Stefania Lucchesi

Bio: Stefania Lucchesi is an academic researcher from University of Turin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Glacier & Glacier morphology. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 16 publications receiving 149 citations.

New geomorphological and chronological constraints for glacial deposits in the Rivoli-Avigliana end-moraine system and the lower Susa Valley (Western Alps, NW Italy)

Abstract: Our new dataset from the Rivoli‐Avigliana end‐moraine system, the westernmost amphitheatre of the Italian Alps, provides an important step towards understanding foreland‐reaching glaciations before and during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the Western Alps. 10Be data from six boulders in pre‐LGM deposits gave ages between 26.8 ± 2.1 and 41.2 ± 1.9 ka. Based on morphological and pedological data, we interpret the oldest age as a minimum age for the glacier advance(s). 10Be results suggest that the LGM occurred in two major steps. During the first at 24.0 ± 1.5 ka, several ridges were constructed demonstrating oscillation of the Dora Riparia glacier snout at the maximum position. Our data demonstrate a significantly larger LGM extent in the Rivoli‐Avigliana amphitheatre than shown on previous maps. The maximum advance was followed by a short re‐advance of the glacier at 19.6 ± 0.9 ka, as recorded by 10Be ages from boulders in lateral positions along the lower Susa Valley. The maximum ice surface during the LGM was at 1000–920 m a.s.l. in the final reach of the valley (560–620 m of elevation above the alluvial plain) and at 620–340 m a.s.l. at the continuous moraines in the amphitheatre.

Little Ice Age and contemporary glacier extent in the Western and South-Western Piedmont Alps (North-Western Italy)

Abstract: Glaciers are widely recognized as the best terrestrial indicators of climate change. Nevertheless, changes that have occurred since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA) are often poorly understood. In Italy, glacier front variations in the last 100 years have been well documented, thanks to the efforts of the Italian Glaciological Committee (Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, CGI), which coordinates annual surveys on all glaciers, since 1927, in order to measure their front positions. However, although front variations are the easiest measurements to take in the field, they only partially describe changes that occur on the entire glacial mass. Moreover, the last national glacier inventory dates back to 1957–1958, which was promoted by the CGI on the occasion of the International Geophysical Year. Authors of the present work herein provide an updated inventory of present-day (2006) glaciers in the Western and South-Western Piedmont Alps (situated in the provinces of Turin and Cuneo). Along with the present-day...

Climate variability and Alpine glaciers evolution in Northwestern Italy from the Little Ice Age to the 2010s

Abstract: In this work, we analyze climate variability and glacier evolution for a study area in the Northwestern Italian Alps from the Little Ice Age (LIA) to the 2010s. In this area, glacier retreat has been almost continuous since the end of the LIA, and many glaciers are now extinct. We compared glaciological and climatic data in order to evaluate the sensitivity of glaciers to temperature and precipitation trends. We found that temperatures show significant warming trends, while precipitation shows no clear signal. After the 1980s, the total number of positive trends in temperature increased, particularly minimum temperature. The latter does not seem to be the only cause of glacier shrinkage but rather on acceleration of an ongoing trend documented since the end of the LIA. In some rare cases, the effects of warming trends on glacier dynamics have been accentuated by a concomitant decrease in precipitation. We hope that this study will contribute to increase the knowledge of the relationships between climate variation and glacier evolution in the Greater Alpine Region.

Synthesis on the Turin subsoil stratigraphy and hydrogeology (NW Italy)

Abstract: This work is a multidisciplinary synthesis of geological and hydrogeological researches on the subsoil of Turin and suburbs, summarizing the existing previous studies and also using new data specially collected, aimed at bringing together the different aspects of the subsoil in a single contribution. The stratigraphic setting of the Turin Plain, as examined through numerous boreholes (wells, piezometers and geognostic drillings) shows an erosional surface essentially shaped on the fine Villafranchian succession and locally on the Pliocene and pre-Pliocene sediments, on which the Quaternary gravelly outwash and fluvial cover rests. This cover, which is mainly fed by the Dora Riparia River, is relatively thin (thickness between 5 and 57 m) and highly variable in terms of facies and cementation degreee. The most recent excavation activities are also taken into consideration, which locally allowed the direct observation of the shallow subsoil stratigraphy. The geological literature reports that the setting of Turin subsoil is strictly conditioned by the Quaternary uplift of Turin Hill. The structural causes of this geological evolution and its relationship with seismicity are here summarized. The stratigraphy of Turin subsoil is also connected to the recent deviation of the Po River, which flowed south of Turin Hill (through the southern slope of Turin Hill and the Poirino Plateau) during the Middle-Upper Pleistocene and only recently develops at the NW foot of Turin Hill. A new reading of this Po deviation as an overflow is made, based both on a re-examination of all the existing data and new collected data. The hydrogeological features of the Turin subsoil are also reported, characterized by two superimposed main groundwater flow circuits, as well as the thermal regime of shallow groundwater and its geothermal potential. This work can help professional geologists for conducting geological, hydrogeological and geotechnical appraisals on Turin and suburbs. It can also be useful to researchers to reconstruct the geological and hydrogeological features of the Turin territory.

