mapping and characterization of small scale aeolian structures on mars an example from the msl landing site in gale crater abstract a new set of methodologies which allow a simple and fast mapping and characterization of small scale aeolian structures on mars is introduced in this work we follow an object based approach in which the bedform crestlines are automatically mapped and characterized from the methodology validation we conclude that the quality of the obtained results is comparable with human produced photointerpretations we show that the accuracy associated with the measurement of mean trends from the automatically mapped patterns is less than 10 through the analysis of two areas located near the msl landing site in gale crater we explore some of the possibilities that the automatic mapping technique enables namely for multitemporal surveys and ripple pattern analysis we demonstrate how the mapped ripple patterns can be used to assess local wind orientations and we analyze some examples that illustrate the diversity of wavelength spatial distributions that can be found on mars we try to relate these pattern wavelength variations with the possible local influence of granulometry and wind shear velocity

controls on the large scale spatial variations of dune field properties in the barchanoid portion of white sands dune field new mexico previous studies have shown that sediment fluxes and dune sizes are a maximum near the upwind margin of the white sands dune field and decrease to first order with increasing distance downwind these patterns have alternatively been attributed to a shear stress overshoot associated with a roughness transition localized at the upwind margin and to the influence of long wavelength topography on the hydrology and hence erodibility of dune field sediments i point out an issue that compromises the shear stress overshoot model and further test the hypothesis that long wavelength topographic variations acting in concert with feedbacks among aerodynamic granulometric and geomorphic variables control dune field properties at white sands building upon the existing literature i document that the mean and variability of grain sizes sand dryness aerodynamic roughness lengths bed shear stresses sediment fluxes and ripple and dune heights all achieve local maxima at the crests of the two most prominent scarps in the dune field one coincident with the upwind margin and the other located 6 7 km downwind computational fluid dynamics cfd modeling predicts that bed shear stresses erosion rates and the supply of relatively coarse poorly sorted sediments are localized at the two scarps due to flow line convergence hydrology and the spatially distributed adjustment of the boundary layer to variations in dune size as a result the crests of the scarps have larger ripples due to the granulometric control of ripple size larger grain sizes and or larger ripples lead to larger dunes and hence larger values of bed shear stress in a positive feedback

orbital observations of contemporary dune activity in endeavor crater meridiani planum mars 1 although aeolian landforms are pervasive on mars evidence for contemporary activity has been limited the next major campaign for the mars exploration rover opportunity is the investigation of the 20 km diameter endeavor crater 6 km to southeast of the rover s position as of december 2010 we present evidence from orbital imagery that eight aeolian bed forms 14 000 m2 in endeavor crater have been active within the past decade 2001 2009 at a spatial scale that should be directly observable by opportunity from the crater rim two dunes appear to show translational migration 10 20 m but all dunes indicate erosion to be the dominant process with up to 100 sediment removal thermophysical properties of these dunes are consistent with very fine to fine sand sizes the particle sizes most easily moved by the martian atmosphere the dunes that show the most surface change have a rippled appearance without well defined slip faces based on their morphology elliptical shape we classify them as dome dunes mesoscale atmospheric modeling is employed to provide insight into the atmospheric forcing of this aeolian system the major wind regimes from modeling are consistent with observations of wind streaks sand streamers ripples and slip faces of regional dune fields although modeled wind speeds are insufficient to move sand the translation and erosion of these dunes constitutes the largest contemporary movement of sand sized sediment reported on mars to date and demonstrates that endeavor crater has been subject to wind profiles exceeding the threshold velocity at the surface daily seasonally and or episodically in the recent past

tsunami generation by a rapid entrance of pyroclastic flow into the sea during the 1883 krakatau eruption indonesia 1 the 1883 eruption of krakatau volcano in indonesia was one of the most explosive volcanic events in history it was a marine caldera forming eruption that resulted in voluminous ignimbrite deposits and huge tsunamis we have used numerical simulations to investigate three major mechanisms for tsunami generation caldera collapse phreatomagmatic explosion and pyroclastic flow and have constrained the source parameters computed tsunami characteristics for each hypothesis are compared with observations at locations along the coasts of the sunda strait where tsunami data were obtained immediately after the eruption for the pyroclastic flow hypothesis two types of two layer shallow water models dense and light type models were used under different initial conditions pyroclastic flows are erupted from a circular source following a sine function that assumes waning and waxing phases caldera collapse was performed using a simple piston like plunger model in which collapse duration was assumed to be up to 1 h the phreatomagmatic explosion hypothesis was examined using simple empirical models for underwater explosions in shallow water with explosion energy between 1016 and 1017 j the results show that when a pyroclastic flow with a volume of 5 km3 and an average discharge rate of the order of 107 m3 s enters the sea the computed tsunami heights are broadly consistent with historical records in coastal areas including a tide gauge record at batavia now jakarta we conclude that a pyroclastic flow entering the sea is the most plausible mechanism of the 1883 krakatau tsunami

windy mars a dynamic planet as seen by the hirise camera 1 with a dynamic atmosphere and a large supply of particulate material the surface of mars is heavily influenced by wind driven or aeolian processes the high resolution imaging science experiment hirise camera on the mars reconnaissance orbiter mro provides a new view of martian geology with the ability to see decimeter size features current sand movement and evidence for recent bedform development is observed dunes and ripples generally exhibit complex surfaces down to the limits of resolution yardangs have diverse textures with some being massive at hirise scale others having horizontal and cross cutting layers of variable character and some exhibiting blocky and polygonal morphologies reticulate fine polygonal texture bedforms are ubiquitous in the thick mantle at the highest elevations

