ALBERT

Description: Nell’ambito del progetto EDISECUR, finanziato della regione Lazio, è stato sviluppato un prototipo di telesensore infrasonico, TIS, a tracciamento di speckle per la misura della velocità angolare, delle frequenze fondamentali e delle armoniche di una superficie sottoposta a oscillazioni. Il TIS si presta particolarmente per il rilevamento e il monitoraggio nel tempo degli edifici, ponti e altri manufatti. Conoscere lo stato vibrazionale di queste strutture può essere d’interesse sia per la loro caratterizzazione dinamica che per la sicurezza. Questo prototipo, sufficientemente compatto, si presta a una misura immediata della velocità angolare e, con semplici operazioni, si possono dedurre spostamenti e accelerazioni angolari. Dalle grandezze angolari e dalla conoscenza geometrica della superficie, tramite alcuni schemi ed esempi, si mostra come sia possibile determinare anche altri parametri cinematici lineari. Il telesensore può essere impiegato nelle misure delle vibrazioni di superfici a lunga distanza di varia natura, anche laddove non fosse possibile accedere per eseguire una misura diretta. Lo strumento copre un campo di frequenze fino alle decine di Hz, ha una sensibilità e una dinamica tale da rilevare le vibrazioni indotte dal rumore industriale, dal traffico, dal vento e altro. Questo lavoro è principalmente rivolto alle applicazioni del TIS nel rilevamento delle vibrazioni delle strutture ed è in questo ambito che vengono spiegate le modalità, i limiti e i vantaggi del suo impiego insieme agli errori insiti nella tecnica di misura. Dato che il TIS misura un movimento relativo tra lo stesso strumento e la superficiebersaglio, sono stati valutati gli errori delle vibrazioni dovute alla microsismicità e altre cause ambientali. Vengono infine riportati due preliminari esempi di misura su una struttura edile.

Description: Regione Lazio, progetto EDISECUR

Description: Published

Description: 1-36

Description: 7TM.Sviluppo e Trasferimento Tecnologico

Description: JCR Journal

Description: L’Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) riceve, nella Sala di Sorveglianza Sismica e Centro Allerta Tsunami di Roma, i segnali in tempo reale da centinaia di stazioni sismiche distribuite sul territorio nazionale. Entro due minuti dall’occorrenza di un qualsiasi terremoto, appositi sistemi automatici forniscono una prima valutazione dei parametri ipocentrali. Due sismologi, sempre presenti nella sala operativa della sede centrale, controllano le informazioni ottenute e, per i terremoti sopra una determinata soglia di magnitudo (ML ≥ 2.5), comunicano alla Sala Situazione Italia della Protezione Civile i dati elaborati, in media in circa 12 minuti (massimo entro 30 minuti) [Margheriti et al., 2021]. La valutazione definitiva dei parametri ipocentrali di tutti i terremoti, dai più grandi avvertiti in vaste aree del territorio ai più piccoli rilevati solo da pochi strumenti, è demandata a un’analisi più accurata svolta in un secondo tempo, ormai da alcuni decenni, da un gruppo di analisti specializzati nell’interpretazione dei segnali sismici. Gli analisti sismologi del Bollettino Sismico Italiano revisionano tutti i dati registrati dalle stazioni della Rete Sismica Nazionale (RSN) dell’INGV e riconoscono la presenza di terremoti attraverso un’analisi diretta delle forme d’onda. In tal modo l’analista rileva il tempo d’arrivo delle onde sismiche ai vari sensori e valuta l’ampiezza delle oscillazioni e la direzione del moto del suolo; questi parametri, utilizzati da apposite procedure di calcolo, consentono di localizzare ogni terremoto e di valutare la magnitudo associata. Le informazioni così ottenute confluiscono nel database che l’INGV gestisce e che mette a disposizione della comunità1. Questa pubblicazione ha come scopo quello di far conoscere un prodotto dell’Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Il Bollettino Sismico Italiano (BSI), con particolare riferimento all’anno 2015. Saranno delineate le principali caratteristiche della sismicità naturale e quella di origine antropica registrata in Italia nel corso dell’anno esaminato.

Description: Published

Description: 1-48

Description: 4IT. Banche dati

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Crystalline rocks can produce dangerous radiation levels on the basis of their content in radioisotopes. Here, we report radiological data from 10 metamorphic and igneous rock samples collected from the crystalline basement of the Peloritani Mountains (southern Italy). In order to evaluate the radiological properties of these rocks, the gamma radiation and the radon emanation have been measured. Moreover, since some of these rocks are employed as building materials, we assess the potential hazard for population connected to their use. Gamma spectroscopy was used to measure the 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activity concentration, whereas the radon emanation was investigated by using a RAD 7 detector. The results show 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activity concentration values ranging from (17 ± 4) to (56 ± 8) Bq kg-1, (14 ± 3) to (77 ± 14) Bq kg-1 and (167 ± 84) to (1760 ± 242) Bq kg-1, respectively. Values of the annual effective dose equivalent outdoor range from 0.035 to 0.152 mSv y-1, whereas the gamma index is in the range of 0.22-0.98. The 222Rn emanation coefficient and the 222Rn surface exhalation rate vary from (0.63 ± 0.3) to (8.27 ± 1.6)% and from (0.12 ± 0.03) to (2.75 ± 0.17) Bq m-2 h-1, respectively. The indoor radon derived from the building use of these rocks induces an approximate contribution to the annual effective dose ranging from 8 to 176 μSv y-1. All the obtained results suggest that the crystalline rocks from the Peloritani Mountains are not harmful for the residential population, even though they induce annual effective doses due to terrestrial gamma radiation above the worldwide average values. Moreover, their use as building materials does not produce significant health hazards connected to the indoor radon exposure.

Description: Published

Description: 452–464

Description: 6A. Geochimica per l'ambiente e geologia medica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The Pollino range is a region of slow deformation where earthquakes generally nucleate on low-angle normal faults. Recent studies have mapped fault structures and identified fluid related dynamics responsible for historical and recent seismicity in the area. Here, we apply the coda-normalization method at multiple frequencies and scales to image the 3-D P-wave attenuation (QP) properties of its slowly deforming fault network. The wide-scale average attenuation properties of the Pollino range are typical for a stable continental block, with a dependence of QP on frequency of Q−1 P = (0.0011   0.0008) f (0.36 0.32). Using only waveforms comprised in the area of seismic swarms, the dependence of attenuation on frequency increases [Q−1 P = (0.0373   0.0011) f (−0.59 0.01)], as expected when targeting seismically active faults. A shallow very-low-attenuation anomaly (max depth of 4–5 km) caps the seismicity recorded within the western cluster 1 of the Pollino seismic sequence (2012, maximum magnitude Mw = 5.1). High-attenuation volumes below this anomaly are likely related to fluid storage and comprise the western and northern portions of cluster 1 and the Mercure basin. These anomalies are constrained to the NW by a sharp low-attenuation interface, corresponding to the transition towards the eastern unit of the Apennine Platform under the Lauria mountains. The low-seismicity volume between cluster 1 and cluster 2 (maximum magnitude Mw = 4.3, east of the primary) shows diffuse low-to-average attenuation features. There is no clear indication of fluid-filled pathways between the two clusters resolvable at our resolution. In this volume, the attenuation values are anyway lower than in recognized low-attenuation blocks, like the Lauria Mountain and Pollino Range. As the volume develops in a region marked at surface by small-scale cross-faulting, it suggests no actual barrier between clusters, more likely a system of small locked fault patches that can break in the future. Our model loses resolution at depth, but it can still resolve a 5-to-15-km-deep high-attenuation anomaly that underlies the Castrovillari basin. This anomaly is an ideal deep source for the SE-to-NW migration of historical seismicity. Our novel deep structural maps support the hypothesis that the Pollino sequence has been caused by a mechanism of deep and lateral fluid-induced migration.

Description: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Oil and Gas. University of Aberdeen.

Description: Published

Description: 536–547

Description: 4T. Sismicità dell'Italia

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This study represents the first attempt to combine the geomorphological characteristics of the island of Ustica with the human settlements that have been established during prehistory, with the purpose of reconstructing the interactions between communities and the natural environment from the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (6th - 1st millennia B.C.). Ustica is a small island in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, visible but far (~55 km) from the northern coast of western Sicily. Its rugged volcanic nature, remodeled and enriched by the sea, offered to the first colonizers a wide repertoire of opportunities and challenges. This island can be treated as an ideal “laboratory” to understand how settlers, taking their first steps towards the foundation of organized communities, were able to seize opportunities or succumb to obstacles. The review of archaeological research until now carried out in Ustica, integrated with geomorphological data and other biogeographical indicators, offers a picture of the prehistory of Ustica in which human presence is continuous and distributed in various sites of the island characterized by different physiographic characteristics. There are phases dominated by the choice of naturally protected sites and phases in which settlements expands on open land, suitable for agricultural use. Where the archaeological evidence is scarce, the geomorphological peculiarities allow us to decipher the vocations and characters of a human settlement. The study leads to an open question: in the Middle Bronze Age, after about five thousand years of uninterrupted habitation of Ustica, which factors, geological, social, or other, induced the early communities to abandon the island, without returning there for about eight centuries, until the Hellenistic-Roman age?

Description: Published

Description: VO550

Description: 6A. Geochimica per l'ambiente e geologia medica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This work sets out to identify a state-of-the-art system to be used for the calibration of seismic sensors. The aim is to acquire such a system within the framework of the PON ARS01 00926 EWAS (an Early Warning System for cultural heritage) project, which seeks to develop new technologies for the protection, conservation and safety of cultural heritage and envisages creating a newly developed seismic monitoring system. This system will exploit the ETL3D/5s-H hybrid sensors, resulting from the integration of a precision accelerometer within the ETL3D/5s velocimeter [Fertitta et al., 2020]. The new calibration system, already acquired and being installed, can be used by the EWAS project partners (including the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology and the Kore University of Enna), to calibrate the ETL3D/5s-H sensors, and by external organisations to calibrate or gauge other seismic sensors, thus providing a useful service to the scientific community and supporting industrial activities. This paper presents the method used and the activities undertaken to define the technical specifications of the calibration system. A feasibility study of an electromechanical vibrating table and the testing of two electrodynamic calibration systems were carried out. One of the electrodynamic systems is the CS18P (Calibration System for Seismic Sensors) produced by the German firm SPEKTRA. The CS18P comprises two vibrating tables, one horizontal and one vertical, which, thanks to their fluid-dynamic suspension, eliminate the sliding and rolling friction associated with the movement of the moving part with respect to the fixed part. A hardware and software system monitors and controls the motion in real time, analyses the data and automatically processes a predefined set of measurements. In the light of the technical specifications and experimental results, the CS18P represents the ideal solution for the aims of the EWAS project and also in view of the possible future uses of the calibration system.

Description: Published

Description: 1-38

Description: 2IT. Laboratori analitici e sperimentali

Description: JCR Journal

Description: In recent years, new approaches for developing earthquake rupture forecasts (ERFs) have been proposed to be used as an input for probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA). Zone- based approaches with seismicity rates derived from earthquake catalogs are commonly used in many countries as the standard for national seismic hazard models. In Italy, a single zone- based ERF is currently the basis for the official seismic hazard model. In this contribution, we present eleven new ERFs, including five zone-based, two smoothed seismicity-based, two fault- based, and two geodetic-based, used for a new PSH model in Italy. The ERFs were tested against observed seismicity and were subject to an elicitation procedure by a panel of PSHA experts to verify the scientific robustness and consistency of the forecasts with respect to the observations. Tests and elicitation were finalized to weight the ERFs. The results show a good response to the new inputs to observed seismicity in the last few centuries. The entire approach was a first attempt to build a community-based set of ERFs for an Italian PSHA model. The project involved a large number of seismic hazard practitioners, with their knowledge and experience, and the development of different models to capture and explore a large range of epistemic uncertainties in building ERFs, and represents an important step forward for the new national seismic hazard model.

Description: Published

Description: SE220

Description: 6T. Studi di pericolosità sismica e da maremoto

Description: JCR Journal

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Carroll, E. L., Ott, P. H., McMillan, L. F., Galletti Vernazzani, B., Neveceralova, P., Vermeulen, E., Gaggiotti, O. E., Andriolo, A., Baker, C. S., Bamford, C., Best, P., Cabrera, E., Calderan, S., Chirife, A., Fewster, R. M., Flores, P. A. C., Frasier, T., Freitas, T. R. O., Groch, K., Hulva, P., Kennedy, A., Leaper, R., Leslie, M. S., Moore, M., Oliveira, L., Seger, J., Stepien, E. N., Valenzuela, L. O., Zerbini, A., & Jackson, J. A. Genetic diversity and connectivity of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) found in the Brazil and Chile-Peru wintering grounds and the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur) feeding ground. Journal of Heredity, 111(3), (2020): 263-276, doi:10.1093/jhered/esaa010.

Description: As species recover from exploitation, continued assessments of connectivity and population structure are warranted to provide information for conservation and management. This is particularly true in species with high dispersal capacity, such as migratory whales, where patterns of connectivity could change rapidly. Here we build on a previous long-term, large-scale collaboration on southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) to combine new (nnew) and published (npub) mitochondrial (mtDNA) and microsatellite genetic data from all major wintering grounds and, uniquely, the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur: SG) feeding grounds. Specifically, we include data from Argentina (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 208/46), Brazil (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 50/50), South Africa (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 66/77, npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 350/47), Chile–Peru (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 1/1), the Indo-Pacific (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 769/126), and SG (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 8/0, nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 3/11) to investigate the position of previously unstudied habitats in the migratory network: Brazil, SG, and Chile–Peru. These new genetic data show connectivity between Brazil and Argentina, exemplified by weak genetic differentiation and the movement of 1 genetically identified individual between the South American grounds. The single sample from Chile–Peru had an mtDNA haplotype previously only observed in the Indo-Pacific and had a nuclear genotype that appeared admixed between the Indo-Pacific and South Atlantic, based on genetic clustering and assignment algorithms. The SG samples were clearly South Atlantic and were more similar to the South American than the South African wintering grounds. This study highlights how international collaborations are critical to provide context for emerging or recovering regions, like the SG feeding ground, as well as those that remain critically endangered, such as Chile–Peru.

Description: This work was supported by the EU BEST 2.0 medium grant 1594 and UK DARWIN PLUS grant 057 and additional funding from the World Wildlife Fund GB107301. The collection of the Chile–Peru sample was supported by the Global Greengrants Fund and the Pacific Whale Foundation. The collection of the Brazilian samples was supported through grants by the Brazilian National Research Council to Paulo H. Ott (CNPq proc. n° 144064/98-7) and Paulo A.C. Flores (CNPq proc. n° 146609/1999-9) and with support from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF-Brazil). The collection of the South African samples was supported by the Global Greengrants Fund, the Pacific Whale Foundation and Charles University Grant Agency (1140217). E.L.C. was partially supported by a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship from the Royal Society of New Zealand. This study forms part of the Ecosystems component of the British Antarctic Survey Polar Sciences for Planet Earth Programme, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.

Description: This article has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Journal International ©: The Authors 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.

Description: In a recent study (Jozinovi\'c et al, 2020) we showed that convolutional neural networks (CNNs) applied to network seismic traces can be used for rapid prediction of earthquake peak ground motion intensity measures (IMs) at distant stations using only recordings from stations near the epicenter. The predictions are made without any previous knowledge concerning the earthquake location and magnitude. This approach differs from the standard procedure adopted by earthquake early warning systems (EEWSs) that rely on location and magnitude information. In the previous study, we used 10 s, raw, multistation waveforms for the 2016 earthquake sequence in central Italy for 915 events (CI dataset). The CI dataset has a large number of spatially concentrated earthquakes and a dense station network. In this work, we applied the CNN model to an area around the VIRGO gravitational waves observatory sited near Pisa, Italy. In our initial application of the technique, we used a dataset consisting of 266 earthquakes recorded by 39 stations. We found that the CNN model trained using this smaller dataset performed worse compared to the results presented in the original study by Jozinovi\'c et al. (2020). To counter the lack of data, we adopted transfer learning (TL) using two approaches: first, by using a pre-trained model built on the CI dataset and, next, by using a pre-trained model built on a different (seismological) problem that has a larger dataset available for training. We show that the use of TL improves the results in terms of outliers, bias, and variability of the residuals between predicted and true IMs values. We also demonstrate that adding knowledge of station positions as an additional layer in the neural network improves the results. The possible use for EEW is demonstrated by the times for the warnings that would be received at the station PII.

Description: RISE (Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, grant agreement No.821115)

Description: Published

Description: 704–718

Description: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Mobile network routers in seismic and volcanic surveillance

Description: Published

Description: 1-36

Description: 1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianza

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: This special issue of “Annals of Geophysics” concerns the dissemination of knowledge on the prevention of damage mainly due to non-structural elements during earthquakes and its practical application at houses, schools and offices by common citizens, companies and institutions. The seismic capacity of buildings and other civil engineering structures and infrastructures are object of regulations for design and construction, and in some cases also the design, fabrication and mounting of electrical and mechanical equipments. Consequently, even in strong earthquakes many collapses of buildings and infrastructures are avoided. However, with few exceptions, design procedures do not aim at avoiding seismic vibrations from being transferred to the structures, but enable the structures to resist to the effects of those vibrations

Description: European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (Grant agreement ECHO/SUB/2015/718655/PREV28)

Description: Published

Description: SE331

Description: 3TM. Comunicazione

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Encouraging property owners and individuals to adopt mitigation measures to improve the resilience of their buildings and equipments to seismic hazard has been a major challenge in many earthquake- prone countries. Few business leaders are aware of the fragility of their supply chains or other critical systems due to earthquake hazard. Bridging the gap between research production and research use is another crucial challenge for the earthquake risk research process. The KnowRISK project outcome is aimed at encouraging the proactive engagement of multi- stakeholders (community at large, schools, business community and local govern-ment groups) undertaking non-structural mitigation measures that will minimize earthquake losses to individuals and communities. Engaging stakeholders, taking into account their needs and inputs to maintain critical and urgent business activities, can contribute to the research findings and ensure that our data collection is thorough and complete. Engagement with stakeholders, during the whole process can lead to improved outcomes and for the development of viable solutions, for business and society, because of stakeholder’s role and influence within the organizations.

