The source conditions of volcanic plumes and collapsing fountains are investigated by means of large-scale experiments. In the experiments, gas-particle jets issuing from a cylindrical conduit are forced into the atmosphere at different mass flow rates. Dense jets (high particle volumetric concentration, e.g., C 0 > 0.01) generate collapsing fountains, whose height scales with the squared exit velocity. This is consistent with Bernoulli's equation, which is a good approximation if air entrainment is negligible. In this case, kinetic energy is transformed into potential energy without any significant loss by friction with the atmosphere. The dense collapsing fountain, on hitting the ground, generates an intense shear flow similar to a pyroclastic density current. Dilute hot jets (low particle volumetric concentration, e.g., C 0 < 0.01) dissipate their initial kinetic energy at much smaller heights than those predicted by Bernoulli's equation. This is an indication that part of the total mechanical energy is lost by friction with the atmosphere. Significant air entrainment results in this case, leading to the formation of a buoyant column (plume) from which particles settle similarly to pyroclastic fallout. The direct measurement of entrainment coefficient in the experiments suggests that dense collapsing fountains form only when air entrainment is not significant. This is a consequence of the large density difference between the jet and the atmosphere. Cold dilute experiments result in an entrainment coefficient of about 0.06, which is typical of pure jets of fluid dynamics. Hot dilute experiments result in an entrainment coefficient of about 0.11, which is typical of thermally buoyant plumes. The entrainment coefficients obtained by experiments were used as input data in numerical simulations of fountains and plumes. A numerical model was used to solve the classic top-hat system of governing equations, which averages the field variables (e.g., column velocity and density) across the column. The maximum heights calculated with the model agree well with those observed experimentally, showing that our entrainment coefficients are compatible with a top-hat model. Dimensional analysis of the experimental data shows that a value of 3 for the source densimetric Froude number characterizes the transition between dense collapsing fountains and dilute plumes. This value delimits the source conditions (exit velocity, conduit radius, and particle volumetric concentration) for pyroclastic flow (<3) and fallout (>3). © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Leaching experiments were carried out on fresh ash samples from Popocatépetl 2012, Etna 2011, and Etna 2012 eruptions, in order to investigate the release of compounds in both double-deionized and lake (Lake Ohrid, FYR of Macedonia) waters. The experiments were carried out using different grain sizes and variable stirring times (from 30 min to 7 days). Results were discussed in the light of changing pH and release of compounds for the different leachates. In particular, Etna samples induced alkalinization, and Popocatépetl samples induced acidification of the corresponding leachates. The release of different elements does not show correlation with the stirring time, with the measured maximum concentrations reached in the first hours of washing. General inverse correlation with grain size was observed only for Na+, K+, Cl-, Ca2+, Mg2+, SO2-4 , and Mn2+, while the other analysed elements show a complex, scattering relationship with grain size. Geochemical modelling highlights leachates' saturation only for F and Si, with Popocatépetl samples sometimes showing saturation in Fe. The analysed leachates are classified as undrinkable for humans on the basis of European laws, due to excess in F-, Mn2+, Fe, and SO2-4 (the latter only for Popocatépetl samples). Finally, the Etna 2012 and Popocatépetl leachates were used for toxicity experiments on living biota (Xenopus laevis). They are mildly toxic, and no significant differences exist between the toxic profiles of the two leachates. In particular, no significant embryo mortality was observed; while even at high dilutions, the leachates produced more than 20% of malformed larvae

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Quantitative samples of sediment for the study of the meiofauna were collected monthly beween March 1996 and February 1997 from a 7-m-deep site in the Meloria Shoals, Livorno Italy. In the Tuscan Shoals, 16 species of tardigrades were found belonging to the families Stygarctidae, Halechiniscidae, and Batillipedidae. Megastygarctides orbiculatus and Actinarctus doryphorus are reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, and a redescription of Batillipes similis is proposed.