CAIROELLA TRICAMERATA N. GEN., N. SP. (FORAMINIFERIDA, MILIOLOIDEA) FROM THE LOWER CENOMANIAN OF MONTE CAIRO (SOUTHERN LATIUM, CENTRAL ITALY)

A new porcelaneous foraminifer, Cairoella tricamerata n. gen., n. sp., is here described from the lower Cenomanian of the Monte Cairo area near Cassino (Southern Latium, Italy). The new taxon is characterized by an early stage with triloculine to quinqueloculine coiling, followed by one or two whorls, each consisting of three or more tubular, curved, flattened and undivided chambers, with depressed sutures; it is ascribed  to the superfamily Milioloidea, but the inferred  attribution to the family Hauerinidae remains uncertain. In the type-locality its occurrence is restricted to the back-edge facies of the Latium-Abruzzi carbonate platform represented by fossiliferous grain-supported limestone rich in Sellialveolina viallii Colalongo, 1963

Integrating Copernicus land cover data into the i-Tree Cool Air model to evaluate and map urban heat mitigation by tree cover

Cities host more than half of the world’s population and due to global warming and land use change their vulnerability to deadly heat waves has increased. A healthy vegetated landscape can abate heat wave severity and diminish the related urban heat island through the process of evapotranspiration. This research aimed to develop a methodology for cities to use publicly available Copernicus land cover maps within the i-Tree Cool Air water and energy balance model to map air temperature and humidity. The manuscript presents proof of concept using Naples, Italy with its Mediterranean climate characterized by limited soil water for cooling via evapotranspiration. The approach achieved strong correlations between predicted and observed air temperatures across the city (r ≥ 0.89). During the warm season of 2020, forested land cover was 5°C cooler than land cover dominated by impervious cover. Simulated land cover change, limited to a 10% increase or decrease in tree cover, generated an inverse change of 0.2°C in maximum hourly air temperature, with more trees obtaining cooler air. Soil water limited the cooling, with the generally wetter spring season enabling greater cooling of air temperatures, and summer droughts without irrigation had constrained cooling. Sustainable urban design will likely require an increase in plant cover along with a reduction of impervious surfaces that absorb and reradiate heat in order to improve community resilience to heat waves

The chemistry and isotopic composition of waters in the low-enthalpy geothermal system of Cimino-Vico Volcanic District, Italy

Geothermal energy exploration is based in part on interpretation of the chemistry, temperature, and discharge rate of thermal springs. Here we present the major element chemistry and the δD, δ18O, 87Sr/86Sr and δ11B isoto- pic ratio of groundwater from the low-enthalpy geothermal system near the city of Viterbo in the Cimino-Vico volcanic district of west-Central Italy. The geothermal system hosts many thermal springs and gas vents, but the resource is still unexploited. Water chemistry is controlled by mixing between low salinity,HCO3-rich fresh waters (b24.2 °C) flowing in shallow volcanic rocks and SO4-rich thermal waters (25.3 °C to 62.2 °C) ascending from deep, high permeability Mesozoic limestones. The (equivalent) SO4/Cl (0.01–0.02), Na/Cl (2.82–5.83) and B/Cl ratios (0.02–0.38) of thermal waters differs from the ratios in other geothermal systems from Central Italy, probably implying a lack of hydraulic continuity across the region. The δ18O (−6.6‰ to −5.9‰) and δD (− 40.60‰ to − 36.30‰) isotopic composition of spring water suggest that the recharge area for the geothermal system is the summit region of Mount Cimino. The strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) of thermal waters (0.70797–0.70805) are consistent with dissolution of the Mesozoic evaporite-carbonate units that constitute the reservoir, and the ratios of cold fresh waters mainly reflect shallow circulation through the volcanic cover and some minor admixture (b10%) of thermal water as well. The boron isotopic composition (δ11B) of fresh waters (−5.00 and 6.12‰) is similar to that of the volcanic cover, but the δ11B of thermal waters (−8.37‰ to − 4.12‰) is a mismatch for the Mesozoic reservoir rocks and instead reflects dissolution of secondary boron min- erals during fluid ascent through flysch units that overlie the reservoir. A slow and tortuous ascent enhances ex- traction of boron but also promotes conductive cooling, partially masking the heat present in the reservoir. Overall data from this study is consistent with previous studies that concluded that the geothermal system has a large energy potential

BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF UPPER TRIASSIC-LOWER JURASSIC CARBONATE PLATFORM SEDIMENTS OF THE CENTRAL-SOUTHERN APENNINES (ITALY)

The results of a biostratigraphic study on the Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic carbonate platform sediments are outlined. Three stratigraphic successions cropping out in different areas were analysed: Monte Cefalo, (Aurunci Mts, southern Latium), Costa dei Frascari (Matese, northern Campania) and Monte Meta (Gran Sasso d’Italia, Abruzzi). The study of microfossil assemblages composed of benthic foraminifers and calcareous algae allowed identification of four biozones and one subzone. From the bottom upwards, the biostratigraphic units are: the Triasina hantkeni and Griphoporella curvata Zone; the Thaumatoporella parvovesiculifera Zone; the Palaeodasycladus mediterraneus Zone; the Valvulinidae and Rivulariaceae Zone; and the Orbitopsella Subzone. Besides, the lower part of the Costa dei Frascari section was referred to the portion of the Norian below the first occurrence of the Triasina hantkeni and Griphoporella curvata. These sediments are characterized by a rich assemblages mostly composed of pseudoudoteaceans algae, echinoderm remains, chaetetids and large gastropods. Microbiostratigraphic study of the Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic sediments highlighted a similar succession of bioevents in all the sections analysed allowing precise bio- and chronostratigraphic correlations to be made. In contrast, the paleoecological data obtained from biofacies analysis combined with lithological features observed in coeval units point to different depositional environments, reflecting time and space variation within the context of a single, large carbonate platform. In fact, both sedimentation, and the observed associations of organisms, were controlled by chemical-physical factors connected to variations in water energy and water circulation. Instead, in other cases tectonics and subsidence seem to have played an essential role

