bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cyclic sediment deposition in the Miocene wetland of Western Amazonia is controlled by orbital forcing, uplift of the Andes and sea level change
Authors: Hoorn Carina , Tyler Kukla , Bogota-Angel Giovanni , Catalina Gonzalez Arango , Wesselingh Frank , Val Pedro , Vonhof Hubert , Morley Robert
Published: March 2022

In the Miocene, a large wetland extended from the Andean foothills into western Amazonia. This system plays an important part in current biogeographic models and is thought to have acted as an evolutionary ‘cradle’ for aquatic species and an ‘inhibitor’ for terrestrial taxa. The generating mechanisms of this system are not fully understood, but dynamic topography, Andean uplift and eustasy are all thought to have controlled deposition. Orbital forcing is likely an additional driver that could explain the succession of shallowing upwards cycles that characterize the sedimentary record. In this study we investigated the presumed cyclicity at the Los Chorros (Colombia), a site that constitutes a representative example for the sedimentary record in the Miocene wetland system. We integrated lithological, palynological and malacological data from a sequence biostratigraphic perspective. In this approach, the Los Chorros succession is visualised to be composed of a series of flood-fill packages, with a rapid initial flood, with marine-influenced conditions at the time of maximum flood, and followed by a longer regressive infill phase. Based on the palynology we could differentiate local vegetation, such as swamps, from sources of regional origin such as terra firme vegetation (non-flooded Amazonian Forest) and montane forest (Andean), while also separating local and regional sediment sources.  Marine influences are intermittently evident in this section, based on the occurrence of short-lived maxima of mangrove pollen, foraminiferal test linings, dinoflagellate cysts, some mollusc species, and an episodic decline in terrestrial biomarkers. At the times of flooding, the lacustrine conditions in the wetland system were characterized by the presence of algae, floating ferns, and mollusc assemblages that indicate alternating oligotrophic and eutrophic conditions, while intervening subaquatic debris points to proximal submerged lowlands. The palynology also shows that the shallow lakes were fringed by a succession of Mauritiinae palm swamps, ferns, and grasses, with a diverse rainforest in the wider periphery. The sequence biostratigraphic evaluation suggests that the deposition of this sediment sequence took place prior to the 13.8 Ma global sea level fall, and most likely the period just after 14.5 Ma, towards the end of the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum. We propose that the studied succession comprises eight 41 ka obliquity-driven depositional cycles, with rapid phases of transgression, and that mangrove elements would have colonised within the timeframe of each sea level rise.
Using UAV-based Infrared Thermometry in the identification of gas seeps: a case study from Ciomadul dormant volcano (Eastern Carpathians, Romania)
Authors: Kis Boglarka , Tămaș Dan Mircea , Tămaș Alexandra , Szalay Roland
Published: March 2022

In our study, we tested a UAV-based IRT and Structure from Motion (SfM) for the identification of CO2 rich gas emission areas at Ciomadul dormant volcanic area, Eastern Carpathians. Our aim is to demonstrate the efficiency of the identification method providing example from a case-study in the Eastern Carpathians.

The gas emissions from Ciomadul come with high flux and are of magmatic origin, associated with the volcanic activity in the past. We had the following assumptions before performing the measurements with the drone: the temperature of the gas vents is constant, as well as their flux, variability is represented only by the changes in ambient temperature. We had previous knowledge on the temperature of the gas emissions (6 °C), so we chose periods when the ambient temperature is either lower or higher than the temperature of the gas. We performed several field observations with the camera both at daytime and in the evening.

The acquisition of UAV photography was made using a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual drone. This device is equipped with a 12 MP visual camera (RGB) with a 1/2.3" CMOS sensor. The visual camera has a lens with field of view of approx. 85°, 24 mm (35 mm format equivalent) lens with an aperture of f/2.8. It was also equipped with an Integrated Radiometric FLIR® Thermal Sensor. It is an Uncooled VOx Microbolometer with a horizontal field of view of 57° and f/1.1 aperture, sensor resolution is 160x120 (640x480 image size) and a spectral band of 8-14 μm.

The gas vents were clearly visible on the thermal images, and we discovered additional seeps that were not identified before. Later we confirmed the presence of the gas emissions with in situ measurements on the concentrations of CO2. The visibility of the gas emissions was influenced by parameters like temperature, the orientation of the gas vent, the influence of sunlight, the flux of the gas vent, etc.

 
Porphyry extractive activity in the Atesino Volcanic District (North of Italy): petrochemical characterization of materials placed in landfill
Authors: Marrocchino Elena , Telloli Chiara , Paletta Maria Grazia , Vaccaro Carmela
Published: March 2022

In the Trentino-Alto Adige region different types of stone materials are extracted, including the porphyry of the Atesino Volcanic Complex. Trentino porphyry from natural splitting stone has gradually gained more and more space in the last 25-30 years also in the market of sawn, flamed and polished products, which bring it back fully in the family of ornamental stones. This evolution has led to a significant increase in mining in the Trentino area with a consequent increase in the quantities of materials placed in landfills.

