ALBERT

Description: We reconstructed the late Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) evolution of the ancient harbour of Naples, one of the largest coastal conurbations in the Mediterranean. We carried out multiproxy investigations, coupling archaeological evidence with biological indicators. Our data robustly constrain 2000 yr of non-monotonic changes in sea level, chiefly controlled by the complex volcano-tectonic processes that characterize the area. Between ∼200 BC and AD ∼0, a subsidence rate of more than ∼1.5 mm/yr enhanced the postglacial RSL rise, while negligible or moderate land uplift 〈 ∼0.5 mm/yr triggered a RSL stabilization during the Roman period (first five centuries AD). This stabilization was followed by a post-Roman enhancement of the sea-level rise when ground motion was negative, attested by a subsidence rate of ∼0.5 to ∼1 mm/yr. Our analysis seems to indicate very minor impacts of this nonmonotonic RSL evolution on the activities of the ancient harbour of Naples, which peaked from the third century BC to the second century AD. After this period, the progressive silting of the harbour basin made it impossible to safely navigate within the basin, leading to the progressive decline of the harbour.

Description: Published

Description: 284-298

Description: 1V. Storia eruttiva

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Late Quaternary landscapes of unglaciated Beringia were largely shaped by ice-wedge polygon tundra. Ice Complex (IC) strata preserve such ancient polygon formations. Here we report on the Yukagir IC from Bol’shoy Lyakhovsky Island in northeastern Siberia and suggest that new radioisotope disequilibria (230Th/U) dates of the Yukagir IC peat confirm its formation during the MIS 7a-c Interglacial. The preservation of the ice-rich Yukagir IC proves its resilience to Last Interglacial and lateglacial-Holocene warming. This study compares the Yukagir IC to IC strata of MIS 5, MIS 3 and MIS 2 ages exposed on Bol’shoy Lyakhovsky Island. Besides high intrasedimental ice content and syngenetic ice wedges intersecting silts, sandy silts, the Yukagir IC is characterized by high organic matter (OM) accumulation and low OM decomposition of a distinctive Drepanocladus moss-peat. The Yukagir IC pollen data reveals grassshrub-moss tundra indicating rather wet summer conditions similar to modern ones. The stable isotope composition of Yukagir IC wedge ice is similar to those of the MIS 5 and MIS 3 ICs pointing to similar atmospheric moisture generation and transport patterns in winter. Ice Complex data from glacial and interglacial periods provide insights into permafrost and climate dynamics since about 200 ka.

Description: The points where the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field vanishes are located in polar areas, far away from the geomagnetic (analytic) poles and the poles of rotation of the Earth and, differently from the geomagnetic poles, can be found experimentally with a magnetic survey to determine where the field is vertical. The experimental determination of the area where the total field is perfectly vertical, commonly known as dip pole, is not simple, due to the remoteness and harsh climatic conditions; another difficulty is related to the short term geomagnetic field variations, due to the interaction with the external solar wind, which causes the magnetospheric dynamics, particularly evident at high latitude, and as a consequence a displacement of the dip pole. Actually, the study of the dip pole displacements over short time scales can be an important tool for monitoring the magnetospheric dynamics at high latitude. In this study we present the updated location of the the dip poles, using data from the Swarm ESA’s constellation of satellites along their almost polar orbits. We also analyse the spatial shift of these areas during different seasons and interplanetary magnetic field orientations.

Description: Published

Description: 135-138

Description: 1A. Geomagnetismo e Paleomagnetismo

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: We use low frequency geomagnetic field measurements at two Antarctic stations to statistically investigate the longitudinal location of the polar cusp. The two stations are both located in the polar cap at a geomagnetic latitude close to the cusp latitude; they are separated by one hour in magnetic local time. At each station the Pc5 power maximizes when the station approaches the cusp, i.e. around magnetic local noon. The comparison between the Pc5 power at the two stations allows to determine the longitudinal location of the cusp. Our analysis is conducted considering separately different orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field. The results, which indicate longitudinal shifts of the polar cusp depending on the selected conditions, are discussed in relation to previous studies of the polar cusp location based on polar magnetospheric satellite data.

