Assessing the volcanic hazard for Rome. 40Ar/39Ar and In-SAR constraints on the most recent eruptive activity and present-day uplift at Colli Albani Volcanic District

We present new 40Ar/39Ar data which allow us to refine the recurrence time for the most recent eruptive activity occurred at Colli Albani Volcanic District (CAVD) and constrain its geographic area. Time elapsed since the last eruption (36 kyr) overruns the recurrence time (31 kyr) in the last 100 kyr. New interferometric synthetic aperture radar data, covering the years 1993–2010, reveal ongoing inflation with maximum uplift rates (>2 mm/yr) in the area hosting the most recent (<200 ka) vents, suggesting that the observed uplift might be caused by magma injection within the youngest plumbing system. Finally, we frame the present deformation within the structural pattern of the area of Rome, characterized by 50 m of regional uplift since 200 ka and by geologic evidence for a recent (<2000 years) switch of the local stress-field, highlighting that the precursors of a new phase of volcanic activity are likely occurring at the CAVD

40Ar/39Ar and 14C geochronology of the Albano maar deposits: Implications for 2 defining the age and eruptive style of the most recent explosive activity at Colli 3 Albani Volcanic District, Central Italy

New 40Ar/39Ar and 14C ages have been found for the Albano multiple maar pyroclastic units and underlying 25 paleosols to document the most recent explosive activity in the Colli Albani Volcanic District (CAVD) near 26 Rome, Italy, consisting of seven eruptions (Albano 1 27 ^ = ^ oldest). Both dating methodologies have been applied on several proximal units and on four mid-distal fall/surge deposits, the latter correlated, according to two 28 current different views, to either the Albano or the Campi di Annibale hydromagmatic center. The 40Ar/39Ar 29 ages on leucite phenocrysts from the mid-distal units yielded ages of ca. 72 ka, 73 ka, 41 ka and 36 ka BP, 30 which are indistinguishable from the previously determined 40Ar/39Ar ages of the proximal Albano units 1, 2, 31 5 and 7, thus confirming their stratigraphic correspondence. 32 Twenty-one 14C ages of the paleosols beneath Albano units 3, 5, 6 and 7 were found for samples collected 33 from 13 proximal and distal sections, some of which were the same sections sampled for 40Ar/39Ar 34 measurements. The 14C ages were found to be stratigraphically inconsistent and highly scattered, and were 35 systematically younger than the 40Ar/39Ar ages, ranging 36 ^ from 35 ka ^ to 3 ka. Considering the significant consistence of the 40Ar/39Ar chronological framework, we interpret the scattered and contradictory 14C ages 37 to be the result of a variable contamination of the paleosols by younger organic carbon deriving from the 38 superficial soil horizons. 39 These results suggest that multiple isotopic systems anchored to a robust stratigraphic framework may need 40 to be employed to determine accurately the geochronology of the CAVD as well as other volcanic districts. 4

Balancing competing policy demands: the case of sustainable public sector food procurement.

A focus on market-based green growth strategies to pursue sustainability goals neglects the pursuit of understanding how human health is interwoven with the health of eco-systems to deliver sustainability goals. The article argues that clarifying the difference between green and sustainable public sector food procurement, with political continuity that supports and enables policymakers and practitioners to take an incremental approach to change, makes an important contribution to delivering more sustainable food systems and better public health nutrition. Five European case studies demonstrate the reality of devising and implementing innovative approaches to sustainable public sector food procurement and the effects of cultural and political framings. How legislation is enacted at the national level and interpreted at the local level is a key driver for sustainable procurement. Transition is dependent on political will and leadership and an infrastructure that can balance the economic, environmental and social drivers to effect change. The development of systems and indicators to measure change, reforms to EU directives on procurement, and the relationship between green growth strategies and sustainable diets are also discussed. The findings show the need to explore how consistent definitions for green public procurement and sustainable public procurement can be refined and standardized in order to support governments at all levels in reviewing and analyzing their current food procurement strategies and practices to improve sustainability

Tephrochronology in faulted Middle Pleistocene tephra layer in the Val d’Agri area (Southern Italy)

