bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Risk assessment on dynamic sites of Earth Sciences interest
Authors: Kubalíková Lucie
Published: March 2024

Recently, numerous approaches to the assessment of sites of Earth Sciences interest have been introduced and the conservation of geoheritage is already seen as highly important.  Although there is still an emphasis on the protection of living nature, geoconservation continuously gets more attention and recognition and it is being incorporated into some local and regional policies. Despite all these efforts, some threats may occur resulting from the multiple uses, land-use changes or human society demands on such sites. Thus, the identification, assessment and management of these threats, risks and conflicts of interest should become an integral part of every geoconservation effort. For these purposes, a two-level risk assessment has been introduced. The first level of threat assessment is based on the already used criteria within geosite/geomorphosite concept and corresponds to the degradation risk evaluation. The second level is represented by the Risk Assessment Matrix, which is commonly used in regional development or project planning and may be viewed as a useful tool for assessing the threats to geodiversity sites as well. Using both approaches provides a complex view of the threats and allows to propose particular measures that could contribute to the balance of the different demands and more effective geoconservation management. This study is focused on dynamic sites of Earth Sciences interest, namely abandoned sand, clay or loess pits which possess a high intrinsic value and offer numerous geosystem services. Before the proper assessment of the risks and threats, geosystem services of the abandoned pits are identified and classified proving that these sites are of great geoconservation importance. Based on the geosystem services analysis and risk assessment, geoconservation measures are proposed and sustainable use (including geotourist and geoeducational activities) of these sites is designed. Keywords: Geoconservation; Dynamic sites; Risk analysis; Degradation risk assessment; Risk assessment matrix References:Kubalíková L, Balková M (2023) Two-level assessment of threats to geodiversity and geoheritage: A case study from Hády quarries (Brno, Czech Republic). Environmental Impact Assessment Review 99, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2022.107024 
Elucidation of the interplay between roots and microorganisms in the organic N transformation in the rhizosphere of maize
Authors: Shen Guoting , Guber Andrey , Kravchenko Alexandra , Blagodatskaya Evgenia
Published: March 2024

Mechanisms of nitrogen (N) acquisition in the rhizosphere often include microbial immobilization of mineral N and its further transformation into organic compounds. Therefore, visualization and quantification of organic N distribution and their correlation with N-related enzymatic hotspots helps to reveal the role of roots in plant-microbial interplay related to N cycling. In this study, time-lapse leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) zymography and amino-mapping were coupled to reveal amino-N distribution both in the soil and distinct root segments of Zea mays L. A strong overlap between amino-N content and LAP activity in seminal and lateral root tips, as well as seminal roots, highlighted the intricate interplay between plants and microorganisms in N acquisition. Remarkably, we also uncovered a significant decoupling of LAP activity from amino-N in lateral roots and bulk soil. The distinct patterns in different root parts provided a perspective on the major origins of enzyme production in the rhizosphere. Endogenous LAP production by roots and root-associated microbes in seminal roots and root tips contrasted with the reliance on exogenous rhizosphere microorganisms for enzyme activity in lateral roots. This finding not only advances our understanding of N acquisition but also opens up the new avenues for discussion on the ecological roles of different root segments in shaping the rhizosphere environment.
Storylines of East Asian cold extremes in 2020/2021 under different warming climate
Authors: Zhuo Wenqin , Sánchez-Benítez Antonio , Goessling Helge , Athanase Marylou , Yung Thomas
Published: March 2024

Whether cold-air outbreak over mid-latitude in a warmer climate would become more or less extreme is a subject of debate, particularly due to uncertainty links between Arctic amplification and these cold extremes, which complicated by the atmosphere internal variability.  Here we employ an event-based storyline approach, which fixed the atmospheric circulation to the observed  through spectral nudging, to quantify thermodynamic effect on extreme cold events during the winter of 2020/2021 in East Asia under different warming scenarios. Notably, we detect the strongest warming, up to +10K, over Eastern Siberia in the +4K-warmer climate, which is related to warmer cold air mass originating from unfrozen sea ice over Siberia region. In contrast, in the southern China, due to the observed and expected increasing aerosol concentration, peaking by the mid-21st century and altering the radiative balances, a mild cooling is present from pre-industrial to present-day climates. The cooling in this region is likely to persist in +2K-warmer scenario but was not observed when up to the +4K warmer climate. Correspondingly, no prominent temperature variation is observed in the middle East Asia, with the warming extent largely mirroring the overall climate background.
Open access gridded climate datasets can help to reveal meteorological anomalies’ role in landslides initiation 
Authors: Paranunzio Roberta , Marra Francesco
Published: March 2024

