Spatial and temporal variations in growth rates along active normal fault Systems: an example from the Lazio-Abruzzo Apennines, central Italy

The geometry, kinematics and rates of active extension in Lazio\u2013Abruzzo, Italian Apennines, have been measured in order to gain a better understanding of the spatial and temporal variations in fault growth rates and seismic hazards associated with active normal fault systems. We present fault map traces, throws, throw-rates and slip-directions for 17 parallel, en e\ub4chelon or end-on active normal faults whose 20\u2013 40 km lengths combine to form a soft-linked fault array ca. 155 km in length and ca. 55 km across strike. Throw-rates derived from observations of faulted late-glacial features and Holocene soils show that both maximum throw-rates and throw-rate gradients are greater on centrally-located faults along the strike of the array; total throws and throw gradients show similar spatial variations but with weaker relationships with distance along strike. When summed across strike, throw-rates are increasingly high towards the centre of the array relative to summed throws. We interpret the above to suggest that throw-rates have changed in the recent past (ca. 0.7 Ma) from spatially-random fault growth rates (initiating at 2.5\u20133.3 Ma) to growth rates that are greater on centrally-located faults. We interpret this as evidence for fault interaction producing throw-rate variations that drive throw profile readjustment on these crustal scale soft-linked faults. The results are used to discuss seismic hazards in the region, which are quantified in a second paper in this issue

Active normal faulting during the 1997 seismic sequence in Colfiorito, Umbria: Did slip propagate to the surface?

In order to determine whether slip during an earthquake on the 26th September 1997 propagated to the surface, structural data have been collected along a bedrock fault scarp in Umbria, Italy. These collected data are used to investigate the relationship between the throw associated with a debated surface rupture (observed as a pale unweathered stripe at the base of the bedrock fault scarp) and the strike, dip and slip-vector. Previous studies have suggested that the surface rupture was produced either by primary surface slip or secondary compaction of hangingwall sediments. Some authors favour the latter because sparse surface fault dip measurements do not match nodal plane dips at depth. It is demonstrated herein that the strike, dip and height of the surface rupture, represented by a pale unweathered stripe at the base of the bedrock scarp, shows a systematic relationship with respect to the geometry and kinematics of faulting in the bedrock. The strike and dip co-vary and the throw is greatest where the strike is oblique to the slip-vector azimuth where the highest dip values are recorded. This implies that the throw values vary to accommodate spatial variation in the strike and dip of the fault across fault plane corrugations, a feature that is predicted by theory describing conservation of strain along faults, but not by compaction. Furthermore, published earthquake locations and reported fault dips are consistent with the analysed surface scarps when natural variation for surface dips and uncertainty for nodal plane dips at depth are taken into account. This implies that the fresh stripe is indeed a primary coseismic surface rupture whose slip is connected to the seismogenic fault at depth. We discuss how this knowledge of the locations and geometry of the active faults can be used as an input for seismic hazard assessment

Breaking the sound barrier : using technology to bridge the divide between lecturer and student in an ODL setting

ODL12 Conference paperPublished in: Sims, R & Kigotho, M (Eds) 2013. Education across space and time: meeting the diverse needs of the distance learner. Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA) p. 35-46Language broke through the barriers dividing the modules in the mind, according to the cognitive scientist Stephen Mithen. It is, after all, easier to talk someone to a distant hunting ground than to walk him there. Is the same possible in an open and distance learning environment? Traditional teaching and lecturing is predominantly about talking, but because lecturer and student are located at a distance, in ODL the focus is currently more on writing. This may not have to be the case, though. In an experimental phase, the teaching of a Unisa course “The Bible and Life Skills” (OTS2603) makes use of the LiveScribeTM SmartPen to audibly bridge the divide between lecturer and student. This inexpensive piece of equipment enables a lecturer to create and link written notes and the spoken word, and effortlessly share it with all students who have the ability to access PDF files. In generational theory terms, the new student is ready for this – isn’t it time for the new lecturer to make his or her voice heard?Biblical and Ancient Studie

Can biblical archaeological sites be regarded as destinations for the “new tourist”?

The starting point for this research is an exploration of who and what the “New Tourist” is. Traditional “Old Tourism” is usually associated with massed packaged holidays, typically described with the four S’s – Sun,Sea, Sand and Sex. The concept of the “New Tourist” was first advanced by Aurelia Poon in her book Tourism, technology and competitive strategies (1993). Poon is a leading commentator on future trends in tourism and she advocated that in future tourism would be flexible, segmented, environmentally sound and diagonally integrated rather than mass, rigid, standardised and packaged. In addition, a number of authors and researchers have noted the apparent interest among tourists for educational holidays. Examples include special interest holidays, ecotourism and cultural heritage tourism. Paradoxically, the decline in traditional churchgoing in Europe in recent years has been paralleled by, in many cases, a growing interest in religion and religious travel, as people are searching for meaning in their increasingly uncertain lives. Many people have not been able to find this through traditional forms of worship, so they are now taking to different methods in order to experience it. This includes the rediscovery of pilgrimage or journeys to so-called sacred places. Therefore the research question is whether biblical archaeological sites can be regarded as destinations for the “New Tourist”, and in future it will be expanded into how we bring these two fields of study together in order to use the opportunity for biblical archaeological tourism that has been identified but not yet been explored.Biblical and Ancient Studie