a geophysical interpretation of the 1883 krakatau eruption abstract from the present submarine topography in the vicinity of the krakatau islands it is concluded that the focus of the large explosions was situated to the northwest of the present rakata island the channel between krakatau and sebesi islands was completely blocked by banks of volcanic material immediately after the eruptions and it is suggested that this material was mainly lithic fragments the explosion sequences of krakatau are deduced from the records of sea waves and air waves observed at jakarta the large tsunami was caused by the most violent explosion simultaneously with the largest air waves it is inferred that the origin of the tsunami was a sudden upheaval of the seawater due to a violent explosion and that the height of the tsunami near its source was 30 40 m energy of the explosion is estimated from analyses of the air waves as one order of magnitude greater than that of the 1956 bezymianny eruption thus the 1883 krakatau eruption may have caused explosive removal of more than 10 km3 of material the subsurface structure of krakatau islands after the 1883 eruption is deduced from gravity anomalies it is concluded that at the bottom of the caldera there are deposits of low density in the shape of an inverted cone 8 km in diameter and 1 km in depth from the residual gravity anomaly observed over the caldera one can estimate the mass deficiency there this allows estimates to be made as to the amount of ejecta although large uncertainties remain these data indicate that explosive removal of material was the main process responsible for the disappearance of the northern half of the former rakata krakatau island in the 1883 eruption

the influence of local topography for wind direction on mars two examples of dune fields in crater basins in this work we perform an analysis of large dark dunes within moreux crater and herschel crater on mars using high resolution imaging science experiment hirise and context camera ctx data sets these data allow us to conduct a detailed analysis of dune morphology and slip faces concluding that the studied dune fields are influenced by topographically controlled complex wind directions our morphological analysis reveals that inside moreux crater in particular the topographic setting dominates the wind flow direction leading to the development of a sand transport pathway encircling the central peak of the crater the dune fields in herschel crater are also affected by winds controlled by variable topography as suggested by the presence of complex dunes and dune fields our analysis indicate that the studied dune systems is not the result of paleo wind regimes furthermore we perform thermal inertia measurements using thermal emission spectrometer tes data which indicate that the studied dune fields consist of medium sand 250 500 mm in diameter

generation mechanism of tsunamis from the 1883 krakatau eruption the 1883 eruption of krakatau generated a destructive tsunami which claimed about 34 000 lives we compute the generation and propagation of tsunamis from three models previously proposed they are 1 large scale caldera collapse of the northern part of krakatau island 2 emplacement of pyroclastic flow deposits 3 submarine explosion we numerically solve the non linear shallow water equations on actual bathymetry all three models displace the same volume 11 5 km 3 of water in different ways we compare the results of our computation with the observed tsunami waveforms at batavia and tsunami wave heights along the coasts of java and sumatra the comparison shows that the submarine explosion model of 1 to 5 min duration best explains the generation of the largest tsunami

a re analysis of the late bronze age eruption and tsunami of santorini greece and the implications for the volcano tsunami hazard the paroxysmal eruption of santorini ca 3500 bp referred to as the late bronze age lba eruption probably generated multiple tsunami their occurrence and impacts being cited frequently in scientific papers and articles this paper examines what is known about any lba tsunami noting possible mechanisms of generation and identifying sedimentological traces firstly the eruption sequence is outlined providing the context in which tsunami genesis may have occurred secondly the arguments forwarded for the tsunami and a summary of the evidence is given thirdly results of a new geological investigation for lba tsunami deposits at 41 coastal sites from crete and kos are presented the data are used to test the hypothesis that the lba eruption generated an east mediterranean wide tsunami it will be seen that no terrestrial geological evidence is identified the paper re examines the original arguments presented for lba tsunami challenging them because their founding assumptions are flawed together the new data and the re analysis of the original tsunami hypothesis indicate that there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that any significant far field tsunami propagated throughout the entire east mediterranean as frequently purported some terrestrial evidence exists to suggest localised near field tsunami inundation there is good submarine evidence however to suggest that a tsunami was focused to the w and wsw the results have important implications for understanding the volcano related tsunami hazard within the region and elsewhere

deep sea tsunami deposits in the eastern mediterranean new evidence and depositional models the tsunami wave induced by the collapse of the santorini caldera after the bronze age minoan eruption 3500 bp produced turbidites and large volume mega turbidites in the abyssal plains of the ionian sea as well as on the floor of small basins of the mediterranean and calabrian ridges characterized by the so called cobblestone topography since the first discovery in 1978 a holocene mud layer which has been termed homogenite and which typically shows a graded interval at its base has been identified and correlated in over 50 deep sea cores recovered in the eastern mediterranean four types of homogenite can be distinguished each related to a particular depositional setting 1 a closed cobblestone these are from a few decimetres to several metres thick pelagic turbidites of local provenance exclusively found at the bottom of small sized ponded basins of the mediterranean and calabrian ridges a debris flow may be present at the base of the turbidite where the vertical relief of the basins is over 200 m 2 b abyssal plain a 10 to 20 m thick megaturbidite recorded in the ionian and sirte abyssal plains the source area is the african continental margin possibly the continental shelf it can be easily identified as a transparent acoustic layer that shows recent deformation across the deformation front of the mediterranean ridge accretionary prism the volume of the minoan homogenite in the ionian abyssal plain has been calculated at a minimum of 11 km3 3 c open cobblestone this type is exclusively found on the outer slope of the mediterranean ridge near the deformation front unlike types a and b the base of the turbidite here is erosional instead of depositional this homogenite has been deposited in small basins and occasionally on topographic highs of the mediterranean ridge by the up slope flow of turbidity currents of african provenance that formed the abyssal plain deposit type b 4 d a fourth depositional model has been identified homogenites present in deep anoxic basins of the mediterranean ridge this setting is substantially similar to type a but the vertical relief of the basin is much higher up to 800 m and the deposition occurs in high density anoxic brines which modify the settling rate and hence the resulting sedimentological characters

a scenario of the 1883 krakatau tsunami abstract the 1883 krakatau tsunami provides an important clue for solving the mechanisms of the eruption of krakatau first sea waves of volcanic origin are basically classified the travel times of the crest of the largest tsunami in the 1883 krakatau eruption are recalculated taking the wave heights and the sea depths along the path into consideration as a special case of sea waves air waves coupled with those of the sea are examined and the necessary conditions of their generation are discussed the sea depths must be around 5 km the sea wave paths require long stretches of sea and the magnitudes of volcanic explosions must be large to produce the air sea waves the information collected suggests that the tsunamis registered at batavia jakarta were not air sea waves some results of the recent reflection survey of the subbottom materials and a supplemental gravity survey in the krakatau area are introduced to provide further evidence for explosive mechanisms the origin times of the onset and the crest of the tsunami and the air wave both registered at batavia are calculated from their travel times adopting these origin times the author reconstructs a scenario of the tsunami in order to generate a tsunami as long as about 60 km wave length successive developments of surges and water domes seem to be necessary

