- Piacenza
This study sums up the first estimates of the young water fraction (Fyw; here understood as the percentage proportion of groundwater passing through the well’s screen and younger than approximately 2–3 months) from groundwater collected... more
This study sums up the first estimates of the young water fraction (Fyw; here understood as the percentage proportion of groundwater passing through the well’s screen and younger than approximately 2–3 months) from groundwater collected in 75 wells from alluvial fans facing the northern Italian Apennines of Italy. The Fyw estimates were based on a monthly dataset of water-stable isotopes (oxygen-18 (18O)) from surficial water (9 rivers), while the dataset of groundwater (75 wells) consisted of three-monthly isotopic data. In the cases of surficial water and stable isotopes, these lasted over the period of January 2003 to December 2007, while in the case of groundwater, the data were collected from January 2005 to December 2007. The values of Fyw were estimated by means of a sine-wave fitting technique; the results made evident the presence of unexpectedly reduced differences between groundwater. In particular, shallower groundwater hosted in aquifers from the apical parts of the all...
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A wide geochemical survey has been carried out in the Piacenza province. Isotope geochemistry allowed the reconstruction of main hydrological processes of the area. Various kinds of pollution phenomena have been recognized. In particular... more
A wide geochemical survey has been carried out in the Piacenza province. Isotope geochemistry allowed the reconstruction of main hydrological processes of the area. Various kinds of pollution phenomena have been recognized. In particular 15N/14N evidenced that organic pollution phenomena are clustered in the Eastern and in the Western side of the Piacenza province. Inorganic derived nitrogen has been recognized responsible for pollution phenomena in central part of the surveyed area. An anthropic origin of nitrate pollution was also evidenced in the western side of the Piacenza province.
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The Nirano Salse, known since the Roman Times, are one of the most beautiful and scenic mud volcanoes areas of Italy with thousands of visitors every year. In this work, we apply hydrogeological techniques to characterize mud levels in... more
The Nirano Salse, known since the Roman Times, are one of the most beautiful and scenic mud volcanoes areas of Italy with thousands of visitors every year. In this work, we apply hydrogeological techniques to characterize mud levels in the Salse by means of GPS-RTK positioning and continuous level logging within mud conduits. Our results suggest that different mud levels in mud volcanoes clusters are due to the different gas-liquid ratio in the conduits and not necessarily exclude interconnection at depth, a hypothesis, on the other hand, that seems strengthened by mud level time series correlations. The presence of shallow aquifers at a depth of 5 to 30 m is also supported by our field data. These shallow aquifers may provide a temporary storage for the ascending gas and when fluid pressure in these aquifers exceeds the tensional strength of the sedimentary rock, leakage of fluids to the surface would occur.
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Nowadays, climate changes and increased water demand for human and agricultural purposes pose important questions for the groundwater management of alluvial aquifers facing the northern Italian Apennines. The large groundwater... more
Nowadays, climate changes and increased water demand for human and agricultural purposes pose important questions for the groundwater management of alluvial aquifers facing the northern Italian Apennines. The large groundwater withdrawals, coupled with an overall worsening of the water quality, requires a detailed knowledge of the recharge mechanisms of these aquifers that can be useful for further adaptation measures. Concerning the recharge area of the alluvial aquifers (i.e., apices made up of gravelly materials), the present study investigates a dataset made up of 282 water samples for which stable isotopes oxygen-18 (18O) and deuterium (2H) are available. The latter involves precipitations (three rain gauges), surface water (five rivers) and groundwater (twenty wells) from five selected alluvial fans. The study confirms that the different isotopic signatures characterizing rain and river water from this area can be exploited for preliminary characterization of their significanc...
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This study discusses a dataset of water stable isotopes from precipitation (4 rain gauges) and surficial water (9 rivers) from the northern Italian Apennines, an area in which clay-rich bedrocks widely outcrop and the runoff response to... more
This study discusses a dataset of water stable isotopes from precipitation (4 rain gauges) and surficial water (9 rivers) from the northern Italian Apennines, an area in which clay-rich bedrocks widely outcrop and the runoff response to precipitation events is very rapid. The dataset has been compiled starting from existing data that had previously been published in the literature and consists of monthly values of stable isotopes oxygen-18 (18O) and deuterium (2H) lasting over the period from January 2003 to December 2006 (precipitation) and from January 2006 to December 2007 (surficial water). For this period, mean residence times estimated by means of a sine-wave fitting technique make evident the significant differences over time spent by water molecules within the 9 catchments. Moreover, isotopic compositions of rivers deviated from those of precipitations revealing the influence of some catchment characteristics in differentiating the isotopic composition in rivers. Further cor...
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Abstract Earthquake precursors are elusive, and this elusiveness has hampered earthquake prediction. In this paper, the available catalogues of historical and contemporary geochemical and fluid-related precursors of earthquakes are... more
Abstract Earthquake precursors are elusive, and this elusiveness has hampered earthquake prediction. In this paper, the available catalogues of historical and contemporary geochemical and fluid-related precursors of earthquakes are considered. The locations of recording sites are mapped and compared with data concerning volcanic locations, heat flows, crustal velocities and the depth of seismic events. Possible relations among the considered geophysical parameters and the occurrence of fluid-related earthquake precursors are discussed. Only some geological and geophysical conditions may allow for the occurrence of fluid-related earthquake precursory phenomena. As a consequence, the geophysical models utilized to explain the occurrence of earthquake precursors should be updated. Furthermore, only some areas of the world are deemed suitable for earthquake fluid-related precursor monitoring.
