bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Machine learning based approach for zircon classification and origin
Authors: Zhu Ziyi , Qiu Kunfeng , Zhou Fei , Wang Yu , Zhou Tong
Published: February 2023

Zircon, a stable paragenetic mineral in various geological environments, has been recognized as a great tool to study the ages of primary rocks. Trace elements of zircons thus can record the geological evolution processes. Zircon-associated trace elements have been long studied for zircon classification and formation traditionally using binary diagram technique, classical examples including Th-U and LaN-(Sm/La)N diagrams. However, with the massive increase of zircon research, the traditional binary diagrams currently cannot precisely classify zircon types because the binary plot cannot demonstrate the higher dimensional information. It therefore significantly restricts a clear understanding of zircon formation. To address the research gap, we performed the machine-learning-based approaches on 3498 zircon trace-element data of different zircon genetic types, producing high-dimensional zircon-classification diagram plots. We applied and tested four machine learning methods (random forest, support vector machine, artificial neural network, and k-nearest neighbor) and proposed that support vector machine can best contribute to zircon genetic classification study, with an 86.8% accuracy in the prediction of zircon type and formation. In addition to the high-dimensional zircon classification diagram, this work massively improves the accuracy of zircon formation analyses by trace elements, which benefit future studies in zircons. Using the machine learning approach on zircon trace element big data is an effective multidisciplinary exploration of the modern data science technique in the geochemistry study.
Estimation of paleo-extent and volume of glaciers in the Baspa basin, India
Authors: Jose Nidhiya , Kulkarni Anil , Sk Satheesh , Krishnan Sajeev
Published: February 2023

Understanding water resources' long-term availability under varying climatic conditions is vital for water security and adaptation strategies. Due to increased temperature and changes in precipitation patterns, the Himalayan glaciers undergo rapid mass loss. The extent of glaciation has varied considerably since the global Last Glacier Maxima (LGM), ~18-24 ka. Moraine studies provide a better understanding of glaciation’s paleo-extent and timing. This work investigates the extent of glaciation and volume in the Baspa basin during the global LGM. We reconstruct the extent and volume using different remote sensing techniques, including the laminar flow method (HIGHTIM), Topo to Raster tool, Volume – Area scaling, and polygon area method. These methods are applied on 61 glaciers in the basin, considering glacial geomorphology and topographic parameters of the terrain. The glacier boundary and moraines were delineated using Landsat 8 satellite image and high resolution google earth images. The current spatial distribution of ice thickness and volume was estimated using the HIGHTHIM model. Further, the ice thickness was extrapolated to the moraine area using the Topo to Raster tool of ArcGIS, with the help of Cartosat DEM to estimate paleo glacier volume. On smaller glaciers (area<1km2), the current and paleo volume was estimated using the volume-area scaling equation. The glaciated area covers about 161.3 ± 8 km2 and the moraine area is calculated as 49.3 ± 0.46 km2. The estimate suggests ice volume at LGM is 18.71 km3 and the current volume is 8.51 km3, i.e., about a 52% loss in ice volume from LGM. We propose estimating the mass loss in the current decades, which will help understand the acceleration of mass loss under global warming conditions.
Expansion of soybean plantations into new agricultural frontiers may worsen the climatic impacts of deforestation in the Amazon Basin
Authors: Zhang Jie , Wu Jin , Hughes Alice Catherine , Kaplan Jed , Maeda Eduardo
Published: February 2023

Over the past 20 years, soybean cultivation has expanded rapidly across the Amazon Basin. There has been growing evidence that the conversion from forest to croplands can worsen the climatic impacts of deforestation, in comparison to other land use conversions, such as forest to rural settlements, or pastures. This research applied process model simulations to clarify the biophysical mechanisms of regional climatic changes associated with the most common land use transitions in the Amazon Basin.  Our results suggest that soybean plantations, due to their minimal vegetation cover and/or seasonal bare land at harvest or planting periods, transmit more longwave radiation to the atmosphere than pastures or forests, leading to an increase in atmospheric temperature. Although the vegetation properties of the soybean plantations tend to increase the surface heat flux, resulting in a stronger surface heat lifting effect, due to the reduction of the water vapor content in the boundary layer, the regional precipitation will also be affected and reduced. Changes in atmospheric boundary layer elements are more pronounced over soybean plantations than in pastures, thereby confirming previous research that large-scale commodity crops will exacerbate regional climatic change in the Amazon Basin. Furthermore, we provide evidence that large-scale soybean plantations have more pronounced climatic impacts in the northern and western Amazon Basin, suggesting that as large-scale soybean plantations continue to expand into new agricultural frontiers, climatic changes associated with it are likely to be magnified. 
Topography evolution in Asia during the Cenozoic constrained by depositional records in the Weihe Basin and Arabian Sea
Authors: Lu   et al Huayu
Published: February 2023