In mountainous areas, landslides initiation is strongly influenced by temperature and precipitation. Liking temperature and precipitation anomalies to landslides occurrence is among the viable methods to predict the future occurrence frequency of such hazards under climate change. Currently, most of the methods to detect such anomalies rely on in-situ measurements. This demands significant efforts for data retrieval and homogenization, which, together with the constraints on data sharing, pose important challenges to the replicability of the studies and to the comparison among different methods. Open access gridded datasets could overcome these limitations, but their ability to capture meteorological anomalies needs to be assessed. Here we address this issue.By means of a consolidated statistical-based approach, we here exploit: a) half-hourly precipitation estimates from the Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals from GPM (IMERG), b) daily temperature observations from ENSEMBLES OBServation (E-OBS) and c) daily temperature and total precipitation  of global reanalysis ERA5 to demonstrate that open access gridded climate datasets can complement or even replace in-situ data in studies linking meteorological anomalies (defined as percentiles above 0.9 or below 0.1) with the occurrence of geomorphic hazards. We focus on a vast catalogue of 483 different geomorphic hazards (mainly landslides, rockfalls and debris flows) occurred along 2000-2020 over the Italian Alps.Findings indicate that the statistical significance of the paired anomalies derived by observations and gridded datasets is often achieved. Mismatches are related to limited sample sizes. In general, E-OBS and IMERG demonstrate to provide information on temperature and precipitation anomalies, respectively, that is comparable or even better than the one provided by in-situ observations and ERA5 reanalyses. Additionally, our findings reveal that IMERG, by providing information directly on the initiation zone, can detect precipitation anomalies at the daily scale that in-situ measurements fail to detect, especially in the case of debris/mud flows events triggered by small-scale convective processes.Overall, gridded datasets can help to improve our knowledge on the statistical relation between landslide initiation and meteorological anomalies, which in the future can be adopted to quantify changes in the occurrence probability of these events under a changing climate.
Heavy metals and health risk assessment of agricultural soil form central Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alkahtani Khaled , Abdelbaset S. El-Sorogy Abdelbaset S. El-Sorogy , Alharbi Talal
Published: March 2024

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the potential human health risks associated with As, Pb, V, Cu, Ni, Zn, Co, Fe, and Mn present in the agricultural soil of the Al Majma'ah area in central Saudi Arabia. In order to assess risks related to ingestion, skin contact, and inhalation, various parameters, including chronic daily intake (CDI), hazard quotient (HQ), hazard index (HI), cancer risk (CR), and total lifetime cancer risk (LCR), were computed for 34 soil samples. The average CDI values for adults and children were determined, following the sequence of CDIing > CDIder > CDIinh, with the descending order of Fe ˃ Mn ˃ Zn ˃ Ni ˃ V ˃ Cu ˃ Pb ˃ Co ˃ As. HI values ranged from 0.0375 (Fe) to 0.00019 (Zn) for adults and from 0.3497 (Fe) to 0.0018 (Zn) for children. All HI values for HMs in the study area were below 1.0, suggesting that residents in the Al Majma’ah area are not significantly at a non-carcinogenic risk. LCR values varied for adults and children, ranging from 8.37345E-06 to 7.79963E-05 for As, and 7.49565E-08 to 6.98199E-07 for Pb, respectively. LCR values of As and Pb ranged between 1 × 10-4 and 1 × 10-6 or were lower than 1 × 10-6, suggesting acceptable or tolerable carcinogenic risk with no significant health hazards.
When dikes go critical: Fracture toughness and propagation dynamics using earthquake catalogs
Authors: Konstantinou Kostas
Published: March 2024

Dikes represent magma filled fractures that may propagate from a magma chamber to the surface producing an eruption, or alternatively may stall at some depth resulting only in deformation and seismicity. A crucial parameter for the modeling of dike propagation is fracture toughness, which can be defined as the critical stress intensity factor that is necessary for a fracture to propagate. Despite the fact that fracture toughness is a well defined physical quantity adopted from material science, its meaning and possible variation in volcanic environments remains poorly understood. Dike volume can provide valuable information on the level of fracture toughness and on its balance with viscous flow that ultimately determines the dynamics of dike propagation. Recently it has been shown that intrusion volume can be derived from the cumulative seismic moment release of earthquakes that accompany dike propagation. Here it is shown that a similar methodology can be utilized in order to reconstruct the volume history of dikes using high-quality earthquake catalogs from 8 volcanoes (Augustine, Bardarbunga, Cumbre Vieja, Etna, Hierro, Kilauea, Okmok, Redoubt) spanning different volcanological and tectonic settings. The pre-eruption dike volume is compared to Monte Carlo simulations of critical volume performed for a range of fracture toughness and density difference using realistic values of elastic moduli and Poisson ratio. The volume history for each eruption is also utilized for estimating magma flux rate in the dike in order to infer whether fracture toughness or viscous flow dominates dike propagation. Results show that in all the volcanoes considered fracture toughness of 100 MPa m1/2 can explain pre-eruption volumes indepedently of volcano type and length scale of the dike. In 6 out of 8 eruptions studied dike propagation fluctuated between being dominated by fracture toughness and viscous flow, while only in two cases propagation was driven almost exclusively by viscous flow.
A study on the characteristics of bolt-from-the-blue lightning flashes
Authors: Shi Dongdong , Wu Ting , Wang Daohong , Gao PanLiang
Published: March 2024

