evidence for an earthquake and tsunami about 3100 3400 yr ago and other catastrophic saltwater inundations recorded in a coastal lagoon new zealand abstract okupe lagoon is 2 02 masl brackish and ponded behind two boulder banks at the northern end of kapiti island new zealand the sediments of the lagoon provide a record of late holocene environmental changes such as tectonic uplift catastrophic saltwater inundation and vegetation change five main events were identified over a 5300 yr record with a sixth representing a re evaluation of previous work an uplift event of 1 5 3 0 m and an associated tsunami are recorded and are inferred to have been caused by a local fault rupture possibly the northern extension of the wairau fault about 3360 40 yr bp two additional tsunami generated by ruptures of either the ohariu or wellington faults 1290 and 1220 ad respectively and either the wellington or alpine faults 1450 ad have been tentatively proposed two catastrophic saltwater inundations csis have also been identified one possibly a tsunami generated by either the wairarapa fault 500 ad or taupo eruption 190 ad the other about 4780 150 yr bp may relate to a local fault rupture however further work is needed to determine whether these are tsunami or storm surge related and they are therefore designated csis the sixth event is the 1855 tsunami recorded from a raised shore platform to the west of okupe lagoon

great thrust earthquakes and aseismic slip along the plate boundary of the makran subduction zone the makran subduction zone of iran and pakistan exhibits strong variation in seismicity between its eastern and western segments and has one of the world s largest forearcs we determine the source parameters for 14 earthquakes at makran including the great mw 8 1 earthquake of 1945 the only instrumentally recorded great earthquake at makran we determine the loci of seismic and aseismic slip along the plate boundary and we assess the effects of the large forearc and accretionary wedge on the style of plate boundary slip we apply body waveform inversions and for small magnitude events use first motions of p waves to estimate earthquake source parameters for the 1945 event we also employ dislocation modeling of uplift data we find that the earthquake of 1945 in eastern makran is an interplate thrust event that ruptured approximately one fifth the length of the subduction zone nine smaller events in eastern makran that are also located at or close to the plate interface have thrust mechanisms similar to that of the 1945 shock seaward of these thrust earthquakes lies the shallowest 70 80 km of the plate boundary we find that this segment and the overlying accretionary wedge remain aseismic both during and between great earthquakes this aseismic zone as in other subduction zones lies within that part of the accretionary wedge that consists of largely uconsolidated sediments seismic velocities less than 4 0 km s the existence of thrust earthquakes indicates that either the sediments along the plate boundary in eastern makran become sufficiently well consolidated and de watered about 70 km from the deformation front or older lithified rocks are present within the forearc so that stick slip sliding behavior becomes possible this study shows that a large quantity of unconsolidated sediment does not necessarily indicate a low potential for great thrust earthquakes in contrast to the east the plate boundary in western makran has no clear record of historic great events nor has modem instrumentation detected any shallow thrust events for at least the past 25 years most earthquakes in western makran occur within the downgoing plate at intermediate depths the large change in seismicity between eastern and western makran along with two shallow events that exhibit right lateral strike slip motion in central makran suggest segmentation of the subduction zone two paleozoic continental blocks dominate the overriding plate the boundary between them is approximately coincident with the transition in seismicity although relative motion between these blocks may account for some of the differing seismic behavior the continuity of the deformation front and of other tectonic features along the subduction zone suggests that the rate of subduction does not change appreciably from east to west the absence of plate boundary events in western makran indicates either that entirely aseismic subduction occurs or that the plate boundary is currently locked and experiences great earthquakes with long repeat times evidence is presently inconclusive concerning which of these two hypotheses is most correct the presence of well defined late holocene marine terraces along portions of the coasts of eastern and western makran could be interpreted as evidence that both sections of the arc are capable of generating large plate boundary earthquakes if that hypothesis is correct then western makran could produce a great earthquake or it could rupture as a number of segments in somewhat smaller magnitude events alternatively it is possible that western makran is significantly different from eastern makran and experiences largely aseismic slip at all times a knowledge of the velocity structure and nature of the state of consolidation or lithification of rocks at depth in the interior portion of the forearc of western makran should help to ascertain whether that portion of the plate boundary moves aseismically or ruptures in large to great earthquakes a resolution of this question has important implications for seismic hazard not only for western makran but also for other margins such as the cascadia subduction zone of western north america where historical thrust events have not occurred

lateral diversity of regolith and soils under a mountain slope implications for interpretation of hillslope materials and processes central sudetes sw poland abstract a recent forestry road cut on the slopes of mt wysoka sudetes mountains central europe exposed a 1 6 km long nearly continuous outcrop of hillslope regolith the regolith is divided into two main parts the lower one is made of disintegrated tuff while the upper part from less than 1 m to at least 3 m thick includes five different lithological types which combine to form recurring layered vertical sequences of cover materials this upper part is markedly transformed by pedogenesis the main aims of the paper are to examine and explain vertical and lateral diversity of these cover materials and to review the findings in the context of their origin and age methods included field regolith mapping and soil research followed by basic laboratory analyses of soil properties including particle size distribution ph and organic carbon content topmost fine grained and coarse open work surface materials have been subject to some although limited downslope transport while the underlying layers although lithologically different are interpreted as mainly products of bedrock weathering and pedogenic alterations with minimal downslope movement slope corrugation into shallow hollows indistinct spurs and long sections of planar slope exerts an effect on hillslope materials and soil forming processes via pathways of groundwater circulation open work structures are mainly products of preferential eluviation periglacial inheritance in the regolith is uncertain and these layered materials should not be interpreted as indicators of changing environmental conditions in the late pleistocene regional models of hillslope covers do not fit the complexity of regolith present on mt wysoka generalizations about hillslope materials are better avoided if a limited number of outcrops is investigated

a review of natural geological hazards in oman oman has a diverse geology and physiography as a result of its location close to active tectonic plates oceanic and continental rocks spanning in age from the proterozoic to the tertiary are overlain by mobile sediments of the quaternary infrastructure is expanding due to demands for industrial and residential land and associated transport networks though the geology can abate this progress shifting dunes threaten road networks residential areas and agricultural land ophiolite and mantle rocks can contain natural asbestos minerals which when fragmented can be hazardous to health large expanses of carbonate and evaporitic rocks are prone to karst morphology and where existing examples include caves and sinkholes the recent tectonic events have given rise to earth tremors fissures ground displacements and tsunamis a review of the main natural hazards in oman is presented to assist with high level land development planning in accordance with the geology and minimise its potentially hazardous effects

large scale slope remodelling by landslides geomorphic diversity and geological controls kamienne mts central europe abstract the kamienne mts in the sudetes central europe bear widespread evidence of landsliding which mainly occurred at the boundary between carboniferous and permian clastic sedimentary rocks and overlying permian volcanic and sub volcanic rocks 47 individual landslides have been delimited using a combination of lidar derived dem analysis and field mapping they have been characterized through a range of geomorphometric parameters and cluster analysis reveals four major groups in terms of surface expression and consequently likely origin and history spatial analysis confirms distinct association of landslides with the steepest terrain and north to east aspect of slopes but distance from lithological contact emerges as the critical parameter 80 of the total landslide area is located within 200 m of a contact on either side of it joint measurements within head scarps at selected landslides indicate that displacements took place along steeply dipping joints in the volcanic cap but the existence of low angle detachment surfaces in the underlying sedimentary formations is inferred the spatial distribution of slope deformations coupled with apparently different although yet unspecified ages of individual landslides suggests that remodelling of the mountain range by landslides is an ongoing process geomorphic history of the area excludes glacial or fluvial erosion and resultant slope de buttressing as the cause of instability rather landslides are considered as mechanisms by which slopes which have become too high and steep due to long term differential erosion restore their strength equilibrium

penultimate predecessors of the 2004 indian ocean tsunami in aceh sumatra stratigraphic archeological and historical evidence we present stratigraphic archeological and historical evidence for two closely timed predecessors of the giant 2004 tsunami on the northern coast of aceh northern sumatra this is the first direct evidence that a tsunami played a role in a fifteenth century cultural hiatus along the northern sumatran portion of the maritime silk route one seacliff exposure on the eastern side of the lambaro headlands reveals two beds of tsunamigenic coral rubble within a small alluvial fan radiocarbon and uranium thorium disequilibrium dates indicate emplacement of the coral rubble after 1344 3 c e another seacliff exposure on the western side of the peninsula contains evidence of nearly continuous settlement from 1240 c e to soon after 1366 3 c e terminated by tsunami destruction at both sites the tsunamis are likely coincident with sudden uplift of coral reefs above the sunda megathrust 1394 2 c e evidence for which has been published previously the tsunami or tsunami pair appears to have destroyed a vibrant port community and led to the temporary recentering of marine trade dominance to more protected locations farther east the reestablishment of vibrant communities along the devastated coast by about 1500 ce set the stage for the 2004 disaster

