physical links between crustal deformation seismic moment and seismic hazard for regions of varying seismicity summary seismic moment release rates m0 inferred from a weibull frequency magnitude distribution and its extreme value equivalent are compared with observation the seismotectonically diverse regions studied all exhibit the curvature of a log linear frequency magnitude plot associated with applying a maximum magnitude to earthquake recurrence statistics the inferred seismic moment release rates are consistent with available crustal deformation data within uncertainties resulting from the line fit and in magnitude determination the uncertainties for the regions studied southern california the new madrid seismic zone the central and eastern mediterranean and mainland uk vary from at worst an order of magnitude down to a factor of 2 or 3 this agreement can be used to justify the extrapolation of frequency magnitude statistics beyond the historical and instrumental era in seismic hazard studies as a test of the stationarity of short term statistics against long term effects a striking example of a bimodal seismicity distribution is observed in the new madrid zone this can be interpreted as being due to the superposition of two distinct seismogenic source types observed in the area a quantitative analysis of the separate orders of seismicity observed in the frequency magnitude statistics comparing the different maximum magnitudes and inferred seismic moment release rates with those observed supports this hypothesis superposition of many such seismogenic sources can explain the linearity observed in global frequency versus seismic moment magnitude statistics

tree roots methodological review and new development in dating and quantifying erosive processes exposed roots have been used in dendrogeomorphology since the 1960s to determine erosion rates this was done by using the root axis as the relative position of the former soil layer and then relating this measure to the age of the root in order to quantify the amount of soil erosion over time recently wood anatomical research revealed the possibility of determining the first year of exposure of roots due to specific anatomical changes within the respective annual ring as a consequence using exposed roots that are still in contact to the soil surface it is possible to reconstruct the size and position of the root at the time of exposure consequently a new equation is presented to calculate the thickness of the eroded soil layer allowing a detailed reconstruction of erosion rates the technique also helps to determine if the root was exposed by erosional processes or just by its ongoing secondary growth without any erosion involved

the 137cs technique applied to steep mediterranean slopes part i the effects of lithology slope morphology and land use concentrations in the soil of anthropogenic and natural radionuclides have been investigated in order to assess the applicability of the cs 137 technique in an area of typical mediterranean steep slopes this technique can be used to estimate net soil redistribution rates but its potential in areas with shallow and stony soils on hard rock lithology have not been evaluated so far in this research the validity of using this technique in stony shallow soils at very steep slopes is discussed together with the relations between radionuclide concentrations and other soil properties lithology slope morphology and land use in a mediterranean environment both natural potassium 40 4 k uranium 238 u 238 thorium 232 th 212 and anthropogenic caesium 137 cs 137 radionuclides have been determined in samples taken along slope transects on uncultivated serpentinite soils and cultivated gneiss soils in addition to the radionuclide concentrations parameters such as slope position slope angle aspect soil depth surface stone cover moss litter vegetation cover soil crust stone content and bulk density have been quantified all the natural radionuclides k 40 u 238 th 232 show significantly higher concentrations in the gneiss than in the serpentinite soils opposed to the cs 137 concentration which is found significantly higher in the serpentinite soils probably because of the difference in clay mineralogy the exponential decreasing depth distribution of cs 137 and its homogeneous spatial distribution emphasise the applicability of the cs 137 technique in this ecosystem lithology determines the concentration of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides land use determines the relations between cs 137 concentration inventory and some soil characteristics higher cs 137 concentration and inventory are associated with higher percentages of vegetation cover higher percentage of stones in the soil and higher values of soil bulk density in cultivated gneiss soils slope morphology and land use influence the soil redistribution at slope scale the gneiss slopes show a zonation of four to five areas of differential erosion accumulation processes corresponding with more regular slopes and soil redistribution due to water erosion and to tillage translocation and erosion the serpentinites as an example of a more unstable slope type show more erosion areas with less accumulation downslope and soil redistribution due to water erosion c 2003 elsevier b v all rights reserved

mound development as an interaction of individual plants with soil water erosion and sedimentation processes on slopes in the mediterranean region semi natural shrubland communities named matorral often present a discontinuous cover where isolated perennial plants alternate with bare inter plant areas in such ecosystems the patchy distribution of the vegetation is usually associated with microtopographic sequences of mounds that develop under isolated plants and break the overall slope continuity in this study the influence of three representative species of the mediterranean matorral rosmarinus officinalis stipa tenacissima and anthyllis cytisoides on slope microtopography is determined and the processes that take part in the development of microtopographic structures beneath the plant canopy are identified the influence of slope gradient plant species and plant parameters on the shape and height of microtopographic structures is also studied the shape of the microtopographic structures is described by using a two dimensional microprofilemeter and mound height is determined by measuring in the field a mound height index defined as the distance from the top to the bottom of the mound the results obtained show that plant species play a major role in the shape and height of the microtopographic structures whereas terrace type structures generally develop under anthyllis shrubs microtopographic forms associated with rosmarinus and stipa plants vary with slope gradient the almost symmetric mound type structures that develop under these two species on gentle slopes change into terrace type structures as slope gradient increases moreover statistically significant differences exist between the three species with regard to mound height mean values of mound height are 19 4 14 6 and 4 3 cm under the canopy of stipa rosmarinus and anthyllis respectively plant parameters essentially roughness and slope gradient have a significant influence on mound height index four main processes were identified as affecting mound development in the studied field site sedimentation differential interrill erosion differential splash erosion and bioturbation plant species interact in different ways with these processes according to their morphologies since stipa and rosmarinus plants are more efficient than anthyllis shrubs in controlling water erosion in retaining sediments and in modifying soil properties under their respective canopies they give rise to higher microtopographic structures that facilitate water and nutrient storage by plants on slopes copyright 2000 john wiley sons ltd