Porphyry landfills represent one of the most significant landscape-environmental and economic problems for the Trentino region. This involves a waste of natural resources, an increasing occupation of areas by processing waste, as well as profound morphological alterations of the landscape which can have repercussions on the stability of the slopes, also due to the difficulty of taking root.

The problem of the disposal of waste materials is becoming more and more pressing. From this arises the need to investigate possible sectors of interest for an alternative use of these materials.

In this regard, some landfills were sampled in the area between the towns of Baselga di Pinè to the east, Lavis to the west, bounded by an imaginary line that joins the towns of Fornace and Meano to the south and joins the towns of S. Michele all’Adige and Segonzano to the north.

Different samples collected were petrographically studied, through microscopically observation of thin sections, and petrochemically characterized by analysis in X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), at the laboratories of the University of Ferrara.

This study has highlighted the possible reuse in the ceramic sector of part of the materials placed in some of the landfills examined. A more in-depth and extensive study of the materials of the landfills in the stone Atesino District would allow the creation of a complete database useful for identifying the most suitable sites where to find atypical raw materials to be used in ceramic mixtures.
The impact of different land use change scenarios on precipitation in a semiarid Mediterranean area in Southeastern Spain
Authors: Moutahir Hassane , Beneto Pau , Arnault Joel , Zhang Zhenyu , Laux Patrick , Khodayar Samira , Kunstmann Harald
Published: March 2022

Land use changes are the major anthropogenic alterations which are considered to have an important impact on the climate system. In semiarid regions such as the the Southeastern Spain where water is the major limiting factor for ecosystems functioning and human development, knowledge about future water availability is of high importance above all in the context of climate change. To better understand the potential impact of land use change on the regional climate, we used the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate the impact of different land use scenarios on precipitation in the Jucar Basin in Southeastern Spain. We conducted three different scenarios: (1) increasing the tree cover areas, (2) removing the tree cover and increasing the shrubland areas, and (3) increasing the urban areas in the coastal areas. Preliminary results show that increasing the tree cover areas will likely increase the annual precipitation (approximately +3%) in the region, and mostly affecting the autumn period (+8%) with respect to the actual land use scenario. Removing the tree cover and increasing the urban areas resulted in reduced precipitation above all during the spring season (-3%).
A “multiple lines of evidence approach” for site characterization and high-resolution 3D geological modelling/risk assessment of PFAS contaminated sites in Sweden and Israel.
Authors: Klint Knud
Published: March 2022

Sites contaminated with Per- and PolyFluoroAlkyl Substances (PFAS) possess a major challenge from a remediation point of view. In order to choose the best technologies for various conditions and document the efficiency of the remediation actions, it is essential to provide the optimal overview of the geological/hydraulic conditions at the contaminated site.

Constructing models with adequate degree of details, dense data coverage with high-quality data is necessary. Many studies rely of few data sources; resulting in relatively sparse data, however, in this study, we demonstrate how multiple different data sources may be combined in order to gain new insight on the geological history, which is central to the subsequent 3D geological modelling. The analyses in this study include (I) GIS analysis (Geomorphology/geology/aerial photos/high resolution elevation models), (II) Detailed borehole analysis (geotechnical, petrographic and textural analyses), (III) Spear auger mapping, (IV) Hydraulic test/analysis, (V) Chemical analysis, (VI) 3-d geological modelling.

All data will be incorporated in Geos´ GIS platform, GeoAtlasLive, allowing visualization of GIS layers, the geological model and hydraulic, chemical, data related to water and soil sampling points in a 3-D framework, thus allowing the optimal overview of multiple data in order to optimize the design for optimal monitoring and remediating strategies.

The model also forms the framework for detailed analysis of multiscale (lab-field scale) studies of contaminant transport/degradation processes in order to evaluate efficiency and risk assessment of various remediation approaches.
Understanding the Drought Situation in a Water-Stressed Region of India
Authors: Pati Ashutosh , Mahapatra Smaranika , Wable Pawan
Published: March 2022

The onset of drought is very crucial from an agricultural as well as water management point of view in a catchment. A meteorological drought results from a lack of rainfall beyond a certain threshold and is translated to a hydrological drought when the water bodies get affected due to lack of flow to them resulting in storage depletion. This further transforms into agricultural drought when it affects agriculture. Being difficult to observe on-ground, the drought is generally represented in terms of different hydro-meteorological proxies such as precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, streamflow. This study explored the translation of meteorological drought to vegetation in a drought-prone state of India. For this, the vegetation condition index (VCI) and the widely used Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) were estimated at the district scale. The VCI was calculated from the MODIS-derived NDVI in Google Earth Engine platform. The in-situ rainfall data was used for SPI estimation at different time scales (3-month, 6-month, and 12-month).  Further, different weightage functions such as rectangular, gaussian, triangular, and circular weightage functions were applied for their performance in estimating SPI and their correlation to VCI. Analysis of the results reveals strong dependence of VCI on SPI at larger time scales such as 6-month and 12-month time scales for the whole year as well as in monsoon season. Further, the SPI estimated using the rectangular weightage function shows a better correlation to VCI followed by the circular weightage functions. 