Description: European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (Grant agreement ECHO/SUB/2015/718655/PREV28)

Description: Published

Description: SE324

Description: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The focus of this study is the analysis of a cave in Central Italy, the Beatrice Cenci cave, in order topoint out and constrain evidence of possible past earthquakes and of fault activity in the area. Weperformed a survey of seismic related damages within the cave. This included the analysis ofbroken/collapsed speleothems, the recognition of structural collapse, of tilting/growth alteration inthe speleothems, and the mapping of fractures, joints and/or faults. To timely set the occurrence ofthe recognized damage, organic sediments were dated with 14C radiocarbon method. The resultsmerged toward the recognition of two distinct seismic shaking events affecting the caveenvironment, one older than 30 kyr and another around 7 kyr. The deformation observed withinthe cave led us to the hypothesis that the events of damage were possibly linked to the activity ofthe regional tectonic lineament that crosses the cave, i.e., the Liri normal fault. The morphology andthe evolution of the cave appear controlled by the fault zone. These speleoseismological resultsprovided a new contribution on the knowledge of the past activity of the Liri fault and on theearthquake history of this sector of Central Apennines.

Description: INGV

Description: Published

Description: SE435

Description: 2T. Deformazione crostale attiva

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Il presente lavoro raccoglie alcune esperienze di Progetti di Alternanza Scuola Lavoro (d’ora in poi ASL) realizzati dall’INGV negli anni scolastici dal 2015 al 2019 e dedicati al rischio sismico, alle scienze polari ed agli strumenti per la divulgazione scientifica. Le esperienze descrivono il lavoro realizzato da un gruppo di ricercatori INGV con competenze in diversi ambiti disciplinari (sismologia, geologia, vulcanologia fisica dell’atmosfera, psicologia) e in alcuni casi le attività sono state svolte in collaborazione con ricercatori di altri enti. Il gruppo di lavoro è composto da ricercatori che da molti anni dedicano parte del loro tempo-lavoro alle attività di divulgazione scientifica, ai progetti educativi, alla didattica della scienza. In una parola a quella che oggi rappresenta, per gli enti di ricerca, la “Terza missione”, ovvero l’insieme di tutte le attività finalizzate a creare una connessione bidirezionale tra il mondo della ricerca e la società. Ciò che ha caratterizzato l’approccio dei ricercatori INGV ai progetti ASL, sia nella fase di progettazione che di realizzazione, è la finalità di consentire agli studenti di vivere un’esperienza reale ed immersiva in un contesto di lavoro. E quindi l’opportunità di sperimentare capacità e abilità che caratterizzano il contesto organizzativo (diritti, doveri, responsabilità, impegni, regole), diversamente dal mondo della scuola. Il secondo aspetto al quale ci si è riferiti nella realizzazione dei progetti è quello di consentire agli studenti di esplorare, in particolare il contesto delle attività lavorative connesse al mondo della ricerca. Da questo punto di vista gli studenti hanno potuto acquisire conoscenze in ambiti tematici specifici, hanno avuto modo di sperimentare metodi e tecniche proprie del mondo della ricerca e di acquisire capacità e abilità trasversali come il lavoro in gruppo. Il contributo è organizzato in tre capitoli in relazione ai temi affrontati nei progetti. Nel primo sono riportate le schede dei tre progetti dedicate al tema Terremoto; nel secondo vengono descritti i due progetti dedicati alla Divulgazione Scientifica e nel terzo un progetto sulle Scienze Polari. Per rendere maggiormente fruibile la lettura, ogni progetto viene descritto attraverso una scheda sintetica che evidenza le caratteristiche principali: titolo, referenti INGV, studenti partecipanti, periodo, descrizione delle attività, obiettivi e considerazioni sull’esperienza. Nel capitolo conclusivo viene proposto un bilancio delle esperienze realizzate, evidenziando punti di forza e aree di miglioramento dei progetti, con la finalità di condividere suggerimenti ed idee per tracciare percorsi formativi maggiormente efficaci nel futuro.

Description: Published

Description: 119-131

Description: 2TM. Divulgazione Scientifica

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: “Move, protect, secure” were the three key points that the KnowRISK (Know your city, Reduce seISmic risK through non-structural elements) project posed at the core of its communication and dissemination strategy. This three key points enable each person, professional or not, to reduce non-structural damage caused by earthquakes. Dissemination is usually the last but never the least step of a communication plan, and indeed it played a crucial role in KnowRISK project for conveying the three key-point message to the widest audience. Standard dissemination activities, such as open-door events, and internet allowed us to achieve a wide spreading of ideas and best practices, reaching more than 4,000 non-professionals and almost 50,000 page views of the KnowRISK project website (in three years), respectively. As communication was recipient-targeted, the dissemination task of the project was addressed to professionals, layman, and schools. In particular, schools were chosen in order to profit from the chain-reaction action that is capable to spread a message from students to the surrounding environment.

Description: This study was co-financed by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection through the European project KnowRISK (Know your city, Reduce seISmic risK through non-structural elements; Grant agreement ECHO/SUB/2015/718655/PREV28).

Description: Published

Description: SE328

Description: 6T. Studi di pericolosità sismica e da maremoto

Description: JCR Journal

Description: We present the commented transcription of three rare articles published in 19091910 by Father Atto Maccioni o.f.m. This friar is one of the least known among the many ecclesiastics who cultivated seismology from the 18th century onwards. Maccioni, from 1908 to 1926, managed a seismic observatory at the Sienese convent of the Osservanza. He devised an “Avvisatore”: a device equipped with a modified coherer with respect to those adopted in radiotelegraphic communications, aimed to detect natural radio signals associated with earthquakes. From the few available results it seems that the scholar obtained positive feedback, but the most interesting aspect of the story is that until now it was generally believed that this kind of research began only quite recently [Warwick, 1982]. On the contrary Maccioni may have been the first ever to study a possible electromagnetic precursor, more than a century ago.

Description: Presentiamo la trascrizione commentata di tre rari articoli pubblicati nel 19091910 da padre Atto Maccioni o.f.m., uno dei meno noti tra i tanti ecclesiastici che si sono occupati di sismologia dal XVIII secolo in poi. Maccioni, che dal 1908 al 1926 gestì un osservatorio sismico presso il convento senese dell’Osservanza, aveva ideato l’Avvisatore, un dispositivo munito di un coherer diverso da quelli radiotelegrafici e destinato a rilevare segnali radio naturali associati ai terremoti. Dai pochi risultati disponibili sembra che lo studioso abbia avuto dei riscontri positivi ma l’aspetto più interessante della vicenda è che finora si era creduto che ricerche di questo tipo fossero iniziate solo molto di recente [Warwick, 1982]. Invece Maccioni potrebbe essere stato il primo al mondo a studiare, più di un secolo fa, un ipotetico precursore elettromagnetico.

Description: Published

Description: 1-32

Description: 7T. Variazioni delle caratteristiche crostali e "precursori"

Description: 2TM. Divulgazione Scientifica

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: La Cromatografia Ionica (IC) è diventata una delle tecniche analitiche più utilizzate nella determinazione degli anioni (F-, Cl-, Br-, NO3-, SO42-) e dei cationi (Li+, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+) in soluzioni acquose, anche a basse concentrazioni. Nel Laboratorio dell’INGV Sezione di Palermo questa tecnica viene utilizzata per determinare la composizione chimica di acque naturali (acque sotterranee, termali, meteoriche, marine), di fluidi fumarolici, campionati tramite il metodo delle ampolle di Giggenbach e delle specie acide emesse dai pennacchi vulcanici campionati con trappole alcaline. Ogni anno nel laboratorio vengono analizzati numerosi campioni per scopi di ricerca e monitoraggio geochimico e ambientale. Uno dei principali problemi dell’attività analitica di routine è la valutazione della precisione del dato, definita dall’American Public Health Association [1999], “come la misura del grado di accordo tra analisi replicate di un campione, di solito espresse come deviazione standard”. Tralasciando I problemi di rappresentatività del campione, ci sono diversi fattori che contribuiscono alla precisione, come il pretrattamento del campione, la preparazione e conservazione delle miscele di calibrazione, la ripetibilità delle misure delle aree dei picchi delle miscele di calibrazione e il tipo di calibrazione. In questo lavoro mostriamo la precisione dei cromatografi Dionex ICS-1100 ripetendo più volte l’analisi le miscele di calibrazione durante una singola sessione analitica, e la ripetibilità dello strumento, elaborando I risultati ottenuti analizzando le stesse miscele di calibrazione in differenti sessioni analitiche nell’arco di 12 mesi. Infine, viene determinata l’accuratezza del metodo attraverso l’analisi di un campione certificato. L’accuratezza è la vicinanza tra il valore osservato ed il valore vero, o comunque accettato come tale. I dati riportati in questo rapporto tecnico si riferiscono alle condizioni analitiche per le analisi di routine, con la configurazione strumentale corrente in uso presso questo laboratorio; queste possono essere ottimizzate per altri range di utilizzo a condizione però che vengano eseguite le necessarie verifiche di precisione e accuratezza.

Description: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) “Sez. di Palermo”

Description: Published

Description: 1-22

Description: 2IT. Laboratori analitici e sperimentali

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: A new indirect method of estimating in situ soil air permeability is presented in this technical report. The new method is simply based on the measurement of air pressure (probe pressure) generated by pumping a constant air flux inside a special designed probe inserted into the soil. To calibrate the method, some measurements of the probe pressure were performed in some soils of the island of Vulcano, characterized by different values of the air permeability. Furthermore, technical aspects of a new device for performing continuous acquisition of the air permeability based on the new indirect method, were also described

Description: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) “Sez. di Palermo”

Description: Published

Description: 1-18

Description: 1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianza

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: La determinazione di anioni inorganici nelle acque naturali, sotterranee e superficiali, cosi come nelle acque reflue e potabili, è una delle applicazioni più importanti della cromatografia ionica (IC). Con questa tecnica si possono comunemente determinare i principali anioni inorganici: fluoruro, cloruro, bromuro, nitrato e solfato. Utilizzando specifiche metodologie oltre ai predetti analiti, si può determinare anche il fosfato durante la medesima analisi. La determinazione dei fosfati nelle acque riveste una notevole importanza in considerazione del fatto che il fosfato rappresenta un possibile indice di inquinamento per la presenza di questa sostanza in moltissimi composti chimici, quali: detersivi domestici ed industriali, fertilizzanti ecc. La quantità di fosfati, nelle acque naturali, quando è di origine minerale e non indica inquinamento, raggiunge concentrazioni appena dosabili, mentre concentrazioni elevate e quindi misurabili, sono indice di inquinamento. Il fosfato è uno dei nutrienti di maggiore importanza nelle acque, la sua presenza in concentrazioni consistenti, può essere responsabile di manifestazioni eutrofiche ed ipertrofiche nelle acque superficiali. Data la sua importanza nel condizionare il funzionamento degli ecosistemi acquatici, esso è incluso nella lista dei cosiddetti macrodescrittori utilizzati per definire lo stato chimico delle acque fluviali e lacustri e per valutare, lo stato trofico delle acque. La determinazione del fosfato viene comunemente effettuata utilizzando l’analisi spettrofotometrica dell’eteropoliacido fosfomolibdico formatosi in seguito alla reazione con molibdato in ambiente acido ed in presenza di idoneo riducente. Tuttavia questo, metodo ampliamente utilizzato, consente la determinazione del singolo analita e non consente quindi la caratterizzazione chimica del campione. La cromatografia ionica, invece, presenta il vantaggio di essere una tecnica multi-elementare che consente di determinare in breve tempo tutti i costituenti maggiori disciolti nelle acque. In questo rapporto tecnico viene descritta la determinazione del fosfato e dei costituenti maggiori nelle acque naturali utilizzando, un cromatografo Thermo Scientific Dionex ICS 5000+, equipaggiato con una colonna a scambio anionico “Dionex AS19 4µm”, un generatore di eluente a idrossido di potassio (KOH), un soppressore elettrochimico ed un rivelatore a cella conduttimetrica.

Description: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) “Sez. di Palermo”

Description: Published

Description: 1-22

Description: 2IT. Laboratori analitici e sperimentali

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: Il sito delle “Ciampate del diavolo”, sul fianco nord­orientale del vulcano Roccamonfina, è un sito unico al Mondo grazie alle sue peculiarità geologiche ed antropologiche. Il ritrovamento di impronte di hominini al di sopra di un deposito ignimbritico, impresse in nel periodo di maggiore attività del vulcano, dà spazio a numerose questioni circa le condizioni paleoambientali esistenti sul vulcano ed i complessi processi che hanno permesso la formazione e la conservazione delle impronte. La nota dedica particolare attenzione al contesto dell’attività del vulcano ed alle caratteristiche della serie dei Tufi Leucitici Bruni, in quanto le impronte note come “Ciampate del diavolo” sono presenti sulla superficie di una delle unità più alte della sequenza di questi tufi. The “Ciampate del diavolo” geosite is unique in the World due to its geological and anthropological peculiarities. Finding hominin footprints on the ignimbrite deposits of 350,000 years ago, imprinted in the period of greatest activity of the volcano, opens up numerous questions about the palaeoenvironmental conditions of the volcano and the complex processes that allowed the generation and conservation of the footprints. The note pays particular attention to the framing of the volcano's activity and to the features of deposits of the Brown Leucitic Tuff series, as the human fossil footprints known as "Ciampate del Diavolo" are preserved on the surface of one of the highest units in the sequence.

Description: Published

Description: 49-55

Description: 1V. Storia eruttiva

Description: 5V. Processi eruttivi e post-eruttivi

Description: 1TR. Georisorse

Description: 6SR VULCANI – Servizi e ricerca per la società

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: Mts. Simbruini karst aquifer feeds important springs whose capture contributes to the water supply of Rome City. To improve the geochemical characterization of this aquifer, we analyzed 36 groundwater samples, 29 from springs and 7 from shallow wells, collected in 1996 and 2019. Atomic adsorption spectroscopy, titration, ionic chromatography and mass spectrometry were the used analytical methods. Groundwater is bicarbonate alkaline-earth type and HCO3- dominance confirms that the aquifer is hosted in carbonate rocks. Total alkalinity vs. cations plot indicates that CO2 driven weathering controls the water chemistry. The probability plots of HCO3-, cations and Ca2+ +Mg2+ indicate four groundwater populations with the less represented one (9 samples)characterized by the highest PCO2 values (〉 0.3 atm). Most anomalous values of the dissolved PCO2are from springs located near the center of the studied area. Four samples have negative values of𝛿13CCO2 (about -22‰ vs. PDB), indicating its organic origin, but two other samples have positivevalues (1.6 and 2.6 ‰ vs. PDB), similar to those observed in the CO2 of deep origin discharged atthe close Colli Albani volcano. Therefore, geochemical evidence indicates that the Mts. Simbruiniaquifer is locally affected by the input of deep originated CO2, likely rising up along fractures, interacting with a recharge of meteoric origin, as evidenced by its 𝛿2H and 𝛿18O isotopic signatures.

Description: Published

Description: HS659

Description: 1TR. Georisorse

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The best chance to achieve a future disaster-resilient society is through risk education in School: it has a great potential to strengthen capacity of communities to mitigate risks. The KnowRISK (Know your city, Reduce seISmic risK through non-structural elements) project took this opportunity and implemented a risk communication campaign for schools in Portugal, Italy, and Iceland. The idea was that suitably changes in people’s knowledge and attitude can trigger best practices. Crucial to reach such target is the raise of awareness on meaningful issues. The main challenge of the campaign was how to effectively address the mitigation of the vulnerability to earthquakes of non-structural elements, which is an issue considered to be of low priority even in the building regulations of many countries around the world. The campaign stood on a communication strategy that was systematized within a protocol, for 13- 15 years old students, that specifies goals, contents, learning strategy, support material, and relies on face-to-face intervention of scientists in the classroom. This protocol had training sessions bounded by assessment sessions, ex-ante and ex-post, that allowed to validate its efficacy. The training made large use of flipped learning and Episode of Situated Learning (EAS) strategy to raise student’s motivation and increase achievements. To ensure its replicability, the protocol was tested in zones matching a wide range of seismic hazard in Italy. The assessment showed the protocol be effective and ready for a wide dissemination.

