Search

Core data from five boreholes drilled in 2017 in the Colosseum hypogea are of great interest for defining the Middle Pleistocene fluvial paleogeography and paleoenvironment in the Roman Basin. A detailed facies analysis and lithostratigraphic correlation with numerous other core and outcrop data from nearby areas, including the Palatine, Roman Forum, and Capitoline Hill, were performed in order to precisely reconstruct the subsoil of the monument and of the wider archaeological area. Two well-defined paleovalley infills have been identified, whose formation was linked to sea-level changes correlated to MIS 12-11 and MIS 5d-1 and associated with the ancient Tiber River and the recent Fosso Labicano stream, respectively. The Middle Pleistocene paleovalley stretches in the N-S direction, reaching a width of up to 500 m. It was extensively carved during MIS 12 into older volcano-sedimentary interfluves (MIS 16-13) and the Pliocene substratum. The valley infill is 40 m thick and corresponds to the Fosso del Torrino formation, deposited during the MIS 12-11 transition. This formation comprises basal gravels that grade upward to cross-bedded channelized sandstone, which contains remains of vertebrates such as Palaeoloxodon antiquus and Bos primigenius. Additionally, the formation includes floodplain clays and silt with interbedded lignite seams and tephra. The western side of the Colosseum is founded on pebbles and sands of an eastward-directed concave side of the paleovalley, while floodplain and marshy deposits are found further west beneath the Palatine hill, on the convex bank of the ancient river. The paleovalley trunk of the historical centre of Rome correlates well with the downstream fluvial sandstones cropping out at the fossiliferous site of Via Ostiense in the Colli di San Paolo area, where lateral input from an ancient left bank tributary is inferred., Journal of Mediterranean Earth Sciences, Vol. 15 (2023): In progress

The Mission Launch date: 07 November 2021 Mission name: KSM1 (Kleos Scouting Mission) Satellites names: KSM1-A, KSM1-B, KSM1-C, KSM1-D NORAD-ID: 46912, 46914, 46906, 46907 Application: RF Reconnaissance and Geospatial Intelligence Mission characteristics: Kleos Space SA (KSS) Scouting Mission (KSM) first cluster of spacecraft, was launched on the 7th of November 2021, comprising four 6U cubesat flying in a close formation. The formation maintains the along and across track distance between the four spacecraft, enabling KSS proprietary algorithms to geolocate Radio Frequency transmitters. GSaaS: Leaf Space provides communication through their Leaf Line GSaaS (Ground Segment as-a-Service) with stations in Italy and Spain supporting the mission with UHF

The Italian Department of Civil Protection has published the "Standards for representation and computer archiving for seismic microzonation" (Decree Law No. 39/2009 Art.11), with the aim of homogenizing the geological-technical and geophysical information used for the production of seismic microzonation maps in Italy. The technical and documentary data collected by the municipal and regional Administrations are provided to designated professionals for the realization of studies and maps of seismic microzonation. Seismic microzonation studies complying with the MS standards are validated and stored in a centralized database (PostgreSQL-PostGIS) at CNR-IGAG (National Research Council - Institute of environmental geology and geoengineering). For the study presented here, data concerning lithotypes, geophysical and geotechnical parameters have been extracted from the centralized archive, with the aim of conducting a statistical analysis on the relationships between the shear wave velocities (Vs), collected from geophysical surveys (down-hole), and the different lithotypes encountered in borehole logs. Examining the geophysical and lithological data, the Vs values show a significant variability according to the lithotype and are indicative in delineating the limits of geological change, in particular to reconstruct the surface that separates the generic sedimentary cover (Vs = 800 m/s). This work is focused on the analysis of the relationships between the measured Vs values and the different lithotypes found in the geological survey stratigraphy. Different types of statistical analysis (Analysis of Variance and Multiple Post-Hoc Comparisons) were performed on the extracted data to define the range of variability of the Vs according of the lithology and the depth of sampling. The results obtained allowed us to group the different lithotypes (as defined in MS standard) in specific geological-technical categories with similar behavior (range of variability) of shear wave velocities. Finally, the geostatistical analysis techniques (such as ordinary and Bayesian Kriging) were applied in order to produce estimated maps of Vs30.

After the strong earthquakes that hit central Italy in recent months, the Center for Seismic Microzonation and its applications (CentroMS) of CNR was designated by the Italian Department of Civil Protection to conduct the study of seismic microzonation of the territories affected by the earthquake of August 24, 2016. As part of the activities of microzonation, CNR IGAG has carried out WebEQ, a management tool of the data that have been acquired by all participants (i.e., more than twenty research institutes and university departments). The data collection was organized and divided into sub-areas, assigned to working groups with multidisciplinary expertise in geology, geophysics and engineering. WebEQ is a web-GIS System that helps all the subjects involved in the data collection activities, through tools aimed at data uploading and validation, and with a simple GIS interface to display, query and download geographic data. WebEQ is contributing to the creation of a large database containing geographical data, both vector and raster, from various sources and types.