Key Words: Drought, Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), Weightage Function
Composition of Soil Fungal and Bacterial Communities and their Relation with Soil Physicochemical Properties under different Agricultural managements in a Mediterranean Almond Orchard
Authors: Ozbolat Onurcan , Zornoza Raúl , Sánchez-Navarro Virginia , Cuartero Jessica , Ros Margarita , Canfora Loredana , Orrù Luigi , Martínez-Mena María , Boix-Fayos Carolina , Almagro Maria
Published: March 2022

Soil microbiome is the most diverse ecosystem in the world and carries out some of the most important soil functions through nutrient cycling. Agroecosystem health and sustainability are strongly connected to understanding soil microbiome and its composition, yet unknown in many agricultural areas. In this study we compared in a rainfed almond orchard in Spain the long-term effect of intensive tillage (IT), reduced-tillage (RT) and reduced-tillage with alley cropping (RTAC) on soil fungal and bacterial communities and their interrelationship with soil physicochemical properties and almond yield. Fungi and bacteria population were characterized using next-generation sequencing technology. Soil organic C, total N and particulate organic C were were significantly higher in RT and RTAC treatments compared to IT, with no significant differences concerning cation exchange capacity, ammonium or nitrates. RTAC showed the highest proportion of macro-aggregates (>250 µm). Richness and diversity indices showed no significant differences among treatments for fungal and bacterial communities. Within bacterial genera, we observed higher abundance of Sphingomonas, Streptomyces, Blastococcus, and Nocardioides in RT and RTAC treatments. Within fungi genera, Mortierella, Coprinopsis and Chaetomium showed higher abundance in IT. Multivariate analysis showed that soil fungal and bacterial communities were different depending on the treatment, mostly associated to changes in soil organic C. Deep identification of bacterial and fungal taxa may give light to the understanding of soil microbiome and functions in almond orchards, and brings the producers one step closer to make productive areas more sustainable related to soil C sequestration and fertility.
Re-implementing and Extending the NURD Algorithm to the Full Duration of the Van Allen Probes Mission
Authors: Szabo-Roberts Matyas , Kume Karolina , Smirnov Artem , Zhelavskaya Irina , Shprits Yuri
Published: March 2022

Generating reliable databases of electron density measurements over a wide range of geomagnetic conditions is essential for improving empirical models of electron density. The Neural-network-based Upper hybrid Resonance Determination (NURD) algorithm has been developed for automated extraction of electron density from Van Allen Probes electric field measurements, and has been shown to be in good agreement with existing semi-automated methods and empirical models. The extracted electron density data has since then been used to develop the PINE (Plasma density in the Inner magnetosphere Neural network-based Empirical) model, an empirical model for reconstructing the global dynamics of the cold plasma density distribution based only on solar wind data and geomagnetic indices.
In this study we re-implement the NURD algorithm in both Python and Matlab, and compare the performance of these implementations to each other and previous NURD results. We take advantage of a labeled training data set now being available for the full duration of the Van Allen Probes mission to train the network and generate an electron density data set for a significantly longer time period. We perform detailed comparisons between this output, electron density produced from Van Allen Probes electric field measurements using the AURA semi-automated algorithm, and electron density obtained from existing empirical models. We also present preliminary results from the PINE plasmasphere model trained on this extended NURD electron density data set.
Hydrogeomorphic floodplain mapping across different morphometric and climate settings 
Authors: Annis Antonio , Morrison Ryan , Nardi Fernando
Published: March 2022

Among the DTM-based parsimonious floodplain delineation methods, hydrogeomorphic scaling laws, providing consistent flood flow depth estimations as a function of contributing drainage areas, are widely used. Recent advances in this field demonstrated the suitability of hydrogeomorphic floodplain delineation models from basin to continental scale across diverse climatic and morphological settings. However, the sensitivity of scaling law parameterizations and performance in semi-arid to humid and low-gradient to steep basins is still unknown. In this work we determined flow depths – contributing areas scaling law parameters with varying basin slope and average annual rainfall across eleven basins in the west-central United States. These variable scaling law parameters were used to test the performance of the GFPLAIN hydrogeomorphic floodplain delineation model in the study area adopting largely and freely available global climate and topographic datasets. Outcomes of this analysis show improved performances and effectiveness of the GFPLAIN model with varying morphometric and climatic factors suggesting room for improvement for the current continental and global hydrogeomorphic floodplain datasets.
Geodiversity, geosites and the assessment of abiotic ecosystem services: preliminary results from Magma and Sesia Val Grande UNESCO Global Geoparks
Authors: Giardino Marco , Gentilini Sara , Thjømøe Pål
Published: March 2022

During last 20 years there has been an increasing interest on environmental issues related to sustainable use of natural resources, and solutions adopted are often linked to performing ecosystem services analysis and finding indicators for biodiversity assessment. However, while the biotic aspect of nature has been deeply explored and discussed among the scientific community, the abiotic side didn’t get the same attention.