Description: Published

Description: SE325

Description: 2TM. Divulgazione Scientifica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: In aree di vulcanismo attivo e recente, oltre all’emissione di vapore e gas dai crateri centrali, si possono verificare emissioni di gas dal suolo che vengono rilasciati in modo diffuso o in mofete, o ancora che si disciolgono in acquiferi superficiali. Generalmente il gas più abbondante (fino al 99 vol.%) è l’anidride carbonica (CO2), ma in alcuni casi può essere anche il metano (CH4). La CO2 è un gas incolore e inodore che tende ad accumularsi in depressioni o scantinati dove ristagna in assenza di vento. Respirare aria con una concentrazione di anidride carbonica maggiore di 8 vol.% può condurre all’incoscienza o alla morte. Un esempio di quello che potrebbe accadere, anche se si tratta di un caso estremo, è rappresentato dal tragico evento avvenuto presso il lago Nyos in Camerun (un lago ospitato in un cratere vulcanico). Durante la notte del 21 agosto 1986 le acque del lago, sature di CO2, si rovesciarono improvvisamente e per decompressione si liberò una enorme quantità di gas che scese lungo i fianchi del cratere fino a raggiungere la valle sottostante dove vi era un villaggio. La nube di CO2, silenziosa e inodore, colse nel sonno gli abitanti e uccise circa 1700 persone e circa 3000 capi di bestiame [Barberi et al., 1986]. Numerosi incidenti dovuti all’inalazione di gas vulcanici sono avvenuti in varie altre parti del mondo, in particolare in Italia, Giappone, Nuova Zelanda [Hansell and Oppenheimer, 2004; Durand and Wilson, 2005] e nelle Isole Azzorre (Portogallo) [Viveiros et al., 2015]. Anche in Italia, purtroppo sono avvenuti diversi incidenti letali dovuti ad inalazione di CO2; si ricorda ad esempio che alla fine degli anni ’80 due bambini persero la vita nell’isola di Vulcano [Baubron et al., 1990] e ancora nel complesso vulcanico dei Colli Albani due uomini persero la vita, il primo a Cava dei Selci (frazione di Marino) nel 2000 e il secondo a Lavinio nel 2011 [Carapezza et al., 2003; Barberi et al., 2019]. Sempre in provincia di Roma, numerosi casi di intossicazione da CO2, che hanno altresì comportato l’evacuazione temporanea di alcune abitazioni, sono avvenuti per blowout (emissione incontrollata) di gas da pozzi d’acqua [Barberi et al., 2007; Carapezza et al., 2020]. La Campania ospita due dei vulcani quiescenti considerati tra i più pericolosi al mondo proprio per l’alta densità di popolazione che vive nelle zone esposte al pericolo: il Vesuvio e i Campi Flegrei. Anche in queste aree vulcaniche si hanno emissioni di gas endogeni e falde d’acqua ricche in CO2 e in caso di riattivazione del vulcano c’è da aspettarsi anche un forte incremento del rilascio del gas endogeno [Barberi et al., 2005]. Al fine di far conoscere tale problematica alla popolazione, si è ritenuto opportuno di agire sui ragazzi e di farlo in modo stimolante e divertente attraverso un Videogioco che catturi la loro attenzione in modo da portarli a scoprire le soluzioni più adeguate da adottare per individuare/evitare/gestire i pericoli legati a quello che spesso viene definito anche “carburante delle eruzioni”, i gas vulcanici. Le attività che hanno portato alla realizzazione di questo lavoro (e nello specifico del videogioco) sono state svolte nell’ambito del Progetto Europeo RESPIRE – Radon rEal time monitoring System and proactive Indoor Remediation (LIFE16ENV/IT/000553) e con la collaborazione di un Tirocinante del Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione ed Elettrica e Matematica Applicata dell’Università degli Studi di Salerno. Il lavoro è stato descritto e sintetizzato in questo Report attraverso varie sezioni. La prima in cui si descrive la problematica dei Gas Vulcanici e della loro pericolosità; l’importanza e i vantaggi derivati dall’utilizzo di un videogioco come strumento di apprendimento; l’obiettivo che il videogioco si prefigge di raggiungere. Una seconda sezione in cui, in prima istanza, si evidenzia l’importanza di sviluppare un videogioco a partire da un Motore Grafico che consente di tralasciare i dettagli hardware e software di basso livello e di concentrarsi maggiormente sull’interattività e sulle regole del gioco, e in seconda istanza si descrivono le caratteristiche principali del motore grafico alla base del gioco (RPG Maker MV).Una terza sezione in cui viene presentato il videogioco sviluppato denominato “GioGas”; nello specifico, la sua trama, l’interfaccia grafica che lo caratterizza e alcuni sui dettagli implementativi. Infine, una sezione in cui vengono descritti gli sviluppi futuri come ad esempio la divulgazione presso le scuole e in occasione di eventi, l’implementazione di una versione multiplayer del gioco al fine di aggiungere ulteriori elementi di stimolo e di coinvolgimento per lo studente.

Description: Published

Description: 6SR VULCANI – Servizi e ricerca per la società

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: PGS1 is a new compact portable seismic station, designed at INGV OBS and Earth Lab, that is specifically intended for the deployment of dense arrays of seismographs on-shore. With its low cost, compact design, high data-quality and long battery life, PGS1 is a perfect solution for seismic monitoring networks. PGS1 design is based on a solid polypropylene suitcase, containing a complete data acquisition system, two battery packs and a photovoltaic panel. The new Earth Lab 5s medium-period seismic sensor is included. The whole system meets the IP67 standard requirements both in transport and in acquisition configuration. PGS1 is normally equipped with one battery pack, one more pack can be added inside the suitcase achieving 40 days of battery life. The station is equipped with a photovoltaic panel, useful to extend the deployment length. Inside the suitcase, there are compartments where to store the seismic sensor, the photovoltaic panel and all the cables. Therefore, the station is very easy to transport.

Description: Published

Description: SE105

Description: 1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianza

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Low field magnetic susceptibility and other rock magnetic analyses are applied to inspect the magnetic nature of solid residuals in snow samples collected in downtown Rome and in two Natural Parks in central Italy. Field emission scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscopy (FESEM-EDS) analyses are utilized to reveal the nature of Fe-rich particles and discriminate their anthropogenic origin. The results indicate that magnetite (Fe3O4) is the main magnetic carrier in almost all samples and that the variations in concentration are directly associated with local sources of particulate matter (PM) from anthropogenic pollution related to automotive circulation in both environments. Magnetic minerals of other provenance are found as accessories. The snow deposits revealed to be an efficient neutral tool for fine particle collections, also in environments characterized by different concentration and source of pollutants.

Description: Published

Description: GM215

Description: 1A. Geomagnetismo e Paleomagnetismo

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The 1971 eruption represents a benchmark in the recent history of Etna volcano. From a volcanological point of view, this eruption was characterised by complex intrusive dynamics associated with significant ground deformation that induced the activation of the Moscarello seismogenic fault and the formation of a new summit crater: the Southeast Crater. At the same time, the 1971 event marks an important change in the eruptive style and composition of the magma towards products richer in K. It is no coincidence that, over the next fifty years, there would be an increase in the frequency of summit and flank eruptions and associated output rate. From an historical viewpoint, the eruptive event of 1971 was the first important flank eruption studied by the International Institute of Volcanology: the analysis of the scientific articles on this activity reveals a greater multidisciplinary content in the descriptions and explanations of volcanic activity. Particularly important were the collaborations of British and French research groups that, together with their Italian colleagues, succeeded in giving a complete picture of the eruption and describing the state of knowledge on the Sicilian volcano. The multidisciplinary methodology used to study this eruption is still valid today.

Description: Published

Description: VO543

Description: 1V. Storia eruttiva

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This study analyses the relationship between the pre- and protohistoric sites on the slopes of Etna and the volcanic products, as well as the diverse settlement strategies in the different periods of prehistory. New C14 dating from significant excavations, in addition to those known from other Etnean sites, were performed with the aim of validating the chronology of the sequence of the different phases. A substantial concordance of the archaeological data with the volcanological ones has been found. It has been observed that a consistent human presence on Etna appears from the Middle Neolithic (5500 BC), after the sequence of eruptive events that marked the end of the Ellittico volcano (13550 - 13050 BC) and the formation of the Valle del Bove, and the subsequent debris and alluvial events on the eastern flanks of the volcano (7250 - 3350 BC). Human presence intensifies between the Late-Final Copper Age and the Early Bronze Age (2800 - 1450 BC), due to improvement in subsistence techniques and to the large presence of soils on lava flows suitable for sheep farming. The most recent phases of the Bronze Age are poorly represented, probably because of the concentration of the population in larger agglomerations (Montevergine and S. Paolillo at Catania, the Historical Hill at Paternò). The explosive eruptions taking place in this period seem to have had less impact on the settlement choices and have not affected the development of the sites over time.

Description: Published

Description: VO542

Description: 1V. Storia eruttiva

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This special issue of Annals of Geophysics entitled: “When Volcanologists Meet Archaeologists and Other Disciplines: Relationships Between Eruptions and Human Communities” originates from a session (S13) of the Rittmann International Conference which took place in Catania on February 13th 2020, having as its main theme the history of volcanology and the impact of volcanic activity on humans. The twelve articles collected in this special issue reflect the aims and contents of the reports presented by some participants at this session of the Rittmann conference

Description: Published

Description: 6SR VULCANI – Servizi e ricerca per la società

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Published

Description: 6TM. Poli Museali

Description: The Western Ionian Sea is characterised by an active and diffuse seismicity, directly related to the convergence of the European and African Plates and by gravitational sinking and rollback of the oceanic lithosphere. In this area, the location of earthquakes is characterised by considerable uncertainties due to large azimuthal gaps, resulting in notable location errors. This problem was partially overcome with the use of data recorded by NEMO-SN1 seafloor observatory (October 2002 - February 2003; June 2012 - May 2013). We relocated 1130 crustal and sub-crustal earthquakes using land network and NEMO-SN1 data. As most events occurred on Mt. Etna, we focused on 358 earthquakes in the offshore area and near the coasts of Sicily and Calabria. The use of the combined land-marine networks has improved the earthquake locations in terms of azimuthal GAP, as well as in horizontal and vertical errors. The comparison between locations performed with and without NEMO-SN1 data shows that differences in latitude, longitude and depths are more evident in the Western Ionian Sea and in the coast of Sicily, where values of the differences over 5 km correspond to structural heterogeneities. The increased number of seismic stations deployed on land from 2003 to 2012 did not influence the location of events occurring offshore, where NEMO-SN1 continued to be the distinctive tool in the location process. Moreover, the new 73 focal mechanisms computed with P-wave polarities from NEMO-SN1 and land stations are in agreement with the regional structural model, showing a prevalent normal, normal/oblique, and strike-slip kinematics. The similarity of two new focal solutions with the mechanisms of the main shock and aftershock of the 1990 earthquake demonstrates that the seismic structures are still active and potentially dangerous. The P-wave travel time residual analysis confirms the activity along the main structural alignments. A single point of observation in the Ionian Sea can significantly improve the quality of locations, giving an opportunity to focus on the seismogenic structures responsible for the occurrence of medium-to-high magnitude earthquakes.

Description: Published

Description: Se655

Description: 1T. Struttura della Terra

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The 8 September 1905 Calabria earthquake is the seismic event for which the Italian Seismic Catalogue shows the highest instrumental magnitude of the whole dataset. However, the reported MS = 7.47 was calculated over only two stations, and leaves room for a revision. In this work I provide a new estimate of the surface-wave magnitude of the earthquake calculated over sixteen individual values of magnitude from seven different stations. The new estimate is MS = 7.10 ± 0.21, a value that is consistently lined up with other estimates provided by means of macroseismic or geological evidence. The novel estimate is stable despite alternative epicentral locations and different depths proposed for this event by several investigators. The net variation of almost half a unit magnitude implies a resizing of the seismogenic source of the event in the frame of the seismotectonics of the region, and highlights the strong need for a systematic revision of the instrumental magnitude estimates for several ‘historical’ earthquakes that occurred at the dawning of the instrumental seismology.

Description: Published

Description: SE658

Description: 4T. Sismicità dell'Italia

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Usually seismicity is intended as a natural phenomenon; yet the recording and interpretation of data are a human undertaking, historically conditioned. This research starts from the hypothesis that the decrease in Italian seismicity observed in the historical catalog [Rovida et al., 2021] for the central years of the twentieth century is due to the social and political conditioning that hindered its registration. This work, which focuses on the 1930s, with a brief excursion into previous years, presents part of the results obtained. In particular, the article deals with three earthquakes of which the data are substantially updated (Calabria, 7.03.1928; Alpi Noriche, 14.05.1930; Valli Giudicarie, 14.04.1931); then it presents an important replica of the strong Maiella earthquake, without macroseismic data in the catalog [Rovida et al., 2021], (Maiella, 23.11.1933); finally it considers a “forgotten” fifth earthquake (Southern Italy, 13.04.1938).

Description: Published

Description: 1-78

Description: 4T. Sismicità dell'Italia

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Le finalità del progetto sono quelle di realizzare un prototipo di ionosonda per sondaggi obliqui basato sul principio del radar ad onda continua modulata in frequenza, implementato tramite dispositivi programmabili innovativi che permettono di realizzare uno strumento più piccolo e trasportabile rispetto alle ionosonde classiche. La ionosonda SDR è un radar bistatico costituito da un trasmettitore, che può servire contemporaneamente diversi ricevitori situati in località differenti, e da uno o più ricevitori che possono sintonizzarsi su differenti trasmettitori che effettuano sondaggi ad orari differenti. I sondaggi obliqui permettono di mappare la ionosfera in varie parti del territorio per la verifica di modelli teorici della ionosfera e per studiare la possibilità di usare le variazioni locali del Contenuto Elettronico Totale (TEC) come segnale di possibili precursori di terremoti.

Description: Published

Description: 1-32

Description: 6IT. Osservatori non satellitari

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) was born from the unification of public research institutions in the field of geophysics and volcanology. In the first twenty years from the foundation law of 1999, the INGV has seen a remarkable development, alternating moments of expansion, with significant increases in funding and number of employees, with long periods of stagnation. During these years the number of people hired with fixed-term contracts has grown, also to meet the needs of seismic and volcanic monitoring of the Italian territory, carried out on the basis of agreements with the Department of Civil Protection. After twenty years, it's time to outline a picture of the present situation and the evolutionary process that determined it. With this objective, the following analysis of the evolution of INGV was carried out in the period between its establishment and 2019, with reference to aspects such as the composition of the personnel, its distribution in the Sections, age, gender, role, career, with the aim of providing a tool for evaluating the progress made and planning future developments. The presence of a large number of precarious workers, distributed unevenly in territorial offices, for many years represented the main problem of the INGV, but not the only one. The contraction of the funding and the hiring freeze also slowed the development of the careers of researchers and other employers. The poor gender balance among the personnel, in particular among researchers, and the high average age represents further critical elements. The appropriate rebalancing of heterogeneities, aimed at maximum functionality and effective growth of the institute, should be the challenge for the next years. The future of INGV will depend on the choices that will be made today and the knowledge of the evolution of the institution until today is an essential element for proper programming.

Description: Published

Description: 1-92

Description: 3TM. Comunicazione

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia

Description: Published

Description: 1-186

Description: 1SR TERREMOTI - Sorveglianza Sismica e Allerta Tsunami

Description: 1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianza

Description: 1TM. Formazione

Description: 2TM. Divulgazione Scientifica

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: This contribution illustrates the state of the art on the development of the multiparametric network in Sicily in the last three years. This region is wellknown for the strong earthquakes (M〉6.5) which struck in historic time. However, the coverage of the seismic network developed in the last decades was not fully optimized to the need of the seismic surveillance. Since 2017, the group belonging to the National Earthquake Observatory (ONT) which operates in Sicily launched a developing plan of the preexisting seismic network in the framework of the project FISR “Sale Operative Integrate e Reti di Monitoraggio del futuro: l’INGV 2.0 (S.O.I.R.)”. Such update will end by the next years thanks to the project “GRINT Italian Research Infrastructure for Geosciences” in the framework of the “Programma Operativo Nazionale” (PON) of the Italian Ministry for the University and Research. This plan envisages both the upgrade of monitoring systems in the already existing nodes, and the integration of new nodes. The main objective is to build a multiparametric network which integrates the main seismic network, with the monitoring of other geophysical signals through the implementation of other sensors: accelerometers, geodetic GPS, radon detectors, and corner reflectors. We also illustrate the plan for the realization of a redundant network which could support the tasks of the main infrastructure in case of failure of the latter. Finally, we present some experimental urbanscale networks which in the future could support the main infrastructure.

Description: Published

Description: 1-40

Description: 1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianza

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This article has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Journal International ©: The Authors 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.

Description: Ambient-noise records from the AlpArray network are used to measure Rayleigh wave phase velocities between more than 150,000 station pairs. From these, azimuthally anisotropic phase-velocity maps are obtained by applying the Eikonal tomography method. Several synthetic tests are shown to study the bias in the Ψ2 anisotropy. There are two main groups of bias, the first one caused by interference between refracted/reflected waves and the appearance of secondary wavefronts that affect the phase travel-time measurements. This bias can be reduced if the amplitude field can be estimated correctly. Another source of error is related to the incomplete reconstruction of the travel-time field that is only sparsely sampled due to the receiver locations. Both types of bias scale with the magnitude of the velocity heterogeneities. Most affected by the spurious Ψ2 anisotropy are areas inside and at the border of low-velocity zones. In the isotropic velocity distribution, most of the bias cancels out if the azimuthal coverage is good. Despite the lack of resolution in many parts of the surveyed area, we identify a number of anisotropic structures that are robust: in the central Alps, we find a layered anisotropic structure, arc-parallel at midcrustal depths and arc-perpendicular in the lower crust. In contrast, in the eastern Alps, the pattern is more consistently E-W oriented which we relate to the eastward extrusion. The northern Alpine forleand exhibits a preferential anisotropic orientation that is similar to SKS observations in the lowermost crust and uppermost mantle.

Description: German Science Foundation (SPP-2017, Project Ha 2403/21-1); Swiss National Science Foundation SINERGIA Project CRSII2-154434/1 (Swiss-AlpArray); Progetto Pianeta Dinamico, finanziamento MUR-INGV, Task S2 – 2021

Description: Published

Description: 151–170

Description: 1T. Struttura della Terra

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The present paper describes the process of moving from a research study of most common vulnerable non-structural elements, to deliver solutions, tools and guidelines to improve understanding of and responsiveness to community concerns about seismic risk and non-structural elements. The observed damage to non-structural elements following recent earthquakes in Italy, Portugal and Iceland, were used for designing communication tools under the KnowRISK EU project for multi-stakeholders (students, business and citizens): the Practical Guide, the Students Short Guide, the KnowRISK Portfolio of Solutions, the Move, Protect and Secure video, the augmented reality apps, the maquettes, the students notebooks, videos, board games and hands-on tools. The philosophy behind these deliverables is that some risks, once identified, can be eliminated or reduced by informing people and suggesting preventive or emergency measures. These tools are devoted to improving the seismic performance of non-structural elements and to reduce the associated economic losses, loss of functionality, and potential threats to life safety. The rationale behind the selection of the information that people need to know for converting knowledge to more safety is discussed and a description of the transference of the findings of research to communication solutions is presented. The tools were planned following the engagement-model in risk communication to ensure that needs of communities and selected stakeholders were acknowledged, and that recipients are addressed in a way that appeals to them. Different media and communication channels such as print, television, online, face-to face communication and interviews were used for risk communication.