Formation and evolution of the Asian landform was determined by growth of the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau and evolution of the Asian monsoon climate during the Cenozoic period. In this process, mountain building and degradation, and river drainage reorganization are the most obvious results. Therefore, developments of large scale drainages are indicators of the evolution of Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau and Asian landforms. Here, we use thick fluvial-lacustrine sediments in the Weihe Basin in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) sediment cores from Arabian Sea in the southwest Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau, to reconstruct erosion processes of the Himalaya-Karakorum and Qinling Mountains during the Cenozoic. Based on independent stratigraphic chronology and source-to-sink analyses, our results show that the large drainages of the Wei River and the Indus River were established by middle to late Eocene, ~46 Ma. Since the formation of these large drainages is mainly determined by topography and precipitation/runoff, we deduce that key parts of Asian landform had grown to a significant elevation to form the proto-Indus and proto-Wei rivers. The modern-like Asian topography was established by the middle Eocene. Our new results support an early origin of the Asian landforms as responses to the collision of Indian and Eurasian plates and erosion by the Asian monsoon runoff.
Can we characterize groundwater reservoirs in central Europe from air-pressure-induced seismic velocity changes?
Authors: Kramer Richard , Lu Yang , Bokelmann Götz
Published: February 2023

In this study, we used coda wave interferometry to investigate four years of continuous data from AlpArray and other locations throughout Europe. We estimate the hourly Green’s function by cross-correlating ambient seismic noise recorded at pairs of stations. The results indicate short and long-term variations of the seismic velocities and show the feasibility of large-scale monitoring with ambient seismic noise at high temporal resolution. The relative seismic velocities (dv/v) show temporal variations on the order of 10-3 in a frequency band around 1 Hz. Spectra of the velocity time series contain strong daily and sub-daily behaviour, which are primarily caused by the coupling of atmospheric processes and solid Earth. The explanatory model focuses on depth variations of the groundwater table, linking atmospheric pressure (loading and unloading the Earth's surface) to variations in seismic velocity. This study aims to understand and explain differences in daily and sub-daily behaviour across Europe. This may contribute to the hydrological characterization of the near-subsurface in central Europe. 
Assessment of Urban Vulnerability using GIS based Fuzzy MCDA in the Metropolitan Region of Chao Phraya River Delta, Thailand.
Authors: Islam Kazi Hamidul , Sinhruck Patama , Bureekul Sujaree , Sompongchaiyakul Penjai , Das Reshmi
Published: February 2023

The United Nation’s World Cities Report 2020 shows that the global urban population has increased from about 28 percent to 56 percent in-between 1950 to 2020. More than half of the cities worldwide having a population above 1 million are located on coastal plains or deltas and are home to 60 percent of the global urban population. The major issue of urban management is urban vulnerability. To improve the quality of urbanization and sustainable development, assessment of urban vulnerability has a great significance. This study investigates the urban vulnerability assessment in the megacity (population >10 million) of Chao Phraya River Delta, Bangkok, Thailand. Due to the complexity of cities and vulnerability concepts, the present research focuses on different aspects of urban vulnerability. A total of fifteen vulnerability criteria are identified according to the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Finally, the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) technique is applied to generate vulnerability map of different risk conditions. The sensitivity analysis is applied to strengthen the obtained results. The study reveal that about 25-30 percent people of the megacity are living in the area of high vulnerability zone of the lower Chao Phraya river delta. The overall result reveals that essential remedial measures should be taken in the high vulnerable zones to achieve urban sustainability.
Validation of TROPOMI orbital observations on the total column of carbon monoxide by the ground-based measurements at the OIAP stations in Moscow and Zvenigorod.
Authors: Rakitin Vadim , Kirillova Natalia , Skorokhod Andrey , Fedorova Eugenia , Safronov Alexander
Published: February 2023

Carbon monoxide (CO) total column (TC) measurements of the TROPOMI high-resolution orbital spectrometer have been validated by ground-based spectroscopic measurements at sites of the A.M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS (OIAP RAS) in Moscow and Zvenigorod for the period from 06.28.2018 to 12.31.2021. Correlation coefficients (R) between TROPOMI orbital data and ground-based stationary data have been determined and analyzed. For different resolution of satellite data dependence of correlation parameters on the viewing orbital angles, underlying surface albedo and the height of atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) has been investigated. The high values of the correlation coefficient (R ~ 0.81 – 0.97) were obtained depending on the observation point, spatial averaging and applied filtration. The average systematic difference between TROPOMI and ground-based CO TC measurements was -1.1±7.5% (ZSS) and 1.3±5.7% (Moscow) for orbital data resolution 0.1°×0.1°. The correlation coefficients depend on the viewing azimuthal angles and the height of the atmospheric boundary layer. Correlation increase was obtained during observations at viewing azimuthal angles of less than 40º (up to R~0.97), as well as under increase of ABL height (up to R~0.90). For both sites no influence of surface albedo on the correlation parameters of orbital and ground-based measurements has been found. Also, no significant dependence of correlation on the viewing zenith angle has been detected. The study was supported by Russian Science Foundation under grant №21-17-00210.
Application of controlled vibration sources for traceable on-site calibration of seismometers
Authors: Pilger Christoph , Schwardt Michaela
Published: February 2023