geomorphological pedological and dendrochronological signatures of a relict landslide terrain mt garbatka kamienne mts sw poland abstract in the kamienne mountains the largest concentration of apparently relict landslides in the sudetes range occurs on the northern slopes of mt garbatka mass movements re shaped two adjacent slope hollows and a wide depositional area is located down the valley the main landslide body is nearly 1 km long and 200 300 m wide its flattened surface morphology and the occurrence of large dispersed allochtonous boulders in the distal part suggests a flow like movement initiated by shallow translational slides in the upper slopes the thickness of colluvium determined by an ert survey may reach 10 m geomorphic signatures of mass movement are subdued suggesting that considerable time has elapsed since the origin of the landslide and that large scale mass movements are likely pre holocene in age this is consistent with the results of an extensive soil survey within the landslide body and on the surrounding slopes similarity of soil properties and well developed horizonation of profiles both within the landslide and outside it shows that no major disturbance has taken place during the soil formation period dendrogeomorphological research in turn yielded evidence of numerous growth disturbances recorded in tree rings of norway spruce growing on the landslide body these signals are interpreted that the slope surface is not entirely stable under current environmental conditions flow or creep of landslide material is not very likely given the characteristics of cover materials and it is hypothesized that dendrochronological signals develop in response to ground deformation through piping and throughflow landslide hazard in the valley below mt garbatka appears low at present but to claim complete stability would be premature

geo archaeological evidence for a holocene extreme flooding event within the arabian sea ras al hadd oman abstract the arabian sea is regarded as one of the least studied regions in terms of coastal hazards such as tropical cyclones and tsunamis parts of the coastline are developing rapidly especially in oman this calls for a proper understanding of the natural processes that act on and affect it this can be done by investigating the magnitude and impact of past events in particular on human settlements by doing this future risks may not only be scientifically predicted and evaluated but the damage caused by future events might even be mitigated evidence of past extreme wave events is preserved in the onshore stratigraphic record in addition to this the coastal zone of oman is rich in archaeological remains presented here are the results of comprehensive mapping and analysis of extreme wave deposits of an archaeological site near ras al hadd suggesting that the early bronze age site hd 6 was inundated at 4450 cal bp an event layer is identified between two settlement phases within the archaeological excavation a contemporaneous sand bed with a maximum thickness of 0 4 m was mapped in the vicinity of the settlement ground penetrating radar surveys allow measurement of the thickness as well as identification of the internal facies architecture of the deposit a high resolution digital elevation model reveals the coastal geomorphology it is concluded that the causative event must have been a tsunami that was most likely generated within the makran subduction zone this interpretation does however remain tentative at the moment archaeological evidence indicates that the site was immediately re occupied after the event which attests to a certain resiliences of the early bronze age coastal communities in the region

strain path partitioning within thrust sheets microstructural and petrofabric evidence from the moine thrust zone at loch eriboll northwest scotland abstract quartz c axis fabrics and microstructures have been investigated within a suite of quartzites collected from the loch eriboll area of the moine thrust zone and are used to interpret the detailed processes involved in fabric evolution the intensity of quartz c axis fabrics is directly proportional to the calculated strain magnitude a correlation is also established between the pattern of c axis fabrics and the calculated strain symmetry two kinematic domains are recognized within one of the studied thrust sheets which outcrops immediately beneath the moine thrust within the upper and central levels of the thrust sheet coaxial deformation is indicated by conjugate mutually interfering shear bands globular low strain detrital quartz grains whose c axes are aligned sub parallel to the principal finite shortening direction z and quartz c axis fabrics which are symmetric both in terms of skeletal outline and intensity distribution with respect to mylonitic foliation and lineation non coaxial deformation is indicated within the more intensely deformed and recrystallized quartzites located near the base of the thrust sheet by single sets of shear bands and c axis fabrics which are asymmetric with respect to foliation and lineation tectonic models offering possible explanations for the presence of kinematic strain path domains within thrust sheets are considered

durations of soil formation and soil development indices in a holocene mediterranean floodplain abstract holocene and late pleistocene alluvial sequences of the mid medjerda floodplain northern tunisia reveal three types of soils with gradual transitions fluvisols calcaric cambisols calcaric and calcic luvisols chromic stratigraphic cross correlations palaeomagnetic secular variation and 14 c and irsl dating enable detailed information about ages and durations of soil formation in the floodplain weakly developed fluvisols calcaric commonly reveal late holocene ages with soil formation durations lasting between 100 and 300 years hence holocene soil formation is detectable in the exposures from durations of around 100 years onwards cambisols show predominantly mid holocene ages the durations of soil formation are between 800 and 5000 years calcic luvisols chromic feature late pleistocene ages with durations of soil formation between 10 000 and 40 000 years profile development indices were computed from simple field parameters like soil structure soil colour horizon thickness and leaching features the derived development indices show good correlation r 2 0 804 with the calculated durations of soil formation field parameters are well suited for a quantitative development index of holocene soil formation even if very weak developed soils are predominant the study shows that maturity stages of holocene alluvial soils in a homogeneous mediterranean environment are predominantly driven by soil formation duration

evidence for holocene stability of steep slopes northern peruvian andes based on soils and radiocarbon dates summary radiocarbon dating and soil relationships indicate that landscapes in highaltitude glaciated valleys of the northern peruvian andes have been remarkably stable during the holocene radiocarbon dates show that deglaciation was underway by 12 ka and that slopes and alluvial fans at the bases of slopes were essentially stabilized by at least 8 ka the soils consist of fine grained loessial a horizons overlying bw horizons in gravelly till or alluvial fan gravel following deglaciation widespread gullying took place in till on the steep maximum angle 37 sideslopes of most valleys the eroded material was deposited as fans at the bases of the slopes loess was then deposited as a fairly uniform blanket across most elements of the landscape soil formation began during or following loess deposition and because soil profile morphology is sufficiently similar at most sites soil formation has been a dominant process during much of the holocene this remarkable stability especially for such steep slopes is attributed to a combination of tight packing of the till permeability of the capping loess rapid revegetation following ice retreat and roots from the present grassland vegetation and possibly former forests

soil catena variation along an alpine climatic transect northern peruvian andes abstract morphological and chemical properties of soils developed on end moraines of mostly quartzitic and granitic composition in the puna region of the northern peruvian andes vary with slope position and climate soil development was assessed on two catenas of similar age range 8 12 ka in two different precipitation zones at summit backslope and footslope positions soil properties that show trends downslope and with increased rainfall are greater clay content greater organic carbon content and greater pedogenic fe content in addition ph is lower in the higher rainfall area eolian material mixed loess forms the surface layer a horizon and may be responsible for the remarkable slope stability in the area it is suggested that mixed loess provided material for chemical alteration and translocation of clay and fe vertically and downslope in quartz rich parent materials soil data suggest that the amount of climate change during the holocene is limited it is doubtful if the climate at the wetter end of the transect ever existed at the drier end

assessing surficial foraminiferal distributions as an overwash indicator in sur lagoon sultanate of oman abstract the identification of tsunami and storm deposits in arid coastal environments can be problematic as overwash sediments may not show significant contrasting lithologic characters with lagoonal sediments in this study foraminifera were evaluated as an overwash indicator in a small 12 km2 intertidal lagoon located at sur in the sultanate of oman the lagoon is shallow

evaluating tsunami hazard in the northwestern indian ocean we evaluate here the tsunami hazard in the northwestern indian ocean the maximum regional earthquake calculated from seismic hazard analysis was used as the characteristic earthquake for our tsunami hazard assessment this earthquake with a moment magnitude of mw 8 3 and a return period of about 1000 years was moved along the makran subduction zone msz and its possible tsunami wave height along various coasts was calculated via numerical simulation both seismic hazard analysis and numerical modeling of the tsunami were validated using historical observations of the makran earthquake and tsunami of the 1945 results showed that the possible tsunami may reach a maximum height of 9 6 m in the region the distribution of tsunami wave height along various coasts is presented we recommend the development of a tsunami warning system in the region and emphasize the value of education as a measure to mitigate the death toll of a possible tsunami in this region