Only recently, Geodiversity assessments have acquired scientific attention and specific ecosystem services have been discussed in connection with abiotic nature. Anyhow, at present, the general knowledge about abiotic indicators and their role for the society hasn’t been assessed, especially in the contest of UNESCO Global Geoparks.

Through their management strategies UNESCO Global Geoparks are playing an important role in understanding and valorizing the geological heritage; however the tools presently available for the managers are insufficient both for an appropriate geosite´s selection and a standardized description taking into consideration the whole aspects involved in the diversity of nature.

A PhD research at the H2020 Marie Curie Tech4Culture doctoral school focused on detection of common systematization of data and on developing provisional indicators for analyses of geodiversity and geosites in two UNESCO Global Geoparks, Magma Geopark in Norway and Sesia Val Grande in Italy. A database for geosite registration was created as a tool for geopark´s manager, supporting them in choosing, monitoring, and developing the geosite, before and after obtaining the designation within the UNESCO Global Geoparks initiative.

The central part of the research analysed the scientific baseline regarding biotic and abiotic ecosystem services and their assessmemt. The methodology for the development of abiotic ecosystem indicators followed and adapted the Biodiversity Indicators Development Framework. Four geosites have been selected for this research phase. The analysis of the geological processes influencing different abiotic ecosystem services (during the Anthropocene time interval) and their connection within the spatial dimension of the geosite and its buffer zone, supported the development of variables and provisional indicators for abiotic nature. Through the attribution of specific values and a common scale the four geosite have been assessed for all the 25 abiotic ecosystem services proposed by Gray (2013).

Outcomes of this PhD research thesis offers contributions to the effective recognition of the value of geodiversity within nature protection and sustainability issues and shows the need for abiotic ecosystem service assessment methodology for developing accurate management strategies in UNESCO Global Geoparks.
Microbial volatile organic compounds: important but overlooked in microbial systems studies
Authors: Meredith Laura , Tfaily Malak , Geffre Parker , Graves Kelsey , Riemer Kristina , Honeker Linnea , Krechmer Jordan
Published: March 2022

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are vigorously cycled by microbes as metabolic substrates and products and as signaling molecules. Yet, current microbial metabolomic studies predominantly focus on nonvolatile metabolites and overlook VOCs, which therefore represent a missing component of the metabolome. In metabolomic studies, it is important to know which compounds within metabolic pathways may be considered volatile to predict potentially overlooked compounds and potentially include VOC measurement approaches to capture them.

In this study, we adapted and automated an atmospheric vapor pressure predictive model for metabolomic research to calculate relative volatility indices (RVIs) for compounds in a metabolic pathway through identification of the compound’s functional groups. We then evaluated the importance of considering compound volatility in soil metabolomic studies by comparing the ability of a suite of complementary analytical tools (nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS)) to capture complete metabolic pathways in soil.

We found that the metabolites that were not detected by NMR, GC-MS, and FT-ICR-MS within metabolic pathways had significantly higher volatility than those that were detected, revealing a bias against volatile metabolites in standard metabolomics pipelines. Moreover, we show that including VOC-resolving measurements (proton transfer reaction time of flight mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS)) captured the volatile compounds missed by other metabolomic techniques, and together, the combined approaches captured more complete microbial metabolic processes in soil.  Our results demonstrate the importance and prevalence of VOCs as metabolites in soil. Including volatile metabolites in metabolomics, both conceptually and in practice, will build a more comprehensive understanding of microbial processes across ecological communities.
Generating a highly resolved astronomical time scale for the evolutionary and ecological events during the Cambrian Explosion
Authors: Pas Damien , Jamart Valentin , Daley Allison
Published: March 2022

The Cambrian Explosion is a fundamental turning point in the evolution of life that occurred during the Cambrian Period (~541 to ~485 million years ago), which involved the origination and explosive radiation of all major animal phyla. The bursts of evolution characterizing this period appear concurrently with major modifications to the physico-chemical conditions of the world’s oceans, and are recorded in critical fossil localities where soft-tissues are exceptionally well preserved, including Lagerstätten such as the Burgess Shale and Chengjiang Biota. As a result of the severe lack of biostratigraphically-correlatable fossils (due to widespread endemism during the Cambrian) and sparse high-precision radioisotopic dates, the Cambrian time scale remains among the least defined stage of all the Phanerozoic Eon, with a minimum uncertainty of ±2 million years at its stage boundaries. The absence of a high-resolution geological time scale for the Cambrian Explosion hampers our ability to robustly address widely debated questions concerning the origins and rates of the evolutionary and ecological events, their relationship with paleoceanographic conditions, their responses to astronomically-forced climate change, including from Milankovitch “grand” cycles, and whether these events were globally synchronous.

