TALOS Dome Migration: Preliminary Results

Ice divide-dome migration is a key parameter in mass balance studies and in the interpretation of ice cores. The stability of the dome and position of the ice divide must be known to accurately interpret ice core records and to complete mass balance studies. Models of depth-age relationships for deep ice cores are sensitive to migration of the dome position (Anandakrishnan et al., 1994). The evolution of an ice divide is driven by the accumulation-rate history, its spatial pattern and conditions at ice-sheet boundaries (e.g. Frezzotti et al., 2004; Hindmarsh, 1996; Nereson et al., 1998). Ice divide migration is also important in determining the input parameter of large Antarctic drainage basins. Due to the very low slope (less than a decimetre per km) of East Antarctic domes and to surface morphology (e.g. sastrugi), it is very difficult to determine the summit point of a dome and its migration in time. In 2004 a new ice coring project, TALDICE (Talos Dome Ice Core Project), started at TD to recover 1550 m of ice spanning the last 120 000 years (Frezzotti et al., 2004). This paper discusses preliminary findings on the present and past morphology of Talos Dome based on detailed snow accumulation data, radar-derived isochrons and ice velocity measurements in the last 10 years

Fast geophysical prospecting applied to archaeology: results at «Villa ai Cavallacci» (Albano Laziale, Rome) site

The present essay is the result of a cooperative work between geophysicists and archaeologists in which the authors carried out an integrated geophysical prospecting in an archaeological site near Rome. This paper describes the methodology and the results of a geophysical survey carried out on Villa ai Cavallacci, an ancient roman building in Albano Laziale (Rome) discovered in the late seventies. It is often possible to obtain very important results planning a fast geophysical survey opportunely; within this framework (due to the fact that an archaeological excavation was planned in a short time), an integrated geophysical techniques survey (GPR, magnetic, and geoelectric tomography) has been carried out on the areas indicated by the archaeologists. Even if the described geophysical survey should be considered only a first step analysis, the data pointed out some very interesting features confirmed by the excavation

Location of a new ice core site at Talos Dome (East Antarctica)

In the frame of glaciology and palaeoclimate research, Talos Dome (72°48lS; 159°06lE), an ice dome on the East Antarctic plateau, represents the new selected site for a new deep ice core drilling. The increasing interest in this region is due to the fact that the ice accumulation is higher here than in other domes in East Antarctica. A new deep drilling in this site could give important information about the climate changes near the coast. Previous papers showed that the dome summit is situated above a sloped bedrock. A new position on a relatively flat bedrock 5-6 km far from here in the SE direction was defined as a possible new ice core site for an European (Italy, France, Swiss and United Kingdom) drilling project named as TALDICE (TALos Dome Ice Core Project). This point, named as ID1 (159°11l00mE; 72°49l40mS), became the centre of the Radio Echo Sounding (RES) flight plan during the 2003 Italian Antarctic expedition, with the aim of confirming the new drilling site choice. In this paper 2001 and 2003 RES data sets have been used to draw a better resolution of ice thickness, bottom morphology and internal layering of a restricted area around the dome. Based on the final results, point ID1 has been confirmed as the new coring site. Finally, the preliminary operations about the installation of the summer ice core camp (TALDICE) at ID1 site carried out during the XX Italian Antarctic expedition (November 2004-December 2005) are briefly described

Evidence for Possible New Subglacial Lakes along a Radar Transect Crossing the Belgica Highlands and the Concordia Trench

Subglacial lakes are of great interest to the scientific community, and about 190 lakes have been identified in Antarctica and catalogued (Siegert et al., 2005; Cafarella et al., 2006; Popov & Masolov, 2007). We report on the possible existence of 5 new subglacial lakes in the area between the Belgica HighLands and the Concordia Trench. Analysis of radar data collected during the 2003 Antarctic field survey reveals particularly strong radar echoes coming from the subglacial interface. As radar surveys are only one of the methods used to identify subglacial lakes, the presence of these 5 new lakes must be discussed and confirmed through other geophysical investigations

