new evidence for two highstands of the sea during the last interglacial oxygen isotope substage 5e sedimentologic stratigraphic and geochronologic analyses of a previously undescribed carbonate section on oahu hawaii provide new evidence for two distinct sea level highstands on oahu during the last interglacial period oxygen isotope substage 5e whereas electron spin resonance and uranium series ages 122 8 ka to 152 25 ka and 115 10 ka to 160 15 ka respectively of in situ corals place the age of the deposits within substage 5e it is the unique sequence of strata found in these exposures that reveals the two transgressions a highstand lagoonal deposit of coral algal bafflestone is overlain by large seaward dipping slabs of beach rock the beachrock deposited during a mid 5e regression is in turn overlain by a second highstand lagoonal deposit this sequence was deposited in a broad shallow back reef embayment that was very sensitive to fluctuations in sea level elsewhere along much of the shoreline of oahu an in situ coral algal framestone waimanalo formation representing the initial 5e highstand is erosionally truncated on its upper surface this erosional unconformity represents the mid 5e lowstand and separates the framestone from overlying seaward dipping planar bedded grainstone and rudstone leahi formation that accumulated during the second 5e highstand

history of stage 5 sea level in bermuda review with new evidence of a brief rise to present sea level during substage 5a abstract oxygen isotope substage 5e is represented by the devonshire formation in bermuda the occurrence of these coastal marine deposits to about 5 m indicates pleistocene sea level data in bermuda do not need tectonic corrections a few published u series coral dates suggest that a conglomerate spencer s point formation may have formed during substage 5c geologic mapping however indicates that the eolianite beneath the conglomerate is pre rather than post devonshire formation in age as was previously thought and the aminostratigraphy of marine sheels also confirms the correlation of the spencer s point and devonshire formations substages 5c and 5a are represented by the southampton formation large eolianites comprise the bulk of this formation they are onlapped by a few small younger marine 1 m and eolian deposits aminostratigraphy confirms that these late southampton age deposits are significantly younger than the devonshire formation and u series dates indicate a substage 5a age the setting of some of these deposits along a protected shoreline precludes discounting their position as anomalous due to large storms this evidence that sea level in bermuda was at about present datum late in substage 5a agrees with interpretations of neotyrrhenian deposits of mediterranean shorelines but not with inferences from the deep sea oxygen isotope record or with data from uplifted coral reefs

aminostratigraphy of quaternary shorelines in the mediterranean basin the age and correlation of shorelines around the mediterranean basin have been addressed by analyzing the extent of isoleucine epimerization aile ile ratio in protein preserved in molluscan fossils collected from raised marine deposits the taxodont genera glycymeris and arca were selected as the primary taxa for this study because of their simple shell structure reproducible aile ile ratios and ubiquitous occurrence direct comparison of aile ile ratios in associated mollusks allows correlation of disjunct marine deposits and relative dating of sequential marine units in nearby areas that have similar thermal histories the thermal gradient across the mediterranean basin is however sufficiently high that shells from isochronous shorelines have significantly higher ratios at warmer than at cooler localities absolute dating primarily u series dates on corals directly associated with molluscan samples provides an independent calibration of the amino acid data and compensates for dissimilar thermal histories aile ile ratios in shells from 46 marine units cluster into 5 discrete groups c e f g and k that are related to positive sea level events interglacials interstadials associated with odd numbered deep sea isotopic stages the most complete sequences are in southern italy where group c ratios in glycymeris that average 0 30 are associated with the neotyrrhenian a post last interglacial late stage 5 high sea level event group e ratios 0 38 are associated with classical eutyrrhenian deposits from which four u series coral dates 126 7 ka substantiate the correlation to isotope substage 5e group f ratios 0 50 are associated with u series coral and mollusk dates between 200 and 300 ka the deposits are tentatively correlated with stage 7 deposits that have group g ratios 0 58 are correlated with stage 9 shells from lower pleistocene marine deposits that have ratios between 1 0 and 1 2 group k constrain the ages of the younger groups an exponential decrease in the epimerization rate inhibits resolution of the older events aile ile ratios in last interglacial deposits are similar in the northern and central region of the study area but increase sharply in southern sicily north africa and crete similar to the modern thermal gradient a lacuna between group g and group k is similar to gaps identified in california and alaska suggesting generally lower interglacial sea levels between stage 11 and sometime before the brunhes matuyama boundary

sea level records at 80 ka from tectonically stable platforms florida and bermuda studies from tectonically active coasts on new guinea and barbados have suggested that sea level at 80 ka was significantly lower than present whereas data from the atlantic and pacific coasts of north america indicate an 80 ka sea level close to that of the present we determined ages of corals from a shallow submerged reef off the florida keys and an emergent marine deposit on bermuda both localities are on tectonically stable platforms distant from plate boundaries uranium series ages show that corals at both localities grew during the 80 ka sea level highstand and geologic data show that sea level at that time was no lower than 7 9 m below present florida and may have been 1 2 m above present bermuda the ice volume discrepancy of the 80 ka sea level estimates is greater than the volume of the greenland or west antarctic ice sheets comparison of our ages with high latitude insolation values indicates that the sea level stand near the present at 80 ka could have been orbitally forced

late pleistocene coastal evolution of san giovanni di sinis west sardinia western mediterranean abstract the upper pleistocene succession of coastal deposits outcropping at san giovanni di sinis west sardinia has been studied since the 1960s however the absence of consistent radiometric ages has allowed the production of competing stratigraphic subdivisions of these deposits with different isotopic stage ois mis attributions the succession is composed of sandy to gravelly shallow marine coastal aeolian and alluvial fan plain deposits facies analysis and log correlations show the presence of three unconformities t1 t2 t3 always overlain by shallow marine deposits cutting through the substrate alluvial fan or aeolian sediments we have collected three samples for optically stimulated luminescence osl dating at the top of each shallow marine deposit the succession is composed of four unconformity bounded units u1 u2 u3 u4 and the new osl dates indicate the presence of three different sea level highstands the first unit u1 which is composed of shallow marine to aeolian deposits and overlies transgressive surface t1 is related to a marine transgression during ois 7 186 13 ky unit 2 is composed of continental deposits and formed during ois 6 unit 3 represents ois 5 and overlies a transgressive surface t2 more precisely subunit u3a is related to ois 5e 120 10 ky eu tyrrhenian or eemian sensu strictu and is characterized by shallow marine to aeolian deposits developed during both transgressive and highstand phases the following bay deposits of subunit 3b are associated with ois 5c 100 5 ky and record a second transgressive event t3 and highstand phase occurred during the neo tyrrhenian the succession of san giovanni di sinis ends with continental deposits of unit 4 associated to a sea level fall that took place at the beginning of the last glacial phase ois 4

the role of ocean atmosphere reorganizations in glacial cycles abstract a case is made that glacial to interglacial transitions involve major reorganizations of the ocean atmosphere system such reorganizations constitute jumps between stable modes of operation which cause changes in the greenhouse gas content and albedo of the atmosphere only in this way can the rapidity of glacial terminations the hemispheric synchroneity and symmetry of mountain glaciation and the large polar air temperature and dustiness variations be accounted for if these reorganizations are driven in some fashion by orbitally induced seasonal insolation changes then the connection between insolation and climate is most likely through impacts of fresh water transport on the ocean s salinity distribution

middle pleistocene to holocene coastal evolution of nw sardinia mediterranean sea italy abstract the middle pleistocene holocene sardinian stratigraphy has been revised to identify the roles played by sea and climate changes in controlling sedimentation the succession dated through optically stimulated luminescence quartz k feldspar and 14 c the most recent was grouped into eight major stratigraphic units mainly represented by coastal dunes shallow marine and alluvial systems these units range in age from mis 8 300 ka to mis1 6 ka little information is available for the period between mis 8 and 6 the available data however allow some comments on climate changes over the last 125 ka the last interglacial mis 5 is subdivided into five substages e a mis5e eemian is considered the climate optimum of this interglacial sea level was 4 6 m higher than today and climate conditions were warmer and more humid mis 5c is the second high stand peak sea level was about 1 5 m above the modern level and paleoclimatic and paleogeographic conditions were similar to the present during mis 4 at the beginning of the glacial phase a climatic deterioration occurred temperatures dropped by 6c relative to mis 5e in about 5 ka and sea level fell about 60 m this led to a progressive disruption of inland vegetation cover and to repeated valley slope denudation the sea level fall created the accommodation space for fan development in sheltered and cliffed areas where debris flows developed and filled almost completely the terminal parts of the narrow coastal valleys coves in wider areas however coastal dune fields developed contemporaneous presence of alluvial fan and dune systems is associated with the local morphology that could mitigate or amplify moist conditions within a generally arid environment during mis 3 several climate fluctuations occurred wet arid d o h events however the shallow sardinian shelf was continuously sufficiently exposed to become the source area of bioclastic sands these sands were blown inland and formed extensive dunefield systems dunes dominated the west coasts of sardinia under cold and relatively dry conditions in some areas these dunefield systems were eventually almost completely dismantled and reworked into water flow dominated alluvial fans by catastrophic rainfall events thus the local climate quickly switched from arid to humid conditions no record of the last glacial maximum deposits mis 2 was observed along the nw sardinian coast during the holocene transgression mis1 coastal dune systems developed and progressively migrated inland and temperature rose to reach the present day condition

a glacial isostatic adjustment origin for double mis 5 5 and holocene marine notches in the coastline of italy abstract modern tidal notches on rocky coastlines are well developed in the mediterranean sea because of its microtidal regime and occur around much of the coast of italy uplifted fossil notch couplets here called double notches are well developed in some sites the two notches within a couplet have an average vertical separation of 2 4 m and are systematically observed at an elevation of a few metres above present sea level on tectonically stable coastal sites of western italy the upper notch has a morphology similar to that of the notch developed at present day mean sea level in the modern tidal regime however the lower notch has a smoother morphology and larger vertical dimension than the upper one and is pervasively bored by lithophaga activity although the upper notch is attributed to the mis 5 5 stage last interglacial 125 ka the origin of the lower one has so far remained enigmatic based on a quantitative assessment of the glacial isostatic adjustment gia expected at each single site from updated models we argue that both notches within a couplet were formed during a single highstand of the mis 5 5 substage and the superposed morphology resulted from isostatic motion and tidal erosion the lower notch of the couplet is argued to be formed during the earlier part of the highstand and its smooth vertically extended morphology is attributed to glacio hydro isostatic vertical movements crustal subsidence that extended tidal erosion over a large vertical distance as the crust slowly subsided in contrast the upper notch of the couplet is considered to develop in the later part of the highstand due to tidal action at times when eustatic and isostatic movements almost ceased the ridge between the two notches in a couplet was the site of organic encrustation protecting the rock there but subsequently removed by subaerial erosion when the notch couplet was uplifted observations of double notches formed on the present coastline show that a similar process has been active also during the late holocene transgression

effect of forest clear cutting on landslide occurrences analysis of rainfall thresholds at mt ichifusa japan abstract vegetation cover is an important factor for rainfall induced landslides we analyzed the effect of forest clear cutting on the initiation of landslides using empirical rainfall intensity duration i d thresholds at mt ichifusa japan which is characterized by granitic rocks extensive clear cutting was conducted for the forest industry during the late 1960s in the northern part of mt ichifusa this single episode of clear cutting caused frequent shallow landslides triggered by rainfall we interpreted orthorectified aerial photographs from 1969 1976 1980 1985 1990 1995 1999 and 2005 using gis and mapped landslides based on these photographs we then analyzed all rainfall events of the warm seasons apr oct of 1952 2011 60 years based on hourly rain gauge data we used basic rainfall parameters such as mean rainfall intensity i mm h and duration d h and estimated the return periods of these rainfall conditions we investigated rainfall i d thresholds for landslide occurrences in each period represented by the aerial photographs and assessed the relationships between landslide occurrences and topographic characteristics from 10 m dems the results show that several landslides occurred after clear cutting before 1976 but that they have occurred most frequently during the periods 1976 1980 1980 1985 and 1990 1995 numerous landslides occurred in these years at steeper and gentler slopes in the clear cut area but few landslides occurred in the non clear cut area rainfall analysis demonstrates that rainfall i d thresholds after clear cutting declined to half of those of the non clear cut area the return periods of these rainfall i d thresholds also declined to 1 year for short durations of

the role of topography in the scaling distribution of landslide areas a cellular automata modeling approach abstract power law scaling has been widely observed in the frequency distribution of landslide sizes the exponent of the power law characterizes the probability of landslide magnitudes and it thus represents an important parameter for hazard assessment the reason for the universal scaling behavior of landslides is still debated and the role of topography has been explored in terms of possible explanation for this type of behavior we built a simple cellular automata model to investigate this issue as well as the relationships between the scaling properties of landslide areas and the changes suffered by the topographic surface affected by landslides the dynamics of the model is controlled by a temporal rate of weakening which drives the system to instability and by topography which defines both the quantity of the displaced mass and the direction of the movement results show that the model is capable of reproducing the scaling behavior of real landslide areas and suggest that topography is a good candidate to explain their scale invariance in the model the values of the scaling exponents depend on how fast the system is driven to instability they are less sensitive to the duration of the driving rate thus suggesting that the probability of landslide areas could depend on the intensity of the triggering mechanism rather than on its duration and on the topographic setting of the area topography preserves the information concerning the statistical distribution of areas of landslides caused by a driving mechanism of given intensity and duration