Using an integrated set of geophysical/chemical proxies with advanced time series techniques on selected stratigraphic sections, this project aims at (1) Generate sets of high- resolution geophysical and geochemical stratigraphic proxies enabling to capture Milankovitch forcing within the selected sedimentary records, (2) Building a high-resolution time scale to improve our knowledges on the timing of major Cambrian evolutionary milestones and geochemical changes and (3) Determine the relationships between Cambrian evolutionary and ecological events with the paleoceanographic changes and Milankovitch cycles.
Cold-water coral records of temperature and circulation in the Northeast Atlantic intermediate waters over the past 35 thousand years
Authors: de Carvalho Ferreira Maria Luiza , Robinson Laura F. , Stewart Joseph A. , Kershaw James , Sun Yun-Ju
Published: March 2022

Geochemical evidence suggests that Atlantic circulation during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) was considerably different from modern and promoted carbon accumulation in the deep. During the last deglaciation, atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature rose significantly, while the radiocarbon (14C) content dropped. Marine records indicate that ocean circulation may have influenced these atmospheric parameters, for instance via outgassing of the carbon-rich and 14C-depleted glacial oceanic reservoir. Temperature is also suggested to impact ocean circulation through the redistribution of heat, particularly during climate swings of the last deglaciation. Despite the crucial role that intermediate waters play in linking the deep sea to the atmosphere they remain understudied. Here, we use precisely dated (U/Th) cold-water corals to reconstruct the seawater radiocarbon, temperature, and barium concentration ([Ba]sw) of the intermediate depths at Tropic Seamount (tropical Northeast Atlantic). We analysed 14C, Li/Mg and Ba/Ca ratios of corals distributed from 970 m to 1800 m and dating from 32.7 thousand years (ka) to 0.2 ka. Our results highlight the dynamic behaviour of the intermediate ocean and suggest climate driven variability with distinct features during Heinrich Event 3 (HS3, ~30 ka), Last Glacial Maximum (~22 to 18 ka) and the deglaciation (~18 to 11 ka). Overall, seawater radiocarbon values were higher and temperatures lower in the LGM compared to the deglaciation. We observe a rapid (~500 yr) decrease in intermediate water radiocarbon and temperature during the mid-LGM. This variation and an increase in [Ba]sw support a change on the water column configuration, and likely a shift on the boundary between intermediate and deep waters. During the deglaciation, we find larger radiocarbon and temperature changes, suggesting that a warmer and well-ventilated intermediate water was established in parallel with Southern Hemisphere warming, but prior to Northern hemisphere temperature spike at 14.5 ka. These findings reinforce the importance of the intermediate ocean as a vector of climate change and emphasize the advantage of multi-proxy approaches in cold-water corals to investigate environmental conditions.
Transport of contrasting carbon pools by high latitude rivers and streams – an Icelandic survey
Authors: Gallarotti Nora
Published: March 2022

Iceland’s glaciers have retreated rapidly during the 20th century due to ongoing climate warming. Previously stored particulate (POC) and and inorganic carbon (DIC) enters the waterways through surface melt water runoff and subglacial discharge. Increased melt water production could therefore alter carbon export of glacially fed rivers and streams to the Ocean, and subsequently impact global biogeochemical cycles. In order to characterize carbon transport patterns of Icelandic rivers and streams, we collected water samples from 43 catchments, covering a wide range of catchment properties such as size, stream order, as well water discharge and landcover. Here we assess the concentrations as well as the isotopic composition (13C, 14C) of these different carbon pools (POC, DOC, DIC).
Radiocarbon content (reported as fraction modern; 14C Fm) of POC and DIC show similar patterns: lower values (i.e., highest radiocarbon ages) are mostly associated with glacial runoff along the southern coast.
Lower 14C Fm values for DIC correspond to higher POC concentrations and glacial coverage of the catchment. POC 14C Fm increases with latitude and decreases with POC concentration, i.e., younger POC is transported by streams along the northern coast that generally have lower overall POC concentrations.
This dataset is but a first glimpse at carbon transport patterns in Icelandic rivers. Next to catchment characteristics analyzed here, we will further assess the impact of soil and vegetation type as well as the influence of climate (temperature and precipitation) on carbon transport patterns.
Mitigating the highest volcanic risk in the World: a multidisciplinary strategy for the Neapolitan area
Authors: Troise Claudia , De Natale Giuseppe , Somma Renato , Buscema Massimo , Maurelli Guido , Giannola Adriano , Petrazzuoli Stefano
Published: March 2022

The Neapolitan volcanic area is by far the highest volcanic risk one in the World, due to the presence of three active volcanic areas (Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei, Ischia) with an extreme population density: three millions people live within 20 km from a possible volcanic vent. Volcanic risk in these areas is strictly associated to seismic risk, and to other secondary risks as landslides and flooding.