aeolian dunes as ground truth for atmospheric modeling on mars 1 martian aeolian dunes preserve a record of atmosphere surface interaction on a variety of scales serving as ground truth for both global climate models gcms and mesoscale climate models such as the mars regional atmospheric modeling system mrams we hypothesize that the location of dune fields expressed globally by geographic distribution and locally by dune centroid azimuth dca may record the long term integration of atmospheric activity across a broad area preserving gcm scale atmospheric trends in contrast individual dune morphology as expressed in slipface orientation sf may be more sensitive to localized variations in circulation preserving topographically controlled mesoscale trends we test this hypothesis by comparing the geographic distribution dca and sf of dunes with output from the ames mars gcm and at a local study site with output from mrams when compared to the gcm 1 dunes generally lie adjacent to areas with strongest winds 2 dca agrees fairly well with gcm modeled wind directions in smooth floored craters and 3 sf does not agree well with gcm modeled wind directions when compared to mrams modeled winds at our study site 1 dca generally coincides with the part of the crater where modeled mean winds are weak and 2 sfs are consistent with some weak topographically influenced modeled winds we conclude that 1 geographic distribution may be valuable as ground truth for gcms 2 dca may be useful as ground truth for both gcm and mesoscale models and 3 sf may be useful as ground truth for mesoscale models

gravity fields and the interpretation of volcanic structures geological discrimination and temporal evolution abstract a review of gravity data reflecting shallow concealed structures on volcanoes demonstrates that valuable information may be derived on the geological development of such structures and on the dynamic evolution of active volcanoes to a first approximation all recorded examples of anomalous gravity fields associated with volcanoes are concentric with and have sources that lie within the volcanic edifice positive anomalies with wavelengths less than 20 km and amplitudes up to ca 30 mgal characterise mainly basaltic volcanoes from various tectonic settings and are caused by a relatively dense intrusive complex magma body which contrasts with its surroundings either because the body is more mafic than average or more likely because near surface previously erupted materials are uncompacted negative anomalies with wavelengths up to 100 km and amplitudes up to ca 60 mgal occur over much larger volcanic calderas many of which have erupted highly silicic pyroclastic ash and pumice uncompacted silicic caldera infill with a possible contribution from low density magma bodies is responsible for the observed anomalies there is some evidence for a continuum of gravity anomaly types that corresponds to the geological evolution of volcanic systems generally from primitive rift or subduction related basaltic andesite to mature high level silicic calderas repeated microgravity observations over active volcanoes enable magma movements variations in magma input and changes in magma density to be monitored closely dynamic modelling of volcanic systems is providing new evidence on the behaviour of concealed magma bodies and could have considerable potential for predicting eruptive events

the origin of the 1883 krakatau tsunamis abstract hypotheses for the origin of the krakatau tsunamis of 27 august 1883 are reviewed the 151 minute sea wave travel time between krakatau and batavia jakarta first proposed by verbeek cannot be substantiated thus hypotheses for the origin of the tsunamis which rest on very accurate timings of the origins of the air and sea waves such as that of latter 1981 also cannot be substantiated there was one exceptionally large sea wave tsunami on 27 august and many smaller ones most of the smaller waves appear to have been air sea coupled waves rather than true tsunamis of the few sea waves that were probably true tsunamis only one may have originated by emplacement of a pyroclastic flow at a point nearer batavia than krakatau the catastrophic event in the eruption of august 27th was preceded some 40 minutes earlier by a subordinate event which also propagated an air sea coupled wave and a tsunami the largest heard explosion produced an air sea coupled wave but was not associated with a tsunami although the precise time relations between the origins of the air and sea waves cannot be definitely established the most likely scenario for the catastrophic phase of the eruption is broadly similar to that originally proposed by verbeek in which collapse of part of the original volcanic edifice propagated a major volcanic explosion

incremental collapse and stratocone growth within a funnel shaped caldera guayabo costa rica abstract correlations between the surface geology and detailed borehole stratigraphy density logs particularly in the geothermally active area illustrate that the present morphology and structure of the guayabo caldera is the product of at least four subsidence events much of the sub caldera tuff lava sequence also exposed in the topographic caldera walls is the product of several ca 2 ma old overlapping stratocones formerly present in the area but later subjected to subsidence and edifice collapse the v shaped gravity anomaly across the caldera is due to a funnel shaped cross section developed as follows the earliest and innermost now concealed down faulted zone was filled by a low density pumice unit which extended southwest along an early arc normal graben at least two subsequent subsidence events produced the present scarps and outflow tuff breccias but the erupted volume is markedly lower than the subsidence volume the missing magma may have been diverted to the east where at the same time further stratocone buildup was occurring the gravity signature over this eastern caldera margin suggests the presence of a large dense sub volcanic intrusive complex further edifice collapse and graben formation due to a combination of gravitational failure and arc normal strain are relatively recent and continuing processes the evolution of the guayabo caldera therefore involved a series of subsidence events punctuated by stratocone buildup and collapse the resolution of concentric ring faulted block structures does not support a chaotic collapse model but instead indicates the incremental development by widening of a funnel shaped caldera

explosive volcanism vei 6 without caldera formation insight from huaynaputina volcano southern peru through examination of the vent region of volcan huaynaputina peru we address why some major explosive eruptions do not produce an equivalent caldera at the eruption site here in 1600 more than 11 km3 dre vei 6 were erupted in three stages without developing a volumetrically equivalent caldera fieldwork and analysis of aerial photographs reveal evidence for cryptic collapse in the form of two small subsidence structures the first is a small non coherent collapse that is superimposed on a cored out vent this structure is delimited by a partial ring of steep faults estimated at 0 85 by 0 95 km collapse was non coherent with an inwardly tilted terrace in the north and a southern sector broken up along a pre existing local fault displacement was variable along this fault but subsidence of approximately 70 m was found and caused the formation of restricted extensional gashes in the periphery the second subsidence structure developed at the margin of a dome the structure has a diameter of 0 56 km and crosscuts the non coherent collapse structure subsidence of the dome occurred along a series of up to seven concentric listric faults that together accommodate approximately 14 m of subsidence both subsidence structures total 0 043 km3 in volume and are much smaller than the 11 km3 of erupted magma crosscutting relationships show that subsidence occurred during stages ii and iii when 2 km3 was erupted and not during the main plinian eruption of stage i 8 8 km3

aeolian processes in proctor crater on mars mesoscale modeling of dune forming winds 1 both atmospheric modeling and spacecraft imagery of mars are now of sufficient quality that the two can be used in conjunction to acquire an understanding of regional and local scale aeolian processes on mars we apply a mesoscale atmospheric model adapted for use on mars the mars mm5 to proctor crater a 150 km diameter crater in the southern highlands proctor crater contains numerous aeolian features that indicate wind direction including a large dark dune field with reversing transverse and star dunes containing three different slipface orientations small and older bright bedforms that are most likely transverse granule ripples and seasonally erased dust devil tracks results from model runs spanning a martian year with a horizontal grid spacing of 10 km predict winds aligned with two of the three dune slipfaces as well as spring and summer winds matching the dust devil track orientations the primary most prevalent dune slipface orientation corresponds to a fall and winter westerly wind created by geostrophic forces the tertiary dune slipface orientation is caused by spring and summer evening katabatic flows down the eastern rim of the crater influencing only the eastern portion of the crater floor the dunes are trapped in the crater because the tertiary winds enhanced by topography counter transport from the oppositely oriented primary winds which may have originally carried sand into the crater the dust devil tracks are caused by light spring and summer westerly winds during the early afternoon caused by planetary rotation the secondary dune slipface orientation is not predicted by model results from either the mars mm5 or the geophysical fluid dynamics laboratory mars general circulation model the reason for this is not clear and the wind circulation pattern that creates this dune slipface is not well constrained the mars mm5 model runs do not predict stresses above the saltation threshold for dune sand of the appropriate size and composition as with previous work the calculated wind velocities are too low which may be caused by too large of a grid spacing

the hazards of eruptions through lakes and seawater abstract eruptions through crater lakes or shallow seawater referred to here as subaqueous eruptions present hazards from hydromagmatic explosions such as base surges lahars and tsunamis which may not exist at volcanoes on dry land we have systematically compiled information from eruptions through surface water in order to understand the circumstances under which these hazards occur and what disastrous effects they have caused in the past subaqueous eruptions represent only 8 of all recorded eruptions but have produced about 20 of all fatalities associated with volcanic activity in historical time excluding eruptions that have resulted in about a hundred deaths or less lahars have killed people in the largest number of historical subaqueous eruptions 8 followed by pyroclastic flows excluding base surges 5 tsunamis 4 and base surges 2 subaqueous eruptions have produced lahars primarily on high 1000 m steep sided volcanoes containing small

present day aeolian activity in herschel crater mars abstract in this report we show evidence for ripple and dune migration in herschel crater on mars we estimate an average dune migration of 0 8 m and a minimum ripple migration of 1 1 m in a time span of 3 7 earth years these dunes and ripples are mainly shaped by prevailing winds coming from the north however we also report the presence of secondary winds which elongate the barchans horns such a complex wind scenario is likely caused by the influence of winds blowing off the western crater rim as suggested by the mars regional atmospheric modeling system mrams an atmospheric mesoscale model a multi directional wind regime at the local scale is also supported by the observed bimodal distribution of the ripple trends for the first time a survey integrating the assessment of dune and ripple migration is presented showing how dune topography can influence the migration patterns of ripples and how underlying topography appears to control the rates of dune migration

source mechanisms of volcanic tsunamis volcanic tsunamis are generated by a variety of mechanisms including volcano tectonic earthquakes slope instabilities pyroclastic flows underwater explosions shock waves and caldera collapse in this review we focus on the lessons that can be learnt from past events and address the influence of parameters such as volume flux of mass flows explosion energy or duration of caldera collapse on tsunami generation the diversity of waves in terms of amplitude period form dispersion etc poses difficulties for integration and harmonization of sources to be used for numerical models and probabilistic tsunami hazard maps in many cases monitoring and warning of volcanic tsunamis remain challenging further technical and scientific developments being necessary and must be coupled with policies of population preparedness

a probabilistic assessment of the seismic hazard in turkey abstract seismic hazard maps for turkey are developed by utilizing the current probabilistic procedures the maps contain probabilistic estimates of the maximum msk intensity and the maximum horizontal peak ground acceleration for the return periods of 225 475 and 10 000 years a modified and updated catalogue for the large and damaging earthquakes affecting turkey has been prepared to provide a base for the spatial correlation of the seismic activity with the geo tectonic elements brief descriptions of the seismic sources adopted for turkey for the purpose of seismic source regionalization are given recurrence relationship regression constants maximum magnitudes and intensity attenuation relationships are provided for each seismic source zone the earthquake phenomenon is based on both the point source model and the fault rupture model depending on the source model the results are discussed in detail the study is intended to serve as a reference for more advanced approaches and to stimulate discussion and suggestions on the data base assumptions and the inputs and to pave the path for the risk based assessment of the seismic hazard in the site selection and the design of nuclear power plants and in the design of common buildings and engineering facilities

dune migration and slip face advancement in the rabe crater dune field mars 1 eight overlapping images of a dune slip face in rabe crater 35 e 44 s from the mars global surveyor mars orbiter camera show changes interpreted to be multiple grainflow events that would indicate present day sand saltation and dune migration new occurrences of these features appear sporadically throughout late southern summer and early fall and then no further changes occur throughout winter by the following summer the pattern of old streaks had been almost completely covered by new dark streaks assuming that this activity is typical from year to year migration rates are estimated to be on the order of 1 2 cm per martian year produced by south to southeasterly winds that blow mostly during the southern spring and early summer this slow migration rate is consistent with a present day sediment state that is either transport or availability limited