A bolt from the blue (BFB) is an unusual type of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flash that develops from classical intra-cloud (IC) flashes but against the blue-sky background. As its name suggests, BFB always comes as a complete surprise to anyone close to the strike point and poses a great threat to human safety. Apart from the consideration of the safety aspect, the physical features of BFB are interesting enough to study because (1) BFB often indicates an imbalance of middle negative and upper positive charge regions in a storm and (2) the leaders in a BFB need to propagate outside the cloud edge and contact ground relatively far from a storm’s convection core. All of these make BFB behave much differently from classical CG or IC flashes.
To examine these differences, we have used the lightning data observed by the Fast Antenna Lightning Mapping Array (FALMA) in Japan to study BFB flashes in a thunderstorm cell. The preliminary results show that BFB has an average initiation altitude of about 7.8 km which is much larger than typical negative CG flashes but comparable to IC-CG hybrid flashes. The horizontal extension of BFB is 7.6 km on average with the minimum and maximum values of 0.7 km and 14.0 km, respectively. A detailed charge structure analysis indicates that BFB appears to be initiated in a tilted charge structure, which is assumed to be related to the relatively strong lateral wind in the upper levels. More research on BFB and its comparison to hybrid flashes are underway and will be shown in future studies.
Transport of technology critical elements and other heavy metals originating from phosphogypsum effluents in carbonate aquifer rock materials
Authors: Dror Ishai , Amiel Nitai , Berkowitz Brian
Published: March 2024

Groundwater systems contaminated with technology-critical elements and other metals originating from phosphogypsum effluents have been documented globally. However, delineation of the mechanisms governing the mobility and retention of these elements often remains lacking. This work examines the underlying physical and chemical processes that govern the retention and mobility of multiple components within the phosphogypsum solution as it interacts with carbonate aquifer rock. We show the results of batch and column experiments that indicate that the flow of acidic phosphogypsum solution through carbonate rock induces non-uniform dissolution, creating preferential flow paths, reducing rock-solution interactions, and affecting various elements. Furthermore, rock dissolution leads to an elevation in pH levels, impacting element speciation and promoting mineral precipitation. Retention mechanisms and magnitudes vary significantly among elements and reactive surface areas. Some elements (e.g., Tl, Rb, Mo, and Ge) exhibit limited interaction with the rock, leading to high recoveries across all examined grain sizes, while others (e.g., Cr, U, Cd, Zn, and Cs) display grain-size-dependent behavior, with recoveries increasing as the reactive surface area decreases. The retention mechanisms of these elements include retention on the mineral surface and/or co-precipitation of newly formed minerals.
Dynamic collocation between satellite and in-situ measurements in wave remote sensing
Authors: Jiang Haoyu
Published: March 2024

The validation and error analysis of remote sensing data are important for their application. Currently, due to the relative scarcity of in-situ observations in the ocean, the accumulation of collocations between remote sensing and in-situ data is slow. This study proposes an engineering trick to address this issue: using the output of numerical models as a "bridge" to connect remote sensing data with in-situ data, thereby expanding the spatiotemporal window of collocation and improving collocation efficiency. The basic idea of this method is that numerical models based on differential equations can partially simulate the local spatiotemporal variations of the parameter near in-situ data. These variations can be used to compensate for the representation errors caused by the spatiotemporal differences between remote sensing and in-situ observations. Therefore, this method can enlarge the spatiotemporal window for collocation when the error limit is given. This collocation process considers the dynamic processes through numerical models and is thus named "dynamic collocation." This study demonstrates through several simple experiments that this dynamic method is superior to traditional "static" windows and has application potential. In addition to improving data collocation efficiency in the open ocean, dynamic collocation can also address the issue of the difficulty of direct comparison between satellite and buoy data in coastal areas due to significant spatial gradients in sea waves. Besides data comparison, dynamic collocation can provide a larger sample size for the model training of narrow swath sensors' empirical algorithms. For example, we applied this method to SWIM data from CFOSAT and proposed a high-precision empirical retrieval algorithm for wave mean periods.
ECOding: Putting climate solutions at the heart of tech education
Authors: Arslan Selcuk Yusuf
Published: March 2024

