In 2012, an extreme summer drought induced species‐specific die‐back in woody species in Northeastern Italy. Quercus pubescens and Ostrya carpinifolia were heavily impacted, while Prunus mahaleb was ...largely unaffected. By comparing seasonal changes in isotopic composition of xylem sap, rainfall and deep soil samples, we show that P. mahaleb has a deeper root system than the other two species. This morphological trait allowed P mahaleb to maintain higher water potential (Ψ), gas exchange rates and non‐structural carbohydrates content (NSC) throughout the summer, when compared with the other species. More favourable water and carbon states allowed relatively stable maintenance of stem hydraulic conductivity (k) throughout the growing season. In contrast, in Quercus pubescens and Ostrya carpinifolia, decreasing Ψ and NSC were associated with significant hydraulic failure, with spring‐to‐summer k loss averaging 60%. Our data support the hypothesis that drought‐induced tree decline is a complex phenomenon that cannot be modelled on the basis of single predictors of tree status like hydraulic efficiency, vulnerability and carbohydrate content. Our data highlight the role of rooting depth in seasonal progression of water status, gas exchange and NSC, with possible consequences for energy‐demanding mechanisms involved in the maintenance of vascular integrity.
We are witnessing a digital revolution in geoscientific field data collection and data sharing, driven by the availability of low-cost sensory platforms capable of generating accurate surface ...reconstructions as well as the proliferation of apps and repositories which can leverage their data products. Whilst the wider proliferation of 3D close-range remote sensing applications is welcome, improved accessibility is often at the expense of model accuracy. To test the accuracy of consumer-grade close-range 3D model acquisition platforms commonly employed for geo-documentation, we have mapped a 20-m-wide trench using aerial and terrestrial photogrammetry, as well as iOS LiDAR. The latter was used to map the trench using both the 3D Scanner App and PIX4Dcatch applications. Comparative analysis suggests that only in optimal scenarios can geotagged field-based photographs alone result in models with acceptable scaling errors, though even in these cases, the orientation of the transformed model is not sufficiently accurate for most geoscientific applications requiring structural metric data. The apps tested for iOS LiDAR acquisition were able to produce accurately scaled models, though surface deformations caused by simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) errors are present. Finally, of the tested apps, PIX4Dcatch is the iOS LiDAR acquisition tool able to produce correctly oriented models.
Sinkholes linked to cover evaporite karst in urban environments still represent a challenge in terms of their clear identification and mapping considering the rehash and man-made structures. In the ...present research, we have proposed and tested a methodology to identify the subsiding features through an integrated and non-invasive multi-scale approach combining seismic reflection, PS-InSAR (PSI), leveling and full 3D Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and thus overpassing the limits of each method. The analysis was conducted in a small village in the Alta Val Tagliamento Valley (Friuli Venezia Giulia region, NE Italy). Here, sinkholes have been reported for a long time as well as the hazards linked to their presence. Within past years, several houses have been demolished and at present many of them are damaged. The PSI investigation allowed the identification of an area with higher vertical velocities; seismic reflection imagined the covered karst bedrock, identifying three depocenters; leveling data presented a downward displacement comparable with PSI results; 3D GPR, applied here for the first time in the study and characterization of sinkholes, defined shallow sinking features. Combining all the obtained results with accurate field observations, we identified and mapped the highest vulnerable zone.
•The δ18O, δ2H and d-excess analyzed in 36 sites across NE Italy (1984–2015).•The isotopic composition exhibits evident gradients of δ18O and δ2H.•The relationships with geographical and weather ...variables was investigated.•Significant increasing interannual trends detected in 11 sites for d-excess.•Multiple linear regression models applied to reconstruct the isotopic composition.
NE Italy presents high-quantity, high-quality and easily exploitable groundwater resources that are seriously threatened by anthropogenic pressures. This study analyzes the oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition of 2250 precipitation samples collected in 36 sites across the north-easternmost region of Italy, Friuli Venezia Giulia, between 1984 and 2015. This is an unprecedented dataset for North Italy with a high density of sampling sites and a decadal temporal extension. A series of both routine and original chemometric approaches were applied to investigate the temporal and spatial variability of the isotopic composition through relationships with geographical and weather variables. New statistical approaches were presented to model the seasonal and spatial patterns of isotopic composition as well as to summarize the large amount of isotopic data. Significant gradients of δ18O and δ2H were detected in the area due to the peculiar orography and climate of the region; the amplitude of the monthly patterns also presented similar gradients. The deuterium excess did not present a clear seasonality, but higher values were found in autumn. The deuterium excess-to-δ18O ratio exhibited typical patterns throughout the region when grouping the sites for altitude and continentality; in winter, large differences of δ18O were detected among groups, but deuterium excess remained almost unchanged. The inter-site correlations were moderately high across all the territory even for deseasonalized data. The local meteoric water line (using all the single samples δ2H=7.8·δ18O+8.9) was also estimated at annual and seasonal basis, evidencing the presence of spatial gradients according to the orographic and weather characteristics of the region. Statistically significant increasing interannual trends (0.23–0.87‰/y) were detected in 11 sites for deuterium excess; the presence of these trends was linked to local processes. Two multiple linear regression models were applied to reconstruct the isotopic composition of precipitation at a regional scale. The stepwise approach returned the best results with root mean square errors in the 0.5-1‰, 3.5–8.2‰ and 0.9–1.5‰ intervals for δ18O, δ2H, and deuterium excess, respectively. The deuterium excess was not modelled in winter, where no relationships were found with geographic variables.
