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Karst reservoirs have always been a key field of oil and gas exploration. However, quantifying the process of meteoric transformation remains a persistent challenge that limits the accuracy of reservoir quality prediction. To explore the controlling factors of meteoric cementation on karst reservoirs, the Majiagou Formation of the Ordos Basin in China was selected as an example. The petrology; carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotopes; and in situ major, trace, and rare earth elements were used, types and origins of calcite cements were analyzed in detail. The results revealed five types of calcite cements (Cal-1~Cal-5), four types of cathodoluminescence (CL) intensities (dull, dull red, deep red, and bright red luminescence), and six types of rare earth element patterns (Pattern-1~Pattern-6). These five types of calcite cements developed in three periods. Cal-1 (transition CL) and Cal-2 (dull CL) were precipitated during the Early Pennsylvanian period, the meteoric freshwater was clean; Cal-3 (transition CL) and Cal-4 (bright red CL) were precipitated at the end of the Late Carboniferous period, the fluids had strong dissolution ability and were polluted by terrigenous debris; Cal-5 (transition CL) was deposited during the burial period, the fluid was pure pore water or groundwater. The control of the cement on the reservoir during the burial period was much weaker than that of meteoric cements. Therefore, explorations of karst reservoirs should be focused on weak cementation during the epigenetic period.

Understanding the causes of the formation of hardgrounds provides insights on the oceanographic evolution of a basin. Phosphate-rich hardground formation interrupted carbonate ramp deposition in the Mediterranean during the Miocene. We analyzed the εNd record of three central Mediterranean hardgrounds to identify the origin of the phosphate-rich waters that formed them within the frame of Mediterranean Miocene paleoceanographic evolution. The Nd isotopes suggest that eastern Mediterranean deep waters were controlled by runoff, in contrast to Atlantic and Indian Ocean waters. This Nd isotope record attests to the weakening of Mediterranean circulation during the Miocene due to closure of the Indian Gateway. Limited exchange with Atlantic shallow seawater led to long residence times for deep waters in the basin. This record indicates the role of upwelling in formation of phosphate hardgrounds and shows the influence of global climate change and local paleoceanographic conditions.

This work focuses on the carbonate factories constituting the Pietra di Finale Fm cropping out in the Ligurian Alps. This unit constituted a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic coastal wedge developed during the Middle Miocene. The carbonate factories characterizing the coastal wedge of the Pietra di Finale clearly differ from those of the coastal mixed systems and carbonate platforms developing during the Miocene elsewhere in the Mediterranean area. Here, in the Ligurian Alps, the euphotic carbonate factory does not show any evidence of seagrass meadows and coral bioconstructions. Zooxanthellate corals are present only as skeletal debris associated with abundant stylasterids. In the mesophotic and oligophotic zones, the typical oligophotic biota of red algae and larger benthic foraminifers are strongly reduced. The coastal wedge of the Pietra di Finale shows an unusual abundance of stylasterids, classically interpreted as deep-water biota. However, in this example, the absence of low-energy textures and other skeletal components suggest a shallow-water origin, probably in the eu- or mesophotic zone. The stylasterids colonized the hard substrates available and were successively removed and resedimented to form the skeletal fraction of the coastal wedge of the Pietra di Finale. The abundance of stylasterids is restricted to particular and limited situations in the Miocene of the Mediterranean, thus suggesting that their abnormal development is controlled by local rather than global factors.

Cork oak (Quercus suber L.) is an evergreen tree native to SW Europe and NW Africa. It covers 2·106 ha in the western Mediterranean basin, forms heterogeneous forest ecosystems and represents an important source of income derived from cork production. While in Iberia, Italy, Tunisia and Algeria, drought and several endemic pathogens have been associated with cork oak decline (Moricca et al. 2016; Smahi et al. 2017), in Morocco there is no evidence, apart from overgrazing and human intervention (Fennane and Rejdali 2015), of a pathogen associated with oak decline. In December 2019, extensive dieback and mortality of 60-year-old cork oak trees were observed in a natural stand of ca 150 ha located 5 km east from Touazithe, in Maâmora forest, Morocco (34°13'38''N, 6°14'51''W - 87 m a.s.l.). Two years before, Q. suber seedlings from a local nursery were planted to increase tree density. Symptoms in trees and planted seedlings included chlorosis, reddish-brown discoloration of the whole crown and dieback starting in the upper crown. Root rot and lack of fine roots were observed. Tree mortality was estimated at ca 30%, and disease incidences of trees and seedlings were 45 and 70%, respectively. A Phytophthora species was consistently isolated from the rhizosphere of 3 symptomatic trees randomly selected at the site using leaves as bait (Jung et al. 1996). On carrot agar Phytophthora colonies were uniform and cottonwool-like. Sporangia were typically terminal, with ovoid, and obpyriform shape, mostly papillate, measuring 30.7 ± 4.7 µm length and 22.7 ± 4.1 µm wide. Oogonia were produced in single culture, and they were globose to subglobose, elongated to ellipsoid, 32.1 ± 2.9 µm in diameter and 46.1 ± 4.8 µm in length. Oospores were usually spherical, thick-walled, and measured 28.1 ± 2.4 µm. Antheridia were paragynous, mostly spherical, measuring 12.2 ± 1.4 µm. Isolates had minimum and maximum temperatures of 5 °C and 30 °C, respectively, and a growth optimum at 20 °C. Apart from the small size of sporangia, features were typical of Phytophthora quercina Jung. The identity of a representative strain (TJ1500) was corroborated by sequencing the ITS and mitochondrial cox1 gene regions, and BLAST search in GenBank showed 100% homology with sequences of the ex-type culture of P. quercina (KF358229 and KF358241 accessions, respectively). Both sequences of the representative isolate were submitted to GenBank (accessions OP086243 and OP290549). The strain TJ1500 is currently stored within the culture collections of the Mendel University in Brno and the University of Sassari. Its pathogenicity was verified and compared with a P. cinnamomi strain in a soil infestation test with one-year-old cork oak seedlings (Corcobado et al. 2017). Five months after inoculation, the symptoms described were observed in the seedlings, and fine root weight of plants inoculated with the TJ1500 strain and P. cinnamomi was reduced by 19 and 42%, respectively, in relation to non-inoculated controls. The pathogen was re-isolated from the necrotic roots, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. So far, P. quercina has been reported associated with chronic mortality of cork oak in new plantations in Spain (Martín-García et al. 2015; Jung et al. 2016) and natural forests in Italy (Seddaiu et al. 2020). To our knowledge this is the first report of P. quercina in Morocco. Givenat Morocco is an important cork producing country, our finding warns about the risk this pathogen poses to Q. suber and other North African oaks.

