A Cretaceous carbonate delta drift in the Montagna della Maiella, Italy

The Upper Cretaceous (Campanian\u2013Maastrichtian) bioclastic wedge of the Orfento Formation in the Montagna della Maiella, Italy, is compared to newly discovered contourite drifts in the Maldives. Like the drift deposits in the Maldives, the Orfento Formation fills a channel and builds a Miocene delta-shaped and mounded sedimentary body in the basin that is similar in size to the approximately 350 km 2 large coarse-grained bioclastic Miocene delta drifts in the Maldives. The composition of the bioclastic wedge of the Orfento Formation is also exclusively bioclastic debris sourced from the shallow-water areas and reworked clasts of the Orfento Formation itself. In the near mud-free succession, age-diagnostic fossils are sparse. The depositional textures vary from wackestone to float-rudstone and breccia/conglomerates, but rocks with grainstone and rudstone textures are the most common facies. In the channel, lensoid convex-upward breccias, cross-cutting channelized beds and thick grainstone lobes with abundant scours indicate alternating erosion and deposition from a high-energy current. In the basin, the mounded sedimentary body contains lobes with a divergent progradational geometry. The lobes are built by decametre thick composite megabeds consisting of sigmoidal clinoforms that typically have a channelized topset, a grainy foreset and a fine-grained bottomset with abundant irregular angular clasts. Up to 30 m thick channels filled with intraformational breccias and coarse grainstones pinch out downslope between the megabeds. In the distal portion of the wedge, stacked grainstone beds with foresets and reworked intraclasts document continuous sediment reworking and migration. The bioclastic wedge of the Orfento Formation has been variously interpreted as a succession of sea-level controlled slope deposits, a shoaling shoreface complex, or a carbonate tidal delta. Current-controlled delta drifts in the Maldives, however, offer a new interpretation because of their similarity in architecture and composition. These similarities include: (i) a feeder channel opening into the basin; (ii) an excavation moat at the exit of the channel; (iii) an overall mounded geometry with an apex that is in shallower water depth than the source channel; (iv) progradation of stacked lobes; (v) channels that pinch out in a basinward direction; and (vi) smaller channelized intervals that are arranged in a radial pattern. As a result, the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian\u2013Maastrichtian) bioclastic wedge of the Orfento Formation in the Montagna della Maiella, Italy, is here interpreted as a carbonate delta drift

Testing Logselfsimilarity of Soil Particle Size Distribution: Simulation with Minimum Inputs

Particle size distribution (PSD) greatly influences other soil physical properties. A detailed textural analysis is time-consuming and expensive. Soil texture is commonly reported in terms of mass percentages of a small number of size fractions (typically, clay, silt and sand). A method to simulate the PSD from such a poor description or even from the poorest description, consisting in the mass percentages of only two soil size fractions, would be extremly useful for prediction purposes. The goal of this paper is to simulate soil PSDs from the minimum number of inputs, i.e., two and three textural fraction contents, by using a logselfsimilar model and an iterated function system constructed with these data. High quality data on 171 soils are used. Additionally, the characterization of soil texture by entropy-based parameters provided by the model is tested. Results indicate that the logselfsimilar model may be a useful tool to simulate PSD for the construction of pedotransfer functions related to other soil properties when textural information is limited to moderate textural data

Determinação dos elementos-traço (Zn, Co e Ni) em sedimentos da Plataforma Continental Amazônica sob influência da descarga do rio Amazonas

Determination of trace elements (Zn, Co and Ni) in sediments at the Amazon Continental Shelf on influence of the Amazon River discharge This research was developed at Amazon Continental Shelf (ACS) between the Orange Cape (Amapá State) and the Maguari Cape (Pará State), to determine the levels of zinc, cobalt and nickel in the superficial sediments identifying its inputs and outputs. The rate of these metallic elements in the sediments decreases following Zn> Ni> Co. The concentrations of total metals in the surface sediments range from Zn = 52.8-159.5; Ni = 21.7-47.4 and Co = 14.3-48.8 (mg.kg-1). The levels of trace elements observed in the sediments at ACS are of natural occurrence. Pollution sources of metallic elements were not observed

The Tsunami of April 1, 1946, in the Hawaiian Islands

The tsunami which struck the shores of the Hawaiian Islands on the morning of April 1, 1946, was the most destructive, and one of the most violent, in the history of the Islands. More than 150 persons were killed principally by drowning, and at least 161 others were injured. Property damage reached about $25,000,000. The wave attack on Hawaiian shores was far from uniform. The height and violence of the waves at adjacent points varied greatly, and not always in the manner which would have been expected from superficial inspection and a study of the existing literature on tsunamis. Therefore, a detailed study of the effects of the tsunami has been made, in an effort to understand the observed variations and in the hope that the principles established may help lessen the loss of life and property in future tsunamis. Space is not available in the present short paper to discuss findings in detail, or even to present all the evidence for all the conclusions. These matters will be treated in detail in a longer paper (Shepard, Cox, and Macdonald, in preparation)