonide part of the Geotraverse is presented. Post-Caledonian rifting episodes prior to the formation of the North Atlantic Ocean are briefly discussed, as well as the opening of the northern North Atlantic Ocean and its spreading rates. Computations of density models carried out on the basis of the Simplex-Algorithm which allows a least-squares solution under certain constraints show clearly a Moho-depression beneath the Caledonides and a comparatively thick oceanic crust in the Norwegian Sea. The transition zone oceanic continental crust has a complex structure…
Volcanic Lakes in Africa: The VOLADA_Africa 2.0 Database, and Implications for Volcanic Hazard
2021
Volcanic lakes pose specific hazards inherent to the presence of water: phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions, lahars, limnic gas bursts and dispersion of brines in the hydrological network. Here we introduce the updated, interactive and open-access database for African volcanic lakes, country by country. The previous database VOLADA (VOlcanic LAke DAta Base, Rouwet et al., Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 2014, 272, 78–97) reported 96 volcanic lakes for Africa. This number is now revised and established at 220, converting VOLADA_Africa 2.0 in the most comprehensive resource for African volcanic lakes: 81 in Uganda, 37 in Kenya, 33 in Cameroon, 28 in Madagascar, 19 in Ethiop…
Phase petrology reveals shallow magma storage prior to large explosive silicic eruptions at Hekla volcano, Iceland
2017
Abstract Understanding the conditions that culminate in explosive eruptions of silicic magma is of great importance for volcanic hazard assessment and crisis mitigation. However, geological records of active volcanoes typically show a wide range of eruptive behavior and magnitude, which can vary dramatically for individual eruptive centers. In order to evaluate possible future scenarios of eruption precursors, magmatic system variables for different eruption types need to be constrained. Here we use petrological experiments and microanalysis of crystals to clarify the P – T – x state under which rhyodacitic melts accumulated prior to the H3 eruption; the largest Holocene Plinian eruption of…
The percolation threshold and permeability evolution of ascending magmas
2017
Abstract The development of gas permeability in magmas is a complex phenomenon that directly influences the style of a volcanic eruption. The emergence of permeability is linked to the concept of percolation threshold, which is the point beyond which gas bubbles are connected in a continuous network that allows gas escape. Measurements of the percolation threshold, however, range from ∼30 to 78 vol%. No known combination of parameters can explain such a wide range of threshold values, which affects our understanding of the relationship between percolation and permeability. We present permeability calculations on bubble-bearing rhyolitic melts that underwent experimental decompression. Sampl…
Improved discrimination of subglacial and periglacial erosion using10Be concentration measurements in subglacial and supraglacial sediment load of th…
2015
Deciphering the complex interplays between climate, uplift and erosion is not straightforward and estimating present-day erosion rates can provide useful insights. Glaciers are thought to be powerful erosional agents, but most published ‘glacial’ erosion rates combine periglacial, subglacial and proglacial erosion processes. Within a glaciated catchment, sediments found in subglacial streams originate either from glacial erosion of substratum or from the rock walls above the glacier that contribute to the supraglacial load. Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (TCN) are produced by interactions between cosmic ray particles and element targets at the surface of the Earth, but their concentration …
Influence of pre-existing microstructure on mechanical properties of marine ice during compression experiments
2014
AbstractMarine ice is an important component of ice shelves in Antarctica. It accretes in substantial amounts at weak points and below ice shelves. It is likely to exhibit peculiar rheological properties, which are crucial to understanding its potential role in stabilizing ice-shelf flow. Due to its location and consolidation processes, marine ice can present a variety of textures which are likely to influence its rheological properties. We present a new dataset of unconfined uniaxial compression experiments on folded marine ice samples that have been cut at various angles to the folds. Texture and fabric analyses are described ‘before’ and ‘after’ the deformation experiment. It is shown th…