sediments deposited by the 2004 indian ocean tsunami along the malaysia thailand peninsula stratigraphy grain size distribution and foraminiferal assemblages of pre tsunami and tsunami sediment from the indian ocean tsunami at five sites along the malaysia thailand peninsula were analyzed to gain information on tsunami sediment source and deposition style between three and five stratigraphic units were identified at each site and contained between one and three fining upward sequences reflecting waning flow or pre backwash deposition coarser sand layers reflecting uprush high energy flow separated the fining upward sequences with the exception of one site sungai burong which contained a coarsening upward sequence all contacts between the pre tsunami and tsunami sediment were sharp or erosional medium and coarse sand dominated all of the tsunami sediment deposits and often contained shell fragments foraminiferal assemblages were able to differentiate pre tsunami sediment from tsunami sediment where no lithological or grain size distribution change was evident between two and four foraminiferal zones were identified at each of the five sites and provided estimates of sediment source and wave characteristics

using soils as indicators of past slope instability in forested terrain kamienne mts sw poland abstract the kamienne mts in sw poland abound in geomorphic evidence for past landslides developed at the rhyolite sedimentary rock contact but it remains unknown when the displacements occurred the slopes generally have been stable in the last 200 years or so covered by historical records in this paper we use the presence of periglacial solifluction layers cover beds and soil characteristics as indicators of the status of hillslopes and relative age of landslides we follow an assumption that if landslides predate the holocene then solifluction layers should be present and soils within and outside landslide affected slopes should have similar characteristics allowing for differences caused by local factors cover beds are not expected to be associated with holocene landslides differences in the degree of soil development may be used to argue for different ages of some landslides within the holocene the absence of solifluction layers cannot always be regarded as the evidence of post pleistocene landsliding since such a layer is unlikely to have ever formed on densely jointed but otherwise strong rhyolite soil morphological properties particularly horizonation helped to establish the relative chronology of mass movement and to recognize both early to mid holocene and late holocene landslides soils are good relative dating tools and their usage does not necessarily require adherence to any particular soil classification system this is because morphological features of entire profiles provide more information than diagnostic properties used in these systems

a new chalcolithic era tsunami event identified in the offshore sedimentary record of jisr al zarka israel abstract tsunami field evidence is a critical resource for determining coastal risk however in many cases there is low potential for long term preservation of such deposits on land a growing body of evidence suggests that tsunami deposits can be present in the shallow offshore realm and may present a largely untapped but important worldwide sedimentological reference set for investigating past tsunami events here different proxies for tsunami sediment identification and differentiation granulometry xrd xrf ft ir were used to determine the presence or absence of such deposits in a core collected offshore at jisr al zarka midway between tel aviv and haifa the study aimed to recognize anomalous deposits and test different analytical methods to define their origins five anomalous sedimentological horizons were identified four of which were interpreted as tsunamigenic by comparison to previously identified poorly sorted shell rich tsunamites found nearby in caesarea and contrast to the fine sand nile derived background sediments the remaining anomaly was distinctive but not determined to be tsunamigenic due to a lack of coarse shell in the matrix the oldest tsunamigenic layer coinciding with the chalcholithic cultural period 5 7 ka is the oldest such deposit identified offshore israel to date and the non tsunamigenic anomalous horizon may correspond with a transitional climatic phase 5 5 ka this research reinforces the importance of offshore investigations as a means of improving tsunami catalogues and identifying environment altering events

ground penetrating radar facies of inferred tsunami deposits on the shores of the arabian sea northern indian ocean abstract the occurrence of tsunami waves that affected the shores of the arabian sea including the gulf of oman coastline has been proven by historical reports and sedimentological investigations the damaging effect of such extensive events should not be underestimated in this region in our study we present an investigation of coarse to fine grained marine tsunami deposits in the vicinity of fins sultanate of oman using ground penetrating radar gpr the sedimentary setting along the beach section preserves evidence boulder block deposits as well as trenching results for possible high energy wave impacts the investigated area s environment is representative of conditions which lead to the best possible gpr data quality arid conditions no interference due to electrical power lines and an elevated study area 5 10 m a m s l which eliminates the low frequency noise of the ground and the possibility of salt water in the gpr data 3d visualisation of gpr results from four study areas show e g wedging out of sediments and fining inland features as well as several erosion features at the base of the deposit these findings corroborate the hypothesis of inferred tsunami deposits furthermore the presented gpr investigation technique provides new insights regarding the spatial distribution and internal architecture of palaeo tsunami deposits in comparable tsunami prone regions worldwide

sedimentary and foraminiferal evidence of the 2011 tōhoku oki tsunami on the sendai coastal plain japan abstract the 2011 t hoku oki megathrust earthquake mw 9 0 generated a tsunami that reached the sendai coastal plain with flow heights of 2 to 11 m above tp tokyo peil we examined the tsunami deposit exposed in 14 shallow trenches along a 4 5 km transect perpendicular to the coast we primarily document the stratigraphical sedimentological foraminiferal and geochemical characteristics of the t hoku oki tsunami deposit and perform a preliminary comparison with sediments deposited by the j gan tsunami of a d 869 in the coastal forest and rice fields inundated by the t hoku oki tsunami a poorly sorted dark brown soil is buried by a poorly sorted brown medium grained sand deposit in some trenches located more than 1 2 km inland the sand is capped by a thin muddy sand layer the tsunami deposit although highly variable in thickness is generally thickest 25 cm near the coastal dune and thins to less than 5 mm at 4 5 km inland the tsunami deposit was discriminated from the underlying soil by the appearance of recent and fossil foraminifera and a pronounced increase in grain size that fined upward and landward the recent foraminifera preserved in the sandy facies of the deposit are rare and showed evidence of prolonged subaerial exposure e g pitting corrosion fragmentation recent foraminifera likely originated from coastal dune and beach sediments that were breached by the tsunami calcified and sediment in filled fossil foraminifera are abundant and were eroded from sedimentary units and transported by fluvial or wave activity to sendai bay trends associated with test size e g decreasing concentration of large test sizes with distance inland are in agreement with grain size data at two locations a decrease in total organic carbon and an increase in 13c were found in the tsunami sand compared with the underlying soil supporting a beach to intertidal origin for the upper unit

concepts of the evolution of the austroalpine basement complex eastern alps during the caledonian variscan cycle the austroalpine basement complex has a complicated pre alpidic history which begins with the caledonian era in the late precambrian and early paleozoic a magmatic sedimentary rock sequence is formed presumably in an island arc or active continental margin environment subduction with eclogite formation is followed by collision high grade metamorphism and anatexis in the ordovician this caledonian basement is preserved in parts of the austroalpine crystalline mass the post caledonian deposits are mainly shelf type sediments with intercalated volcanics although there is evidence for an oceanic basin to the south the variscan facies zones are arranged in sw ne direction oblique to the alpidic trend in a first stage of variscan orogeny in the carboniferous south east vergent decollement nappes syntectonic flysch deposits and granitoids are formed along with regional metamorphism this is followed by a second stage in the permian with north west vergent thrusting renewed granite formation and metamorphism the variscan nappe pile is today exposed in a deeper level in the west or northwest than in the east or southeast

cover beds as soil parent materials in midlatitude regions abstract in parts of southern france the russian plain south central turkey the western usa and in germany slopes are covered by deposits cover beds formed by geomorphic processes not limited to linear discharges often loess material is mixed into them cover beds usually form sequences of two or more distinct layers and their distribution depends on the geomorphic climate driven processes of their formation as they influence pedogenesis they contribute to the understanding of soil properties and soil distribution horizon boundaries occur at depths where cover bed properties change where aeolian matter is mixed in podzolisation is buffered but depletion of clay may occur loess rich cover beds may entirely decouple pedogenesis from bedrock influence in humid areas soil water stagnation is often associated with varying cover bed bulk densities particularly upon flat relief in semiarid areas deep soil profiles consist of multiple layer sequences often with argillic and calcic properties within the same horizons they reflect several cycles of cover bed deposition and incorporation of loess alternating with decalcification accompanied and followed by clay translocation this led to the overprinting of buried soils by pedogenic carbonate leached from younger sediments synchronous sediment and or airborne carbonate accretion and pedogenesis which is usually invoked to explain soil profiles with several calcic horizons cannot apply to cover beds

