effects of lateral viscosity variations on postglacial rebound implications for recent sea level trends global sea level changes have been occurring since the last pleistocene deglaciation recently the contribution of current postglacial rebound to local sea level variations has been removed by means of a radially stratified earth model in order to assess the amount of sea level rise due to recent climatic changes the authors have studied the effects of lateral variations in the viscosity structure on the postglacial uplift rates along the continental margins finite element calculations in cylindrical geometry show that the spread in the cumulative vertical displacement may be affected by 20 in the presence of lateral rheological contrasts but the vertical rates of deformation can attain differences of up to 50 for the different models horizontal deformation rates along continental margins are much more affected by the lateral variations in viscosity and can be used in the future as constraints on mantle rheology

dislocation models of interseismic deformation in the western united states 1 the gps derived crustal velocity field of the western united states is used to construct dislocation models in a viscoelastic medium of interseismic crustal deformation the interseismic velocity field is constrained by 1052 gps velocity vectors spanning the 2500 km long plate boundary zone adjacent to the san andreas fault and cascadia subduction zone and extending 1000 km into the plate interior the gps data set is compiled from u s geological survey campaign data plate boundary observatory data and the western u s cordillera velocity field of bennett et al 1999 in the context of viscoelastic cycle models of postearthquake deformation the interseismic velocity field is modeled with a combination of earthquake sources on 100 known faults plus broadly distributed sources models that best explain the observed interseismic velocity field include the contributions of viscoelastic relaxation from faulting near the major plate margins viscoelastic relaxation from distributed faulting in the plate interior as well as lateral variations in depth averaged rigidity in the elastic lithosphere resulting rigidity variations are consistent with reduced effective elastic plate thickness in a zone a few tens of kilometers wide surrounding the san andreas fault saf system primary deformation characteristics are captured along the entire saf system eastern california shear zone walker lane the mendocino triple junction the cascadia margin and the plate interior up to 1000 km from the major plate boundaries

the effects of rock uplift and rock resistance on river morphology in a subduction zone forearc oregon usa relationships between riverbed morphology concavity rock type and rock uplift rate are examined to independently unravel the contribution of along strike variations in lithology and rates of vertical deformation to the topographic relief of the oregon coastal mountains lithologic control on river profile form is reflected by convexities and knickpoints in a number of longitudinal profiles and by general trends of concavity as a function of lithology volcanic and sedimentary rocks are the principal rock types underlying the northern oregon coast ranges between 46 30 and 45 n where mixed bedrock alluvial channels dominate average concavity is 0 57 in this region in the alluviated central oregon coast ranges between 45 and 44 n values of concavity are on average the highest 0 82 south of 44 n however bedrock channels are common and 0 73 mixed bedrock alluvial channels characterize rivers in the klamath mountains from 43 n south 0 64 rock uplift rates of 0 5 mm a 1 mixed bedrock alluvial channels and concavities of 0 53 0 70 occur within the northernmost coast ranges and klamath mountains for rivers flowing over volcanic rocks 0 53 and 0 72 for reaches crossing sedimentary rocks whereas channel type and concavity generally co vary with lithology along much of the range rivers between 44 5 and 43 n do not follow these trends concavities are generally greater than 0 70 alluvial channels are common and river profiles lack knickpoints between 44 5 and 44 n despite the fact that lithology is arguably invariant moreover rock uplift rates in this region vary from low 0 5 mm a 1 to subsidence 0 mm a 1 these observations are consistent with models of transient river response to a decrease in uplift rate conversely the rivers between 44 and 43 n have similar concavities and flow on the same mapped bedrock unit as the central region but have bedrock channels and irregular longitudinal profiles suggesting the river profiles reflect a transient response to an increase in uplift rate if changes in rock uplift rate explain the differences in river profile form and morphology it is unlikely that rock uplift and erosion are in steady state in the oregon coastal mountains copyright 2006 john wiley sons ltd

global sea level rise published values for the long term global mean sea level rise determined from tide gauge records exhibit considerable scatter from about 1 mm to 3 mm yr this disparity is not attributable to instrument error long term trends computed at adjacent sites often agree to within a few tenths of a millimeter per year instead the differing estimates of global sea level rise appear to be in large part due to authors using data from gauges located at convergent tectonic plate boundaries where changes of land elevation give fictitious sea level trends in addition virtually all gauges undergo subsidence or uplift due to postglacial rebound pgr from the last deglaciation at a rate comparable to or greater than the secular rise of sea level modeling pgr by the ice 3g model of tushingham and peltier 1991 and avoiding tide gauge records in areas of converging tectonic plates produces a highly consistent set of long sea level records the value for mean sea level rise obtained from a global set of 21 such stations in nine oceanic regions with an average record length of 76 years during the period 1880 1980 is 1 8 mm yr 0 1 this result provides confidence that carefully selected long tide gauge records measure the same underlying trend of sea level and that many old tide gauge records are of very high quality

coastline uplift in oregon and washington and the nature of cascadia subduction zone tectonics coastline deformation resulting from great shallow thrust earthquakes can provide information concerning the paleoseismicity of a subduction zone and thus information on the nature of potential seismicity the cascadia subduction zone is different from most other subduction zones in that it has been quiescent with respect to great earthquakes for at least the past 200 yr the washington oregon coastline also differs from most other coastlines associated with subduction zones in its lack of uplifted holocene shoreline features and low overall rate of late quaternary uplift 0 2 0 6 mm yr the uplift differences suggest that repeated great earthquakes have not occurred along the cascadia subduction zone at least during the late holocene alternatively if the plate interface has generated earthquakes the differences may be explained by longer recurrence intervals for great earthquakes smaller magnitude earthquakes or a mechanism that does not result in uplift of the coastline where expected

raman spectroscopic analysis of carbonaceous matter and silica in the test walls of recent and fossil agglutinated foraminifera raman spectroscopy has been used extensively in thermal maturation studies of kerogen but has not been used to examine the maturation of organic cements in agglutinated foraminifera here we use raman spectroscopy to document the existence of carbonaceous matter and silica in recent and fossil agglutinated foraminifera and to measure thermal alteration effects in fossil foraminifera the distribution of carbonaceous matter through the test shell walls of agglutinated foraminifera suggests that this carbonaceous material is derived from primary organic cement and not from random contamination fossil specimens exhibit three broad stages of maturation 1 immature specimens are characterized by moderately strong fluorescence broad low intensity raman peaks relative to fluorescence and a tendency for the g band to occur at lower wave numbers these attributes are consistent with the presence of amorphous carbonaceous matter and minor organic degradation 2 mature samples oil window exhibit high fluorescence increased relative d and g band intensities and a decreased width of the d band 3 postmature samples exhibit low levels of fluorescence and high relative d and g band intensities a tendency for the g band to be located at higher wave numbers an increase in the d g band ratio and an increase of the relative intensity of the silica peak this stage is consistent with the presence of highly ordered carbonaceous matter and diagenetic quartz these findings indicate that raman spectroscopic analysis of fossil agglutinated foraminifera can be used as a quick and easy tool to assess thermal maturity and estimate optimal temperatures for hydrocarbon generation

a viscoelastic coupling model for the cyclic deformation due to periodically repeated earthquakes at subduction zones vertical displacements due to periodic reverse faulting events in an elastic plate overlying a viscoelastic maxwell half space are obtained and compared with the observed deformation cycle coseismic strain release postseismic transients interseismic strain accumulation from japan the viscoelastic effects including the influence of buoyant restoring forces are obtained using the method developed by rundle and plate convergence and strain accumulation are incorporated following the procedure suggested by savage the resulting deformation cycle is compared with that of an analogous elastic half space dislocation model in which postearthquake effects are due to transient aseismic slip below the coseismic fault cyclic deformation is similar but not identical for the two models and observations from southwest japan suggest the superiority of the viscoelastic coupling model in particular inclusion of the effects of steady state flow in the asthenosphere overcomes a defect of the elastic half space model and results in agreement with the observed interseismic movement pattern several aspects of the postseismic deformation its landward migration and its transition to the interseismic phase of the cycle are explained as well but the short duration of near trench transients relative to those observed farther inland is not matched the success of a buried slip model in explaining early postseismic near trench movements and asthenospheric flow in accounting for cumulative postearthquake transient motions suggests the existence of a transition zone between lithosphere and asthenosphere whose behavior is brittle elastic in the short term and ductile for longer term deformation and such a modification may reconcile remaining discordant observations however reasonable variations in coupling model parameters cannot account for observed differences in the deformation cycle in other parts of japan and these regional differences remain unexplained

systematic variation of bedrock channel gradients in the central oregon coast range implications for rock uplift and shallow landsliding abstract in tectonically active regions bedrock channels play a critical role in dictating the pace of landscape evolution models of fluvial incision into bedrock provide a means of investigating relationships between gradients of bedrock channels and patterns of active deformation variations in lithology orographic precipitation sediment supply and erosional processes serve to complicate tectonic inferences derived from morphologic data yet most tectonically active landscapes are characterized by these complexities in contrast the central oregon coast range ocr which is situated above the cascadia subduction zone has experienced rock uplift for several million years did not experience pleistocene glaciation boasts a relatively uniform lithology and exhibits minor variations in precipitation although numerous process based geomorphic studies suggest that rates of erosion across the ocr are relatively constant it has not been demonstrated that bedrock channel gradients in the region exhibit spatially consistent values analysis of broadly distributed small drainage basins 5 20 km in the central ocr enables us to explore regional variability in bedrock channel gradients resulting from differential rock uplift or other sources consistent with previous studies that have documented local structural control of deformed fluvial terraces in the western portion of our study area our data reveal a roughly 20 km wide band of systematically elevated channel slopes roughly twice the background value roughly coincident with the strike of n s trending mapped folds although many factors could feasibly generate this pattern including variable rock strength precipitation gradients or temporal or spatial variations in forearc deformation the elevated bedrock channel slopes likely reflect differential rock uplift related to activity of local structures importantly our analysis suggests that rock uplift and erosion rates may vary systematically across the ocr although our calculations were focused on the fluvial dominated portion of study basins our results have implications for upstream areas including unchanneled valleys that often serve as source areas for long runout debris flows zero order basins or topographic hollows within the n s trending band of elevated channel slopes tend to be steeper than adjacent areas and may experience more frequent evacuation by shallow landsliding thus this region of the ocr may be highly sensitive to land use practices and high intensity rainstorms

active deformation of the pacific northwest continental margin tilted and uplifted marine terraces in southern oregon show progressive landward tilting of the coastal ranges at about 5 16 10 8 rad yr 1 for the last 0 25 m y tide gauges in washington and british columbia and ten resurveyed leveling lines running inland from the coast indicate contemporary landward down to the east tilt rates of about 1 12 10 8 rad yr 1 averaged over periods of from 10 to 50 years the leveling lines traverse and the terraces cut across dipping cenozoic strata pleistocene dips to 3 mio pliocene dips to 30 and eocene dips to 60 southern oregon from cape blanco to the siletz river shows geodetic or terrace tilting in the same direction as the underlying stratal dips hence present day deformation continues past deformation of the coastal ranges and is most likely related to active subduction of the juan de fuca plate the steep stratal dips lack of major active faults and historic earthquakes and presence of very young bedding plane faults suggest that much of the onshore deformation and shortening within the overlying north american plate is taken up by folding rather than thrust faulting present shortening rates across north trending folds near the coast are between 0 02 and 1 9 10 7 yr 1 the rate of shortening decreases rapidly eastwards from the juan de fuca north american plate boundary a total of about 25 mm yr 1 of permanent shortening could be occurring within the north american plate most of it in the westernmost 40 km the landward tilt and shortening rates are similar to those above many other subduction zones that have experienced great thrust earthquakes while a high strain rate measured near seattle washington has been interpreted as elastic strain accumulation before a thrust earthquake the low level of historic seismicity and the similarity of short and long term deformation rates suggest alternatively that the subduction beneath washington is aseismic the issue has considerable implications for seismic hazard evaluation in the pacific northwest and could be resolved by a search for the effects or lack of effects of prehistoric great earthquakes

uv raman spectroscopy of hydrocarbon bearing inclusions in rock salt from the dongying sag eastern china abstract compositions of hydrocarbon bearing inclusions in rock salt halite from the shahejie formation in the dongying sag bohai bay basin eastern china have been analysed by raman spectroscopy coupled with a 244 nm uv laser source the fluorescence effect caused by the conventional visible laser excitation of the aromatic fractions of hc bearing inclusions can be effectively avoided six types of hc bearing inclusions belonging to two generations have been identified in halite according to their hydrocarbon types and petrographic characteristics the presence of hc bearing inclusions in halite provides evidence of crystal fracturing and healing plastic deformation and dynamic recrystallization of rock salt in the dongying sag this proves that rock salt may have repeatedly lost and then recovered its sealing capacity during two stages of oil emplacement water and hydrocarbons were detected by uv raman spectroscopy in the studied samples in both hc bearing inclusions and aqueous inclusions these results are important for understanding the formation conditions of these fluid inclusions and the interactions between the formation water and petroleum in reservoirs our results show that uv raman spectroscopy has a potential to become a powerful tool for analyzing hydrocarbon bearing fluid inclusions trapped in various elements of a petroleum system

viscoelastic cycle model of interseismic deformation in the northwestern united states summary we apply a viscoelastic cycle model to a compilation of gps velocity fields in order to address the kinematics of deformation in the northwestern united states a viscoelastic cycle model accounts for time dependent deformation following large crustal earthquakes and is an alternative to block models for explaining the interseismic crustal velocity field building on the approach taken in pollitz et al we construct a deformation model for the entire western united states based on combined fault slip and distributed deformation and focus on the implications for the mendocino triple junction mtj cascadia megathrust and western washington we find significant partitioning between strike slip and dip slip motion near the mtj as the tectonic environment shifts from northwest directed shear along the san andreas fault system to east west convergence along the juan de fuca plate by better accounting for the budget of aseismic and seismic slip along the cascadia subduction interface in conjunction with an assumed rheology we revise a previous model of slip for the m 9 1700 cascadia earthquake in western washington we infer slip rates on a number of strike slip and dip slip faults that accommodate northward convergence of the oregon coast block and northwestward convergence of the juan de fuca plate lateral variations in first order mechanical properties e g mantle viscosity vertically averaged rigidity explain to a large extent crustal strain that cannot be rationalized with cyclic deformation on a laterally homogeneous viscoelastic structure our analysis also shows that present crustal deformation measurements particularly with the addition of the plate boundary observatory can constrain such lateral variations

klamath blue mountain lineament oregon regional gravity data clearly show a zone of southwest northeast lineations across oregon that defines a major crustal lineament its existence is supported by geologic and geophysical data its correlation with the northwestern boundaries of the klamath and blue mountain provinces suggests that these are continuous beneath the cascade volcanic arc the lineament may represent a pre tertiary strike slip continental margin which from paleomagnetic evidence later rotated clockwise into its present position

raman spectroscopy as a tool for the non destructive identification of organic minerals in the geological record abstract organic minerals can be considered as a forgotten group of organic components in the geological record they are salts of organic acids originating directly in plant metabolic processes pure crystalline terpenes formed from precursor conifer decomposition products and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons originating in the accumulation of fractions generated by natural high temperature distillation from specific precursors the presence of some of these minerals in quaternary or tertiary continental sedimentary environments in soils and peats is known as are rare occurrences in lignite shales and other rocks from older geological formations raman spectral signatures have been identified for mellite the hydrated aluminium salt of benzene hexacarboxylic acid the terpenoids fichtelite norabietane and hartite phyllocladane as well as for idrialite a complex polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mineral the survival of organic minerals such as oxalates terpenoid hydrocarbons and aromatic minerals in the geological record is important for an appreciation of the diversity of molecular compounds that need to be assessed in the search for life detection signatures in terrestrial and extraterrestrial scenarios

great earthquakes on canada s west coast a review this article is one of a series of papers published in this special issue on the theme lithoprobe parameters processes and the evolution of a continent geological survey of canada contribution 20090196 the first lithoprobe transect in 1984 across vancouver island had primary objectives to define the structure associated with subduction and constraints on the potential for great thrust earthquakes

coseismic subsidence in the 1700 great cascadia earthquake coastal estimates versus elastic dislocation models seismic hazard assessments for a cascadia subduction zone earthquake are largely based on the rupture area predictions of dislocation models constrained by geodetic and geothermal data this paper tests the consistency of the models for the 1700 great cascadia earthquake with compiled coastal coseismic subsidence as estimated from paleoelevation studies coastal estimates have large uncertainties but show a consistent pattern greatest coseismic subsidence 1 2 m occurred in northern oregon southern washington subsidence elsewhere was 0 1 m elastic dislocation models constrained by interseismic geodetic and thermal data are used to predict the coseismic subsidence for two likely strain accumulation periods of i 800 and ii 550 yr of plate convergence and for uniform megathrust slip of 10 20 30 and 50 m the former two models provide a better and equally good fit predicted subsidence is in broad agreement with marsh estimates discrepancies exist however at the ends of the subduction zone in the south misfit may be due to breakup of the gorda plate the discrepancy in the north may be explained if the 1700 event released only part of the accumulated strain there consistent with long term net uplift in excess of eustatic sea level rise the coseismic slip magnitude estimated by comparing uniform slip model predictions with marsh coseismic subsidence estimates is consistent with the m 9 earthquake indicated by japanese tsunami records the coseismic slip was greatest in northern oregon southern washington declining to the north and south

types chemical and porosity characteristics of hydrocarbon generating organisms of the lower paleozoic south china taking longmaxi formation and qiongzhusi formation in sichuan basin as examples abstract in this study the biotypes chemical structures and porosity characteristics of hydrocarbon generating organisms in the wufeng formation longmaxi formation of the well jiaoye 1 and in the qiongzhusi formation of the well jinye 1 sichuan basin are studied through the systematic organic petrology and geochemical analysis the hydrocarbon generating organisms in the wufeng formation longmaxi formation mainly consist acritarchs and graptolites with other animal fossils observed the hydrocarbon generating organisms of the qiongzhusi formation are mainly acritarchs benthic macroalgae and cyanobacteria together with some animal fossils such as embryos sponge spicules besides cryptospore fossils are found in the bottom of qiongzhusi formation fortunian of the lower cambrian for the first time ever according to raman parameters the change of pyritized acritarch and bitumen in the same thermal evolution process is greater followed by that of organic acritarch and the structural change of graptolite is the smallest ftir spectra shows ether bonds a few aromatic rings some aliphatic chains in the structures of acritarchs and very low content of aliphatic hydrocarbon a large amount of carboxyl groups ether bonds aromatic rings in both graptolite and chitinozoan the acritarch has well developed pores which is of excellent connectivity the epidermis of graptolite is composed of multiple layers of fiber between which develop a lot of narrow pores of good connectivity conodont has many isolated nano pores while the pores of chitinozoan are not developed

late quaternary deformation of marine terraces on the cascadia subduction zone near cape blanco oregon the cape blanco region of south coastal oregon sits on the upper plate of the cascadia subduction zone about 60 70 km east of the base of the continental slope though the region has no historic coseismic deformation late quaternary deposits and landforms show abundant evidence of uplift folding and faulting a set of five late quaternary marine terraces and one uplifted holocene beach berm are preserved in the cape blanco region stratigraphic and altitudinal surveys of these physiographic features combined with several numerical and correlation age determinations permit a reconstruction of tectonic deformation near cape blanco in approximately the last 200 000 years the most cogent aspects of the neotectonics in this part of the cascadia subduction zone are that an east west trending anticline deforms the lower three terraces 80 125 ka as well as accounting for uplift of the holocene storm berm latest movement on the anticline was no more than 2 000 years ago but the anticline also deforms sediments as old as middle miocene the anticline is consistent with a north south principal contraction axis at cape blanco in about the last 100 000 years an older terrace at cape blanco approximately 200 ka is offset by two reactivated faults whose movements prior to the eocene served to suture several terranes to the north american continent tectonic tilting in the older terrace is not consistent with a north south principle axis of contraction but the axis of tilt is parallel to north northwest striking structures developed in the quaternary fold belt offshore on the continental shelf the observed deformation indicates that regional stress in the vicinity of cape blanco in the late quaternary has been accommodated by a variable pattern of strain

effects of lateral viscosity variations on long wavelength geoid anomalies and topography models for the earth s geoid and dynamically supported topography usually account only for radial vertical variations in mantle rheology and flow structure however expected lateral variations in viscosity due to temperature or stress dependent rheology can degrade our ability to infer mantle structure from geoid models based on seismically determined density contrasts in the mantel theoretically the main difficulty is that the harmonic components of the flow stress deformation field are no longer independent and exact analytical methods cannot account for this mode coupling for large thermal density contrasts of small lateral dimension e g subducted slabs it is difficult to form any general theory for these effects however we believe that the largest geoid anomalies which occur at the lowest harmonic degrees l 2 3 are due to a global pattern of relatively mild temperature variations for convection with mainly broadscale thermal and rheological changes some relatively straightforward ideas can be developed combining results from simple perturbation theory and numerical models for convective flow we find the following 1 if we are correct in inferring viscosity variations of less than one order of magnitude globally the longest wavelength geoid anomalies l 2 3 are not seriously contaminated by lateral viscosity variations 2 contamination of the higher degrees l 4 is expected and in particular self coupling between l 2 heterogeneity and viscosity variations may be observable at degree 4 the most severe contamination occurs at the doubled harmonic l 4 of the dominant heterogeneity harmonic l 2 3 perturbation techniques are adequate to model global scale lateral viscosity variations of an order of magnitude or less 4 the steady state surface deformation problem at the heart of our geoid models may be more robust with respect to broadscale lateral viscosity variations than are models for transient deformations e g postglacial rebound 5 for loading by broadscale density heterogeneity the effects of stress dependent rheology are probably secondary to the effects of radial viscosity stratification