The study of the different hydrogeological compartments is a prerequisite for understanding and monitoring different fluxes, thereby evaluating the environmental changes in an ecosystem where ...anthropogenic disturbances are present in order to preserve the most vulnerable groundwaters from contamination and degradation. In many karst domains in the Mediterranean, areas groundwaters and surface waters are a single system, as a result of the features that facilitate the ingression of waters from surface to subsurface. This is also the case for the Classical Karst hydrostructure, which is a carbonate plateau that rises above the northern Adriatic Sea, shared between Italy and Slovenia. The main suppliers to the aquifer are the effective precipitations and the waters from three different rivers: Reka/Timavo, Soča/Isonzo and Vipava/Vipacco. Past and ongoing hydrogeological studies on the area have focused on the connections within the Classical Karst Region aquifer system through the analysis of water caves and springs hydrographs and chemographs. In this paper, the authors present new combined data from major ions, oxygen, hydrogen and strontium stable and radiogenic isotopes which have allowed a more complementary knowledge of the groundwater circulation, provenance and water-rock interactions. All the actions occurred in the framework of the European project HYDROKARST.
This work aims at evaluating mercury (Hg) occurrence, spatial distribution and speciation in groundwater of the Isonzo/Soča River upper alluvial plain downstream from the Idrija Hg mine (Western ...Slovenia). Several wells and piezometers were sampled both in static and dynamic mode. Total (THg) and filtered (FHg) concentrations were generally higher in static (THg, 1.87–855 ng L−1; FHg, 0.20–13.61 ng L−1) than in dynamic mode (THg, 0.08–78.77 ng L−1; FHg, 0.28–6.65 ng L−1). The estimated background value accounts for 2–3 ng L−1.
On the basis of hydrochemistry and isotopic composition, the main sources of groundwater were established. Hg concentrations in the Slovenian sector, supplied by local rainfall, are comparable to values measured close to the Isonzo River. Possible further Hg local sources have been suggested. Stability field analysis for the aqueous Hg species revealed that in the presence of chloride Hg solubility may be increased by the formation of chlorocomplexes. Mercury that rarely enters reduced surrounding conditions can be bound to sulphur to form polysulphide species depending on the pH of water.
Since Hg-contaminated alluvial sediments of the Isonzo River may act as a secondary Hg source in groundwater, a borehole was dug down to the water table. Mercury content and speciation revealed that cinnabar (HgS) is the prevalent form followed by the matrix-bound Hg (Hgbound). Variations of the physico-chemical boundary conditions, as well as the raising/lowering of the water table, may be locally responsible for the slight variability of Hg concentrations in the aquifer.
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•Hg spatial distribution and speciation in the groundwater of the Isonzo River alluvial plain were investigated.•Two sampling methods (static and dynamic) were compared to study Hg mobility.•Hg content in the groundwater was not affected by the enriched alluvial deposits.•Hg speciation showed that Cl− has a key role in the formation of soluble species.•Hg as cinnabar (HgS) was found to be the dominant form in alluvial sediments.
Sinkholes are common in the Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) Region (NE Italy), where the presence of karstifiable rocks favours their occurrence accelerated by intense rainfalls. Their existence has been ...reported since the end of the 1800s along the Tagliamento Valley, in correspondence with the mantled evaporites (gypsum). Furthermore, tens of evaporite sinkholes have been documented on the reliefs adjacent to the village of Sauris and along the narrow W-E-oriented valleys, where regional faults have played a major role in their spatial distribution. This paper reports for the first time an inventory of the sinkholes affecting the evaporites of the FVG Region. These phenomena were mapped and categorised using a genetic classification. The main output is an A0-format map, which incorporates a 1:50,000 scale Sinkhole Inventory Map (SIM). The SIM encompasses 552 sinkholes. The cover suffosion sinkholes are the most abundant, followed by bedrock collapses. There is a clear prevalence of the circular shape (65%) over other shapes. Diameters are 1-140 m, with depths ranging 0.1-40 m with a mean value of 4.5 m. The SIM can motivate regional planning authorities to perform further investigations aimed to understand the geomorphological evolutions of these phenomena.