In the context of the joint research project "Metrology for low-frequency sound and vibration - 19ENV03 Infra-AUV" we evaluated natural, anthropogenic and controlled sources of seismic, infrasonic, and hydroacoustic waves with respect to their potential use as excitation signals for on-site calibration of the respective sensors in the range of 0.01 to 20 Hz. In that context, man-made controlled sources such as drop weights, hammer blows or vibrator sources exhibit properties such as broad frequency content and high repeatability that make them an interesting source signal for the calibration of seismometers.At IMS station PS19 in Germany we conducted an excitation experiment using both a portable electrodynamic seismic vibrator source and simple hammer blows on the ground for the purpose of covering the higher frequencies of interest from 8 to 20 Hz and above for on-site seismometer calibration. As previous on-site calibration experiments have shown, insufficient coherent natural excitation signals within the relevant high frequency range have been recorded, leading to missing information in the frequency response estimation. Using the seismic vibrator source either P- or S-waves could be excited for example as monofrequent (18 Hz) or sweep (10-100 Hz) signals of 10 s time duration. The distance between excitation source and station/reference sensors as well as the direction of signal arrival at the sensors was varied.We present calibration results for the conducted excitation experiment using a comparison between station and laboratory-calibrated instruments, showing that the frequency response can be determined for the higher frequencies of interest using the different signals from the excitation experiment.
Impact of long-term reduced tillage on water and gas transport in a sandy-loam soil and linkages to biological indicators
Authors: Nawaz Muhammad Mohsin , Arthur Emmanuel , Peigné Joséphine , Nazari Meisam , Fouladidorhani Maliheh , Lamandé Mathieu
Published: February 2023

Conservation tillage practices, such as reduced tillage, are often considered beneficial regarding soil fertility and sustainability. However, a risk of developing a shallow compact hardpan is associated with these practices that can hinder optimal water and gas transport within the root zone and thus impact soil health and productivity. To explore this risk, we compared conventional mouldboard ploughing (to 30 cm depth; MP) and reduced tillage (5-7 cm; RT) in a long-term experiment (approximately 15 years) on sandy loam soil. The field was uniformly tilled to a depth of 15-20 cm depth after the termination of the experiment. We evaluated the soil water and gas flow variables (saturated hydraulic conductivity, gas diffusion, and effective air-filled porosity), and biological soil properties for the 20-30 cm layer for the MP and RT treatments.Soil was more compact in the reduced tillage treatment compared to conventional tillage, especially in the 20-30 cm soil layer. Soil bulk densities in the 20-30 cm soil layer were 1.62 and 1.80 g cm-3 in MP and RT treatments, respectively. There was no difference between the conventional and reduced tillage for effective air-filled porosity or gas diffusivity measured at -100 hPa water potential. Similarly, saturated hydraulic conductivity measured in the field was not different under the two tillage practices. The conventional tillage had 61% more earthworm abundance than the reduced tillage. The results indicated that despite the formation of a compact hardpan at 20-30 cm soil layer, as characterized by a higher bulk density, there were little to no effects of tillage on the soil functions related to water and gas transport. Moreover, the linkages between the soil physical quality indicators and microbial indicators (enzyme activity, microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen) were also explored.
Harmonic Correction in Regional Gravity Field Determination
Authors: Yang Meng , Li Xiaopeng , Lin Miao , Feng Wei , Zhong Min
Published: February 2023

The “non-harmonicity” problem, as one of the main problems in the residual terrain modelling (RTM) method, would involve more than 200 mGal errors in the gravity field determination over the Himalaya area. To deal with it, there are five main harmonic correction (HC) methods, i.e., the condensation method, regularized downward continuation method with Taylor series expansions (TS), regularized downward continuation method with spherical harmonics (SH), complete HC method, and Kadlec's method, being provided in previous studies. However, their performances in gravity field determination are not studied nor compared directly yet. In this study, all these five HC methods are completely reviewed and evaluated, especially their performances in regional geoid determination. The expressions of HCs under various approximations are derived, and the Kadlec’s method is proved to be equivalent to the condensation method when adopting the same approximation for Bouguer masses. For the continuation methods, the HC associated with the complete method shows large differences compared to the HC associated with TS and SH methods. This is caused by the fact that the continuation process within the complete method is implemented in the situation of the Earth’s masses being changed. To cope with this problem, we promote a new three-step approach for computing the HC which is proved to be equivalent to the HC using the TS method. Then the HCs with various methods are completely considered and evaluated in the Colorado geoid determination using the remove-compute-restore technique. The best performance is achieved when the SH method is adopted for computing the RTM corrections to gravity anomaly in the removal procedure. The accuracy of the calculated geoid height is ~1.62 cm. Involving HCs for geoid height in the restore procedure would slightly improve the results to an accuracy of ~1.56 cm.
A Meteorological Perspective of the 6th August 2020 Kerala and the 7th February 2021 Uttarakhand Disasters
Authors: Pai Anand , Srivastava Piyush , Prabhakaran Anandu
Published: February 2023

