Rifting Kinematics Produced by Magmatic and Tectonic Stresses in the North Volcanic Zone of Iceland

In the North Volcanic Zone of Iceland, we studied with the greatest possible detail the complete structural architecture and kinematics of the whole Theistareykir Fissure Swarm (ThFS), an N-S-trending, 70 km long active rift. We made about 7500 measurements along 6124 post-Late Glacial Maximum (LGM) extension fractures and faults, and 685 pre-LGM structures. We have collected the data over the last 6 years, through extensive field surveys and with the aid of drone mapping with centimetric resolution. In the southern sector of the study area, extension fractures and faults strike mainly N10°-20°, the opening direction is about N110°, and the dilation amount is in the range 0.1–10 m. In the central sector, faults and extension fractures strike mainly N00-10°, the opening direction is N90-100°, and the dilation amount is 0.1–9 m. In the northern sector, extension fractures and faults strike N30-40°, the opening direction is about N125°, and the dilation amount is 0.1–8 m. The variations in strike are attributable to two processes: the interaction with the WNW-ESE-striking Husavik-Flatey transform fault and Grímsey Oblique Rift (Grímsey lineament), and the structural inheritance of older NNE- to NE-striking normal faults. Most extension fractures show a minor strike-slip component: a systematic right-lateral component can be accounted for by the interaction with the WNW-ESE-striking fault zones and the regional, oblique opening of the rift. We regard dyke propagation as a possible cause for the more complex strike-slip components measured at several other fractures. Cumulated dilation and fracture frequency decrease along the rift with distance away from the Theistareykir volcano, situated in the central sector of the ThFS. This is interpreted as a decrease in the number of dykes that are capable of reaching great distances after being injected from the magma chamber

Impatto del tessuto adiposo epicardico sulla prognosi dei pazienti con scompenso cardiaco

Il tessuto adiposo epicardico (EAT) è situato tra il pericardio viscerale e la superficie esterna del miocardio. Questo tessuto presenta funzioni paracrine, come ad esempio la produzione di substrati energetici, ma ha anche la funzione di proteggere il cuore dall’ipotermia. Un aumento di spessore dell’EAT correla con l’insulino-resistenza, sindrome metabolica, aterosclerosi subclinica e malattia coronarica. La domanda che ci siamo posti è se l’EAT avesse o meno una correlazione con lo scompenso cardiaco. A tal proposito è stato valutato l'impatto del tessuto adiposo epicardico (EAT) ecografico, sul profilo metabolico e sulla prognosi nell'insufficienza cardiaca (HF), utilizzando il test da sforzo combinato cardiopolmonare-ecocardiografico. È stato analizzato lo spessore EAT di pazienti con HF con frazione di eiezione ridotta (HFrEF, n=205) e conservata (HFpEF, n=188), compresi 44 controlli. I pazienti HFpEF hanno mostrato il più alto spessore di EAT, mentre i pazienti HFrEF avevano valori più bassi rispetto ai controlli. EAT era indipendentemente associato con il picco di consumo di ossigeno (VO2), all'estrazione periferica (AVO2diff), e all'indice di massa corporea. EAT era invece inversamente correlato con il picco VO2 e AVO2diff nei pazienti HFpEF, mentre è stata osservata un'associazione diretta nei pazienti HFrEF. Dopo un follow-up di 21 mesi, abbiamo riportato 146 ospedalizzazioni HF e 34 morti cardiovascolari nella popolazione HF. L'analisi multivariabile di Cox ha indicato un ruolo differente di EAT nelle coorti HF (interazione p=0,01): un rischio maggiore di eventi avversi per l'aumento di EAT in HFpEF (hazard ratio [HR] 1,12, 95% intervallo di confidenza [CI] 1,04-1,37) e per la diminuzione di EAT in HFrEF (HR 0,75, 95% CI 0,54-0,91). In conclusione, nei pazienti HFpEF, l’accumulo di EAT è associato ad un peggior profilo metabolico e a una peggiore prognosi. Al contrario nei pazienti HFrEF, la disfunzione ventricolare sinistra, la funzionalità globale e la prognosi peggiorano al diminuire dei valori di EAT