cyclone gonu storm surge in oman super cyclone gonu is the strongest tropical cyclone on record in the arabian sea gonu caused coastal damage due to storm surge and storm wave impact as well as wadi flooding high water marks overland flow depths and inundation distances were measured in the coastal flood zones along the gulf of oman from 1 to 4 august 2007 the high water marks peaked at ras al hadd at the eastern tip of oman exceeding 5 m the storm surge of gonu is modeled using the advanced circulation model adcirc the multi hazard aspect is analyzed by comparing observations from cyclone gonu with the 2004 indian ocean tsunami

soil catena development on fault scarps of different ages eastern escarpment of the sierra nevada california abstract in quaternary tectonic studies soils are useful for estimating the ages of both faulted surficial deposits and colluvial wedges on the fault scarp slopes soil development on sloped landforms such as fault scarps varies with position on the slope thus an understanding of catenary relations is needed to interpret the fault scarp soils discussed here are some aspects of soil catena development on fault scarps formed by late quaternary normal faulting along the eastern escarpment of the sierra nevada between bishop and lake crowley california the fault scarps are multiple event scarps formed in pleistocene glacial and fluvial deposits composed mostly of granitic clasts and vegetated primarily with the great basin sagebrush community eolian additions to the soils are minor fault scarps formed since the tioga glaciation about 10 25 ka are high 6 26 m of vertical surface offset and steep 26 38 these fault scarps have probably been ruptured by faulting at least once during the holocene the upper parts of the post tioga fault scarps are bouldery and at the lower slope positions a finer grained colluvial wedge has accumulated in contrast to the post tioga fault scarps an old fault scarp mostly formed 100 ka ago and not ruptured by faulting in at least 15 22 ka has been degraded to a more gentle slope 17 and few boulders are exposed on the surface of the fault scarp on both age groups of fault scarps some soil properties and vegetation patterns suggest that there is more available moisture at the lower slope positions than elsewhere in the fault scarp catenas soils associated with the post tioga fault scarps are generally weakly developed a bw cox profiles that become cumulative at the lower slope positions in most places the difference in soil development between the original surface and the fault scarp is small and thus is a poor indicator of the age spread between the two surfaces in contrast to the post tioga soils soils on the old fault scarp are moderately developed a bt cox profiles that are better developed on the fault scarp slope than on the original surface increased soil development on the slope may reflect higher available moisture on the slope and erosion of the original surface through time on both the post tioga and the older fault scarps buried soils within the colluvium were rarely encountered the lack of buried soils may be due to a combination of low regional rates of soil development short interseismic time intervals for events forming the scarps and on the old fault scarp overprinting of soils by subsequent weathering and soil development a comparison of soil catena development on the two age groups of fault scarps suggests that after faulting ceases pedogenesis becomes the dominant process of the fault scarp although slope processes may continue to modify the fault scarp slope they proceed at rates that are lower than the rate of soil development

far field tsunami hazard from mega thrust earthquakes in the indian ocean summary we evaluate far field tsunami hazard in the indian ocean basin based on hydrodynamic simulations of ten case studies of possible mega earthquakes at the major seismic zones surrounding the basin they represent worst case scenarios of seismic rupture along the full extent of seismogenic faults having supported large earthquakes in the historical record in a series of numerical experiments in which the source parameters of the 2004 sumatra tsunami are allowed to vary one by one while keeping the seismic moment and the fault orientation unchanged we document that the main patterns of far field tsunami amplitudes are remarkably robust with respect to nominal variations in such parameters as hypocentral depth exact centroid location and slip distribution on the fault plane these results validate the concept of modelling case scenarios of potential future earthquakes whose source is by definition imprecise we consider seismic sources located at the extremities of the 2004 sumatra andaman rupture namely along the southern coast of sumatra and in the andaman myanmar province along the makran coast of pakistan and iran and also along the southern coast of java where the possibility of a large interplate thrust earthquake cannot be entirely dismissed the results of our hydrodynamic simulations indicate that the distribution of maximum amplitudes in the indian ocean basin is primarily controlled by the classical effect of source directivity and additionally by refraction and focusing along bathymetric features as a result many provinces in the basin could be threatened by higher tsunami amplitudes than in 2004 this pattern is particularly important along the coast of east africa from somalia to and including south africa in madagascar and the mascarene islands especially under a south sumatra scenario involving an earthquake comparable to or even possibly larger than the 1833 event whose epicentral area is widely believed to be under enhanced seismic risk as a result of stress transfer from the 2004 and 2005 ruptures to the northwest possibly even in the wake of the 2007 bengkulu earthquakes

sedimentary record of a tsunami during roman times bay of cadiz spain abstract historical data show that the gulf of cadiz has been exposed to destructive tsunamisduring at least the past 2000 yr the last tsunami was generated by the ad 1755 lisbon earthquake which affected the atlantic coasts of spain portugal and morocco today these littoral areas areintensely populated and the expected damage could be much greater tsunami studies are of greatimportance in helping to determine the recurrence interval of these events the presence of washover fan deposits on the inland margin of the valdelagrana spit bar cadiz spain indicates the occurrence of a high energy marine event ca 2300 cal yr bp historical geomorphological sedimentological palaeontological and geochronological data suggest that atsunami could have affected the area during roman times copyright 2002 john wiley sons ltd journal of quaternary science keywords tsunami deposits grain size palaeontology gulf of cadiz south spain introduction investigations of the geological records of past tsunamis arean important tool in helping to determine the recurrenceinterval of such events in a region these investigations arealso the only way of determining the prehistoric occurrenceand tsunami hazard in areas of infrequent seismic activity however at present it is dif cult to distinguish betweentsunami deposits and those laid down by other high energyevents such as a storm surge or hurricane recent work bygoff et al 2001 has helped to identify a series of diagnosticcriteria for tsunami deposits and research is underway tohighlight the differences between these and other high energyevents goff and chagu e goff in preparation j goff personalcommunication 2002 wave hydrodynamics the speci ccoastal setting morphology orientation availability and typeof sediments depositional environments tsunami magnitudeand tidal range are all factors that help to de ne the type andpreservation of tsunami deposits furthermore the ability todetermine the tsunamigenic source largely depends upon thepalaeoseismic and historical record e g goff et al 2001

kinematics of cretaceous nappe tectonics in the austroalpine basement of the koralpe region eastern austria krohe a 1987 kinematics of cretaceous nappe tectonics in the austroalpine basement of the koralpe region eastern austria tectonophysicz 136 171 196 the austroalpine basement of the koralpe area austria was affected by penetrative ductile deformation in the cretaceous three metamorphic events have been established ht lp metamorphism of unknown age a hercynian mt mp metamorphism and a cretaceous eo alpine mt mp metamorphism in the koralpe area cretaceous rb sr cooling ages of muscovite indicate temperatures of at least 500 o c during the eo alpine event the most intense deformation occurred along intracrustal shear zones plattengneis north to northeast directed thrusting is indicated by an inverted metamorphic gradient regional transposition of an older foliation s c fabrics and oblique quartz fabrics after development of high temperature mylonites low angle normal shear zones low temperature mylonites cut the uppermost parts of the austroalpine basement and indicate an extensional tectonic setting at about 85 to 90 ma s c and quartz fabrics indicate downdip movements of the hanging wall towards the northeast intracrystalline a slip in quartz caused strong preferred lattice orientation in high and low temperature mylonites during the e alpine deformation the basal a slip system is more pronounced at lower temperatures whereas a prism a system predominates at higher temperatures the overall kinematic history of the austroalpine nappe complex in the study area suggests a model in which an intracrustal south over north imbrication took place in an early stage of eo alpine collision these movements were outlasted by sinistral strike slip movement possibly due to oblique collision along irregular margins of the austroalpine and brianpnnais complexes the collision imbrication process resulted in crustal thickening isostatic uplift and thus extension of the higher parts of the crust low angle normal faulting initiated sedimentation in the intramontane c tic gosau basins of late cretaceous age