active aeolian processes on mars a regional study in arabia and meridiani terrae 1 we present evidence of widespread aeolian activity in the arabia terra meridiani region mars where different kinds of aeolian modifications have been detected and classified passing from the regional to the local scale we describe one particular dune field in meridiani planum where two ripple populations are distinguished by means of different migration rates moreover a consistent change in the ripple pattern is accompanied by significant dune advancement between 0 4 1 meter in one martian year that is locally triggered by large avalanche features this suggests that dune advancement may be common throughout the martian tropics

on the generation of oceanic surface waves by underwater volcanic explosions abstract the oceanic surface waves generated by submarine volcanism are modeled as the response of a compressible ocean to an underwater point explosion at an arbitrary depth over an elastic half space we generalize the work of kajiura and miyoshi by allowing the elastic sea floor to influence both the sound and surface gravity waves the classic work of press and ewing is extended to allow for the movement of the oceanic free surface from numerical inversion techniques we find that most of the energy is radiated away as surface gravity waves a mixture of direct and reflected p compressional and s type distortional head waves may produce high frequency large amplitude oscillations in the sea surface

seismic imaging of santorini subsurface constraints on caldera collapse and present day magma recharge abstract volcanic calderas are surface depressions formed by roof collapse following evacuation of magma from an underlying reservoir the mechanisms of caldera formation are debated and predict differences in the evolution of the caldera floor and distinct styles of magma recharge here we use a dense active source seismic tomography study to reveal the sub surface physical properties of the santorini caldera in order to understand caldera formation we find a 3 km wide cylindrical low velocity anomaly in the upper 3 km beneath the north central portion of the caldera that lies directly above the pressure source of the 2011 2012 inflation we interpret this anomaly as a low density volume caused by excess porosities of between 4 and 28 with pore spaces filled with hot seawater vents that were formed during the first three phases of the 3 6 ka late bronze age lba eruption are located close to the edge of the imaged structure the correlation between older volcanic vents and the low velocity anomaly suggests that this feature may be long lived we infer that collapse of a limited area of the caldera floor resulted in a high porosity low density cylindrical volume which formed by either chaotic collapse along reverse faults wholesale subsidence and infilling with tuffs and ignimbrites phreatomagmatic fracturing or a combination of these processes phase 4 eruptive vents are located along the margins of the topographic caldera and the velocity structure indicates that coherent down drop of the wider topographic caldera followed the more limited collapse in the northern caldera this progressive collapse sequence is consistent with models for multi stage formation of nested calderas along conjugate reverse and normal faults the upper crustal density differences inferred from the seismic velocity model predict differences in subsurface gravitational loading that correlate with the location of 2011 2012 edifice inflation this result supports the hypothesis that sub surface density anomalies may influence present day magma recharge events we postulate that past collapses and the resulting topographical and density variations at santorini influence magma focusing between eruptive cycles a feedback process that may be important in other volcanoes

barchan dune asymmetry observations from mars and earth barchan dune asymmetry refers to the extension of one barchan limb downwind it is a common dune form on earth and also occurs on mars and titan a new classification of barchan limbs is presented where three types of limb morphology are identified linear kinked and beaded these along with other dune scale morphological signatures are used to identify three of the causes of barchan asymmetry on mars bi directional winds dune collision and the influence of inclined topography the potential for specific dune asymmetric morphologies to indicate aspects of the formative wind regime on planetary surfaces is shown for example the placement of dune limbs can indicate the general direction and relative strength of formative oblique winds an extreme barchan limb length may indicate a long duration oblique wind a kinked limb may be evidence of the passage of a storm beaded limbs may represent surface wave instabilities caused by an increase in wind energy parallel to the dune a preliminary application of these signatures finds evidence for bi modal winds on mars however these and other morphological signatures of wind direction and relative strength should be applied to planetary landforms with caution as more than one process e g bi modal winds and collision may be operating together or sequentially on the dunefield in addition analysis should be undertaken at the dunefield scale and not on individual dunes finally morphological data should be acquired from similar scale dunes within a dunefield in addition to bi modal wind regimes on mars the frequent parallel alignment of the extended barchan limb to the dune suggests that dune collision is also an important cause of asymmetry on mars some of the more complex dunefield patterns result from a combination of dune collision limb extension and merging with downwind dunes dune asymmetric form does not inhibit dune migration in the namib desert or on mars data from the namib suggest that dune migration rates are similar for symmetric and asymmetric dunes further modeling and field studies are needed to refine our understanding of the potential range of limb and dune morphologies that can result from specific asymmetry causes

pyroclastic flows and surges over water an example from the 1883 krakatau eruption pyroclastic deposits from the 1883 eruption of krakatau are described from areas northeast of the volcano on the islands of sebesi sebuku and lagoendi and the southeast coast of sumatra massive and poorly stratified units formed predominantly from pyroclastic flows and surges that traveled over the sea for distances up to 80 km granulometric and lithologic characteristics of the deposits indicate that they represent the complement of proximal subaerial and submarine pyroclastic flow deposits laid down on and close to the krakatau islands the distal deposits exhibit a decrease in sorting coefficient median grain size and thickness with increasing distance from krakatau crystal fractionation is consistent with the distal facies being derived from the upper part of gravitationally segregated pyroclastic flows in which the relative amount of crystal enrichment and abundance of dense lithic clasts diminished upwards the deposits are correlated to a major pyroclastic flow phase that occurred on the morning of 27 august at approximately 10 a m energetic flows spread out away from the volcano at speeds in excess of 100 km h and traveled up to 80 km from source the flows retained temperatures high enough to burn victims on the sw coast of sumatra historical accounts from ships in the sunda straits constrain the area affected by the flows to a minimum of 4x103 km2 at the distal edge of this area the flows were relatively dilute and turbulent yet carried enough material to deposit several tens of centimeters of tephra the great mobility of the krakatau flows from the 10 a m activity may be the result of enhanced runout over the sea it is proposed that the generation of steam at the flow seawater interface may have led to a reduction in the sedimentation of particles and consequently a delay in the time before the flows ceased lateral motion and became buoyantly convective the buoyant distal edge of these ash and steam laden clouds lifted off into the atmosphere leading to cooling condensation and mud rain

