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A digital low power pulse compressed ionosonde was developed at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Rome, Italy. The aim of this Advanced Ionospheric Sounder, AIS-INGV, is to reduce the transmitted power and, consequently, weight, size, power consumption and hardware complexity. To compensate the power reduction the most advanced HF radar techniques such as the pulse compression and a phase coherent integration are used. The ionosonde is completely programmable and a PC supports the data acquisition, control, storage and on-line processing. The first prototype was installed at Gibilmanna Ionospheric Observatory (Sicily), an interesting location in the center of Mediterranean area. The new ionosonde will contribute to ionospheric database and real time knowledge of South European ionospheric conditions for space weather applications. In this work the first results (ionograms and autoscaled characteristics) are presented and briefly discussed.

A new digital ionosonde called AIS-INGV (Advanced Ionospheric Sounder) was designed both for research and for routine service of HF radio wave propagation forecast. Nearly the entire system was developed in the Laboratorio di Geofisica Ambientale at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Rome. It exploits advanced techniques for signal analysis, recent technological devices and PC resources. This paper describes design concepts and performance of the new ionosonde.

The Italian Ionospheric Antarctic Observatory of Terra Nova Bay (74.70S, 164.11E) was recently equipped with the AIS-INGV ionosonde developed at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Rome, (Italy). This paper aims to describe briefly which are the main characteristics of the instrument and show the good quality and reliability of the recorded ionograms.

The ionosonde is a system which exploits the radar technique: it applies electromagnetic waves with variable frequency in the HF band to measure the ionospheric layers electron density, height and other parameters. This paper is a technical report on the new digital ionosonde (AIS-INGV), which was designed both for research purposes and for the routine service of the HF radiowave propagation forecast. It has been developed almost completely within the Laboratorio di Geofisica Ambientale (LGA) at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). It exploits advanced techniques for the signal analysis, recent technological devices and PC resources. The report is divided into two parts; the first is a general description of the design development, the second is a more detailed description of the blocks and circuits actually built and tested, directed to a specialist reader.

www.earth-prints.org aims to satisfy the increasing demand of fast, up-to-date, easy-accessible, and free-of-charge sources of information in all branches of Geosciences. It allows earth scientists to deposit electronic documents into its collections and to index them by subjects and keywords. Earth-prints provides a time-stamp to all deposited materials to insure precedence rights to original ideas and scientific results. It deals with copyright issues through Creative Common standards that offer a wide variety of licenses. All deposited material is made immediately available to the public. Subscribers will be sent a daily newsletter according to the topics they have signed in. The archive has a three-level hierarchical structure. The top level includes Atmosphere, Cryosphere, Hydrosphere, Solid Earth, and General. It then branches into several disciplines within the other two levels. Different collections take in different kinds of material, such as pre-prints, oral presentations, extended abstracts, published papers, conference papers, books and book chapters, posters, and Web products and databases. Earth-Prints main language is English but it accepts documents in other languages also, giving visibility to data and studies at local scale that are indeed of general interests. An abstract in English is always required. We will present a virtual tour into the many features of Earth-prints to provide all its potential users with an easy acquaintance of the system and make them explore its capabilities. Although the archive is based on latest information technology it requires no specific knowledge to be used because it manages all procedures for access, navigation, upload of documents and information retrieval through a user-friendly interface. What is the limit of open archive development? We think that the one and only limit of open archives is the eagerness of its users to share information and knowledge.

We set up a computational tool to numerically model static and quasi-static deformation generated by faulting sources embedded in plane or spherical domains. We use a Finite Element (FE) approach to automatically implement arbitrary faulting sources and calculate displacement and stress fields induced by slip on the fault. The package makes use of the capabilities of CalculiX, a non commercial FE software designed to solve field problems (see for details), and is freely distributed by request.