a study of the wood anatomy of picea abies roots and their role in biomechanical weathering of rock cracks abstract our study of the wood anatomy of roots of norway spruce picea abies l karst growing in fractured bedrock reveals widening of bedrock cracks analysis under a transmitted light microscope of 30 micro sections of three roots from two trees shows that the most common anatomical features of roots growing in fractured bedrock are the blocking of radial growth multi directional uneven radial growth and fan shaped deformation of cell rows crack widening is indicated by a sequence of features normal growth followed by blocking of radial growth then reappearance of radial growth changes in crack shape are shown by formation of traumatic resin ducts followed by radial growth eccentricity or multidirectional uneven growth eccentricity and radial growth release and an abrupt decrease in cell size imply increasing space for root growth and root exposure we found inconclusive evidence of crack widening due to pressure from increasing root size biomechanical weathering nevertheless root anatomy indicates sudden crack widening with other possible causes including tree trunk flexing of roots by strong winds mass movement or freeze thaw processes

s c mylonites two types of foliations are commonly developed in mylonites and mylonitic rocks a s surfaces related to the accumulation of finite strain and b c surfaces related to displacement discontinuities or zones of relatively high shear strain there are two types of s c mylonites type i s c mylonites described by berthe et al typically occur in deformed granitoids they involve narrow zones of intense shear strain which cut across mylonitic foliation type ii s c mylonites described here have widespread occurrence in quartz mica rocks involved in zones of intense non coaxial laminar flow the c surfaces are defined by trails of mica fish formed as the result of microscopic displacement discontinuities or zones of very high shear strain the s surfaces are defined by oblique foliations in the adjacent quartz aggregates formed as the result of dynamic recrystallization which periodically resets the finite strain clock these oblique foliations are characterized by grain elongations alignments of segments of the grain boundary enveloping surfaces and by trails of grains with similar c axis orientations examples of this aspect of foliation development in mylonitic rocks are so widespread that we suggest the creation of a broad class of s c tectonites and a deviation from the general tradition of purely geometric analysis of foliation and time relationships kinematic indicators such as those discussed here allow the recognition of kilometre scale zones of intense non coaxial laminar flow in crustal rocks and unambiguous determination of the sense of shear

distinguishing tsunami and storm deposits an example from martinhal sw portugal abstract geological identification of past tsunamis is important for risk assessment studies especially in areas where the historical record is limited or absent the main problem when using the geological evidence is to distinguish between tsunami and storm deposits both are high energy events that may leave marine traces in coastal stratigraphic sequences at martinhal sw portugal both storm surge and tsunami deposits are present at the same site within a single stratigraphic sequence which makes it suitable to study the differences between them excluding variations caused by local factors the tsunami associated with the lisbon earthquake of november 1st 1755 ad had a major impact on the geomorphology and sedimentology of martinhal it breached the barrier and laid down an extensive sheet of sand as described in eyewitness reports besides the tsunami deposit the stratigraphy of martinhal also displays evidence for storm surges that have breached and overtopped the barrier flooding the lowland and leaving sand layers both marine derived flood deposits show similar grain size characteristics and distinctive marine foraminifera the most important differences are the rip up clasts and boulders exclusively found in the tsunami deposit and the landward extent of the tsunami deposit that everywhere exceeds that of the storm deposits identification of both depositional units was only possible using a collection of different data and extensive stratigraphical information from cores as well as trenches

traces of historical tropical cyclones and tsunamis in the ashburton delta north west australia although the north western coast of western australia is highly vulnerable to tropical cyclones and tsunamis little is known about the geological imprint of historic and prehistoric extreme wave events in this particular area despite a number of site specific difficulties such as post depositional changes and the preservation potential of event deposits both tropical cyclones and tsunamis may be inferred from the geomorphology and the stratigraphy of beach ridge sequences washover fans and coastal lagoons or marshes a further challenge is the differentiation between tsunami and storm deposits in the geological record particularly where modern deposits and or historical reports on the event are not available this study presents a high resolution sedimentary record of washover events from the ashburton river delta western australia spanning approximately the last 150 years a detailed characterization of event deposits is provided and a robust chronostratigraphy for the investigated washover sequence is established based on multi proxy sediment analyses and optically stimulated luminescence dating combining sedimentological geochemical and high resolution optically stimulated luminescence data event layers are assigned to known historical events and tropical cyclone deposits are separated from tsunami deposits for the first time the 1883 krakatoa and 1977 sumba tsunamis are inferred from sedimentary records of the north western part of western australia it is demonstrated that optically stimulated luminescence applied in coastal sedimentary archives with favourable luminescence characteristics can provide accurate chronostratigraphies even on a decadal timescale the results contribute to the data pool of tropical cyclone and tsunami deposits in holocene stratigraphies however they also demonstrate how short lived sediment archives may be in dynamic sedimentary environments

complex landslide terrain in the kamienne mountains middle sudetes sw poland dense forest hides a complex landslide terrain in the kamienne mountains a part of the sudetes range in central europe combined geomorphological geophysical and dendrochronological research was carried out in three representative localities in order to decipher patterns of landslide evolution to determine the extent of slope deformations and to assess the contemporary activity of landslide terrain field mapping revealed the very complex nature of slope failures both in space and time deep seated sliding was the principal type of movement and was followed by rock wall retreat by fall in the depletion zone and earthflows in the toe area electric resistivity survey proved useful in constraining geometry of landslide units and suggests an occurrence of underground voids in the lesista landslide area dendrochronological research focused on tree ring reduction reaction wood wound and scar analysis that helped to unravel the pattern of debris supply and movement subsequent to the main events which includes free fall talus creep and sliding over snow cover today landslide complexes are at different stages of evolution whereas in some places the activity has been largely completed in others we have found the evidence for failure surfaces ready to accommodate movement hence although some landslides may be relict it is unjustified to extend this notion to all signs of hillslope instability in the area

secondary cleavages in ductile shear zones abstract secondary cleavages developed at late stages in ductile shear zones show several features that are inconsistent with progressive simple shear in the zone these are the orientation of a single secondary cleavage oblique to the shear zone boundaries conjugate sets with opposite senses of shear and multiple sets with the same sense of shear these features can be explained if the bulk flow is partitioned into slip along discrete failure planes parallel to the primary foliation s coaxial stretching along the foliation and spin

periglacial slope deposits and their pedogenic implications in germany abstract disconformities within soil parent materials are frequently reported from locations throughout the world but they are rarely within the goals of systematic research this article provides an overview of the current state of knowledge on such materials and their pedogenic relevance in germany it intends to encourage further discussion on stratified soils in other parts of the world the slope deposits in germany are divided into 1 the upper layer that is ubiquitously distributed and displays a relatively constant thickness 2 the intermediate layer that is restricted to flat relief to hollows and to lee ward facing slopes and 3 the basal layer that is rather widespread again both the upper and intermediate layer contain intermixed loess while the basal layer is free of loess these layers were mainly formed by periglacial solifluction such deposits are referred to as cover beds the upper layer formed during the younger dryas within a relatively short episode in contrast the lower layers may be diachronous nevertheless they display recurring vertical sequences this is probably due to the fact that loess free layers usually could not deposit as long as there was loess in the environs thus the last phase of surface wash during which older loess was removed determines the age of the lower layers the composition of the layers differs reflecting the varying portions of loess and of rock allocated from upslope in twofold sequences the cover beds influence the formation of the soils as they provide weathered material and as their boundaries where properties such as texture and bulk density abruptly change determine the soil horizon boundaries some pedogenic processes are favored oxidation depletion of clay or hindered podzolization due to the loess content of the upper layer even exceeding this the dominant loess content of an intercalated intermediate layer in threefold sequences may completely decouple pedogenesis from bedrock influence in all soil formation is largely influenced by the constellation of cover beds at any given site

large holocene tsunamis in the northern arabian sea abstract tsunamis have repeatedly hit the shores of oman northern arabian sea in historical times e g 1945 2013 these events had small

an illustration of the advantages of a complete texture analysis described by the orientation distribution function odf using quartz pole figure data abstract the preferred orientation of eight crystal directions of quartz was measured with an x ray texture goniometer for selected quartz bearing tectonites with a clear pattern of c axis preferred orientation the advantages of data analysis by means of calculations of the orientation distribution function and other forms of data presentation derived from the odf are demonstrated