Description: This study was co-financed by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (Grant agreement ECHO/SUB/2015/718655/PREV28).

Description: Published

Description: SE322

Description: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This article has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Journal International ©: The Authors 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.

Description: To understand the seismotectonics and the seismic hazard of the study sector of the Northern Apennines (Italy), one of the most important earthquakes of magnitude Mw = 6.5 which struck the Lunigiana and Garfagnana areas (Tuscany) on 7 September 1920 should be studied. Given the early instrumental epoch of the event, neither geometric and kinematic information on the fault-source nor its fault-plane solution were available. Both areas were candidates for hosting the source fault and there was uncertainty between a normal fault with Apenninic direction or an anti-Apenninic strike-slip. We retrieved 11 focal parameters (including the fault-plane solution) of the 1920 earthquake. Only macroseismic intensity information (from 499 inhabited centres) through the KF-NGA inversion technique was used. This technique uses a Kinematic model of the earthquake source and speeds up the calculation by a Genetic Algorithm with Niching. The result is a pure dip-slip focal solution. The intrinsic ambiguities of the KF-NGA method (±180° on the rake angle; choice of the fault plane between the two nodal planes) were solved with field and seismotectonic evidence. The earthquake was generated by a normal fault (rake angle = 265° ± 8°) with an Apennine direction (114° ± 5°) and dipping 38° ± 6° towards SW. The likely candidate for hosting the source-fault in 1920 is the Compione-Comano fault that borders the NE edge of the Lunigiana graben. The KF-NGA algorithm proved to be invaluable for studying the kinematics of early instrumental earthquakes and allowed us to uniquely individuate, for the first time ever, the seismogenic source of the 1920 earthquake. Our findings have implications in hazard computation and seismotectonic contexts.

Description: Published

Description: 1465–1477

Description: 4T. Sismicità dell'Italia

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The lava platform and the three pyroclastic cones of Vulcanello constitute the northernmostvolcanic structure of the island of Vulcano (Aeolian Islands). The sandy isthmus connecting theplatform to the main island was definitively formed in the first half of the 1500s; before then,Vulcano and Vulcanello were two close but separate islands. For a long time, the interpretation ofthe sources of the II-I century BC, had considered the islet as built up about 2200 years ago. Thisbelief, which proliferated among naturalists from the 17th century, is not confirmed in the ancienttexts or even in the geographical documents of the time, which do not indicate the presence ofVulcanello as a new and stable island near Vulcano. The islet would only be mentioned at the dawnof the second millennium, and named in Arabic “Gabal’ al Burkān”, meaning Mount of Vulcano;shortly thereafter the toponym changed to the Latin “Insulam Vulcanelli” and then, towards the15th century, finally to Vulcanello.Since the creation of a volcanic island certainly occurred in the Aeolian Islands in the classical era,but traces of it were quickly lost, the most plausible hypothesis is that it was formed in the area ofthe current Vulcanello, to be subsequently erased by the sea. The shallow, flat seabed, likelyremaining as a result of sea abrasion, might have represented the morphological element on whichthe circular lava platform we know today was formed sometime between 950 and 1000 AD.

Description: Published

Description: VO548

Description: 1V. Storia eruttiva

Description: JCR Journal

Description: On November 20, 2019, an exercise was held at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) as part of the activities planned for preparing for seismic emergencies. The training was "tabletop" with the simulation of an earthquake with a magnitude greater than the threshold required for the activation of the intervention procedures, described in the "Protocol of the Authority for the management of seismic and tsunami emergencies and Establishment of the Crisis Unit”, the flow of actions that follow was verified. The exercise involved the entire INGV even if the Rome headquarters was the most involved, and it was the second of this type after that carried out in 2015 [Pondrelli et al., 2016]. Main motivation of this training was the analysis of the efficiency of the Organization Protocol, a document that for the first time at INGV codifies the actions of the Crisis Unit and of the Institute in general on the occurrence of seismic events and / or seismic sequences and / or tsunamis. The Protocol has been formalized on the basis of the numerous experiences that the Institute has supported over many years, to honour its vocation in the monitoring and seismic surveillance of the national territory [Margheriti et al., 2021].

Description: Published

Description: 1-50

Description: 2SR TERREMOTI - Gestione delle emergenze sismiche e da maremoto

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: Systematic variations in the crystal cargo and whole-rock isotopic compositions of mantle-derived basalts in the intraplate Dunedin Volcano (New Zealand) indicate the influence of a complex mantle-to-crust polybaric plumbing system. Basaltic rocks define a compositional spectrum from low-alkali basalts through mid-alkali basalts to high-alkali basalts. High-alkali basalts display clinopyroxene crystals with sector (hourglass) and oscillatory zoning (Mg#61–82) as well as Fe-rich green cores (Mg#43–69), whereas low-alkali basalts are characterized by clinopyroxenes with unzoned overgrowths (Mg#69–83) on resorbed mafic cores (Mg#78–88), coexisting with reversely zoned plagioclase crystals (An43–68 to An60–84 from core to rim). Complex magma dynamics are indicated by distinctive compositional variations in clinopyroxene phenocrysts, with Cr-rich zones (Mg#74–87) indicating continuous recharge by more mafic magmas. Crystallization of olivine, clinopyroxene and titanomagnetite occurred within a polybaric plumbing system extending from upper mantle to mid-crustal depths (485–1059 MPa and 1147–1286°C), whereas crystallization of plagioclase with subordinate clinopyroxene and titanomagnetite proceeded towards shallower crustal levels. The compositions of high-alkali basalts and mid-alkali basalts resemble those of ocean island basalts and are characterized by FOZO-HIMU isotopic signatures (87Sr/86Sri = 0.70277–0.70315, 143Nd/144Ndi = 0.51286–0.51294 and 206Pb/204Pb = 19.348–20.265), whereas low-alkali basalts have lower incompatible element abundances and isotopic compositions trending towards EMII (87Sr/86Sri = 0.70327–70397, 143Nd/144Ndi = 0.51282–0.51286 and 206Pb/204Pb = 19.278–19.793). High- and mid-alkali basalt magmas mostly crystallized in the lower crust, whereas low-alkali basalt magma recorded deeper upper mantle clinopyroxene crystallization before eruption. The variable alkaline character and isotope composition may result from interaction of low-alkaline melts derived from the asthenosphere with melts derived from lithospheric mantle, possibly initiated by asthenospheric melt percolation. The transition to more alkaline compositions was induced by variable degrees of melting of metasomatic lithologies in the lithospheric mantle, leading to eruption of predominantly small-volume, high-alkali magmas at the periphery of the volcano. Moreover, the lithosphere imposed a filtering effect on the alkalinity of these intraplate magmas. As a consequence, the eruption of low-alkali basalts with greater asthenospheric input was concentrated at the centre of the volcano, where the plumbing system was more developed.

Description: Published

Description: egab062

Description: 2V. Struttura e sistema di alimentazione dei vulcani

Description: 3V. Proprietà chimico-fisiche dei magmi e dei prodotti vulcanici

Description: 4V. Processi pre-eruttivi

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Il mondo della Ricerca e dell ’Innovazione Tecnologica per sua natura è sempre in evoluzione, ed accompagnato da normative in materia di Sicurezza e Salute non sempre conosciute o applicate. La particolare enfasi data alla formazione nel quadro normativo riguardante la Sicurezza e Salute nei luoghi di lavoro, sia a livello nazionale che comunitario, dimostra e determina l’importanza attribuita a tale processo, non solo come mezzo elettivo per la diffusione della cultura della Sicurezza a tutti i livelli , ma anche, e soprattutto, come misura generale di tutela.

Description: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia

Description: Published

Description: 1-54

Description: 1TM. Formazione

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: Within a fault governing model the characteristic scale length is one of the most relevant physical parameters because it accounts for the so–called fracture energy (density) of the system, its dynamics, the time during which the accumulated stress is released and the seismic waves are excited, the amount of slip developed during an instability event. Friction laboratory experiments reveal that it is not a material property, but that it changes with the sliding velocity. We propose two rather different analytical models to fit laboratory evidence and we incorporate them into a fault model able to simulate repeated earthquakes in the framework of various formulations of rate and state friction. We demonstrate that temporal variations of the scale length do not prevent the system to reach its limit cycle, but they systematically reduce the magnitude of the expected event (both in term of developed slip, and thus seismic moment, and released stress) and also reduce the inter–event time (recurrence interval). Depending on the friction model, the system can penetrate into the stable regime and can either continue the accelerating phase toward to failure or decelerate and abort instability.

Description: Published

Description: SE217

Description: 3T. Fisica dei terremoti e Sorgente Sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The understanding of the ancient Earth’s Magnetic Field strength, or absolute paleointensity, is fundamental for several disciplines of Earth Sciences. Following the growing interest in this field in the last decades, the number of paleointensity studies has been increasing and the Paleomagnetic Laboratory of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) in Rome, Italy expanded the instrument park with a ASC TD48SC oven for paleomagnetic and paleointensity measurements. This manual represents an updated version of the original manual “Guida all’uso del forno ASC TD48SC per la stima della paleointensità assoluta con il metodo ThellierThellier modificato” [Di Chiara, 2014]. The aim is to provide a practical guide for paleointensity measurements, using the IZZIThellier experiment and the software Thellier_GUI for the processing of the geomagnetic field strength or paleointensity data.

Description: INGV

Description: Published

Description: 1-20

Description: 1A. Geomagnetismo e Paleomagnetismo

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: We describe the geochemical characteristics of groundwater samples collected in 23 water wells located on the northern margin of the Hyblean plateau (East Sicily). This area, mostly made of highly permeable carbonate rocks, is rich in low temperature (T 〈 50° C) hydrothermal groundwaters, distributed in an active sismogenetic zone, with several ENE-WSW-directed tectonic structures that drove magma to the surface during Upper Pliocene and Pleistocene. The chemical features suggest complex mixing between rainwater, CO2-rich groundwater, steam-heated groundwater and geothermal brines, as highlighted by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Some parameters, however, indicate widespread pollution of the aquifers from human activities. Stable isotopes analysis confirms the meteoric origin of groundwater and supports the origin of dissolved CO2 mostly from mantle degassing through deep tectonic faults. Geothermometric estimates, mostly based on quartz and Saturation Indexes geothermometers, suggest minimum reservoir temperature between 100 and 120° C.

Description: Published

Description: HS438

Description: 1TR. Georisorse

Description: JCR Journal

Description: A ground magnetic study was performed on the northern upper flank of Mt. Etna to provide new insights into subsurface volcano-tectonic structures. The high resolution magnetic survey was focused on the main structures of Piano delle Concazze, a large flat area dominated by the North- East crater and bounded by the rim of the Valle del Leone depression and the extremity of the North-East Rift. More than 2,500 measurements were gathered with a sampling step of about 3 m covering an area of about 0.2 km2. The total-intensity anomaly field shows the presence of intense South-North aligned maxima related to shallow geological structures affecting this area. Filtering techniques and 2.5D modeling have been applied for the determination of the magnetic source parameters. In order to distinguish the near surface structure, filters of the vertical derivatives, Butterworth high-pass and the tilt derivative were used. The 3D Euler deconvolution has been applied to estimate the depth and the structural indices of the causative sources. The calculated structural indices, that express the geometrical nature of the source, are in agreement with forward modeling. They show that the area is mainly affected by subvertical normal fault and the estimated depth of magnetic sources ranges between 10 m and 40 m. Our total field magnetic survey shows that characteristic magnetic anomalies are related to fault zones in the Piano delle Concazze that are well consistent with the local tectonics. The subsurface structures that have been detected allowed to delineate the general structural framework of the area. In particular, it was possible to clarify that these structures seem to be not deep rooted and consequently they can hardly act as preferential pathways for magma ascent.

Description: Published

Description: PE108

Description: 2V. Struttura e sistema di alimentazione dei vulcani

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The traction evolution is a fundamental ingredient to model the dynamics of an earthquake rupture which ultimately controls, during the coseismic phase, the energy release, the stress redistribution and the consequent excitation of seismic waves. In the present paper we explore the use of the friction behavior derived from laboratory shear experiments performed on granular materials at low normal stress. We find that the rheological properties emerging from these laboratory experiments can not be described in terms of preexisting governing models already presented in literature; our results indicate that neither rate–and state–dependent friction laws nor nonlinear slip–dependent models, commonly adopted for modeling earthquake ruptures, are able to capture all the features of the experimental data. Then, by exploiting a novel numerical approach, we directly incorporate the laboratory data into a code to simulate the fully dynamic propagation of a 3–D slip failure. We demonstrate that the rheology of the granular material, imposed as fault boundary condition, is dynamically consistent. Indeed, it is able to reproduce the basic features of a crustal earthquake, spontaneously accelerating up to some terminal rupture speed, both sub– and supershear.

Description: Published

Description: SE441

Description: 3T. Fisica dei terremoti e Sorgente Sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: INGV

Description: Published

Description: 1-18

Description: 1A. Geomagnetismo e Paleomagnetismo

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: In the last decade, bottom-up strategies of risk education have raised importance, making seriousgames to become an alternative or complementary teaching tool for enhancing skills for acollaborative and adaptive response to social-ecological challenges. This study describes issues and challenges of serious games implemented within the framework oftwo European projects, namely UPStrat-MAFA (Urban Disaster Prevention Strategies usingMacroseismic Fields and FAult sources) and KnowRISK (Know your city, Reduce seISmic risKthrough non-structural elements); the goal is to instil in young people a proactive attitude towardsthe mitigation of seismic risk. The games were tested in some dissemination events focussed on fostering seismic riskpreparedness in students and improving good practices. We discuss the performance of our gameseven against more standard approaches to risk education. Our experience shows a rise of students’engagement compared to standard learning activities. The games were effective as students wereable to grasp the most relevant actions to reduce risk

Description: Published

Description: SE327

Description: 2TM. Divulgazione Scientifica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: A first combined absolute gravity and GNSS network of 5 stations distributed between Lazio, Umbria and Abruzzo regions, was realized in 2018 in order to lay the basics for a multidisciplinary approach to natural risk assessment in the area of Central Italy, affected by the 2009 and 2016 seismic activity. Up to now, two absolute gravity campaigns were carried out using the transportable Microg LaCoste FG5#238 and the portable A10#39 absolute gravimeters. The locations of gravimetric sites have been chosen indoor to allow optimal condition of measure; therefore, the heights of the indoor sites have been determined by joining the outdoor GNSS with classical topographic surveys. The good results obtained after the campaigns and data processing lay the foundations for a new multidisciplinary approach to study also seismogenetic areas. In this paper, we present the gravity and GNSS station monographs, together with the absolute gravity values and the coordinates resulting from the first field surveys.

Description: Published

Description: 1-26

Description: 4T. Sismicità dell'Italia

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Volcanic activity resumed during early Middle Ages times at Lipari following at least 6000 years of quiescence. This phenomenon occurred in a social context that had continuously developed from prehistoric times to the Roman age and was burdened by a demographic crisis that involved the archipelago between the 6th and 11th century AD. The rare archaeological records relating to the 6th - 11th centuries suggest abrupt changes in the population of the islands. The medieval sources are rich in religious and fantastic references to volcanic events linked to Lipari and Vulcano, testifying the uneasy condition for the human communities. This work concerns the resilience and adaptation of the communities to volcanic activity during the Late Middle Ages in Lipari. Starting from 1083 the Aeolian archipelago was involved in a repopulation program, implemented in 1095 by the Constitutum and organized by the Benedictine Monastery with the annexed S. Bartolomeo Cathedral on the castle. From the 13th century the volcanic phenomena, strictly limited to the northern sector of the island, did not interfere as previously with the anthropic activities. The Monastery will be enlarged in the Norman phase during the first half of the 12th century with the construction of the cloister. New historical documents relating to the 1264, report news of fires and land movements on Lipari. Recent age determinations obtained for the obsidian flow of Rocche Rosse at 1220 ± 30 AD (archaeomagnetic dating) and for an obsidian block of the Lami pyroclastic cone at 1243 ± 190 (fission-track dating) allow to define the age of the last phase of activity of the Monte Pilato-Lami-Rocche Rosse complex, and to associate it the events reported on 1264’s historical documents. This work makes in comparison volcanological, archaeological and historical dates and described an updated summary of one of the lesser known phases of the history of the archipelago. The main consequence of the medieval volcanic activity at Lipari caused a clear division of the territory with the population confined in the southeast quadrant, protected to the north by Serra and Monte Rosa which represented a natural orographic barrier.

Description: Published

Description: VO549

Description: 1V. Storia eruttiva

Description: JCR Journal

Description: © The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Page, H. N., Bahr, K. D., Cyronak, T., Jewett, E. B., Johnson, M. D., & McCoy, S. J. Responses of benthic calcifying algae to ocean acidification differ between laboratory and field settings. Ices Journal of Marine Science, 79(1), (2022): 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsab232.

Description: Accurately predicting the effects of ocean and coastal acidification on marine ecosystems requires understanding how responses scale from laboratory experiments to the natural world. Using benthic calcifying macroalgae as a model system, we performed a semi-quantitative synthesis to compare directional responses between laboratory experiments and field studies. Variability in ecological, spatial, and temporal scales across studies, and the disparity in the number of responses documented in laboratory and field settings, make direct comparisons difficult. Despite these differences, some responses, including community-level measurements, were consistent across laboratory and field studies. However, there were also mismatches in the directionality of many responses with more negative acidification impacts reported in laboratory experiments. Recommendations to improve our ability to scale responses include: (i) developing novel approaches to allow measurements of the same responses in laboratory and field settings, and (ii) researching understudied calcifying benthic macroalgal species and responses. Incorporating these guidelines into research programs will yield data more suitable for robust meta-analyses and will facilitate the development of ecosystem models that incorporate proper scaling of organismal responses to in situ acidification. This, in turn, will allow for more accurate predictions of future changes in ecosystem health and function in a rapidly changing natural climate.