Coding education is gaining more and more importance today. Coding improves general thinking skills by giving individuals the ability to solve problems. It also encourages creativity and innovation, giving students the opportunity to develop their own projects and create new solutions. One area where coding can be used is the climate crisis problem that threatens our planet. ECOding aims to integrate environmental and climate change education with an interdisciplinary approach while providing coding education to students. Within the scope of the project carried out in a vocational high school in Türkiye, while teaching coding to students in Object Oriented Programming, Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning courses, the focus was on the environmental problems that our world faces. Coding examples shared with students, homework assignments, and project studies focused on the climate crisis. This situation not only raised students' awareness but also supported them to create technology-supported solutions to the climate crisis. Students measured their carbon footprints with the software they prepared and gave suggestions on how to reduce their carbon footprints according to their answers. A project that enables students to open the right waste bin in seconds for easier recycling of a waste shown on a camera with object recognition gave students the opportunity to participate in an international project competition. The students, who designed an educational software introducing hydrogen fuel cells using gamification, succeeded in winning the first prize in an international project competition. Within the scope of the project, which has been carried out for about 3 years, more than 200 students have received coding training with this approach. At the end of the academic year, the opinions of the students were taken and all of the students stated that seeking solutions to the climate crisis through coding made them happy, fun and instructive. More than half of the students stated that they developed a project idea for the climate crisis at the end of the course. The successes in the implementation process made the project visible in the international arena in a short time. In 2021, the project coordinator was awarded the Green Skills Award organised by the European Training Foundation (ETF) and UNESCO. Finally, the project coordinator was selected by JCI as one of the Ten Successful Young People of the World in the category of Environmental Protection and Moral Leadership. The project, which is frequently shared both in Türkiye and Europe, has started to be implemented in many schools.
Evolution of channel roughness and influencing factors in the wide floodplain of the Lower Yellow River in recent 20 years
Authors: niu chaojie , Hu Caihong
Published: March 2024

The key factor influencing flood evolution and the progression of riverbed erosion and silting in the wide floodplain of the Lower Yellow River (LYR) is channel roughness. The distribution law of channel roughness has changed since the implementation of water storage and sand control in Xiaolangdi Reservoir in 2002, and the change in roughness has had a number of effects on the design of flood control projects and ecological environment protection planning of the lower reaches. Manning's formula was used to calculate the roughness based on cross-section data and hydrological data collected by typical hydrological stations in the wide floodplain of the LYR from 2002 to 2020. The evolution law and influencing factors of channel roughness of typical sections before and after floods were also examined. The findings indicate that: (1) The post-flood roughness was slightly higher than the pre-flood roughness in the same area. The post-flood roughness in the Huayuankou and Sunkou sections significantly increased compared to the pre-flood roughness, with an increase rate of 14.64% and 19.37%, respectively. (2) The time-to-space variation of roughness in the wandering section exhibits a decreasing trend, whereas the time-to-space variation of roughness in the transition section exhibits a slightly increasing trend. (3) The channel roughness decreases with an increase in Froude number, but there is no clear relationship between the roughness and sediment content. (4) Using Huayuankou and Gaocun stations as examples, the channel roughness is inversely proportional to the flow, the average sectional velocity, and the cross-section area of the flow. The channel roughness of the wandering section is inversely proportional to the ratio of width to depth, and the channel roughness of the transition section is proportional to the ratio of width to depth. Roughness and average velocity were determined to have the best-fitting connection, with R2 values of 0.62 and 0.78, respectively. (5) The main elements impacting channel roughness in the wide floodplain of the LYR are section shape and flow condition.
Optical probing of glass transition at high pressure allows whole-mantle silicate melt viscosity models
Authors: Lobanov Sergey S. , Speziale Sergio
Published: March 2024

Upon heating, the glass transition is a temperature interval over which an unrelaxed glass transforms to a supercooled liquid relaxed on the experimental time scale. The term standard glass transition temperature (Tg) refers to the temperature at which the viscosity is 1012 Pa s [1]. One of the many reasons why Tg is important in geosciences is that it successfully parametrizes models of silicate melt viscosity over the temperature range of magmatic systems [2]. The pressure-dependence of Tg of a given silicate glass/melt is thus a crucial parameter that can provide insights into the viscosity of the corresponding natural silicate liquid in the Earth’s mantle. Although the detection of the glass transition at 1 atm is relatively straightforward, high-pressure measurements present challenges mainly because of the miniscule sample volume available for probing. As a consequence, previous high-pressure measurements of Tg in silicate glasses/melts were carried out in large-volume devices at P < 2-3 GPa [3,4], drastically losing the sensitivity to detect glass transition at higher pressures. The emerging picture is that in silicates systems the pressure-dependence of Tg is governed by the glass/melt structure, specifically the number of non-bridging oxygens (NBO) per tetrahedron (TET). Apparently, the Tg of polymerized glasses (NBO/TET < 1) decreases with pressure, while the Tg of depolymerized glasses (NBO/TET > 2) increases with pressure [3,4]. One unanswered question is how these trends are affected by pressure-induced structural changes in the glass, such as the rearrangement of the TET network or the increase in Si and Al coordination by O (i.e., progressive decrease of TET associated with the increase of higher coordination polyhedra). Extending the pressure range of Tg measurements to P > 2-3 GPa is needed to address this question. Yet, to the best of our knowledge, no successful attempt has been made to constrain glass transition temperatures in silicate systems in a diamond anvil cell device. At EGU 2024, we will report on ongoing time-controlled optical experiments in laser-heated diamond anvil cells which reveal spectroscopic discontinuities in Fe-bearing basaltic glasses over the glass transition. We will attempt to link these discontinuities to Tg in order to model the viscosity of basaltic melts at mantle P-T.
References
[1]        B. Mysen and P. Richet, Silicate Glasses and Melts (Elsevier, 2019).
[2]        M. Cassetta, D. Di Genova, M. Zanatta, T. B. Ballaran, A. Kurnosov, M. Giarola, and G. Mariotto, Sci. Rep. 11, 13072 (2021).
[3]        M. Rosenhauer, C. M. Scarfe, and M. Virgo, Carnegie Inst. Wash. Yearb. 78, 556 (1979).
[4]        N. S. Bagdassarov, J. Maumus, B. Poe, A. B. Slutskiy, and V. K. Bulatov, Phys. Chem. Glasses 45, 197 (2004).
Intra- and inter-specific changes in leaf and root defence traits along an experimental plant diversity gradient.
Authors: Bassi Leonardo
Published: March 2024

