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The selection of ground motion models, and the representation of their epistemic uncertainty in the form of a logic tree, is one of the fundamental components of probabilistic seismic hazard and risk analysis. A new ground motion model (GMM) logic tree has been developed for the 2020 European seismic hazard model, which develops upon recently compiled ground motion data sets in Europe. In contrast to previous European seismic hazard models, the new ground model logic tree is built around the scaled backbone concept. Epistemic uncertainties are represented as calibrations to a reference model and aim to characterise the potential distributions of median ground motions resulting from variability in source scaling and attenuation. These scaled backbone logic trees are developed and presented for shallow crustal seismic sources in Europe. Using the new European strong motion flatfile, and capitalising on recent perspectives in ground motion modelling in the scientific literature, a general and transferable procedure is presented for the construction of a backbone model and the regionalisation of epistemic uncertainty. This innovative approach forms a general framework for revising and updating the GMM logic tree at national and European scale as new strong motion data emerge in the future. Horizon 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100007601

The main goal of WP3 is to advance the operational earthquake forecasting capabilities at different spatial scales. This deliverable contains the description of the repository where all promising codes of the OEF models that have been produced in the first 30 months of the project have been uploaded. Since all codes have to be tested in WP7 in the last year of the project, the structure of this deliverable has been agreed with colleagues working at WP7. The repository contains both the codes that will be used in the WP7 testing phase, and a detailed description of each model. In this document we will describe the main features of the repository and the link where codes and descriptions can be found. Then, we will briefly summarize the main features of the models that are contained in the repository. At the time of this deliverable, eight models have been submitted to the repository; however, at the end of the project we expect to have more; in fact, some additional models are almost finished, but not yet ready for the testing phase and so they have not been uploaded yet; very likely, they will be uploaded soon and tested in WP7 in the last year of the project. In this first phase the repository is kept private (available only after a specific request to the WP leader) to leave the time to the modelers to finalize the scientific papers relative to their models. The repository will be then made public through the platform Zenodo at the end of the project.

International audience; The relationships between volcanic activity and tectonics at the southernmost termination of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), East Africa, still represent a debated problem in the MER evolution. New constraints on the timing, evolution and characteristics of the poorly documented volcanic activity of the Dilo and Mega volcanic fields (VF), near the Kenya-Ethiopia border are here presented and discussed. The new data delineate the occurrence of two distinct groups of volcanic rocks: 1) Pliocene subalkaline basalts, observed only in the Dilo VF, forming a lava basement faulted during a significant rifting phase; 2) Quaternary alkaline basalts, occurring in the two volcanic fields as pyroclastic products and lava flows issued from monogenetic edifices and covering the rift-related faults. 40Ar/39Ar dating constrains the emplacement time of the large basal lava plateau to ~3.7 Ma, whereas the youngest volcanic activity characterising the two areas dates back to 134 ka (Dilo VF) to as recent as the Holocene (Mega VF). Volcanic activity developed along tectonic lineaments independent from those of the rift. No direct relations are observed between the Pliocene, roughly N-S-trending major boundary faults of the Ririba rift and the NE-SW-oriented structural trend characteristic of the Quaternary volcanic activity. We speculate that this change in structural trend may be the expression of (1) inherited crustal structures affecting the distribution of the recent volcanic vents, and (2) a local stress field controlled by differences in crustal thickness, following a major episode of reorganization of extensional structures in the region due to rift propagation and abandonment

Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) play an essential role in bacterial adaptation and evolution. These elements are enriched within bacterial communities from extreme environments. However, very little is known if specific genes co-occur with MGEs in extreme environments and, if so, what their function is. We used shotgun-sequencing to analyse the metagenomes of 12 soil samples and characterized the composition of MGEs and the genes co-occurring with them. The samples ranged from less arid coastal sites to the inland hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, as well as from sediments below boulders, protected from UV-irradiation. MGEs were enriched at the hyperarid sites compared with sediments from below boulders and less arid sites. MGEs were mostly co-occurring with genes belonging to the Cluster Orthologous Group (COG) categories &ldquo In general, genes coding for transcriptional regulators and histidine kinases were the most abundant genes proximal to MGEs. Genes involved in energy production were significantly enriched close to MGEs at the hyperarid sites. For example, dehydrogenases, reductases, hydrolases and chlorite dismutase and other enzymes linked to nitrogen metabolism such as nitrite- and nitro-reductase. Stress response genes, including genes involved in antimicrobial and heavy metal resistance genes, were rarely found near MGEs. The present study suggests that MGEs could play an essential role in the adaptation of the soil microbiome in hyperarid desert soils by the modulation of housekeeping genes such as those involved in energy production. replication, recombination and repair,&rdquo signal transduction mechanisms.&rdquo transcription&rdquo and &ldquo &ldquo