soils and geomorphic evolution of bedrock facets on a tectonically active mountain front western sangre de cristo mountains new mexico abstract soil profiles colluvial stratigraphy and detailed hillslope morphology are key elements used for geomorphic interpretations of the form and long term evolution of triangular facets on a 1200 m high tectonically active mountain front the facets are developed on precambrian gneisses and tertiary volcanic and plutonic rocks along a complexly segmented active normal fault zone in the rio grande rift of northern new mexico the detailed morphologies of 20 to 350 m high facets are defined by statistical and time series analyses of 40 field transects that were keyed to observations of colluvium bedrock microtopography and vegetation the undissected parts of most facets are transport limited hillslopes mantled with varying thicknesses 0 1 to 1 m thick of sand and gravel colluvium between generally sparse 10 30 bedrock outcrops facet soils range from a thin 0 2 m weakly developed soils with cumulic silty a or transitional a b epipedons above cox horizons in bedrock or colluvium to b deep 0 5 1 m moderately to strongly developed profiles containing thick cambic bw and or argillic bt horizons that commonly extend into highly weathered saprolitic bedrock the presence of strongly weathered profiles and thick colluvium suggests that rates of colluvial transport and hillslope erosion are less than or equal to rates of soil development over at least a large part of the holocene the catenary variation of soils and colluvium on selected facet transects indicate that the degree of soil development generally increases and the thickness of colluvium decreases upslope on most facets this overall pattern is commonly disrupted on large facet hillslopes by irregular secondary soil variations linked to intermediate scale 20 60 m long concave slope elements these features are interpreted to reflect discontinuous transport and erosion of colluvium down slope below bedrock outcrops the degree of weathering in subsurface bedrock commonly increases more systematically upslope on most facets than colluvial soils this pattern is consistent with an increase in age with height on these fault generated facet hillslopes the characteristic range of internal variation in soils and colluvial deposits on a given facet also varies greatly among facets with differing overall morphologies and external environments deep cumulic soils and thick colluvium occur consistently on steep 30 high and relatively undissected facets above the narrow central sections of fault segments much thinner and less weathered colluvium and soils overlie saprolitic bedrock at shallow depths on low highly dissected gently sloping 20 facets above complex fault segment boundaries parametric and nonparametric analyses of variance indicate that these large scale contrasts in facet morphology correlate primarily with a few facet subgroups related in decreasing importance to variations in range front faulting bedrock lithology and piedmont dissection or aggradation these factors are related to facet morphology drainage evolution and hillslope soil stratigraphy in a general geomorphic model for fault generated facets in this model segmentation related changes in the geometry and or rates of faulting most strongly affect facet size slope gradient the thickness of colluvium and soil development and drainage patterns facets of varying heights have similar hillslope forms at the same position on the range front these characteristic morphologies are established under prevailing tectonic and nontectonic conditions on facets as bedrock is initially exposed from beneath alluvial covered fault scarps above a height threshold of 15 35 m

long term perspectives on giant earthquakes and tsunamis at subduction histories of earthquakes and tsunamis inferred from geological evidence aid in anticipating future catastrophes this natural warning system now influences building codes and tsunami planning in the united states canada and japan particularly where geology demonstrates the past occurrence of earthquakes and tsunamis larger than those known from written and instrumental records under favorable circumstances paleoseismology can thus provide long term advisories of unusually large tsunamis the extraordinary indian ocean tsunami of 2004 resulted from a fault rupture more than 1000 km in length that included and dwarfed fault patches that had broken historically during lesser shocks such variation in rupture mode known from written history at a few subduction zones is also characteristic of earthquake histories inferred from geology on the pacific rim

the concept of the pleistocene periglacial cover beds in central europe a review in low mountain areas of central europe pleistocene periglacial conditions and relevant processes have led to the formation of cover beds in general holocene soils are not developed in bedrock but they have formed in periglacial cover beds their occurrence and characteristics control the spatial distribution of soils and thus periglacial sediments are a useful tool for soil mapping and soil survey the concept of periglacial cover beds distinguishes four main layers topmost upper middle and basal periglacial cover bed the upper and middle layers contain loess whereas the basal one consists entirely of bedrock the loess content causes an increase of site specific soil ecological quality in comparison to soils formed directly on bedrock the occurrence and characteristics of the cover beds is reviewed summarizing the present state of the art

dynamic recrystallization of feldspar a mechanism for ductile shear zone formation feldspar aggregates experimentally deformed in the dislocation creep regime undergo dynamic recrystallization because recovery is difficult due to the limited climb of dislocations recrystallizing aggregates have a lower strength because of the cyclic production of small strain free grains and they develop a strong preferred orientation consistent with that observed in mylonites thus recrystallization accommodated dislocation creep may be responsible for the grain size reduction and strain softening that lead to the formation of many mylonites and ductile shear zones

lithological discontinuities in podzols developed from sandstone cover beds in the stolowe mountains poland abstract podzols developed within so called cover beds were examined on a slope built of cretaceous sandstones in sw poland their typical feature is an easily recognizable stratification of regolith evidenced in the dichotomy of soil texture and dense subsoil heterogeneity of soil profiles is manifested in vertically differentiated sequence 1 dense skeletal and massive layer comprising usually bs and bc horizons sometimes bhs bh horizons with strong platy structure is overlain by 2 the uppermost relatively young layer consisting of loose sandy material bearing single coarse fragments of a less weathered sandstone hosting ae e and partially bh horizons this remarkable layering of slope sediments caused a distinctive lithological discontinuity at the boundary of e and b horizons evidenced by the differences in i rock fragments content ii degree of rock clast weathering iii distribution of highly resistant minerals and iv fluctuation of silt and sand fractions within profiles lithological discontinuity influences both the lateral podzolization and the thickness and depth of albic and spodic horizons along the slope catena regarding the temporal order the lowermost layer was influenced by periglacial conditions at before the boreal presumably as the surface layer high score of pollen grains the age of surficial sandy layer based on pollen record could be established at subatlantic and correlated with forest cutting and intensive surface erosion charcoal dating 960 30 cal bp neither layers that originated from the eolian processes were distinguished nor any admixture of allochthonous material was found therefore typical middle and upper periglacial cover beds are not present in this sequence in any case podzols that were formed from the slope sediments in the stolowe mountains are polygenetic and of the holocene age

geomorphology and geophysics based recognition of stages of deep seated slope deformation sudetes sw poland abstract slopes of the kamienne mountains sw poland have been affected by a variety of slope deformations from dsgsds through rock slope collapses rotational and translational landslides sensu stricto to valley confined earth flows variable geomorphic expression suggests that major slope deformation events are of different ages and some slope deformation may be ongoing in this paper we use the combination of landform mapping and electrical resistivity tomography profiling to characterize two settings considered to represent early stages of slope deformation and advanced stages of ridge collapse landform recognition involved field geomorphic mapping and interpretation of high resolution lidar dtm diagnostic features of early stages of deformation are open cracks minor and rather subdued scarps in the upper slope and lower slope bulging irregular hummocky topography ruiniform relief and closed depressions typify the late stages ert results are generally consistent landform interpretation and show weakening of bedrock evolving failure planes as well as subsidence of rigid caprock blocks into deformable sedimentary series for the late stage the combined geomorphological geophysical approach performed fairly satisfactorily and both methods can be used to cross check interpretations even in areas not subject to recent mass movement events poorly accessible due to dense forest cover and lacking clear morphological evidence

microfossils from coastal environments as indicators of paleo earthquakes tsunamis and storms abstract coastal risk assessment and hazard mitigation require datasets on centennial and millennial temporal scales to capture natural variability and multiple occurrences of the largest but least frequent events coastal sediments from low energy depositional environments archive geologic evidence of paleo earthquakes tsunamis and storms many of the best reconstructions of these events are derived from changes in microfossil diatoms foraminifera and pollen assemblages in this review we explain how microfossils are used to reconstruct records of paleoearthquakes by quantifying the amount of coseismic and interseismic vertical land movements along tectonically active coastlines examples from the united states alaska and the pacific northwest japan and chile show that microfossil based transfer functions may provide continuous records of vertical land movement during earthquake deformation cycles we discuss how microfossil habitat preferences and taphonomic character are used to constrain sediment provenance e g beach nearshore or offshore sources and identify overwash deposits and how this information can be used to reconstruct the recurrence of tsunamis and storms analysis of overwash deposits from thailand and malaysia indicates the ability of microfossils to resolve individual waves within tsunami sediments and an example from the sendai coastal plain in japan uses foraminifera to ascribe a beach to nearshore provenance for the 2011 tohoku tsunami deposit finally we present recent examples from the gulf of mexico on the use of foraminifera to estimate the volume and distance of transport of storm overwash from hurricanes