Geological map of Lumignano area (Vicenza, Italy) and description of its geology., {"references":["Gray M., 2008 – Geodiversity: developing the paradigm. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vo. 109, pp. 287-298","Coratza, P., Bollati, I.M., Panizza, V., Brandolini, P., Castaldini, D., Cucchi, F., Deiana, G., Del Monte, M., Faccini, F., Finocchiaro, F., Gioia, D., Melis, R., Minopoli, C., Nesci, O., Paliaga, G., Pennetta, M., Perotti, L., Pica, A., Tognetto, F., Trocciola, A., Valentini, L., Giardino, M., Pelfini, M., 2021. Advances in Geoheritage Mapping: Application to Iconic Geomorphological Examples from the Italian Landscape. Sustainability 13, 11538. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011538","Martin, S., Reynard, E., Pellitero Ondicol, R., Ghiraldi, L., 2014. Multi-scale Web Mapping for Geoheritage Visualisation and Promotion. Geoheritage 6, 141–148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-014-0102-3","Frost, S.H., 1981. Oligocene Reef Coral Biofacies of the Vicentin, Northeast Italy. SEPM Special Publications 30, 483-539. https://doi.org/10.2110/pec.81.30.0483","Nebelsick, J.H., Bassi, D., Lempp, J., 2013. Tracking paleoenvironmental changes in coralline algal-dominated carbonates of the Lower Oligocene Calcareniti di Castelgomberto formation (Monti Berici, Italy). Facies 59, 133–148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347- 012-0349-6"]}

The emissions of volcanic gases over the Earth’s history have played a major role in changing the chemistry of the terrestrial atmosphere with implications for life development and sustainability (Kasting and Catling 2003). Sedimentary rocks record geological processes that occurred at the interface between water and/or surface and atmosphere such as volcanic eruptions and other (extra)terrestrial catastrophic events. In the last decade, anomalous concentrations of mercury (Hg) in the sedimentary record have been used as a global tracer of extensive volcanism, although other sources of Hg must be taken into account as massive wildfires and continental weathering (Grasby et al. 2019). In this ongoing study, we aim at establishing the relation between geochemistry and mineralogy to explain the occurrence of Hg anomalies in sedimentary rocks distributed at regional scale. We investigated the Bonarelli level, a 0.87-m thick layer made of organic-rich shales, that outcrops at Valle della Contessa section in Gubbio (Italy). This layer records the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2; Cenomanian-Turonian, ~93 Ma), an event likely triggered by submarine volcanic emission of High Arctic and Caribbean large igneous provinces (Turgeon and Creaser 2008).We collected rock samples from ~1 m below up to ~1 m above the Bonarelli level every 5 to 10 cm including the confining limestones. Measurements of absolute Hg concentrations were performed using the Direct Mercury Analyzer (DMA-80 Tricell) and combined with the mineralogical abundance at each layer determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Additional measurements were carried out to determine the concentrations of trace elements using the inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Analyses of δ13C and total organic carbon (TOC) were also performed on the collected samples.Preliminary results show low Hg concentrations measured in the limestones less than 20 μg/kg, but anomalous high contents up to ~1600 μg/kg within the Bonarelli level. These high Hg concentrations correlate positively with chalcophile elements such as Cu, Ni and Fe. XRD semi-quantitative analysis show that oxidized (barite, jarosite) and reduced (pyrite) S-bearing minerals are among the minerals occurring in the Bonarelli level that, along with the organic matter, are good candidates to host the Hg released to the atmosphere by extensive volcanic eruptions.Kasting, J. F., & Catling, D. 2003. Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 41(1), 429-463.Grasby, S. E et al. 2019. Earth-Science Reviews, 196, 102880.Turgeon, S. C., & Creaser, R. A. 2008. Nature, 454(7202), 323-326.

The publisher regrets Fig. 1 that was intended to get published specifying the shades for clarity has been missed. The correct Fig. 1 is published below. [Figure presented] The publisher would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

The aim of this chapter is to present an automated instrument collecting the enormous amount of information available online allowing urban planners, public administrations, tourism services suppliers, and researchers to easily understand the spatial and temporal distribution of tourist behaviors towards tourist attractions in a specific area. Geo-located photos provided by Flickr are used to identify points of interest (POIs). The developed application has been tested with data automatically retrieved and collected in L'Aquila province (Italy) during the years 2005-2018. Given the richness of information, these data are able to show how POIs changed over time and how tourists reacted to the 2009 earthquake. Results demonstrate the importance of using analytics and big data in tourism research. Moreover, by using the province of L'Aquila as pilot study, it emerges that tourist behaviors change over time and space, varying among different typologies of tourists: residents, domestic, and international visitors.