Origin of the groundwater salinization in La Aldea coastal aquifer (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands)

[EN] Groundwater chemistry in La Aldea aquifer (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands) shows high contents of chloride and nitrate ions. The salinization process has been modelled using the geochemical data, taking into account the results of a previous flow model. The results allow to identify the salinity of the recharge from the rainfall under aridity conditions and the irrigation returns like the main causes of the groundwater salinization.

Advances in the study of soil-structure interaction effects on the dynamic response of piled structures

[EN]This Ph. D. thesis presents a simple and stable procedure for the estimation of periods and dampings of pile shear buildings taking soil-structure interaction into account. The coupled-system response is obtained by using a substructuring model. A boundary element-finite element coupling formulation is used to compute impedances and kinematic interaction factors of the pile group configurations under investigation. The proposed procedure is applied to perform parametric analyses to determine the influence of the main parameters of soil-structure interaction problems on the dynamic response of the superstructure. The scope of this thesis also encompasses the study of foundations including battered piles.

Effects of soil-structure interaction on the dynamic properties and seismic response of piled structures.

[EN]This paper presents a simple and stable procedure for the estimation of periods and dampings of piled shear buildings taking soil-structure interaction into account. A substructuring methodology that incluedes the three-dimensional character of the foundations is used.

Taxonomic status and origin of the shrews (soricidae) from the canary islands inferred from a mtdna comparison with the european crocidura species

[EN] European island shrews are either relicts of the endemic Pleistocene fauna, e.g., Crocidura zimmermanni, or were introduced from continental source populations. In order to clarify the taxonomic status and the origin of the two shrew species from the Canary Islands, a 981 bp fragment of cytochrome b gene was investigated in all European Crocidura species and compared with the Canary shrew (Crocidura canariensis) and the Osorio shrew (Crocidura osorio). The first shares its karyotype with the Sicilian shrew Crocidura sicula (2N = 36), the second with the Greater white-toothed shrew Crocidura russula (2N = 42), suggesting possible sister species relationships.