The historical sources of large and moderate earthquakes, earthquake catalogues and monographs exist in many depositories in Syria and European centers. They have been studied, and the detailed review and analysis resulted in a catalogue with 181 historical earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D. Numerous original documents in Arabic, Latin, Byzantine and Assyrian allowed us to identify seismic events not mentioned in previous works. In particular, detailed descriptions of damage in Arabic sources provided quantitative information necessary to re-evaluate past seismic events. These large earthquakes (I0>VIII) caused considerable damage in cities, towns and villages located along the northern section of the Dead Sea fault system. Fewer large events also occurred along the Palmyra, Ar-Rassafeh and the Euphrates faults in Eastern Syria. Descriptions in original sources document foreshocks, aftershocks, fault ruptures, liquefaction, landslides, tsunamis, fires and other damages. We present here an updated historical catalogue of 181 historical earthquakes distributed in 4 categories regarding the originality and other considerations, we also present a table of the parametric catalogue of 36 historical earthquakes (table I) and a table of the complete list of all historical earthquakes (181 events) with the affected locality names and parameters of information quality and completeness (table II) using methods already applied in other regions (Italy, England, Iran, Russia) with a completeness test using EMS-92. This test suggests that the catalogue is relatively complete for magnitudes >6.5. This catalogue may contribute to a comprehensive and unified parametric earthquake catalogue and to a realistic assessment of seismic hazards in Syria and surrounding regions.

This book contains the proceedings of the 1st WSEAS International Conference on Environmental and Geological Science and Engineering (EG'08) which was held in Malta, September 11-13, 2008. This conference aims to disseminate the latest research and applications in Renewable Energy, Mineral Resources, Natural Hazards and Risks, Environmental Impact Assessment, Urban and Regional Planning Issues, Remote Sensing and GIS, and other relevant topics and applications. The friendliness and openness of the WSEAS conferences, adds to their ability to grow by constantly attracting young researchers. The WSEAS Conferences attract a large number of well-established and leading researchers in various areas of Science and Engineering as you can see from http://www.wseas.org/reports. Your feedback encourages the society to go ahead as you can see in http://www.worldses.org/feedback.htm The contents of this Book are also published in the CD-ROM Proceedings of the Conference. Both will be sent to the WSEAS collaborating indices after the conference: www.worldses.org/indexes In addition, papers of this book are permanently available to all the scientific community via the WSEAS E-Library. Expanded and enhanced versions of papers published in this conference proceedings are also going to be considered for possible publication in one of the WSEAS journals that participate in the major International Scientific Indices (Elsevier, Scopus, EI, ACM, Compendex, INSPEC, CSA .... see: www.worldses.org/indexes) these papers must be of high-quality (break-through work) and a new round of a very strict review will follow. (No additional fee will be required for the publication of the extended version in a journal). WSEAS has also collaboration with several other international publishers and all these excellent papers of this volume could be further improved, could be extended and could be enhanced for possible additional evaluation in one of the editions of these international publishers. Finally, we cordially thank all the people of WSEAS for their efforts to maintain the high scientific level of conferences, proceedings and journals.

Physico-chemical variations in groundwater are potential indicators of crustal stress linked to seismic activity. In Italy, non-volcanic regions still lack standardised, continuous monitoring. The MEET (Monitoring Earth's Evolution and Tectonics) project, funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, aims to fill this gap by installing 25 high-frequency groundwater monitoring stations. These automatically record temperature, electrical conductivity, water level, and, at selected sites, dissolved CO₂ pressure, supported by a FAIR-compliant data infrastructure. Ten stations are already active in Valle d'Aosta, Liguria, Abruzzo, Marche, and Calabria. This work illustrates the network's technical features, siteselection criteria, and first results from monitored springs and wells, highlighting the importance of the integration of geochemical, geological, and seismotectonic data. Completion by 2026 will advance knowledge of crustal fluid dynamics and research on the relation between physico-chemical groundwaters variations and earthquake events in Italy.

This study presents the first quantitative evaluation of natural hydrogen prospectivity in Italy, developed within the EU-funded NHEAT-Natural Hydrogen for Energy trAnsiTion-project. It integrates geological, geochemical, and geophysical data through a reaction-specific workflow, and introduces a semi-quantitative hydrogen prospectivity index to classify and rank potential exploration target areas, primarily based on source rocks. The results identify Tuscany as the top-priority region, where granitoid-hosted hydrothermal systems are associated with documented H 2 emissions. The Voltri Massif shows moderate potential linked to active serpentinization, while the Northern Apennines may potentially preserve fossil H 2. In the Ivrea-Verbano Zone, granitoids of Calabria and Sardinia, and in the Western and Central Alps, H 2 could be generated from low-temperature secondary oxidation reactions. The Po Basin may sustain organic-related H 2 production. This national-scale assessment highlights Italy as a natural laboratory for diverse hydrogen systems and provides a transferable workflow for identifying and developing natural hydrogen resources worldwide.

