251 research outputs found
Brief communication "Ground failure and liquefaction phenomena triggered by the 20 May 2012 Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) earthquake: case study of Sant'Agostino–San Carlo–Mirabello zone"
Abstract. The basic aim of this study was to observe and report the earthquake-induced ground deformation of the MW = 6.1 Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) event that occurred on the 20 May 2012. The event caused widespread structural damages in a large area of the Po Plain, while the most characteristic geological effects were ground failure, lateral spreading and liquefaction. This post-earthquake reconnaissance report focuses on secondary effects within the area between the villages of Sant'Agostino, San Carlo and Mirabello located along a former reach of the Reno River. Our field observations started just few hours after the main shock until the 28 May 2012.</p
PRELIMINARY RESULTS REGARDING THE ROCK FALLS OF DECEMBER 17, 2009 AT TEMPI, GREECE
On December 17, 2009, a large size rock fall generated at the area of Tempi, Central Greece causing one casualty. In particular, a large block was detached from a high of 70 meters and started to roll downslope and gradually became a rock slide. About 120 tones of rock material moved downward to the road resulting to the close of the national road. Few days after the slope failure, a field survey organized by the Department of Geology, AUTH took place in order to evaluate the rock fall hazard in the area and to define the triggering causal factors. As an outcome, we concluded that the heavily broken rock mass and the heavy rain-falls, of the previous days, contribute significantly to the generation of the slope failure. The rocky slope was limited stable and the high joint water pressure caused the failure of the slope
Synchrotron Radiation as the Source of Gamma-Ray Burst Spectra
We investigate synchrotron emission models as the source of gamma-ray burst
spectra. We show that including the possibility for synchrotron
self-absorption, a ``smooth cutoff'' to the electron energy distribution, and
an anisotropic distribution for the electron pitch angles produces a whole
range of low energy spectral behavior. In addition, we show that the procedure
of spectral fitting to GRB data over a finite bandwidth can introduce a
spurious correlation between spectral parameters - in particular, the value of
the peak of the nu F_nu spectrum, E_p, and the low energy photon spectral index
alpha (the lower E_p is, the lower (softer) the fitted value of alpha will be).
From this correlation and knowledge of the E_p distribution, we show how to
derive the expected distribution of alpha. We show that optically thin
synchrotron models with an isotropic electron pitch angle distribution can
explain the distribution of alpha below alpha=-2/3. This agreement is achieved
if we relax the unrealistic assumption of the presence of a sharp low energy
cutoff in the spectrum of accelerated electrons, and allow for a more gradual
break. We show that this low energy portion of the electron spectrum can be at
most flat. We also show that optically thin synchrotron models with an
anisotropic electron pitch angle distribution can explain all bursts with -2/3
< alpha <= 0$. The very few bursts with low energy spectral indices that fall
above alpha=0 may be due the presence of a the synchrotron self-absorption
frequency entering the lower end of the BATSE window. Our results also predict
a particular relationship between alpha and E_p during the temporal evolution
of a GRB. We give examples of spectral evolution in GRBs and discuss how the
behavior are consistent with the above models.Comment: 21 pages, including 10 postscript figures. To appear in the December
10, 2000 issue of Ap
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