The mitigation of such an extreme risk can only be afforded by considering volcanological, as well as economical, urbanistic  and social issues. All these highly multidisciplinary aspects must be jointly recognized and shared by both volcanologists and decision makers, in a global, effective risk reduction policy.

We start considering the very high number of people living in the ‘red zones’ (the most risky areas, in terms of the actual emergency plans) of Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei, and the economic losses linked to a complete evacuation of these areas. We then demonstrate, from volcanological considerations, that evacuated people could not come back in the red zones in short times, but rather after years or decades, perhaps never again.From such basic considerations, we proceed to propose a multidisciplinary, effective mitigation strategy and emergency planning, which can significantly decrease the volcanic and associated risks in the area and to make effectively feasible and sustainable an evacuation, in case of high probability for an impending eruption. The proposed strategy also uses the most advanced Artificial Intelligence methodologies to plan an optimal, complete relocation of the population living in the most risky areas, in case of sudden as well as progressive evacuation. In addition, our mitigation strategy takes into account other key demographic and economic issues: problems affecting several internal areas of Southern Italy, which can help to handle the problem of risk mitigation, and to possibly jointly solve them.
Green pearls: digital support for reforestation
Authors: Oud Djamilja , Savchuck Angelina , Quesseveur Simon , Mounkaila Issaka Abdoul Aziz , van den Homberg Marc
Published: March 2022

Haiti faces extreme land degradation, making the country prone to natural hazards and poverty, both undeniably linked. The Haitian Red Cross partnered with the Netherlands Red Cross, 510, and Commonland to roll out a long-term landscape restoration program. Over two decades, this program aims to realize 30 ‘Green Pearls. These are areas where best practices on restoration are combined to retrieve healthy landscapes, making communities more resilient and empowering people economically. Landscape restoration happens in small areas through planting trees and bushes. To carefully identify reforestation zones with the highest possible potential success rate, GIS-based site suitability analysis is applied using several indicators: Elevation (Slope), Soil (Soil PH, Soil Texture, Soil Bulk Density), and Climate (Solar Radiation, Temperature, Rainfall). Data on these indicators was obtained from different, often satellite-based data sources. All resulting layers (maps) per indicator are by default processed as equally important. However, the analysis can be tailored to produce different outcomes depending on the reclassification and weights given by experts to specific indicators. For the La Vallée de Jacmel region in the Haiti case, weighting was applied with the help of local experts. The output is a raster map indicating the locations for planting trees divided into five classes (from most suitable to least suitable). Currently, social indicators such as land ownership are not yet included. Our site suitability method is set up as a model using only open data from global datasets and is, therefore, replicable to other areas. The default model has also been applied to a similar case in the Kayes region in Mali. However, local knowledge on the significance of specific indicators remains indispensable input for the reforestation model. Overall, the site suitability method has proven to be a very useful digital support for holistic land restoration.
Use of basaltic quarry waste in renders, examples from Hungary
Authors: Török Ákos , Kósa Zsuzsanna
Published: March 2022

A particular use of quarry waste is presented in this study. The aggregate quarries produce high amounts of quarry waste, especially dust, that has been considered for many years as ’no need materials. One possible use of this dust is as aggregate in renders. Four Hungarian basaltic quarries provides a high amount of dust: Uzsa, Recsk, Egerbakta and Vidornyaszőlős. 15% of the mass waste of dust from these quarries were added to the renders. Both standard size (quarry fresh) and nano-grinded dust were tested. Test specimens were made from the dust added render, and physical properties were tested 28 days after casting. Bending strength tests, uniaxial compressive strength tests were made to assess the mechanical properties of the renders. Carbonate formation, porosity and pore-size distribution were also analyzed to obtain valuable information on the binding and textural characteristics. Reference samples without basalt dust were also cast, and the test results were compared in order to assess the performance of basalt dust containing renders. The basalt dust and nano dust containing samples have lower bending strength than the reference ones, while the uniaxial compéressivbe strength increased when basalt dust was added. Nano dust containing samples show an increased porosity but a decrease in mean pore diameters. Our results show that adding basalt dust to renders could be a useful solution in the reduction of quarry waste and the obtained render has fairly good mechanical properties.
Fault reactivation and halokinesis: an example from the Penobscot 3D seismic volume, offshore Nova Scotia, Canada
Authors: Peace Alexander , Schiffer Christian , Jess Scott , Phethean Jordan
Published: March 2022

Polyphase deformation on passive margins, including fault reactivation, has been documented globally. These processes form complex structures that can be integral to petroleum systems and can provide essential constraints on the kinematic and structural evolution of rifts and passive margins. In some cases, inversion structures can also be used as global markers for far-field stress changes and help us to understand how plate tectonics operates on Earth. Despite the importance of reactivated faults, their identification, extent mapping, controls on kinematic evolution, and knowledge of interaction within fault populations are often poorly constrained. As such, there is need for detailed investigations of such structures, including their relationship with halokinesis, which can lead to complex and sometimes misleading structural observations.