Description: We would like to thank the Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Program for organizing the fourth U.S. Ocean Acidification Principal Investigators meeting, which is where this synthesis was conceived. HNP was a postdoctoral research fellow at Mote Marine Laboratory. MDJ is a postdoctoral scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. SJM is a Norma J. Lang early career fellow of the Phycological Society of America.

Description: In this paper we simulate the earthquake that hit the city of L'Aquila on the 6th of April 2009 using SPEED (SPectral Elements in Elastodynamics with Discontinuous Galerkin), an open-source code able to simulate the propagation of seismic waves in complex three-dimensional (3D) domains. Our model includes an accurate 3D recon- struction of the Quaternary deposits, according to the most up-to-date data obtained from the Microzonation studies in Central Italy and a detailed model of the topography incorporated using a newly developed tool (May et al. 2021). The sensitivity of our results with respect to dfferent kinematic seismic sources is inves- tigated. The results obtained are in good agreement with the recordings at the available seismic stations at epicentral distances within a range of 20km. Finally, a blind source prediction scenario application shows a reasonably good agreement between simulations and recordings can be obtained by simulating stochastic rupture realizations with basic input data. These results, although limited to nine simulated scenarios, demonstrate that it is possible to obtain a satisfactory reconstruction of a ground shaking scenario employing a stochastic source constrained on a limited amount of ex-ante information. A similar approach can be used to model future and past earthquakes for which little or no information is typically available, with potential relevant implications for seismic risk assessment.

Description: Published

Description: 29–49

Description: 3T. Fisica dei terremoti e Sorgente Sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: For the phase refraction index of high frequency (HF) waves in the ionospheric medium exists a well-established theory. However, under the Quasi-Longitudinal (QL) conditions, scientific literature presents various formulas that are not equivalent and that, in some cases, give rise to wrong results. In the present study, further consequences of Booker's rule are discussed, illustrating the validity ranges of the above-mentioned approximate formulas; and the different regimes for applying such QL formulas are described, along with the consequences in simulating the ionospheric HF ray-tracing, oblique and vertical sounding, and absorption.

Description: Published

Description: PA003

Description: 2A. Fisica dell'alta atmosfera

Description: 7SR AMBIENTE – Servizi e ricerca per la società

Description: 3IT. Calcolo scientifico

Description: 7TM.Sviluppo e Trasferimento Tecnologico

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This article has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Journal International ©: The Authors 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.

Description: On 29 December 2020, a shallow earthquake of magnitude Mw 6.4 struck northern Croatia, near the town of Petrinja, more than 24 hours after a strong foreshock (Ml 5). We formed a reconnaissance team of European geologists and engineers, from Croatia, Slovenia, France, Italy and Greece, rapidly deployed in the field to map the evidence of coseismic environmental effects. In the epicentral area, we recognized surface deformation, such as tectonic breaks along the earthquake source at the surface, liquefaction features (scattered in the fluvial plains of Kupa, Glina and Sava rivers), and slope failures, both caused by strong motion. Thanks to this concerted, collective and meticulous work, we were able to document and map a clear and unambiguous coseismic surface rupture associated with the main shock. The surface rupture appears discontinuous, consisting of multi-kilometer en échelon right stepping sections, along a NW-SE striking fault that we call the Petrinja-Pokupsko Fault (PPKF). The observed deformation features, in terms of kinematics and trace alignments, are consistent with slip on a right lateral fault, in agreement with the focal solution of the main shock. We found mole tracks, displacement on faults affecting natural features (e. g. drainage channels), scarplets, and more frequently breaks of anthropogenic markers (roads, fences). The surface rupture is observed over a length of ∼13 km from end-to-end, with a maximum displacement of 38 cm, and an average displacement of ∼10 cm. Moreover, the liquefaction extends over an area of nearly 600 km² around the epicenter. Typology of liquefaction features include sand blows, lateral spreading phenomenon along the road and river embankments, as well as sand ejecta of different grain size and matrix. Development of large and long fissures along the fluvial landforms, current or ancient, with massive ejections of sediments is pervasive. These features are sometimes accompanied by small horizontal displacements. Finally, the environmental effects of the earthquake appear to be reasonably consistent with the usual scaling relationships, in particular the surface faulting. This rupture of the ground occurred on or near traces of a fault that shows clear evidence of Quaternary activity. Further and detailed studies will be carried out to characterize this source and related faults in terms of future large earthquakes potential, for their integration into seismic hazard models.

Description: Published

Description: 1394–1418

Description: 2T. Deformazione crostale attiva

Description: JCR Journal

Description: In the last years the scientific literature has been enriched with new models of the Moho depth in the Antarctica Continent derived by the seismic reflection technique and refraction profiles, receiver functions and seismic surface waves, but also by gravimetric observations over the continent. In particular, the gravity satellite missions of the last two decades have provided data in this remote region of the Earth and have allowed the investigation of the crust properties. Meanwhile, other important contributions in this direction has been given by the fourth International Polar Year (IPY, 2007–2008) which started seismographic and geodetic networks of unprecedented duration and scale, including airborne gravimetry over largely unexplored Antarctic frontiers. In this study, a new model for the Antarctica Moho depths is proposed. This new estimation is based on no satellite gravity measures, thanks to the availability of the gravity database ANTGG2015, that collects gravity data from ground-base, airborne and shipborne campaigns. In this new estimate of the Moho depths the contribution of the gravity measures has been maximized reducing any correction of the gravity measures and avoiding constraints of the solution to seismological observations and to geological evidence. With this approach a pure gravimetric solution has been determined. The model obtained is pretty in agreement with other Moho models and thanks to the use of independent data it can be exploited also for cross-validating different Moho depths solutions.

Description: Published

Description: 1404–1420

Description: 1T. Struttura della Terra

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Seismic reflection and refraction data were collected in 2007 and 2012 to reveal the crustal fabric on a single long composite profile offshore Prydz Bay, East Antarctica. A P-wave velocity model provides insights on the crustal fabric, and a gravity-constrained density model is used to describe the crustal and mantle structure. The models show that a 230-km- wide continent–ocean transition separates stretched continental from oceanic crust along our profile. While the oceanic crust close to the continent–ocean boundary is just 3.5–5 km thick, its thickness increases northwards towards the Southern Kerguelen Plateau to 12 km. This change is accompanied by thickening of a lower crustal layer with high P-wave velocities of up to 7.5 km s–1, marking intrusive rocks emplaced beneath the mid-ocean ridge under increasing influence of the Kerguelen plume. Joint interpretations of our crustal model, seismic reflection data and magnetic data sets constrain the age and extent of oceanic crust in the research area. Oceanic crust is shown to continue to around 160 km farther south than has been interpreted in previous data, with profound implications for plate kinematic models of the region. Finally, by combining our findings with a regional magnetic data compilation and regional seismic reflection data we propose a larger extent of oceanic crust in the Enderby Basin than previously known.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Lasek-Nesselquist, E., & Johnson, M. D. A phylogenomic approach to clarifying the relationship of Mesodinium within the Ciliophora: a case study in the complexity of mixed-species transcriptome analyses. Genome Biology and Evolution, 11(11), (2019): 3218–3232, doi:10.1093/gbe/evz233.

Description: Recent high-throughput sequencing endeavors have yielded multigene/protein phylogenies that confidently resolve several inter- and intra-class relationships within the phylum Ciliophora. We leverage the massive sequencing efforts from the Marine Microbial Eukaryote Transcriptome Sequencing Project, other SRA submissions, and available genome data with our own sequencing efforts to determine the phylogenetic position of Mesodinium and to generate the most taxonomically rich phylogenomic ciliate tree to date. Regardless of the data mining strategy, the multiprotein data set, or the molecular models of evolution employed, we consistently recovered the same well-supported relationships among ciliate classes, confirming many of the higher-level relationships previously identified. Mesodinium always formed a monophyletic group with members of the Litostomatea, with mixotrophic species of Mesodinium—M. rubrum, M. major, and M. chamaeleon—being more closely related to each other than to the heterotrophic member, M. pulex. The well-supported position of Mesodinium as sister to other litostomes contrasts with previous molecular analyses including those from phylogenomic studies that exploited the same transcriptomic databases. These topological discrepancies illustrate the need for caution when mining mixed-species transcriptomes and indicate that identifying ciliate sequences among prey contamination—particularly for Mesodinium species where expression from stolen prey nuclei appears to dominate—requires thorough and iterative vetting with phylogenies that incorporate sequences from a large outgroup of prey.

Description: We thank David Beaudoin and Holly V. Moeller for their assistance in collecting cells and extracting RNA. We thank the Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution at the Marine Biological Laboratory for the generous use of their servers. This work was supported in part by a National Science Foundation grant to both authors (IOS 1354773).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Xu, X., Li, G., Li, C., Zhang, J., Wang, Q., Simmons, D. K., Chen, X., Wijesena, N., Zhu, W., Wang, Z., Wang, Z., Ju, B., Ci, W., Lu, X., Yu, D., Wang, Q., Aluru, N., Oliveri, P., Zhang, Y. E., Martindale, M. Q., & Liu, J. Evolutionary transition between invertebrates and vertebrates via methylation reprogramming in embryogenesis. National Science Review, 6(5), (2019):993-1003, doi:10.1093/nsr/nwz064.

Description: Major evolutionary transitions are enigmas, and the most notable enigma is between invertebrates and vertebrates, with numerous spectacular innovations. To search for the molecular connections involved, we asked whether global epigenetic changes may offer a clue by surveying the inheritance and reprogramming of parental DNA methylation across metazoans. We focused on gametes and early embryos, where the methylomes are known to evolve divergently between fish and mammals. Here, we find that methylome reprogramming during embryogenesis occurs neither in pre-bilaterians such as cnidarians nor in protostomes such as insects, but clearly presents in deuterostomes such as echinoderms and invertebrate chordates, and then becomes more evident in vertebrates. Functional association analysis suggests that DNA methylation reprogramming is associated with development, reproduction and adaptive immunity for vertebrates, but not for invertebrates. Interestingly, the single HOX cluster of invertebrates maintains unmethylated status in all stages examined. In contrast, the multiple HOX clusters show dramatic dynamics of DNA methylation during vertebrate embryogenesis. Notably, the methylation dynamics of HOX clusters are associated with their spatiotemporal expression in mammals. Our study reveals that DNA methylation reprogramming has evolved dramatically during animal evolution, especially after the evolutionary transitions from invertebrates to vertebrates, and then to mammals.

Description: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1003303), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the CAS (XDB13040200), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91519306, 31425015), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the CAS and the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (QYZDY-SSW-SMC016).

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Vallecillo-Viejo, I. C., Liscovitch-Brauer, N., Diaz Quiroz, J. F., Montiel-Gonzalez, Maria F., Nemes, Sonya E., Rangan, K. J., Levinson, S. R., Eisenberg, E., & Rosenthal, J. J. C. Spatially regulated editing of genetic information within a neuron. Nucleic Acids Research, (2020): gkaa172, doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaa172.

Description: In eukaryotic cells, with the exception of the specialized genomes of mitochondria and plastids, all genetic information is sequestered within the nucleus. This arrangement imposes constraints on how the information can be tailored for different cellular regions, particularly in cells with complex morphologies like neurons. Although messenger RNAs (mRNAs), and the proteins that they encode, can be differentially sorted between cellular regions, the information itself does not change. RNA editing by adenosine deamination can alter the genome’s blueprint by recoding mRNAs; however, this process too is thought to be restricted to the nucleus. In this work, we show that ADAR2 (adenosine deaminase that acts on RNA), an RNA editing enzyme, is expressed outside of the nucleus in squid neurons. Furthermore, purified axoplasm exhibits adenosine-to-inosine activity and can specifically edit adenosines in a known substrate. Finally, a transcriptome-wide analysis of RNA editing reveals that tens of thousands of editing sites (〉70% of all sites) are edited more extensively in the squid giant axon than in its cell bodies. These results indicate that within a neuron RNA editing can recode genetic information in a region-specific manner.

Description: National Science Foundation (NSF) [IOS1557748 to J.R.]; United States–Israel Binational Science Foundation [BSF2013094 to J.R. and E.E.]; The Grass Foundation grant in support of the Doryteuthis pealeii Genome Project, and a gift by Mr. Edward Owens. Funding for open access charge: United States–Israel Binational Science Foundation [BSF2013094].

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in da Fonseca, R. R., Couto, A., Machado, A. M., Brejova, B., Albertin, C. B., Silva, F., Gardner, P., Baril, T., Hayward, A., Campos, A., Ribeiro, A. M., Barrio-Hernandez, I., Hoving, H. J., Tafur-Jimenez, R., Chu, C., Frazao, B., Petersen, B., Penaloza, F., Musacchia, F., Alexander, G. C., Osorio, H., Winkelmann, I., Simakov, O., Rasmussen, S., Rahman, M. Z., Pisani, D., Vinther, J., Jarvis, E., Zhang, G., Strugnell, J. M., Castro, L. F. C., Fedrigo, O., Patricio, M., Li, Q., Rocha, S., Antunes, A., Wu, Y., Ma, B., Sanges, R., Vinar, T., Blagoev, B., Sicheritz-Ponten, T., Nielsen, R., & Gilbert, M. T. P. A draft genome sequence of the elusive giant squid, Architeuthis dux. Gigascience, 9(1), (2020): giz152. doi: 10.1093/gigascience/giz152.

Description: Background: The giant squid (Architeuthis dux; Steenstrup, 1857) is an enigmatic giant mollusc with a circumglobal distribution in the deep ocean, except in the high Arctic and Antarctic waters. The elusiveness of the species makes it difficult to study. Thus, having a genome assembled for this deep-sea–dwelling species will allow several pending evolutionary questions to be unlocked. Findings: We present a draft genome assembly that includes 200 Gb of Illumina reads, 4 Gb of Moleculo synthetic long reads, and 108 Gb of Chicago libraries, with a final size matching the estimated genome size of 2.7 Gb, and a scaffold N50 of 4.8 Mb. We also present an alternative assembly including 27 Gb raw reads generated using the Pacific Biosciences platform. In addition, we sequenced the proteome of the same individual and RNA from 3 different tissue types from 3 other species of squid (Onychoteuthis banksii, Dosidicus gigas, and Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) to assist genome annotation. We annotated 33,406 protein-coding genes supported by evidence, and the genome completeness estimated by BUSCO reached 92%. Repetitive regions cover 49.17% of the genome. Conclusions: This annotated draft genome of A. dux provides a critical resource to investigate the unique traits of this species, including its gigantism and key adaptations to deep-sea environments.

Description: R.R.F. thanks the Villum Fonden for grant VKR023446 (Villum Fonden Young Investigator Grant), the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) for grant PTDC/MAR/115347/2009; COMPETE-FCOMP-01-012; FEDER-015453, Marie Curie Actions (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF, Proposal 272927), and the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF96) for its funding of the Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate. H.O. thanks the Rede Nacional de Espectrometria de Massa, ROTEIRO/0028/2013, ref. LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-022125, supported by COMPETE and North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Norte2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). A.C. thanks FCT for project UID/Multi/04423/2019. M.P. acknowledges the support from the Wellcome Trust (grant number WT108749/Z/15/Z) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. M.P.T.G. thanks the Danish National Research Foundation for its funding of the Center for GeoGenetics (grant DNRF94) and Lundbeck Foundation for grant R52–5062 on Pathogen Palaeogenomics. S.R. was supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation grant NNF14CC0001. A.H. is supported by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council David Phillips Fellowship (fellowship reference: BB/N020146/1). T.B. is supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council-funded South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (training grant reference BB/M009122/1). This work was partially funded by the Lundbeck Foundation (R52-A4895 to B.B.). H.J.T.H. was supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (#825.09.016), and currently by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under grant HO 5569/2-1 (Emmy Noether Junior Research Group). T.V. and B. Brejova were supported by grants from the Slovak grant agency VEGA (1/0684/16, 1/0458/18). F.S. was supported by a PhD grant (SFRH/BD/126560/2016) from FCT. A.A. was partly supported by the FCT project PTDC/CTA-AMB/31774/2017. C.C. and Y.W. are partly supported by grant IIS-1526415 from the US National Science Foundation. Computation for the work described in this article was partially supported by the DeiC National Life Science Supercomputer at DTU.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Tassia, M. G., David, K. T., Townsend, J. P., & Halanych, K. M. TIAMMAt: leveraging biodiversity to revise protein domain models, evidence from innate immunity. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 38(12), (2021): 5806–5818, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab258.

Description: Sequence annotation is fundamental for studying the evolution of protein families, particularly when working with nonmodel species. Given the rapid, ever-increasing number of species receiving high-quality genome sequencing, accurate domain modeling that is representative of species diversity is crucial for understanding protein family sequence evolution and their inferred function(s). Here, we describe a bioinformatic tool called Taxon-Informed Adjustment of Markov Model Attributes (TIAMMAt) which revises domain profile hidden Markov models (HMMs) by incorporating homologous domain sequences from underrepresented and nonmodel species. Using innate immunity pathways as a case study, we show that revising profile HMM parameters to directly account for variation in homologs among underrepresented species provides valuable insight into the evolution of protein families. Following adjustment by TIAMMAt, domain profile HMMs exhibit changes in their per-site amino acid state emission probabilities and insertion/deletion probabilities while maintaining the overall structure of the consensus sequence. Our results show that domain revision can heavily impact evolutionary interpretations for some families (i.e., NLR’s NACHT domain), whereas impact on other domains (e.g., rel homology domain and interferon regulatory factor domains) is minimal due to high levels of sequence conservation across the sampled phylogenetic depth (i.e., Metazoa). Importantly, TIAMMAt revises target domain models to reflect homologous sequence variation using the taxonomic distribution under consideration by the user. TIAMMAt’s flexibility to revise any subset of the Pfam database using a user-defined taxonomic pool will make it a valuable tool for future protein evolution studies, particularly when incorporating (or focusing) on nonmodel species.

Description: This work was supported by The National Science Foundation (Grant No. IOS—1755377 to K.M.H., Rita Graze, and Elizabeth Hiltbold Schwartz), and K.T.D. was supported by The National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Shoshan, Y., Liscovitch-Brauer, N., Rosenthal, J. J. C., & Eisenberg, E. Adaptive proteome diversification by nonsynonymous A-to-I RNA editing in coleoid cephalopods. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 38(9), (2021): 3775–3788, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab154.