deglaciation induced vertical motion of the north american continent and transient lower mantle rheology the last deglaciation event of the current ice age which began approximately 18 000 years ago and ended about 7000 years ago continues to exert a profound influence on the vertical motion of the solid earth in and surrounding the regions which were once ice covered observations of such vertical motions may be employed to constrain the radial viscoelastic structure of the planet and therefore to contribute in an important way to the understanding of geodynamic processes in general in this paper both present day rates of vertical motion as recorded on tide gauges and long time scale records of vertical motion as recorded in 14c controlled relative sea level histories are employed to refine previously constructed models of the radial viscoelastic structure an interesting sidelight to this analysis is the demonstration that the lower mantle viscosity inferred from the vertical motion data could represent a transient rather than the steady state value a fact which would help considerably to reconcile the small viscosity stratification required by the glacial rebound data with the large stratification which seems to be required by some recent analyses of the geoid height anomalies associated with internal density heterogeneity of the mantle which has been revealed by application of seismic tomographic techniques a further product of these new analyses is obtained by the application of the glacial isostatic adjustment model to filter this signal from the secular trends of relative sea level observed on tide gauges from both the east and west coasts of the north american continent these results may be important in the context of recently proposed scenarios of climatic change

the earthquake deformation cycle at the nankai trough southwest japan geodetic measurements made landward of the nankai trough site of great subduction zone thrust earthquakes in 1854 and 1946 provide a uniquely detailed picture of the strain buildup process supply constraints on the mechanism of strain accumulation and allow for improved estimates of earthquake recurrence provided the two most recent movement cycles are similar the observations dating from about 1890 may be used to reconstruct a single complete deformation cycle coseismic strain release postseismic transients interseismic strain accumulation very complete leveling and tidal gage data indicate that postseismic deformation extends more than 300 km inland from the plate boundary persists for at least 30 years and shows a clear tendency to become longer wavelength with increasing time the transient movements have two timescales the first of about a year or less corresponds to deformation largely uplift concentrated close to the coseismic fault and is most easily explained by aseismic slip or very localized deformation downdip of the earthquake rupture plane the second longer timescale is associated with a diffusion like spread of the deformation further landward an effect qualitatively similar to that first predicted by elsasser to be an expected consequence of faulting in an elastic plate overlying a viscoelastic asthenosphere cumulative uplift since 1890 correlates well with the distribution of uplifted marine terraces although average post 1890 tilt rates exceed late quaternary and holocene averages by at least a factor of three because of the nonlinearity of strain buildup and the significant permanent deformation simple recurrence calculations typically overestimate the true interval between great earthquakes by a factor of 2 to a factor of 3 strict application of the time predictable model assumed correct overcomes these difficulties provided the cumulative transient deformation and the proportion of permanent deformation per cycle can be estimated

non destructive analysis of amber artefacts from the prehistoric cioclovina hoard romania abstract amber beads from the cioclovina hoard hunedoara county romania dating from the transitional period between the late bronze age and the iron age were analysed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy variable angle reflectance ftir var and fourier transform raman spectroscopy ft raman the aim was to determine if the raw material came from the shores of the baltic sea on the amber route which crosses central europe or if it originated from the area of the main amber occurrences in romania in buz u county around the village of col i all applied analyses strongly suggest that a large part of the amber from the cioclovina deposit has a romanian origin and thus no connection with the amber route

weddellite occurrence in peats and other organic rich sediments of florida abstract the mineral weddellite calcium oxalate dihydrate is rarely reported in sediments although it is common in biologic materials including plants forest soils and the urinary stones of mammals research designed to evaluate the factors influencing the fuel grade potential of peat deposits in florida has now documented the occurrence of weddellite as a primary constituent in the inorganic ash fraction of peat and other organic rich soils weddellite is believed to originate within the peat forming basin rather than as a product of sample storage or laboratory preparations the mineral s origin is genetically related to the metabolic activity of abundant plant life at the depositional site and its concentration in the basin is directly related to the percentage of organic matter pr served in the sediments scanning electron micrographs reveal that the mineral s characteristic prismatic needle shape is preserved in peat differential thermal analysis shows initial water loss endotherms at approximately 100 c and 200 c followed by exothermic transformations to caco3 at 300 c and to cao near 780 c

the cape mendocino california earthquakes of april 1992 subduction at the triple junction the 25 april 1992 magnitude 7 1 cape mendocino thrust earthquake demonstrated that the north america gorda plate boundary is seismogenic and illustrated hazards that could result from much larger earthquakes forecast for the cascadia region the shock occurred just north of the mendocino triple junction and caused strong ground motion and moderate damage in the immediate area rupture initiated onshore at a depth of 10 5 kilometers and propagated up dip and seaward slip on steep faults in the gorda plate generated two magnitude 6 6 aftershocks on 26 april the main shock did not produce surface rupture on land but caused coastal uplift and a tsunami the emerging picture of seismicity and faulting at the triple junction suggests that the region is likely to continue experiencing significant seismicity

a holocene sedimentary record of tectonically influenced reduced channel mobility skokomish river delta washington state usa abstract at the skokomish river delta in washington state s puget lowland coseismic uplift and tilting trapped the river against a valley wall resulting in little to no channel migration for the last 1000 years the most recent earthquake occurred before ad 780 990 based on stratigraphic evidence such as sand blows and abrupt facies changes since the hypothesized tilting a 5 km long section of the river has not migrated laterally or avulsed resulting in reduced migration and a muddy intertidal flat that is 2 km wider in the east than on the west side of annas bay a ridge running perpendicular to the river may also have restricted channel mobility the ridge may be either the surface expression of a blind thrust fault or a relict uplifted and tilted shoreline the uplift and tilting of the delta can be ascribed to any of three nearby active fault zones of which the most likely based on the orientation of deformation is the saddle mountain fault zone which produced a surface rupture 1000 1300 years ago the delta has experienced submergence since the earthquake a forest that colonized an uplifted part of the delta about 800 1200 years ago was later submerged by at least 1 6 m and is now a brackish water marsh

biomarkers of holocene buried conifer logs from bella coola and north vancouver british columbia canada abstract the biomarker compositions of a holocene seep oil liquefied resin originating from a buried log of douglas fir pseudotsuga menziesii from bella coola bc canada and a holocene pine wood pinus sp sample from north vancouver bc canada were analyzed using gas chromatography mass spectrometry gc ms the total extract of the bella coola sample contains the sesquiterpenoid derivative calamenene and diterpenoids of the labdane abietane pimarane and phyllocladane classes a novel series of successively degraded labdane derivatives labdan 15 oic acid norlabdanoic acids drimenoic acid was detected in the polar fraction and a diagenetic pathway is proposed aromatic abietanes are the major components in the neutral fraction the neutral fraction of the pine wood contains two sesquiterpenoids calamenene cadalene diterpenoids of the abietane pimarane isopimarane and kaurane classes and a series of steroids 18 norabieta 8 11 13 triene dehydroabietin is the major component among the predominantly aromatic abietanes based on the compositions of the terpenoids it is concluded that the diagenesis of the pine and douglas fir logs probably occurred under anaerobic conditions leading to reductive reactions such as decarboxylation of resin acids with concurrent oxidation reactions to form the aromatic derivatives

strain accumulation and rotation in western oregon and southwestern washington 1 velocities of 75 geodetic monuments in western oregon and southwestern washington extending from the coast to more than 300 km inland have been determined from gps surveys over the interval 1992 2000 the average standard deviation in each of the horizontal velocity components is 1 mm yr 1 the observed velocity field is approximated by a combination of rigid rotation euler vector relative to interior north america 43 40 n 0 14 119 33 w 0 28 and 0 822 0 057 myr 1 clockwise quoted uncertainties are standard deviations uniform regional strain rate eee 7 4 1 8 een 3 4 1 0 and enn 5 0 0 8 nstrain yr 1 extension reckoned positive and a dislocation model representing subduction of the juan de fuca plate beneath north america subduction south of 44 5 n was represented by a 40 km wide locked thrust and subduction north of 44 5 n by a 75 km wide locked thrust

recent movements of the juan de fuca plate system analysis of the magnetic anomalies of the juan de fuca plate system allows instantaneous poles of rotation relative to the pacific plate to be calculated from 7 ma to the present by combining these with global solutions for pacific america and absolute relative to hot spot motions a plate motion sequence can be constructed this sequence shows that both absolute motions and motions relative to america are characterized by slower velocities where younger and more buoyant material enters the convergence zone pivoting subduction the resistance provided by the youngest portion of the juan de fuca plate apparently resulted in its detachment at 4 ma as the independent explorer plate in relation to the hot spot framework this plate almost immediately began to rotate clockwise around a pole close to itself such that its translational movement into the mantle virtually ceased after 4 ma the remainder of the juan de fuca plate adjusted its motion in response to the fact that the youngest material entering the subduction zone was now to the south differences in seismicity and recent uplift between northern and southern vancouver island may reflect a distinction in tectonic style between the normal subduction of the juan de fuca plate to the south and a complex underplating occurring as the explorer plate is overridden by the continent the history of the explorer plate may exemplify the conditions under which the self driving forces of small subducting plates are overcome by the influence of larger adjacent plates the recent rapid migration of the absolute pole of rotation of the juan de fuca plate toward the plate suggests that it too may be nearing this condition

southeastern caribbean sea level variability and viscoelastic relaxation viscoelastic modeling of earthquakes in the southeast caribbean shows that distant dip slip earthquakes in the lesser antilles and the geometry of the subduction zone play a significant role in vertical deformation observed along the southern caribbean plate margin we find that dip slip earthquakes yield vertical displacements that are 1 2 orders of magnitude greater than those generated by strike slip earthquakes along the caribbean south american plate boundary in addition postseismic vertical displacements are at least as great or greater at distances of several hundred kilometers than the coseismic counterpart depending upon the geometry of the source tide gage data from venezuela suggest that these vertical displacement rates may still be observed several decades after the occurrence of large subduction zone earthquakes ms 7 or greater in addition the uplift rate observed at the tide gages largely follows the anticipated flexure of the caribbean plate due to the subduction process