The enhancement of biodiversity's positive impact on ecosystem functioning (BEF) over time is commonly observed and attributed to the accumulation of mutualists and dilution of antagonists in more diverse communities. If antagonists play a role in the BEF relationship, the reduction of plant antagonists in more diverse communities, could allow plants to reduce allocation to defence. This study aimed to assess the influence of plant diversity on the expression of defence traits in 16 plant species. Our hypotheses were: (1) increased plant diversity reduces allocation to defence, (2) this reduction is more pronounced in roots than in leaves, and (3) this effect varies among species.We measured both physical and chemical defence traits in leaves and fine roots across communities with varying plant species richness in a 19-year-old biodiversity experiment. Using established methods and an innovative metabolome approach, we explored the interactive effects of plant diversity and species identity on defence traits through linear mixed models.Our findings were mixed concerning the first hypothesis, with only some leaf defence traits (leaf mass per area, leaf dry matter content, and hair length) showing reduction along the diversity gradient. Unexpectedly, the values of some root traits, root tissue density and nitrogen content, suggested increased allocation to defence along the same gradient. This might be attributed to these traits serving other functions, e.g. in resource acquisition and competition, which potentially overruled the impact of declining antagonists on plant defences. Our results did not support the third hypothesis, suggesting an overall convergence responses to biotic and abiotic factors related to plant diversity after two decades.While evidence for a consistent reduction in defence trait expression along the diversity gradient was limited, our findings underscore the complex nature of BEF relationships. Further experiments, possibly controlling confounding factors on trait expression or manipulating antagonist pressures along diversity gradients, are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.
Long-term soil warming decreases soil microbial necromass carbon by adversely affecting its production and decomposition 
Authors: Liu Xiaofei , Tian Ye , Heinzle Jakob , Salas Erika , Kwatcho-Kengdo Steve , Borken Werner , Schindlbacher Andreas , Wanek Wolfgang
Published: March 2024

Microbial necromass carbon (MNC) accounts for a large fraction of soil organic carbon (SOC) in terrestrial ecosystems. Yet our understanding of the fate of this large carbon pool under long-term warming is uncertain. Here we show that 14 years of soil warming (+4 °C) in a temperate forest resulted in a reduction of MNC by 11% (0-10 cm) and 33% (10-20 cm). Warming caused a decrease in the production of MNC due to a decline in microbial biomass carbon and reduced microbial carbon use efficiency. This reduction was primarily caused by warming-induced limitations in available soil phosphorus, which, in turn, constrained the production of microbial biomass. Conversely, warming increased the activity of soil extracellular enzymes, specifically N-acetylglucosaminidase and leucine-aminopeptidase, which accelerated the decomposition of MNC. These findings collectively demonstrate that decoupling of MNC formation and decomposition underlie the observed MNC loss under climate warming, which could affect SOC content in temperate forest ecosystems more widespread.
Detrital rutile U-Pb geochronology as a tracer of convergence in the External Western Carpathians
Authors: de Doliwa Zieliński Ludwik , Bazarnik Jakub , Kooijman Ellen , Kośmińska Karolina , Potočný Tomáš , Mazur Stanisław , Majka Jarosław
Published: March 2024

