SUMMARY
On 29 December 2020, a shallow earthquake of magnitude Mw 6.4 struck northern Croatia, near the town of Petrinja, more than 24 hr after a strong foreshock (ML 5). We formed a reconnaissance ...team of European geologists and engineers, from Croatia, Slovenia, France, Italy and Greece, rapidly deployed in the field to map the evidence of coseismic environmental effects. In the epicentral area, we recognized surface deformation, such as tectonic breaks along the earthquake source at the surface, liquefaction features (scattered in the fluvial plains of Kupa, Glina and Sava rivers), and slope failures, both caused by strong motion. Thanks to this concerted, collective and meticulous work, we were able to document and map a clear and unambiguous coseismic surface rupture associated with the main shock. The surface rupture appears discontinuous, consisting of multi-kilometre en échelon right stepping sections, along a NW–SE striking fault that we call the Petrinja-Pokupsko Fault. The observed deformation features, in terms of kinematics and trace alignments, are consistent with slip on a right lateral fault, in agreement with the focal solution of the main shock. We found mole tracks, displacement on faults affecting natural features (e.g. drainage channels), scarplets and more frequently breaks of anthropogenic markers (roads, fences). The surface rupture is observed over a length of ∼13 km from end-to-end, with a maximum displacement of 38 cm, and an average displacement of ∼10 cm. Moreover, the liquefaction extends over an area of nearly 600 km2 around the epicentre. Typology of liquefaction features include sand blows, lateral spreading phenomenon along the road and river embankments, as well as sand ejecta of different grain size and matrix. Development of large and long fissures along the fluvial landforms, current or ancient, with massive ejections of sediments is pervasive. These features are sometimes accompanied by small horizontal displacements. Finally, the environmental effects of the earthquake appear to be reasonably consistent with the usual scaling relationships, in particular the surface faulting. This rupture of the ground occurred on or near traces of a fault that shows clear evidence of Quaternary activity. Further and detailed studies will be carried out to characterize this source and related faults in terms of future large earthquakes potential, for their integration into seismic hazard models.
We present a paleoenvironmental reconstruction for the mountain fringe between the South-Eastern Alps and the Northern Dinarides (NE-Italy/W-Slovenia) during the Last Glacial Maximum. We focused on a ...new sedimentary and paleoecological archive spanning the LGM acme, located in an aggrading, permanently flooded and ponded plain, dammed by an active fluvioglacial megafan. The ecosystem reconstruction, based on two high resolution pollen records, is supported by a rich plant macrofossil flora and constrained by a robust radiocarbon chronology between 26 and 22calka BP. We show evidence for persistence of boreal trees and of different open boreal forest types throughout the LGM at the south-eastern mountain fringe of the Alps and the Northern Dinarides. Fire frequency is responsible for high, oscillating forest openness. The paleobotanical record is discussed in the light of the ecogeographic diversity of the region. A belt formed by Swiss stone pine, larch and dwarf mountain pine on limestone bedrock, and accompanied by Spruce in the floodplain, extended uphill, while proximal outwash plain supported Scots pine and dwarf mountain pine. These differences arise from groundwater regimes rather than from local climate variability. A steep moisture gradient from the semiarid pedoclimatic regime prevailing in the Adriatic alluvial plain to the forested mountain fringe is related to the orographic rainout triggered by southern air circulation. Mesophytic broad-leaved forest trees did not withstand the LGM temperature extremes in zonal ecosystems at the Alpine–Dinaric fringe; however, the fossil evidence suggests a number of microrefugia in karstic and thermal spring habitats of the northern Adriatic.
•Paleoenvironmental reconstruction at Alps–Dinarides fringe during the Last Glacial Maximum•Relationships between regional geological frame, sedimentary environments, and forest history•Persistence of trees and of different types of open boreal forest throughout the LGM
Biodynamic (BD) agriculture became the subject of research efforts during the past decades, whereas a part of the scientific community looks at the BD method with skepticism and marks it as dogmatic. ...Nevertheless, as explored in this review, a fair share of the available peer-reviewed research results of controlled field experiments as well as case studies show effects of BD preparations on yield, soil quality and biodiversity. Moreover, BD preparations express a positive environmental impact in terms of energy use and efficiency. However, the underlying natural science mechanistic principle of BD preparations is still under investigation. In addition, quality determination methods, based on holistic approaches, are increasingly being investigated and recognized. BD farming strives, as manifested in several publications, to positively impact cultural landscape design as well. Summarized data showed that further research is needed and thus encouraged in the field of food quality comparison/determination, food safety, environmental performance (e.g., footprints), and on the effects of BD farming practices on farm animals.