Description: RNA editing by the ADAR enzymes converts selected adenosines into inosines, biological mimics for guanosines. By doing so, it alters protein-coding sequences, resulting in novel protein products that diversify the proteome beyond its genomic blueprint. Recoding is exceptionally abundant in the neural tissues of coleoid cephalopods (octopuses, squids, and cuttlefishes), with an over-representation of nonsynonymous edits suggesting positive selection. However, the extent to which proteome diversification by recoding provides an adaptive advantage is not known. It was recently suggested that the role of evolutionarily conserved edits is to compensate for harmful genomic substitutions, and that there is no added value in having an editable codon as compared with a restoration of the preferred genomic allele. Here, we show that this hypothesis fails to explain the evolutionary dynamics of recoding sites in coleoids. Instead, our results indicate that a large fraction of the shared, strongly recoded, sites in coleoids have been selected for proteome diversification, meaning that the fitness of an editable A is higher than an uneditable A or a genomically encoded G.

Description: This research was supported by a grants from the United States–Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), Jerusalem, Israel (BSF2017262 to J.J.C.R. and E.E.), the Israel Science Foundation (3371/20 to E.E.) and the National Science Foundation (IOS 1827509 and 1557748 to J.J.C.R).

Description: Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2022. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Oxford University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Integrative & Comparative Biology 62(3), (2022): 805-816, https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icac108.

Description: Skates are a diverse group of dorso-ventrally compressed cartilaginous fish found primarily in high-latitude seas. These slow-growing oviparous fish deposit their fertilized eggs into cases, which then rest on the seafloor. Developing skates remain in their cases for 1–4 years after they are deposited, meaning the abiotic characteristics of the deposition sites, such as current and substrate type, must interact with the capsule in a way to promote long residency. Egg cases are morphologically variable and can be identified to species. Both the gross morphology and the microstructures of the egg case interact with substrate to determine how well a case stays in place on a current-swept seafloor. Our study investigated the egg case hydrodynamics of eight North Pacific skate species to understand how their morphology affects their ability to stay in place. We used a flume to measure maximum current velocity, or “break-away velocity,” each egg case could withstand before being swept off the substrate and a tilt table to measure the coefficient of static friction between each case and the substrate. We also used the programing software R to calculate theoretical drag on the egg cases of each species. For all flume trials, we found the morphology of egg cases and their orientation to flow to be significantly correlated with break-away velocity. In certain species, the morphology of the egg case was correlated with flow rate required to dislodge a case from the substrate in addition to the drag experienced in both the theoretical and flume experiments. These results effectively measure how well the egg cases of different species remain stationary in a similar habitat. Parsing out attachment biases and discrepancies in flow regimes of egg cases allows us to identify where we are likely to find other elusive species nursery sites. These results will aid predictive models for locating new nursery habitats and protective policies for avoiding the destruction of these nursery sites.

Description: This work was supported by the NSF-REU and FHL Blinks-Beacon for funding JNE. And the Stephen and Ruth Wainwright Endowed Fellowship, BEACON and Hoag Awards, Robert T. Paine Experimental and Field Ecology Award, FHL Award, FHL Marine Science Fund, FHL Student Fund (Kohn), Patricia L. Dudley Endowment for funding KCH.

Description: 2023-07-04

Description: Author Posting. © Oxford University Press, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of [publisher] for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Lund, S., Acton, G., Clement, B., Okada, M., & Keigwin, L. On the relationship between palaeomagnetic secular variation and excursions-records from MIS 8-ODP leg 172. Geophysical Journal International, 225(2), (2021): 1129-1141, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggaa564.

Description: Palaeomagnetic secular variation (PSV) and excursion data obtained across MIS 8 (243–300 ka) from the western North Atlantic Ocean ODP (Ocean Drilling Program) sites 1060–1063 show composite high-resolution PSV records (both directions and relative palaeointensity) developed for each site and intercompared. Two methods of chronostratigraphy allow us to date these records. First, we used published results that compared the calcium carbonate records of ODP Leg 172 sediments and tuned them with Milankovich cyclicity. We also compared our palaeointensity records with the PISO-1500 global palaeointensity record that was dated with oxygen isotope stratigraphy. We prefer the PISO-1500 record to date our cores. Two excursions are preserved in our PSV records—Excursions 8α and 9α. Our revised age estimates for both excursions are 8α (236.7–239.8 ka) and 9α (283.7–286.9 ka). We have compared shipboard measurements of the two excursions with u-channel measurements of selected excursion intervals. Excursion 8α is interpreted as a ‘Class II’ excursion (local reversal) with in-phase inclination and declination changes; Excursion 9α is a ‘Class I’ excursion with 90° out-of-phase inclination and declination changes. Averaged directions (after removal of true excursional directions) and relative palaeointensity in 3 and 9 ka overlapping intervals show significant PSV directional variability over 104 yr timescales that is regionally correlatable among the four sites. A notable pattern of angular dispersion variability involves most time spent with low (∼10°) dispersion, with three shorter intervals of high (∼25°) dispersion. The relative palaeointensity variability also shows significant variability over 104 yr timescales with three notable intervals of low palaeointensity in all four records and a direct correspondence between the three low-palaeointensity intervals and the three intervals of high angular dispersion. The two magnetic field excursions occur in two of the three low-palaeointensity/high-dispersion intervals. This suggests that the geomagnetic field operates in two states between reversals, one with regular to high palaeointensity and low directional variability and one with low palaeointensity and significantly higher directional variability and excursions.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Suca, J. J., Wiley, D. N., Silva, T. L., Robuck, A. R., Richardson, D. E., Glancy, S. G., Clancey, E., Giandonato, T., Solow, A. R., Thompson, M. A., Hong, P., Baumann, H., Kaufman, L., & Llopiz, J. K. Sensitivity of sand lance to shifting prey and hydrography indicates forthcoming change to the northeast US shelf forage fish complex. Ices Journal of Marine Science, 78(3), (2021): 1023–1037, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaa251.

Description: Northern sand lance (Ammodytes dubius) and Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) represent the dominant lipid-rich forage fish species throughout the Northeast US shelf and are critical prey for numerous top predators. However, unlike Atlantic herring, there is little research on sand lance or information about drivers of their abundance. We use intra-annual measurements of sand lance diet, growth, and condition to explain annual variability in sand lance abundance on the Northeast US Shelf. Our observations indicate that northern sand lance feed, grow, and accumulate lipids in the late winter through summer, predominantly consuming the copepod Calanus finmarchicus. Sand lance then cease feeding, utilize lipids, and begin gonad development in the fall. We show that the abundance of C. finmarchicus influences sand lance parental condition and recruitment. Atlantic herring can mute this effect through intra-guild predation. Hydrography further impacts sand lance abundance as increases in warm slope water decrease overwinter survival of reproductive adults. The predicted changes to these drivers indicate that sand lance will no longer be able to fill the role of lipid-rich forage during times of low Atlantic herring abundance—changing the Northeast US shelf forage fish complex by the end of the century.

Description: Research was funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (IA agreement M17PG0019; DNW, LK, HB, and JKL), including a subaward via the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (18-11-B-203). Additional support came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Woods Hole Sea Grant Program (NA18OAR4170104, Project No. R/O-57; JKL, HB, and DNW) and a National Science Foundation Long-term Ecological Research grant for the Northeast US Shelf Ecosystem (OCE 1655686; JKL). JJS was funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship programme. ARR was funded by an NOAA Nancy Foster Scholarship.

Description: This article has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Journal International ©: The Authors 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.

Description: Defining the regional variability of minimum magnitude for earthquake detection is crucial for planning seismic networks. Knowing the earthquake detection magnitude values is fundamental for the optimal location of new stations and to select the priority for reactivating the stations of a seismic network in case of a breakdown. In general, the assessment of earthquake detection is performed by analysing seismic noise with spectral or more sophisticated methods. Further, to simulate amplitude values at the recording sites, spectral methods require knowledge of several geophysical parameters including rock density, S-wave velocity, corner frequency, quality factor, site specific decay parameter and so on, as well as a velocity model for the Earth's interior. The simulation results are generally expressed in terms of Mw and therefore a further conversion must be done to obtain the values of local magnitude (ML), which is the parameter commonly used for moderate and small earthquakes in seismic catalogues. Here, the relationship utilized by a seismic network to determine ML is directly applied to obtain the expected amplitude [in mm, as if it were recorded by a Wood–Anderson (WA) seismometer] at the recording site, without any additional assumptions. The station detection estimates are obtained by simply considering the ratio of the expected amplitude with respect to the background noise, also measured in mm. The seismic noise level for the station is estimated starting from four waveforms (each signal lasting 1 min) sampled at various times of the day for a period of one week. The proposed method is tested on Italian seismic events occurring in 2019 by using the locations of 16.879 earthquakes recorded by 374 stations. The first results indicate that by evaluating the station noise level with 5-s windows, a representative sample of the variability in expected noise level is generated for every station, even if only 4 min of signal per day over a week of recordings is used. The method was applied to define the detection level of the Italian National Seismic Network (RSN). The RSN detection level represents a reference for the definition and application of guidelines in the field of monitoring of subsurface industrial activities in Italy. The proposed approach can be successfully applied to define the current performance of a local seismic network (managed by private companies) and to estimate the expected further improvements, requested to fulfil the guidelines with the installation of new seismic stations. This method has been tested in Italy and can be reproduced wherever the local magnitude ML, based on synthetic WA records, is used.

Description: Published

Description: 1283–1297

Description: 4T. Sismicità dell'Italia

Description: JCR Journal

Description: © The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Aoki, L. R., Brisbin, M. M., Hounshell, A. G., Kincaid, D. W., Larson, E., Sansom, B. J., Shogren, A. J., Smith, R. S., & Sullivan-Stack, J. Preparing aquatic research for an extreme future: call for improved definitions and responsive, multidisciplinary approaches. Bioscience, 72(6), (2022): 508-520, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac020.

Description: Extreme events have increased in frequency globally, with a simultaneous surge in scientific interest about their ecological responses, particularly in sensitive freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems. We synthesized observational studies of extreme events in these aquatic ecosystems, finding that many studies do not use consistent definitions of extreme events. Furthermore, many studies do not capture ecological responses across the full spatial scale of the events. In contrast, sampling often extends across longer temporal scales than the event itself, highlighting the usefulness of long-term monitoring. Many ecological studies of extreme events measure biological responses but exclude chemical and physical responses, underscoring the need for integrative and multidisciplinary approaches. To advance extreme event research, we suggest prioritizing pre- and postevent data collection, including leveraging long-term monitoring; making intersite and cross-scale comparisons; adopting novel empirical and statistical approaches; and developing funding streams to support flexible and responsive data collection.

Description: Miscellanea INGV - Progetto “Sale Operative Integrate e Reti di monitoraggio del futuro: l’INGV 2.0”. Report finale

Description: L’INGV è Centro di Competenza per i fenomeni sismici, vulcanici e i maremoti per il Dipartimento di Protezione Civile Nazionale (DPC). Nell’ambito delle attività previste dall’Accordo Quadro DPCINGV 20122021 (AQ vigente), l’INGV svolge attività di sorveglianza tecnicoscientifica sulla sismicità del territorio nazionale, sui fenomeni vulcanici e sui maremoti, finalizzata ai compiti di protezione civile, in modo ininterrotto (H24 per 365 giorni l’anno). Tale attività viene realizzata con uno specifico assetto organizzativo, che consente la trasmissione in tempo reale verso il DPC di tutte le informazioni riguardanti eventi e rischi sismici, vulcanici e da maremoto di interesse per il Dipartimento stesso. La sorveglianza sismica del territorio nazionale e delle aree limitrofe è in carico all’Osservatorio Nazionale Terremoti (ONT), insieme alle comunicazioni relative agli eventi in area mediterranea e nel mondo. La sorveglianza delle aree vulcaniche campane (Campi Flegrei, Ischia, Vesuvio) e siciliane (Etna, Stromboli, Vulcano, altre isole Eolie, Pantelleria) sono rispettivamente in carico all’Osservatorio Vesuviano (OV) e all’Osservatorio Etneo (OE). Dal gennaio 2017 è diventata ufficialmente operativa anche l’attività di monitoraggio e il Servizio di allerta dei maremoti di origine sismica (Centro Allerta Tsunami CAT) con l’introduzione nella Sala INGV di Roma di una nuova unità di personale. In fase sperimentale, fino alla fine del 2016, e per i primi mesi di operatività, il personale per il Servizio di Allerta Tsunami è stato scelto all’interno del gruppo di turnisti che da anni svolgeva il Servizio di Sorveglianza Sismica; successivamente, è stato reclutato e formato nuovo personale in grado di svolgere entrambi i Servizi. A partire dal 2017 e nei due anni successivi sono stati attivati, quindi, i corsi per la formazione di nuovi Turnisti e Funzionari per i servizi di Sorveglianza Sismica e di Allerta Tsunami ed anche per i reperibili di Sala [Quintiliani et al., 2020]. La formazione del personale che partecipa al Servizio di Sorveglianza Sismica è prevista nei Piani di attività annuali relativi all’Allegato A dell’AQ vigente, tematica “Sorveglianza sismica” e quella del personale che partecipa alle attività del CAT nella tematica “Centro Allerta Tsunami (CAT)”. Inoltre, il Progetto “S.O.I.R. monitoraggio futuro” ha tra le sue finalità quella della formazione del personale delle Sale Operative INGV, essendo il WP4 “Formazione” uno dei sei working package del progetto espressamente dedicato a questo.

Description: Published

Description: 150-155

Description: 1SR TERREMOTI - Sorveglianza Sismica e Allerta Tsunami

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: Single-type hazard and risk assessment is the usual framework followed by disaster risk reduction (DRR) practitioners. There is therefore a need to present and compare the results arising from different hazard and risk types. Here we describe a simple method for combining risk curves arising from different hazard types in order to gain a first impression of the total risk. We show how the resulting total (and individual) risk estimates can be examined and compared using so-called risk matrices, a format preferred by some DRR practitioners. We apply this approach to Cologne, Germany, which is subject to floods, windstorms and earthquakes. We then use a new series of risk calculations that consider epistemic uncertainty. The Mann-Whitney test is applied to determine if the losses arising from pairs of hazards are comparable for a given return period. This benefits decision makers as it allows a ranking of hazards with respect to expected damage. Such a comparison would assist planners in the allocation of resources towards the most efficient mitigation actions. However, the results are dependent upon the distribution of estimates (i.e., level of uncertainty), which is in turn a function of our state of knowledge.

Description: Published

Description: S0216

Description: 7SR AMBIENTE – Servizi e ricerca per la società

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This text is an introduction to the problem of low frequency electromagnetic monitoring, with particular emphasis on VLF band. All related issues have been addressed: from historical outlook to numerical analysis, from seismology to geotechnics, electronics, information technology. The approach is informative and didactic. This interdisciplinary approach does not imply a problem of skills to the reader, and my goal has been to complete each specific cultural background. Geophysics is a topic where different training paths converge, usually geological or physical. In this case, addressing also technical aspectcts, it is not really possible to setup a guide for a specific professional figure. For this reason, while some topics will be new, others instead will inevitably seem trivial or superficially addressed. The reality is that every topic, as far as possible, has been treated on the same level. When necessary, an appendix to the text will offer further specific insights from time to time.

Description: Questo testo vuole essere un’introduzione alle problematiche del monitoraggio elettromagnetico a bassa frequenza, con particolare approfondimento sulla banda VLF. Vengono affrontate tutte le tematiche correlate, dall’analisi storica all’analisi numerica, dalla sismologia alla geotecnica, all’elettronica, all’informatica. L’impostazione è divulgativa e didattica. L’approccio interdisciplinare non porrà al lettore un problema di competenze, anzi l’obiettivo è quello di completare ogni specifico bagaglio culturale. La geofisica è già un argomento in cui convergono percorsi formativi diversi, solitamente di impostazione geologica o fisica. In questo caso, in cui si affronta anche un aspetto tecnico, non è proprio possibile indirizzare una guida a una specifica figura professionale. Per questo motivo, mentre alcuni argomenti risulteranno nuovi, altri inevitabilmente appariranno scontati o forse affrontati superficialmente. La realtà è che ogni tematica, per quanto possibile, è stata affrontata allo stesso livello. All’occorrenza, un’appendice offrirà di volta in volta ulteriori approfondimenti specifici.

Description: Progetto INGV “Pianeta Dinamico” (codice progetto INGV 1020.010) finanziato dal MIUR ("Fondo finalizzato al rilancio degli investimenti delle amministrazioni centrali dello Stato e allo sviluppo del Paese", legge 145/2018).

Description: Published

Description: 1-142

Description: 7T. Variazioni delle caratteristiche crostali e "precursori"

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: In this paper we present an updated and homogeneous earthquake dataset for Italy compiled by joining the intensities available in the Italian Macroseismic Database DBMI15 and the peak ground motion (PGM) parameters present in the Engineering Strong-Motion (ESM) accelerometric data bank. The database has been compiled through an extensive procedure of evaluation and revision based on two main steps: 1) the selection of the earthquakes in DBMI15 with homogeneous macroseismic intensities in terms of data sources and 2) the extraction of all the localities reporting intensity data which are located within 3 km from the accelerograph stations that recorded the data. The final dataset includes 519 intensity-PGM data pairs from 65 earthquakes and 227 stations in the time span 1972–2016. The reported intensities are expressed either in the Mercalli-Cancani-Sieberg (MCS) or the European macroseismic (EMS-98) scales. The events are characterized by magnitudes in the range 4.1–6.8 and depths in the range 0–55 km. Here, we illustrate the data collection and the properties of the database in terms of recording, event and station distributions as well as macroseismic intensity points. Furthermore, we discuss the most relevant features of engineering interest showing several statistics with reference to the most significant metadata (such as moment magnitude, several distance metrics, style of faulting etc). The dataset is expected to be useful for benchmarking existing and for developing new ground motion intensity conversion equations offering a common basis, and sparing the time and effort required for assembling to the interested researchers. The dataset is available at https://zenodo.org/record/4623732#.YNX-AZMzbdc.