This study aims to identify the possible meteorological factors during two disaster events that occurred at Pettimudi, Kerala, India, on 6th August 2020 and in the Chamoli region of Uttarakhand on 7th February 2021. These events resulted in a disastrous landslide/rock-ice avalanche, leading to major loss of life and infrastructure damage. A detailed analysis of meteorological and geological features as causes of these disasters is presented using multiple in-situ and satellite observations. A high-resolution numerical modelling approach based on Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model is used to simulate the distribution of hourly precipitation along with the near-surface and upper atmospheric features. The numerical simulations are carried out with two fine-resolution nested domains covering the Kerala region and around the Chamoli region of Uttarakhand, India, over a period of 15 days starting from 1st August and 1st February 2021, respectively. An optimal set of surface/boundary layer and microphysical parameterization schemes and initial/boundary conditions have been identified through the comparison of model outputs with in-situ observations from a network of automatic weather stations, various reanalysis products and satellite datasets. Recommendations are made for real-time precipitation-induced landslide early warning systems in the Indian subcontinent.
Evaluation of stochastic parameters in fatigue failure by wind loads
Authors: Chatziroumpis Vasileios , Sargentis G.-Fivos , Dimitriadis Panayiotis , Iliopoulou Theano , Koutsoyiannis Demetris
Published: February 2023

Physical loads in constructions, such as wind and wave loads, are often treated as non-deterministic since they depend on geophysical processes which are inherently stochastic. In this work, we examine certain types of fatigue loads and their stochastic characteristics related to the so-called Hurst-Kolmogorov dynamics. As a case study, we analyze wind loads and how they are transformed to structural loads in wind turbines. Based on weather records, we quantify the stochastic properties in both the wind and fatigue timeseries and investigate the related risk of fatigue failure. In addition, we attempt to link this risk to the stochastic properties of the wind process.
Multi-station observation of periodic variations in long-term Schumann resonance records
Authors: Tacza José , Bozóki Tamás , Satori Gabriella , Bór József , Neska Anne , Raita Tero , Beggan Ciaran , Atkinson Mike , Kumar Sinha Ashwini , Rawat Rahul
Published: February 2023

Lightning has been declared as a new Essential Climate Variable by the World Meteorological Organization. Schumann resonance is a valuable parameter to monitor the global lightning activity, thus, the Atmospheric Observation Panel for Climate accepted Schumann resonance (SR) measurements as an emerging tool for studying lightning-related large-scale processes in the atmosphere. Previous studies showed a clear extraterrestrial influence on the SR parameters at different time scales (e.g., solar cycle). For all these reasons, a growing new interest arises in the scientific community to exploit the potential of SR better in gaining more information on electrodynamic coupling mechanisms taking place in the atmosphere. This has motivated the installation of new instruments worldwide to monitor SR measurements.We performed a multi-station spectral analysis of the SR parameters (frequency and intensity) by using wavelet transformation. SR records from different monitoring sites around the globe were analyzed simultaneously for the first time: Hornsund (~12 years of data) and Belsk (~7 y.) managed by Poland, Rovaniemi and Ivalo in Finland (~16 y.), Eskdalemuir in Scotland (~10 y.), Nagycenk in Hungary (~22 y.), Boulder Creek in USA (~4 y.) and Shillong in India (~9 y.). For all SR sites, the periodicities of 0.5, 1, ~180 and 365-day appeared both in the frequency and the intensity of SR modes. Evidence was also found for the ~27- and ~45-day periods at specific time intervals. Cross-wavelet transform and wavelet coherence analyses were made between SR frequencies and the Kp index, and between SR intensities and Madden-Julian Oscillation index. Time periods of highly coherent 27-day as well as 45-day periodicities were found in the time series of these parameters intermittently. These preliminary results suggest that these periodicities are likely related to the solar rotation and Madden-Julian Oscillation, respectively. A detailed analysis about our findings will be presented and discussed.
Evaluation of surface ozone variability using ground-based observation and reanalysis dataset over the North-West Indo-Gangetic Plain of Indian region.
Authors: Saroj Pooja , Ghosh Chirashree , Singh Siddhartha
Published: February 2023