The effect of a ‘cover crop–vegetable cash crop’ intercropping system on arthropod dynamics and biodiversity, was investigated in four different European countries (Italy, Denmark, Germany, and ...Slovenia), by means of two-seasonal experiments. The soil arthropod fauna was used to compare the ecosystem services of living mulched systems with sole crop ones. The living mulch (LM) technique did not affect the infestation of cabbage caterpillar Pieris spp., showing no detrimental effect of this technique on this key pest of cabbage. In Denmark, aphid populations were higher in the sole crop system than in the LM system. In Italy, a very high level of larval parasitization was detected and in 1 year the percentage of parasitization was higher in LM (88%) than in sole crop (63%). Overall, the LM positively affected the activity density of Carabid beetles, also increasing diversity and evenness of species (Italy and Slovenia) or activity density of some taxa (Slovenia and Denmark). Our results indicate a general positive influence of LM techniques on arthropods in plant/soil systems, as shown by a high level of soil biodiversity and a general lack of negative effects on the density of canopy pests.
Productivity and growth of vegetables planted as intercrops were investigated in a three-year experiment (2007-2009) according to organic farming rules in the northeast of Slovenia. White cabbage ...(Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. alba) as the main crop was planted together with intercrops: head lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. capitata), bush bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), red beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. rubra), tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum), leek (Allium porrum), and celery (Apium graveolens). The market yield of cabbage as a sole crop (41.07 t ha-1) did not differ to intercropping production with salad and red beet; yields of cabbage in intercropping with celery, leek, beans and tomato were significantly lower. All intercrops had land equivalent ratios (LER) >1.00 and the highest LER (1.62) was reached in cabbage and tomato intercropping due to the same density of tomato as an intercrop and as a sole crop. The intercropping production of white cabbage with the studied vegetables is more productive than sole cropping in terms of land use efficiency.
As the importance of information about food quality dependent on agriculture production methods has increased among many consumers, some internal quality parameters of white cabbage were investigated ...on samples from a field experiment carried out in the northeast of Slovenia. In 2008, sensory properties, mineral composition, and content of vitamin C were investigated in the samples from the control treatment and from conventional, integrated, organic, and bio-dynamic farming systems. Farming system significantly influenced the content of iron, zinc, phosphorous, potassium, manganese, and ash in fresh and dry samples, magnesium only in fresh and sodium only in dry samples. The content of ascorbic acid was higher in samples from control and biodynamic treatments compared to other three treatments. Untrained evaluators scored their preference for four characteristics (colour, odour, taste, and overall acceptability) using a nine-point hedonic scale. Statistically significant differences were shown for all characteristics. According to the overall acceptability, samples were ranked control = integrated = organic > conventional = biodynamic.
The considerable increase in sweet maize production in Europe is a direct result of the increasing demand. This review shows a lack of investigations of non-typical maize growing conditions, and also ...different research results for sweet maize, especially in Europe. The most important limiting factors in growing sweet maize under non-typical climatic conditions are soil temperature and water supply. The negative impact of lower temperatures at sowing can be mitigated by choosing appropriate cultivars (early and mid-early) and sowing times (mid-end of May, depending on the region). In temperate climates different cultivation systems are effectively used to assure warmer soils in the spring. Furthermore, different rates of mineral nitrogen (N) fertilization are advisable in different temperate climates for the highest yields, but > 120 kg N ha
−1
has no significant effect. Requirements for N should be based more on soil Nmin analyses, green manures (especially with leguminous plants) and living mulch systems to prevent environmental pollution.
Maize (
Zea mays L.) growth in non-typical maize growing regions has several limitations with respect to agronomic characteristics of cultivars, and their reactions on changes of production system in ...specific climate. Two long term field experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of plant populations (PP) on the leaf area index (LAI), grain yield and cob characteristics of maize cultivars in Maribor, Slovenia. In the first experiment, an increase of PP from 4.5 to 13.5 plants per m
2 did not affect the LAI of four older maize cultivars at the 7–9-leaf stage, but significant differences between cultivars, years and PP appeared at brooming (from 1.58 to 7.07). In this stage, a strong correlation existed between LAI and grain yield (
r=0.87**). Reduction of LAI from brooming to waxy maturity averaged 9.7%. PP explained 93–99% of the variation in grain yield depending on cultivars. Some cultivars lodged at the highest PP in some years. Increased PP significantly changed the following cob characteristics, weight of 1000 kernels, cob length, number of kernel rows, and number of kernels per row. In the second experiment, 11 recent cultivars expressed a relatively small trend of grain yield increases when PP was increased from 7 to 13 plants per m
2. At high PP, the percent of plants decaying after emergence increased up to 27% during the vegetation period. Therefore, we conclude that the information on suitable PP for each maize cultivar is one of the key factors for planning maize production.
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