1,540 research outputs found
High-performance microbial removal of ethanol from contaminated air
No full textEthanol vapour from air was removed using a bioreactor (2.7 m(3)) packed with a novel engineered material consisting of a highly porous inorganic matrix coated with activated carbon. The system was operated over a period of two months varying the inlet ethanol between 90 and 2200 mg m(-3). Removal efficiencies ranging from 80 to 99.9% were obtained. A simplified kinetic model of the bioreactor was developed and used to estimate the maximum degradation rate and to predict thermal effects resulting from ethanol oxidation
Indagine conoscitiva sull’uso e integrazione delle ICT nei servizi
No full textLa ricerca sulle credenze di insegnanti ed educatori, intendendo un sistema, più o meno strutturato, di regole, opinioni, valori e aspettative, ha dimostrato come queste influenzino, talvolta in termini predittivi, l’integrazione delle tecnologie nell’azione didattica e come esse siano in stretto rapporto con la capacità d’uso delle tecnologi
Are the source models of the M 7.1 Messina Straits earthquake reliable? Insights from a novel inversion and a sensitivity analysis of levelling data.
No full textFor decades, many authors have attempted to define the location, geometry and kinematics
of the causative fault for the 1908 December 28, M 7.1 earthquake that struck the Messina
Straits between Sicily and Calabria (southern Italy). The coseismic displacement caused a
predominant downwarping of the Straits and small land uplift away from it, which were
documented by levelling surveys performed 1 yr before and immediately after the earthquake.
Most of the source models based on inversion of levelling data suggested that the earthquake
was caused by a low angle, east-dipping blind normal fault, whose upper projection intersects
the Earth surface on the Sicilian (west) side of the Messina Straits.An alternative interpretation
holds that the causative fault is one of the high-angle, west-dipping faults located in southern
Calabria, on the eastern side of the Straits, and may in large part coincide with the mapped
Armo Fault. Here, we critically review the levelling data with the aim of defining both their
usefulness and limits in modelling the seismogenic fault. We demonstrate that the levelling
data alone are not capable of discriminating between the two oppositely dipping fault models,
and thus their role as a keystone for modellers is untenable. However, new morphotectonic
and geodetic data indicate that the Armo Fault has very recent activity and is accumulating
strain. The surface observations, together with appraisal ofmacroseismic intensity distribution,
available seismic tomography and marine geophysical evidence, lends credit to the hypothesis
that the Armo and possibly the S. Eufemia faults are part of a major crustal structure that
slipped during the 1908 earthquake
The NW sector of the Sicily Channel: geometry and evolution of inverted structural lineaments
No full textThe 3-D trend of anticline axial planes, fault planes and surfaces has been reconstructed in the offshore area between
the Egadi Islands and the Sciacca High from the interpretation of multichannel seismic reflection profiles and well data
(available from the VIDEPI project database). In particular, isopach maps generated for the five seismic units of age
between Cretaceous and Quaternary allowed highlighting the space-time migration of the tectonic processes. The
western portion of the studied area covers the submerged prolongation of the inner sector of the Sicilian-Maghrebian
chain, limited in the NW and in the SE by two tectonic lineaments running along the western and eastern margins of the
Adventure Bank: the Maghrebian Thrust Front and Adventure Thrust Front, respectively (see Argnani et al., 1986). The
eastern portion is characterized by transpressive zones orientated NNE-SSW identifying the Separation Belt that partly
corresponds to the foreland area which contains the Gela Nappe Thrust.
Age constraints indicate that contraction related to the Sicilian-Maghrebian fold and thrust belt migrated
progressively towards the southeast. The emplacement of the western front is attributable to the Middle-Upper Miocene
while that of the eastern front is Plio-Pleistocene. Within this tectonic framework, two tectonic basins were identified on
the basis of the different trend, age and evolution. The Adventure foredeep exhibits the maximum thickness of 500 m in
correspondence of the Adventure Plateau. Here, the younger Gela foredeep displays minor depth showing a thickness
increase towards the Gela Nappe and the Pantelleria graben.
Positive inversion structures form by the Plio-Pleistocene compressional reactivation of preexisting structures
limiting the Saccense and Trapanese domains were recognized the offshore sector between Mazara and Sciacca.
Moreover, a correlation between the Campobello di Mazara-Castelvetrano alignment as proposed by Barreca et al.,
2013, Ferranti et al., this meeting, and the tectonic units recognized in their offshore prolongation has been recognized.
