Liquefaction Probabilities Of Semani Area, In Albania Corresponding To Different Levels Of Safety

In this paper the liquefaction potential of Quaternary soft non-cohesive soils at Semanisite, Fier prefecture in Albania has been assessed.The liquefaction analyses have been computed considering the hazard levelcorresponding to different levels of safety, such as 10% in 10 years (72-years Return Period),10% in 50 years (475-years RP) and 2% in 50 years (2475-years RP). The accelerations corresponding to the abovementioned hazard levels are calculated using PSHA (probabilistic seismic hazard assessment), and The Cyclic Stress Ratio is calculated for each acceleration.The seismological data used in the analyses considers earthquakes with MS 4.5 and covers atime span from 58 up to 2009.The calculation of cyclic resistance ratio (CRR) of the soils is based on 416 SPT(Standard Penetration Test) values, 12 CPTU tests up to 25 m depth and shear wave velocity(Vs) measurements.The liquefaction probabilities for a given seismic event are combined with the probability of occurrence of the seismic event i

Setting thresholds is not enough: Beach litter as indicator of poor environmental status in the southern Adriatic Sea

This study deals with the issue of beach litter pollution in the context of the Descriptor 10 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive Good Environmental Status of EU waters and Ecological objective 10, Common indicator 22 of IMAP. Analyses of the amount, distribution and categorization of beach litter were conducted on nine beaches during 108 surveys covering the area of 206.620 m2 in Albania, Italy and Montenegro. Our findings showed that the level of beach litter pollution on south Adriatic beaches is significantly above the adopted threshold values, with a median item numbers of 327, 258 and 234 per 100 m of beach stretch for Albania, Italy and Montenegro, respectively. It can be concluded that, when it comes to beach litter pollution, GES has not been achieved. Given the defined baseline and threshold values at the EU level, the process of reducing the total amount of marine litter in southern Adriatic Sea will be very challenging and needs urgent and specific actions