sedimentary structures tentatively attributed to seismic events abstract fingerprints of earthquakes in the sedimentary record are as yet difficult to identify this is particularly true for failure phenomena dewatering slumping fault graded and turbidite structures that could have been triggered also by other kinds of energy input other promising candidates are strange biostratinomic features convex down stacking of shells current orientation in wave ripple accumulations as well as certain preservational features found in geosynclinal pelagic limestones but in every case verification of the seismic origin is still needed

rapid localized glacio isostatic uplift at glen roy scotland many studies involving measurement of the altitudes of fossil marine and lacustrine shorelines have demonstrated glacioisostatic tilting particularly in north america fennoscandia and the british isles such studies are normally illustrated by height distance diagrams in which fossil shorelines are portrayed as straight lines in some studies the shoreline relation diagram is used to analyse and illustrate the altitudinal data1 3 before constructing such a diagram it is assumed that a simple pattern of glacioisostatic uplift has prevailed warping of shorelines as opposed to uniform tilting has been inferred in north america4 6 on the other hand harme7 envisaged block movements in fennoscandia sauramo8 also proposed dislocations but his interpretation was rejected by hyyppa9 more recently the concept of the scandinavian shield as a stable area has been dismissed10 11 here we provide evidence from scotland for shoreline dislocation by differential movement of blocks of the earth s crust

applying a simple methodology to assess historical soil erosion in olive orchards abstract although soil erosion is a well known problem in olive orchards causing both on site soil degradation and off site environmental pollution quantitative field measurements of soil erosion are scarce this situation has restrained the development of a reliable predictive soil erosion model for this land use this study applies a simple and inexpensive technique to measure soil losses in olive orchards over a medium term time scale the methodology is based on measuring the size of small mounds that form around individual trees the resulting historical soil loss rate averaged for seven sites and over a period between 55 100 years was 95 mg ha 1 yr 1 locally the historical soil loss rate amounted up to 184 mg ha 1 yr 1 the measurement of actual erosion by water yielded a soil loss rate between 70 100 mg ha 1 yr 1 this difference illustrates the important contribution of tillage translocation our approach provides novel insights into the intensity and processes of soil erosion in olive orchards it also provides valuable input for model calibration and validation

glaciomarine deposition around the irish sea basin some problems and solutions reconstructing the depositional processes and setting marine or terrestrial depositional environment of late devensian age glacigenic sediments around the irish sea basin isb is critical for developing an all embracing and consistent glacial model that can account for all observed field evidence identifying episodes of marine and terrestrial glacial deposition from field data is considered the first step in achieving this goal criteria for distinguishing marine and terrestrial glacial environments in the isb include the geomorphology sedimentology and faunal content biofacies of the associated deposits exposures of glacigenic sediments around the isb are very diverse in terms of their morphosedimentary characteristics and associated biofacies and thus inferred depositional processes and setting possible reasons for the diverse geological record include the differing geometry of eastern and western isb coasts time transgressive ice retreat and differential land rebound effects as a result of forebulge collapse and neotectonics poor geochronometric control on ice sheet events has not helped the correlation of isb events with glacial and climatic events elsewhere future investigations of glacial sites around the isb should use an integrated methodological approach involving a range of geomorphological sedimentary and biofacies data and dating control where possible this will help in developing a more precise and holistic late devensian glacial model that is constrained rigorously by field geological evidence copyright 2001 john wiley sons ltd

palaeoseismic liquefaction event in late quaternary lake sediment at glen roy scotland late quaternary lake sediment deposits from a former ice dammed lake at glen roy scotland contain deformation structures indicative of liquefaction the distribution of deformation styles reflects a concentric pattern of the degree of liquefaction a possible fault rupture and several landslides are also observed in the central area the liquefaction structures the zonation of the sediment deformation and the association of deformation with landsliding can most simply be interpreted in terms of ground shaking during a major earthquake occurring at the end of the last glacial episode in scotland c 10 000 bp

characteristics of sediment deposits formed by intense rainfall events in small catchments in the belgian loam belt erosion and deposition patterns within two agricultural catchments in the belgian loam belt were mapped and their volumes measured after an intense rainfall event from these data the total erosion and deposition budget was calculated the surveys clearly indicated that deposits could be differentiated according to the type of process that caused deposition for most deposits topography was the controlling factor however important deposits were also found at field borders where a vegetation barrier caused deposition vegetation controlled deposition occurs at significantly higher slope gradients than slope controlled sediment deposition this implies that vegetation controlled deposition has an important effect on the spatial distribution of deposited sediment and on the sediment delivery ratio at the catchment outlet the undispersed aggregate size distribution of sediment deposits in front of vegetation barriers is finer than the sediment deposited under topographically controlled conditions however the dispersed particle size distributions of both types of sediment are very similar and only slightly coarser than the dispersed particle size distribution of the source material during these extreme rainfall events sediment is eroded transported and deposited in aggregated form the aggregates themselves have a particle size distribution closely resembling the source material consequently considerable quantities of fine material and associated pollutants which are expected to be exported to the river system are trapped within the catchment

testing the ephemeral gully erosion model egem for two mediterranean environments few models can predict ephemeral gully erosion rates e g creams egem the ephemeral gully erosion model egem was specifically developed to predict soil loss by ephemeral gully erosion although egem claims to have a great potential in predicting soil losses by ephemeral gully erosion it has never been thoroughly tested the objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of egem for predicting ephemeral gully erosion rates in mediterranean environments an egem input data set for 86 ephemeral gullies was collected detailed measurements of 46 ephemeral gullies were made in intensively cultivated land in southeast spain guadalentin study area and another 40 ephemeral gullies were measured in both intensively cultivated land and abandoned land in southeast portugal alentejo study area together with the assessment of all egem input parameters the actual eroded volume for each ephemeral gully was also determined in the field a very good relationship between predicted and measured ephemeral gully volumes was found r2 0 88 but as ephemeral gully length is an egem input parameter both predicted and measured ephemeral gully volumes have to be divided by this ephemeral gully length in order to test the predictive capability of egem the resulting relationship between predicted and measured ephemeral gully cross sections is rather weak r2 0 27 therefore it can be concluded that egem is not capable of predicting ephemeral gully erosion for the given mediterranean areas a second conclusion is that ephemeral gully length is a key parameter in determining the ephemeral gully volume regression analysis shows that a very significant relation between ephemeral gully length and ephemeral gully volume exists r2 0 91 accurate prediction of ephemeral gully length is therefore crucial for assessing ephemeral gully erosion rates copyright 2001 john wiley sons ltd