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Abstract A seismic swarm characterized by a Ml = 5.9 mainshock occurred in the Po Valley, northern Italy, in 2012. The area has been studied for active compressional tectonics since the beginning of the twentieth century. A variety of... more
Abstract A seismic swarm characterized by a Ml = 5.9 mainshock occurred in the Po Valley, northern Italy, in 2012. The area has been studied for active compressional tectonics since the beginning of the twentieth century. A variety of geophysical and geochemical parameters have been utilized with the purpose of identifying possible precursory signals. This paper considers groundwater level data and geochemical data both in groundwaters and in gases. All considered parameters have led to the conclusion that possible long and medium precursory trends have been identified in geofluids. No short-term precursors have been clearly identified. Hydrogeological and geochemical monitoring could be more effectively utilized in a different geological context, and seismic hazard reduction procedures could benefit from geofluid monitoring.
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Hydrological and hydrogeochemical observations (piezometry, chemistry, electric properties, etc.) carried out in groundwaters in Italy in the past 40 years have been recovered and processed. Available data time series recorded by... more
Hydrological and hydrogeochemical observations (piezometry, chemistry, electric properties, etc.) carried out in groundwaters in Italy in the past 40 years have been recovered and processed. Available data time series recorded by government agencies, scientific institutions and independent researchers in the field of groundwater and geochemical monitoring in 5480 different sites have been recovered, systematized and processed. Meteorological data useful for data evaluation have been recovered too. Some possible precursors have been identified but the relatively high amount of earthquakes not preceded by hydrologic or geochemical anomalies suggest the need to consider all together geophysical and geochemical parameters for future researches. Highest amount of data collected by manual sampling were found in the Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna regions, while most of automatically recorded data were found in the Tuscany region.
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A hydrogeochemical prospection has been carried out in the Milano province with the purpose to better identify and characterize Nitrogen pollution sources. A network of 90 wells has been considered for geochemical prospection and 37 wells... more
A hydrogeochemical prospection has been carried out in the Milano province with the purpose to better identify and characterize Nitrogen pollution sources. A network of 90 wells has been considered for geochemical prospection and 37 wells were also considered for isotopic survey. A geochemical stratification both in chemical characters and in isotopic ones has been identified and related to local pollution phenomena.
The organic character of Nitrogen pollution phenomena has been identified and related to vulnerability characters of surveyed area. The obtained results allow to improve previous vulnerability mapping methods.
The organic character of Nitrogen pollution phenomena has been identified and related to vulnerability characters of surveyed area. The obtained results allow to improve previous vulnerability mapping methods.
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A wide geochemical survey has been carried out in the Piacenza province. Isotope geochemistry allowed the reconstruction of main hydrological processes of the area. Various kinds of pollution phenomena have been recognized. In particular... more
A wide geochemical survey has been carried out in the Piacenza province. Isotope geochemistry allowed the reconstruction of main hydrological processes of the area. Various kinds of pollution phenomena have been recognized. In particular 15N/14N evidenced that organic pollution phenomena are clustered in the Eastern and in the Western side of the Piacenza province. Inorganic derived nitrogen has been recognized responsible for pollution phenomena in central part of the surveyed area. An anthropic origin of nitrate pollution was also evidenced in the western side of the Piacenza province.
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Mud volcanic activity have been sometimes connected to seismicity but mudvolcanic gases and clayey waters have been poorly monitored. The lack of long-term monitoring data is due to the semi-erratic nature of mud volcanic emissions and to... more
Mud volcanic activity have been sometimes connected to seismicity but mudvolcanic gases and clayey waters have been poorly monitored. The lack of long-term monitoring data is due to the semi-erratic nature of mud volcanic emissions and to geological and technical constraint factors. A review of geophysical and geochemical available data has been carried out. Data confirm that mud volcanoes are confined fluids accumulations capable to work, in principle, as natural strain-meters. The absence of reliable long-term data sets hampers any definitive conclusions on the sensitivity of mud volcanoes to seismic events and evidence the need for reliable ground-based and satellite-based measuring techniques.
Geochemical data from mud volcanic fluids obtained from various geological environments have been reviewed and reprocessed. The chemical and isotopic components of the liquid and gas phases have been studied. Notwithstanding the... more
Geochemical data from mud volcanic fluids obtained from various geological environments have been reviewed and reprocessed. The chemical and isotopic components of the liquid and gas phases have been studied. Notwithstanding the geographical distance between the mud volcanic areas and the differences between the geological environments, a common originating fluid derived from seawater has been recognized. Diagenetic processes due to sediment compaction can be considered to be responsible for the evolutionary patterns observed in the liquid phase and in the associated gas-emissions. Geochemical data fit the currently available physical models.