Therefore, we propose that in this area contractional tectonics is still active (see also Pepe et al., this meeting), and
occurs on high-angle, NW-dipping crustal ramps (Monaco et al., 1996)
Innovative methodology for quantitative and qualitative assessment of water resources in karst aquifers: a case study in southern Lazio region, central Italy
No full textThis paper outlines the results of a hydrogeological study carried on from July 2014 to November 2106 to assess quantitatively and qualitatively water resources (groundwater and surface water) emerging in the Upper Valley of the Aniene River (Latium Region, Central Italy). This work deals with the Environmental Monitoring Plan, related to the catchment project of the Pertuso Spring, which is going to be exploited to supply an important water network in the South part of Roma district. The study area is located in the Upper Valley of the Aniene River, in the outcrop of Triassic-Cenozoic carbonate rocks, and belong to an important karst aquifer. Pertuso Spring is the main outlet of this karst aquifer and is the one of the most important water resource in the southeast part of Latium Region, used for drinking, agriculture and hydroelectric supplies. This hydrogeological system is characterized by a strong local hydraulic connectivity between the Aniene River surface water and groundwater coming from the Pertuso Spring.
First at all, in this study, in order to estimate the vulnerability degree of the karst aquifer feeding the Pertuso Spring, the COP method has been applied and vulnerability maps are proposed. Thus, with the aim of highlighting the karst features key-role in the unsaturated zone, a new vulnerability approach has been set up, starting from two discretization approaches. The aim of this work is to compare both results of the intrinsic vulnerability mapping, in order to evaluate which one is the most suitable for the study area.
On the basis of the hydrogeochemical data and their interpretations for groundwater and surface water, monitored from July 2014 to November 2016, a hydrogeological study has been carried on to identify flowpaths and hydrogeochemical processes governing groundwater-surface water interactions in this region. To this end, discharge surveys were carried out on four monitoring sections along the Aniene River. The proposed conceptual model shows that the karst aquifer feeding the Pertuso Spring supplies the Aniene River, highlighting seasonal variability depending on the rainfall regime.
The analysis of solute contents in the monitoring points has suggested the identification of the Magnesium ion as a conservative tracer in this specific system and, consequently, to the development an indirect method for the evaluation of karst spring discharge based on discharge measurements and water geochemical data. This method is based on the elaboration of surface water discharge measurements in relationship with Mg2+ concentration values, determined as for groundwater, coming from the Pertuso Spring, as for surface water samples, collected upstream and downstream the spring, along the Aniene River streamflow. This method has been validated by the comparison with discharge values obtained using the current meter method and by geochemical data.
This study suggests that the application of the Magnesium ion as an environmental tracer may provide a means to evaluate discharge of the Pertuso Spring, as it came up to be a marker of the mixing of surface water and groundwater. On the other hand, the Magnesium ion concentration provides information for the identification of groundwater flow systems and the main hydrogeochemical processes affecting the composition of water within the karst aquifer feeding the Pertuso Spring
Architecture and Pliocene to Recent evolution of the offshore prolongation of the Granitola - Castelvetrano Thrust System (Sicily Channel)
No full textHigh-resolution, seismic profiles were recorded in the offshore of Mazara - Punta Granitola with the purpose of
reconstructing the architecture and Pliocene to Recent evolution of the south-west prolongation of the Granitola-
Castelvetrano Thrust System, identified as an active structure possibly related to destructive historical earthquakes
(Barreca et al., 2014; Ferranti et al., this meeting).
A number of seismic units were identified. The oldest one is interpreted as representative of the Lower Pliocene
pelagic deposits known in the region as Trubi. Lower-middle Pleistocene calcarenites are widespread along the
continental shelf (CS) between Mazara del Vallo while their top rapidly deepens moving southeast-ward Capo
Granitola. In this area, lower-middle Pleistocene calcarenites are unconformably overlain by the late Pleistocene-
Holocene deposits. These latter are thin or absent NW of Punta Granitola along the CS, at water depth less than ~30 m,
suggesting that this sector experienced uplift during the Quaternary.
Small scale, NW- and SE-displacing reverse faults are observed along the CS where they cut the lower-middle
Pleistocene calcarenites and offset the seafloor. South-eastwards, south-east-verging, reverse faults affect lower-middle
Pleistocene calcarenites as well as the late Pleistocene-Holocene layers, suggesting that fault displacement acted during
the post-LGM.
Growth folding of Upper Pleistocene-Holocene deposits and thrust faults, predominantly dipping to the NW,
affecting Pliocene rocks are observed in the immediate offshore Capo Granitola.
The integration of the new data with those obtained from multi-channel profiles suggests that the active folds and
thrusts are the uppermost expression of steep crustal ramps (Monaco et al., 1996; Lavecchia et al., 2007; Meccariello et
al., this meeting) which upthrust the Saccense platform at depth
Tutor di M. E. Mazzella: Deformazione attiva nell'area peri-tirrenica meridionale da dati geodetici e geologici
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Estensione e ciclicità di accumuli debritici tardo-pleistocenici nei bacinidi Sibari e Corigliano (Mar Ionio): implicazioni per la tettonica recente ed attiva.
No full textCorpi sedimentari caratterizzati da facies sismica “trasparente” di notevole spessore (sino a 35 m) sono
stati documentati in più livelli della copertura tardo-pleistocenica della Piana Abissale del Mar Ionio ed
interpretati come megatorbiditi innescate da megatsunami. Il più recente di questi corpi è stato posto da
Autori vari, in relazione ai collassi vulcanici del Santorini o dell’Etna o al sisma distruttivo di Creta del 365
d.C. [Polonia et al., 2013].
Corpi “trasparenti” di notevole spessore (15-30 m) e estensione (> di 100 km2), sono stati segnalati anche
nel Mar Ionio nord-occidentale e interpretati come accumuli debritici tardo-pleistocenici-olocenici,
presumibilmente sismoindotti [Rebesco et al., 2009].
La presenza di depositi debritici in un’area interessata negli ultimi decenni da bassa sismicità ma
caratterizzata da strutture attive e potenzialmente sismogenetiche, come suggerito da recenti ricerche (M~6,
[Ferranti et al., pag. 110 di questo volume], ha posto le basi per un’analisi più approfondita dei caratteri degli
eventi debritici segnalati e dei meccanismi di innesco. A tal fine sono stati utilizzati dati Multibeam e sismici
ad alta (Sparker, 1kj) ed altissima (Chirp) risoluzione, registrati nell’ambito del Progetto “Teatioca-2010”
(R/V Urania; IAMC di Napoli, Università di Napoli, Palermo e Trieste e INGV di Roma).
Nel Canale Rossano-Cariati i profili sismici mostrano, coperto da una sottile (7-10 m max.) coltre, un
corpo acusticamente trasparente, molto esteso (100 km2; lunghezza 25 km, larghezza 5 km), e di notevole
spessore (40 m max.). La presenza di corpi con analoghi caratteri sismo-stratigrafici è confermata anche
nelle aree bacinali limitrofe, separate tra loro da scarpate e alti morfologici con evidenze di movimentazioni
di massa recenti e in atto. La stessa collocazione crono-stratigrafica degli ultimi depositi “debritici” nei vari
settori dell’area suggerisce, come per il Mar Ionio meridionale, un meccanismo di innesco comune e a scala
regionale.
Le sezioni sparker evidenziano, per la porzione più recente della successione Pleistocenica, altri corpi
“trasparenti”, sovrapposti in più livelli (almeno 3) e associati a strutture di fluidificazione ed estrusione
interpretabili come sismiti. La ciclicità e la scala regionale degli eventi debritici analizzati (corpi trasparenti)
nonché la successiva fluidificazione ed estrusione suggerirebbe un loro innesco da shaking sismico,
compatibile con l’attività recente del sistema transpressivo dell’Amendolara.
Bibliografia
Polonia, A., Bonatti, E., Camerlenghi, A., Lucchi, G.L., Panieri, G. Gasperini, L., (2013). Mediterranean
megaturbidite triggered by the AD 365 Crete earthquake and tsunami. Scientific Reports, 3, 1285,
doi:10.1038/srep01285.
Rebesco, M., Neagu, R.C., Cuppari, A., Muto, F., Accettella, D., Dominici, R., Cova, A., Romano, C.,
Caburlotto, A., (1999). Morphobathimetric analysis and evidence of submarine mass movements in the
western Gulf of Taranto (Calabria margin, Ionian Sea). Inter. Jou. of Earth Sci., 98, 791-805
Evidenze geomorfologiche sommerse nelle aree costiere italiane di uno stazionamento del livello del mare ubicato a circa -20 m e attribuito allo stadio 3
No full textUnderwater investigations along the Italian coasts have shown a recurrent paleo-sea level at -18÷-22 m below the present sea level. Geochronoiogical age determinations on submerged speleothems used as sea-level markers and sampled at around -20 m, suggest that the paleo-sea level corresponds to the highest stand reached by the sea during the isotope stage 3, between 48 and 27 ka. Geomorphological evidence of this paieo-sea level are remains of a subhorizontal abrasion surface, which is visible on cliffs bordering carbonate promontories. Analogous surfaces (terraces) are mainly observed in the Tyrrhenian Sea from Tuscany to Sicily and in Sardinia at similar depths (-16÷-22 m); examples are also visible along the Apulia's coast in the Adriatic Sea. Recurrent geomorphological features of these terraces are: a) discontinuous but frequent occurrence; b) width lower than 10 m; c) location at the base of ancient cliffs; d) notch and pot-holes at the inner margin; e) in many cases terraces are laterally connected with the wave-enlarged mouth and levelled bottom of submerged caves, and with the flat top of ancient buttes. The general tectonic stability since Eutyrrhenian times (stage 5e of the oxygen isotope curve) in the regions where the observed forms occur, confines the relative age to well definite times. The absolute age of the paleo-sea level is yielded by speleothems sampled at about -20 m b.s.l. in Tuscany. These display marine biogenic episodes interlayered with continental ones. The 14C radiometric ages of the different layers keep such alternating episodes within the time span ranging from 27 to 42 ka (Alessio et al. 1992; 1994), namely during the highstand related to the isotope stage 3 (Aharon & Chappel, 1986). It is concluded that abrasion terraces and related morphological features found within the same depth interval formed during the stage 3 oscillating highstand
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