evidence for late messinian seismites nijar basin south east spain the feos formation of the nijar basin comprises sediments deposited during the final stage of the messinian salinity crisis when the mediterranean was almost totally isolated levels of soft sediment deformation structures occur in both conglomeratic alluvial sediments deposited close to faults and the hyposaline lago mare facies a laminated and thin bedded succession of whitish chalky marls and intercalated sands alternating with non marine coastal plain deposits deformation structures in the coarse clastics include funnel shaped depressions filled with conglomerate liquefaction dykes terminating downwards in gravel pockets soft sediment mixing bodies chaotic intervals and flame structures evidence for soft sediment deformation in the fine grained lago mare facies comprises syndepositional faulting and fault grading sandstone dykes mixed layers slumping and sliding of sandstone beds convolute bedding and pillar and flame structures the soft sediment deformed intervals resemble those ascribed elsewhere to seismic shaking moreover the study area provides the appropriate conditions for the preservation of deformation structures induced by seismicity such as location in a tectonically active area variable sediment input to produce heterolithic deposits and an absence of bioturbation the vertical distribution of soft sediment deformation implies frequent seismic shocks underlining the importance of seismicity in the betic region during the late messinian when the nijar basin became separated from the sorbas basin to the north the presence of liquefied gravel injections in the marginal facies indicates strong earthquakes m 7 the identification of at least four separate fissured levels within a single lago mare interval suggests a recurrence interval for large magnitude earthquakes of the order of millennia assuming that the cyclicity of the alternating lago mare and continental intervals was precession controlled this suggestion is consistent with the present day seismic activity in se spain

earthquake induced structures in young sediments abstract soft sediment deformational structures have been identified in several plio quaternary horizons near burdur in southwest turkey these horizons satisfy criteria for correlating such structures with seismic events and it is proposed that the structures were formed by earthquake induced liquefaction the deformational structures are thus interpreted to represent seismic events which occurred up to 2 3 ma ago

field techniques for measuring bedrock erosion and denudation bedrock erosion rates in natural landscapes are usually slow of the order of millimeters per year or less and sophisticated techniques have been developed to measure them different techniques have proved to be valuable depending on the spatial and temporal scale on which information is needed on the environment and on the scientific question that is asked here we give an overview of the various methods that have been developed we introduce their working principles and outline their advantages and disadvantages further we provide comprehensive references to relevant literature both on the methods and on scientific examples of their application 2016 the authors earth surface processes and landforms published by john wiley sons ltd

lithology landscape structure and management practice changes key factors patterning vineyard soil erosion at metre scale spatial resolution in vineyards soil erosion is controlled by complex interactions between geomorphological and anthropogenic factors leading to intra plot spatial topsoil heterogeneities that are observed at a 1 m scale this study explores the relative impacts of slope lithology historical landscape structure and present day management practices on soil erosion on vineyard hillslopes the selected plot is located in the monthelie vineyard hillslopes cote de beaune france where intensive erosion occurs during high intensity rainfall events soil erosion quantification was performed at a square metre scale using dendrogeomorphology for the same plot planted in 1972 an initial erosion map was drawn in 2004 with a second map being produced in 2012 these two maps combined with lithology and slope data the evolution of landscape structure and the evolution of management practices allow the driving factors of water erosion to be assessed from the 2004 erosion map we observed that the spatial distribution of erosion for the thirty year period after planting was mainly controlled by lithology and historical landscape structure whatever the slope by subtracting 2004 data from the 2012 data and thus evaluating erosion over the last decade we discovered that the erosion rate had increased significantly that spatial distribution of erosion had changed and is now basically controlled by slope steepness and present day vineyard management practices erosion patterns for the last decade show that the impact of historical landscape structure is gradually declining this study shows that it is crucial to take into account the pre plantation history of vineyard plots and management practices to further increase our understanding of the spatial distribution of erosion on vineyard hillslopes

seismic liquefaction features in the kashmir karewas natural seismograms of the paleoearthquakes abstract karewas occur within the seismically active kashmir valley natural seismograms in the form of seismites exist within the karewa sediments seismites were identified and characterized to know their genesis the magnitude of the paleoearthquakes were ranging from 6 0 to 7 4 with paleointensity i o 8 5 lsi values computed for the paleomagnitudes were ranging from 16 to 63 mm pga computed for the paleoearthquakes were ranging from 0 18 g to 0 77 g using cyclic stress method pga computed for the simulated historical and instrumental earthquakes using gmpe were of the order of 1 11 g 0 86 g and 0 83 g fs v s and d r values indicate that the sediments of the source stratum near the paleoliquefaction sites are still liquefiable and have retained their liquefaction potential since early pleistocene fs values of the paleoearthquakes indicate that the geological conditions were appropriate to liquefy sediments as fs 1 and are still susceptible to liquefaction as advocated by the fs values of the simulated historical and instrumental earthquakes empirical relationships that account for the age of soil deposits show significant influence on pga values of the paleoearthquakes and no effect on fs values of the paleoearthquakes as fs 1 however significant influence was observed on fs values of the historical and instrumental earthquakes

late quaternary lacustrine paleo seismic archives in north western alps examples of earthquake origin assessment of sedimentary disturbances abstract the late quaternary sedimentary fills of several lakes of the north western alps are revealed to be possible paleo seismological archives in a moderately active seismo tectonic region the strongest historically reported events can be correlated with specific layers whose textures result from different processes i mass failures of sub aqueous slope deposits especially delta foresets evolving into hyperpycnal currents influenced by seiche effects and or multiple reflections on lake basin slopes ii in situ liquefaction and flowage and iii micro fracturing based on identification of the sedimentary signature of a well documented historical earthquake the paleoseismic interpretation can be extrapolated back to 16 000 yrs bp with a reconstruction of a time series and textural identification of slope failure related turbidites the most frequent earthquake signature the obtained time series are compatible with historical seismicity in terms of recurrence interval

glacio seismotectonics ice sheets crustal deformation and seismicity abstract the last decade has witnessed a significant growth in our understanding of the past and continuing effects of ice sheets and glaciers on contemporary crustal deformation and seismicity this growth has been driven largely by the emergence of postglacial rebound models pgm constrained by new field observations that incorporate increasingly realistic rheological mechanical and glacial parameters in this paper we highlight some of these recent field based investigations and new pgms and examine their implications for understanding crustal deformation and seismicity during glaciation and following deglaciation the emerging glacial rebound models outlined in the paper support the view that both tectonic stresses and glacial rebound stresses are needed to explain the distribution and style of contemporary earthquake activity in former glaciated shields of eastern canada and fennoscandia however many of these models neglect important parameters such as topography lateral variations in lithospheric strength and tectonic strain built up during glaciation in glaciated mountainous terrains glacial erosion may directly modulate tectonic deformation by resetting the orogenic topography and thereby providing an additional compensatory uplift mechanism such effects are likely to be important both in tectonically active orogens and in the mountainous regions of glaciated shields in general the short term response to ice fluctuations is similar to the earth s response to fluctuations in water reservoirs with the subsequent increase or decrease in seismicity which depends on the pre existing stress state when the ice fluctuations occur on the spatial scale and magnitude of the late pleistocene glaciation and deglaciation however the viscoelastic response of the earth especially the mantle causes significant changes in crustal deformation and earthquake activity that is spatially extensive and temporally complex the regions of greatest ice thickness and the regions marginal to the late pleistocene ice sheets indicate the most dramatic evidence of earthquake faulting the mantle response to these large ice mass fluctuations and the change in mass between the oceans and land caused and continues to cause measureable crustal deformation at hundreds of kilometres from the ice margins for both tectonically active and cratonic regions palaeoseismic investigations of late pleistocene and holocene faults are an important tool in evaluating earthquake hazard the predicted response of the earth over this time however is very dependent on the model assumed for most regions far more carefully designed field observations are needed to constrain the existing rheological and ice models

sedimentary record of the 1872 earthquake and tsunami at owens lake southeast california abstract in 1872 a magnitude 7 5 7 7 earthquake vertically offset the owens valley fault by more than a meter an eyewitness reported a large wave on the surface of owens lake presumably initiated by the earthquake physical evidence of this event is found in cores and trenches from owens lake including soft sediment deformation and fault offsets a graded pebbly sand truncates these features possibly over most of the lake floor reflecting the tsunami wave confirmation of the timing of the event is provided by abnormally high lead concentrations in the sediment immediately above and below these proposed earthquake deposits derived from lead smelting plants that operated near the eastern lake margin from 1869 1876 the bottom velocity in the deepest part of the lake needed to transport the coarsest grain sizes in the graded pebbly sand provides an estimate of the minimum initial tsunami wave height at 37 cm this is less than the wave height calculated from long wave numerical models about 55 cm using average fault displacement during the earthquake two other graded sand deposits associated with soft sediment deformation in the owens lake record are less than 3000 years old and are interpreted as evidence of older earthquake and tsunami events offsets of the owens valley fault elsewhere in the valley indicate that at least two additional large earthquakes occurred during the holocene which is consistent with our observations in this lacustrine record

rock slope failure following late pleistocene deglaciation on tectonically stable mountainous terrain the ages of 31 postglacial rock slope failures rsfs in scotland and nw ireland derived from 89 cosmogenic isotope exposure ages are employed to analyse the temporal pattern of failure and its relationship to the timing of deglaciation rates of glacio isostatic crustal uplift and periods of rapid climate change rsf ages span almost the whole period since ice sheet retreat from 18 2 1 2 ka to 1 7 0 2 ka or from 17 1 1 0 ka to 1 5 0 1 ka depending on the production rate used in 10 be age calculation but catastrophic failure of rock slopes was w4 6 times more frequent prior to w11 7 ka than during the holocene 95 of dated rsfs at sites deglaciated during retreat of the last ice sheet occurred within w5400 years after deglaciation with peak rsf activity 1600e1700 years after deglaciation this time lag is inferred to represent 1 stress release initiated by deglacial unloading leading to 2 time dependent rock mass strength degradation through progressive failure plane development and ultimately 3 to either spontaneous kinematic release or failure triggered by some extrinsic mechanism by contrast 11 dated rsfs at sites reoccupied by glacier ice during the younger dryas stade yds of w12 9e11 7 ka exhibit no clear temporal pattern suggesting that glacial reoccupance during the yds was ineffective in preconditioning a renewed cycle of enhanced rsf activity comparison of timing of individual rsfs with that of deglaciation and rapid warming events at w14 7 ka and w11 7 ka suggests that glacial debuttressing enhanced joint waterpressuresduringdeglaciationandthawofpermafrosticeinrockjointscouldhavetriggeredfailurein only a small number of cases conversely the timing of maximum rsf activity following ice sheet deglaciation corresponds broadly with maximum rates of glacio isostatic crustal uplift suggesting that the two are linked by enhanced seismic activity a seismic failure trigger is consistent with full slope failure at all sites where failure planes are clearly defined our results indicate that numerous rsfs must have occurred in areas that were reoccupied by glacier ice during the yds but have not been identified because runout debris was removed by yds glaciers more generally they provide the first reliably dated body of evidence to support the view that retreat of the last ice sheets in tectonically stable mountainous terrain initiated a period of enhanced rock slope failure due to deglacial unloading and probably lateglacial seismic activity implying that most undated rsfs in such areas are probably of lateglacial or veryearly holocene age they also demonstrate however that a low frequency of rsf activity extended throughout the holocene