tectonic geomorphology of the san andreas fault zone in the southern indio hills coachella valley california geomorphic investigation of the san andreas fault zone in the indio hills indicates many tectonically produced landforms including beheaded streams right lateral deflected and offset streams sags shutter ridges pressure ridges and fault scarps near biskra palms an alluvial fan pediment complex has an apparent cumulative offset of about 0 7 km along the mission creek fault zone north branch san andreas fault many of the tectonic landforms as well as the fracture pattern that has developed during the pleistocene are explainable by simple shear or uplift associated with a small left bend in the main trace of the mission creek fault the ratio of vertical to horizontal displacement in the vicinity of the bend is about 0 04 exposed in pushawalla canyon 5 km northwest of the alluvial fan pediment complex are 1 a sequence of stream terraces 2 folded plio pleistocene fanglomerates and 3 an example of stream capture following a right lateral deflection or offset of several hundred metres a left step of the mission creek fault in pushawalla canyon is a probably cause of folds and sporadic uplift that produced the stream terraces possible cause of recent stream capture are 1 juxtaposition of pushawalla canyon with a relict canyon moving northwestward along the mission creek fault or 2 right lateral deflection or offset of pushawalla canyon along the fault with simultaneous headward erosion of a shorter steep stream flowing toward the coachella valley estimation of a slip rate and identification of paleoseismicity for the san andreas fault in the indio hills is difficult however degree of topographic dissection formation and preservation of desert pavement and relative soil profile development suggest that the age of the offset fan may be as old as 70 000 yr but that most likely it is on the order of 20 000 to 30 000 yr these age estimates for the offset fan indicate a minimum slip rate for the san andreas fault of 10 to 35 mm yr with about 23 to 35 mm yr the most likely the pattern of observed offset drainages is complex but suggests that during the past few thousand years creep events or moderately large earthquakes have periodically produced several metres of right lateral displacement

tsunami sediments and their foraminiferal assemblages abstract tsunami hazard assessment begins with a compilation of past events that have affected a specific location given the inherent limitations of historical archives the geological record has the potential to provide an independent dataset useful for establishing a richer chronologically deeper time series of past events recent geological studies of tsunami are helping to improve our understanding of the nature and character of tsunami sediments wherever possible geologists should be working to improve the research tool kit available to identify past tsunami events marine foraminifera single celled heterotrophic protists have often been reported as present within tsunami deposited sediments but in reality little information about environmental conditions and by analogy the tsunami that deposited them has been reported even though foraminifera have an enormous capacity to provide meaningful palaeo environmental data here we review what foraminifera are describe their basic form and significance summarise where they have been reported in tsunami sediments and identify what can be learnt from them we review the gaps in our understanding and make recommendations to assist researchers who examine foraminiferal assemblages in order to enhance their use within tsunami geology

periglacial cover beds and soils in landslide areas of sw germany abstract at the slopes of the jurassic cuesta scarp in sw germany pedological and mineralogical investigations were carried out in landslide areas so far it is possible to distinguish two well defined landslide areas one of them belonging to the pleistocene the other one characterised by holocene movements in general the distribution of soils and sediments is strongly linked to the age of landslide deposits in pleistocene landslide areas the parent material of the studied soils is formed by periglacial cover beds of late pleistocene age consisting of jurassic aeolian and volcanic components the upper periglacial cover bed was recognised as the most important marker horizon in the studied slope areas there the existence of minerals originating from the eruption of the laacher see volcano dated to 12 900 yr bp could be demonstrated for the first time most of the pleistocene landforms are characterised by well developed soils like clayic and vertic cambisols whereas relic soils exclusively occur in the oldest parts of landslide deposits landslide areas affected by holocene slope processes do not exhibit periglacial layers as mass movements removed periglacial sediments and former soils extensively as a consequence the parent material is different from those of pleistocene landslide areas therefore sediments in these areas are characterised by jurassic components and only initial soils are present

the himalayan main central thrust pile and its quartz rich tectonites in central nepal as a consequence of the india asia collision a deeply rooted crustal slice has been moved southwards over the northern boundary of the indian plate at the present level of observation the main central thrust pile a rock pile of several kilometers thickness is affected by shear deformation which imprinted a flat foliation and a constant n s trending lineation these tectonites were deformed under a wide range of metamorphic conditions grading from lower greenschists up to the sillimanite field the m c t shear zone is studied from the view point of the quartz rich rocks over 100 samples helped to define a microstructural zonation roughly parallel to the thermal one 35 samples particularly rich in quartz have been used for the preferred orientation study of their c axes and a few of them for their a axes strong lattice orientations when undisturbed by mainly secondary recrystallization attest to large plastic strains in quartz the c axes are mostly distributed along unequally populated crossed girdles which may evolve into an inclined single girdle the a axes concentrate perpendicular to the more populated girdle concerning quartz the following is suggested 1 1 the deformation has a dominant shear component responsible for the dominant stretching lineation it could be simple shear in case of inclined single girdles 2 2 one set of a axes line up parallel to the shear direction slip on various planes in the a direction may be an important deformation mechanism 3 3 asymmetry in the lattice preferred orientations could be used to predict the sense of shear for the himalayan thrusting in more than 80 of cases

testing foraminiferal taphonomy as a tsunami indicator in a shallow arid system lagoon sur sultanate of oman abstract the tsunami produced by the 1945 makran trench earthquake is considered to be the second deadliest in the indian ocean after the 26 december 2004 indonesian event the tsunami struck iran pakistan india and oman however historical records outside of india and pakistan are sparse due to limited populations in those regions and little communication with larger cities sur lagoon oman a small microtidal lagoon contains stratigraphic evidence of the 1945 tsunami the goal of this study is to test the utility of foraminiferal provenance and taphonomy as an indicator of the 1945 event and examine its potential in detecting older events in the geologic record foraminiferal taxa and taphonomy and high resolution particle size analysis show that high abundances of predominantly marine taxa amphistegina spp ammonia inflata and planktics associated with the tsunami bed indicate an outside marine origin for the sediment influxes of large test sizes and fossil specimens support a shallow marine provenance findings indicate that foraminiferal analysis when combined with other proxies e g mollusc taphonomy particle size distribution can be used to delineate tsunami units from normal background sedimentation in intertidal systems this technique holds potential for detecting older events in sur lagoon which are documented in historical texts but as of yet have not been ground truthed

cambisols developed from cover beds in the pieniny mts southern poland and their mineral composition abstract the occurrence of eutric cambisols in the study area has been usually attributed to specific characteristics of bedrock their basic properties include significant contrasts of ph and the content of carbonates within their profiles analysis of soil texture and the content and lithology of rock fragments indicate discontinuities in the parent material of the upper and lower sections of the investigated profiles the observations have been confirmed by the analysis of xrd diffractograms of unseparated 2 m fraction the properties of the lowermost horizons are naturally related to the characteristics of bedrock while cover beds with a dominance of quartz and a lack of calcite should be recognized as parent material of the upper sections of the profiles the xrd diffractograms of the clay fractions show a continuous uniform process of soil development imposed on the originally heterogeneous profile

