Search results for "aw"
showing 10 items of 28285 documents
Linking tephrochronology and soil characteristics in the Sila and Nebrodi mountains, Italy
2017
Recent studies have demonstrated that soils formed on pyroclastic ash deposits are much more common in the Mediterranean area than previously assumed. These soils are an important key to understanding past volcanic events and landscape evolution. Chronological information in soils of Quaternary volcanic events, however, remains still poorly understood in southern Italy. Using a multi-method forensic approach, we explore the origin and age of volcanic deposits (soils) in Sicily and Calabria. The geochemical signature of the soil was compared to the chemical fingerprint of the magmas of potential source areas of southern Italian volcanoes. The results indicate that the investigated soils on t…
A record of seafloor methane seepage across the last 150 million years
2020
<p>Methane seepage at the seafloor is a source of carbon in the marine environment and has long been recognized as an important window into the deep geo-, hydro-, and bio-spheres. However, the processes and temporal patterns of natural methane emission over multi-million-year time scales are still poorly understood. The microbially-mediated methane oxidation leads to the precipitation of authigenic carbonate minerals within subseafloor sediments, thus providing a potentially extensive record of past methane emission. In this study, we used data on methane-derived authigenic carbonates to build a proxy time series of seafloor methane emission over the last 150 My. We quantitat…
Trends in global research in deforestation. A bibliometric analysis
2018
The main aim of this study was to analyse topics of research, scientific production, collaboration among countries, and most cited papers on deforestation through a bibliometric and social network study of articles found in the Web of Science database. The most productive subject areas corresponded to Environmental Sciences, Ecology and Environmental Studies. The articles were published in 458 different journals. A total of 2051 research articles were obtained. The main challenges identified for deforestation include “land use change” “conservation” “climate change” “rain forest” and “reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation”. Social and economic topics are understudied. An imp…
The behaviour of zirconium, hafnium and rare earth elements during the crystallisation of halite and other salt minerals
2017
Abstract Halite crystals from Messinian and Tortonian evaporites from Sicily and Spain and current precipitated halite crystals and the relative parent brines (active evaporation systems) were investigated in order to evaluate the Zr, Hf and Rare Earth Element (REE) behaviour. Halite crystallisation from evaporating brines fractionates Zr, Hf and REE through a two-step process. During the first step, dissolved complexes of studied elements are scavenged onto the surfaces of crystallising halite. During the second step, elements are co-precipitated into the crystal lattice as it grows. The first step mechanism is determined by the dissolved REE speciation. In saltworks where carbonate-REE co…
Zr/Hf ratio and REE behaviour: A coupled indication of lithogenic input in marginal basins and deep-sea brines
2019
Abstract The distribution of dissolved Zr, Hf and Rare Earth Elements (yttrium and lanthanides, hereafter referred to as REE) in the Eastern Mediterranean seawater column was measured in the Kryos basin to evaluate the lithogenic contribution from both Nile River and Sahara and Arabian desert dust. We found dissolved Zr/Hf ratios below the signature of crustal rocks and chondrites; a phenomenon likely driven by the dissolution of the Mn-rich coating of atmospheric dust particles delivered from the desert. In deeper waters, Zr/Hf ratios are clustered close to the signature of crustal rocks and chondrites according to the different Zr and Hf dissolved speciation. The Zr/Hf ratio observed in t…
Plasma sloshing in pulse-heated solar and stellar coronal loops
2016
There is evidence that coronal heating is highly intermittent, and flares are the high energy extreme. The properties of the heat pulses are difficult to constrain. Here hydrodynamic loop modeling shows that several large amplitude oscillations (~ 20% in density) are triggered in flare light curves if the duration of the heat pulse is shorter that the sound crossing time of the flaring loop. The reason is that the plasma has not enough time to reach pressure equilibrium during the heating and traveling pressure fronts develop. The period is a few minutes for typical solar coronal loops, dictated by the sound crossing time in the decay phase. The long period and large amplitude make these os…
Testing a theoretical resistance law for overland flow on a stony hillslope
2020
Overland flow, sediments, and nutrients transported in runoff are important processes involved in soil erosion and water pollution. Modelling transport of sediments and chemicals requires accurate estimates of hydraulic resistance, which is one of the key variables characterizing runoff water depth and velocity. In this paper, a new theoretical power–velocity profile, originally deduced neglecting the impact effect of rainfall, was initially modified for taking into account the effect of rainfall intensity. Then a theoretical flow resistance law was obtained by integration of the new flow velocity distribution. This flow resistance law was tested using field measurements by Nearing for the …
Validation of HF radar sea surface currents in the Malta-Sicily Channel
2019
Abstract A network of High-Frequency radar (HFR) stations runs operationally in the Malta-Sicily Channel (MSC), Central Mediterranean Sea, providing sea surface current maps with high temporal (1 h) and spatial (3 × 3 km) resolutions since August 2012. Comparisons with surface drifter data and near-surface Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) observations, as well as radar site-to-site baseline analyses, provide quantitative assessments of HFR velocities accuracy. Twenty-two drifters were deployed within the HFR domain of coverage between December 2012 and October 2013. Additionally, six ADCP vertical current profiles were collected at selected positions during a dedicated field survey.…
Origin of primitive ultra-calcic arc melts at crustal conditions — Experimental evidence on the La Sommata basalt, Vulcano, Aeolian Islands
2016
International audience; To interpret primitive magma compositions in the Aeolian arc and contribute to a better experimental characterization of ultra-calcic arc melts, equilibrium phase relations have been determined experimentally for the La Sommata basalt (Som-1, Vulcano, Aeolian arc). Som-1 (Na2O + K2O = 4.46 wt.%, CaO = 12.97 wt.%, MgO = 8.78 wt.%, CaO/Al2O3 = 1.03) is a reference primitive ne-normative arc basalt with a strong ultra-calcic affinity. The experiments have been performed between 44 and 154 MPa, 1050 and 1150 °C and from NNO + 0.2 to NNO + 1.9. Fluid-present conditions were imposed with H2O–CO2 mixtures yielding melt H2O concentrations from 0.7 to 3.5 wt.%. Phases encount…
Quantitative models of hydrothermal fluid–mineral reaction: The Ischia case
2013
Abstract The intricate pathways of fluid–mineral reactions occurring underneath active hydrothermal systems are explored in this study by applying reaction path modelling to the Ischia case study. Ischia Island, in Southern Italy, hosts a well-developed and structurally complex hydrothermal system which, because of its heterogeneity in chemical and physical properties, is an ideal test sites for evaluating potentialities/limitations of quantitative geochemical models of hydrothermal reactions. We used the EQ3/6 software package, version 7.2b, to model reaction of infiltrating waters (mixtures of meteoric water and seawater in variable proportions) with Ischia’s reservoir rocks (the Mount Ep…