erosion rates and sediment budgets in vineyards at 1 m resolution based on stock unearthing burgundy france abstract a new and simple method is developed to efficiently quantify erosion and deposition rates based on stock unearthing measurements this is applicable to spatial scales ranging from plot to hillslopes and to time scales ranging from single hydrologic events to centennial scales the method is applied to a plot area on vineyard hillslopes in burgundy monthelie france with measurement of 4328 vine plants a sediment budget established at the plot scale shows a mean soil lowering of 3 44 1 cm over 20 years involving a minimal erosion rate of 1 7 0 5 mm yr 1 locally erosion rates can reach up to 8 2 0 5 mm yr 1 this approach allows the sediment redistribution to be mapped and analyzed at 1 m resolution it provides novel insights into the characterization of erosion patterns on pluri decennial scales and into the analysis of spatial distribution of erosion processes on cultivated hillslopes

1822 earthquake triggered homogenite in lake le bourget nw alps high resolution textural signatures of an earthquake induced historical homogenite layer are presented as well as its 3d distribution this homogeneous deposit is correlated with the ad 1822 event vii viii msk intensity the main historical earthquake of the french outer alps using 210pb dating and historical chronicles during this earthquake a violent lake water oscillation was reported seiche effect in the present study we discuss the influence of lake water oscillations during earthquake induced subaqueous slide through a pluridisciplinary analysis of subbottom sediments including high resolution seismic sidescan sonar and short gravity coring

recent fault movement and palaeoseismicity in western scotland abstract field study at two locations in western scotland is described and gives evidence for fault movement and seismic activity during the late and post glacial epochs the evidence comprises levelling survey of raised marine shorelines remote sensing study of lineaments radiocarbon dating of quaternary sediment and detailed field examination of faults and fault gouge material vertical fault displacements of up to 3 m are observed on a c 10 500 year old raised marine shoreline on the isle of mull and repeated predominantly lateral movement is observed on a prominent 14 km long fault lineament active since ice retreat and as recently as c 2000 yrs b p the fault movements are located close to the edge of the area formerly covered by the loch lomond readvance ice cap 11 000 10 000 yrs b p they are considered to have been caused by rapid rates of isostatic rebound soon after deglaciation

sedimentary signatures of the entrance of coarse grained volcaniclastic flows into the sea the example of the breccia units of the las palmas detritic formation mio pliocene gran canaria eastern atlantic spain abstract the transformations of volcaniclastic gravity flows entering the sea remain poorly understood they are recorded by sedimentary signatures in the volcaniclastic sedimentation of the mio pliocene las palmas detritic formation lpdf of the volcanic island of gran canaria these gravity flows are contemporaneous with an erosive period on the island succeeding the emplacement of the fataga volcanic group and the beginning of the evolution of the roque nublo stratovolcano the sedimentary section that crops out at the mouth of a paleobarranco at las cuevas del guincho comprises subtidal calcareous and clastic sediments affected by wave and storm action units 1 and 3 beach gravels unit 4 volcaniclastic deposits represented by reworked phonolitic pyroclastic deposits unit 1 breccia deposits that contain juvenile and phonolitic gravels and blocks mainly incorporated at the shoreline unit 2 and a debris avalanche deposit at the top unit 5 the breccia deposits display a reversely graded base which disappears distally as a result of seawater incorporation and liquidization of the volcaniclastic mass and mixing with marine sediment this breccia unit is interpreted as having been emplaced by a granular mass flow after transformation of a block and ash flow deposit that entered the sea in the debris avalanche deposits thermal quenching of juvenile basaltic lava clasts and large inclined clastic intrusions of underlying marine sediments suggest that the debris avalanche entered the sea rapid subaqueous emplacement of the granular mass flow and of the debris avalanche deformed the sedimentary substratum water incorporation reduced the influence of the volcaniclastic flows on the substratum ams data confirm the effect of water ingestion and correlative loss of cohesion and allow also reconstruction of paleoflow directions that were normal to the paleoshoreline of the northern coast of gran canaria all these volcaniclastic gravity flow deposits and their textural characteristics are particularly useful in the reconstruction of processes that occur at the subaerial submarine transition and for the location of ancient shorelines

soft sediment deformation structures and their implications for late quaternary seismicity on the south tibetan detachment system central himalaya uttarakhand india abstract the south tibetan detachment system stds defines the lithological and tectonic boundary between the higher himalayan crystallines and the tethyan sedimentaries earlier studies have suggested that the stds has been dormant since its inception during the miocene along with the main central thrust mct however recent studies indicate that the stds was active during the pleistocene holocene period we provide additional support for this more recent activity based on the occurrence of seismically induced soft sediment deformation structures ssds preserved in relict lake sediments in the dhauli ganga gori ganga and kali ganga river basins of the central himalaya the relict lakes are located on the hanging wall of the stds an optical chronology of the lake sediments brackets the seismically induced ssds between 20 ka and 11 ka with a major seismic event of magnitude 6 5 occurring between 17 ka and 13 5 ka since mct and stds are considered to be the coupled structures our observation supports the hypothesis that the stds is providing accommodation space to the strain gradient arising due to the north south compression in the himalaya during the late quaternary