We present a new structural interpretation of the Penobscot 3D seismic reflection survey, and associated relay ramp, imaged offshore Nova Scotia, Canada, down to ~3.5 s TWT, constrained by two exploration wells. The relay ramp comprises two dominant faults that dip approximately SSE and are associated with smaller antithetic and synthetic faults. The wider fault population is dominated by ~ENE-WSW striking normal faults that dip both NNW and SSE. The two major normal faults display evidence for reverse deformation in their lower portions (below ~2.5 s TWT), which manifests as anticlinal folding and reverse offsets. However, in their upper portions the faults display normal offset. Smaller faults tend to only affect the uppermost strata and do not show evidence of reactivation. Analysis of fault throw demonstrates that movement on the two main faults was coupled during both the reverse and normal deformation intervals. Through our structural analysis and previous regional interpretations of widespread salt kinesis, we determine that the observed style of deformation likely occurred due to normal (extensional) reactivation of reverse faults that had initially formed due to halokinesis of underlying salt. The timing of salt movement broadly corresponds to documented times of kinematic reorganisation on many Atlantic margins, and thus salt kinesis may have been in response to this. The kinematic dichotomy with depth along the two dominant faults is important to document as this style of polyphase reactivation may go unrecognised where seismic data does not image the full depth of a structure. Therefore, reactivation may be more widespread than previously thought if only uppermost parts of structures have been imaged. The interpretation of salt as an important contributor to kinematic reactivation of faults is crucial as it likely provides a mechanism to explain inversion at many other locations globally.
Using weather radar to classify wet and dry periods for Commercial Microwave Links
Authors: Øydvin Erlend , Nilsen Vegard , Kitterød Nils-Otto , Wolff Mareile Astrid , Artturi Elo Christoffer
Published: March 2022

Using Commercial Microwave Links (CMLs) for measuring precipitation have gained more and more attention the past 10 years as it seems like a promising supplement to weather radar and rain gauge observations. It works by relating rainfall to signal attenuation along the CMLs path. As the signal level also can change due to other meteorological conditions such as air temperature and water vapor content, this opportunistic sensing method requires sophisticated data processing in order to relate signal attenuation to rain rate. One of the processing steps involves detecting wet and dry periods. 

For this presentation, we classified wet and dry periods using a weather radar and a rain gauge in Ås, Norway. We use data like equivalent reflectivity and phase shift between horizontal and vertical polarization and compare it to ground truth measurements. The resulting wet dry classifications are then compared with a single CML link in the same area.
Identifying and characterising cold water patches using UAS-based TIR and RGB imagery: methodological approaches
Authors: Casas-Mulet Roser , Kuhn Johannes , Pander Joachim , Geist Juergen
Published: March 2022

In light of global warming, cold water patches (CWPs) play an increasingly crucial role for the persistence of cold-adapted biological communities and the resilience of river ecosystems. Predicting the spatial distribution of CWPs is key to understanding their drivers and informing river management strategies targeting ecosystem resilience. Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS)-based Thermal Infra-Red (TIR) imagery technologies provides a novel tool to identify and thermally quantify CWPs at large spatial scales. When used in conjunction with optical (RGB) imagery, CWPs physical attributes and their surrounding riverscape can be characterised, allowing to assess drivers of potential thermal refugia at multiple spatial scales. However, several critical challenges in UAS-based data acquisition, processing and interpretation need to be addressed. They include: a requirement of perfect TIR-RGB overlapping during data acquisition to enable the identification and extraction of true water temperature pixels; in-situ stream temperature measurements to enable calibration and validation during post-processing; and the definitions of thermal and areal metric thresholds based on targeted ecological processes to identify, characterise and interpret CWPs distributions. This paper will present a set of methodological approaches used to address these challenges and obtain reliable CWPs information from UAS-based data as a basis to promote effective management of present and future freshwater ecosystems
The statistical characteristics of turbulent air-sea fluxes in the Mediterranean Sea 
Authors: Ghani Mahmud Hasan , Pinardi Nadia , Trotta Francesco , Ligouri Giovanni
Published: March 2022

The statistical analysis of turbulent air-sea fluxes is not a common study for the Mediterranean Sea but an important one to characterize the probability distribution of air-sea fluxes and relates with the atmospheric variables.  For this study, we intend to compute the turbulent air-sea fluxes for a longer period in the Mediterranean Sea. On the base of computed air-sea fluxes, this study aims to investigates the characteristics of probability density distribution. We analyze the probability distribution of turbulent air-sea fluxes using high-resolution model forecasts from the ECMWF.  We assume that a two parameter Weibull probability density function (PDF) would be a good fit to model the probability distribution of the turbulent fluxes, while three parameters Skew normal distribution is an alternative one to characterize the tail of the distribution with both positive and negative value range.  This statistical study focuses on the probability distribution of air-sea fluxes at the regional sea level which is related with the uncertainty analysis of ocean forecasting. In addition, the usage of higher resolution atmospheric forecast data would give us newer aspect in the probability distribution of air-sea fluxes. It would be an interesting study, how the parameters of the PDFs may vary over the short and longer time span as well as over the Mediterranean Sea domain. Overall, this study on the air-sea heat fluxes and its probability distribution will extend our knowledge on the air-sea energy exchange distribution for interannual and seasonal variability.
A new interpretation of the ionospheric feedback instability applied to feld line resonances and the ionospheric Alfven resonator
Authors: Rankin Robert , Sydorenko Dmytro , Shen Wei
Published: March 2022