Watch me if you can: imagery ability moderates observational learning effectiveness

Recent research has revealed similarities in brain activity during observational learning and motor execution. However, whilst action develops visual, motor and afferent representations during acquisition, action-observation has been proposed to only develop visual-spatial learning via visual representation. In addition, it has been suggested that the vividness of visual representations are determined by imagery ability. Thus, the purpose of the current investigation was to explore the possible moderating role of imagery ability in the effectiveness of observational learning. Participants (n=40) were assessed on their imagery ability via the VMIQ-2 and then assigned to one of four groups; high imagery ability and observational learning (HIA-OL), low imagery ability and observational learning (LIA-OL), high imagery ability control (HIA-C) and low imagery ability control (LIA-C). Following group allocation all participants performed a pre-test consisting of 5 actual practice trials of a novel gymnastics routine. The HIA-OL and LIA-OL groups then participated in a 14 day observational learning intervention whilst the HIA-C & LIA-C groups acted as controls. Following this, participants performed a post test, which was identical in nature to the pre-test, before finally completing the VMIQ-2 again. Performance on both the pre-test and post test was evaluated by two qualified gymnastics judges. Results revealed that gymnastics performance increased from pre-test to post test for both the HIA-OL and LIA-OL groups. However, this effect was greater in the HIA-OL group suggesting that the relationship between observational learning and successful imitation performance is moderated by imagery ability

Determining Histories of Slip on Normal Faults With Bedrock Scarps Using Cosmogenic Nuclide Exposure Data

Cosmogenic exposure data can be used to calculate time-varying fault slip rates on normal faults with exposed bedrock scarps. The method relies on assumptions related to how the scarp is preserved, which should be consistent at multiple locations along the same fault. Previous work commonly relied on cosmogenic data from a single sample locality to determine the slip rate of a fault. Here we show that by applying strict sampling criteria and using geologically informed modeling parameters in a Bayesian-inference Markov chain Monte Carlo method, similar patterns of slip rate changes can be modeled at multiple sites on the same fault. Consequently, cosmogenic data can be used to resolve along-strike fault activity. We present cosmogenic 36Cl concentrations from seven sites on two faults in the Italian Apennines. The average slip rate varies between sites on the Campo Felice Fault (0.84 ± 0.23 to 1.61 ± 0.27 mm yr−1), and all sites experienced a period of higher than average slip rate between 0.5 and 2 ka and a period of lower than average slip rate before 3 ka. On the Roccapreturo fault, slip rate in the center of the fault is 0.55 ± 0.11 and 0.35 ± 0.05 mm yr−1 at the fault tip near a relay zone. The estimated time since the last earthquake is the same at each site along the same fault (631 ± 620 years at Campo Felice and 2,603 ± 1,355 years at Roccapreturo). These results highlight the potential for cosmogenic exposure data to reveal the detailed millennial history of earthquake slip on active normal faults

Masses of ground and excited-state hadrons

We present the first Dyson-Schwinger equation calculation of the light hadron spectrum that simultaneously correlates the masses of meson and baryon ground- and excited-states within a single framework. At the core of our analysis is a symmetry-preserving treatment of a vector-vector contact interaction. In comparison with relevant quantities the root-mean-square-relative-error/degree-of freedom is 13%. Notable amongst our results is agreement between the computed baryon masses and the bare masses employed in modern dynamical coupled-channels models of pion-nucleon reactions. Our analysis provides insight into numerous aspects of baryon structure; e.g., relationships between the nucleon and Delta masses and those of the dressed-quark and diquark correlations they contain.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, 4 table

The π\pi, K+K^+, and K0K^0 electromagnetic form factors

The rainbow truncation of the quark Dyson-Schwinger equation is combined with the ladder Bethe-Salpeter equation for the meson amplitudes and the dressed quark-photon vertex in a self-consistent Poincar\'e-invariant study of the pion and kaon electromagnetic form factors in impulse approximation. We demonstrate explicitly that the current is conserved in this approach and that the obtained results are independent of the momentum partitioning in the Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes. With model gluon parameters previously fixed by the condensate, the pion mass and decay constant, and the kaon mass, the charge radii and spacelike form factors are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Revte

Nonperturbative Renormalization and the QCD Vacuum

We present a self consistent approach to Coulomb gauge Hamiltonian QCD which allows one to relate single gluon spectral properties to the long range behavior of the confining interaction. Nonperturbative renormalization is discussed. The numerical results are in good agreement with phenomenological and lattice forms of the static potential.Comment: 23 pages in RevTex, 4 postscript figure