influence of typhoons and earthquakes on rainfall induced landslides and suspended sediments discharge abstract the aim of this paper is to present data on the occurrence of landslides triggered by typhoon and earthquake events and to discuss the basic earthquake triggering mechanisms involved four events of typhoon and earthquake triggered landslides in the chenyoulan river catchment of central taiwan during 1996 to 2004 were studied in order to identify their controlling factors the landslides areas were measured by comparing aerial photos taken over the past 18 years and sediment discharge was counted at hydrometric stations investigation results demonstrate that hillslope geomaterials that had been disturbed by strong seismic shaking induced expansion of landslide areas during subsequent events analysis of normalized difference vegetation index ndvi also registered the changes of uncovered conditions on the hillslope caused by landsliding when flow discharge is lower than 100 m 3 s 1 post seismic sediment concentration is roughly four times higher than pre seismic concentration with the same flow discharge this fate indicates that the amount of sediment discharge at normal flow discharge is affected by supplied sediment volume which tends to increase with seismic activity

late quaternary uplift of the troodos ophiolite cyprus uranium series dating of pleistocene coral in an attempt to constrain the timing and mode of tectonic uplift of the classic troodos ophiolite colonial corals were collected from quaternary littoral raised terraces in coastal southern cyprus and dated using the uranium series disequilibrium method a total of 28 samples of cladocora caespitosa were collected at five localities from the 8 11 m high and 3 m high marine terraces the corals yield systematic ages of 185 192 ka ka 103 yr and 116 130 ka for the 8 11 m and 3 m terraces respectively when correlated with the global oxygen isotope stages the results suggest that southern cyprus was uplifted by 18 m during the past 185 192 ka as a single tectonic entity of this uplift 13 m took place between 130 and 185 ka at 24 cm ka and a maximum of 6 m of uplift at 5 cm ka took place over the past 116 ka but with some evidence of coastal subsidence in more recent time an exception the extreme southeast of cyprus cape greco was perhaps uplifted faster during the past 141 ka at a rate of 12 cm ka

thermal and compaction processes in a young rifted basin containing evaporites gulf of lions france the gulf of lions northwestern mediterranean is a young oligocene miocene rifted basin characterized by the presence of a thick evaporitic sequence observed data surface heat flow well temperatures geopressures below the evaporites crustal thinning are used to model 1 the basin forming mechanisms and 2 the intrasedimentary processes that influence the temperature history and thus the maturation of source rocks a two dimensional finite difference basin model temispack simulates the sedimentation compaction and overpressures related to the low permeability of the post rift sequence the heat transfer from the rifted lithosphere into the sediments and the level of maturation by using a kinetic approach the classic passive margin model which relates the history of heat flow and the rate of subsidence to a uniform thinning factor yields subsidence and heat flow predictions that agree with observations the recently accelerated subsidence observed in the deep margin is probably an effect of recent regional compression rather than the consequence of alternative rifting mechanisms the history of maturation of organic matter was influenced by the variation of the regional heat flow due to the rifting the effect of sedimentation or blanketing and the variability of the lithologies and porosities the undercompaction of sediments underlying the evaporites is accounted for by the model which suggests that hydraulic fracturing is taking place at present in the overpressured sediments fluid flow associated with the compaction disequilibrium has negligible thermal effect undercompacted shales below the evaporites have lower thermal diffusivity and thus higher temperatures which has a significant effect on maturation

quantifying rainfall controls on catchment scale landslide erosion in taiwan landslide erosion is a dominant hillslope process and the main source of stream sediment in tropical tectonically active mountain belts in this study we quantified landslide erosion triggered by 24 rainfall events from 2001 to 2009 in three mountainous watersheds in taiwan and investigated relationships between landslide erosion and rainfall variables the results show positive power law relations between landslide erosion and rainfall intensity and cumulative rainfall with scaling exponents ranging from 2 94 to 5 03 additionally landslide erosion caused by typhoon morakot is of comparable magnitude to landslide erosion caused by the chi chi earthquake mw 7 6 or 22 24 years of basin averaged erosion comparison of the three watersheds indicates that deeper landslides that mobilize soil and bedrock are triggered by long duration rainfall whereas shallow landslides are triggered by short duration rainfall these results suggest that rainfall intensity and watershed characteristics are important controls on rainfall triggered landslide erosion and that severe typhoons like high magnitude earthquakes can generate high rates of landslide erosion in taiwan copyright 2012 john wiley sons ltd

earthquake induced chains of geologic hazards patterns mechanisms and impacts large earthquakes initiate chains of surface processes that last much longer than the brief moments of strong shaking most moderate and large magnitude earthquakes trigger landslides ranging from small failures in the soil cover to massive devastating rock avalanches some landslides dam rivers and impound lakes which can collapse days to centuries later and flood mountain valleys for hundreds of kilometers downstream landslide deposits on slopes can remobilize during heavy rainfall and evolve into debris flows cracks and fractures can form and widen on mountain crests and flanks promoting increased frequency of landslides that lasts for decades more gradual impacts involve the flushing of excess debris downstream by rivers which can generate bank erosion and floodplain accretion as well as channel avulsions that affect flooding frequency settlements ecosystems and infrastructure ultimately earthquake sequences and their geomorphic consequences alter mountain landscapes over both human and geologic time scales two recent events have attracted intense research into earthquake induced landslides and their consequences the magnitude m 7 6 chi chi taiwan earthquake of 1999 and the m 7 9 wenchuan china earthquake of 2008 using data and insights from these and several other earthquakes we analyze how such events initiate processes that change mountain landscapes highlight research gaps and suggest pathways toward a more complete understanding of the seismic effects on the earth s surface

u series measurements in tyrrhenian deposits from mallorca further evidence for two last interglacial high sea levels in the balearic islands the campo de tiro type section for the tyrrhenian ecostratigraphic beds of the balearic islands shows four indurated littoral conglomerates and beach rocks unconformably superimposed the lower two units 1 and 2 are separated by a thin layer of reddish continental silts both contain a typical eutyrrhenian fauna whereas a neotyrrhenian fauna characterizes the overlying units 3 and 4 thu measurements by thermal ionisation mass spectrometry on mollusk shells from these deposits yielded ages of 135 ka unit 1 117 ka units 2 and 3 and a scatter of ages around 100 ka unit 4 the stratigraphic relationships and thu data indicate i that uranium was uptaken by mollusks shells but arca sp each time during a relatively short early diagenetic interval before cementation ensured a fair closure of the radioactive system ii two high sea stands characterized the last interglacial isotopic substage 5e of the balearic islands area iii the duration of this episode was 17 ka and iv the change in faunal assemblages and disconformity observed between units 2 and 3 are due to fluctuations in sea level and surface water conditions which occurred during the second high sea level episode of the last interglacial