It is demonstrated that the application of a height-integrated conductivity (HIC) boundary condition in theories of the ionospheric feedback instability is valid only for very thin (few km) conducting layers. In the presence of global convection, the strong variation of the ion mobility with altitude produces strongly sheared transverse ion flows within the E-layer.  These flows are not accounted for when the HIC boundary condition is applied, and when accounted for they cause a drastic reduction in growth rates of the IFI even for very large convection electric fields on the order of a few hundred mV/m. Thie reduction in IFI growth rates is verified through linear eigenmode analysis of the IFI similar to Watanabe & Maeyama (JGR, 45, 2018), except that (a) parallel electric fields in the ionosphere are accounted for, and (b) collision frequency profiles are determined from the IRI and MSIS models (Sydorenko and Rankin, GRL, 44, 2017).

The IFI in field line resonances (FLRs) and the ionospheric resonator (IAR) is studied for a collisional slab ionosphere of thickness 300 km. Constant density is assumed for FLRs, with the slab adjoining a collisionless plasma embedded in a constant magnetic field. Symmetry boundary conditions are applied at the equatorial magnetosphere. In the IAR study, the density varies with altitude and reflecting boundary conditions are used. Instability growth rates are computed numerically and compared with results for slabs of varying thickness (2 km to 300 km) and identical height-integrated conductivity. Growth rates for the most unstable mode are significantly reduced compared to the HIC case for layers as thin as 2 km, even in the long parallel wavelength limit.

The parallel electric field obtained from Faraday’s Law is strongly stabilizing for short transverse wavelength perturbations, especially for higher harmonics. A new unstable mode is found that does not require reflection of  waves within the IAR. It satisfies the resonance condition ω=ky<Vd> where ky is the transverse wavelength and <Vd> is the average ion drift velocity within the sptaially structured E-layer. The physical implication of this newly identified ionospheric instability is considered in the context of discrete auroral arcs and field line resonances.
1D morphological adaptation of Lower Zambezi River to dam construction
Authors: Kebede Endalkachew Abebe , Crosato Alessandra , Paron Paolo , Sloff Kees
Published: March 2022

Dams impose changes in water flow and sediment transfer that cause large-scale alterations in the downstream river morphology. The Lower Zambezi River's hydrology and morphology regime changed due to the two large impoundments in the middle part of the basin. The main goal of this study is to analyze the long-term effect of damming on the Lower Zambezi River and its delta based on analytical methods and 1D morphological modeling. The geographical, hydrological, and morphological data are analyzed to describe the current and past river conditions and infer morphological trends. The water and sediment balances of the basin developed by Carimo (2020) form the basis for the present study. The land cover of the Lower Zambezi river basin from 1989 to 2019 is determined using Google Earth Engine (GGE), a web-based image analysis tool. The long-term morphological changes of the river are assessed using the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI). The satellite image analysis revealed a deposition trend in Zone B and Zone C, while the Zambezi delta remained stable between 1986 to 2019.  Data analysis shows that the river's width increased significantly after the dam (2007), with the highest river width change observed in Zone C. Besides, a reduction of thalweg was observed in Zone B, while the average bed level increased in most sections of the river. There has also been a reduction in bed levels in Zone D after the construction of the dam. The impact of damming on the river is further analyzed using a 1D morphological model. Appropriate flow and sediment boundary conditions, grid size, and initial conditions are provided to the model based on measured data complemented by indirect assessments where data are missing. The model calibration based on Chézy's coefficient results in good agreement between measured and simulated water levels. The model output revealed that it could reproduce the river's average bed level for 1962 and 2007. The simulations of future developments have been carried out for 300 years (2007 to 2307), starting from the 2007 bed level profile and cross-sections. The discharge regimes of the Zambezi River and tributaries have been modified based on published discharge projections for 2100 to include the impact of climate change. The downstream boundary condition has also been adjusted based on IPCC mean sea level rise scenarios. The model predicts that there will be erosion in the first 200 km downstream of Cahora Bassa, but no significant bed level changes are expected in the other reaches. Deposition in the bifurcation channel in the delta does not cope with sea-level rise for both scenarios. This shows a "river drowning" trend due to the delta's lack of sediment input to cope with the predicted future sea-level rise. In general, river bed erosion due to the effect of the Cahora Bassa dam will be limited to the first 200 km of the river.