the mars regional atmospheric modeling system model description and selected simulations the mars regional atmospheric modeling system mrams is introduced and selected model results are presented and compared with landed meteorological data when possible mrams is descended from a nonhydrostatic earth mesoscale and cloud scale model that is widely used for forecasting weather and simulating atmospheric systems over complex terrain mesoscale models such as mrams are ideal tools for making use of the high resolution data sets arriving from mars global surveyor experiments simulation of the mars pathfinder mpf landing site at lsd 142 using 1 2 degree mars orbiter laser altimeter mola derived topography and thermal emission spectrometer thermal inertia is shown to be in good agreement with observed near surface temperature pressure and wind direction simulations of topographically induced thermal circulations and mountain induced gravity waves are shown to be consistent with theory and earlier studies that tie large amplitude mountain waves to strong winds capable of producing dust streaks and local dust lifting events a large eddy simulation of the convective boundary layer provides estimates of vertical profiles of heat flux momentum flux turbulent kinetic energy and vertical velocity variance the model results suggest that the martian atmosphere is roughly two to three times more turbulent than the terrestrial atmosphere during the afternoon but fluxes are roughly an order of magnitude smaller due to the lower density dust devillike circulations are also predicted in the large eddy simulation finally a simulation that examines atmosphere surface interactions near big crater is discussed predicted surface wind stress patterns are consistent with aeolian processes inferred through mars orbiter camera imagery of big crater located near the mpf landing site c 2001 academic press

the 1883 eruption of krakatau the 1883 eruption of krakatau was a modest ignimbrite forming event the deposits are primarily coarse grained dacitic non welded ignimbrite large explosions produced pyroclastic flows that entered the sea generating destructive tsunami grain size studies of the ignimbrite suggest that these explosions were not driven by magma seawater interaction the total bulk volume of pyroclastic deposits including co ignimbrite ash is estimated to be 18 21 km3

experimental study of caldera formation scaled experiments have been carried out on caldera collapse mechanisms using silicone as analogue magma and dry sand as analogue rock experiments were carried out in two and three dimensions using a range of roof aspect ratios thickness width 0 2 to 4 5 appropriate for caldera collapse they reveal a general mechanism of collapse only weakly dependent on the shape of the reservoir for low roof aspect ratios 1 subsidence starts by flexure of the roof and the formation of outward dipping reverse ring faults which in turn trigger formation of peripheral inward dipping normal ring faults the subsidence always occurs asymmetrically in cross section the reverse faults delimit a coherent piston bounded on each side by an annular zone of inwardly tilted strata located between the reverse and normal ring fault sets the surface depression consists of a nondeformed area piston surrounded by an annular extensional zone tilted strata for high aspect ratios 1 multiple reverse faults break up the roof into large pieces and subsidence occurred as a series of nested wedges 2 d or cones 3 d the extensional zone dominates the surface depression in the case where preexisting regional faults do not play a major role the collapse mechanics of calderas probably depends strongly on the roof aspect ratio calderas with low roof aspect ratios are predicted to collapse as coherent pistons along reverse faults the annular extensional zone might be the source of the large landslides that generate intracaldera megabreccias collapse into magma reservoirs with high roof aspect ratios may be the origin of some funnel calderas where explosive reaming is not dominant

coupling eruption and tsunami records the krakatau 1883 case study indonesia the well documented 1883 eruption of krakatau volcano indonesia offers an opportunity to couple the eruption s history with the tsunami record the aim of this paper is not to re analyse the scenario for the 1883 eruption but to demonstrate that the study of tsunami deposits provides information for reconstructing past eruptions indeed though the characteristics of volcanogenic tsunami deposits are similar to those of other tsunami deposits they may include juvenile material e g fresh pumice or be interbedded with distal pyroclastic deposits ash fall surges due to their simultaneity with the eruption five kinds of sedimentary and volcanic facies related to the 1883 events were identified along the coasts of java and sumatra 1 bioclastic tsunami sands and 2 pumiceous tsunami sands deposited respectively before and during the plinian phase 26 27 august 3 rounded pumice lapilli reworked by tsunami 4 pumiceous ash fall deposits and 5 pyroclastic surge deposits only in sumatra the stratigraphic record on the coasts of java and sumatra which agrees particularly well with observations of the 1883 events is tentatively linked to the proximal stratigraphy of the eruption

detection of magma bodies beneath krakatau volcano indonesia from anomalous shear waves abstract the seismograms of 14 local earthquakes recorded by a temporary network in the sunda strait were used to construct an image of shear wave attenuating bodies in the vicinity of the krakatau volcanic complex seismograms for all ray paths going beneath the krakatau complex show a diminution of the amplitude of s waves these diminutions cannot be attributed to source mechanisms or station effects combination of all ray paths although in limited number demonstrates that the attenuating body is located in two zones which are probably disconnected although the limited set of data available does not allow us to draw a definite conclusion the upper zone is about 9 km deep and the lower one is at least 22 km deep the upper zone contains probably numerous irregular pockets of magma the deep zone appears to be a very wide body related to the extensional nature of the sunda strait the existence of a large deep reservoir should be taken into account for the mitigation of future hazards

