Investigating the spatial variability of the time-scaling properties in Italian seismicity

International audienceSignificant power-law long-range correlated structures have been identified in the Italian seismicity from 1983 to 2003. We performed the Allan Factor Analysis and the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis on both the full and the aftershock-depleted seismic data, extracted by the INGV (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology) instrumental catalog.Our findings suggest that (i) the time-scaling behaviour characterizes mainly the Apennine chain; (ii) the time-correlated behaviour of the seismicity is persistent, and this implies that the dynamics underlying the seismic phenomenology is characterized by the presence of "positive feedback mechanisms"; (iii) significant time correlation is not simply related with the mainshock/aftershock mechanisms

Multifractal variability in geoelectrical signals and correlations with seismicity: a study case in southern Italy

International audienceMultifractal fluctuations in the time dynamics of geoelectrical data, recorded in a seismic area of southern Italy, have been revealed using the Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MF-DFA), which allows to detect multifractality in nonstationary signals. Our findings show that the geoelectrical time series, recorded in the seismic area of southern Apennine Chain (Italy), is multifractal. The time evolution of the multifractality suggests that the multifractal degree increases prior the occurrence of earthquakes. This study aims to propose another approach to investigate the complex dynamics of earthquake-related geoelectrical signals

Fisher Information Analysis of earthquake-related geoelectrical signals

International audienceWe studied the time fluctuations in the dynamics of geoelectrical data, recorded in Tito site, which is located in a seismic area of southern Italy. We used the Fisher Information Measure, which is a powerful tool to investigate complex and nonstationary signals. The time evolution of the Fisher Information Measure calculated for our signal reveals links with the earthquakes occurring in the investigated area

Vertical dipoles to detect self potential signals in a seismic area of southern Italy: Tito station

International audienceSince 2000 the Institute of Methodologies for the Environmental Analysis (National Council of Research, Tito, Italy) installed a geophysical monitoring network able to detect geoelectric, geochemic and seismometric parameters in seismic areas of southern Italy. During this period a very large data-base of geophysical time series has been organized and it is actually available to assess robust statistical methodologies to identify geophysical anomalous patterns linked with local seismicity. To better understand the influence of rain and cultural noise on geoelectrical signals (Self Potential), during May 2004 we drilled in Tito station a 20 m-depth hole to measure the SP vertical component. The array is characterized by five Pb-PbCl2 electrodes put at different depths. The common electrode is fixed at 20 m. In this work we present some electrical anomalies probably correlated with local seismic activity on vertical dipoles recorded in Tito station

Multiple populations in the old and massive Small Magellanic Cloud globular cluster NGC121

We used a combination of optical and near-UV Hubble Space Telescope photometry and FLAMES/ESO-VLT high-resolution spectroscopy to characterize the stellar content of the old and massive globular cluster (GC) NGC121 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We report on the detection of multiple stellar populations, the first case in the SMC stellar cluster system. This result enforces the emerging scenario in which the presence of multiple stellar populations is a distinctive-feature of old and massive GCs regardless of the environment, as far as the light element distribution is concerned. We find that second population (SG) stars are more centrally concentrated than first (FG) ones. More interestingly, at odds with what typically observed in Galactic GCs, we find that NGC121 is the only cluster so far to be dominated by FG stars that account for more than 65% of the total cluster mass. In the framework where GCs were born with a 90-95% of FG stars, this observational finding would suggest that either NGC121 experienced a milder stellar mass-loss with respect to Galactic GCs or it formed a smaller fraction of SG stars.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables; accepted for publication in Ap

Principal component analysis of geoelectrical signals measured in the seismically active area of Basilicata Region (southern Italy)

International audienceGeoelectrical fluctuations are the end product of several geophysical phenomena. In particular geoelectrical signals measured in seismically active areas can be attributed to stress and strain changes, associated with earthquakes. The complexity of this problem has suggested the development of advanced statistical methods to investigate the heterogeneous nature of these fluctuations. In this paper we analysed the time dynamics of short-term variability of geoelectrical field measured at Giuliano station, located in Basilicata Region, one of the most seismically active areas of southern Italy. We applied the principal component analysis (PCA). The analysis has shown earthquake precursory patterns in the daily variation of the principal components, revealing that the PCA approach is promising for monitoring seismic areas

Multifractality in local geomagnetic field at Etna volcano, Sicily (southern Italy)

International audienceWe applied the Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MF-DFA), which allows to detect multifractality in nonstationary signals, to the hourly means of local geomagnetic field recorded at Mt. Etna volcano (southern Italy). We studied the signal measured at one geomagnetic station, installed at the summit of volcano, which was characterized by a strong eruption on 27 October 2002. We analyzed two frames of signals, one measured before the eruption and the other after, in order to evaluate dynamical changes induced by the eruptive event. Our findings show that: i) the geomagnetic time series is multifractal; ii) the multifractal degree of the signal decreases after the occurrence of eruption. This study aims to propose another approach to investigate the complex dynamics of volcano-related geomagnetic field

A preliminary studyof the site-dependence of the multifractalfeatures of geoelectric measurements

Multifractal analysis was performed to characterize the fluctuations in dynamics of the hourly time variability of self-potential signals measured from January 2001 to September 2002 by three stations installed in the Basilicata region (Southern Italy). Two stations (Giuliano and Tito) are located in a seismic area, and one (Laterza) in an aseismic area. Multifractal formalism leads to the identification of a set of parameters derived from the shape of the multifractal spectrum (the maximum a0, the asymmetry B and the width W) and measuring the «complexity» of the signals. Furthermore, the multifractal parameters seem to discriminate self-potential signals measured in seismic areas from those recorded in aseismic areas

Searching in the dark: the dark mass content of the Milky Way globular clusters NGC288 and NGC6218

We present an observational estimate of the fraction and distribution of dark mass in the innermost region of the two Galactic globular clusters NGC 6218 (M12) and NGC 288. Such an assessment has been made by comparing the dynamical and luminous mass profiles derived from an accurate analysis of the most extensive spectroscopic and photometric surveys performed on these stellar systems. We find that non-luminous matter constitutes more than 60% of the total mass in the region probed by our data (R<1.6 arcmin~r_h) in both clusters. We have carefully analyzed the effects of binaries and tidal heating on our estimate and ruled out the possibility that our result is a spurious consequence of these effects. The dark component appears to be more concentrated than the most massive stars suggesting that it is likely composed of dark remnants segregated in the cluster core.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA