Yesterday, British media reported on a small tsunami that hit southwestern England at 10.15 BST. Wave heights reached around 30 cm in some bays but didn’t cause damages, BBC reports. Scientists from Plymouth University claimed an offshore landslide responsible for the rare phenomenon. The waves were seen in Cornawall, Devon and Hampshire. more

Felix‘ WoGE #293 led us to a giant dune field in northern Namibia, adding one more location to my where-I-need-to-go-list. The dunes stretch over hundreds of kilometers across southern Africa, which made it not too easy to find the actual spot. Luckily, I came across Heike’s thesis. Felix asked me to show some evidence for tsunamis in the Mediterranean in the next round, so find out whether I did or not. Should be rather easy. more

Dear friends and colleagues,

I am more than happy to announce that on last Monday (June 20, 2011) Christoph obtained his doctoral degree from the RWTH Aachen University in Geosciences. Most of you know him as very active person in this forum,  as a thoughtful scientist and as a friend. Christoph wrote his thesis on “The Baelo Claudia earthquake problem” by means of geological, geophysical, archaeoseismological and palaeoseismological investigations.

more

In April 2011 we started on a field trip to investigate the Padul-Nigüelas Fault Zone in Spain (+/- 37°N, 3°36°W, see map here). Like the Wednesday Centerfault (5), the PNFZ is in the Granada Basin but some 40 km ENE. Delimiting Tortonian to Quaternary basin fillings to the Sierra Nevada, the PNFZ forms hardrock scarps. more

I found Tannis‘ WoGE #289 more or less by accident, just having a quick look and suddenly realizing that I am in the right area. It was more difficult to find some literature about the Bomapau and Kiriwina Islands. A great area, very high seismicity and a complex tectonic situation. Seems to be a fantastic destination for holidays as well, all those beautiful atolls must be great for divers. more

On Monday, 13 June, Christchurch was again rocked by earthquakes that caused damages and left people injured. Three significant events happened within two hours. At 1:00 UTC a mb5.0 event occured, followed by a Mw6.0 at 2:20 UTC and a M4.6 at 2:40 UTC. The strongest event caused instrumental intensities of up to VII close to the city. Update: Geonet reports a magnitude of 6.3. more

Sorry for starting with a non-geological link again, but it’s important: We have two more elements! Well, two more names in the periodic table at least: Flerovium (element 114, atomic mass 289) and Moscovium (element 116, atomic mass 292). Welcome! more

I am not sure if the geoscience community has realized that astronomy made three steps forward recently, so I’ll start out of topic. Three major astronomical problems have been solved! Really! more

Dear colleagues and friends,

the registration for the Corinth2011 workshop is open again. Due to additional capacities at the conference venue we can offer 20 more places! You can register via the paleoseismicity.org website. However, the abstract submission is closed. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Have a nice weekend and looking forward to seeing you in Corinth,

The Organization Committee

After we dealt with some faults in Greece, let’s move to Spain. The Ventas de Zafarraya Fault (VZF) west of the Granada basin (36.96° N, 4.14°W) has a beautiful morphologic expression and an exciting history. The fault bounds the Zafarraya polje to the south, with Quaternary sediments to the north (hanging wall) and limestones of the Internal Subbetics in the footwall. more