postglacial tectonics of the scottish glacio isostatic uplift centre new evidence combined with a detailed re evaluation of postglacial fault movements seismic activity and shoreline sequences suggests that the period of deglaciation and the early holocene was more seismically active than the mid to late holocene it is proposed that the large scale lateral displacements formerly proposed can not be justified rather all postglacial fault movements appear to be limited to metre scale vertical movements along pre existing fault lines in addition it is argued that the younger dryas ice advance may have produced localised crustal redepression but not the more widespread impact formerly proposed both tectonic and postglacial rebound stresses however may be needed to explain the contemporary seismotectonics of the scottish highlands

evidence for phase locked changes in climate between scotland and greenland during gs 1 younger dryas using micromorphology of glaciolacustrine varves from glen roy there is a current need to develop annual decadal chronologies from periods of rapid climate change in order to understand the rate and timing of climate events and identify how other proxies either lead or lag this climate forcing annually laminated or varved sediments are key proxies for understanding environmental change at such a scale this paper presents the results of microscale analysis of glaciolacustrine varve sediments from scotland and develops a new index called varve group which ranks the number of pulses of sediment observed in the summer component of the varve the varve group index is compared with data from the greenland ice core record and correspondence can be observed between the oxygen isotope records from greenland during the latter part of gs 1 and the 515 year lochaber varve group index the processes that control the number of sediment pulses into the lake basin are discussed and we examine how these factors might control both the isotopic composition of the ice cores and varve group formation it is proposed that the position of the sea ice in the north atlantic may provide such a mechanism

deglaciation seismotectonics a principal influence on intraplate seismogenesis at high latitudes abstract in many high latitude stable continental regions deglaciation dominates the current crustal strain field interference between polarised tectonic and radial deglaciation strain fields affects the deviatoric stress state and fault stability margins and in consequence both the levels and properties of seismicity throughout glacial loading and unloading the most notable present day affects of this strain interference are predicted to include alternating quadrants of enhanced seismicity and aseismicity around rebound domes and former peripheral forebulges such strain interference can explain much of the geography and timing of holocene earthquake occurrence across northern europe and eastern north america

liquefaction and varve deformation as evidence of paleoseismic events and tsunamis the autumn 10 430 bp case in sweden coastal seismic events generate instantaneous changes in relative sea level i e land level vs sea level tsunamis may cause disastrous damage to coasts and coastal habitation liquefaction and deformations of annually varved sediments provide information on paleoseismic events the evidence for a major earthquake and associated tsunami waves in sweden are explored thanks to the varve chronology liquefaction structures and varve deformations caused by this event can be dated at the autumn 10 430 varve years bp the magnitude is estimated at 8 or more on the richter scale the tsunami washed the previously blocked outlet of the baltic free of icebergs and pack ice so that marine water could suddenly invade the entire baltic forming the yoldia sea

alongshore and cross shore circulations and their response to winter monsoon in the western east china sea abstract an array of four bottom mounted acoustic doppler current profilers adcps were deployed during the winter of 2008 28 december 2008 to 12 march 2009 along a cross shelf section in the western east china sea to investigate the winter circulation and its response to wind during the observation period the observed subtidal currents exhibit coherent spatial structure and temporal variation in terms of their mean seasonal trend intra seasonal and synoptic variability the subtidal currents are polarized roughly in the alongshore direction parallel to local isobaths and the weak cross shore current is closely linked to the alongshore component the temporal variation of the currents follows the rhythm of wind stress sea level and sea level difference at the synoptic scale the mean currents are basically composed of two anti parallel currents in the alongshore direction the east china sea coastal current ecscc flows southwestward along the inner shelf and the taiwan warm current twc flows in the opposite direction along the outer shelf the strongest current occurs over the mid shelf as a coastal jet the intra seasonal currents exhibit an expansion and intensification of the ecscc along with shrinking and weakening the alongshore component of the twc there is a significant increase in onshore current particularly over the mid shelf the fluctuations of synoptic currents show a significant positive correlation with wind stress and the fluctuations are negatively correlated with sea level and sea level difference the coherent spatial structure of the currents indicates that the depth independent column motion is related to the sea level difference through a barotropic pressure gradient the vertical shear of currents is related to the density related baroclinic pressure gradient in the whole water column and to the friction within the surface and bottom boundary layers

the record of historic earthquakes in lake sediments of central switzerland deformation structures in lake sediments in central switzerland can be attributed to strong historic earthquakes the type and spatial distribution of the deformation structures reflect the historically documented macroseismic intensities thus providing a useful calibration tool for paleoseismic investigations in prehistoric lake sediments the swiss historical earthquake catalogue shows four moderate to strong earthquakes with moment magnitudes of mw 5 7 to mw 6 9 and epicentral intensities of i0 vii to i0 ix that affected the area of central switzerland during the last 1000 years these are the 1964 alpnach 1774 altdorf 1601 unterwalden and 1356 basel earthquakes in order to understand the effect of these earthquakes on lacustrine sediments four lakes in central switzerland sarner see lungerer see baldegger see and seelisberg seeli were investigated using high resolution seismic data and sediment cores the sediments consist of organicand carbonate rich clayey to sandy silts that display fine bedding on the centimeter to millimeter scale the sediments are dated by historic climate and environmental records 137 cs activity and radiocarbon ages deformation structures occur within distinct zones and include large scale slumps and rockfalls as well as small scale features like disturbed and contorted lamination and liquefaction structures these deformations are attributed to three of the abovementioned earthquakes the spatial distribution of deformation structures in the different lakes clearly reflects the historical macroseismic dataset lake sediments are only affected if they are situated within an area that underwent groundshaking not smaller than intensity vi to vii we estimate earthquake size by relating the epicentral distance of the farthest liquefaction structure to earthquake magnitude this relationship is in agreement with earthquake size estimations based on the historical dataset d 2004 elsevier b v all rights reserved