application of the gauss theorem to the study of silicic calderas the calderas of la primavera los azufres and los humeros mexico abstract we explored applications including limitations of gauss s theorem to the study of silicic calderas first it enables us to determine the mass deficiency from calderas mass deficiency itself has also other potential applications it enables to make qualitative comparisons between calderas we can use the mass deficiency to test in a quick way and as a preliminary step to a formal gravity inversion for the feasibility of caldera types of simple geometry i e piston subsidence and funnel models this application can be done in a straightforward way once the mass deficiency has been determined for this purpose the mass deficiency is converted to the volume of material missing at the caldera subsequently for example this volume and the respective caldera diameter enable us to estimate the height of the cylinder fitting the piston subsidence model if the obtained parameters are congruent with the known geology and geophysical information then the model may be considered further in the inversion of the gravity data for the detailed structure other simple models i e the funnel model can also be analyzed in this way in particular when working with a piston subsidence caldera type the gauss theorem enables us to estimate the caldera collapse very difficult to obtain based on geologic information alone these possible uses of gauss s theorem are illustrated with the calderas of la primavera los azufres and los humeros caldera mexico the obtained mass deficiency from these calderas follow the linear mass deficiency diameter trend observed for other calderas in particular because of their diameters and mass deficiencies la primavera and krakatau calderas can be considered equiparable this comparison is of the most importance considering that la primavera is located in the neighbourhood of a metropolis guadalajara city since geophysical studies have already established a piston subsidence model for these calderas we assessed gauss s theorem used to estimate their collapses the respective estimated subsidences for la primavera 600 m los humeros 500 m and los azufres calderas 800 and 1200 m respectively are supported by borehole data these relatively small subsidences in relation to many calderas in western us can be explained by the presence of cylindrical to sub spherical magma chambers of smaller size than those underlying the western us calderas of yellowstone valles and long valley for example in an epicontinental setting of young quaternary rocks against precambrian cratonic basement in western us a reassessment of all the available geological and geophysical information was also done in particular the caldera limits were checked and corrected when necessary based on available 2 d gravity modeling gravity gradients and the location of the volcanic vents regional tectonic lineaments might explain many of the particular details of their structures la primavera caldera might have formed through a piecemeal subsidence controlled by the pre caldera tectonics los humeros caldera is an example of a caldera that evolved by incremental growth as the vulsiniani calderas in italy the los azufres caldera comprises two contiguous calderas emplaced in a regional tectonic depression

internal boundary layer model for the evolution of desert dune fields dune fields often show abrupt changes in morphology over short distances but the mechanism driving the changes has been unclear physical modelling and airborne altimetry from white sands new mexico show that the development of an internal boundary layer is linked to the vegetation and hydrologic patterns observed there desert dunes often exhibit remarkable changes in their morphology over short distances for example sediment rich dunes can break up into smaller isolated features and then become stabilized by plants over distances of kilometres1 2 3 4 5 6 these pattern transitions often coincide with spatial variations in sediment supply1 3 5 transport rate6 7 hydrology8 and vegetation9 10 11 but these factors have not been linked mechanistically here we hypothesize that the abrupt increase in roughness at the upwind margins of dune fields triggers the development of an internal boundary layer12 13 14 15 16 17 18 that thickens downwind and causes a spatial decrease in the surface wind stress we demonstrate that this mechanism forces a downwind decline in sand flux at white sands new mexico using a combination of physical theory14 15 16 17 18 19 repeated airborne altimetry surveys and field observations the declining sand flux triggers an abrupt increase in vegetation density which in turn leads to changes in groundwater depth and salinity showing that aerodynamics sediment transport and ecohydrology are tightly interconnected in this landscape we conclude that despite the documented complex climatic and geologic history of white sands20 internal boundary layer theory explains many of the observed first order patterns of the dune field

tsunamis of volcanic origin summary of causes with particular reference to krakatoa 1883 known tsunamis of volcanic origin are reviewed and classified according to their causes earthquakes accompanying eruptions excluding tectonic events which apparently triggered eruptions pyroclastic flows and submarine explosions have each accounted for about 20 of cases ten causes of volcanic tsunamis are discussed from the risk point of view those due to landslides are particularly dangerous eruptions at calderas are more likely to generate tsunamis than eruptions elsewhere of those killed directly by volcanic eruptions nearly a quarter have died as a result of tsunamis by transfer of energy to sea waves a violent eruption which would be comparatively harmless on land extends greatly the radius over which destruction occurs

from structure to erosion controlled subsiding calderas evidence thresholds and mechanics collapse calderas evolve by increasing their depth diameter ratio to properly characterize caldera evolution a structural s d ratio between structural subsidence and ring fault diameter ss ds and a topographic s d ratio between topographic caldera depth and topographic caldera width st dt are considered we review the evolution of the a d 2000 miyakejima caldera with two concentric ring faults at earlier collapsing stages and erosion of its wall accumulating debris on the floor at later collapsing stages while st dt and ss ds show a similar increase at initial stages when ss ds 0 33 the ss ds becomes significantly different from st dt while continuous caldera subsidence monotonically increases ss ds the erosion of the wall and the filling of the floor decrease st dt this evolution finds close similarities with recent caldera collapses of krakatau 1883 katmai 1912 fernandina 1968 tolbachik 1975 1976 pinatubo 1991 and dolomieu 2007 analog experiments mimic the observed variation evolving from a depression controlled by the activity of the double ring faults to that controlled by the erosion of the wall and sedimentation at the floor these natural and modeling results show that the control on the shape of mature calderas ss ds 0 07 and approaching ss ds 0 3 0 4 passes from a mainly structural to a mainly erosional control both st dt and ss ds are needed to describe the evolution of a collapse and the processes accompanying it evaluating st dt and ss ds allows proper description of the precise evolutionary stage of a caldera and of the relative importance of the structural and erosional processes and allows making semiquantitative comparisons between evolutionary stages