middle pleistocene magnetostratigraphy and susceptibility stratigraphy data from a carbonate aeolian system mallorca western mediterranean abstract this study shows that successions of pleistocene carbonate aeolian deposits can be placed successfully in a geochronologic framework using magnetostratigraphic and susceptibility stratigraphic analysis supplemented by luminescence dating studies of wave cut platforms and biostratigraphic evidence the investigated aeolian system covers a significant part of southernmost mallorca and is exposed in impressive coastal cliff sections at the study site at els bancals the aeolian system has a maximum thickness of 16 m and is composed of alternating dark red colluvial deposits and greyish red aeolian dune and sand sheet deposits forming seven cyclostratigraphic units each cyclostratigraphic unit represents landscape stabilisation colluviation and soil formation followed by dunefield development when marine carbonate sand was transported far inland by westerly or north westerly winds the aeolian system is located on top of a wave cut marine platform 12 14 m a s l this platform probably formed during a sea level highstand in marine isotope stage mis 11 427 364 ka and renewed marine activity probably later in mis 11 is indicated by the formation of beach deposits two sections at els bancals were sampled for a paleomagnetic study additional samples were taken to detect variations in magnetic susceptibility ms the characteristic remanent magnetisation has been recovered for the most part of the succession in spite of diagenetic overprinting there is evidence for two probably three reversal polarity excursions possible connected to the levantine cr1 and cr0 biwa iii episodes if this correlation is correct the sampled succession represents a time interval in the middle pleistocene between ca 410 and ca 260 ka this age estimate is supported by the ms study and by luminescence dates of 333 70 ka aeolianite from lower part of the succession and 275 23 ka aeolianite from the top of the succession the nature of the succession suggests deposition during alternating warm and moist colluvial deposition soil formation and cold dry and windy conditions dunefield formation the susceptibility signal can be correlated with the insolation signal at 65 n suggesting that environmental variation on mallorca was linked to orbitally forced climate change and it seems that aeolian activity and dunefield formation were linked to glacial or stadial periods

tyrrhenian coastal deposits from sardinia italy a petrographic record of high sea levels and shifting climate belts during the last interglacial isotopic substage 5e abstract detailed petrographic and sedimentological analysis of tyrrhenian coastal deposits from four sites in sardinia provides new data about climate and sea level changes during the early part of the last interglacial isotopic substage 5e and shows that facies analysis is not only useful for the identification of ancient depositional environments but also represents a powerful tool for evaluating past climatic conditions and sea level forcing mechanisms two shallowing upward sequences sensu ward w c brady m j 1979 strandline sedimentation of carbonate grainstones upper pleistocene yucatan peninsula mexico am assoc pet geol bull 63 362 369 commonly separated by an erosion surface and displaying complex geometric relationships occur above modern sea level at several locations along the shorelines of sardinia these sequences include upper shoreface to backshore deposits and were formed during separate sea level highstands attributed to isotopic substage 5e our recent revision of these deposits indicates that each sequence presents distinctive petrographic characteristics the older succession essentially contains mixed calcarenites rich in quartz grains and lithic fragments whereas the younger sediments are dominated by carbonate bioclasts such as red algae coral and mollusk fragments both units apparently accumulated in a similar depositional setting but during different climatic regimes the petrography of the lower unit reflects a temperate humid period characterized by increased weathering and continental erosion whereas the composition of the upper one suggests a dryer and possibly warmer climate favoring active carbonate production the disparity in petrographic composition between sequences probably records the migration of atmospheric circulation cells i e a shift of climate belts before and after the 128 ka insolation maximum our climatic data are coherent with the calculated insolation curves for isotopic substage 5e and thus support the milankovitch hypothesis for the origin of pleistocene climates in contrast our sedimentological data clearly show the occurrence of two distinctive highstands of sea level during this time period which does not agree with the hypothesis it follows that the relation between orbitally induced insolation variations climate and sea level is not necessarily straightforward

the sedibud sediment budgets in cold environments programme ongoing activities and selected key tasks for the coming years abstract projected climate change in cold environments is expected to alter melt season duration and intensity along with the number of extreme rainfall events total annual precipitation and the balance between snowfall and rainfall in addition changes to the thermal balance are expected to reduce the extent of permafrost and seasonal ground frost and increase active layer depths the combined effects of these changes will alter surface environments in cold climate regions and change the fluxes of sediments nutrients and solutes but the absence of data coordinated process monitoring and coordinated quantitative analysis to understand the sensitivity of the earth surface environment are acute in cold climate environments the international association of geomorphologists i a g a i g sedibud sediment budgets in cold environments programme has been formed to address this key knowledge gap and builds on the earlier european science foundation esf sediflux sedimentary source to sink fluxes in cold environments network coordinated efforts are carried out to monitor quantify compare and model sedimentary fluxes and possible effects of predicted climate change in currently 44 selected sedibud key test sites cold climate environment catchments worldwide

a reappraisal of the dwarfed mammoth mammuthus lamarmorai major 1883 from gonnesa south western sardinia italy the gonnesa quaternary deposits have been cited since the end of the 19th century due to the discovery during the construction of a railway of an incomplete postcranial skeleton belonging to an endemic dwarfed elephant afterward described by major as a new species elephas lamarmorae major 1883 although the remains have since been reported in the literature as coming from the aeolian deposits outcropping at funtana morimenta the precise provenance of the findings and their chronostratigraphical setting remained uncertain taking into account the route of the now disused railway the stratigraphical successions of the morimenta area and the fact that the elephant bones were actually collected during a number of excavations spanning several decades the location of the fossiliferous site is most likely on the northeast end slope of guardia pisano hill gonnesa where aeolianites correlate with the funtana morimenta formation fmf outcrop the fmf is supposed to predate the onset of the mis 5e climatic event and the tyrrhenian panchina overlies equivalent deposits cropping out along the gonnesa gulf coast therefore the hypothesis that the elephant remains found in the morimenta area were retrieved from late middle pleistocene deposits cannot be ruled out the anatomical features of the bones suggest they represent a single individual perhaps partially exposed and damaged before the discovery new evidence including a thus far unpublished tusk fragment from the guardia pisano hill gonnesa whose schreger angles fall within the range of mammuthus supports the systematic attribution of the incomplete morimenta skeleton to a dwarfed mammoth the size reduction of this sardinian dwarfed mammoth is discussed in light of body mass changes undergone by insular endemic elephants