decoupling of the carbon cycle during ocean anoxic event 2 the cenomanian to turonian boundary transition ca 95 93 ma represents one of the most profound global perturbations in the carbon cycle of the past 140 m y this interval is characterized by widespread deposition of organic rich fine grained sediment marked by a globally recognized positive carbon isotope excursion cie reflecting the widespread removal of 12 c enriched organic matter in marine sediments under global anoxic greenhouse conditions however the exact timing and trigger of this inferred global phenomenon termed oceanic anoxic event 2 oae 2 is still debated with recent studies showing diachroneity between the deposition of the organic rich sediment and the cie and conflicting interpretations on detailed redox analyses in several of these inferred anoxic settings here we present the first evidence for widespread and persistent oxygenation during oae 2 based primarily on the distribution of redox sensitive trace metals and biota preserved in sedimentary rocks from the western interior seaway of north america our data indicate anoxic euxinic conditions in the mid to late cenomanian but improved bottom water oxygenation prior to and during the cie trace metal enrichments support large volumes of mafic volcanism possibly from the high arctic large igneous province halip which occur within the middle of the cie indicating that the emplacement of lips was not the primary trigger of the cenomanian turonian cie the apparent paradox of an oxygenated phase within oae 2 suggests a much more complex carbon cycle during these global perturbations than previously thought these findings have important implications for greenhouse carbon cycle changes over time scales of 0 1 10 m y

crustal structure beneath the central oregon convergent margin from potential field modeling evidence for a buried basement ridge in local contact with a seaward dipping backstop models of magnetic and gravity anomalies along two e w transects offshore central oregon one of which is coincident with a detailed velocity model provide quantitative limits on the structure of the subducting oceanic crust and the crystalline backstop the models indicate that the backstop forming western edge of the siletz terrane an oceanic plateau that was accreted to north america 50 million years ago has a seaward dip of less than 60o3 seismic magnetic and gravity data are compatible with no more than 2 km of subducted sediments between the siletz terrane and the underlying crystalline crust of the juan de fuca plate the data also suggest the presence of a n s trending 200 km long basaltic ridge buried beneath the accretionary com plex from about 43on to 45on although the height and width of this ridge probably vary along strike it may be up to 4 km high and several kilometers wide in places and appears to be locally in contact with the siletz terrane beneath heceta bank several models for the origin of this ridge are discussed these include a sliver of siletz terrane detached from the main siletz terrane dur ing a late eocene episode of strike slip faulting imbrication and thickening of subducted oceanic crust in place an aseismic ridge rafted in on the subducting oceanic crust during the past 1 2 mil lion years and a series of ridges and or seamounts rafted in over a longer period of time and trans ferred from the subducting plate to the overlying plate the last model is the most consistent with the complicated history of local uplift subsidence and slope instability recorded in the ridges basins and banks of this part of the margin we speculate that the massive seaward dip ping western edge of the siletz terrane in this region inhibits subduction of seamounts and sedi ments resulting in fomation of buried ridge as the accumulated flotsam and jetsom of subduction this process may also be responsible for thickening of lower accretionary complex material over steepening of slopes leading to massive slumping and north south extension through strike slip faulting in the accretionary complex to the west of the buried ridge regardless of its origin the ridge may currently be acting as an asperity inhibiting subduction

tectonic deformation in western washington from continuous gps measurements the analysis of 3 years of continuous data from 7 permanent gps stations along the western washington section of the cascadia subduction zone indicates that the direction of the observed horizontal velocities with respect to station drao nominally representing the stable north american continent is roughly parallel to the relative plate convergence direction of the juan de fuca and north america plates and that their magnitude decreases away from the trench most of this deformation can be attributed to inter seismic strain accumulation due to the locking of the thrust interface when the dislocation model predictions are subtracted from the observed velocities there is evidence for an additional n s oriented contraction at a rate of 4 mm yr over a distance of 250 km this signal presumably represents a more long term deformation pattern than the periodic accumulation and release of elastic strain connected with subduction earthquakes and is most likely related to the occurrence of shallow earthquakes in western washington that are characterized by predominantly n s oriented maximum principal stress

age estimates and uplift rates for late pleistocene marine terraces southern oregon portion of the cascadia forearc marine terraces are prominent landforms along the southern oregon coast which forms part of the forearc region of the cascadia subduction zone interest in the cascadia subduction zone has increased because recent investigations have suggested that slip along plates at certain types of convergent margins is characteristically accompanied by large earthquakes in addition other investigations have suggested that convergent margins can be broadly classified by the magnitude of their uplift rates with these hypotheses in mind we generated new uranium series amino acid and stable isotope data for southern oregon marine terrace fossils these data along with terrace elevations and two alternative estimates of sea level at the time of terrace formation allow us to determine terrace ages and uplift rates uranium series analysis of fossil coral yields an age of 83 5 ka for the whisky run terrace at coquille point in bandon oregon a combination of amino acid and oxygen isotope data suggest ages of about 80 and 105 ka for the lowest two terraces at cape blanco these ages indicate uplift rates of 0 45 1 05 and 0 81 1 49 m kyr for coquille point and cape blanco respectively late quaternary uplift rates of marine terraces yield information about deformation in the overriding plate but it is unclear if such data vary systematically with convergent margin type in order to assess the utility of the southern oregon uplift rates for predicting the behavior of the cascadia subduction zone we compared late quaternary uplift rates derived from terrace data from subduction zones around the world on the basis of this comparison the southern oregon rates of vertical deformation are not unusually high or low furthermore late quaternary uplift rates show little relationship to the type of convergent margin these observations suggest that local structures may play a large role in uplift rate variability in addition while the type of convergent margin may place an upper limit on possible uplift rate greater upper limits serve to increase the range of possible uplift rates in the case of the southern oregon coast variability in uplift rate probably reflects local structures in the overriding plate and the rate of uplift cannot be used as a simple index of the potential for great earthquakes along the southern cascadia subduction zone

seismic potential associated with subduction in the northwestern united states despite good evidence of present day convergence of the juan de fuca and north american plates there has been remarkably little historical seismic activity along the shallow part of the juan de fuca subduction zone although we cannot completely rule out the possibility that the plate motion is being accommodated by aseismic creep we find that the juan de fuca subduction zone shares many features with other subduction zones that have experienced great earthquakes

how well can hillslope evolution models explain topography simulating soil transport and production with high resolution topographic data the morphology of hillslopes is a direct refl ection of tectonic forcing and climatic and biologic processes that drive soil production mobilization and transport soil transport on hillslopes affects river incision by providing tools for channel abrasion and controls the distribution of sediment that infl uences aquatic habitat although numerous hillslope transport relationships have been proposed over the past 60 years a comprehensive analysis of model predictions for a real landscape has not been performed here we use high resolution topographic data obtained via airborne laser swath mapping alsm to simulate the long term evolution of oregon coast range hillslopes and test three published transport models and a new model that accounts for nonlinear depth and slopedependent transport analysis of one dimensional steady state solutions for these four models suggests that plots of gradient curvature may be diagnostic for distinguishing model predictions to evaluate two dimensional model predictions for our fi eld site we assumed local steady state erosion for a 72 000 m 2 sequence of hillslopes and valleys after calibrating each of the four models we imposed constant base level lowering for cells within the valley network simulated 500 000 yr of soil production and transport and determined which transport model best preserved morphologic patterns that describe the current landscape form models for which fl ux varies proportionally with hillslope gradient generated broadly convex hilltops inconsistent with the sharp crested steep sided slopes of our study site whereas the two nonlinear slope dependent models produced convex planar slopes consistent with current hillslope form our proposed nonlinear slope and depth dependent model accounts for how soil thickness controls the magnitude of biogenic disturbances that drive transport this model best preserved the current landscape form particularly the narrow sharply convex hilltops characteristic of the oregon coast range according to our formulation which provides an explicit linkage for relating the distribution of biota to hillslope processes the degree of hilltop convexity varies nonlinearly with the ratio of erosion rate to maximum soil production rate highlighting the profound infl uence of soil depth on hillslope evolution

paleoseismicity of the cascadia subduction zone evidence from turbidites off the oregon washington margin cores from cascadia deep sea channel contain sequences of turbidites that can be correlated and dated by the first occurrence of volcanic glass from the mount mazama eruption 6845 50 radiocarbon yrbp turbidity currents from the tributaries appear to have occurred synchronously to form single deposits in the main channel there being only 13 turbidite deposits in the lower main channel since the mazama eruption instead of the twice as many expected if the tributaries had behaved independently in addition to the cascadia channel 13 post mazama turbidites have been deposited in the astoria canyon and at two sites off cape blanco sample locations that span 580 km of the oregon washington margin pelagic intervals deposited between the turbidites suggest that in each place the turbidity currents occurred fairly regularly every 590 170 years on average the best explanation of the spatial and temporal extent of the data is that the turbidity currents were triggered by 13 great earthquakes on the cascadia subduction zone the variability of turbidite timing is similar to that for great earthquake cycles the thickness of the topmost pelagic layer suggests the last event was 300 60 years ago from three places along the margin but this number may be a biased underestimate it is however consistent with the youngest sudden subsidence event on the washington coast the turbidite data demonstrate that the near term hazard of a great earthquake on the cascadia subduction zone is of the order of 2 10 in the next 50 years

the effect of land plants on weathering rates of silicate minerals abstract land plants and their associated microbiota directly affect silicate mineral weathering in several ways by generation of chelating ligands by modifying ph through production of co2 or organic acids and by altering the physical properties of a soil particularly the exposed surface areas of minerals and the residence time of water in laboratory experiments far from equilibrium 1 mm oxalate a strong chelator of al has a negligible effect on the dissolution rate of alkali feldspars but some effect on calcic feldspars and olivine by analogy to oxalate the overall effect of organic ligands on the weathering rate of silicate minerals in nature is likely to be small except perhaps in microenvironments adjacent to roots and fungal hyphae the effect of ph on silicate mineral dissolution rate depends on ph below ph 4 5 the rate increases with decreasing ph in the circumneutral region the rate is ph independent and at ph values above around 8 the rate increases with increasing ph vegetation should thus cause an increase in weathering rate through the ph effect only where the ph is below 4 5 as an overall generalization the effect of plants on weathering rate through changes in soil solution chemistry is probably small for granitic rocks it may be greater for more mafic rocks it is the release of ca and mg from mafic rocks that has the greatest influence on the global co2 budget the effect of changes in soil physical properties on weathering rate can be major by binding fine particles plants can greatly increase weathering rates in areas of high physical erosion where erosion rates are lower the effect of plants is less clear on long timescales plants may decrease chemical weathering by binding secondary products and isolating unweathered minerals from meteoric water a major unknown in estimating the effect of the advent of land plants on weathering rates is the nature thickness particle size distribution permeability of the regolith on the pre silurian continents the indirect effect of vegetation through changing the regional distribution of precipitation may be as important as the direct effects

models of downdip frictional coupling for the cascadia megathrust we have developed models of downdip frictional coupling along two transects across the cascadia subduction zone in northern washington and central oregon the models involve complicated downdip coupling profiles although not unique our models closely predict available gps shortening rates and vertical uplift data we are able to explain relatively low horizontal shortening rates along the washington coast and small vertical uplift rates in central oregon our models depart from previous models by inclusion of a deeply coupled region assumed to be related to mafic rocks in both the upper and lower plates of the thrust