The collision of Europe (Laurusia) and Alcapa (part of Adria) lead to the formation and later erosion of high-pressure rocks in the Carpathian arc. Since metamorphic rutile requires relatively high pressure to crystallize, its formation during orogeny is indicative for a subduction setting. To better understand the closure of the Alpine Tethys Ocean in the Western Carpathians, U-Pb geochronology was applied to detrital rutile from medium grained sandstones of the Magura and Silesian Nappes. Twelve samples were collected along a transect through the Magura Nappe and three samples from the Silesian Nappe were added as a reference. Approximately 200 rutile grains were separated from each sandstone and around half of them were selected for further analysis. The dated rutile shows significant differences in age, as well as in appearance (shape, inclusions, zoning etc.) suggesting derivation from various sources.The most prominent age peaks represent the Variscan (c. 400-280 Ma) and Alpine (c. 160-90 Ma) tectonic events, which are well-represented in all but the oldest dated sample. It is noteworthy that four distinct Alpine maxima were detected in the rutile dataset. The two most prominent peaks of 137-126 Ma and 115-105 Ma are found in the majority of the samples. In two sandstone samples, deposited in the Eocene – Oligocene and the Late Cretaceous – Paleocene, the youngest peak of 94-90 Ma appears. Another peak of 193-184 Ma is also present in these two samples, as well as in another sandstone deposited between the Paleocene and Eocene. In addition, most of the dated sandstones show some Proterozoic ages (approx. 1770 Ma, 1200 Ma, 680 Ma and 600 Ma).Tentatively, we propose that recognizable events include the Jurassic subduction of the Meliata Ocean (~180-155 Ma), and the Cretaceous thrust stacking and exhumation of the Veporic and Gemeric domains (140-90 Ma). The abundance of Alpine rutile in all but the oldest dated sandstone suggests no physical barrier for supply of detrital material derived from the southern and central Alcapa (part of Adria) to a sedimentary basin developed north of the alleged Oravic (Czorsztyn) continental sliver within the Alpine Tethys Ocean. The lack of young Alpine ages in the oldest sandstone could be a result of either a natural boundary between the basin and the orogen or a lack of rutile-bearing rocks at the surface at that time.In a broader sense, we propose that synorogenic deposits of the Outer Western Carpathians contain detritus from the formerly subducted, exhumed and imbricated oceanic and continental crustal domains at the southern margin of the ALCAPA microcontinent.This research is funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, project no. 2021/43/B/ST10/02312.
The art of geological mapping in a precisely defined world: do only extreme environments pose a challenge for 2D geological mapping?
Authors: Stępień Urszula , Jóźwik Katarzyna , Słodkowski Marcin , Gałązka Dariusz
Published: March 2024

Geological map is mainly a result of the subjective interpretation of geological data collected as point (e.g. boreholes) and linear data (e.g. geophysical surveys), followed by their interpolation and extrapolation to areas where there is no data available. Currently, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) systems replace traditional cartographic methods that were widely used in the geosciences in the past. The unambiguous interpretation of analogue/paper geological maps is often a challenge, especially in those cases where the uncertainties and their extent were represented using artistic methods such as shading, hatching or using different symbols. In the past, the digitisation of geological maps involved the use of GIS software only as a graphical tool, resulting in a map developed for a paper publication. Such map was a redrawn version of a paper map, representing exactly the same vision as the author of the analogue map had. Today, GIS tools offer many spatial data processing functions that provide new information, which was not possible in case of paper maps. GIS analysis can be used to assess the quality of collected data, allowing geological data to be harmonised.Today, to classify a digital map, geological data have to be structured at much deeper level than before The heterogeneity of geological data and the difficulty of acquiring it results in the necessity of introducing artificial boundaries on maps, especially when it comes to geological structures covered and/or deformed by overlying structures - such as the Carpathian substrate deformed and covered by the structures of the Alpine orogeny - These boundaries separate detailed structures from those that have not been identified. Some boundaries are entirely artificial and indicate the extent of possible interpretations rather than the extent of occurrence of geological structures. Similar problems arise with Quaternary substrates, which may have been subjected to strong stresses during glaciations, resulting in glaciotectonic deformations. Despite an apparently thoroughly investigated Quaternary cover, the discovery of glaciotectonic disturbances can still be a stroke of luck.
Coastal sea level variability: Geodetic measurements, driving factors & dynamic reconstruction.
Authors: Lin Hongyang
Published: March 2024

Investigations on the spatiotemporal variability of coastal sea level and its mechanisms are of great scientific and practical importance. Unlike deep-ocean sea level that can be measured by satellite altimetry, studies on the spatial variability of coastal sea level require measurements from tide gauges and their associated vertical leveling information. Also, the dynamical mechanisms controlling the temporal variability has long been a research hotspot of coastal ocean dynamics. Local winds on the shelf and coastal currents are well recognized to be important in driving coastal sea level variability, but how do open-ocean signals affect sea level at the coast is less known. In addition, coastal sea level reconstruction or prediction often relies on climate models or statistical models. From a new and more dynamic perspective, we recently propose a dynamic framework to quantitatively reconstruct sea level at the coast. This presentation will focus on our recent works on the spatiotemporal variability of coastal sea level, including its alongshore tilts, mechanisms and dynamic reconstruction, as well as the implications and outstanding issues for further research.
Sedimentary records imply that continent-continent collision occurred later in the Eastern than in the Western Alps.
Authors: Schlunegger Fritz , Kissling Edi
Published: March 2024