THE MID- JURASSIC MARINE TRANSGRESSION IN EAST AFRICA: NEW DATA ON THE DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT AND AGE OF THE LOWER KAMBE FORMATION (AALENIAN TO BAJOCIAN) IN THE MOMBASA AREA (S.E. KENYA)

The Lower Kambe Formation crops out from Mombasa towards the northeast, along the coastal area of Kenya; it was deposited during the first phases of the Middle Jurassic marine transgression. The lithology of the Lower Kambe Fm. varies passing from the southern areas towards the north: near Mombasa, this formation consists of an alternance of calcareous and marly intervals; the marly levels become thinner and tend to disappear towards the north, where the succession becomes entirely calcareous and shows features of a carbonate platform. According to field observations, in the Mwachi River area near Mombasa, four lithological units crop out, that we consider as informal members, namely from bottom : (a) Calcarenitic member (Cam), well bedded calcarenites and some conglomerates; (b) Lower Shaly member (LSm), marly shales with marly limestone beds; (c) Conglomeratic member (Cgm), alternance of calcarenitic beds and levels of conglomerates; (d) Upper Shaly member (USm), marly shales and siltstones with thin beds of calcilutites and quartz sandstones. The sedimentological features of the Cam point to a shoreline environment, possibly shoreface; those of the LSm to a mid/outer ramp; the onset of tectonically active slopes is evidenced by the occurrence of gravity flow structures in the fine-grained sediments. At the top of LSm a marked shallowing of the deposition environment occurred. The Cgm was deposited on a inner ramp, where polymictic coarse deposits (arenaceous, shaly and carbonate clasts) indicating a strong erosion of the coastal areas, were intercalated to the wave-winnowed calcarenites; also the calcarenitic upper portion of the Cgm was deposited on an high energy inner ramp depositional environment. Upwards, a deepening occurred, as the fine sediments of the USm point to a mid/outer ramp. The age of the Lower Kambe Formation has been determined by several Authors on the basis of ammonites; in this work calcareous nannofossils stratigraphy is provided. The age given by ammonites is Bajocian; the calcareous nannofossil assemblage, found in various localities along the Mwachi River, indicates an Aalenian - Bajocian p.p. age. The discrepancy is possibly due to a complex geological situation (faults ?) in the localities with ammonites

A stratigraphic and geophysical approach to studying the deepcirculating groundwater and thermal springs, and their recharge areas, in Cimini Mountains–Viterbo area, central Italy.A stratigraphic and geophysical approach to studying the deepcirculating groundwater and thermal springs, and their recharge areas, in Cimini Mountains–Viterbo area, central Italy.

The stratigraphic and structural setting of the Cimini Mountains and Viterbo area of Italy has been reconstructed. The architecture of the tectonic edifice, below the Pleistocene Cimino and Vicano volcanic districts cover, is characterized by the Mesozoic–Cenozoic Tuscan Nappe and the similar Umbria-Marche Succession; both are capped by the overthrusted Ligurian Late Cretaceous–Eocene Tolfa Flysch. A shallow unconfined volcanic aquifer is separated, by a thick aquiclude, from the deep confined carbonate aquifer consisting of the Tuscan Nappe and the Umbria-Marche Succession. The volcanic aquifer hosts cold waters, whilst the carbonate aquifer hosts hot sulphate–alkaline earth waters that emerge in the thermal area of Viterbo with a temperature of 30–60°C. The recharge area of cold waters is located in the Cimini Mountains. Thermal waters of the Viterbo hot springs are derived from a circuit of waters that emerge along the River Nera near Narni (about 34km ENE of Viterbo), with a high salinity, a temperature of 16–18°C, a sulphate–alkaline earth composition, and a discharge of 13m3/sec, whose recharge area is located in the central pre-Apennines reliefs

Reply to comment on "A stratigraphic and geophysical approach to studying the deep-circulating groundwater and thermal springs, and their recharge areas, in Cimini Mountains-Viterbo area, central Italy": Paper published in Hydrogeology Journal (2010) 18:1319-1341, by Ugo Chiocchini, Fabio Castaldi, Maurizio Barbieri, Valeria Eulilli

The hydrogeological setting of Cimini Mountains–Viterbo area has been described previously by Piscopo et al.(2006) using a very weak stratigraphic and structuraldescription consisting of only one hydrogeological crosssection (Fig. 9 of Piscopo et al.2006). Furthermore, the keyformation, Tolfa Flysch, characterized by low permeabilitythroughout its entire rock mass and capping the carbonateaquifer hosting thermal waters, is considered at places anaquiclude (as defined in Piscopo et al.2006) and at places anaquitard, although it is proved that it cannot transfersignificant amounts of water. Thus, the hydrogeologicalmodel of Piscopo et al. (2006) is to be considered unrealistic. Reply to comment on "A stratigraphic and geophysical approach to studying the deep-circulating groundwater and thermal springs, and their recharge areas, in Cimini Mountains-Viterbo area, central Italy": Paper published in Hydrogeology Journal (2010) 18:1319-1341, by Ugo Chiocchini, Fabio Castaldi, Maurizio Barbieri, Valeria Eulilli. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226721343_Reply_to_comment_on_A_stratigraphic_and_geophysical_approach_to_studying_the_deep-circulating_groundwater_and_thermal_springs_and_their_recharge_areas_in_Cimini_Mountains-Viterbo_area_central_Italy_Pa [accessed Nov 10, 2016]