Subduction and break-off controls on Indentation tectonics and Western Syntaxis formation during India-Asia convergence

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 A

Mesozoic spreading kinematics: consequences for Cenozoic Central and Western Mediterranean subduction

The highly complex tectonics of Central and Western Mediterranean subduction are well documented, but there is significant debate about the responsible dynamics. The motions of the main plates, Africa including Adria, Europe and Iberia, imposed initial and boundary conditions on the evolution of subduction that are often not considered. To quantitatively evaluate these conditions, we make a set of reconstructions from Mesozoic opening through Cenozoic closing of the Alpine Tethys, using main-plate kinematic data from several authors. Geologic and tectonic information are only added to constrain the location of the break-up boundary and a single plate-margin rearrangement at the end of the opening phase. Otherwise, the plates remain undeformed. This rigid-plate approach illustrates the context in which surface deformation and subduction occurred and provides estimates (with uncertainties) of the amount of material that should be accounted for in orogens or documented seismically in the mantle. Full tectonic reconstructions should satisfy such constraints. Opening led to alternating domains of predominantly oceanic lithosphere formed by normal spreading and domains dominated by transform motion, floored mainly by extended continental lithosphere. The transform domain structures provide logical decoupling zones to allow Penninic, Ligurian and Pyrenean basins to start subducting independently. The complex buoyancy in the transform domain linking Ligurian and Penninic basins, and obliquity between directions of opening and closing may account for a number of the oceanic basins and continental slivers often invoked to explain Alpine geology. The significant proportion of continental lithosphere in the Alboran would have favoured delamination of mantle lithosphere over subduction. The almost completely subducted Penninic slab obstructed subduction of the Ligurian domain in the direction of Africa-Europe convergence, possibly forcing the rollback of the Appeninic/Calabrian trenc

INTEGRAL high energy behaviour of 4U 1812-12

The low mass X-ray binary system 4U 1812-12 was monitored with the INTEGRAL observatory in the period 2003-2004 and with BeppoSAX on April 20, 2000. We report here on the spectral and temporal analysis of both persistent and burst emission. The full data set confirms the persistent nature of this burster, and reveals the presence of emission up to 200 keV. The persistent spectrum is well described by a comptonization (CompTT) model plus a soft blackbody component. The source was observed in a hard spectral state with a 1-200 keV luminosity of 2*10^(36) ergs/s and L/LEdd~1% and no meaningful flux variation has been revealed, as also confirmed by a 2004 RXTE observation. We have also detected 4 bursts showing double peaked profiles and blackbody spectra with temperatures ranging from 1.9 to 3.1 keV.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication by A&

The two INTEGRAL X-ray transients IGR J17091--3624 and IGR J17098--3628: a multi-wavelength long term campaign

IGR J17091-3624 and IGR J17098-3628 are two X-ray transients discovered by INTEGRAL and classified as possible black hole candidates (BHCs). We present here the results obtained from the analysis of multi-wavelength data sets collected by different instruments from 2005 until the end of 2007 on both sources. IGR J17098-3628 has been regularly detected by INTEGRAL and RXTE over the entire period of the observational campaign; it was also observed with pointed observations by XMM and Swift/XRT in 2005 and 2006 and exhibited flux variations not linked with the change of any particular spectral features. IGR J17091-3624 was initially in quiescence (after a period of activity between 2003 April and 2004 April) and it was then detected again in outburst in the XRT field of view during a Swift observation of IGR J17098--3628 on 2007 July 9. The observations during quiescence provide an upper limit to the 0.2-10 keV luminosity, while the observations in outburst cover the transition from the hard to the soft state. Moreover, we obtain a refined X-ray position for IGR J17091-3624 from the Swift/XRT observations during the outburst in 2007. The new position is inconsistent with the previously proposed radio counterpart. We identify in VLA archive data a compact radio source consistent with the new X-ray position and propose it as the radio counterpart of the X-ray transient.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

The failed state transition of the ATOLL source GRS 1724-308

The 2004-2012 X-ray time history of the NS LMXB GRS 1724-308 shows, along with the episodic brightenings associated to the low-high state transitions typical of the ATOLL sources, a peculiar, long lasting (about 300 d) flaring event, observed in 2008. This rare episode, characterised by a high-flux hard state, has never been observed before for GRS 1724-308 , and in any case is not common among ATOLL sources. We discuss here different hypotheses on the origin of this peculiar event that displayed the spectral signatures of a failed transition, similar in shape and duration to those rarely observed in Black Hole binaries. We also suggest the possibility that the atypical flare occurred in coincidence with a new rising phase of the 12-years super-orbital modulation that has been previously reported by other authors. The analysed data also confirm for GRS 1724-308 the already reported orbital period of about 90 d.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA

RISCHIO, CRISI E INTERVENTO PUBBLICO NELL'AGRICOLTURA EUROPEA

Esiste un’ampia discussione tra le Istituzioni Europee (Commissione, Parlamento e Governi degli Stati Membri) sull’opportunità di istituire un quadro istituzionale di riferimento a livello europeo per la gestione del rischio e delle crisi in agricoltura. Allo scopo di analizzare la posizione assunta dalla Commissione Europea nel Marzo del 2004, l’articolo discute della possibilità di istituire un tale quadro comune di riferimento date le prospettive cui si trova di fronte la Politica Agricola Comune recentemente riformata. Nel far ciò, vengono passate in rassegna le misure esistenti nei vari Stati Membri e vengono valutati i punti di forza e di debolezza delle opzioni avanzate dalla Commissione. La conclusione è che, dati i vincoli esistenti sulla possibile espansione della spesa in agricoltura, l’istituzione di un programma comune basato sul pagamento di integrazioni di reddito o di sussidi a premi assicurativi è molto poco verosimile. Prospettive migliori sono quelle per un intervento basato sul sostegno di fondi mutualistici tra gli agricoltorie, più in generale, su sostegni indiretti al credito, alle assicurazioni e ai mercati finanziari, orientati al rendere tali strumenti più facilmente accessibili per gli agricoltor

FACCENDA AND CAPITANIO: SEISMIC ANISOTROPY

[1] Inferring the circulation of the mantle around subducting plates from surface measurements of shear wave splitting patterns remains to date elusive. To assist the interpretation of the seismic signal and its relation with the mantle circulation pattern, we present a new methodology to compute the seismic anisotropy directly from the flow in the upper mantle of 3-D numerical models of Earth-like subduction. This computational strategy accounts for the non-steady-state evolution of subduction zones yielding mantle fabrics that are more consistent with the deformation history than previously considered. In the subduction models, a strong mantle fabric develops throughout the upper mantle with a magnitude of the anisotropy that is proportional to the amount of subduction and is independent of the subduction rate. The sub-slab upper mantle is characterized by two domains with different fabrics: at shallow depth, the mantle entrained with the subducting slab develops trench-perpendicular directed anisotropy due to simple shear deformation, while in the deeper mantle, slab rollback induces pure shear deformation causing trench-parallel extension and fast seismic directions. Subducting plate advance favors the development of the fabric in the entrained mantle domain, while slab retreat increases the trench-parallel anisotropy in the deeper upper mantle. In the deeper domain, the strength of the fabric is proportional to the horizontal divergence of the flow and weakens from the slab edges toward the center. As such, strong trench-parallel anisotropy forms below retreating and relatively narrow slabs or at the margins of wider plates. The synthetic SKS splitting patterns calculated in the fore arc are controlled by the magnitude of the anisotropy in the upper domain, with trench-perpendicular fast azimuths in the center of large plates and trench parallel toward the plate edges. Instead, above relatively narrow, retreating slabs (≤600 km and low subduction partitioning ratio [SPR]), azimuths are trench parallel due to the strong anisotropy in the lower sub-slab domain. In all models, the anisotropy in the back arc and on the sides of the subducting plate is, respectively, trench perpendicular and sub-parallel to the return flow at depth. Results from our regional scale models may help to infer the flow and composition of the upper mantle by comparison with the wide range of subduction zones seismic data observed globally

A test for multivariate skew-normality based on its canonical form

Abstract A test to assess if a sample comes from a multivariate skew-normal distribution is proposed. The test statistic is obtained from the canonical form of the multivariate skew-normal distribution and its null distribution is derived. The power of the proposed test is evaluated through Monte Carlo simulations for different conveniently chosen alternatives. Finally, three numerical examples are presented for the purpose of illustration

Timescales of successful and failed subduction: insights from numerical modelling

The relatively short duration of the early stages of subduction results in a poor geological record, limiting our understanding of this critical stage. Here, we utilize a 2D numerical model of incipient subduction, that is the stage after a plate margin has formed with a slab tip that extends to a shallow depth and address the conditions under which subduction continues or fails. We assess energy budgets during the evolution from incipient subduction to either a failed or successful state, showing how the growth of potential energy, and slab pull, is resisted by the viscous dissipation within the lithosphere and the mantle. The role of rheology is also investigated, as deformation mechanisms operating in the crust and mantle facilitate subduction. In all models, the onset of subduction is characterized by high lithospheric viscous dissipation and low convergence velocities, whilst successful subduction sees the mantle become the main area of viscous dissipation. In contrast, failed subduction is defined by the lithospheric viscous dissipation exceeding the lithospheric potential energy release rate and velocities tend towards zero. We show that development of a subduction zone depends on the convergence rate, required to overcome thermal diffusion and to localise deformation along the margin. The results propose a minimum convergence rate of ∼ 0.5 cm yr−1 is required to reach a successful state, with 100 km of convergence over 20 Myr, emphasizing the critical role of the incipient stage