Description: Published

Description: DM102

Description: 4IT. Banche dati

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2021. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Oxford University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Toxicological Sciences 182(20), (2021): 310-326, https://doi.org/10.1093/toxsci/kfab066.

Description: Harmful algal blooms produce potent neurotoxins that accumulate in seafood and are hazardous to human health. Developmental exposure to the harmful algal bloom toxin, domoic acid (DomA), has behavioral consequences well into adulthood, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms of DomA developmental neurotoxicity are largely unknown. To assess these, we exposed zebrafish embryos to DomA during the previously identified window of susceptibility and used the well-known startle response circuit as a tool to identify specific neuronal components that are targeted by exposure to DomA. Exposure to DomA reduced startle responsiveness to both auditory/vibrational and electrical stimuli, and even at the highest stimulus intensities tested, led to a dramatic reduction of one type of startle (short-latency c-starts). Furthermore, DomA-exposed larvae had altered kinematics for both types of startle responses tested, exhibiting shallower bend angles and slower maximal angular velocities. Using vital dye staining, immunolabeling, and live imaging of transgenic lines, we determined that although the sensory inputs were intact, the reticulospinal neurons required for short-latency c-starts were absent in most DomA-exposed larvae. Furthermore, axon tracing revealed that DomA-treated larvae also showed significantly reduced primary motor neuron axon collaterals. Overall, these results show that developmental exposure to DomA targets large reticulospinal neurons and motor neuron axon collaterals, resulting in measurable deficits in startle behavior. They further provide a framework for using the startle response circuit to identify specific neural populations disrupted by toxins or toxicants and to link these disruptions to functional consequences for neural circuit function and behavior.

Description: This research was supported by a WHOI Von Damm and Ocean Ridge Initiative Fellowships to J.M.P. and the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health (NIH: P01ES021923 and P01ES028938; NSF: OCE-1314642 and OCE-1840381).

Description: 2022-06-07

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Beckman, N. G., Asian, C. E., Rogers, H. S., Kogan, O., Bronstein, J. L., Bullock, J. M., Hartig, F., HilleRisLambers, J., Zhou, Y., Zurell, D., Brodie, J. F., Bruna, E. M., Cantrell, R. S., Decker, R. R., Efiom, E., Fricke, E. C., Gurski, K., Hastings, A., Johnson, J. S., Loiselle, B. A., Miriti, M. N., Neubert, M. G., Pejchar, L., Poulsen, J. R., Pufal, G., Razafindratsima, O. H., Sandor, M. E., Shea, K., Schreiber, S., Schupp, E. W., Snell, R. S., Strickland, C., & Zambrano, J. Advancing an interdisciplinary framework to study seed dispersal ecology. Aob Plants, 12(2), (2020): plz048, doi:10.1093/aobpla/plz048.

Description: Although dispersal is generally viewed as a crucial determinant for the fitness of any organism, our understanding of its role in the persistence and spread of plant populations remains incomplete. Generalizing and predicting dispersal processes are challenging due to context dependence of seed dispersal, environmental heterogeneity and interdependent processes occurring over multiple spatial and temporal scales. Current population models often use simple phenomenological descriptions of dispersal processes, limiting their ability to examine the role of population persistence and spread, especially under global change. To move seed dispersal ecology forward, we need to evaluate the impact of any single seed dispersal event within the full spatial and temporal context of a plant’s life history and environmental variability that ultimately influences a population’s ability to persist and spread. In this perspective, we provide guidance on integrating empirical and theoretical approaches that account for the context dependency of seed dispersal to improve our ability to generalize and predict the consequences of dispersal, and its anthropogenic alteration, across systems. We synthesize suitable theoretical frameworks for this work and discuss concepts, approaches and available data from diverse subdisciplines to help operationalize concepts, highlight recent breakthroughs across research areas and discuss ongoing challenges and open questions. We address knowledge gaps in the movement ecology of seeds and the integration of dispersal and demography that could benefit from such a synthesis. With an interdisciplinary perspective, we will be able to better understand how global change will impact seed dispersal processes, and potential cascading effects on plant population persistence, spread and biodiversity.

Description: Ideas for this manuscript initiated during the Seed Dispersal Workshop held in May 2016 at the Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center in Annapolis, MD and supported by the US National Science Foundation Grant DEB-1548194 to N.G.B. and the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center under the US National Science Foundation Grant DBI-1052875. D.Z. received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF, grant: PZ00P3_168136/1) and from the German Science Foundation (DFG, grant: ZU 361/1-1).

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Bowen, J. L., Giblin, A. E., Murphy, A. E., Bulseco, A. N., Deegan, L. A., Johnson, D. S., Nelson, J. A., Mozdzer, T. J., & Sullivan, H. L. Not all nitrogen is created equal: differential effects of nitrate and ammonium enrichment in coastal wetlands. Bioscience, 70(12), (2020): 1108-1119, doi:10.1093/biosci/biaa140.

Description: Excess reactive nitrogen (N) flows from agricultural, suburban, and urban systems to coasts, where it causes eutrophication. Coastal wetlands take up some of this N, thereby ameliorating the impacts on nearshore waters. Although the consequences of N on coastal wetlands have been extensively studied, the effect of the specific form of N is not often considered. Both oxidized N forms (nitrate, NO3−) and reduced forms (ammonium, NH4+) can relieve nutrient limitation and increase primary production. However, unlike NH4+, NO3− can also be used as an electron acceptor for microbial respiration. We present results demonstrating that, in salt marshes, microbes use NO3− to support organic matter decomposition and primary production is less stimulated than when enriched with reduced N. Understanding how different forms of N mediate the balance between primary production and decomposition is essential for managing coastal wetlands as N enrichment and sea level rise continue to assail our coasts.

Description: This work was supported by the following funding sources: National Science Foundation (NSF) grant no. DEB 1902712 to LAD, JLB, DSJ, and TJM; NSF grant no. DEB 1902695 to AEG; NSF grant no. DEB 1902704 to JAN; NSF grant no. DEB 1354214 to TJM; NSF grant no. DEB 1350491 to JLB; NSF grant no. OCE 1637630 to AEG and LAD; and additional funding from the Dorr Foundation, the Department of the Interior Northeast Climate Science Center (grant no. DOI G12AC00001), and a Bullard Fellowship (Harvard University) to LAD and from the National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering Gulf Research Program to JAN. Resources purchased with funds from the NSF Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories program (grant no. DBI 1722553, to Northeastern University) were used to generate the data for the manuscript. Initial conversations on the effects of nutrient enrichment in marshes with Scott Warren and Bruce Peterson were critical in informing the work described in the manuscript. Sam Kelsey and Jane Tucker contributed to much of the N cycling biogeochemistry; Caitlin Bauer, Frankie Leach, Paige Weber, Emily Geoghegan and Sophie Drew assisted with field work; and Joe Vineis assisted with metagenomic analysis. This is contribution 3941 from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The data were compiled from multiple published sources. Links to published data can be found here: https://pie-lter.ecosystems.mbl.edu/data. The sequence data used to derive figure 6 are publicly available on the MG-RAST website under project number mgp84173.

Description: We present here the results of a five-years-long earthquake educational project aiming to commemorate the hundredth anniversaries of five large Northern Apennines earthquakes occurred between 1916 and 1920 in the areas of: Rimini (1916, Mw 6.1), Valtiberina (1917, Mw 5.9), Romagna Apennines (1918, Mw 5.9), Mugello (1919, Mw 6.3) and Garfagnana (1920, Mw 6.5) earthquakes. We saw these anniversaries as the occasion for leading the Northern Apennines people to rediscover their past, in a positive way, and to improve their awareness of the earthquake as a natural feature of the regions in which they live. The activities that we planned for schools students encouraged them to go hunting for traces of the earthquakes of one hundred years ago in their home towns and to rediscover the memories and traditions of their communities. Together with their teachers, we also led the teenagers to find creative ways to involve the grownups in the process of discovery and knowledge. The Project had to cope with two emergencies: the great Central Italy earthquake of 2016-2017 and the Covid-19 epidemic. However, these stumbling blocks did not deter teachers and students from taking part in the process actively and even enthusiastically. Their families and communities were actively involved too. This experience taught us some valuable lessons. First of all, we learned to adapt the project, as we had conceived it at the start, to a wide gamma of social and cultural contexts. Not all the involved communities were equally aware of the level of seismic risk they are exposed to. On the affluent Adriatic coast, where tourism is the main source of income, past earthquakes are something best forgotten, by citizens and administrators alike. On the contrary, in the poorer inland mountain areas (Forlivese Apennines, Mugello, Garfagnana and Lunigiana) a more down-to-earth attitude prevails: earthquakes are looked upon as something that can and does happen and people are quick to grasp how important it is to contribute to initiatives whose aim is reducing seismic risk. Thus, we had to adapt our approach to the different contexts, modifying each time the activities we proposed to the schools with the aim of obtain the best possible results from each situation. Presentiamo i risultati di un progetto di educazione al rischio sismico attivato in occasione dei centenari di cinque terremoti storici che hanno colpito l’Appennino settentrionale tra gli anni 1916 e 1920 e precisamente i terremoti di Rimini 1916 (Mw 6.1), Valtiberina 1917 (Mw 5.9), Appennino romagnolo 1918 (Mw 5.9), Mugello 1919 (Mw 6.3) e Garfagnana 1920 (Mw 6.5). Abbiamo pensato di utilizzare questi anniversari come punto di partenza per accompagnare i cittadini a riappropriarsi del loro passato in modo positivo, facendo crescere la loro consapevolezza del terremoto come un carattere del loro ambiente naturale. A tal fine, nelle attività realizzate con le scuole, abbiamo incoraggiato gli studenti a cercare le tracce dei terremoti di un secolo fa nell’ambiente urbanizzato e a indagare le memorie e le tradizioni ancora presenti nelle comunità. Insieme ai loro insegnanti abbiamo spinto i ragazzi a trovare modi creativi per coinvolgere gli adulti in questo processo di scoperta e conoscenza. Il progetto è stato messo alla prova dal forte terremoto dell’Italia centrale (2016­2017) e dall’epidemia di Covid­19, ma nonostante queste difficoltà insegnanti e studenti hanno partecipato con grande interesse a questo percorso e hanno coinvolto nelle attività del progetto le famiglie e le comunità locali. Anche noi abbiamo imparato nuove lezioni. Un aspetto importante che abbiamo appreso è il bisogno di adattare il progetto a contesti sociali e culturali che si sono rivelati molto diversi. Le comunità coinvolte non condividono lo stesso livello di consapevolezza del rischio: sulla costa adriatica, a vocazione turistica, i terremoti sono qualcosa che è meglio dimenticare, sia da parte dei cittadini che dalle amministrazioni. Al contrario, nell’Appennino forlivese, nel Mugello, in Garfagnana e Lunigiana, i terremoti sono una presenza costante e le persone si sono sentite subito coinvolte in un processo attivo di riduzione del rischio e di attenzione quotidiana. Questo ci ha spinto ad adattare ogni volta l’approccio ai diversi contesti, modificando le proposte di attività che abbiamo realizzato nelle scuole.

Description: Lavoro realizzato nell’ambito della Convenzione fra INGV e Dipartimento della Protezione Civile, Allegato A, tematica “M”.

Description: Published

Description: 1-40

Description: 5SR TERREMOTI - Convenzioni derivanti dall'Accordo Quadro decennale INGV-DPC

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) represents a primary data source in Solid Earth Sciences. In order to investigate the Earth’s crustal deformation, time series of the estimated daily positions of the stations are routinely analyzed at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) to investigate the deformation of the Earth’s surface caused by tectonic and non-tectonic processes. The GNSS observations of the stations are processed using the three main scientific software: GAMIT/GLOBK, BERNESE, and GIPSY OASIS II. The accuracy and the strength of geodetic solutions often depend on the geometry and spatial density of the network, and the availability and quality of GNSS data. In many circumstances, GNSS networks are deployed for topographic purposes by private or public institutions, and a significant number of GNSS stations in large regions acquire continuous observations. It may happen that such networks do not collect and distribute data according to IGS standards, so it could be difficult to analyze this data using automated data-processing tools. For that reason, this data is often ignored or partially used by the scientific community, despite their potential usefulness in geodynamic studies. We have attempted troubleshooting this problem by establishing a centralized storage facility in order to collect all available GNSS data and standardize both formats and metadata information. Here we describe the processes and functions that manage this unified repository, called MGA (Mediterranean GNSS Archive), which regularly collects GNSS RINEX files from alarge number of CORS (Continuously Operating Reference Station) located across a wide region of mainly the European and African plates. RINEX observation data and metadata information are provided to the analysts through an FTP server and dedicated web-services. The complete data set is stored in a PostgreSQL database in order to easily retrieve pieces of information and efficiently manage the archive content. The system implements many high-level services that include scripts to download files from remote archives and to detect new available data, web applications such as API (Application Program Interface) to interact with the system, and background services that interact with the database. During the development of this product, particular attention was paid to what has already been achieved by EPOS TCS WP10, whose objective was: "[...] to develop an open source platform with programmatic and web interfaces to store and disseminate raw data and metadata from GNSS stations operating in Europe''. Many ideas and tools presented here were inspired by that project.

Description: Published

Description: 1-18

Description: 2T. Deformazione crostale attiva

Description: 1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianza

Description: 4IT. Banche dati

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: SISMIKO è uno dei Gruppi Operativi di emergenza sismica dell’Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) con la principale missione di installare, nel più breve tempo possibile, una rete sismica temporanea in tempo reale ad integrazione di quella permanente nell’area colpita da un forte terremoto e/o da una sequenza sismica [Moretti et al., 2012; 2016]. SISMIKO nasce formalmente nel 2015 ed è il frutto della convergenza di reti sismiche mobili gestite da diversi gruppi all’interno delle singole Sezioni e sedi dell’Ente. Ognuna di queste reti risente della propria storia, risponde ad esigenze territoriali diverse ed è caratterizzata da vari gradi di coinvolgimento nella gestione della Rete Sismica Nazionale (RSN) [Michelini et al., 2016; Margheriti et al., 2020]. Questa eterogeneità si riflette anche in differenze nel sistema di acquisizione dati delle stazioni gestite dal GO. Grazie ad una attenta predisposizione e configurazione della propria strumentazione, oggi SISMIKO ha la possibilità e le competenze per integrare in poche ore una rete temporanea trasmessa in tempo reale nel sistema di acquisizione dati sismologici attivo presso la sede INGV di Roma, contribuendo in maniera significativa al servizio di monitoraggio e sorveglianza sismica del territorio colpito dall’emergenza [Margheriti et al., 2020]. Nel corso del 2020, facendo seguito al piano di rinnovo e omogeneizzazione del parco strumentale dedicato GO avviato nel 2019 (co­finanziato nell’ambito della Convenzione tra INGV e il Dipartimento di Protezione Civile vigente), è stato deciso di sviluppare un sistema di acquisizione dati in tempo reale unificato per tutte le stazioni di SISMIKO, indipendente dalle singole sedi di appartenenza. Questa nuova logica ha diversi vantaggi, e in primis quello di rendere possibile il completo interscambio del personale presso le varie sedi INGV nella gestione dell’acquisizione dati, aspetto fondamentale durante una emergenza.

Description: Published

Description: 1-26

Description: 2SR TERREMOTI - Gestione delle emergenze sismiche e da maremoto

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hirschberger, C., Sleight, V. A., Criswell, K. E., Clark, S. J., & Gillis, J. A. Conserved and unique transcriptional features of pharyngeal arches in the skate (Leucoraja erinacea) and evolution of the jaw. Molecular Biology and Evolution, (2021): msab123, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab123

Description: The origin of the jaw is a long-standing problem in vertebrate evolutionary biology. Classical hypotheses of serial homology propose that the upper and lower jaw evolved through modifications of dorsal and ventral gill arch skeletal elements, respectively. If the jaw and gill arches are derived members of a primitive branchial series, we predict that they would share common developmental patterning mechanisms. Using candidate and RNAseq/differential gene expression analyses, we find broad conservation of dorsoventral patterning mechanisms within the developing mandibular, hyoid and gill arches of a cartilaginous fish, the skate (Leucoraja erinacea). Shared features include expression of genes encoding members of the ventralising BMP and endothelin signalling pathways and their effectors, the joint markers nkx3.2 and gdf5 and pro-chondrogenic transcription factor barx1, and the dorsal territory marker pou3f3. Additionally, we find that mesenchymal expression of eya1/six1 is an ancestral feature of the mandibular arch of jawed vertebrates, while differences in notch signalling distinguish the mandibular and gill arches in skate. Comparative transcriptomic analyses of mandibular and gill arch tissues reveal additional genes differentially expressed along the dorsoventral axis of the pharyngeal arches, including scamp5 as a novel marker of the dorsal mandibular arch, as well as distinct transcriptional features of mandibular and gill arch muscle progenitors and developing gill buds. Taken together, our findings reveal conserved patterning mechanisms in the pharyngeal arches of jawed vertebrates, consistent with serial homology of their skeletal derivatives, as well as unique transcriptional features that may underpin distinct jaw and gill arch morphologies.

Description: This work was supported by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership studentship to CH, by a Wolfson College Junior Research Fellowship and MBL Whitman Early Career Fellowship to VAS, and by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (UF130182 and URF\R\191007), Royal Society Research Grant (RG140377) and University of Cambridge Sir Isaac Newton Trust Grant (14.23z) to JAG.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Suca, J. J., Deroba, J. J., Richardson, D. E., Ji, R., & Llopiz, J. K. Environmental drivers and trends in forage fish occupancy of the Northeast US shelf. Ices Journal of Marine Science, 78(10), (2021): 3687–3708, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsab214.