characteristics of sediment dynamics following large scale sediment supply events in mountain watersheds in japan abstract large scale sediment supply events lses cause not only a sudden increase in sediment discharge immediately after their occurrence but also a long term condition of elevated sediment yield in japan many lses triggered by heavy rainfall or earthquakes have created high risks for sediment related disaster however the difference between sediment dynamics following a lse triggered by rainfall and one triggered by an earthquake is unclear as the sediment dynamics due to rainfall and those due to earthquakes have not been compared using consistent methodology in this study we estimated the volume of sediment supply vl m3 time series of the volume of sediment yield vy m3year 1 and the non dimensional parameter nvy as estimated by dividing vl by the catchment area and annual maximum 3 day rainfall amount using the same methodology for 16 events in eight study basins in japan we used annual maximum 3 day rainfall amounts as a surrogate for discharge using these parameters we estimated the period over which the effect of a lse continues pls sediment retention time residence time tr1 and time for active sediment yield to recover to the background level recovery time tr2a in addition we estimated the recovery time tr2b based on when the maximum of nvy immediately after the lse decreased to a certain extent this calculation allowed us to estimate the recovery time even when background level was unknown both residence and recovery times ranged from

without power landslide inventories in the face of climate change projected scenarios of climate change involve general predictions about the likely changes to the magnitude and frequency of landslides particularly as a consequence of altered precipitation and temperature regimes whether such landslide response to contemporary or past climate change may be captured in differing scaling statistics of landslide size distributions and the erosion rates derived thereof remains debated we test this notion with simple monte carlo and bootstrap simulations of statistical models commonly used to characterize empirical landslide size distributions our results show that significant changes to total volumes contained in such inventories may be masked by statistically indistinguishable scaling parameters critically depending on among others the size of the largest of landslides recorded conversely comparable model parameter values may obscure significant i e more than twofold changes to landslide occurrence and thus inferred rates of hillslope denudation and sediment delivery to drainage networks a time series of some of earth s largest mass movements reveals clustering near and partly before the last glacial interglacial transition and a distinct step over from white noise to temporal clustering around this period however elucidating whether this is a distinct signal of first order climate change impact on slope stability or simply coincides with a transition from short term statistical noise to long term steady state conditions remains an important research challenge copyright 2011 john wiley sons ltd

nature and origins of internal sediments in jurassic limestones of burgundy franc and fnoud algeria numerous hard grounds and palaeo emersion surfaces in middle jurassic grainstones of burgundy france and upper jurassic micritic limestones of the fnoud region algeria exhibit a variety of diagenetic cements and internal sediments four types of internal sediments have been defined each being the product of a particular environment type 1 unsorted microbioclastic wackestone characterizes submarine hard grounds type 2 pelleted grainstone with inverse graded bedding occurs in microcaverns developed in palaeobeach rocks type 3 centrifugal micrite seems to characterize relatively dry supratidal substrates type 4 crystal silt is associated with early sparitic cements and dissolution phenomena indicating the influence of non marine waters within a given pore space a centripetal succession of various cements and internal sediments seems to reflect the lateral evolution of the tidal flat or beach at any given pore space interstitial waters have evolved progressively as the intertidal zone advanced or receded thus internal sediments and related early diagenetic phenomena are valid criteria both for particular environments and for the general evolution of the coastal plain finally although internal sediments may accumulate both within grainstones burgundy and mudstone substrates fnoud these textural differences may influence the type and frequency of internal sedimentation resume de multiples ciments diagenetiques et sediments internes precoces ont ete reconnus dans les nombreuses surfaces durcies et surfaces d emersion des calcaires grainstones du jurassique moyen de bourgogne france et des calcaires micritiques de la region des fnoud algerie quatre types principaux de sediments internes ont ete definis chacun etant le produit d un milieu diagenetique particulier le type 1 est un wackestone rnicrobioclastique non classe qui caracterise les surfaces durcies sousmarines le type 2 est un micrograinstone a pellets avec granoclassement inverse qui existe dans les microcavernes developpees dans les paleo gres de plage le type 3 est une micrite centrifuge qui se developpe dans des conditions supratidales le type 4 consiste en un silt a debris de cristaux associe aux ciments sparitiques precoces et aux phenomenes de dissolution caracterisant ainsi l influence d eaux non marines dans un pore donne la succession centripete entre ciment et sediments internes reflete i evolution laterale de la plaine cotiere ou de la plage suivant le regime sedimentaire dans cet espace poreux les eaux intersticielles evoluent progressivement au fur et a mesure que la zone intertidale s accro t ou se reduit ainsi les sediments internes et les phenomenes diagenetiques associes constituent de bons criteres pour la determination d un environnement particulier et pour retracer i evolution generale de la plaine cotiere enfin bien que les sediments internes se deposent au sein de calcaires grainstones bougogne ou de calcaires mudstones fnoud les differences texturales du sediment hote peuvent influencer sur le type et la frequence de la sedimentation interne

precise chronology of the last interglacial period 234u 230th data from fossil coral reefs in the bahamas a detailed study of 238 u 234 u 230 th ages was made for different coral species from two bahamian reefs to determine the time scale of the sea level high during the last interglacial period using recently developed mass spectrometric techniques for the measurement of u and th isotopes thirty seven coral samples were analyzed in replicate typical errors at 125 ky are 1 5 ky 2 and 3 ky time intervals appear to be well resolved this high precision permits detailed chronologic study with time resolution adequate to define stages of the reef s history these data demonstrate that the time between transgression and regression of the ocean in the last interglacial was about 12 ky after which sea level fell rapidly at more than 2 m ky the high sea level stand began possibly by 132 ky and certainly by 129 ky ago when sea level reached 6 m above present mean low sea level high sea level was sustained until 120 ky and then fell rapidly this time period covers the milankovitch insolation peak at 65 n but is not sharply defined and the sea level high lasted from about 4 ky before the insolation peak to 8 ky after it we find no evidence for a double peak of sea level rise in the last interglacial episode that is high stands at both 125 and 142 ky there appears to be some discrepancy between this precise chronology for a coral reef on a tectonically stable platform and the chronology assigned to deep sea sediments the present results show that the duration of the last interglacial led to a 12 ky period of high sea level stand which is much longer than the insolation peak the study area consists of two sizeable bank barrier coral reefs of sangamon age that crop out along the coast northwest of cockburn town on san salvador island and at devil s point on great inagua island the initial stage of reef development is not revealed at either site but the main parts of both reefs are well preserved at cockburn town the beginning of the reef was marked by colonization of acropora palmata on hardground areas and possibly other corals at 132 ky ago patch reefs at the southeastern flank of the developing reef were growing by 129 to 126 ky ago by 126 to 123 ky ago the crest of the reef was formed by the frame building coral a palmata and associated patch reefs flourished along its flanks a palmata coral heads grew upward to a mean low sea level 6 m above the present one the reef began to decline as sea level dropped at about 123 to 120 ky ago near two measured profiles at devil s point the top of a rubblestone dominated by a cervicornis and patch reef corals preserved in growth position have been beveled off and represent an ancient wave cut surface 230 th ages on corals below and above this surface indicate that it was cut at about 125 1 ky ago