mars global digital dune database and initial science results 1 a new mars global digital dune database mgd3 constructed using thermal emission imaging system themis infrared ir images provides a comprehensive and quantitative view of the geographic distribution of moderate to large size dune fields area 1 km2 that will help researchers to understand global climatic and sedimentary processes that have shaped the surface of mars mgd3 extends from 65 n to 65 s latitude and includes 550 dune fields covering 70 000 km2 with an estimated total volume of 3 600 km3 this area when combined with polar dune estimates suggests moderate to large size dune field coverage on mars may total 800 000 km2 6 times less than the total areal estimate of 5 000 000 km2 for terrestrial dunes where availability and quality of themis visible vis or mars orbiter camera narrow angle moc na images allow we classify dunes and include dune slipface measurements which are derived from gross dune morphology and represent the prevailing wind direction at the last time of significant dune modification for dunes located within craters the azimuth from crater centroid to dune field centroid referred to as dune centroid azimuth is calculated and can provide an accurate method for tracking dune migration within smooth floored craters these indicators of wind direction are compared to output from a general circulation model gcm dune centroid azimuth values generally correlate to regional wind patterns slipface orientations are less well correlated suggesting that local topographic effects may play a larger role in dune orientation than regional winds

ripple migration and dune activity on mars evidence for dynamic wind processes 1 in this report we show evidence of widespread ripple migration over the stoss side of dark barchan dunes in nili patera on mars the measured average migration of 1 7 meters in less than 4 terrestrial months clearly indicates that active sand saltation is occurring in the study area in addition we document widespread changes in the dune base ground surface contact and in the slip face structures showing that not only the ripples but the whole dunes are actually migrating in the present day atmospheric setting these results provide unequivocal evidence of recent aeolian activity and suggest that other dunes and ripples on mars may also be active

evidence of incremental growth in the vulsinian calderas central italy abstract a comparative work on the vulsini calderas has been carried out fundamentally from volcanological field study drilling and gravity anomalies data on the basis of a detailed stratigraphy four volcanic complexes have been recognized in the vulsini volcanic district from the oldest to the youngest paleo bolsena bolsena montefiascone and latera the latter two complexes having a contemporaneous evolution in their activity each complex gave rise to several little calderas caused by piecemeal collapses due to moderate size explosive eruptions or coherent subsidence of a superficial piston like block nevertheless the extensional volcano tectonic regime affecting this area could have accounted for as much of the total subsidence as the caldera forming eruptions bolsena and latera calderas respectively 16 km and 8 km in average diameter represent the main depressions of the vulsini district and their topographic features are still well preserved several collapses forming the main poligenetic calderas of bolsena and latera are masked at present by the bolsena lake the younger volcanic covering the lacustrine deposits and erosion in a minor amount only the little montefiascone and vepe calderas which represent the youngest collapses of the vulsini area have not been masked bolsena caldera could be considered a depression caused mostly by a subsidence hinged to the southwest by down sagging and by collapses which occurred after the most important explosive eruptions of the paleo bolsena bolsena and montefiascone volcanic complexes meanwhile latera caldera is mostly due to a piecemeal collapse linked to several moderate size ignimbrite units which were emplaced throughout the explosive activity of the latera complex therefore the vulsinian calderas did not form by catastrophic eruptions because several and frequent moderate size eruptions downsagging and tectonic hinged subsidence concur indicating an incremental growth

revised estimates for the volume of the late bronze age minoan eruption santorini greece the late bronze age minoan eruption of santorini greece occurred from within an existing caldera low temperature pyroclastic flow emplacement on shallow slopes outside the caldera can only be consistent with the caldera being filled with eruption products that are not preserved field observations and seismic reflection surveys suggest that this missing material has been downfaulted the volume of the caldera infill is estimated as 18 26 km 3 dense rock equivalent dre increasing the total of the minoan eruption deposits to 78 86 km 3 dre and making it the largest known holocene eruption this study highlights a general mechanism whereby caldera eruption volumes could be significantly underestimated

tsunamis generated by eruptions from mount st augustine volcano alaska during an eruption of the alaskan volcano mount st augustine in the spring of 1986 there was concern about the possibility that a tsunami might be generated by the collapse of a portion of the volcano into the shallow water of cook inlet a similar edifice collapse of the volcano and ensuing sea wave occurred during an eruption in 1883 other sea waves resulting in great loss of life and property have been generated by the eruption of coastal volcanos around the world although mount st augustine remained intact during this eruptive cycle a possible recurrence of the 1883 events spurred a numerical simulation of the 1883 sea wave this simulation which yielded a forecast of potential wave heights and travel times was based on a method that could be applied generally to other coastal volcanos

earth like sand fluxes on mars strong and sustained winds on mars have been considered rare on the basis of surface meteorology measurements and global circulation models raising the question of whether the abundant dunes and evidence for wind erosion seen on the planet are a current process recent studies showed sand activity but could not determine whether entire dunes were moving implying large sand fluxes or whether more localized and surficial changes had occurred here we present measurements of the migration rate of sand ripples and dune lee fronts at the nili patera dune field we show that the dunes are near steady state with their entire volumes composed of mobile sand the dunes have unexpectedly high sand fluxes similar for example to those in victoria valley antarctica implying that rates of landscape modification on mars and earth are similar

a unifying model for planform straightness of ripples and dunes in air and water abstract geologists physicists and mathematicians have studied ripples and dunes for more than a century but despite considerable effort no general model has been proposed to explain perhaps the most fundamental property of their morphology why are some bedforms straight continuous parallel and uniform in planform geometry i e two dimensional whereas others are irregular three dimensional here we argue that physical coupling along the crest of a bedform is required to produce straight crests and that along crest flow and sand transport provide effective physical mechanisms for that coupling ripples and dunes with the straightest and most continuous crests include longitudinal and oblique dunes in unidirectional flows wave ripples dunes in reversing flows wind ripples and ripples migrating along a slope at first glance these bedforms appear quite different ripples and dunes air and water transverse oblique and longitudinal orientations relative to the net sand transport direction but they all have one property in common a process that increases the amount of along crest sand transport that lengthens and straightens their crests relative to the across crest transport that makes them migrate and take the more typical and more three dimensional planform geometry in unidirectional flows that produce straight bedforms along crest transport of sand is caused by along crest flow non transverse bedform orientation gravitational transport along an inclined crest or ballistic splash in air bedforms in reversing flows tend to be straighter than their unidirectional counterparts because reverse transport across the bedform crest reduces the net across crest transport that causes the more typical irregular geometry relative to the along crest transport that smoothes and straightens planform geometry