In recent times, Surface Ozone has become a widely studied constituent due to its emergence as a short-lived secondary pollutant and its damaging impacts on human health and crop production. Recent studies show increased surface ozone across different parts of the world including the Indian region. The modern reanalysis dataset provides meteorological parameters as well as atmospheric chemical compositions such as tropospheric ozone etc. In this study, we validated the spatial-temporal ozone variability using ground-based observation and reanalysis datasets such as over the North-west Indo Gangetic region. Reanalysis datasets are the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service reanalysis (CAMSRA) and NASA Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Application version 2 (MERRA2) which tells the spatial-temporal variability of surface ozone over the Northwest region of India. The result shows a lesser correlation over the study region. Through a validation process, it was determined that the CAMSRA compares fairly to ground-based observations with correlations (> 0.5)  over the Northwest region of India. This agreement has also been quantified in terms of range, Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The CAMSRA captures seasonal variations regardless of location, according to a time series analysis. Spatial distribution of surface ozone shows higher concentration during pre-monsoon followed by post-monsoon. Over the northwest region, a notable rise is noticed during May over the Indo-Gangetic Plains in particular (IGP) of the Indian region. These seasonal differences are associated with solar radiation (SR), temperature, low-level circulation, and boundary layer height (BLH).In order to further examine the spatial and temporal variability of surface ozone, we have performed the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). PCA explains the relationship between dominant modes of spatial variability and their temporal evolution. Overall, the findings show that variations in the precursors or in the meteorological conditions have a considerable impact on the surface ozone concentrations across the northwest region of India. 
A statistical study of the features of ion acceleration events in the Jovian magnetotail using Juno/JEDI data
Authors: Moutsiana Georgia , Clark George , Gkioulidou Matina , Daglis Ioannis , Mauk Barry
Published: February 2023

Planetary magnetospheres across our solar system are known to be very efficient accelerators of charged particles. Moreover, the energization processes of magnetotail plasma populations are thought to share similarities among the various magnetospheres. In the present study, we focus on the Jovian magnetosphere, which contains a variety of ion species with different charge states, resulting in a diverse set of acceleration-relevant factors that can be tested. Therefore, we investigate the features of ion acceleration processes in the Jovian magnetosphere, utilizing measurements from the Juno mission. In particular, we use magnetic field data from the MAG instrument, and energetic ion data from the JEDI instrument, in order to investigate the energization of hydrogen (~50 keV to ~1 MeV), oxygen (~170 keV to ~2 MeV) and sulfur (~170 keV to ~4MeV) ions during dipolarization events in Jupiter’s magnetosphere. Here, we present a statistical study of the characteristics of ion acceleration processes in the Jovian magnetotail, such as the maximum energy of each ion species, as well as the Magnetic Local Time (MLT) position and radial distance for each event. Results of our study are a first step towards a comparative analysis of energization processes around dipolarization events in the magnetotails of Earth and Jupiter.
Competing effects of post-rift thermal subsidence and contraction-induced tectonic uplift in inverted extensional basins: inferences from numerical models and observations from the Pannonian Basin
Authors: Oravecz Éva , Balázs Attila , Gerya Taras , May Dave , Fodor László
Published: February 2023

Basin inversion is usually associated with compressional uplift and erosion of the exhuming sedimentary succession, while the resulting uplift rates are governed by variable convergence rates and the inherited lithospheric structure. However, observations from the Pannonian Basin (Central Europe) record continuous basin-wide subsidence and deposition of anomalously thick sedimentary successions during its inversion. In this study, we investigate the controlling processes behind the subsidence and uplift patterns during the structural inversion of rifted basins.We conducted a series of high resolution 3D numerical experiments to simulate the successive rifting and inversion stages of the Wilson cycle by applying the coupled I3ELVIS-FDSPM thermo-mechanical and surface processes numerical code. The code is based on staggered finite differences and marker-in-cell techniques to solve the mass, momentum and energy conservation equations for incompressible media, and it also takes into account simplified melting and surface processes.The models show the successive stages of sedimentary basin formation during the extension. The variability of crustal and mantle thinning below the depocenters leads to spatial and temporal variations of subsidence rates during the syn-rift phase. At the onset of convergence, inversion localizes where the lithosphere is the hottest and thus the weakest. High convergence rate (i.e. 2 cm/yr) leads to localized uplift of the basin center above the asthenospheric upwelling, which also results in the flexural subsidence of the basin margins. This evolution ultimately leads to intraplate orogen formation and overprinting the former basin structure. In contrast, low convergence rate (i.e. 2 mm/yr) results in continuous thermal subsidence. Superimposed on this large-wavelength motion, localized contractional structures are formed. In this case, partial reactivation of the inherited extensional crustal fault zones is more dominant, while inversional structures are visible along the basin margins.The modeling results are compared to the thermal and subsidence evolution of the Pannonian Basin during its Middle to Late Miocene rifting and Late Miocene to recent inversion.
Rockmagnetic study in cave sediments from Gran Dolina (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)
Authors: D'Arcangelo Serena , Martín-Hernández Fátima , M. Parés Josep
Published: February 2023