Description: Published

Description: 139-141

Description: 1A. Geomagnetismo e Paleomagnetismo

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉The effectiveness of streak modes in controlling the oblique-type breakdown in a supersonic boundary-layer at Mach 2.0 is investigated using direct numerical simulations. Investigations in the literature have shown the effectiveness of streak modes in delaying the onset of transition dominated by two-dimensional waves, but in oblique breakdown, three-dimensional waves and a strong streak mode dominate the transition process. Paredes 〈span〉et al.〈/span〉 (〈span〉J. Fluid Mech.〈/span〉, vol. 831, 2017, pp. 524–553) discussed the possible stabilization of supersonic boundary layers by optimally growing streaks using parabolized stability equations. However, no study has as yet been reported regarding direct nonlinear control of oblique breakdown. This study deals with the effects of large-amplitude decaying streak modes generated by a blowing–suction strip at the wall to control full breakdown in a reference case. Modes with four to five times the fundamental wavenumber are found to be beneficial for controlling the transition. In the first region after the control-mode forcing, the beneficial mean-flow distortion (MFD), generated by inducing the control mode, is solely responsible for hampering the growth of the fundamental-mode. On the whole, the MFD and the three-dimensional part of the control contribute equally towards controlling the oblique breakdown. The results show significant suppression of transition, and substantial improvements have been observed in the levels of the skin-friction coefficient and wall-temperature in comparison to the uncontrolled case. Moreover, refreshing the control using an additional downstream control strip increases the gain. However, the forcing amplitude must be carefully chosen in order not to introduce a generalized inflection point in the spanwise averaged mean flow invoking enhanced disturbance growth.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉The problem of interaction between disturbances and shock waves was solved by a theoretical approach called linear interaction analysis in the mid-twentieth century. More recently, great progress has been made in analysing shock–turbulence interactions by direct numerical simulation. However, an unsolved theoretical problem remains: What happens when no acoustic waves are stimulated behind the shock wave? The concept of a damped wave is introduced, which is a type of excited plane wave. Based on this, the dispersion and amplitude relationships between any incident plane wave and resulting stimulated waves are constructed analytically, systematically and comprehensively. The physical essence of damped waves and the existence of critical angles are clarified. It is demonstrated that a damped wave is a complex number space solution to the acoustic dispersion relationship under certain conditions. It acts as a bridge connecting fast and slow acoustic waves at the position where the 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628130807083-0762:S0022112019004385:S0022112019004385_inline1.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 component of the group velocity is zero. There are two critical angles that can excite fast and slow acoustic waves, which determine the conditions that stimulate a damped wave. Our results show good agreement with theoretical and simulation results. The contribution of each excited wave to the transmission coefficient is evaluated, the distribution of the transmission coefficient is analysed and application to an engineering wedge model is performed.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉The onset of thermal convection in a rapidly rotating spherical shell is studied by linear stability analysis based on the fully compressible Navier–Stokes equations. Compressibility is quantified by the number of density scale heights 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline1.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉, which measures the intensity of density stratification of the motionless, polytropic base state. The nearly adiabatic flow with polytropic index 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline2.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 is considered, where 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline3.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 is the adiabatic polytropic index. By investigating the stability of the base state with respect to the disturbance of specified wavenumber, the instability process is found to be sensitive to the Prandtl number 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline4.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 and to 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline5.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉. For large 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline6.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 and small 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline7.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉, the quasi-geostrophic columnar mode loses stability first; while for relatively small 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline8.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 a new quasi-geostrophic compressible mode is identified, which becomes unstable first under strong density stratification. The inertial mode can also occur first for relatively small 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline9.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 and a certain intensity of density stratification in the parameter range considered. Although the Rayleigh numbers 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline10.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 for the onsets of the quasi-geostrophic compressible mode and columnar mode are different by several orders of magnitude, we find that they follow very similar scaling laws with the Taylor number. The critical 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline11.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 for convection onset is found to be always positive, in contrast with previous results based on the widely used anelastic model that convection can occur at negative 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline12.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉. By evaluating the relative magnitude of the time derivative of density perturbation in the continuity equation, we show that the anelastic approximation in the present system cannot be applied in the small-〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline13.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 and large-〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190628092857401-0357:S0022112019004361:S0022112019004361_inline14.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉 regime.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉We study the breakup of confined fluid threads at low flow rates to understand instability mechanisms. To determine the critical conditions between the earlier quasi-stable necking stage and the later unstable collapse stage, simulations and experiments are designed to operate at an extremely low flow rate. The critical mean radii at the neck centres are identified by the stop-flow method for elementary microfluidic configurations. Two distinct origins of capillary instabilities are revealed for different confinement situations. One is the gradient of capillary pressure induced by the confinements of geometry and external flow, whereas the other is the competition between the capillary pressure and internal pressure determined by the confinements.〈/p〉〈/div〉