Olbia greca: il contesto di via Cavour

Le vicende storiche della fase fenicia (metà VIII sec. a.C.-630 circa) e greca (630 circa-fine VI sec.) di Olbia erano state desunte fino al 2006 dai materiali archeologici fuori contesto. Si pubblica qui integralmente l’unico contesto arcaico finora rinvenuto (marzo 2006): il riempimento di una fossa sulla roccia che contiene materiale solo greco databile tra 630 circa e primi VI sec. Esso definitivamente conferma l’esistenza della fase greca di Olbia e la sua attribuzione ad un momento di espansione insediativa di Focea in Occidente più precoce di quanto finora noto, precedente di circa un trentennio la fondazione di Massalia del 600 a.C.  The history of Phoenician (middle VIII cent. B.C.-around 630) and Greek (around 630 B.C.-late VI cent.) Olbia was based, till 2006, on the archaeological finds coming out of context. We entirely publish here the only archaic context founded till now (march 2006): the filling of a grave excavated on the bedrock that contains only Greek pottery dated around 630 and the early VI cent. This excavation definitely proves the existence of a Greek phase in Olbia and its attribution to the expansion of Greek Phokaia to the West Mediterranean in a earlier period than known, 30 years before the foundation of Massalia in 600 B.C.

Tsunami Early Warning System: Deep Sea Measurements in the Source Area

In the framework of the EU project NEAREST, a new Tsunami Early Warning System (TEWS), able to operate in tsunami generation areas, was developed and installed in the Gulf of Cadiz. The TEWS is based on the abyssal station GEOSTAR, placed above a major tsunamigenic structure, and on three seismic centres of Portugal, Spain and Morocco. The core of the system is a tsunami detector installed onboard of GEOSTAR. The tsunami detector communicates with a surface buoy through a dual acoustic link. The buoy is connected to land stations via satellite link. The system was designed for near-field conditions and successfully operated from August 2007 to August 2008, 100 km SW of Cabo de Sao Vincente (Portugal). A new mission started on November 11th, 2009 in the same location. The tsunami detection is based either on pressure events either on seismic events. The bottom pressure data are analysed in real-time at the seafloor by a new tsunami detection algorithm, which can recognize tsunami waves as small as one centimetre. At the same time it was developed a new theoretical approach to account for tsunami generation in compressible water and in presence of a porous sediment. This model showed that hydro-acoustic waves, travelling much faster than the tsunami, are caused by the seafloor motion. These waves can propagate outside the generation area and are characterised by a modulation carrying valuable information on the seafloor motion, which can be recovered from their first arrival

Recent inversion of the Tyrrhenian Basin

The Tyrrhenian Basin is a region created by Neogene extensional tectonics related to slab rollback of the east-southeast–migrating Apennine subduction system, commonly believed to be actively underthrusting the Calabrian arc. A compilation of >12,000 km of multichannel seismic profiles, much of them recently collected or reprocessed, provided closer scrutiny and the mapping of previously undetected large compressive structures along the Tyrrhenian margin. This new finding suggests that Tyrrhenian Basin extension recently ceased. The ongoing compressional reorganization of the basin indicates a change of the regional stress field in the area, confirming that slab rollback is no longer a driving mechanism for regional kinematics, now dominated by the Africa-Eurasia lithospheric collision

A multi-methodological approach to record dynamics and timescales of the plumbing system of Zaro (Ischia Island, Italy)

Determining the time spans of processes related to the assembly of eruptible magma at active volcanoes is fundamental to understand magma chamber dynamics and assess volcanic hazard. This information can be recorded in the chemical zoning of crystals. Nevertheless, this kind of study is still poorly employed for the active volcanoes of the Neapolitan area (Southern Italy), in particular, for Ischia island where the risk is extremely high and this information can provide the basis for probabilistic volcanic hazard assessment. For these reasons, we acquired chemical composition on clinopyroxene crystals erupted at Ischia during the Zaro eruption (6.6 ± 2.2 ka) and performed numerical simulations of the input of mafic magma into a trachytic reservoir, in order to investigate various aspects of pre-eruptive dynamics occurring at different timescales. This event emplaced a ~ 0.1 km3 lava complex, in which the main trachytic lava flows host abundant mafic to felsic enclaves. Previous petrological investigation suggested that mafic magma(s) mixed/mingled with a trachytic one, before the eruption. In this work, the clinopyroxene zoning patterns depict the growth of crystals in different magmatic environments, recording sequential changes occurred in the plumbing system before the eruption. The evolution of the plumbing system involved a hierarchy of timescales: a few hours for magma mingling caused by mafic recharge(s) and likely occurred multiple times over a decade during which a dominant magmatic environment was sustained before the eruption. Such timescales must be considered in volcanic hazard assessment at Ischia and similar active volcanoes in densely populated areas

