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Recent research into C02 geological storage has shown that it has potential to be a safe and effective way to rapidly decrease short-term anthropogenic C02 emissions. Despite this progress, stakeholders must be convinced that the scientific community has studied all possible scenarios, including a potential leak into the biosphere. To better understand the potential impact of such an event, a detailed geochemical and biological study was conducted during two different seasons on a naturally occurring gas vent located within a Mediterranean pasture ecosystem (Latera geothermal field, central Italy). Results from botanical, soil gas, and gas flux surveys, and from chemical and biological analyses of shallow soil samples (0-20 cm depth), show that a significant impact is only observed in the 6 In wide centre of the vent, where C02 flux rates exceed 2000-3000 g M-2 d-1. In this "vent core" there is no vegetation, pH is low (minimum 3.5), and small changes are observed in mineralogy and bulk chemistry. in addition, microbial activities and populations are regulated in this interval by near-anoxic conditions, and by elevated soil gas C02 (>95%) and trace reduced gases (CH4, H2S, and 142). An approximately 20 In wide halo surrounding the core forms a transition zone, over which there is a gradual decrease in C02 concentrations, a rapid decrease in C02 fluxes, and the absence of reactive gas species. In this transition zone grasses dominate near the vent core, but these are progressively replaced by clover and a greater plant diversity moving away from the vent centre. Physical parameters (e.g. pH, bulk chemistry, mineralogy) and microbial systems also gradually return to background values across this transition zone. Results indicate that, even at this anomalous high-flux site, the effects ofthe gas vent are spatially limited and that the ecosystem appears to have adapted to the different conditions through species substitution or adaptation. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

[1] Numerous soil gas measurements of four gaseous species with very different geochemical behaviors were performed in the Fucino Basin, an area characterized by known and inferred structural discontinuities. A comprehensive statistical and geostatistical treatment of these data followed in order to provide insight into the spatial influence of tectonic discontinuities and geology on deep-seated gas migration toward the surface. The results yielded anomalies with different features, reflecting the different gas-bearing properties of the eastern seismogenic faults related to the 1915 earthquake (M b = 7.0) and the hidden structural features occurring in the western side of the plain. In particular, this approach demonstrates that soil gas concentration (i.e., Rn and CO 2 ) can identify the simpler normal faults of the eastern sector of the plain. In contrast, the more pervasive fracturing and faulting, as well as the occurrence of coarser deposits, on the western side of the area, make the location of faults less clear. The results show that gases migrate preferentially through zones of brittle deformation by advective processes, as suggested by the relatively high rate of migration needed to obtain anomalies of shortlived 222 Rn in the soil pores. Furthermore, a geostatistical study of soil gas data was conducted to quantify the spatial domain of correlation and the gas-bearing properties of faults on the basis of shallow soil gas distribution (i.e., anisotropic behavior). The results provide a clear correlation between the shape and orientation of the anomalies and the different geometry of the faults recognized in the plain.Citation: Ciotoli, G., S. Lombardi, and A. Annunziatellis (2007), Geostatistical analysis of soil gas data in a high seismic intermontane basin: Fucino Plain, central Italy,

Active, TIMP free forms of MMP2 and 9 are increased in the amniotic fluid of women with PROM. These MMPs can degrade the amniochorion basement membranes and other ECM components resulting in PROM.

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