A database of the coseismic effects following the 30 October 2016 Norcia earthquake in Central Italy

We provide a database of the coseismic geological surface effects following the Mw 6.5 Norcia earthquake that hit central Italy on 30 October 2016. This was one of the strongest seismic events to occur in Europe in the past thirty years, causing complex surface ruptures over an area of >400 km 2. The database originated from the collaboration of several European teams (Open EMERGEO Working Group; about 130 researchers) coordinated by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia. The observations were collected by performing detailed field surveys in the epicentral region in order to describe the geometry and kinematics of surface faulting, and subsequently of landslides and other secondary coseismic effects. The resulting database consists of homogeneous georeferenced records identifying 7323 observation points, each of which contains 18 numeric and string fields of relevant information. This database will impact future earthquake studies focused on modelling of the seismic processes in active extensional settings, updating probabilistic estimates of slip distribution, and assessing the hazard of surface faulting

Molecular dynamics simulations of non-equilibrium systems

Peer reviewe

Assessment of microscale variation of heavy metal pollution of the Bystrzyca river alluvia downstream from Lublin

Fluvial sediments accumulated in the bottoms of river valleys downstream from large cities are characterised by higher levels of heavy metal content, which poses a threat to the environment and humans. This study presents a comprehensive assessment of the degree of pollution of four alluvial sediment profiles (80 samples), collected from the bottom of the Bystrzyca river valley downstream from Lublin, conducted with the use of five geochemical indices. Channel deposits and sediments (alluvial soils) sampled from the floodplain were analysed. The content levels of the six heavy metals under study were as follows: Cd: 10.6–291.2 mg/kg, Cr: 53.1–292.4 mg/kg, Cu: 20.4–223.1 mg/kg, Ni: 2.9–19.3, Pb: 39.3–280.3, Zn: 108.9–991.4 mg/kg. The horizontal and vertical variation of the pollution level was linked with the history of anthropogenic pressure on the one hand, and the geomorphological location of a given profile on the other. Heavy metal content in the samples did not show any correlation with grain size composition, organic matter content, and Fe and Mn content. Cadmium was the element whose concentration levels were comparable with those in alluvial sediments of rivers in industrialised areas while the indices for the other metals showed varied levels of pollution: from low to high. However, the ecological risk is high for all samples as indicated by the synthetic potential ecological risk index, which takes into account the toxicity of all the metals under study

Raman spectroscopy of Zn1-xCoxO bulk mixed crystals

4th MAG-EL-MAT Members Meeting 2006, Bedlewo, POLAND, MAY 03-06, 2006International audienceWe report on a study of structural properties of Zn1-xCoxO by micro- and macro-Raman scattering from phonons. Bulk mixed crystals (x <= 0.03), grown by chemical vapour transport were investigated between 5 K and 295 K. Beside the common eigenmodes of the ZnO host lattice, we observed disorder-induced lattice vibration modes and a structure, tentatively assigned to a local vibration mode of the Co impurity. Our results are compared with literature data of other ZnO-based diluted magnetic semiconductors such as (Zn,Mn)O

Homo-polymerization of α-Olefins and Co-polymerization of Higher α-Olefins with Ethylene in the Presence of

Abstract: Cyclopentadienyl-titanium complexes containing –OC6H4X ligands (X = Cl, CH3) activated with methylaluminoxane (MAO) were used in the homo-polymerization of ethylene, propylene, 1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-butene, and 1-hexene, and also in copolymerization of ethylene with the α-olefins mentioned. The-X substituents exhibit different electron donor-acceptor properties, which is described by Hammett’s factor (σ). The chlorine atom is electron acceptor, while the methyl group is electron donor. These catalysts allow the preparation of polyethylene in a good yield. Propylene in the presence of the catalysts mentioned dimerizes and oligomerizes to trimers and tetramers at 25 o C under normal pressure. If the propylene pressure was increased to 7 atmospheres, CpTiCl2(OC6H4CH3)/MAO catalyst at 25 o C gave mixtures with different contents of propylene dimers, trimers and tetramers. At 70 o C we obtained only propylene trimer. Using the catalysts with a-OC6H4Cl ligand we obtained atactic polymers with Mw 182,000 g/mol (at 25 o C) and 100,000 g/mol (at 70 o C). The superior activity of the CpTiCl2(OC6H4Cl)/MAO catalyst used in polymerization of propylene prompted us to check its activity in polymerization of higher α-olefins (1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene

Homo-polymerization of α-Olefins and Co-polymerization of Higher α-Olefins with Ethylene in the Presence of CpTiCl2(OC6H4X-p)/MAO Catalysts (X = CH3, Cl)

Cyclopentadienyl-titanium complexes containing –OC6H4X ligands (X = Cl,CH3) activated with methylaluminoxane (MAO) were used in the homo-polymerizationof ethylene, propylene, 1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-butene, and 1-hexene, and also in co-polymerization of ethylene with the α-olefins mentioned. The -X substituents exhibitdifferent electron donor-acceptor properties, which is described by Hammett’s factor (Ã).The chlorine atom is electron acceptor, while the methyl group is electron donor. Thesecatalysts allow the preparation of polyethylene in a good yield. Propylene in the presenceof the catalysts mentioned dimerizes and oligomerizes to trimers and tetramers at 25oCunder normal pressure. If the propylene pressure was increased to 7 atmospheres,CpTiCl2(OC6H4CH3)/MAO catalyst at 25oC gave mixtures with different contents ofpropylene dimers, trimers and tetramers. At 70oC we obtained only propylene trimer.Using the catalysts with a -OC6H4Cl ligand we obtained atactic polymers with Mw182,000 g/mol (at 25oC) and 100,000 g/mol (at 70oC). The superior activity of theCpTiCl2(OC6H4Cl)/MAO catalyst used in polymerization of propylene prompted us tocheck its activity in polymerization of higher α-olefins (1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene)and in co-polymerization of these olefins with ethylene. However, when homo-polymerization was carried out in the presence of this catalyst no polymers wereobtained. Gas chromatography analysis revealed the presence of dimers. The activity ofthe CpTiCl2(OC6H4Cl)/MAO catalyst in the co-polymerization of ethylene with higher α-olefins is limited by the length of the co-monomer carbon chain. Hence, the highest catalyst activities were observed in co-polymerization of ethylene with propylene (here a lower pressure of the reagents and shorter reaction time were applied to obtain catalytic activity similar to that for other co-monomers). For other co-monomers the activity of the catalyst decreases as follows: propylene >1-butene > 1-pentene >> 1-hexene. In the case of co-polymerization of ethylene with propylene, besides an increase in catalytic activity, an increase in the average molecular weight Mw of the polymer was observed. Other co- monomers used in this study caused a decrease of molecular weight. A significant increase in molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) evidences a great variety of polymer chains formed during the reaction