The role of geoscientists in human progress

Abstract: Like any science, geology has a key role in the development and progress of human culture and society. In this context, scientists, professionals and practitioners of Earth sciences must inevitably confront themselves with the purposes, methods and results of their studies, concerning relationships between man and his environment, which thus deals with ethical questions. An essential base for any geo-environmental action should be respect for the natural ecosystem. This can be achieved by encouraging an ‘affectionate attitude’ towards Nature or ecology. Some ancient cultures had a great awareness of the close relationships between humankind and the Earth. The recent web-based ‘Museo Torino’ (Turin Museum) multimedia product shows the ‘history of a city’ (Turin, Italy) in a dimension of unity and as a continuum of space–time–life between the history of the Earth and of humans. Geoscientists are not limited to merely having a pragmatic vision of the Earth, but should pursue harmonious collaboration between man and Nature. Within complex Earth systems, scientists and professionals rediscover their geoethical roles by responsibly evaluating and managing georesources, for progress aimed at improving conditions of life and human dignity. Geoscientists can also promote respect for ‘human rights’ through appropriate educational and training actions, for the balanced exploitation of our georesources. An example from Mendoza (Argentina) is presented here, to encourage opportunities for meetings on environmental issues among people of different backgrounds and cultures. Last, but not least, there is the ethical role of geoscientists in ‘the service of the truth’. A misleading view of Earth systems by geoscientists can lead to fatalism or myths that often affect people from the psychological and sociological points of view.

Mountain Weather and Climate

Abstract: Prefaces Acknowledgements 1. Mountains and their climatological study 2. Geographical controls of mountain meteorological elements 3. Circulation systems related to orography 4. Climatic characteristics of mountains 5. Regional case studies 6. Mountain bioclimatology 7. Changes in mountain climates Appendix General index Author index.

John Paul II

Abstract: With good reason, most critics associate the Papacy with reaction. The lingering image is one of a Renaissance holy prince lying in state beneath twisted Bernini columns, his aquiline Medici profile turned toward heaven. Popes have historically been of, and hence often for, the well-born. Their writings have been typified by a noblesse oblige attitude toward the poor who, after all, will “always be with us.” Indeed, on the one occasion when the forces of rebellion embraced a Pope — Pius IX, in the 1840s — they watched the “prince” of the Church turn back into just that. With even greater certainty ever after, the view on the Left has been that Popes will be Popes.

Modelling last glacial cycle ice dynamics in the Alps

Abstract: . The European Alps, the cradle of pioneering glacial studies, are one of the regions where geological markers of past glaciations are most abundant and well-studied. Such conditions make the region ideal for testing numerical glacier models based on simplified ice flow physics against field-based reconstructions and vice versa. Here, we use the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) to model the entire last glacial cycle (120–0 ka) in the Alps, using horizontal resolutions of 2 and 1 km. Climate forcing is derived using two sources: present-day climate data from WorldClim and the ERA-Interim reanalysis; time-dependent temperature offsets from multiple palaeo-climate proxies. Among the latter, only the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) ice core record yields glaciation during marine oxygen isotope stages 4 (69–62 ka) and 2 (34–18 ka). This is spatially and temporally consistent with the geological reconstructions, while the other records used result in excessive early glacial cycle ice cover and a late Last Glacial Maximum. Despite the low variability of this Antarctic-based climate forcing, our simulation depicts a highly dynamic ice sheet, showing that Alpine glaciers may have advanced many times over the foreland during the last glacial cycle. Ice flow patterns during peak glaciation are largely governed by subglacial topography but include occasional transfluences through the mountain passes. Modelled maximum ice surface is on average 861 m higher than observed trimline elevations in the upper Rhone Valley, yet our simulation predicts little erosion at high elevation due to cold-based ice. Finally, despite the uniform climate forcing, differencesin glacier catchment hypsometry produce a time-transgressive Last Glacial Maximum advance, with some glaciers reaching their modelled maximum extent as early as 27 ka and others as late as 21 ka.

Recurrently exploring class-wise attention in a hybrid convolutional and bidirectional LSTM network for multi-label aerial image classification.

Abstract: Aerial image classification is of great significance in the remote sensing community, and many researches have been conducted over the past few years. Among these studies, most of them focus on categorizing an image into one semantic label, while in the real world, an aerial image is often associated with multiple labels, e.g., multiple object-level labels in our case. Besides, a comprehensive picture of present objects in a given high-resolution aerial image can provide a more in-depth understanding of the studied region. For these reasons, aerial image multi-label classification has been attracting increasing attention. However, one common limitation shared by existing methods in the community is that the co-occurrence relationship of various classes, so-called class dependency, is underexplored and leads to an inconsiderate decision. In this paper, we propose a novel end-to-end network, namely class-wise attention-based convolutional and bidirectional LSTM network (CA-Conv-BiLSTM), for this task. The proposed network consists of three indispensable components: (1) a feature extraction module, (2) a class attention learning layer, and (3) a bidirectional LSTM-based sub-network. Particularly, the feature extraction module is designed for extracting fine-grained semantic feature maps, while the class attention learning layer aims at capturing discriminative class-specific features. As the most important part, the bidirectional LSTM-based sub-network models the underlying class dependency in both directions and produce structured multiple object labels. Experimental results on UCM multi-label dataset and DFC15 multi-label dataset validate the effectiveness of our model quantitatively and qualitatively.

Methods for Assessing Geodiversity

Abstract: The assessment of geodiversity can be made with qualitative, quantitative and qualitative–quantitative methods. Qualitative methods have a descriptive character and are suitable for nominal and ordinal data. Quantitative methods are based on a set of parameters and indicators to determine a geodiversity index of a certain area. Qualitative–quantitative methods result in a combination of quantitative (i.e., digital) and cause-effect data (i.e., relational and explanatory). At the current stage of development, qualitative–quantitative methods are the most advanced and the ones offering more reliable results. Their main advantage is the integration of data from different sources and with different content and their wide use within geographic information systems, both at the stage of data collection and data integration, as well as during numerical processing and output presentation. The limitation of these methods is related to difficulties concerning the validation of results. The development of qualitative–quantitative methods associated with cognitive issues should be expected in the near future, oriented towards ontology and the Semantic Web.