a new model evaluating holocene sediment dynamics insights from a mixed carbonate siliciclastic lagoon bora bora society islands french polynesia south pacific abstract mixed carbonate siliciclastic lagoons of barrier reefs provide great potential as sedimentary archives focusing on paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic changes as well as on event deposition sediment sources include lagoonal carbonate production the marginal reef and the volcanic hinterland mixed carbonate siliciclastic continent attached coastal lagoons have been intensively studied however their isolated oceanic counterparts have been widely disregarded here we present a new model of holocene sediment dynamics in the barrier reef lagoon of bora bora based on sedimentological paleontological geochronological and geochemical data the lagoonal succession started with a pleistocene soil representing the lowstand systems tract as the rising holocene sea inundated the carbonate platform peat accumulated locally 10 650 9400 years bp mixed carbonate siliciclastic sedimentation started ca 8700 5500 years bp and represents the transgressive systems tract during that time sediments were characterized by relatively coarse grain size and contained high amounts of terrestrial material from the volcanic hinterland as well as carbonate sediments mainly produced within the lagoon siliciclastic content decreases throughout the holocene after the rising sea had reached its modern level sand aprons formed between reef crest and lagoon creating transport pathways for reef derived material leading to carbonate dominated sedimentation ca 6000 3000 years bp during the highstand systems tract however mainly fine material was transported and accumulated in the lagoon while coarser grains were retained on the prograding sand apron from ca 4500 500 years bp significant variations in grain size total organic carbon as indicator for primary productivity ca and cl element intensities as qualitative indicators for carbonate availability and lagoonal salinity are seen such patterns could indicate event re deposition and correlate with contemporaneous event deposits found in the lagoon of nearby tahaa which are supposed to be induced by elevated cyclone activity correspondingly enhanced erosion and run off from the volcanic hinterland as well as lower lagoonal salinity would be associated with intense rainfall during repeated cyclone landfall increased amounts of coarse grained sediment from marginal reef areas would be transported into the lagoon however ti ca and fe ca ratios as proxies for terrigenous sediment delivery have incessantly declined since the mid holocene also benthic foraminiferal faunas do not validate reef to lagoon transport of sediment alternatively the apparent onset of higher hydrodynamic energy conditions can be explained by more permanent southeast trade winds and higher than present sea level which are supposed for the mid late holocene in the south pacific sustained winds would have flushed higher amounts of open ocean water into the lagoon enhancing primary productivity and the amount of pelagic organisms within the lagoon while lowering lagoonal salinity we propose the shift towards coarser grained sedimentation patterns during the mid late holocene to reflect sediment load shedding of sand aprons due to oversteepening of slopes at sand apron lagoon edges during times of stronger trades and higher than present sea level of the highstand systems tract which led to redeposition of sediment even within the lagoon center modern conditions including a sea level fall to modern level were reached ca 1000 years bp and lagoonal infill has been determined to a large part by fine grained carbonate dominated sediments produced within the lagoon and derived from the marignal reef infill of lagoonal accommodation space via sand aprons is estimated to be up to six times higher than infill by lagoonal background sedimentation and emphasizes the importance of the progradation of sand aprons contrary to the commonly supposed assumption that coarse grained sediment layers within fine grained lagoonal successions represent overwash events induced by storms or periods of higher storm activity we postulate a new model of long term lagoonal sediment dynamics including sea level climatic change and geomorphological variation of the barrier reef lagoon

new insights into the source of the makran tsunami of 27 november 1945 from tsunami waveforms and coastal deformation data we constrain the source of the 27 november 1945 tsunami in the makran subduction zone msz using available tsunami waveforms recorded on tide gauges at mumbai india and karachi pakistan and that inferred at port victoria seychelles and coseismic deformation data along the makran coast spectral analysis of the tsunami waveforms shows that the tsunami governing period was 40 50 min at karachi whereas it was around 22 min at mumbai the inferred tsunami waveform at port victoria also indicated a period of around 21 min for the tsunami tsunami numerical simulations from the previously proposed source models failed in reproducing the observed tsunami waveforms and coseismic deformation data sensitivity analysis showed that the source fault needs to be extended offshore into deep water in order to reproduce the first 22 min signal at mumbai based on the inversion of the observed tsunami waveforms we propose a four segment fault with varying slip amounts as the final source this source includes a slip of 4 3 m onshore near ormara pakistan and a slip of 10 m offshore at water depth of around 3 000 m the total fault length is 220 km and the average slip is 6 1 m this source first reproduces fairly well the observed tide gauge records at mumbai and karachi second produces 1 m of uplift at ormara and 1 m of subsidence at pasni and third gives a moment magnitude of 8 3 for the earthquake which is in the acceptable range of seismic data the computed 1 m uplift at ormara is in the uplift range of 1 3 m reported in the literature as the tide gauge stations were located in the far field our proposed source explains mainly the tectonic source of the tsunami

reconstruction of quaternary landscape formation as a tool to understand present geomorphological processes in the eastern prealps austria abstract the rhenodanubian flysch of the n vienna forest is composed of various layers of sandstones marly shales calcareous marls and clay schists covered by quaternary periglacial cover beds and loess deposits there is a characteristic sequence of slope evolution during the quaternary seven main phases are related to pleistocene processes and two stages reflect the most recent geomorphodynamic processes phases of erosion redeposition sedimentation and soil formation demonstrate stages of activity and stability under varying climatic conditions on the basis of pedological and geomorphological investigations it is possible to differentiate pleistocene and holocene sediments and processes in particular the distribution of periglacial cover beds loess and modern soils allows the reconstruction of the undisturbed pleistocene slope and sediments the sequence of slope formation causes a distinct spatial distribution of quaternary sediments and solid rock at the present land surface in consequence the influence of quaternary landscape formation significantly influences slope stability conditions in the study area this applies to the specific composition of the basal periglacial cover bed in the study area it often consists of densely bedded marls and sandstone and is therefore impermeable which can induce mass movements in the study area loess deposits frequently slide on top of the basal periglacial cover bed and form a susceptible pre requisite for the occurrence of landslides in the study area

structures and fabrics in a crustal scale shear zone betic cordillera se spain abstract a broad zone of dominantly ductile high strain deformation lies beneath the aguilon nappe in the sierra alhamilla southern spain it forms part of a crustal scale movement zone traceable through much of the betic cordillera which separates the higher betic nappes from the underlying nevado filabride complex the zone is characterized in outcrop by a distinctive platy foliation and a strong nne trending stretching lineation microstructural characteristics include quartz ribbons mica fish augen of feldspar and other minerals in a matrix of dynamically recrystallized quartz and extensional crenulation cleavages narrow bands of ultramylonite and cataclasite occur within and on the margins of the movement zone deformation occurred under lower greenschist facies conditions and was accompanied by retrogression of earlier higher grade mineral assemblages structures in the movement zone developed in a temporal sequence beginning with isoclinal folding and transposition of older foliations this was followed by the formation of extensional crenulation cleavages and the progressive localization of strain into the ultramylonite bands mylonitic foliation in these bands is deformed by syn mylonite folds restricted to the bands all these structures were then deformed by s to se vergent small scale folds restricted to the movement zone as a whole cataclasis associated with alteration is localized along the ultramylonite bands and indicates a transition to late stage brittle deformation the lower boundary of the movement zone is gradational strain decreases recrystallized grainsize and the degree of recrystallization of quartz increases and pressure solution becomes the dominant deformation mechanism in mica schist asymmetric quartz fabrics in the movement zone indicate a nne sense of shear but variations in the degree of asymmetry suggest that flow was partitioned with the ultramylonite bands taking up much of the shear strain and the intervening rocks deforming more slowly and with a lower degree of non coaxiality diffuse fabrics in the fine grained ultramylonite bands may indicate a switch to a grainsize sensitive deformation mechanism and an overall downward increase in the opening angle of crossed girdle fabrics may reflect increased water activity at depth

periglacial markers within the late pleistocene loess palaeosol sequences in poland and western ukraine abstract stratigraphic loess palaeosol sequences represent exceptional climate controlled terrestrial records of interglacial glacial cycles one of the most spectacular features within the northern part of the european loess belt is the occurrence of well preserved relicts of the periglacial structures from a variety of periglacial structures three types are especially useful to reconstruct the former periglacial environment cryogenic wedges with primary mineral infilling cryoturbation and gelifluction structures and ice wedge casts these structures form well distinguishable horizons within loess palaeosol sequences and their stratigraphic positions are not random periglacial horizons recorded in the late pleistocene loess palaeosol sequences in the study area were formed as a result of extreme climatic conditions and or rapid environmental changes during cold events of the last glacial period these horizons are noted in almost all investigated sections and thus they can be used as stratigraphic markers the number of periglacial horizons and their morphological features vary depending on their geographical settings and local conditions the periglacial record indicates the occurrence of four main cold stages during the last glacial period two earlier stages are recorded in the last interglacial early glacial palaeosol complex their onset was probably rapid these short cold periods can be correlated with mis 5d and 5b the next two periglacial stages most probably correspond with mis 4 and 2 only during the last two stages were ice wedges formed in the northern zone of the investigated loess area this record indicates the twofold expansion and disappearance of the permafrost during the last glacial period