sediment budget to assess the geomorphic effect of a cyclonic storm new zealand abstract a short term sediment budget was constructed to assess the erosion response of a soft rock hill country watershed to an intense rainstorm event the watershed is located in a landslide prone area on the east coast of the north island new zealand during march 1988 753 mm of rain was recorded over a four day period with 320 mm and 329 mm on successive days known as cyclone bola this was the largest rainstorm event in the tutira watershed in the 93 year rainfall record the budget quantifies the total sediment generated during the storm the relative contribution of erosion processes involved the amount of sediment held in storage and the amount discharged into two lakes within the watershed a landform map of the watershed was constructed and the contribution of each landform type to the total budget was calculated a total of 1 35 0 13 million m3 of sediment was generated during the storm at an average of 420 m3 ha this is equivalent to a denudation value of 42 mm for the total watershed 3208 ha and 83 mm for the landforms severely affected by landsliding 1427 ha of the sediment generated 21 remained on hillslopes 22 was deposited on valley floors 51 was deposited on the lakebeds and the remaining 6 was discharged from the watershed via the lake outlet most of the sediment generated during the storm was from primary source areas on hill slopes with sediment in secondary storage providing only a small contribution landslide erosion was the main process accounting for 89 of the sediment generated channel tunnel gully and sheet erosion were only minor contributors to the budget six hillslope landforms which occupy only 44 of the watershed generated 90 of the sediment the results of this sediment budget when put in context with the storm magnitude frequency history being analysed from lake cores contribute to the identification of sustainable land use and management of soft rock hill country

role of debris flows in long term landscape denudation in the central appalachians of virginia four major storms that triggered debris flows in the virginia west virginia appalachians provide new insights into the role of high magnitude low frequency floods in longterm denudation and landscape evolution in mountainous terrain storm denudation in the blue ridge mountain drainage basins is approximately an order of magnitude greater compared to basins located in the mountains of the valley and ridge province this difference is probably the result of higher storm rainfall from the blue ridge storms radiocarbon dating of debris flow deposits in the blue ridge indicates a debris flow return interval of not more than 2 4 k y in mountainous river basins this finding combined with measurements of basin denudation suggests that approximately half of the long term denudation from mechanical load occurs episodically by debris flow processes although floods of moderate magnitude are largely responsible for mobilizing sediment in lowgradient streams our data suggest that high magnitude low frequency events are the most significant component in delivering coarse grained regolith from mountainous hollows and channels to the lowland floodplains

quaternary changes in the egyptian shoreline of the northwestern red sea and gulf of suez abstract on the nw egyptian shoreline of the red sea remarkably preserved pleistocene holocene marine reefs beaches mangrove swamps gypsum salinas and non marine alluvial fans and wadi terraces deposits are located within a complex neogene rift frame the early and middle pleistocene reefs are uplifted to a maximum of 40 m subsequent movement being limited to a few metres except on the s gulf of suez shores which suggests a decreasing tectonic activity of the northern part of the rift a new series of radiometric dates and precise levelling have demonstrated a short lived low stand of relative sea level during the last interglacial high stand 5e at that time flooding of the isthmus of suez has enabled exchanges between mediterranean and indian ocean faunas and the biogeographic limit was temporarily located in the southern gulf of suez thus explaining the late quaternary introduction of potamides conicus into the indian ocean subprovince

post mortem onshore transportation of epiphytic foraminifera recent example from the tunisian coastline abstract the barrier island system that connects jerba island to the tunisian coastline is composed mainly of carbonate bioclastic sands well preserved tests of dead epiphytic foraminifera are abundant on the foreshore and backshore but they are scattered and poorly preserved on the shoreface where very fine sand size eolian quartz peloids and broken bioclasts are the main components the reason for this paradoxical pattern is that most epiphytic foraminifera are very easily removed as suspended load by storm generated currents and concentrated on beaches washover fans and small eolian dunes kilometers away from their original life environment similar bioaccumulations are common in the fossil record and have often been interpreted incorrectly as prolific biocoenoses

a gis physically based emergency methodology for predicting rainfall induced shallow landslide zonation abstract this study proposes an original approach for predicting shallow translational slide hazards which are triggered by irregular rainfall events via the method of zonation at a regional scale in emergency situations the proposed model incorporates the infinite slope method in a gis platform to assess hazard and risk associated with slope instability this application can be integrated into the emergency management software simge 1 0 sge 2 0 the objective of the work is to provide a quick tool for managing emergencies and predicting shallow rainfall induced landslides rils the originality of this approach includes the relationship between two variables m z with m being a hydrological pattern of steady state simulating the effects of rain that cause translational slides and z being the characteristic sliding depth based on the bounded lithological unit this method provides hazard maps including zonation based on a factor of safety towards shallow landslides where stable and unstable conditions depending on precipitation are determined for managing emergencies this approach was applied in the guadalmansa river basin in benahavis malaga andalusia where numerous shallow landslides occurred in 2010 caused by extreme rainfall events and a lithological unit has been isolated for this research alpujarride schist the results obtained through this method have been verified after analysing the studied area s landslide inventory

the distribution of 230th234u ages in corals and the number of last interglacial high sea stands abstract the 104 available 230 th 234 u analyses of unrecrystallized corals from stable emerged terraces indicate that the last interglacial period occurred approximately 125 000 yr ago an estimate is made of the exact duration of this period by accounting for the surprisingly small distribution width observed among the 80 most reliable analyses this distribution width is compared with those obtained for model populations generated by assuming various characteristic analytical errors and various lengths of the last interglacial period the results show that 1 if there was only a single rise in sea level it probably lasted no more than 12 000 yr in agreement with previous estimates and 2 if there were two separate rises of sea level the gap between them must have been less than 7500 yr and not 12 200 as proposed by some authors

precise timing of the last interglacial period from mass spectrometric determination of thorium 230 in corals the development of mass spectrometric techniques for determination of 230 th abundance has made it possible to reduce analytical errors in 238 u 234 u 230 th dating of corals even with very small samples samples of 6 x 10 8 atoms of 230 th can be measured to an accuracy of 3 percent 2 and 3 x 10 10 atoms of 230 th can be measured to an accuracy of 0 2 percent the time range over which useful age data on corals can be obtained now ranges from about 50 to about 500 000 years for young corals this approach may be preferable to 14 c dating the precision with which the age of a coral can now be determined should make it possible to critically test the milankovitch hypothesis concerning pleistocene climate fluctuations analyses of a number of corals that grew during the last interglacial period yield ages of 122 000 to 130 000 years the ages coincide with or slightly postdate the summer solar insolation high at 65 n latitude which occurred 128 000 years ago this supports the idea that changes in pleistocene climate can be the result of variations in the distribution of solar insolation caused by changes in the geometry of the earth s orbit and rotation axis