The High Agri River Valley is a Quaternary Basin located along the hinge of the Southern Apennines fold-andthrust belt. The inner margin of the orogen has been affected by intense transtensional and normal faulting, which accompanied vigorous volcanism during the Quaternary. Marker tephra layers are distributed across the whole of Southern Italy and provide a powerful tool to constrain both the size of eruptions and the regional activity of extensional faults controlling basin evolution. Paleoseismological trenching within the Monti della Maddalena range, that borders the Agri River Valley to the south-west, has exposed a faulted stratigraphic sequence and recovered a 10 cm thick tephra layer involved in deformation. This is the first tephra horizon recognized in the high Agri Valley, which, based on the stratigraphic study of the trench, lies in a primary position. 40Ar/39Ar dating constrain its age to 266 ka and provide an important marker for the Middle Pleistocene tephrochronology of the region. Together with dating, geochemical analysis suggests a possible volcanic source in the Campanian region

Thinning mechanisms of heterogeneous continental lithosphere

The mechanisms responsible for the formation of extremely thinned continental crust (<10 km thick) and lithosphere during rifting remains debated. Observations from present-day and fossil passive margins highlight the role of deep-seated deformation, likely controlled by heterogeneities within the continental lithosphere, such as changing lithologies, mechanical anisotropies and inherited structures. We investigate the mechanisms of lithospheric thinning by exploring the role of pre-existing heterogeneities on the architecture and evolution of rifted margins. We estimate pre-rift pressure conditions (P0) vs. depth diagrams of crustal to lithospheric sections, to quantify rift-related modifications on inherited lithostatic pressure gradients. Two field examples from the Alpine Tethys margins in the Eastern and Southern Alps (SE Switzerland and N Italy) were selected to characterize: (1) the pre-rift architecture of the continental lithosphere; (2) the localization of rift-related deformation in distinct portions of the lithosphere; and (3) the interaction between pre-existing heterogeneities of the lithosphere and rift-related structures. These observations are compared with high-resolution, two-dimensional thermo-mechanical numerical models. The design of the models takes into account pre-existing mechanical heterogeneities representing the initial pre-rift architecture of the continental lithosphere. Extensional structures consist of high-angle and low-angle normal faults, anastomosing shear-zones and decoupling horizons. Such structures accommodate the lateral extraction of mechanically stronger levels derived from the middle to lower crust. As a result, the extremely thinned continental crust in Tethyan passive margins represents the juxtaposition and amalgamation of distinct strong levels of the crust separated by major extensional structures identified by sharp pressure gradients. Future work should determine the applicability of these results to other present-day and fossil rifted margins

In Situ Thermal Imagery of Antarctic Meteorites and Their Stability on the Ice Surface

The mechanisms behind Antarctic meteorite concentrations remain enigmatic nearly 5 decades after the first recoveries, and much of the research in this direction has been based on anedcotal evidence. While these observations suggest many plausible processes that help explain Antarctic meteorite concentrations, the relative importance of these various processes (which can result in either an increase or decrease of specimens) is a critical component of any more robust model of how these concentrations form. During the 2016-2017 field season of the US Antarctic Search for Meteorites program we aquired in situ thermal imagery of meteorites specimens that provide semi-quantitative assesment of the relative temperature of these specimens and the ice. These provide insight into one hypothesized loss mechanism, the downward thermal tunnelling of meteorites warmed in the sun

Effect of branchings on blood flow in the system of human coronary arteries

In this work, we investigate the behavior of the pulsatile blood flow in the system of human coronary arteries. Blood is modeled as an incompressible non-Newtonian fluid. The transient phenomena of blood flow through the coronary system are simulated by solving the three dimensional unsteady state Navier-Stokes equations and continuity equation. Distributions of velocity, pressure and wall shear stresses are determined in the system under pulsatile conditions on the boundaries. Effect of branching vessel on the flow problem is investigated. The numerical results show that blood pressure in the system with branching vessels of coronary arteries is lower than the one in the system with no branch. The magnitude of wall shear stresses rises at the bifurcation

Revaluing public sector food procurement in Europe: an action plan for sustainability

This report on Revaluing Public Sector Food Procurement is the result of a unique collaboration between policy-makers, practitioners and scientists working together during the Foodlinks project. The idea for the report emerged during the initial stages of experimenting with how we exchanged our knowledge on public sector food procurement that came from our work within municipal administrations, urban and national governments, European platforms, civil society and the wider academic community. We wanted to ‘make’ a report together that reflects not only the reality of devising and implementing innovative approaches to public sector food procurement throughout Europe, but also offers an Action Plan to help and encourage urban governments to take up the challenge of more sustainable purchasing practices. This is the result of that work. The report was written as a joint collaboration over a number of months using a wiki on a web-based platform that was also open to other members of our knowledge-based Community of Practic