seismically induced soft sediment deformation structures seismites around sumdo in the lower spiti valley tethys himalaya abstract soft sediment deformation structures were observed in 120 m thick fluvio lacustrine sediments exposed in the sumdo area in the lower spiti valley tethys himalaya himachal pradesh india these structures vary in their morphology and pattern and occur at eight stratigraphic levels s1 s8 spaced at irregular intervals the deformation structures include over steepened stratification diapiric flame like intrusions of clayey material or complex type recumbent folding of flame like nature pseudonodules large scale soft sediment folding faulting small scale associated with folding and sand dykes these structures are restricted to single stratigraphic layers separated by undeformed beds and can be correlated over a large distance the deformation of the soft sediments is attributed to the combined effects of fluidization liquefaction and shear stress and can be related to past seismic activity in the area recently on 19 january 1975 a major earthquake kinnaur earthquake of magnitude 6 8 caused extensive damage including ground rupturing in the sumdo kaurik area this earthquake has been related to the activation of the kaurik chango fault the deformed layers seismites reported here lie adjacent to this fault zone and can be related with episodic seismicity along this fault it is evident from this study that the kaurik chango fault has been re activated a number of times and that the area suffered at least nine major earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 6 during late pleistocene holocene time including the 1975 kinnaur earthquake

paleoseismicity and geodynamics in sweden abstract paleoseismicity denotes past pre instrumental earthquakes as recorded by bedrock structures morphological features and sedimentological criteria glacial varves eskers and deltas are excellent records of paleoseismic events data from sweden are presented faults fractures and various types of sedimentary disturbances of late pleistocene and holocene age frequently occur it is concluded that the seismic activity was very intensive in connection with the peak rates of glacial isostatic uplift and that this was a natural effect of the geodynamic processes operating

mound measurements quantifying medium term soil erosion under olive trees in northern jordan abstract over the last few decades many quantitative erosion studies have revealed that olive orchard expansion and increased mechanization in southern european countries have led to increased soil erosion under olive trees consequently these studies have suggested different methods of mitigation in light of the 2014 european trading zone expansion to countries east and south of the mediterranean a further intensification of olive plantations is postulated to meet market demands to attain first medium term estimates of erosion in northern jordan and its driving factors a new method measuring olive mounds was implemented seven fields with clearly erosive structures were chosen throughout the wadi al arab catchment in northern jordan topographic measurements were used to reconstruct the historical and recent surface level and calculate the volume eroded since the planting of the trees a total of 81 bulk density measurements and 14 tree cores allowed the estimation of the soil loss in tons per hectare the combination of modified land use map and slope information helped to identify similar olive fields with high erosive potential results show that the method provides medium term quantitative estimates for averaged soil loss consistent with some existing results from similar research areas in the mediterranean they clearly indicate the significant potential for erosion in olive orchards with around 95 8 t ha 1 yr 1 tillage practice and water erosion were identified as critical erosion processes both depending on tillage characteristics tillage timing and soil parent material the investigated fields represent about 19 of the catchment s surface area and are likely to contribute to the measured yearly sediment yield that fills up the wadi al arab reservoir with sediments

late quaternary co seismic sedimentation in the sea of marmara s deep basins the deep northern part of the sea of marmara northwestern turkey is composed of several aligned actively subsiding basins which are the direct structural and morphological expression of the north anatolian fault s northern branch the last 20 kyr of their sedimentary fill lacustrine before 12 kyr bp have been investigated through giant piston coring onboard r v marion dufresne marmacore cruise 2001 and chirp subbottom profiler onboard r v atalante during marmarascarps cruise 2002 especially during the lacustrine stage the infilling of the deep basins tekirda central kumburgaz and cinarcic basins up to 1250 m depth was dominated by turbidites with coarse mixed siliciclastic and bioclastic basal part intercalated in hemipelagic type finegrained calcareous and slightly siliceous clays often especially in the thickest ones the turbidites show strong segregation and a sharp boundary between coarse part and suspendedload part in the central basin 8 m of a unique sedimentary event include a 5 to 8m thick homogenite well imaged on seismic profiles the latter is interpreted as related to a major possibly triggered tsunami effect as described in the eastern mediterranean by kastens and cita 1981 in the marine holocene upper part of the sedimentary fill repeated to and from structures affecting silt or fine sand are evidencing seiche like effects and thus earthquake triggering detailed correlations between two deep coring sites 1250 and 1200 m indicate more than 100 overthickening in the deepest one this implies specific processes of distribution of terrigenous input by dense hyperpycnal currents high kinetic energy seiche effect complex reflections on steep slopes the peculiar sedimentary infilling of the sea of marmara s central basin and by extrapolation of the whole set is tentatively interpreted as a direct consequence of the strong seismic activity the imprint of the latter is more obvious prior to the base of the holocene as environmental conditions favoured marginal accumulation especially on the southern shelf of large amounts of erosion products available for mass wasting

seismically induced soft sediment deformation structures revealed by x ray computed tomography of boring cores abstract x ray computed tomography ct allows us to visualize three dimensional structures hidden in boring cores nondestructively we applied medical x ray ct to cores containing seismically induced soft sediment deformation structures ssdss obtained from the kanto region of japan where the 2011 off the pacific coast of tohoku earthquake occurred the ct images obtained clearly revealed various types of the seismically induced ssdss embedded in the cores a propagating sand dyke bent complexly by the preexisting geological structure deformed laminations of fluidized sandy layers and two types of downward mass movement ductile downward folding and brittle normal faulting as compensation for upward sand transport through sand dykes two advanced image analysis techniques were applied to the sand dyke ct images for the first time the growcut algorithm a specific digital image segmentation technique that uses cellular automata was used successfully to extract the three dimensional complex sand dyke structures embedded in the sandy sediments which would have been difficult to achieve using a conventional image processing technique local autocorrelation image analysis was performed to detect the flow pattern aligned along the sand dykes objectively the results demonstrate that x ray ct coupled with advanced digital image analysis techniques is a promising approach to studying the seismically induced ssdss in boring cores