Peralkaline Felsic Magmatism of the Atlantic Islands

The oceanic-island magmatic systems of the Atlantic Ocean exhibit significant diversity in their respective sizes, ages, and the compositional ranges of their eruptive products. Nevertheless, almost all of the Atlantic islands and island groups have produced peralkaline felsic magmas, implying that similar petrogenetic regimes may be operating throughout the Atlantic Ocean, and arguably elsewhere. The origins of peralkaline magmas are frequently linked to low-degree partial melting of enriched mantle, followed by protracted differentiation in the shallow crust. However, additional petrogenetic processes such as magma mixing, crustal melting, and contamination have been identified at numerous peralkaline centers. The onset of peralkalinity leads to magma viscosities lower than those typical for metaluminous felsic magmas, which has profound implications for processes such as crystal settling. This study represents a compilation of published and original data which demonstrates trends that suggest that the peralkaline magmas of the Atlantic Ocean islands are generated primarily via extended (up to ∼ 95%), open system fractional crystallization of mantle-derived mafic magmas. Crustal assimilation is likely to become more significant as the system matures and fusible material accumulates in the crust. Magma mixing may occur between various compositional end-members and may be recognized via hybridized intermediate magmas. The peralkaline magmas are hydrous, and frequently zoned in composition, temperature, and/or water content. They are typically stored in shallow crustal magma reservoirs (∼ 2–5 km), maintained by mafic replenishment. Low melt viscosities (1 × 101.77 to 1 × 104.77 Pa s) facilitate two-phase flow, promoting the formation of alkali-feldspar crystal mush. This mush may then contribute melt to an overlying melt lens via filter pressing or partial melting. We utilize a three-stage model to account for the establishment, development, and termination of peralkaline magmatism in the ocean island magmatic systems of the Atlantic. We suggest that the overall control on peralkaline magmatism in the Atlantic is magma flux rate, which controls the stability of upper crustal magma reservoirs. The abundance of peralkaline magmas in the Atlantic suggests that their development must be a common, but not inevitable, stage in the evolution of ocean islands

Geological and Structural evolution of the Eurasia Africa plate boundary in the Gulf of Cadiz Central Eastern Atlantic Sea.

Iberia Africa plate boundary, cross, roughly W-E, connecting the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Azores triple junction to the Continental margin of Morocco. Relative movement between the two plate change along the boundary, from transtensive near the Azores archipelago, through trascurrent movement in the middle at the Gloria Fracture Zone, to transpressive in the Gulf of Cadiz area. This study presents the results of geophysical and geological analysis on the plate boundary area offshore Gibraltar. The main topic is to clarify the geodynamic evolution of this area from Oligocene to Quaternary. Recent studies have shown that the new plate boundary is represented by a 600 km long set of aligned, dextral trascurrent faults (the SWIM lineaments) connecting the Gloria fault to the Riff orogene. The western termination of these lineaments crosscuts the Gibraltar accretionary prism and seems to reach the Moroccan continental shelf. In the past two years newly acquired bathymetric data collected in the Moroccan offshore permit to enlighten the present position of the eastern portion of the plate boundary, previously thought to be a diffuse plate boundary. The plate boundary evolution, from the onset of compression in the Oligocene to the Late Pliocene activation of trascurrent structures, is not yet well constrained. The review of available seismics lines, gravity and bathymetric data, together with the analysis of new acquired bathymetric and high resolution seismic data offshore Morocco, allows to understand how the deformation acted at lithospheric scale under the compressive regime. Lithospheric folding in the area is suggested, and a new conceptual model is proposed for the propagation of the deformation acting in the brittle crust during this process. Our results show that lithospheric folding, both in oceanic and thinned continental crust, produced large wavelength synclines bounded by short wavelength, top thrust, anticlines. Two of these anticlines are located in the Gulf of Cadiz, and are represented by the Gorringe Ridge and Coral Patch seamounts. Lithospheric folding probably interacted with the Monchique – Madeira hotspot during the 72 Ma to Recent, NNE – SSW transit. Plume related volcanism is for the first time described on top of the Coral Patch seamount, where nine volcanoes are found by means of bathymetric data. 40Ar-39Ar age of 31.4±1.98 Ma are measured from one rock sample of one of these volcanoes. Analysis on biogenic samples show how the Coral Patch act as a starved offshore seamount since the Chattian. We proposed that compression stress formed lithospheric scale structures playing as a reserved lane for the upwelling of mantle material during the hotspot transit. The interaction between lithospheric folding and the hotspot emplacement can be also responsible for the irregularly spacing, and anomalous alignments, of individual islands and seamounts belonging to the Monchique - Madeira hotspot