the power law relationship between landslide occurrence and rainfall level article i nfo article history zhejiang province is highly prone to the occurrence of landslides during the annual rainy season from may to september we studied the relationship between landslide frequency and rainfall level based on 1414 shallow landslides that have detailed records on the location the date of occurrence and the corresponding daily rainfall data from 1257 rain gauges during the 1990 2003 period in the region cumulative rainfall levels were examined for the periods from the failure day to the prior 10 days the results show that the cumulative frequency of the landslide occurrence correlates well with the landslide triggering rainfall and that their relationship can be described using two power law relations with different scaling exponents for two different ranges of the rainfall level the rainfall level corresponding to the intersection point of two fitted correlation lines can be defined as the upper bound for shallow landslide triggering cumulative rainfall threshold thcr a large number of shallow landslides may be induced when the amount of cumulative rainfall reaches the thcr value the 814 landslides that occurred from 2004 to 2007 in the region are used to examine the method which shows that about 80 of these landslides are induced when the cumulative 1 day rainfall is 200 mm we suggest that the power law relationship between rainfall level and landslide occurrence can be used to estimate the probability of various levels of landslide activity during a rainfall event as a guide for making decisions related to emergency preparedness

rainfall conditions typhoon frequency and contemporary landslide erosion in japan dealing with predicted increases in extreme weather conditions due to climate change requires robust knowledge about controls on rainfall triggered landslides we explore relationships between rainfall and landslide size throughout the japanese archipelago we test whether the total volume of landslides can be predicted directly from rainfall totals intensity and duration using a nationwide inventory of 4744 rainfall triggered landslides recorded from a d 2001 to 2011 we find that larger landslides were more abundant at the expense of smaller ones when total maximum and mean rainfall intensity exceeded 250 mm 35 mm h and 4 mm h respectively frequency distributions of these rainfall parameters are peaked and heavily skewed yet neither the most frequent nor the most extreme values of these rainfall metrics coincide consistently with the maximum landslide volumes a striking decrease of landslide volumes at both mean and maximum rainfall intensity as well as duration points to an exhaustion in hillslope geomorphic response regardless of sample size landslide type mobilized volume dominant lithology or reporting bias our results underscore substantial offsets between the peaks of rainfall metrics and maximum associated landslide volumes thus complicating straightforward estimates of geomorphic work from metrics of rainstorm magnitude or frequency only the rainfall total appears to be a suitable monotonic predictor of landslide volumes mobilized during typhoons and frontal storms

carbonate petrography as an indicator of climate and sea level changes new data from bahamian quaternary units coeval stratigraphic units of similar petrology occur throughout the northern bahamas islands the petrographic composition of these limestones provides clues about regional sea level and climate changes during the late quaternary at least eight fossil shoreline units which are linked to transgressive episodes between the middle pleistocene and the late holocene are recognized in the bahamas the petrographic composition of these units is either dominated by ooids and peloids or by bioclasts sedimentological observations demonstrate that oolitic peloidal units were formed when sea level was higher than today whereas skeletal units were deposited at or below modern ordnance datum skeletal units may reflect times of partial or modest platform flooding when the bulk of sediments brought to islands originates from bank margin reefs in contrast oolitic peloidal units correspond to major flooding events and active water circulation on the bank top cement fabrics further show that the early diagenesis of oolitic units took place during warm and humid climatic conditions whereas skeletal rock bodies underwent subaerial diagenesis during drier climatic conditions characterized by marked seasonal changes this example from the bahamas suggests that compositional analysis of limestone from fossil carbonate platforms could be used for resolving ancient climate and sea level changes

predicting shallow landslide size and location across a natural landscape application of a spectral clustering search algorithm predicting shallow landslide size and location across landscapes is important for understanding landscape form and evolution and for hazard identification we test a recently developed model that couples a search algorithm with 3 d slope stability analysis that predicts these two key attributes in an intensively studied landscape with a 10 year landslide inventory we use process based submodels to estimate soil depth root strength and pore pressure for a sequence of landslide triggering rainstorms we parameterize submodels with field measurements independently of the slope stability model without calibrating predictions to observations the model generally reproduces observed landslide size and location distributions overlaps 65 of observed landslides and of these predicts size to within factors of 2 and 1 5 in 55 and 28 of cases respectively five percent of the landscape is predicted unstable compared to 2 recorded landslide area missed landslides are not due to the search algorithm but to the formulation and parameterization of the slope stability model and inaccuracy of observed landslide maps our model does not improve location prediction relative to infinite slope methods but predicts landslide size improves process representation and reduces reliance on effective parameters increasing rainfall intensity or root cohesion generally increases landslide size and shifts locations down hollow axes while increasing cohesion restricts unstable locations to areas with deepest soils our findings suggest that shallow landslide abundance location and size are ultimately controlled by covarying topographic material and hydrologic properties estimating the spatiotemporal patterns of root strength pore pressure and soil depth across a landscape may be the greatest remaining challenge

late pleistocene paleoceanography of the south atlantic sector of the southern ocean ocean drilling program hole 704a isotopic and sedimentologic data from ocean drilling program hole 704a suggest that isotopic stages 7 9 and 11 were marked by unusually strong interglacial conditions in surface waters of the southern ocean during interglacial stages 9 and 11 warm surface waters penetrated far poleward and may have led to destabilization of the west antarctic ice sheet in contrast the strongest glacial conditions in surface waters of the subantarctic south atlantic occurred during oxygen isotopic stage 12 comparisons of benthic carbon isotopic gradients between sites located in the north atlantic southern ocean and pacific indicate that the production of upper north atlantic deep water unadw was strongest during stages 7 9 and 11 and weakest during stage 12 these results suggest a possible link between the flux of unadw and paleoceanographic change in the southern ocean and support the traditional nadw antarctic connection whereby increased nadw leads to warming of the southern ocean

the timing of high sea levels over the past 200 000 years the 230 th ages and 234 u 238 u ratios were determined for barbados corals that grew during periods of high sea level within the last 200 000 years the similarity of the initial 234 u 238 u ratios of some of the corals to the modern marine value suggests that these samples are pristine and that the marine 234 u 238 u ratio 83 000 and 200 000 years ago was within 2 per mil of the modern value the accuracies of the 230 th ages are evaluated on the basis of the 234 u 238 u values and a model of the behavior of uranium and thorium isotopes during diagenesis for the last three interglacial and two intervening interstadial periods sea level peaked at or after peaks in summer insolation in the northern hemisphere this overall pattern supports the idea that glacial interglacial cycles are caused by changes in earth9s orbital geometry the sea level drop at the end of the penultimate interglacial the last interglacial and a subsequent interstadial period lagged behind the decrease in insolation by 5 000 to 10 000 years