Environmental magnetism is based on sedimentary rocks records of environmental changes in the form of magnetic parameters variations, such as composition, concentration and grain size. There is a wealth of literature showing environmental changes that result in measurable variations in magnetic mineral properties in soils, but much less so in cave sediment.We study the Gran Dolina cave sediments, one of the most complete Quaternary stratigraphic sequences in Spain with a rich archaeo-paleontological record, part of the so-called archaeological site of Sierra de Atapuerca, declared by the UNESCO in 2000 as Outstanding Universal Value. Our initial measurements include thermomagnetic curves, hysteresis loops and coercivity analysis, which reveal the contribution of three magnetic minerals: magnetite, goethite and hematite. In order to determine their relative concentration, we also carried out a particular study based on the application of a saturation magnetization (SIRM) of 5T to the samples followed by alternating field demagnetization at 100 mT to remove the contribution of any ferrimagnetic minerals (e.g., magnetite). Next, thermal demagnetization at 130ºC to remove the goethite contribution.Finally, we should illustrate two ratios to distinguish the contribution of the magnetite vs goethite-hematite and the contribution of the goethite vs hematite: the first one shows a clear contribution of the magnetite and individuates an interval where its presence decreases; the second one illustrates a more variability of the goethite in the profile.
Procedures for the documentation and collection of physical evidence from human and animal envenomization cases.
Authors: Byrd Jason , Sapienza Daniela , Schaer Michael , Stern Adam , Somma Roberta , Sutton Lerah , Trombetta Domenico
Published: February 2023

Legal cases involving human and animal envenomizations may be encountered by the medicolegal investigator.  Such cases are often difficult due to lack of physical evidence and analytical difficulty.  The development and use of an interdisciplinary approach and standardized protocol involving experts in environmental and life sciences (toxicology, legal medicine, entomology, veterinary forensic science, biology, geography, geology, and meteorology) may improve the documentation, collection, and presentation of physical evidence in court.  This information can be utilized to develop and optimize new protocols for toxicological screenings for application in human and animal cases.  In such cases, the scientific background of coroners and police experts may not be sufficient to correctively delineate the environmental features of the territory that may be typical of certain species of venomous fauna present in the scene of the events. Therefore, protocols providing complete information concerning the environment of the scene and detail of the events together with exam protocols, sample collection, tissue preservation, and testing/analysis are needed. This holistic approach could enhance the ability to detect toxins involved in envenomizations to better manage forensic science and legal cases.  
¿Why should we process Fully-Focused Radar Altimetry data in near real time? Improving the computational efficiency of FF-SAR using Omega-K based algorithm.
Authors: Hernández Sergi , Gibert Ferran , Broquetas Antoni , Garcia-Mondéjar Albert , Kleinherenbrink Marcel , Roca Mònica
Published: February 2023

The Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission was planned to keep studying the sea-surface height and ocean state measurements and since April 2022 its first satellite, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich (S6MF), has become the current reference altimetry mission.One of the key design aspects of the S6MF altimeter is the “interleaved” chronogram pattern, which increases the number of received pulses, reducing the ambiguities in the along-track dimension, and increasing the energy obtained from the surface. Thanks to the continuous surface illumination, the echoes from the same target can be coherently integrated making a significant improvement in the along-track resolution leading to more detailed understanding of the ocean, the polar zones and inland and coastal waters dynamics. Measurement parameters such as swell state, lead and iceberg detection or inland water level changes can take advantage of these advances.Nowadays, unfocused azimuth steering methods, such as Delay Doppler, provide along-track resolutions around 300 meters. However Fully-Focused SAR (FF-SAR) algorithms can improve it to the order of sub-meter.  In 2017, Alejandro Egido and Walter H.F. Smith published the FF-SAR method description, based on the backprojection approach. Compared to the unfocused steering, it requires more computational time, making it difficult to be implemented operationally, keeping the data generation rate in the same order of magnitude as the unfocused chain products. In 2018, Pietro Guccione et. al. published the FF-SAR 2D Frequency Domain algorithm, based on the Omega-K (WK) algorithm from SAR radar. In this paper, it is shown that the two dimensional frequency domain can be used to decrease the number of operations needed to focus the data, under some circumstances that depend on the type of orbit and the emitted signal. FF-SAR WK algorithm achieves similar results in terms of along-track resolution for the CryoSat-2 mission, but notably improving the computational efficiency. Although Omega-K algorithm intrinsic assumptions can impact negatively in the accuracy estimation of parameters such as the sea surface height, there are applications like sea ice related activities that could benefit of faster execution times. In this presentation, an adapted and redesigned Omega-K algorithm for Sentinel-6 is presented. FF-SAR Omega-K and Backprojection have been used to process Sentinel-6 data over the Crete transponder, evidencing that both FF-SAR methods are capable to achieve the expected theoretical along-track resolution. Moreover, open ocean data from Sentinel-6 has been processed for both algorithms and results have been compared.
Paleoenvironmental implications of interbasaltic volcaniclastic sediments within Late Cretaceous Deccan volcanics, India
Authors: Singh Pragya , Banerjee Santanu , Pande Kanchan
Published: February 2023

