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Global warming has prompted globally widespread permafrost thawing, resulting in enhanced greenhouse gas release into the atmosphere. Studies conducted in the Northern Hemisphere reveal an alarming increase in permafrost thawing. However, similar data from Antarctica are scarce. We conducted a 2‐D Deep Electrical Resistivity Tomography (DERT) survey in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, to image the distribution of permafrost, its thicknesses, lower boundaries, and hydrogeology. Results show resistive, discontinuous domains that we suggest represent permafrost units. We also find highly conductive layers (5–10 Ω·m), between 300–350 m and 600–650 m below ground level and a shallower (∼50–100 m depth) conductive layer. The combined data set reveals a broad brine system in Taylor Valley, implying multi‐tiered groundwater circulation: a shallow, localized system linked with surface water bodies and a separate deeper, regional circulation system. The arrangement of these brines across different levels, coupled with the uneven permafrost distribution, underscores potential interplay between the two systems. Plain Language Summary: Permafrost (perennially frozen ground) and its increasing thaw is a key indicator of climate change. The gradual increase of global temperature accelerates permafrost thawing at high latitudes, resulting in enhanced carbon release into the atmosphere, ultimately exacerbating global warming. During the austral summer of 2020, we conducted an electrical resistivity survey in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, to map the thickness of permafrost, determine its lower boundaries and identify the presence and connectivity of saline groundwater at depth. The ice‐free Dry Valleys are the only place in Antarctica where it is possible to study the permafrost directly. Results show a complex distribution of permafrost, with layers of saline groundwater at different levels. We recognized two distinct zones: one of low resistivity around Lake Fryxell, related to the presence of two systems of brines at different depths, and the other displaying typical ice‐rich frozen ground resistivity values near Coral Ridge. These findings reveal variations in permafrost thickness and brine depth along the valley, both horizontally and vertically. Our research identifies a multi‐level groundwater circulation system: a shallow, local network, connected to surface water bodies like Lake Fryxell, above a deeper, regional system. Key Points: Resistivity data show a complex hydrogeological scenario, with uneven permafrost distribution and different levels of brinesResults show a multi‐tiered system of groundwater circulation of brines: a shallow system connected to the surface and a deeper regional systemObservations are consistent with a model of upwelling of over pressured deep brines enhancing permafrost thawing from beneath [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monitoring of the integrity of onshore geological carbon capture and storage projects will require an approach that integrates various methods with different spatial and temporal resolutions. One method proven to be quite effective for site assessment, leakage monitoring, and leakage verification is near-surface gas geochemistry, which includes soil gas concentration and gas flux measurements. Anomalous concentrations or fluxes, relative to the natural background values, can indicate the potential occurrence of a leak. However the natural background can be quite variable, especially for CO2, due to biological production and accumulation in the soil that changes as a function of soil type, land use, geology, temperature, water content, and various other parameters. To better understand how these parameters influence natural, near-surface background values, and to examine the potential of different sampling strategies as a function of the survey goals, this paper reports results from two highly different case studies, one from northern Europe (Voulund, Denmark) and one from southern Europe (Sulcis, Sardinia, Italy). The small Voulund site, with its homogeneous soil, climate, and topography, was surveyed twice (in fall and in spring) within the EU-funded SiteChar project to examine the effects of different land use practices and seasons on baseline values. Forested land was found to have lower CO2 concentrations during both campaigns compared to cultivated and heath land, and higher CH4 values during the spring sampling campaign. Continuous monitoring probes showed much more detail, highlighting seasonal changes in soil gas CO2 concentrations linked primarily to temperature variations. The much larger Sulcis site, studied within an ENEA-funded project on potential CO2-ECBM (Enhanced Coal Bed Methane) deployment, was surveyed at the regional scale and on detailed grids and transects for site assessment purposes. Despite the completely different soil and climate conditions, the statistical distribution of the Sulcis data was similar to that of Voulund. Much higher soil gas CO2 anomalies were found at this site, however, due to the less permeable sediments (i.e., better water retention and greater gas accumulation) and the warmer temperatures. Detailed surveys at this site highlighted various significant anomalies, some of which can be explained by near surface biological processes, whereas others, especially helium anomalies, were more difficult to explain. These results show the utility of baseline surveys, and highlight the need for follow-up studies to clarify any unexplained anomalies before any CO2 storage.