Description: The Northeast US shelf ecosystem is undergoing unprecedented changes due to long-term warming trends and shifts in regional hydrography leading to changes in community composition. However, it remains uncertain how shelf occupancy by the region's dominant, offshore small pelagic fishes, also known as forage fishes, has changed throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Here, we use species distribution models to estimate the change in shelf occupancy, mean weighted latitude, and mean weighted depth of six forage fishes on the Northeast US shelf, and whether those trends were linked to coincident hydrographic conditions. Our results suggest that observed shelf occupancy is increasing or unchanging for most species in both spring and fall, linked both to gear shifts and increasing bottom temperature and salinity. Exceptions include decreases to observed shelf occupancy by sand lance and decreases to Atlantic herring's inferred habitat suitability in the fall. Our work shows that changes in shelf occupancy and inferred habitat suitability have varying coherence, indicating complex mechanisms behind observed shelf occupancy for many species. Future work and management can use these results to better isolate the aspects of forage fish life histories that are important for determining their occupancy of the Northeast US shelf.

Description: Funding came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Woods Hole Sea Grant Program (NA18OAR4170104, Project number R/O-57; RJ and JKL) and a National Science Foundation Long-term Ecological Research grant for the Northeast US Shelf Ecosystem (OCE1655686; RJ and JKL). JJS was funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Doo, S. S., Kealoha, A., Andersson, A., Cohen, A. L., Hicks, T. L., Johnson, Z., I., Long, M. H., McElhany, P., Mollica, N., Shamberger, K. E. F., Silbiger, N. J., Takeshita, Y., & Busch, D. S. The challenges of detecting and attributing ocean acidification impacts on marine ecosystems. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 77(7-8), (2020): 2411-2422, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaa094.

Description: A substantial body of research now exists demonstrating sensitivities of marine organisms to ocean acidification (OA) in laboratory settings. However, corresponding in situ observations of marine species or ecosystem changes that can be unequivocally attributed to anthropogenic OA are limited. Challenges remain in detecting and attributing OA effects in nature, in part because multiple environmental changes are co-occurring with OA, all of which have the potential to influence marine ecosystem responses. Furthermore, the change in ocean pH since the industrial revolution is small relative to the natural variability within many systems, making it difficult to detect, and in some cases, has yet to cross physiological thresholds. The small number of studies that clearly document OA impacts in nature cannot be interpreted as a lack of larger-scale attributable impacts at the present time or in the future but highlights the need for innovative research approaches and analyses. We summarize the general findings in four relatively well-studied marine groups (seagrasses, pteropods, oysters, and coral reefs) and integrate overarching themes to highlight the challenges involved in detecting and attributing the effects of OA in natural environments. We then discuss four potential strategies to better evaluate and attribute OA impacts on species and ecosystems. First, we highlight the need for work quantifying the anthropogenic input of CO2 in coastal and open-ocean waters to understand how this increase in CO2 interacts with other physical and chemical factors to drive organismal conditions. Second, understanding OA-induced changes in population-level demography, potentially increased sensitivities in certain life stages, and how these effects scale to ecosystem-level processes (e.g. community metabolism) will improve our ability to attribute impacts to OA among co-varying parameters. Third, there is a great need to understand the potential modulation of OA impacts through the interplay of ecology and evolution (eco–evo dynamics). Lastly, further research efforts designed to detect, quantify, and project the effects of OA on marine organisms and ecosystems utilizing a comparative approach with long-term data sets will also provide critical information for informing the management of marine ecosystems.

Description: SSD was funded by NSF OCE (grant # 1415268). DSB and PM were supported by the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program and Northwest Fisheries Science Center, MHL was supported by NSF OCE (grant # 1633951), ZIJ was supported by NSF OCE (grant # 1416665) and DOE EERE (grant #DE-EE008518), NJS was supported by NSF OCE (grant # 1924281), ALC was supported by NSF OCE (grant # 1737311), and AA was supported by NSF OCE (grant # 1416518). KEFS, AK, and TLH were supported by Texas A&M University. This is CSUN Marine Biology contribution (# 306).

Description: Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2020. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Oxford University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Toxicological Sciences (2020): kfaa158, doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfaa158.

Description: Chemical modifications of proteins, DNA, and RNA moieties play critical roles in regulating gene expression. Emerging evidence suggests the RNA modifications (epitranscriptomics) have substantive roles in basic biological processes. One of the most common modifications in mRNA and noncoding RNAs is N6-methyladenosine (m6A). In a subset of mRNAs, m6A sites are preferentially enriched near stop codons, in 3′ UTRs, and within exons, suggesting an important role in the regulation of mRNA processing and function including alternative splicing and gene expression. Very little is known about the effect of environmental chemical exposure on m6A modifications. As many of the commonly occurring environmental contaminants alter gene expression profiles and have detrimental effects on physiological processes, it is important to understand the effects of exposure on this important layer of gene regulation. Hence, the objective of this study was to characterize the acute effects of developmental exposure to PCB126, an environmentally relevant dioxin-like PCB, on m6A methylation patterns. We exposed zebrafish embryos to PCB126 for 6 h starting from 72 h post fertilization and profiled m6A RNA using methylated RNA immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (MeRIP-seq). Our analysis revealed 117 and 217 m6A peaks in the DMSO and PCB126 samples (false discovery rate 5%), respectively. The majority of the peaks were preferentially located around the 3′ UTR and stop codons. Statistical analysis revealed 15 m6A marked transcripts to be differentially methylated by PCB126 exposure. These include transcripts that are known to be activated by AHR agonists (eg, ahrra, tiparp, nfe2l2b) as well as others that are important for normal development (vgf, cebpd, sned1). These results suggest that environmental chemicals such as dioxin-like PCBs could affect developmental gene expression patterns by altering m6A levels. Further studies are necessary to understand the functional consequences of exposure-associated alterations in m6A levels.

Description: National Institute of Health National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (NIH R01ES024915 to N.A.); Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health [National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Grant P01ES028938); National Science Foundation (Grant OCE-1840381) to M. E. Hahn, J. J. Stegeman, N.A., and S.K.].

Description: 2021-10-16

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Lamb, D. C., Hargrove, T. Y., Zhao, B., Wawrzak, Z., Goldstone, J. V., Nes, W. D., Kelly, S. L., Waterman, M. R., Stegeman, J. J., & Lepesheva, G. I. Concerning P450 evolution: structural analyses support bacterial origin of sterol 14α-demethylases. Molecular Biology and Evolution, (2020): msaa260, doi:10.1093/molbev/msaa260.

Description: Sterol biosynthesis, primarily associated with eukaryotic kingdoms of life, occurs as an abbreviated pathway in the bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus. Sterol 14α-demethylation is an essential step in this pathway and is catalyzed by cytochrome P450 51 (CYP51). In M. capsulatus, the enzyme consists of the P450 domain naturally fused to a ferredoxin domain at the C-terminus (CYP51fx). The structure of M. capsulatus CYP51fx was solved to 2.7 Å resolution and is the first structure of a bacterial sterol biosynthetic enzyme. The structure contained one P450 molecule per asymmetric unit with no electron density seen for ferredoxin. We connect this with the requirement of P450 substrate binding in order to activate productive ferredoxin binding. Further, the structure of the P450 domain with bound detergent (which replaced the substrate upon crystallization) was solved to 2.4 Å resolution. Comparison of these two structures to the CYP51s from human, fungi, and protozoa reveals strict conservation of the overall protein architecture. However, the structure of an “orphan” P450 from nonsterol-producing Mycobacterium tuberculosis that also has CYP51 activity reveals marked differences, suggesting that loss of function in vivo might have led to alterations in the structural constraints. Our results are consistent with the idea that eukaryotic and bacterial CYP51s evolved from a common cenancestor and that early eukaryotes may have recruited CYP51 from a bacterial source. The idea is supported by bioinformatic analysis, revealing the presence of CYP51 genes in 〉1,000 bacteria from nine different phyla, 〉50 of them being natural CYP51fx fusion proteins.

Description: The study was supported by National Institutes of Health (Grant No. R01 GM067871 to G.I.L.) and by a UK-USA Fulbright Scholarship and the Royal Society (to D.C.L.).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Zemeckis, D. R., Dean, M. J., DeAngelis, A. I., Van Parijs, S. M., Hoffman, W. S., Baumgartner, M. F., Hatch, L. T., Cadrin, S. X., & McGuire, C. H. Identifying the distribution of Atlantic cod spawning using multiple fixed and glider-mounted acoustic technologies. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 76(6), (2019): 1610-1625, doi: 10.1093/icesjms/fsz064.

Description: Effective fishery management measures to protect fish spawning aggregations require reliable information on the spatio-temporal distribution of spawning. Spawning closures have been part of a suite of fishery management actions to rebuild the Gulf of Maine stock of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), but difficulties remain with managing rebuilding. The objective of this study was to identify the spatial and temporal distribution of cod spawning during winter in Massachusetts Bay to improve our understanding of cod spawning dynamics and inform fisheries management. Spawning was investigated in collaboration with commercial fishermen during three winter spawning seasons (October 2013–March 2016) using acoustic telemetry and passive acoustic monitoring equipment deployed in fixed-station arrays and mounted on mobile autonomous gliders. Tagged cod exhibited spawning site fidelity and spawning primarily occurred from early November through January with a mid-December peak and some inter-annual variability. The spatial distribution of spawning was generally consistent among years with multiple hotspots in areas 〉50 m depth. Current closures encompass most of spawning, but important areas are recommended for potential modifications. Utilizing multiple complementary technologies and deployment strategies in collaboration with commercial fishermen enabled a comprehensive description of spawning and provides a valuable model for future studies.

Description: Year 1 was jointly funded by The Nature Conservancy and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. The remainder of this research was funded through the 2013–2014 NOAA Saltonstall Kennedy grant program (Award No. NA14NMF4270027) with additional support from the Nature Conservancy and Cabot Family Charitable Foundation.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Dong, E., Zhang, Y., Song, Z., Zhang, T., Cai, C., & Fang, N. X. Physical modeling and validation of porpoises' directional emission via hybrid metamaterials. National Science Review, 6(5), (2019): 921-928, doi:10.1093/nsr/nwz085.

Description: In wave physics and engineering, directional emission sets a fundamental limitation on conventional simple sources as their sizes should be sufficiently larger than their wavelength. Artificial metamaterial and animal biosonar both show potential in overcoming this limitation. Existing metamaterials arranged in periodic microstructures face great challenges in realizing complex and multiphase biosonar structures. Here, we proposed a physical directional emission model to bridge the gap between porpoises’ biosonar and artificial metamaterial. Inspired by the anatomical and physical properties of the porpoise's biosonar transmission system, we fabricated a hybrid metamaterial system composed of multiple composite structures. We validated that the hybrid metamaterial significantly increased directivity and main lobe energy over a broad bandwidth both numerically and experimentally. The device displayed efficiency in detecting underwater target and suppressing false target jamming. The metamaterial-based physical model may be helpful to achieve the physical mechanisms of porpoise biosonar detection and has diverse applications in underwater acoustic sensing, ultrasound scanning, and medical ultrasonography.

Description: E.D., Y.Z., Z.S., T.Z. and C.C. acknowledge the financial support in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1407504), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41676023, 41276040 and 41422604). N.X.F. acknowledges the support from the MIT Energy Initiative grant. Z.S. thanks the China Scholarship Council for the financial support of his oversea study in Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Lin, J., Xu, Y., Sun, Z., & Zhou, Z. Mantle upwelling beneath the South China Sea and links to surrounding subduction systems. National Science Review, 6(5), (2019): 877-881, doi:10.1093/nsr/nwz123.

Description: The evolution of the South China Sea (SCS) is directly linked to the complex subduction systems of the surrounding Pacific, Philippine Sea and Indo-Australian Plates (Fig. 1a). Major advances in the last several years are providing new insights into the SCS-mantle dynamics, through regional seismic imaging of the upper mantle [1,2], unprecedented IODP drilling expeditions (349/367/368/368X) [3–5] that obtained the oceanic basement basalt samples for the first time, geochemical analyses of the SCS-mantle source compositions [6–8] and geodynamic modeling [9,10]. Furthermore, new geological mapping, seismic imaging [11,12] and IODP drilling [13,14] have revealed evidence for significantly greater magma production at the northern SCS rifted margin, in comparison to the magma-poor end-member of the Atlantic rifted margins. This paper provides a new perspective of the SCS-mantle dynamics inspired by new observations and geodynamic modeling. We first highlight new geophysical evidence for a broad region of low-seismic-velocity anomalies in the upper mantle beneath the northern SCS, abundant magmatism during continental breakup and post-seafloor spreading, and geochemical evidence for recycled oceanic components beneath the SCS. We then present new models of layered flows in the mantle beneath the SCS, revealing two modes of plate- and subduction-driven mantle upwelling, including (i) narrow centers of mantle upwelling at shallow depths induced by divergent plate motion at seafloor-spreading centers and (ii) broad zones of mantle upwelling as a result of subduction-induced mantle-return flows at greater depths. These new observations and geodynamic studies suggest strong links between mantle upwelling beneath the SCS and surrounding subducting plates.

Description: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41890813, 91628301, U1606401, 41976066, 91858207 and 41706056), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y4SL021001, QYZDY-SSW-DQC005 and 133244KYSB20180029), the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou, GML2019ZD0205), the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC0309800 and 2018YFC0310100), the State Oceanic Administration (GASI-GEOGE-02) and China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association (DY135-S2–1-04).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Sun, Z., Lin, J., Qiu, N., Jian, Z., Wang, P., Pang, X., Zheng, J., & Zhu, B. The role of magmatism in the thinning and breakup of the South China Sea continental margin: Special Topic: the South China Sea Ocean Drilling. National Science Review, 6(5), (2019): 871-876, doi:10.1093/nsr/nwz116.

Description: Magmatism plays a key role in the process of continental margin breakup and ocean formation. Even in the extremely magma-poor Iberia and Newfoundland margin, studies of field outcrops have shown that syn-rift magmatism had participated in rifting from a very early stage and contributed directly to the rifting process. The final transition from exhumed continental mantle to the ocean formation is also triggered by the accumulation and eruption of magma [1]. Therefore, Atlantic-type passive continental margins are classified into two end-members: magma-poor (non-volcanic) and magma-rich (volcanic). The differences between them lie in whether a large amount of intrusive and extrusive magmatism from the mantle plume/hotspot is involved in the syn-rift and breakup stages. A magma-rich margin [2] should include the following characteristics: (i) a high-velocity lower crust (HVLC) caused by syn-rift mafic magma underplating; (ii) continental crust intruded by abundant sills and dikes; (iii) a large volume of seaward-dipping reflectors (SDRs) caused by flood basalt eruption or tuffs. All other margins are classified as magma-poor margins.

Description: We thank the research team project of Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (2017A030312002), IODP-China and South China Sea Deep Project (91628301) and K.C. Wong Education Foundation (GJTD-2018-13) for providing support for the research. This research was also supported by the China National Science and Technology Major Project (2016ZX05026–003), the joint foundation of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Guangdong province (U1301233), as well as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41576070 and 41890813).

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Johnson, W. M., Alexander, H., Bier, R. L., Miller, D. R., Muscarella, M. E., Pitz, K. J., & Smith, H. Auxotrophic interactions: A stabilizing attribute of aquatic microbial communities? FEMS Microbiology Ecology, (2020): fiaa115, doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaa115.

Description: Auxotrophy, or an organism's requirement for an exogenous source of an organic molecule, is widespread throughout species and ecosystems. Auxotrophy can result in obligate interactions between organisms, influencing ecosystem structure and community composition. We explore how auxotrophy-induced interactions between aquatic microorganisms affect microbial community structure and stability. While some studies have documented auxotrophy in aquatic microorganisms, these studies are not widespread, and we therefore do not know the full extent of auxotrophic interactions in aquatic environments. Current theoretical and experimental work suggests that auxotrophy links microbial community members through a complex web of metabolic dependencies. We discuss the proposed ways in which auxotrophy may enhance or undermine the stability of aquatic microbial communities, highlighting areas where our limited understanding of these interactions prevents us from being able to predict the ecological implications of auxotrophy. Finally, we examine an example of auxotrophy in harmful algal blooms to place this often theoretical discussion in a field context where auxotrophy may have implications for the development and robustness of algal bloom communities. We seek to draw attention to the relationship between auxotrophy and community stability in an effort to encourage further field and theoretical work that explores the underlying principles of microbial interactions.

Description: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [OCE-1356192].

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Keller, A. G., Apprill, A., Lebaron, P., Robbins, J., Romano, T. A., Overton, E., Rong, Y., Yuan, R., Pollara, S., & Whalen, K. E. Characterizing the culturable surface microbiomes of diverse marine animals. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 97(4), (2021): fiab040, https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiab040.

Description: Biofilm-forming bacteria have the potential to contribute to the health, physiology, behavior and ecology of the host and serve as its first line of defense against adverse conditions in the environment. While metabarcoding and metagenomic information furthers our understanding of microbiome composition, fewer studies use cultured samples to study the diverse interactions among the host and its microbiome, as cultured representatives are often lacking. This study examines the surface microbiomes cultured from three shallow-water coral species and two whale species. These unique marine animals place strong selective pressures on their microbial symbionts and contain members under similar environmental and anthropogenic stress. We developed an intense cultivation procedure, utilizing a suite of culture conditions targeting a rich assortment of biofilm-forming microorganisms. We identified 592 microbial isolates contained within 15 bacterial orders representing 50 bacterial genera, and two fungal species. Culturable bacteria from coral and whale samples paralleled taxonomic groups identified in culture-independent surveys, including 29% of all bacterial genera identified in the Megaptera novaeangliae skin microbiome through culture-independent methods. This microbial repository provides raw material and biological input for more nuanced studies which can explore how members of the microbiome both shape their micro-niche and impact host fitness.

Description: Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation (Biological Oceanography) award #1657808 and National Institutes of Health grants 1R21-AI119311–01 to K. E. Whalen, as well as funding from the Koshland Integrated Natural Science Center and Green Fund at Haverford College. This constitutes scientific manuscript #298 from the Sea Research Foundation.