The Deccan volcanic province is extensively studied for the occurrence of the K–Pg boundary, Cretaceous mass extinction, associated climate change and biotic crises. The Late Cretaceous volcaniclastic sediments occurring in between the lava flow, known as bole beds, are often overlooked. These bole beds, however, are useful to understand the paleoenvironmental conditions during non-eruptive phases of Deccan volcanism. A comprehensive study involving field, petrography and mineralogical investigations focuses on a few cm to a few m-thick bole beds of variable lateral continuity.Field observations of bole beds reveal red to green colour and variable geometry i.e., massive, bedded, lensoid etc. Petrographic study reveals differences in textural and mineralogical characteristics of red and green boles. Red boles show an incipient to moderate degree of pedogenesis. The incipiently pedogenised red boles show the dominance of volcanic lithic fragments (lathwork, microlitic and vitric), scoria, plagioclase, and pyroxene. The moderately pedogenised red boles, show dominance of altered basaltic clasts (100 μm to 5 mm), iron glaebules, alteromorph and oxidized fragments set in the fine-grained clayey groundmass. The green bole, however, shows poor pedogenesis, with predominance of volcaniclastic fragments, plagioclase, pyroxene and opaques. The volcanic glasses and minerals in green boles are thoroughly replaced by green clay. X-ray diffraction study shows presence of hematite and 14 Å smectite in red bole. The green bole, however, contains 10 Å celadonite and 14 Å smectite as major clay minerals. FTIR and VNIR spectroscopy further confirm the slight difference in composition of smectite associated with bole beds, i.e., Fe, Al-rich smectite in red boles and Fe, Mg-rich smectite in green boles. Although the original material for forming red and green boles is basalt-derived, the distribution pattern of green boles is not as extensive as red boles. This indicates difference in the paleoenvironment of formation of the two bole beds. The study of red bole suggests its formation in oxic, subaerial conditions. The relatively thick red bole units (up to a few m), showing gradational contact with lower basalt and distinct pedogenic features, mark prominent breaks in Deccan eruptions. However, the cm-scaled red bole units, showing uneven boundary with lower basalt, and containing abundant volcaniclastic fragments, indicate minor breaks in volcanism. Green boles, on the contrary, indicate confined suboxic conditions in local depressions on the Deccan lava flow.
Seismic imaging of the submarine Kolumbo Volcanic Chain reveals its volcano-tectonic evolution and link to Santorini
Authors: Preine Jonas , Hübscher Christian , Karstens Jens , Crutchley Gareth , Nomikou Paraskevi
Published: February 2023

Located in the southern Aegean Sea, the Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo volcanic field is one of the most hazardous volcanic regions in the world and lies in an active continental rift zone. Northeast of Santorini lies the Kolumbo Volcanic Chain (KVC), which comprises more than 20 submarine volcanic cones, with the Kolumbo volcano representing the most prominent edifice of this chain. However, due to their inaccessibility, little is known about the spatio-temporal evolution and tectonic control of these submarine volcanoes and their link to the volcanic plumbing system of Santorini. We will present multichannel reflection seismic data that allow us to image the internal architecture of the KVC and study its link to Santorini. Using a seismostratigraphic framework, we are able to show the KVC evolved during two episodes, which initiated at approx. 1 Ma with the formation of mainly effusive volcanic edifices along a NE-SW trending zone. Most of the cones of the second episode represent submarine pumice cones that were formed by submarine explosive eruptions between 0.7 and 0.3 Ma and partly developed on top of volcanic edifices from the first episode. Our data show that two prominent normal faults underlie the KVC, indicating a direct link between tectonics and volcanism. In addition, we are able to reveal several buried volcanic centers and a distinct volcanic ridge connecting the KVC with Santorini, suggesting a connection between the two volcanic centers in the past. We argue that this connection was interrupted by a major tectonic event and, as a result, the two volcanic systems now have separate, largely independent plumbing systems despite their proximity.
The contribution of climate in shaping microevolutionary patterns of diatoms in Lake Ohrid during the Late Calabrian stage
Authors: Zaova Dushica , Jovanovska Elena , Cvetkoska Aleksandra , Wagner Bernd , Beszteri Bánk , Levkov Zlatko
Published: February 2023

Climate has strongly influenced species composition and evolution over geological and contemporary timescales. While most attention has been paid to the relationship between macroevolutionary processes and climate along latitudinal gradients, very little is known about how climate changes affect the microevolutionary mechanisms of macroevolutionary processes through time due to the lack of fossils. Here, we use the morphologically variable endemic diatom species, Cyclotella cavitata, and paleoenvironmental data from a sedimentary succession of Lake Ohrid between 1050 ka and 815 ka to investigate the effects of climate on microevolutionary dynamics in diversification processes during the Late Calabrian period. By analyzing morphotype-environment relationships, we found a progressive replacement of morphologies and their abundance in C. cavitata that was mainly related to local environmental changes associated with nutrient availability, lake depth, water column, mixis, and local temperatures. Surprisingly, climate change did not have as great an influence as anticipated, but this cannot be ruled out since this period overlaps with the beginning of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. This suggests that although the local environment had a greater influence on microevolutionary processes, climate remains an important driver and will also be critical for studies of evolutionary change under future climate change scenarios.
Reservoir Operation and Multi-Attribute Decision-Making – Web-based Tool
Authors: Rajasree Moola , Srivastav Roshan
Published: February 2023