In the modern debate about environmental problems speaking of Cosimo De Giorgi's belief that very much could be obtained using solar and wind energies is a further testimony of modernity of his scientific activity and attention to social life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Here it is underlined a feature referring to the lecture of some specific passages of De Situ Japygiae, that is Galateo's methodological and epistemological approach to issues more specifically concerning the sphere of lato sensu scientific-naturalistic enquire. Starting from a discussion of some questions previously pointed out by some authors, other points of view are proposed here to promote a further reflection on these specific topics. Galateo's encyclopedic character, his learned and naturalistic passion, find their placing in a claim of intellectual autonomy and Aristotelian philosophical rationality, justifying a true innovation in declared methodological and epistemological terms as an anticipation of the modern "Natural Philosophy". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his Fauna del Regno di Napoli, published in Naples after 1829, Oronzo Gabriele Costa, one of the most famous Italian zoologists, attributes the popular denomination "surice ulante" to the Mus meridionalis, while his son Giuseppe, a zoologist too, in his Fauna salentina, published in Lecce in 1871, attributes the popular denomination "surge ulateu" to the Crocidura hydruntina, a species of shrew he had discovered. Because in the dictionaries of local dialects both denominations appear translated as "flying mouse" and are attributed to a bat, one wonders why on earth in popular belief the ability to fly is also given to a harvest mouse and a shrew. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spectacular Lusi eruption started in northeast Java, Indonesia, on May 29th, 2006, continuously erupting mud, water, gas, oil, and clasts ever since. Lusi is a hybrid system between a traditional sedimentary volcano and a pure hydrothermal system fuelled by magmatic heat (Mazzini et al., 2007). Estimates of gas released from the Lusi vent represent a challenging goal. The 100 m sized active crater expels 100 °C mud breccia and a dense vapour plume that erects fr several tens of meters in the air. This vent is located at the center of a 600 m diameter inaccessible hydrothermal pond. In addition Lusi is characterized by a geysering activity with periodical violent burst of mud reoccuring every ~20 minutes (Karyono et al., 2017).In March 2017 remote controlled drone missions were completed in order to quantify the total CO2 output released from the central active area. The equipment used was a in house-designed and assembled esacopter (Lusi drone) to which was mounted a GasPro CO2 monitoring probe designed to measure, together with temperature, the concentration of CO2 (1 measurement per second, up to 5%) and equipped with a GPS. An internal pump with a flow rate 1.4 l/min and a small measuring chamber of the Non-Dispersive infrared sensor of only 6 cm3 allows it to have extremely fast response time. Numerous flight profiles were performed intersecting the crater plume during the various activity phases of the eruption site. The flight height was kept constant at ~¨8 m over this flat area. In order to minimize the effects of the propellers turbulence, a 5m long silicon tube was attached at the CO2 sensor's gas input resulting in a final sampling height at 3 m above the vent. This design slowed the sensor response by 10 seconds, but allowed a more realistic quantification of the CO2 readings. The elaborate data collected during the two weeks experiments reveal CO2 values ranging from 0.1%vol to 1.9%vol, depending on the phases of activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In geosciences, the analysis of the spatial distribution of radon (222Rn) concentrations in the shallow environment provides insights into a range of primary spatial geochemical/geophysical processes. Among the soil gases, 222Rn is considered a convenient fault tracer, because of its ability to migrate to long distances from host rocks, as well as the efficiency of detecting it at very low levels. In the scientific literature, many papers are focused on Rn as tracer of hidden faults, and reported evidences suggest that Rn anomalies are significantly higher than background levels along active faults thus providing reliable information about the fault location and the shallow geometry of the associated fracture zones (Annunziatellis et al., 2008; Ciotoli et al., 2007, 2014; Seminsky et al., 2014; Davidson et al., 2016). In this work, 1200 soil gas radon measurements were carried out at different scales across exposed and buried structural discontinuities in the Fucino plain (central Italy). Linear radon anomalies along the fault strike constitute the main distribution pattern suggesting the extension of the fault domain. Geostatistical analysis of radon data provided a correlation between the anisotropic shape and the orientation of radon anomalies, and the different fault geometry: broader anomalies linked to a wider and low permeability buried fracture zone in the western sector of the plain; high values and more sharp anomalies along the high permeability fractured zone of the active San Benedetto-Gioia dei Marsi Fault (SBGMF) bordering the eastern side of the plain. However, the intensity of radon anomalies can vary along the fault strike due to permeability and/or porosity changes (i.e., geometry and maturity).A re-interpretation of the dataset in the light of new seismic data interpretation (Cara et al., 2011) provides new hypotheses regarding the link between radon migration and the process of fault evolution during the progressive linkage mechanism of several fault segments. In particular, radon distribution appears to be controlled by the highest offsets in the case of early stage of the fault and by presence of highly fractured transfer zones at the tips of the fault segments during the linkage process. Furthermore, the cyclicity of the spatial distribution of offsets and radon peaks along the fault strike may confirm the presence of distinct segments of the SBMF with a typical geometry, e.g. relay ramps, suggesting that the linkage process is not completed. The double cyclicity of the cover thickness with respect to the radon values can be interpreted in terms of the evolution of the faults. In fact, as the most fractured area is usually located at the fault tip where relay ramps and secondary faults can be developed, this would result in a symmetrical and opposite distribution of the radon anomalies with respect to the progress of the offset (Fossen and Rotevatn, 2016). This strict link between Rn and fault processes suggests the relation between the stress-strain changes along seismogenic faults and the anomalous signals in geogenic Rn time series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]