Advanced Technologies for Geosite Visualization and Valorization: A Review

This review attempts to summarize contributions by authors who, in the last decade, have dedicated their efforts to making geoheritage accessible to the public. Geoheritage is composed of geosites, which are, nowadays, real milestones on which field-based geological education can be conducted. However, the COVID-19 pandemic in particular has made it clear that a new paradigm is needed; a series of tools must be introduced and increasingly used to make it possible for potential users, be they academics, students, or the lay public, to experience geosites from locations that can be thousands of kilometers away. All these have been achieved over time by a wide range of evolving techniques and advanced technologies such as GIS tools, virtual reality applications and further innovative technologies such as WebGIS platforms accompanied by appropriate navigation tools (VR headsets and thumbsticks). The viewers, in this way, are provided with a complete view of a virtual geosite, which enables visualizing its characteristics at different scales. VR technologies, especially, have revealed a high degree of satisfaction, based on feedback collected from VR geosite visualization events, both by scientists, students and the general public, and could be the forefront of geosite visualization and valorization in the near future

Reconstruction of Late Pleistocene-Holocene Deformation through Massive Data Collection at Krafla Rift (NE Iceland) Owing to Drone-Based Structure-from-Motion Photogrammetry

In the present work, we demonstrate how drone surveys coupled with structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry can help to collect huge amounts of very detailed data even in rough terrains where logistics can affect classical field surveys. The area of study is located in the NW part of the Krafla Fissure Swarm (NE Iceland), a volcanotectonic rift composed of eruptive centres, extension fractures, and normal faults. The surveyed sector is characterized by the presence of a hyaloclastite ridge composed of deposits dated, on a stratigraphic basis, to the Weichselian High Glacial (29.1–12.1 ka BP), and a series of lava flows mostly dating back to 11–12 ka BP. The integration of remotely sensed surveys and field inspections enabled us to recognize that this segment of the Krafla rift is made of grabens arranged en-échelon with a left-stepping geometry. A major graben increases in width in correspondence of the hyaloclastite cone; we interpret this geometry as resulting from the mechanical contrast between the stiffer lava succession and the softer hyaloclastites, which favours the development of concentric faults. We also measured a total extension of 16.6 m and 11.2 m along the fractures affecting the lava units, and a total extension in the hyaloclastites of 29.3 m. This produces an extension rate of 1.4 mm/yr in the Holocene lavas and 1.7 ± 0.7 mm/yr in the Weichselian hyaloclastite deposits. The spreading direction we obtained for this area is N97.7° E, resulting from the av. of 568 opening direction values

Geosite Assessment and Communication: A Review

This work is aimed at reviewing the current state of the art in geosite selection, assessment, and communication. We first highlight the main papers that have defined paramount concepts such as geodiversity, geoheritage, and geosites. We then delve into the theoretical principles and guidelines that have been proposed over the last twenty years by researchers who have thoroughly illustrated how to individuate and assess geosites. In doing so, we illustrate notable field examples of applications of qualitative and quantitative assessments of geosites in places such as Serbia, India, Iceland, Ecuador, Sardinia (Italy), Egypt, Tasmania (Australia), and Brazil. The third part of this work is dedicated to illustrating a list (by no means exhaustive) of works that have tried to come up with innovative tools, strategies, and solutions to promote and communicate geosites. From our work, it appears that geosites can be extremely effective as fully fledged outreach tools capable of bridging the gap between Earth science and the lay public

Commercial-UAV-based structure from motion for geological and geohazard studies

In the present work we applied the use of the UAV-based Structure from Motion technique (SfM) to geological and geohazard studies, with emphasis placed on active tectonics and volcano-tectonics cases. Our aim is to obtain high-resolution orthomosaics and Digital Surface Models (DSMs) in two study areas: the Theistareykir Fissure Swarm within the Northern Volcanic Zone (NVZ) of Iceland and the active Khoko landslide, Enguri reservoir, in the Greater Caucasus, Georgia. The first is affected by seismic and volcanic hazard, the second by landslide and hydrogeological hazard. Regarding the NVZ, by analysing the resulting Orthomosaics and DSMs we collected a total of 453 quantitative measurements of the amount of opening and opening direction of Holocene extension fractures and 36 measurements of the height of fault scarps. These data allowed us to assess an overall spreading direction of N106.4° during Holocene times within the studied rift zone, which has been compared with geodetic motion vectors, and a stretching ratio of 1.013–1.017 for 8–10 ka old lava units. We conclude that deformation in the area is related to both dyke intrusions and extensional tectonics. In the Greater Caucasus, we applied the method to identify the main geomorphological features related to the Khoko landslide and to measure the scarp height of the principal slip surfaces, in order to improve geomorphological knowledge of the landslide, and contribute to the assessment of the hydrogeological hazard of the area. At a general level, our results suggest that the use of UAV-based SfM is a convenient and efficient way to collect plenty of data aimed at better assessing geohazards in areas prone to catastrophic natural phenomena like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and landslides