AbstractStrong explosive eruptions of volcanoes throw out mixtures of gases and ash from high-pressure underground reservoirs. Investigating these subsurface reservoirs may help to forecast and characterize an eruption. In this study, we compare seismic tomography results with remote sensing and petrology data to identify deep and subaerial manifestations of pre-eruptive processes at Bezymianny volcano in Kamchatka shortly before its violent explosion on December 20, 2017. Based on camera networks we identify precursory rockfalls, and based on satellite radar data we find pre-eruptive summit inflation. Our seismic network recorded the P and S wave data from over 500 local earthquakes used to invert for a 3D seismic velocity distribution beneath Bezymianny illuminating its eruptive state days before the eruption. The derived tomography model, in conjunction with the presence of the high-temperature-stable SiO2 polymorph Tridymite in juvenile rock samples , allowed us to infer the coexistence of magma and gas reservoirs revealed as anomalies of low (1.5) and high (2.0) Vp/Vs ratios, respectively, located at depths of 2–3 km and only 2 km apart. The reservoirs both control the current eruptive activity: while the magma reservoir is responsible for episodic dome growth and lava flow emplacements, the spatially separated gas reservoir may control short but powerful explosive eruptions of Bezymianny.

The understanding of forced temporal variations in celestial pole motion (CPM) could bring us significantly closer to meeting the accuracy goals pursued by the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), i.e., 1 mm accuracy and 0.1 mm/year stability on global scales in terms of the Earth orientation parameters. Besides astronomical forcing, CPM excitation depends on the processes in the fluid core and the core–mantle boundary. The same processes are responsible for the variations in the geomagnetic field (GMF). Several investigations were conducted during the last decade to find a possible interconnection of GMF changes with the length of day (LOD) variations. However, less attention was paid to the interdependence of the GMF changes and the CPM variations. This study uses the celestial pole offsets (CPO) time series obtained from very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations and data such as spherical harmonic coefficients, geomagnetic jerk, and magnetic field dipole moment from a state-of-the-art geomagnetic field model to explore the correlation between them. In this study, we use wavelet coherence analysis to compute the correspondence between the two non-stationary time series in the time–frequency domain. Our preliminary results reveal interesting common features in the CPM and GMF variations, which show the potential to improve the understanding of the GMF’s contribution to the Earth’s rotation. Special attention is given to the corresponding signal between FCN and GMF and potential time lags between geomagnetic jerks and rotational variations. J.M.F was partially supported by Spanish Projects PID2020-119383GB-I00 (AEI/FEDER, UE) and PROMETEO/2021/030 (Generalitat Valenciana). S.B was supported by the Generalitat Valenciana SEJIGENT program (SEJIGENT/2021/001) and by the European Research Council (ERC) under the ERC2017-STG SENTIFLEX project (Grant Agreement 755617).

Artificial light at night is a novel anthropogenic stressor. The resulting ecological light pollution affects a wide breadth of biological systems on many spatio-temporal scales, from individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. However, a widely-applicable measurement method for nocturnal light providing spatially resolved full-spectrum radiance over the full solid angle is still missing. Here, we explain the first step to fill this gap, by using a commercial digital camera with a fisheye lens to acquire vertical plane multi-spectral (RGB) images covering the full solid angle. We explain the technical and practical procedure and software to process luminance and correlated color temperature maps and derive illuminance. We discuss advantages and limitations and present data from different night-time lighting situations. The method provides a comprehensive way to characterize nocturnal light in the context of ecological light pollution. It is affordable, fast, mobile, robust, and widely-applicable by non-experts for field work.