an inverse dislocation model of surface deformation in western washington abstract active horizontal and vertical deformation in western washington is modeled using an inverse dislocation model the modeling technique uses published horizontal crustal velocities derived from campaign and continuous gps data and uplift rates calculated from repeated historical leveling surveys the plate interface is represented by both screw and edge dislocations divided into segments the rate of slip deficit accumulation on each segment is estimated by inverting the surface deformation data using a linear least squares procedure the model predicts the data well with an overall rms residual of 0 85 mm year the horizontal residual vectors show no discernable pattern and no significant uniform regional strain and rigid rotations can be identified the estimated slip deficit accumulation rates suggest that the plate interface is locked in a broad region beneath the coastline and possibly partially locked further downdip the maximum slip deficit rate was estimated at 32 1 1 9 mm year or approximately 91 of the plate convergence rate the partially locked zone appears to be accumulating slip deficit at 8 2 1 9 mm year

topographic form of the coast ranges of the cascadia margin in relation to coastal uplift rates and plate subduction the coast ranges of the cascadia margin are overriding the subducted juan de fuca gorda plate we investigate the extent to which the latitudinal trend in average topography of the coast ranges is a function of the latitudinal change in attributes related to the subduction process these attributes include the variable age of the subducted slab that underlies the coast ranges and average vertical crustal velocities of the western margin of the coast ranges for two markedly different time periods the last 45 years and the last 100 kyr these vertical crustal velocities are computed from the resurveying of highway bench marks and from the present elevation of shore platforms that have been uplifted in the late quaternary respectively topography of the coast ranges is in part a function of the age and buoyancy of the underlying subducted plate this is evident in the fact that the two highest topographic elements of the coast ranges the klamath mountains and the olympic mountains are underlain by youngest subducted oceanic crust the subducted blanco fracture zone in southernmost oregon is responsible for an age discontinuity of subducted crust under the klamath mountains the northern terminus of the topographically higher klamaths is offset to the north relative to the position of the underlying blanco fracture zone the offset being in the direction of migration of the fracture zone as dictated by relative plate motions vertical crustal velocities at the coast derived from bench mark surveys are as much as an order of magnitude greater than vertical crustal velocities derived from uplifted shore platforms this uplift rate discrepancy indicates that strain is accumulating on the plate margin to be released during the next interplate earthquake in a latitudinal sense average coast range topography is relatively high where bench mark derived short term vertical crustal velocites are highest because the shore platform vertical crustal velocites reflect longer term permanent uplift we infer that a small percentage of the interseismic strain that accumulates as rapid short term uplift is not recovered by subduction earthquakes but rather contributes to rock uplift of the coast ranges the conjecture that permanent rock uplift is related to interseismic uplift is consistent with the observation that those segments of the subduction zone subject to greater interseismic uplift rates are at approximately the same latitudes as those segments of the coast ranges that have higher magnitudes of rock uplift over the long term

the fall and rise of central vancouver island 1930 1985 levelled height differences obtained from first order vertical control surveys between 1930 and 1984 indicate large apparent elevation changes along the east coast of central vancouver island british columbia the levelling survey following the 1946 earthquake m 7 3 indicated relative subsidence likely coseismic of up to 80 mm for the northern third of the 130 km traverse between comox and campbell river subsequent surveys indicated relative uplifts within this region at rates averaging 1 mm year 1946 1977 and 5 mm year 1977 1984 tilting along a 90 km traverse across central vancouver island between gold river and campbell river is not well defined because of uncalibrated magnetic errors present in the 1976 1978 baseline data minimal estimates indicate a possible average uplift rate of 1 2 mm year for the east coast region with respect to the outer coast between 1976 and 1985 taken at face value these data are consistent with the crustal deformation sequence expected for an earthquake cycle

glacial rebound and relative sea level variations a new appraisal summary late pleistocene and holocene changes in sea level at technically stable shorelines contain information on the melting history of the ice sheets and on the response of the earth to changes in surface loads on time scales of 104yr some separation of parameters defining the ice loads and the earth s response can be achieved by examining sea level change at different sites around the world and at different epochs this paper examines the mathematical requirements for obtaining satisfactory solutions for the sea level equation rather than emphasizing results for the earth s response to the surface loads an examination of the equation expressing the sea level variation on a viscoelastic earth indicates that careful consideration needs to be given to both the definition of the ice load and the geometry of the redistributed water load if geophysically significant earth response parameters are to be deduced from observations of relative sea level the spectrum of the 5 x 5 area mean description of the ice load widely used in glacial rebound studies contains significant power at high degrees n 30 and can result in substantial spatial variations in sea level unless a thick lithosphere is introduced in the earth s response function a smoothed 1 1 description of the ice model avoids these high degree oscillations in relative sea level and produces satisfactory sea level results without requiring a thick lithosphere at far field sites the holocene sea levels are sensitive to the earth s response to the meltwater loading in the vicinity of the site and a high degree spatial resolution of coastline geometry is required to model the mantle flow driven by the differential loading about the site at some sites convergence of the solution to the sea level equation is not obtained even when the solution is expanded to degree 180 convergent solutions at lower degrees can be achieved by introducing earth models with a moderately thick lithosphere if high resolution ice and meltwater load models are not used then the tendency will be to overestimate the effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere estimates of mantle viscosity are also of questionable value if these high resolution models are not used a preliminary examination of sea levels at sites in both the near and far field places an upper limit of about 50 80 km on the effective lithospheric thickness these sea level observations are also consistent with an upper mantle viscosity of about 1021 pas with a lower mantle viscosity in the range of 1021 1023pa s

post fire geomorphic response in steep forested landscapes oregon coast range usa abstract the role of fire in shaping steep forested landscapes depends on a suite of hydrologic biologic and geological characteristics including the propensity for hydrophobic soil layers to promote runoff erosion during subsequent rainfall events in the oregon coast range several studies postulate that fire primarily modulates sediment production via root reinforcement and shallow landslide susceptibility although few studies have documented post fire geomorphic response here we describe field observations and topographic analyses for three sites in the central oregon coast range that burned in 1999 2002 and 2003 the fires generated strongly hydrophobic soil layers that did not promote runoff erosion because the continuity of the layers was interrupted by pervasive discontinuities that facilitated rapid infiltration at each of our sites fire generated significant colluvial transport via dry ravel consistent with other field based studies in the western united states fire driven dry ravel accumulation in low order valleys of our sulphur creek site equated to a slope averaged landscape lowering of 2 5 mm given holocene estimates of fire frequency these results suggest that fire may contribute 10 20 of total denudation across steep dissected portions of the oregon coast range in addition we documented more rapid decline of root strength at our sites than has been observed after timber harvest suggesting that root strength was compromised prior to fire or that intense heat damaged roots in the shallow subsurface given that fire frequencies in the pacific northwest are predicted to increase with continued climate change our findings highlight the importance of fire induced dry ravel and post fire debris flow activity in controlling sediment delivery to channels

gps constraints on 34 slow slip events within the cascadia subduction zone 1997 2005 1 refinements to gps analyses in which we factor geodetic time series to better estimate both reference frames and transient deformation resolve 34 slow slip events located throughout the cascadia subduction zone from 1997 through 2005 timing of transient onset is determined with wavelet transformation of geodetic time series thirty continuous stations are included in this study ranging from northern california to southwestern british columbia our improvements in analysis better resolve the largest creep events and also identify many smaller events at 48 5 n latitude a 14 month average recurrence interval has been observed over eight events since 1997 farther north along vancouver island a host of smaller events with a distinct 14 month periodicity also occurs in southern washington state some of the largest transient displacements are observed but lack any obvious periodicity in their recurrence along central oregon an 18 month recurrence is evident while in northern california an 11 month periodicity continues through 2005 we invert gps offsets of the 12 best recorded events for thrust slip along the plate interface using a cross validation scheme to derive optimal smoothing parameters these 12 events have equivalent moment magnitudes between 6 3 and 6 8 and have 2 3 cm of slip unlike other subduction zones no long duration events are observed and cumulative surface deformation is consistently less than 0 6 cm the many newly resolved smaller transient events in cascadia show that slow slip events occur frequently with gps best capturing only the largest events it is likely that slow slip events occur more frequently at levels not detectable with gps

quaternary and geodetically measured crustal movements in the tokai district central honshu japan geodetic measurements made in this century demonstrate that modern movements correlate well with deformation that has occurred during the past 2 m y both show effects of subduction and of the quaternary collision of izu peninsula with central honshu westward from suruga bay deformation is greatest near the coast decreases markedly towards the uplifting akaishi mountains and then increases again in the conjugate block faulted terranes of chubu district quaternary faults historic earthquakes and the distribution of horizontal shear straining since 1880 all reflect this deformation pattern since 1900 the west coast of suruga bay has undergone secular subsidence horizontal contraction and tilting towards suruga trough all typical of the strain buildup process that occurs landward of subduction zones however futher westward active mountain building is occuring and the akaishi ranges are rising 3 mm a unlike the episodic aseismic uplift of the transverse ranges of southern california movements here have been relatively uniform it seems likely that an increase in the tilt rate of the suruga coast recognized since 1973 is part of a long term readjustment to the great 1944 tonankai earthquake data show that a monotonic increase has occurred since at least 1949 and similar effects are seen adjacent to the 1944 rupture zone over 200 km southwest along the nankai trough

the a d 900 930 seattle fault zone earthquake with a wider coseismic rupture patch and postseismic submergence inferences from new sedimentary evidence stratigraphic evidence for coseismic uplift a tsunami and a sandy debris flow linked to the a d 900 930 seattle fault zone earthquake and subsequent submergence is present at gorst at the terminus of sinclair inlet washington this study indicates that at least 3 m of uplift preceded a tsunami followed by a sandy debris flow though the seattle and tacoma fault zones ruptured within the error of ages of the tsunami deposit model simulations indicate the seattle fault generates an order of magnitude larger tsunami in the vicinity of the field area than the tacoma fault and is the more likely generator of the tsunami simulations indicate amplitude from a seattle fault zone generated wave train was 4 5 m and stratigraphy shows the tsunami left a sandy deposit soft sediment deformation narrows the time window for the debris flow to the hours to months after the tsunami slope failure in unconsolidated glacial sands likely initiated a debris flow that surged at least 2 km down gorst creek valley and left a more than 40 cm thick deposit along the creek and in the wetlands submergence of a thuja plicata western red cedar swamp into the intertidal zone indicates at least 1 5 m of submergence in the last 1100 years this submergence indicates uplift on nearby marine terraces associated with the seattle fault zone was likely higher and the a d 900 930 earthquake was potentially larger than previously recognized