TP53INP1 exerts neuroprotection under ageing and Parkinson’s disease-related stress condition

International audienceTP53INP1 is a stress-induced protein, which acts as a dual positive regulator of transcription and of autophagy and whose deficiency has been linked with cancer and metabolic syndrome. Here, we addressed the unexplored role of TP53INP1 and of its Drosophila homolog dDOR in the maintenance of neuronal homeostasis under chronic stress, focusing on dopamine (DA) neurons under normal ageing-and Parkinson's disease (PD)-related context. Trp53inp1 −/− mice displayed additional loss of DA neurons in the substantia nigra compared to wild-type (WT) mice, both with ageing and in a PD model based on targeted overexpression of α-synuclein. Nigral Trp53inp1 expression of WT mice was not significantly modified with ageing but was markedly increased in the PD model. Trp53inp2 expression showed similar evolution and did not differ between WT and Trp53inp1 −/− mice. In Drosophila, pan-neuronal dDOR overexpression improved survival under paraquat exposure and mitigated the progressive locomotor decline and the loss of DA neurons caused by the human α-synuclein A30P variant. dDOR overexpression in DA neurons also rescued the locomotor deficit in flies with RNAi-induced downregulation of dPINK1 or dParkin. Live imaging, confocal and electron microscopy in fat bodies, neurons, and indirect flight muscles showed that dDOR acts as a positive regulator of basal autophagy and mitophagy independently of the PINK1-mediated pathway. Analyses in a mammalian cell model confirmed that modulating TP53INP1 levels does not impact mitochondrial stress-induced PINK1/Parkindependent mitophagy. These data provide the first evidence for a neuroprotective role of TP53INP1/dDOR and highlight its involvement in the regulation of autophagy and mitophagy in neurons

Fracture Kinematics and Holocene Stress Field at the Krafla Rift, Northern Iceland

In the Northern Volcanic Zone of Iceland, the geometry, kinematics and offset amount of the structures that form the active Krafla Rift were studied. This rift is composed of a central volcano and a swarm of extension fractures, normal faults and eruptive fissures, which were mapped and analysed through remote sensing and field techniques. In three areas, across the northern, central and southern part of the rift, detailed measurements were collected by extensive field surveys along the post-Late Glacial Maximum (LGM) extension fractures and normal faults, to reconstruct their strike, opening direction and dilation amount. The geometry and the distribution of all the studied structures suggest a northward propagation of the rift, and an interaction with the Húsavík–Flatey Fault. Although the opening direction at the extension fractures is mostly normal to the general N–S rift orientation (average value N99.5° E), a systematic occurrence of subordinate transcurrent components of motion is noticed. From the measured throw at each normal fault, the heave was calculated, and it was summed together with the net dilation measured at the extension fractures; this has allowed us to assess the stretch ratio of the rift, obtaining a value of 1.003 in the central sector, and 1.001 and 1.002 in the northern and southern part, respectively

A New Way to Explore Volcanic Areas: QR-Code-Based Virtual Geotrail at Mt. Etna Volcano, Italy

In this body of work, we showcase a historic virtual geotrail on the eastern flank of the iconic Mt. Etna volcano (Italy), along a series of outstanding geological sites and features subsequent to an important eruption that took place in 1928. A geohistoric account of such a major eruption, is of great interest, since it is the only event since 1669 to have caused the destruction of a town (Mascali) in the Etna region. Volcanologists, educators, the lay public, tourists and volcano explorers can now access a series of “virtual geostops” belonging to this virtual geotrail, such that “visitors” can virtually fly above these sites by scanning a QR code on the printed or electronic version of the present manuscript, as well as on the poster provided as additional material for this manuscript. The virtual geostops that comprise the virtual geotrail were developed using the structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry technique from images captured by using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The main result of our work is the virtual geotrail, subdivided in two parts and composed of eight geostops, each showing outstanding examples of geological features resulting from volcanic phenomena that took place also during 1979. Our approach is designed to support classical field trips, and it can undoubtedly become complementary to traditional field teaching in earth sciences, both now and in the future