The Neogene mineralized region of the Colline Metallifere in southern Tuscany (Italy) provides a natural laboratory to investigate feedback between fluid-rock interaction, structurally controlled fluid flow, and hydrothermal ore mineralization. This study focuses on the Fe-Cu-Pb-Zn deposit of Fenice Capanne, located south of the active Larderello-Travale geothermal system, where marly-limestone caprocks of the Liguride Complex preserve evidence of permeability creation and destruction above a regional geothermal reservoir. A multidisciplinary approach was applied to reconstruct the evolution of the hydrothermal system. Two main alteration stages were identified. An early prograde, high-temperature skarn metasomatism was associated with the growth of clinopyroxene-garnet assemblages and characterized by substantial gains in Si, Fe, Mn, and Ca, resulting in a large volume increase (up to ∼400%). Reaction-induced fracturing generated secondary permeability, which superimposed on primary permeability related to bedding and lithological anisotropies, enhancing hydraulic connectivity. A subsequent retrograde stage, below ∼300°C, was driven by mixing between meteoric and saline magmatic-derived fluids, or those derived from evaporite interaction, and resulted in renewed fracturing, brecciation, and extensive quartz-sulphide veining. These processes recorded cyclic variations in fluid composition, redox conditions, salinity, and boiling associated with transient pressure drops during hydraulic fracturing. Overall, the Ligurian marly-limestone sequence evolved from a low-permeability sedimentary seal into a reactive mineralized system capable of sustaining transient hydrothermal circulation. Structural connectivity controlled by faulting and reaction-induced fracturing governed both permeability evolution and mineralization. These results demonstrate that sedimentary caprocks can behave as dynamic components of the hydrothermal systems, with important implications for geothermal fluid flow, metal transport, and reservoir evolution. Plain Language Summary Geothermal systems rely on impermeable rock layers, known as caprocks, to trap hot fluids at depth and allow heat to be exploited. These caprocks are usually considered stable and, long-lasting seals. However, in tectonically active regions, faults and circulating hot fluids can change their physical and chemical properties, potentially allowing fluids to escape. In this study, we investigate the Fenice Capanne mining district in southern Tuscany (Italy), a hydrothermal system near the active Larderello-Travale geothermal field. By studying rocks that were once part of a geothermal caprock and are now exposed at the surface, we reconstruct how faulting and fluid-rock interaction altered permeability over time. Our results show that chemical reactions between rocks and hot fluids caused volume expansion, fracturing, and repeated opening and sealing of fluid pathways within originally low-permeability rocks. These processes temporarily transformed the caprock into a fluid conduit, allowing hydrothermal fluids to circulate, mix, and locally deposit metals such as iron, copper, lead, and zinc. This study demonstrates that caprocks are not always passive barriers but can behave as dynamic systems whose permeability is transient and evolve in space and time. Understanding how and when caprocks sustain structural permeability is important for improving geothermal reservoir models and predicting mineralization in geothermal environments.

Submarine volcanism represents one of the most abundant forms of volcanic activity on Earth, yet it remains poorly studied due to the limited accessibility. In Antarctica, the remoteness and arduous climate conditions have restricted research on submarine volcanoes to only a few regions, particularly the Bransfield Strait. This back-arc basin, separating the South Shetland Islands from the Antarctic Peninsula, hosts numerous submarine volcanic edifices along its main axis. An eruption from these volcanoes could both impact the local ecosystem, potentially disrupting the Antarctic trophic chain, and pose a direct hazard to nearby scientific stations, as the shallow water depths increase the likelihood of explosive hydrovolcanic eruptions and tsunami triggering. Previous geochemical studies of volcanic rocks collected along the basin have characterised the relationship between magma compositions and their geodynamic setting, however, the magmatic plumbing systems of these submarine volcanic edifices are still poorly known. To address this gap, this work presents a petrological and geochemical study of juvenile volcanic samples from three of the seven main submarine volcanoes: Edifice C, Three Sisters and Orca. The results identify the magmatic storage regions at maximum depths of 12-17 km, consistent with previous geophysical estimates, and magma temperatures of up to 1130-1180 • C, matching magmas of similar compositions. Magmas rapidly ascended (from hours to days) beneath the three volcanoes. This research represents the first approach to decipher the magmatic plumbing systems of these submarine volcanoes, providing essential parameters for a strengthening hazard assessment in this region.