global patterns of loss of life from landslides global loss of life from landslides is poorly quantifi ed a global data set of fatalities from nonseismically triggered landslides that resulted in loss of life between a d 2004 and 2010 permits for the fi rst time proper quantifi cation of impacts and spatial distributions in total 2620 fatal landslides were recorded worldwide during the 7 yr period of the study causing a total of 32 322 recorded fatalities these total numbers of landslides and victims are an order of magnitude greater than other data sets have indicated but analysis of the data suggests that it may still slightly underestimate the true human costs the majority of human losses occur in asia especially along the himalayan arc and in china this geographical concentration dominates the annual landslide cycle which peaks in the northern hemisphere summer months finally numbers of fatalities per event show a fat tailed power law distribution with the density of landslides being moderately correlated with the population density on a national basis

evidence for massive discharges of icebergs into the north atlantic ocean during the last glacial period sediments in the north atlantic ocean contain a series of layers that are rich in ice rafted debris and unusually poor in foraminifera1 here we present evidence that the most recent six of these heinrich layers deposited between 14 000 and 70 000 years ago record marked decreases in sea surface temperature and salinity decreases in the flux of planktonic foraminifera to the sediments and short lived massive discharges of icebergs originating in eastern canada the path of the icebergs clearly marked by the presence of ice rafted detrital carbonate can be traced for more than 3 000 km a remarkable distance attesting to extreme cooling of surface waters and enormous amounts of drifting ice the cause of these extreme events is puzzling they may reflect repeated rapid advances of the laurentide ice sheet perhaps associated with reductions in air temperatures yet temperature records from greenland ice cores appear to exhibit only a weak corresponding signal moreover the 5 10 000 yr intervals between the events are inconsistent with milankovitch orbital periodicities raising the question of what the ultimate cause of the postulated cooling may have been

coastal response to the holocene transgression in the bahamas episodic sedimentation versus continuous sea level rise abstract sedimentological and petrographic study of holocene deposits in the eastern bahamas shows that sedimentation occurred episodically during this period of continually rising sea level the holocene stratigraphic record exposed on the islands of san salvador lee stocking and cat consists of two distinctive units separated by a paleosol 1 5000 year old oolitic eolianites deposited when sea level was lower than today and 2 3000 to 500 year old bioclastic paleo beaches and dunes that are congruent with the present stand of sea level a five stage model that reconciles intermittent sedimentation pattern with continuous sea level rise is presented pre holocene topography and changes in the rate of the transgression seem to regulate local 4 hydrodynamic conditions which in turn control onset and offset of sedimentary processes this holocene example of episodic sedimentation during an uninterrupted transgression should be considered when studying ancient discontinuities that are systematically interpreted in terms of relative sea level fall

relationship between the initiation of a shallow landslide and rainfall intensity duration thresholds in japan abstract the empirical rainfall intensity and duration i d threshold for the initiation of shallow landslide is newly defined for japan where heavy rainfalls frequently occur during the east asian summer monsoon season the rainfall causes sediment related disasters annually this paper presents an examination of 1174 rainfall induced shallow landslides that occurred during 2006 2008 their i d conditions were analyzed objectively from rainfall data radar raingauge analyzed precipitation to derive the i d threshold using the quantile regression method i 2 18 d 0 26 where i is measured in millimeters per hour and d in hours as measured from the beginning of rainfall to the landslide occurrence rainfall events are separated by the absence of rainfall for 24 h we then established a rescaled i d threshold by dividing the rainfall intensity by the mean annual precipitation map as imap 0 0007 d 0 21 where imap is the rescaled average per hour rainfall intensity these thresholds were defined by the second percentile regression line for d of 3 537 h the new thresholds are considerably lower than those previously reported for the world humid subtropical regions the asian monsoon region and japan the result suggests that japan is highly prone to rainfall induced shallow landslides because of its high relief topography geologic conditions human interference and rainfall characteristics during the east asian summer monsoon season

relative sea level fall since the last interglacial stage are coasts uplifting worldwide the growing interest in quantification of vertical ground motion stems from the need to understand in detail how the earth s crust behaves for both scientific and social reasons however only recently has the refinement of dating techniques made possible the use of paleoshorelines as reliable tools for tectonic studies although there are many local studies of quaternary vertical motions of coastlines we know of no comprehensive worldwide synthesis here we provide a compilation of 890 records of paleoshoreline sequences with particular emphasis on the last interglacial stage marine isotopic stage mis 5e 122 ka the quality of dating mis 5e makes it a reliable marker to evaluate vertical ground motion rates during the late quaternary on a global scale the results show that most coastal segments have risen relative to sea level with a mean uplift rate higher than 0 2 mm yr i e more than four times faster than the estimated eustatic drop in sea level the results also reveal that the uplift rate is faster on average for active margins than for passive margins neither dynamic topography nor glacio hydro isostasy may explain sustained uplift of all continental margins as revealed by the wide distribution of uplifted sequences of paleoshorelines instead we suggest that only plate tectonic processes reconcile all observations of quaternary coastal uplift we propose that long term continental accretion has led to compression of continental plates and uplift of their margins therefore this study concludes that plate tectonics processes impact all margins and emphasizes the fact that the notion of a stable platform is unrealistic these results therefore seriously challenge the evaluation of past sea levels from the fossil shoreline record

u series dating of last interglacial high sea stands barbados revisited u series chronologies of the emerged coral limestone terraces on barbados west indies together with those of the terraces from new guinea have formed the basis for most late pleistocene eustatic models the so called barbados sea level model has been challenged in recent years however a major issue is whether during oxygen isotope stage 5e when rendezvous hill reef complex on barbados island formed the sea rose above the present position for one relatively brief period of 10 000 yr or for two or more periods spanning approximately from 140 000 to 115 000 yr b p evidence for the latter scenario has not come from initial studies of barbados but from elsewhere it is also inconclusive because of the dating uncertainties involved we have carried out careful redeterminations of u series ages on a suite of 29 acropora palmata samples systematically collected from four of the lowest terraces on the island diagenetic disturbance may have caused the age spreads at some sampling outcrops a model for the diagenetic exchange of uranium isotopes in coral samples with those in groundwater explains the anomalous 234u238u ratios in samples with apparently unaltered mineralogy aragonite and trace element mg and sr chemistry it shows that age dispersions of 5 10 can be engendered by a u exchange coefficient of the order of 10 6 yr 1 the lower limit terrace ages estimated from averaging the multiple measurements are 81 000 2000 yr worthing 105 000 1000 yr ventnor 120 000 2000 yr maxwell and 117 000 3000 yr rendezvous hill no evidence was found of previously inferred bipartite sea levels centering around 118 000 and 135 000 yr ago this study documents the need of dating coral with the high precision sensitivity mass spectrometric techniques for future resolution of the temporal relationships among sea level changes climate oscillations and astronomical forcing relationships originally addressed by the barbados sea level model