The change from a deep-marine, underfilled Flysch to a terrestrial and/or shallow-marine, overfilled Molasse stage of basin evolution is probably one of the major steps in the evolution of a foreland basin. Chrono-stratigraphic and sedimentologic data from the north Alpine foreland basin (NAFB), situated on the northern margin of the Alps, document that such a shift occurred at c. 30 Ma in the western (Swiss and German) part of the basin and c. 10 My later in the eastern (Austrian) segment. We relate these basin-parallel differences in the basin’s evolution to an orogen-parallel variation in subduction tectonics, that itself appears to be conditioned by the segmentation of the European plate during the Mesozoic phase of spreading preceding the build-up of the Alps (Schlunegger and Kissling, 2022). During the Mesozoic, the transition from the continental European plate to its extended margin farther South was most likely offset by a left-lateral fault in the vicinity of Munich, separating the future depositional realms of the NAFB into a western and an eastern segment. As a consequence, during the construction of the Alps from 35 Ma onward, continent-continent collision occurred earlier in the Western Alps (c. 32-30 Ma) than in the Eastern Alps (c. 20 Ma). This collision resulted in the delamination of the subducted European oceanic lithosphere from its continental counterpart beneath the Western Alps. As a consequence, the European continental plate beneath the Western Alps experienced a rebound, thereby causing the build-up of the Alpine topography and the increase in sediment supply to the foreland basin. This is recorded in the Western NAFB by a shift from Flysch- to Molasse-type of sedimentation at 30 Ma. Farther to the East, however, the subducted oceanic lithosphere slab of the European plate was still attached to the European continental plate, with the consequence that Flysch-type of sedimentation still prevailed in the Austrian part of the basin. The situation of sedimentation in an underfilled basin persisted until c. 20 Ma when the Austrian (eastern) part of the NAFB changed from a Flysch- to a Molasse-type of basin evolution. This is the main reason why we propose that continent-continent collision most likely occurred 10 My later in the Eastern Alps than in the Western Alps.Schlunegger, F., Kissling, E. (2022). Slab load controls beneath the Alps on the source-to-sink sedimentary pathways in the Molasse Basin. Geosciences, 12, 226.
Evaluation of precipitation and ITCZ characteristics in CMIP6 models
Authors: Karpasitis Andreas , Zittis George , Hadjinicolaou Panos
Published: March 2024

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a band of low pressure near the equator, where the trade winds converge. It is usually accompanied by cloudiness and heavy precipitation, and it migrates northward and southward, following the sun in different seasons. Climate models often misrepresent key atmospheric processes, including ITCZ's position, width and strength. As a result, biases in the modeled precipitation are also common in tropical and sub-tropical regions, such as the Indian subcontinent and parts of South America. Here, we assess the skill of four state-of-the-art Earth System Models in representing key ITCZ characteristics and the associated precipitation. The four ESMs under investigation are EC-EARTH, CNRM-ESM, IPSL-ESM, and UKESM. Besides the CMIP6 version of the aforementioned models, we also aim to evaluate post-CMIP6 simulations, which are currently under development in the framework of the OptimESM Horizon Europe project (https://optimesm-he.eu/). These post-CMIP6 models include advancements in the representation of physical, biogeochemical and biophysical processes. As a reference dataset, we use the ERA5 reanalysis data. Firstly, we divide the world into eight longitudinal zones and then calculate the zonal averages. For each season, we define the ITCZ location as the latitude where there is a peak in the 500hPa vertical velocity, while we consider the edges of the ITCZ at the latitudes where the 500hPa vertical velocity becomes zero. The strength of the ITCZ is defined as the value of the rainfall peak associated with the peak in the vertical velocity field. The analysis is performed on an annual basis, for each year from 1981 through 2010, and the corresponding peaks are clustered. The long-term characteristics of the ITCZ from the ESMs are compared to those from the ERA5 to understand the processes that drive precipitation biases in the global tropics.
Real-Time Measurements of Biomass-Burning and Secondary Organic Aerosol Composition in the Po Valley using Ultra-High Resolution (Orbitrap) Mass Spectrometry
Authors: David Julia , D´Angelo Luca , Simon Mario , Vogel Alexander
Published: March 2024