carbon isotopic composition of whewellite cac2o4 h2o from different geological environments and its significance carbon isotopic composition of whewellite cac2o4 h2o varies significantly among individual types of occurrences from the bohemian massif czech republic the 13c values of whewellite found inside pelosiderite concretions in the coal bearing carboniferous kladno basin are unusually high from 3 2 to 14 7 indicating influence of bacterial activity on the oxalate carbon isotopic composition in the tertiary northern bohemian basin where the depth of burial and coalification grades are much lower the 13c values of two whewellite samples are 6 9 and 14 2 whewellites from low temperature hydrothermal veins of the p ibram uranium deposits where bacterial processes are highly unlikely have 13c values of 31 7 to 28 4 identical to carbon isotopic composition of underlying black shales

first early mesozoic amber in the western hemisphere detrital amber pebbles and granules have been discovered in upper triassic strata on the colorado plateau although amber pre viously has been reported from pennsylvanian jurassic cretaceous and tertiary strata we know of no other reported triassic occurrence in north america or the western hemisphere the newly discovered occurrences of amber are at two localities in the lower part of the petrified forest member of the upper triassic chinle formation in petrified forest national park arizona the paper coals and carbonaceous paper shales containing the amber also contain fossil palynomorph assemblages that indicate a late carnian age for these occurrences

conversion of carbonaceous material to graphite within the greywacke zone of the eastern alps morphology and reflectance of carbonaceous material cm in late carboniferous metasediments of the eastern greywacke zone eastern alps indicate a mixture of vitrinite grainy textured and lamellar shaped particles as imaged by high resolution atomic force microscopy vitrinite and the grainy textured particles show mesophase structures which can be described as facetted nanocrystals within the carbon matrix high resolution transmission electron microscopy has revealed two types of microtextures representing different degrees of graphitization the first type is characterized by elongated ring shaped microtextures whereas the second type is characterized by graphite lamellae and polygonal flakes with long range ordered aromatic layers in spite of the heterogeneity of the cms the geographical distribution of quantitative metamorphic parameter raman spectra parameter x ray diffraction pattern microscopic reflectance suggests a graphitization process which is promoted by advective heat transport during post collisional processes in a tentative pressure time path late cretaceous thrusting results in a turbostratic ordering of the aromatic layer ordering to long range ordered aromatic layers was achieved during the late cretaceous paleogene exhumation of mid crustal rocks beneath the eastern greywacke zone

a revised dislocation model of interseismic deformation of the cascadia subduction zone 1 cas3d 2 a new three dimensional 3 d dislocation model is developed to model interseismic deformation rates at the cascadia subduction zone the model is considered a snapshot description of the deformation field that changes with time the effect of northward secular motion of the central and southern cascadia forearc sliver is subtracted to obtain the effective convergence between the subducting plate and the forearc horizontal deformation data including strain rates and surface velocities from global positioning system gps measurements provide primary geodetic constraints but uplift rate data from tide gauges and leveling also provide important validations for the model a locked zone based on the results of previous thermal models constrained by heat flow observations is located entirely offshore beneath the continental slope similar to previous dislocation models an effective zone of downdip transition from locking to full slip is used but the slip deficit rate is assumed to decrease exponentially with downdip distance the exponential function resolves the problem of overpredicting coastal gps velocities and underpredicting inland velocities by previous models that used a linear downdip transition a wide effective transition zone etz partially accounts for stress relaxation in the mantle wedge that cannot be simulated by the elastic model the pattern of coseismic deformation is expected to be different from that of interseismic deformation at present 300 years after the last great subduction earthquake the downdip transition from full rupture to no slip should take place over a much narrower zone

interpreting quaternary uplift rates at the mendocino triple junction northern california from uplifted marine terraces analysis of the altitudinal spacing of 14 flights of marine terraces indicates a spatial pattern of varying uplift rates that agrees with that determined from previously dated terraces for the past 3 81 ka and temporal changes in uplift rates from 1 m ka to 3 5 m ka that may reflect response to changes in tectonic regime during passage of the mendocino triple junction mtj a possible mechanism for regional uplift is growth of a slab window south of the mtj the region of most rapid uplift is 25 43 km south of the mtj immediately south of the northern boundary of the slab window the coastline is tilted upward to the south in the region directly above the southern edge of the subducted gorda plate at point delgada 55 km south of the present mtj where the northern edge of the slab window passes approximately 300 ka uplift rates have been 1 2 m ka for at least 330 ka more than 1 4 m y after passage of the southern edge of the subducted slab at the mendocino coast uplift rates have been less than 0 4 m ka for at least 330 ka

plate motion at the ridge transform boundary of the south cleft segment of the juan de fuca ridge from gps acoustic data 1 we measure the present day plate velocity of the juan de fuca ridge 25 km off axis to be 63 6 3 6 mm a at s67 2 e 7 9 degrees 1 relative to the pacific plate pa this velocity was derived from gps acoustic gpsa measurements in 2000 2001 2002 and 2003 that observed the position of a seafloor array 44 43 n 130 03 w 2900 m depth with a repeatability of 4 6 mm three transient events at the juan de fuca ridge and blanco transform account for 10 of this motion in viscoelastic modeling suggesting that the observed gpsa pa velocity is due primarily to steady state plate dynamics subtracting the modeled transient motion gives a velocity of 57 3 3 9 mm a at s72 9 e 12 1 degrees 1 which is consistent at the 95 confidence level with the velocity calculated from the wilson 1993 0 0 78 ma euler pole therefore this site is interpreted to be in a region of continuous full rate plate motion a robust result of this study which holds with and without correcting for transient motions these results provide direct geodetic evidence that spreading occurs predominantly within 25 km of the axis at this intermediate spreading rate ridge previously reported geodetic monitoring across the 1 km wide axial valley from 1994 1999 and 2000 2003 shows no significant extension chadwell et al 1999 hildebrand et al 1999 chadwick and stapp 2002 w w chadwick personal communication 2006 and seismic monitoring shows no activity this suggests the crust between 0 5 and 25 km off axis accommodates 26 mm of aseismic deformation each year through some combination of near axis fault motion and elastic strain accumulation

strain accumulation in western washington the juan de fuca plate is subducted beneath the north american plate off the coast of washington at a rate of about 40 mm yr n68 e the average principal strain rates extension reckoned positive measured in northwestern washington are as follows olympic peninsula 25 km south of port angeles from 1982 through 1990 e 1 0 011 0 027 strain yr n31 e 6 6 and e 2 0 092 0 028 strain yr n59 w 6 6 and near seattle from 1972 through 1985 e 1 0 027 0 019 strain yr n22 e 6 4 and e 2 0 036 0 013 strain yr n68 w 6 4 both strain measurements are consistent with uniaxial contraction in the direction of plate convergence uplift rates inferred from tide gage recordings are about 4 mm yr on the pacific coast and near 0 mm yr farther inland near seattle these deformation rates are consistent with a model of the cascadia subduction zone in which the plate interface beneath the continental slope and outer continental shelf is locked but free to slip farther landward the limited downdip extent of the locked segment of the plate interface is consistent with a shallow depth 20 km of the isotherm 450 c that defines the brittle ductile transition small thrust events diagnostic of seismic subduction should then occur only offshore and at shallow depths the principal strain rates measured from 1972 through 1983 in the back arc region near richland washington are e 1 0 016 0 013 strain yr n03 w 34 and e 2 0 024 0 013 strain yr n87 e 34

ice 3g a new global model of late pleistocene deglaciation based upon geophysical predictions of post glacial relative sea level change a new high resolution global model of late pleistocene deglaciation is inferred on the basis of geophysical predictions of postglacial relative sea level variations in which the ice ocean solid earth interaction is treated in a gravitationally self consistent fashion for the purpose of these analyses the radial viscoelastic structure of the planet is assumed known on the basis of previously published sensitivity tests on solutions of the forward problem only radiocarbon controlled relative sea level histories from sites that were actually ice covered with one or two additions are employed to constrain the model leaving relative sea level rsl data from sites that were not ice covered to be employed to confirm its consistency results for these confirmatory analyses are reported elsewhere here the new deglaciation model referred to as ice 3g is compared to previous models derived by several independent means and tested against a number of additional observations other than sea level histories including geologically controlled retreat isochrones oxygen isotope data from deep sea sedimentary cores and coral terrace elevations the latter two observations strongly constrain the net sea level rise that has occurred since the onset of deglaciation and therefore the mass of ice that melted during the last glacial interglacial transition

a dislocation model of strain accumulation and release at a subduction zone strain accumulation and release at a subduction zone are attributed to stick slip on the main thrust zone and steady aseismic slip on the remainder of the plate interface this process can be described as a superposition of steady state subduction and a repetitive cycle of slip on the main thrust zone consisting of steady normal slip at the plate convergence rate plus occasional thrust events that recover the accumulated normal slip because steady state subduction does not contribute to the deformation at the free surface deformation observed there is completely equivalent to that produced by the slip cycle alone the response to that slip is simply the response of a particular earth model to embedded dislocations for a purely elastic earth model the deformation cycle consists of a coseismic offset followed by a linear in time recovery to the initial value during the interval between earthquakes for an elastic viscoelastic earth model elastic lithosphere over a viscoelastic asthenosphere the postearthquake recovery is not linear in time records of local uplift as a function of time indicate that the long term postseimic recovery is approximately linear suggesting that elastic earth models are adequate to describe the deformation cycle however the deformation predicted for amore simple elastic half space earth does not reproduce the deformation observed along the subduction zones in japna at all well if stick slip is restricted to the main thrust zone as recognized earlier by shimazaki seno and kato the uplift profiles could be explained if stick slips were postulated to extend along the plate interface beyond the main thrust zone to a depth of perhaps 100 km but independent evidence suggests that stick slip at such depths if unlikely less

three dimensional dislocation model for great earthquakes of the cascadia subduction zone there have been no historical cascadia great subduction thrust earthquakes but there is good recent evidence that very large earthquakes have occurred in the past and that strain is building up toward a future great event geodetic measurements in the coastal region from northern california to southern british columbia show vertical and horizontal deformation as expected for the strain accumulation of a locked thrust fault the segment of the subduction thrust that is locked and may rupture in future great events has previously been estimated through two dimensional 2 d elastic dislocation modeling of interseismic deformation geodetic data in this study a general 3 d dislocation model for thrust faults has been developed that accommodates curved fault geometry and nonuniform interseismic locking or coseismic rupture the model is based on die surface deformation due to shear faulting in an elastic half space the 3 d model of the cascadia subduction zone calculates the surface deformation for a locked zone or a rupture zone of variable width along the margin the bend in the margin trend and subducting slab end effects are included there is a downdip transition zone between interseismic completely locked and free slip portions of the fault or between coseismic full rupture and no displacement an initial 3 d model based upon 2 d dislocation models and upon thermal constraints was adjusted to optimize the fit of the predicted interseismic surface deformation to current deformation geodetic data the best fit model has the thrust locked along the whole margin with an average locked zone width of 60 km and a transition zone width of 60 km the two zones lie mainly offshore beneath the continental shelf and slope the locked and transition zone widths vary smoothly along the margin being greater off northern washington where the thrust dip is shallow and narrower off central oregon assuming that the locked plus transition zones approximate the maximum coseismic rupture area these widths permit amw 9 earthquake

