Geohazard features of the Tyrrhenian Calabria

This paper accompanies the Maps of Geohazard features of the Cilento and the Calabro-Tyrrhenian continental margin in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). The main geohazard-related features were derived from extensive seafloor mapping through the collection of high-resolution multibeam data acquired during several oceanographic cruises. They encompass many fluids seepage features, fault scarps, landslides scars, gullies, channels, and canyons. Hazards related to coastal landslides and shelf-indenting canyons are very high in these sectors (especially in southern Calabria) due to active seismicity coupled with rapid uplift, high sedimentation rates and narrow or totally absent continental shelf, thus promoting a direct connection between steep slopes and coastal areas. In this setting, mass-wasting features can directly impact coastal or submarine infrastructures or indirectly create local tsunami waves, as observed in historical times. Moreover, this physiographic setting of the margin facilitates the transfer of marine litter toward deep-sea areas

A Mesh Adaptation Strategy to Predict Pressure Losses in LES of Swirled Flows

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement ERC-AdG 319067-INTECOCIS

Coralline algae on hard and soft substrata of a temperate mixed siliciclastic-carbonatic platform. Sensitive assemblages in the Zannone area (western Pontine Archipelago; Tyrrhenian Sea)

In the Mediterranean Sea, coralline algae assemblages (i.e. rhodolith beds and coralligenous assemblages) are considered biodiversity hotspots comparable to tropical reefs. However, information regarding their environmental distribution is still poor. In this view, relevant international actions have been adopted by the European Union to fill this gap. This work represents one of a few cases of predictive (fine-scale) habitats distribution map obtained through an integrated semi-automatic approach based on bathymetry, backscatter, seismic profiles, video, and sampling data. The used method has permitted the identification of nine morphological zones, four backscatter facies, and four benthic habitats distributed on the Zannone seafloor (western Pontine Archipelago; Tyrrhenian Sea). In particular, the finding of widespread sensitive habitats (i.e. coralligenous assemblages and rhodolith beds) reveals as the marine area off the western Pontine Archipelago (Tyrrhenian Sea) is highly suitable for their development (distance from the mainland, lack of river mouths), confirming the relevant ecological value of the Zannone area. Therefore, such information constitutes an update to the Mediterranean habitats distribution inventory, highlighting the need for the application of protection actions possibly targeted in the establishment of a Marine Protected Area

Geohazard features of the Aeolian Island slopes and the North-Eastern Sicily offshore

The MaGIC project (Marine Geohazard along the Italian Coasts) had the aim of mapping the geohazard in the Italian seas and resulted in the production of numerous maps covering parts of the Italian Seas. In this paper, we present the maps: ‘The submerged portions of the Aeolian volcanic islands and the north-eastern Sicilian margin’, located in the south-eastern Tyrrhenian Sea. Both areas are affected by active geological processes, which represent important geohazards elements. Inthe submarine parts of the Stromboli volcanoremobilization of volcaniclastic deposits occur along the Sciara del Fuoco, where small-scale instabilities may represent a source of geohazard. Hydrothermal activity occurs on Enarete and Enaretino conical seamounts. The north-eastern Sicilian margin has a narrow continental shelf. Numerous canyon heads indent the shelf and, sometimes, reach close to the coast. Canyons have often a retrogradational trend and further eventual landward shift through sliding can iendangeri coastal or offshore infrastructures. Many of the canyons connect with leveed channels with widespread sediment instability. In the Gioia Basin, some of the channels connect to form the Stromboli slope Valley. Volcanic unrest or local and regional earthquakes are proven to have caused submarine landslides and tsunamis

Bathy-morphological setting of Terceira Island (Azores) after the FAIVI cruise

High-resolution morpho-bathymetric data at 1:200,000 scale obtained during the FAIVI cruise (2011) and the resulting geomorphologic map of the Terceira island offshore area (central Azores, Portugal) are presented for the first time. The uneven morphology around Terceira is primarily related to volcanic features, such as linear and cone-shaped eruptive centres and lava flows. Such features are mostly concentrated on volcanic ridges and are aligned along preferential axes, suggesting a strong interaction between tectonics and volcanic processes. The occurrence of active tectonics is also demonstrated by systems of faults cutting the seafloor to the north, east and south of the island. Mapped erosive-depositional features include an insular shelf located at < 150 m water depth (wd), small landslide headwalls, erosive scarps, channelized features and crescent-shaped bedforms. The presented map may represent the base for a first-order geo-hazard assessment

Mechanism of Scrapie Prion Precipitation with Phosphotungstate Anions

The phosphotungstate anion (PTA) is widely used to facilitate the precipitation of disease-causing prion protein (PrP^Sc) from infected tissue for applications in structural studies and diagnostic approaches. However, the mechanism of this precipitation is not understood. In order to elucidate the nature of the PTA interaction with PrP^Sc under physiological conditions, solutions of PTA were characterized by NMR spectroscopy at varying pH. At neutral pH, the parent [PW₁₂O₄₀]^3– ion decomposes to give a lacunary [PW₁₁O₃₉]^7– (PW₁₁) complex and a single orthotungstate anion [WO₄]^2– (WO₄). To measure the efficacy of each component of PTA, increasing concentrations of PW₁₁, WO₄, and mixtures thereof were used to precipitate PrP^Sc from brain homogenates of scrapie prion-infected mice. The amount of PrP^Sc isolated, quantified by ELISA and immunoblotting, revealed that both PW₁₁ and WO₄ contribute to PrP^Sc precipitation. Incubation with sarkosyl, PTA, or individual components of PTA resulted in separation of higher-density PrP aggregates from the neuronal lipid monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (GM1), as observed by sucrose gradient centrifugation. These experiments revealed that yield and purity of PrP^Sc were greater with polyoxometalates (POMs), which substantially supported the separation of lipids from PrP^Sc in the samples. Interaction of POMs and sarkosyl with brain homogenates promoted the formation of fibrillar PrP^Sc aggregates prior to centrifugation, likely through the separation of lipids like GM1 from PrP^Sc. We propose that this separation of lipids from PrP is a major factor governing the facile precipitation of PrP^Sc by PTA from tissue and might be optimized further for the detection of prions