Groundwater resources in the Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) Region (northeast Italy) are an important natural wealth in terms of quantity, quality and ease of supply. This optimal condition, however, ...has long believed that it allowed an irrational and uncontrolled exploitation that inevitably produced tangible consequences on the water resources availability.The goal of the present research is the evaluation of the sustainable use of the groundwater in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region aimed at providing guide-lines for its rational use. The study area belongs to the hydrogeological basin of the Friuli Plain and includes part of Veneto Region and Slovenia. The plain area is divided in two parts: the High Plain (HP) characterized by a phreatic aquifer and the Low Plain (LP) where eleven confined aquifer systems were identified. The two physiographic zones are separated by the spring belt. In order to evaluate the groundwater avaliability, a 3D model of the Low Friuli Plain aquifer systems was realized using Rockworks R14 software, starting from 603 lithostratigraphic wells data. Isobath and isopach maps were elaborated using kriging geostatistical method. Precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff and infiltration were calculated to evaluate the inflow and outflow groundwater budget terms (109 rainfall and 46 thermometric stations, time series 1979-2008). To better define the river influences and the outflows at sea, a series of recent surveys on river discharges and surface withdrawals were considered. To obtain the water-budget in non-natural conditions, as the currents, were taken into account the groundwater withdrawals that were evaluated for each type of use and for each aquifer systems, starting from 2 geodatabases: one for the domestic uses (50101 estimated wells) and one for the industrial, agricultural, fish breeding, hygienic, geothermal and other minor uses (7594 wells). Well withdrawals amount were evaluated on annual base for recent periods and expressed as m3/s. The total current estimated groundwater withdrawals reach 62.4 m3/s, of which 41.1 m3/s from the confined aquifer systems in the LP area. More than 52% of the withdrawals are due to the domestic wells. For the water-budget, the studied territory was considered a “semi-closed box” in which groundwater sharings with the neighboring areas are not relevant and where the recharge is mainly due to the influent character of the river, infiltration, rainfall and irrigation practices. As result, the waterbudget for the confined LP is equal to +2.6 m3/s representing the accuracy, fairly acceptable for the scale of the research. Withdrawal entity, spring belt discharge, phreatic levels and confined aquifer’s pressure are closely interdependent and in dynamic equilibrium. The sustainability comes from the consistency and ratio between recharge and withdrawals. The confined aquifer withdrawals in the LP represent the 23.1% of the groundwater recharge coming from the HP and the 30.6% of the spring belt discharge. Seen that this last one can not further decrease, unless loss of important ecosystems, is likely to think that the present situation can be defined of limit equilibrium.
This article wishes to contribute to the study of indigenous identity by focusing on the role of the modern industrial state of the nineteenth century as a powerful and enduring agent that 'makes, ...owns, and uses' indigenous identity through the application of targeted artificial ascriptions. These ascriptions are the result of processes of legal reclassification and mechanisms of legal othering and legal authentication, which remaps indigenous belonging and sense of self. To this end, the article steps away from the typologies of indigenous identity as being exclusively a product of ancestral ties, territoriality, group belonging, and self-identification - and thus indigenous agency. The essay problematizes these conceptualizations and looks at the indigenous Sámi people of Sweden as an illustration. A number of key legislations and documents are used to expose how the state in Sweden reconstructed the local indigenous population into a de jure bona fide, or authentic, Sámi. These legal reclassifications progressively transformed the Sámi people's customary rights to fit the state's narrative within a discourse of nineteenth century modern industrial state consolidation, resulting in the control, reduction, legal dissimilation and assimilation of the Sámi into the greater society and state project.
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Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
In this paper, we describe a multi-camera system for parcel inspection which detects signs of damages and cues of tampering. The proposed system has been developed within the EU project SAFEPOST as a ...part of a multi-sensor scanning modality, to enhance safety and security of parcels travelling on the European Postal Supply Chain. Our work addresses in particular the safety of valuable goods, whose presence on the postal supply chain is in steady growth. The method we propose is based on extracting 3D shape and appearance information, detecting in real-time signs of damages or tampering, and storing the model for future comparative analysis when required by the system. We provide an experimental evidence of the effectiveness of the method, both in laboratory and field tests.
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