Reservoir operation plays a significant role in effectively managing water resources, especially mitigating future droughts. Several simulation, and optimization models are used to obtain optimal reservoir operation solutions based on hedging rules. These solutions are usually in the form of Pareto front and are derived to satisfy multiple objectives related to water supply measures. However, it is challenging to achieve a single solution when various performance indices such as reliability, resilience and vulnerability are considered in evaluation. Therefore, this study proposes a web-based application for reservoir operation with Multi-Attribute Decision Making (MADM) methods to evaluate and provide rankings for reservoir operation solutions. It includes two components: (i) reservoir operation module based on simulation-optimization framework with hedging policies; and (ii) decision-making module that includes evaluation and ranking of solutions obtained from first module and comparison of rankings obtained from various MADM methods. Overall the tool provides a set of solutions for different water supply reduction measures/hedging policies and ranking the solutions for performance indices which would help reservoir operators, practitioners, and researchers for optimal water allocation and decision-making.
Active tectonics of Spil Mountain, Western Anatolia: Implications from morphometric and paleoseismic studies
Authors: Tekin Taner , Sançar Taylan , Altunel Erhan , Akyüz Hüsnü Serdar , Rojay Bora
Published: February 2023

The internal deformation of Anatolia, where neotectonic provinces are characterized, are formed by the structures that are controlling the geodynamic evolution. One of the main provinces is known to be Aegean Extensional Province under which evolution has controlled mainly by the interaction of northward subducting African plate beneath the Anatolian continental fragment and extrusion caused by relative motion of two major continental transform faults, dextral North Anatolian Fault (NAF) and sinistral East Anatolian Fault (EAF). The extrusion resultant crustal extension formed almost E-W trending horst and grabens. One of which is known to be The Gediz-Alaşehir Graben (GAG) where southwestern part of the graben is bounded by NW-SE trending active fault called Manisa Fault of Spil Mountain Horst. The faulted margins of the horst have preserved overprinted slip surfaces which makes the faulted margins target for paleoseismic and morphometric applications.The study of dynamic morphology along Spil Mountain Horst is being displayed by river profiles and catchment responses. To process dynamic effects, total of 66 drainage basins are selected and morphometric indices are applied to selected catchments. Preliminary results from both Hypsometric Integral, Hypsometric Curve and Relief Ratio are indicating the young topography. Mountain front sinuosity and Valley floor width to valley floor ratio indicates that the faults exist on both side of the horst have different rate of deformation. Moreover, indicators related to basin asymmetry, transverse topographic symmetry factor and asymmetry factor, show weak signals of fault control. Similarly, Concavity, Chi Analysis and Knickpoint distribution point out that basin bounding faults have less prominent effect in the area which is consistent with basin asymmetry. Five paleoseismic trenches along Manisa Fault represent similar outcomes with preliminary results from morphometric analyses. The ages from ongoing dating of the samples are going to assist for better understanding about the active tectonics of Spil Mountain Horst.The dynamic topography of Spil Mountain Horst is most likely reflecting the influence of regional tectonics rather than the basin bounding faults based on morphometric and paleoseismological studies.Key words: Aegean Extensional Province, Spil Mountain Horst, morphometric indices, paleoseismic trench
Extreme windstorm hazard in northern Italy using non-asymptotic statistics
Authors: Fathollahzadeh attar Nasrin , Canale Antonio , Marra Francesco
Published: February 2023

As recently shown by the storm Vaia that hit Northeastern Italy in the fall of 2018, extreme wind represents a critical weather-related hazard in this region. Over the course of this century, changes in the frequency of extreme windstorms are expected. Obtaining an accurate understanding of wind speed distribution in present and future conditions is thus vital. Robust estimates of the probability of occurrence of extreme winds must be developed and employed to save lives and reduce economic losses. The objective of this study is to develop a novel non-asymptotic statistical method to estimate extreme wind return levels at multiple temporal scales (wind gusts, hourly, daily). Our approach is based on the identification of independent wind storms and estimation of ordinary wind speed events, the latter defined over the Veneto region using multi-year observations from 146 stations. To model the cumulative distribution function of ordinary wind speed events, different parametric distributions are compared, including mixture models specifications. By separately considering storm occurrence and conditional wind speed intensity, the proposed method could improve our understanding of wind speed extremes in the area and provides a tool for projecting future extreme wind speed return levels based on available model simulations.