depositional environment of the late miocene hausruck lignite alpine foreland basin insights from petrography organic geochemistry and stable carbon isotopes abstract lignites and fossil wood from two boreholes in the late miocene hausruck district alpine foreland basin austria were investigated with respect to organic carbon and total sulfur contents ash yields maceral composition organic geochemistry and stable carbon isotope ratios the lignites from the two sampled profiles differ in sulfur contents and petrography based facies indicators gelification index gi tissue preservation index tpi the results point to drier and more acidic conditions in the part of the mire sampled at drill site lukasberg whereas the lignites from kalletsberg formed under near neutral conditions due to a raised ground water table the different depositional environments are supported by the paleogeographic positions of the boreholes borehole lukasberg is located within a paleo valley whereas borehole kalletsberg is located at the deeper part of a basin situated south and southwest of the hausruck area environmental changes with time within the mire are confirmed by the molecular composition of the soluble organic matter som differences in pristane phytane ratio isomerisation of hopanes at position 17 concentrations of hopanes and in the ratio of hopanes to hop 17 21 enes are related to the extent of gelification of plant tissue sulfur content and ph values caused by differences in ground water table the variable contents of individual terpenoid hydrocarbons derived from land plants indicate that angiosperms and conifers contribute to peat formation in the hausruck district in variable proportions overall angiosperm biomarkers slightly predominate the tissue preservation index tpi within the kalletsberg profile is probably governed by the proportion of decay resistant conifers as indicated by the correlation between tpi and biomarker composition of the coals correlations between 13 c values of the lignites between 24 9 and 27 4 and their non hopanoid terpenoid composition indicate the major influence of changes in peat forming vegetation on the carbon isotopic composition of the coals in the hausruck district carbon isotope data of macrofossils are consistent with their taxonomical classification as conifers 13 c between 22 7 and 25 1 and angiosperms 13 c between 25 5 and 26 6 respectively the 13 c data of the extracted cellulose reveal clear differences between fossil wood from gymnosperms average 13 c 21 0 and angiosperms mean 13 c 23 4

geodetic strain measurements in washington two new geodetic measurements of strain accumulation in the state of washington for the interval 1972 1979 are reported near seattle the average principal strain rates are 0 07 0 03 strain yr n 19 w and 0 13 0 02 strain yr n71 e and near richland south central washington the average principal strain rates are 0 02 0 01 strain yr n36 w and 0 04 0 01 strain yr n54 e extension is taken as positive and the uncertainties quoted are standard deviations a measurement of shear strain accumulation dilatation not determined in the epoch 1914 1966 along the north coast of vancouver island by the geodetic survey of canada indicates a marginally significant accumulation of right lateral shear 0 06 0 03 rad yr across the plate boundary n40 w strike although there are significant differences in detail these strain measurements are roughly consistent with a crude dislocation model that represents subduction of the juan de fuca plate the observed accumulation of strain implies that large shallow thrust earthquakes should be expected off the coast of washington and british columbia however this conclusion is not easily reconciled with either observations of elevation change along the washington coast or the focal mechanism solutions for shallow earthquakes in washington

a five years super slow aseismic precursor model for the 1994 m8 3 hokkaido toho oki lithospheric earthquake based on tide gauge data 1 here we present a super slow aseismic event model prior to the magnitude 8 3 kurile island hokkaido toho oki earthquake on 4 october 1994 based on data recorded by two tide gauges located 50 150 km from the earthquake epicenter both instruments recorded several cm of subsidence during a five year period prior to the earthquake the observed signals are consistent with a precursory quasi stable slip on the western half of the hokkaido toho oki fault plane when recognized such aseismic events can considerably improve our intermediate term several years prediction capability

episodic tectonic subsidence of late holocene salt marshes northern oregon central cascadia margin salt marsh subsurface deposits 0 4 m depth in netarts bay a small coastal lagoon of northern oregon record six events of marsh burial in the last several thousand years five of the buried marsh surfaces show sharp nonerosional upper contacts with either anomalous sand layers tsunami deposits or tidal flat mud deposits these sequences indicate episodic abrupt subsidence of the marsh surfaces to low intertidal levels in contrast lower marsh contacts with underlying intertidal muds are gradational indicating gradual uplift and development of the marsh three independent measures of deposit elevation relative to mean tidal level percent organics diatom assemblages and percent eolian sand have been used to estimate vertical displacements of marsh surfaces abrupt subsidence displacements of 1 1 5 m alternate with gradual uplift displacements of the order of 0 5 1 0 m the vertical tectonic movements are interpreted to reflect coseismic strain release abrupt subsidence following interseismic strain accumulation gradual uplift associated with interplate coupling between the juan de fuca plate and the north american plate in the cascadia subduction zone recurrence intervals between subsidence events range from possibly less than 300 years to at least 1000 years with the last dated event likely occurring 300 400 radiocarbon years before present rcybp significant 14c age overlaps of at least four subsidence events recorded at netarts and reported for southern washington and other northern oregon bays at 300 500 1000 1300 1400 1800 and 3000 3300 rcybp suggest the potential for event synchroneity over at least 200 km of the central part of the cascadia subduction zone additional work is needed to test the synchroneity of these episodic events of coseismic subsidence

geodetic evidence for active landward tilting of the oregon and washington coastal ranges nine leveling routes that extend inland from near the coast of oregon and washington indicate consistent landward tilting of the 600 km long coastal ranges at about 3 10 8 rad yr 1 analysis of tide gauge observations indicates tilting with roughly the same magnitude and sense as the leveling measurements these short term tilt rates 10 80 yr are comparable with longer term rates 100 000 yr deduced from tilted marine terraces contemporary landward tilting is interpreted to result from continuing subduction of the juan de fuca plate beneath north america the similarity between long and short term deformation suggests that present day subduction is occurring via aseismic creep as hypothesized by ando and balazs 1979 however recent measurements of horizontal deformation in northwest washington which have been interpreted to indicate elastic strain accumulation appear to be incompatible with aseismic subduction additional releveling observations along the oregon routes last observed in 1941 and further studies of late pleistocene deformation along the coastal region of oregon and washington could help determine present day tectonics and assess the risk of large thrust earthquakes in this area

the updip and downdip limits to great subduction earthquakes thermal and structural models of cascadia south alaska sw japan and chile this study examines thermal and structural controls of the updip and downdip rupture limits of great subduction thrust earthquakes data on past great earthquake seismic limits have been compiled for four continental subduction zones cascadia sw japan south alaska and chile these limits have then been compared to the predictions of several models for what constrains great earthquake rupture temperatures on the subduction thrusts have been estimated by finite element numerical models the landward limits of the observed updip aseismic zones correspond to the position where the thrust temperature reaches about 100 c that is depths of about 2 to 10 km for the subduction zones studied this temperature agrees with the dehydration of stable sliding smectite clays to illite chlorite the temperatures in this region are controlled mainly by the thickness of sediment on the incoming crust and by the crustal age and thus heat flow the downdip limits correspond to the depth on the thrust where either 1 the temperature reaches about 350 c which corresponds to thermally activated stable sliding behavior for crustal rocks with a transition to 450 c or 2 about 40 km depth if 350 c is reached at greater depth depths of about 40 km approximately correspond to the intersection of the thrust with the continental forearc moho and this downdip limit may be a consequence of stable sliding serpentinite or talc and other hydrated forearc mantle rocks the primary temperature controls on the downdip region are the age of the subducting oceanic plate and the thrust dip profile secondary control comes from the thickness of incoming sediment the convergence rate and the radioactive heat generation in the overlying forearc the 100 c updip limit occurs near the trench for young subducting plates with a thick sediment section such as cascadia 6 8 ma and up to 80 km landward for older oceanic crust such as south alaska 50 ma the 350 c downdip thermal limit is applicable for young oceanic plates e g cascadia and nankai whereas the forearc mantle limit applies for older plates e g south alaska and chile except near the chile rise for the margins studied that have experienced great earthquakes there is generally good agreement between the postulated thermal and moho limits and the rupture or seismogenic zone as defined by the distribution of aftershocks and by waveform tsunami and dislocation modeling the downdip limit of the interseismic locked zone from dislocation modeling is also in agreement with these limits

do trench sediments affect great earthquake occurrence in subduction zones seismic energy release is dominated by the underthrusting earthquakes in subduction zones and this energy release is further concentrated in a few subduction zones while some subduction zones are characterized by the occurrence of great earthquakes others are relatively aseismic this variation in maximum earthquake size between subduction zones is one of the most important features of global seismicity previous work has shown that the variation in maximum earthquake size is correlated with the variation in two other subduction zone properties age of the subducting lithosphere and convergence rate these two properties do not explain all the variance in maximum earthquake size i propose that a third subduction zone property trench sediments explains part of the remaining variance in maximum earthquake size subduction zones are divided into two groups 1 those with excess trench sediments and 2 those with horst and graben structure at the trench thirteen of the 19 largest subduction zone events including the three largest occur in zones with excess trench sediments about half the zones with excess trench sediments are characterized by great earthquake occurrence most of the other zones with excess trench sediments but without great earthquakes are predicted to have small earthquakes by the age rate correlation two notable exceptions are the oregon washington and middle america zones overall the presence of excess trench sediments appears to enhance great earthquake occurrence one speculative physical mechanism that connects trench sediments and earthquake size is that excess trench sediments are associated with the subduction of a coherent sedimentary layer which at elevated temperature and pressure forms a homogeneous and strong contact zone between the plates

raman spectroscopy of volcanic lavas and inclusions of relevance to astrobiological exploration volcanic eruptions and lava flows comprise one of the most highly stressed terrestrial environments for the survival of biological organisms the destruction of botanical and biological colonies by molten lava pyroclastic flows lahars poisonous gas emissions and the deposition of highly toxic materials from fumaroles is the normal expectation from such events however the role of lichens and cyanobacteria in the earlier colonization of volcanic lava outcrops has now been recognized in this paper we build upon earlier raman spectroscopic studies on extremophilic colonies in old lava flows to assess the potential of finding evidence of biological colonization in more recent lava deposits that would inform first the new colonization of these rocks and also provide evidence for the relict presence of biological colonies that existed before the volcanism occurred and were engulfed by the lava in this research samples were collected from a recent expedition to the active volcano at kilauea hawaii which comprises very recent lava flows active fumaroles and volcanic rocks that had broken through to the ocean and had engulfed a coral reef the raman spectra indicated that biological and geobiological signatures could be identified in the presence of geological matrices which is encouraging for the planned exploration of mars where it is believed that there is evidence of an active volcanism that perhaps could have preserved traces of biological activity that once existed on the planet s surface especially in sites near the old martian oceans