I relitti del porto di Olbia. Dallo scavo al museo

Lo stato di fatto Lo scavo e i suoi risultati Nel corso di tre campagne di scavo (agosto 1999; maggio-novembre 2000; marzo-dicembre 2001), finanziate dall’ANAS (€ 1.700.000) e dirette dalla Soprintendenza Archeologica di Sassari e Nuoro, è stata effettuata l’indagine archeologica dell’intero tracciato (m 380x20x4 di profondità media fino alla roccia) del tunnel che collega il porto di Olbia alle strade extraurbane (fig. 1-3). Fig. 1. Olbia. Lo scavo (nastro campito di grigio sulla destra) ri..

Ash erupted during normal activity at Stromboli (Aeolian Islands, Italy) raises questions on how the feeding system works

Ash fallout collected during 4 days of sampling at Stromboli confirms that a crystal-rich (HP) degassed magma erupts during the Strombolian explosions that are characteristic of the normal activity of this volcano. We identified 3 different types of juvenile ash fragments (fluidal, spongy and dense), which formed through different mechanisms of fragmentation of the low-viscosity, physically heterogeneous (in terms of the size and spatial distribution of bubbles) shoshonitic magma. A small amount (less than 3 vol%) of volatile-rich magma with low porphyricity (LP), erupted as highly vesicular ash fragments, has been collected, together with the HP magma, during normal strombolian explosions. Laboratory experiments and the morphological, textural and compositional investigations of ash fragments reveal that the LP ash is fresh and not recycled from the last paroxysm (15 March 2007). We suggest that small droplets of LP magma are dragged to the surface by the time-variable but persistent supply of deep derived CO2-rich gas bubbles. This coupled ascent of bubbles and LP melts is transient and does not perturb the dynamics of the HP magma within the shallow reservoir. This finding provides a new perspective on how the Stromboli volcano works and has important implications for monitoring strategies

A Study on Earth Re-entry Capsules with Deployable Aerobrakes for Recoverable Microgravity Experiments

Deployable aerobrakes for Earth re-entry capsules may offer many advantages in the near future, including the opportunity to recover on Earth scientific payloads from the Space with reduced risks and costs with respect to conventional systems. Such capsules can be accommodated in the selected launcher in folded configuration optimizing the available volume and, when planned by the mission profile, the aerobrake can be deployed in order to increase the surface exposed to the hypersonic flow and therefore to reduce the ballistic parameter. This can offer as main advantage the opportunity to perform an aerodynamic de-orbit of the system without the need of a dedicated propulsive subsystem and an atmospheric re-entry with reduced aerothermal and mechanical loads making possible the use of relatively lightweight and cheap thermal protection system materials. To ensure the recovery of the capsule, the deployable surface can be modulated to obtain the aerodynamic control of the de-orbit trajectory in order to correctly target the capsule towards the selected landing site for post-flight analyses and operations. The main objective of the work is to present a number of feasible mission profiles for orbital platforms to/from Low Earth Orbit aimed in particular at scientific experiments in microgravity conditions. In addition, a suborbital scenario for a technological demonstrator, useful to experimentally verify the system applicability before the design of orbital missions, is also presented and discussed