Determining the chemical composition of organic aerosols (OA) is still challenging and requires accurate and precise mass spectrometric measurements. Understanding the chemical composition of these OA can provide crucial insight into the origins, formation, and characteristics of OA.  A particularly demanding environment for the characterization of OA is the Po-Valley (Itay) since it is one of the European hotspots for air pollution. The main reasons for the air pollution here are intensive agriculture, livestock breeding and industrial areas in combination with unfavorable topographic and meteorological conditions. This combination can lead to long, stagnant weather conditions, resulting in the accumulation of atmospheric pollutants in the valley.The interaction of these factors was investigated during the ALFA (Aerosol Loadings of the Future Atmosphere) measurement campaign in Schivenoglia (Lombardy, Italy) from September to November 2023. During this campaign, we deployed an ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry system on an agricultural field site for the first time to measure in real-time how agricultural activities influence OA's formation and chemical composition. For a comprehensive investigation, we equipped a measurement container capable of assessing particle phase composition. The chemical analyses of aerosols were conducted by measuring with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization Orbitrap mass spectrometer (APCI-Orbitrap-MS), which operated continuously in either positive or negative full-MS mode or was selectively used for targeted MS2 fragmentation experiments. Additionally, we deployed an Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM) in tandem with the Orbitrap measurements to reinforce the online measurement results and providing quantitative information.With this mode of operation, we obtained time series for diurnal cycles of various OA and recorded individual events of biomass-burning. Especially worth mentioning are strong diurnal cycles of organic nitrates (C8H13O8N, C8H11O8N and C10H17O7N), which reach their peak concentration at night and are completely depleted during the day. On the contrary, and mainly influenced by daytime photochemistry, diurnal cycles of MBTCA (C8H12O6) and shikimic acid (C7H10O5), which peak during the day and decrease at night, were detected. Additionally, biomass-burning events were detected in real-time, during which typical biomass-burning markers such as levoglucosan (C6H10O5), vanillin (C8H8O3), galactosan (C6H12O6) increased significantly.Overall, during this measurement campaign, we successfully deployed an APCI-Orbitrap-MS into a field-side measurement station for the first time without the need for complicated infrastructure. The use of this method has demonstrated many benefits, which will be presented in this work.
A Network of Excellence (NoE) on impact-based Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems and Anticipatory Action across Africa 
Authors: Szarzynski Joerg , Wanjohi Nyaga James , Massabo Marco
Published: March 2024

In our increasingly interconnected world, the compound, cascading, and systemic nature of risks takes on a new dimension and meaning. Africa is one of the continents predicted to be most adversely affected by climate change due to high levels of exposure to increasingly intense and frequent hazards and their interactions with intrinsic drivers of vulnerability, resulting in compounding and complex risk profiles. For instance, Africa is increasingly subject to droughts, floods, heatwaves, cyclones and other climate-related hazards. State-of-the-art people-centered, impact-based Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) and Anticipatory Action (AA) have to address this growing complexity. While these approaches are widely recognised, implementation of such systems at different scales, from local, national to regional levels, is still impeded by gaps in knowledge and capacities to act on such knowledge. This includes, for instance, how certain hazards can affect the people and property to be protected (impact-based forecasting), or how to generate and communicate user-focused risk-information and knowledge that enables equitable and gender-responsive risk reduction, and how to define triggers and coordination structures that enable early release of funds in anticipation of impact.
This paper will introduce to the Network of Centres of Excellence (NoE) which was initiated by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) in order to contribute to the African-Union led African Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Action System (AMHEWAS) initiative. The aim of the NoE is to enhance the general awareness regarding multi-hazard risks and to strengthen stakeholders’ capacity across national, regional, and continental scales to collect, exchange and analyse risk data and knowledge to adequately inform multi-hazard and impact-based early warning systems and early actions across Africa. The NoE also envisions an integrative, participatory Capacity Development Framework, that incorporates African Indigenous Knowledge Systems, serving towards a general capacity strengthening effort in the region and contributing to the growth of an African-based Community of Practice (CoP) for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Emergency Response Preparedness (ERP) coupled with an effective Science-Policy-Action feedback loop resulting in tangible interventions on the ground from an African perspective.
How EOSC became our best ally?
Authors: Fouilloux Anne
Published: March 2024

In this presentation, we will share firsthand experiences and insights gained from navigating the EOSC (European Open Science Cloud), offering a glimpse into how EOSC influences our day-to-day work and how it has become an invaluable ally for our team. We belong to the Nordic e-Infrastructure Collaboration on Earth System Modeling Tools (NICEST), a small community composed of researchers, Research Software Engineers (RSEs), and engineers from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Estonia, working in different organisations such as national meteorological services, national compute/storage infrastructure providers and support services, universities and other research institutes either working directly on climate or supporting related activities. The NICEST community strengthens the Nordic position in climate modelling by addressing e-infra challenges, leveraging Earth System Models (ESMs) to understand climate processes, adapt to global change, and mitigate impacts.Our presentation extends beyond the technical aspects, offering a narrative of collaborative discovery that illustrates how EOSC has transformed into an indispensable companion, enabling our team to embody the principles of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and open science. Throughout the session, we will highlight the operational intricacies of frameworks like EOSC, emphasising our nuanced approach to leveraging these frameworks for maximum impact.This personal narrative is not just about success stories; it explores the challenges we've faced and the lessons we've learned. We place a special emphasis on our evolving understanding of effectively exploiting specific EOSC services, transforming it into more than just infrastructure but a trusted friend in our professional lives.As we reflect on our collaborative journey, we'll share stories of triumphs, challenges, and the unique bond that has developed between our team and those contributing to EOSC's development. We'll explain how we've moved from being mere users to active contributors, contributing to the deployment of our own services to serve our community. Today, our aim is to actively participate in the construction of EOSC, demonstrating that through collaboration and co-design, we can significantly contribute to its ongoing evolution. This collaboration becomes truly effective when each actor recognizes the value of others, enabling us to pool efforts and enhance efficiency together.