A NEW BRANCH of the ANIO NOVUS AQUEDUCT (ROME, ITALY) REVEALED by ARCHAEOLOGY and GEOPHYSICS

The area south-east of Rome is characterised by the presence of several roman aqueducts which brought water to the eternal city from the Apennine and Alban Hills springs. In the last 40 years, several pieces of evidence about these aqueducts were acquired during the realisation of archaeological test trenches before building activities. In 2019, a small branch of a subterranean aqueduct unknown to the Latin sources was unearthed in Via dei Sette Metri. Here we show that this aqueduct is a lateral branch of the Anio Novus, a major imperial aqueduct built between 38 and 52 CE. To achieve this result, we employed detailed photogrammetric restitution of the new aqueduct and an integrated geophysical survey focused in the area where the Anio Novus was supposed to pass. Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) methods were used to reconstruct aqueduct paths and their relative heights. Different light conditions were tested during the picture acquisition step to determine the best practice in the photogrammetric restitution. The results obtained in this study confirmed the great effectiveness of the integration between geophysical investigation methods and the modern archaeology approach in detecting buried ancient structures

Radio echo sounding data analysis of the Shackleton Ice Shelf

In this study, our initial results are presented for the interpretation of the radio echo sounding data collected over the Shackleton Ice Shelf and adjacent ice sheet (East Antarctica) during the 2003/2004 Australian- Italian expedition. The Shackleton Ice Shelf is one of the larger ice shelves of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The radar survey provided data relating to ice thickness and bed morphology of the outlet glaciers, and thickness of their floating portions. The glacier grounding lines were determined by assessment of the basal echo characters. The information derived is compared with data from the BEDMAP database and from other sources

18F-FDG-PET/CT imaging in cardiac tumors: illustrative clinical cases and review of the literature.

Cardiac tumors are a very rare condition. Mostly, they are benign tumors (75%), with myxomas being the most frequent. The remaining 25% are malignant; either primary malignant sarcoma or secondary metastases. Given the small number of cases reported and the lack of prospective and randomized clinical trials, the level of evidence for the optimal multimodal treatment of primary cardiac sarcomas is very low and the optimal imaging diagnostic workup is not well established. In particular, 18F-FDG-PET/CT is not yet included in routine diagnosis of cardiac masses. Here, we report four illustrative clinical cases and a review of the literature on the current available data on the role of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT imaging in cardiac tumors

Geomagnetic field observations at a new Antarctic site, within the AIMNet project

During the 2007-2008 antarctic campaign, the Italian PNRA installed a Low Power Magnetometer within the framework of the AIMNet (Antarctic International Magnetometer Network) project, proposed and coordinated by BAS. The magnetometer is situated at Talos Dome, around 300 km geographically North-West from Mario Zucchelli Station (MZS), and approximately at the same geomagnetic latitude as MZS. In this work we present a preliminary analysis of the geomagnetic field 1-min data, and a comparison with simultaneous data from different Antarctic stations

SDHC methylation in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST): a case report

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) recently have been recognized as a genetically and biologically heterogeneous disease. In addition to KIT or PDGFRA mutated GIST, mutational inactivation of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) subunits has been detected in the KIT/PDGFRA wild-type subgroup, referred to as SDH deficient (dSDH). Even though most dSDH GIST harbor mutations in SDHx subunit genes, some are SDHx wild type. Epigenetic regulation by DNA methylation of CpG islands recently has been found to be an alternative mechanism underlying the lack of SDH complex in GIST

Multi-Temporal investigation of the Boulder Clay Glacier and Northern Foothills (Victoria Land, Antarctica) by integrated surveying techniques

The paper aims to detect the main changes that occurred in the area surrounding the Mario Zucchelli Station (MZS) through analysis of multi-temporal remote sensing integrated by geophysical measurements. Specific attention was directed at realizing an integrated geomorphological study of the Boulder Clay Glacier, a partially debris-covered glacier belonging to the Northern Foothills (Victoria Land, Antarctica). This area was recently chosen as the location for the construction of a new semi-permanent gravel runway for MZS logistical airfreight operations. Photogrammetric analysis was performed by comparing three historical aerial photogrammetric surveys (carried out in 1956, 1985, and 1993) and Very High Resolution (VHR) GeoEye-1 satellite stereo-image coverage acquired in 2012. The comparison of geo-referenced orthophoto-mosaics allowed the main changes occurring in some particular areas along the coast nearby MZS to be established. Concerning the study of the Boulder Clay Glacier, it has to be considered that glaciers and moraines are not steady-state systems by definition. Several remote sensing and geophysical investigations were carried out with the main aim of determining the general assessment of this glacier: Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR); Geodetic Global Positioning System (GPS) network; multi-temporal satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry. The analysis of Boulder Clay Glacier moraine pointed out a deformation of less than 74 mm y-1 in a time span of 56 years, value that agrees with velocity and deformation data observed by GPS and InSAR methods. The presence of unexpected brine ponds at the ice/bedrock interface and the deformation pattern observed in the central part of the moraine has to be monitored and studied, especially under the long-term maintenance of the future runway