fluid escape features as a precursor of a large sublacustrine sediment slide in lake le bourget nw alps france the north western corner of lake le bourget is situated along an active fault zone and accommodated a large sediment supply from the rhone river until the end of the late glacial period on the delta slope the holocene sheet drape that covers the largest buried mass wasting deposit the hdu shows undulations small fractures and discontinuities that are attributed to downslope creep evidence for episodes of vigorous fluid expulsion is found in association with these discontinuities all these features are rooted at the top of the hdu and occur along two specific isobaths these observations indicate a close link between fractures and focused fluid flow we suggest that focused fluid flow triggered by earthquakes facilitates the formation of small scale faults that accommodate part of the downslope movement and eventually link up to form a headscarp of a large slide c 1 0 7 m 3

seismic deformation structures of the post 2300 a bp muddy sediments in kawachi lowland plain osaka japan abstract deformed zones consisting mainly of muddy sediments deposited in palustrine environments found during the excavations of archaeological sites have been examined the beds belong to the uppermost holocene sequence within 6 m depth from the present ground surface in kawachi alluvial lowland plain osaka prefecture japan each deformation zone contained basically three deformation units related to fluidity and plasticity decreasing with depth beneath the fresh sedimentation surface the units recognized were from top to bottom 1 a liquidized deformation unit expressed by a homogenized layer in which the sediment and water have been mixed by turbulent flow 2 a hydroplastic deformation unit characterized by a plumose pattern in the upper part of the unit and load structures in the lower part and 3 a brittle deformation unit characterized by downward fissures and microfaults the plumose pattern in the second unit may have formed where the more cohesive sediments in the lower part of the unit were dragged horizontally with repeated directional changes and pulled upward by the movement of the sediments in the upper part the load structures in the lower part of this unit are assumed to have been formed mainly by differential vertical and compressive forces applied to the sedimentary horizons in the uppermost part of the liquidized deformation unit load casts and pseudonodules with short horizontal tracks suggesting movement while sinking were seen locally these features in the units are assumed to have been formed by the oscillatory and rotational force irregular in intensity and direction of an earthquake the minor displacement of deformed sediments such as mixing truncation intrusion and injection at the boundaries between the units and their internal layers suggests that the deformation process was initiated simultaneously in each unit and was of short duration the vertical occurrence order of the deformational features similar to that of fault graded bedding especially of the plumose pattern and load structures was recognizable in most deformation zones by defining and separating superposed deformation zones according to the vertical order of the features and by the relative dating of the zones based on the archaeological artifact chronology a regional correlation of deformational event horizons may be proposed consequently several synchronous seismic event horizons in prehistoric time have been recognized and their lateral extents have been documented additionally within one site chronological correlation reveals that the ages of the post 13th century deformational event horizons are in accordance with the ages of historically recorded earthquakes

two twentieth century mlh 7 5 earthquakes recorded in annually laminated lake sediments from sary chelek western tian shan kyrgyzstan central asia is highly vulnerable to large earthquakes yet existing records of past seismic activity in this area are still insufficient to reliably assess regional earthquake hazard on longer timescales within this study the sediments of sary chelek a mountain lake in the western kyrgyz tian shan were investigated to explore its potential as a natural paleoseismic archive the lacustrine deposits are characterized by a succession of annually laminated varved sediments overlying event deposits that consist of large scale turbidites and distorted lake sediments similar to earthquake related deposits described from other lake sediment records microscopic sediment analysis furthermore revealed distorted varves in the laminated sequence that closely resemble earthquake related soft sediment deformation structures varve counting and radiometric dating determine the formation of the distorted varves and the emplacement of the large scale event deposits to the early 1990s and mid 1940s respectively this is in good temporal agreement with the occurrence of two large earthquakes that struck western kyrgyzstan in ad 1992 and ad 1946 these results and particularly the precise age control of the sary chelek sediment record highlight its potential for establishing a long and precisely dated record of regional earthquake activity

correlation of colluvial deposits with the modern land surface and the problem of slope profile description abstract this article focuses on features of spatial distribution of colluvial slope deposits on a micro scale these features were detected by the non parametric rank correlation of spearman rs between thickness of colluvial layers and morphometric variables mvs of the modern land surface the strongest correlation was found between total thickness of colluvial layers and maximal catchment area rs 0 85 a negative correlation was observed between thicknesses of younger and older colluvial layers additionally if young colluvial layers have a negative correlation with slope steepness ga relatively old buried colluvial layers have a positive correlation with ga these facts indicate an inversion of the zones of actual matter accumulation due to transformation of the land surface in profile during long term sedimentation vertical curvature kv characterises acceleration and deceleration of surface flow caused by the shape of the slope profile along flow lines based on this it was expected that kv would have a direct impact on the accumulation of colluvium however in this study the correlations between the thickness of colluvial deposits and kv were low functional relationships between colluvial accumulation and the shape of profiles along flow lines were reflected by correlations with ga based on these observations it is assumed that the regional nature of surface flow velocity affects the shift between existing accumulation zones reflected by colluvial deposits and potential accumulation zones reflected by mvs signs of correlation coefficients between the thickness of colluvial deposits and curvatures reflect the tendency of increased colluvial depositions at three out of 12 local landforms of shary s classification these landforms are located in the valley bottom the mean thickness of colluvial deposits at these three landforms was 167 18 7 cm error range standard deviation the other nine landforms show a mean thickness of 130 1 34 1 cm