a revised estimate of pacific north america motion and implications for western north america plate boundary zone tectonics for the past 20 years much effort has been directed to determining the present day relative motion of the pacific and north american plates using two independent approaches one uses geologic observations and geodetic measurements along the san andreas fault and other faults in the plate boundary zone the other is based on plate motion models that incorporate spreading rates from marine magnetic anomalies transform azimuths and earthquake slip vectors geologic and geodetic studies find two principal elements of deformation slip along the san andreas of 34 mm yr directed n41 w and extension across the basin and range province of about 10 mm yr directed n56 w in contrast plate motion studies find 56 60 mm yr directed n35 w the discrepancy between these estimates a vector of about 15 mm yr oriented nearly due north is often attributed to a combination of slip along faults parallel to the san andreas and shortening normal to it here we revise the estimate of pacific north america motion by analyzing marine magnetic profiles from the gulf of california since 3 ma spreading has averaged 48 mm yr 10 mm yr slower than estimated before and consistent with the 49 mm yr spreading predicted by a new global plate motion model derived without any data along the pacific north america boundary the discrepancy with geodetic and geologic estimates is thus reduced to only 5 mm yr parallel to the san andreas 60 less than estimated before and 7 mm yr of shortening across the san andreas similar to prior estimates these results suggest that strike slip motion on faults west of the san andreas is less than thought before a conclusion consistent with geodetic seismological and other geologic observations

carbonates and oxalates in sediments and landfill monitors of death and decay in natural and artificial systems subaqueous sediments and landfill waste disposal sites are both natural locations for anaerobic microbiological metabolism where sulphates are reduced to sulphide and organic matter particularly acetate is oxidized and degraded to produce ultimately co 2 and ch 4 the microbiologically mediated geochemical processes in each case are similar however natural sedimentary porewaters can be difficult to sample and monitor whereas landfill sites are relatively easily accessible yielding leachate samples that are routinely monitored over periods of time in both environments carbonate precipitation is predicted to be a normal consequence of anaerobic microbiological activity consistent with changes in leachate composition and the predictions of geochemical modelling initial investigation of scale from a landfill drainage system confirms the presence of calcite together with gypsum and iron minerals calcium oxalate minerals whewellite and weddelite are widespread in their occurrence within septarian concretions from a number of geological formations whewellite is reportedly stable up to 160 c the solubility of calcium oxalate is very low and precipitation readily takes place when oxalate oxalic acid is present derived from fungal processes in sediments and soils calcium oxalate minerals should be expected wherever vegetable matter is decomposing this link can be demonstrated for natural sediments but has yet to be proven for landfill

present day vertical deformation of the cascadia margin pacific northwest united states we estimate present day uplift rates along the cascadia subduction zone in california oregon and washington in the pacific northwest united states by utilizing repeated leveling surveys and tide gauge records these two independent data sets give similar profiles for latitudinal variation of contemporary uplift rates along the coast uplift rates are extended inland through east west leveling lines that connect the north south line along the coast to the north south line along the inland valleys just west of the cascades the results are summarized as a contour map of present day uplift rates for the western pacific northwest we find that rates of present day uplift vary latitudinally along the coast and inland valleys as well as longitudinally along transects connecting the coast to the inland valleys long term tidal records of neah bay astoria and crescent city indicate uplift of land relative to sea level of 1 6 0 2 0 0 0 2 and 0 9 0 2 mm yr respectively 1 standard error unlike previous estimates of relative sea level change at astoria we adjust for discharge effects of the columbia river including human management influences after approximating an absolute framework by using 1 8 0 1 mm yr to compensate for global sea level rise results indicate that much of the western pacific northwest is rising at rates between 0 and 5 mm yr the most rapid uplift rates are near the coast particularly near the olympic peninsula the mouth of the columbia river cape blanco and cape mendocino two axes of uplift are identified one trends northeast from the southwest oregon coast and the other trends south southeasterly from the olympic peninsula to the columbia river the puget sound vicinity and a small east west region from the north central oregon coast to the inland willamette valley are subsiding at rates up to 1 mm yr we interpret the overall pattern of rapid present day uplift to be generated by interseismic strain accumulation in the subduction zone this interseismic elastic strain accumulation implies significant seismic hazard

sesqui and diterpenoid biomarkers preserved in taxodium rich oligocene oxbow lake clays weisselster basin germany several diterpenoids of the abietane pimarane and phyllocladane type and three cadalanetype sesquiterpenoids have been identified in the organic solvent extracts of lower oligocene clay sediments haselbach strata saxony germany the sediment contains needles and cone scales of a fossil taxodium species which represents the only conifer in the samples a clear correlation between the observed conifer biomarkers and taxodium is evident apart from diterpenoids detected previously in other sediments a new diaromatic totarane diterpenoid is reported in isolated fossil and recent taxodium needles and cone scales as well as in the haselbach clays a phenolic diterpenoid of the abietane type ferruginol has been identified the results indicate that the taxodium rich clay samples contain several diterpenoids which so far have been used as biomarkers for other conifer families and thus the chemotaxonomical use of diterpenoid biomarkers for the differentiation of fossil conifer families has to be revised

a fluvial record of long term steady state uplift and erosion across the cascadia forearc high western washington state six late quaternary river terraces preserved along the clearwater river in northwestern washington state provide a 140 ka record of long term incision and uplift across the western side of the cascadia forearc high terrace ages are constrained by weathering rind and radiocarbon dating and by correlation to dated coastal glacio fluvial deposits and the global eustatic curve the terraces overlie flat bedrock surfaces called straths which represent uplifted segments of the river channel bedrock incision is measured by the height of a strath relative to the adjacent modern river channel the straths along the clearwater show an upstream increase in bedrock incision ranging from 0 at the coast to a maximum of 110 m in the headwaters the incision at any point along the profile increases systematically with strath age the calculated incision rates range from 10 ky the clearwater river valley has maintained a steady state profile defined by a long term balance in the rates of incision and rock uplift upstream divergence of terraces is best explained by an increase in the rate of rock uplift from the coast toward the central part of the range these results are consistent with other evidence indicating a long term steady state balance between the accretionary influx and the erosional outflux for this part of the cascadia subduction wedge since 14 ma these results help show how terrace deposits form in tectonically active landscapes the dominantly fluvial clearwater drainage was forming straths while alpine glaciers were advancing in adjacent drainages in turn the straths were buried during the transition to interglacial times because of increased sediment supply due to local deglaciation and because of eustatic highstands that forced aggradation in the lower reach of the drainage and across the continental shelf as well the fluvial system shows strong forcing by the glacial climate cycle even so the river appears to have returned to the same valley profile during each cycle of strath cutting thus bedrock incision is clearly unsteady at time scales shorter than the glacial climate cycle 100 ky but appears to be relatively steady when averaged over longer time scales a simple kinematic model is used to examine how uplift of the cl our analysis indicates that the accretionary flux into the wedge occurs mainly by frontal accretion and not by underplating if accretion occurred entirely at the front of the wedge the present west coast should be moving to the northeast at 3 m ky relative to a fixed puget sound this prediction is in good agreement with offset of a 122 ka sea cliff preserved at the southwest side of the clearwater valley profile in this case the long term margin perpendicular shortening would account for 20 to 35 percent of the geodetically measured northeast southwest shortening across the olympic mountains

effects of forest cover topography and sampling extent on the measured density of shallow translational landslides 1 we use regionally available digital elevation models and land cover data calibrated with ground and photo based landslide inventories to produce spatially distributed estimates of shallow translational landslide density number unit area to discern effects of land use we focus on resolving landslide density relationships with forest cover we account for topographic variability between sites and landslide detection bias in air photo mapping even so for sites in the oregon coast range we find great variability in the ratios of landslide density in forest classes among sites we present strategies for subsampling available data to quantify this variability for these data we find that older forests when sampled over tens of square kilometers commonly exhibited the highest landslide densities but over hundreds of square kilometers always exhibited the lowest densities averaging 30 of that in recently harvested areas and 79 of that in younger managed forests

late quaternary stream incision and uplift in the forearc of the cascadia subduction zone western oregon documentation of a latest pleistocene earliest holocene episode of strath formation and fluvial aggradation in the oregon coast range provides a datum from which long term bedrock stream incision rates are determined variations in long term incision rates probably reflect cumulative differential uplift in the forearc of the cascadia subduction zone although factors such as bedrock and climatic controls and isostatic adjustments to erosion obscure the precise relationship between surface uplift and stream incision patterns of differential incision are most striking near the latitude of newport where a steep gradient divides a region of higher rates 0 6 0 9 mm yr in the northern coast range from a region of lower rates 0 1 0 3 mm yr in the central coast range the steep incision gradient is nearly coincident with abrupt changes in marine terrace 80 125 kyr uplift rates the locations of quaternary faults and the southern flank of a saddle of low historic 40 70 years uplift the exact causes of these variable patterns of incision uplift are unknown analogies with uplift patterns in other subduction zones and comparisons with other neotectonic data in the region indicate that patterns of differential incision probably are caused by variations in permanent strain accumulation along the cascadia subduction zone such variations may be related to differences in seismic moment release during individual earthquakes to changes in plate geometry or rates of wedge accretion to segmentation of earthquake ruptures and or to deformation on active structures in the north american plate and accretionary wedge

seismicity and focal mechanisms associated with the subduction of the juan de fuca plate beneath the olympic peninsula washington abstract two and a half years of data from an expanded telemetered seismic network on the olympic peninsula reinforce the conclusion that the juan de fuca plate is subducting beneath washington however the rate of seismicity is presently much lower than typical rates at other convergent margins the located earthquakes can be divided into two groups on the basis of depth at the coast a shallow zone extends to a depth of approximately 20 km while a deep zone begins at 25 km on the eastern edge of the peninsula the shallow zone has thickened to 30 km and the depth to the top of the deep zone has increased to 45 km the rate of crustal seismicity is much lower on the peninsula than in the adjacent puget sound region the deep zone is 5 to 10 km thick and dips to the east at an angle of about 11 the deep events appear to be occurring in the upper part of the subducting oceanic lithosphere focal mechanisms were constructed for 16 events in the suite of deep events with magnitudes ranging from 1 6 to 4 3 the solutions show primarily normal faulting with the p axes normal to the slab and the t axes displaying a range of angles within the slab with the average t axis in the downdip direction small events with down dip tension in the downgoing slab are consistent with the slab sinking under its own weight several strike slip events may be caused by a shearing within the slab these features are consistent with ongoing subduction of the juan de fuca plate beneath north america