The Sparta Fault in Greece is marked by one of the most impressive mountain fronts I’ve ever seen. A huge (yes, huge!) fault scarp has developed, traceable for kilometers; the fault itself is more than 60 km long. Ancient Sparta has been devastated by the last known major (M>7) earthquake that happened at this fault in 464 BC. Now, Papanikolaou et al. have published new data on this fault. They examined how paramaters like throw, segmentation, and catchments vary along strike and created a new seismic hazard map, showing a site-specific long-term recurrence interval of ~1.8 ka (+/- 450 a). more
After I came back from one week of holidays I checked the latest papers. Surprisingly, one was by myself! Finally IOP published our work on combined geoscience techniques in the Orkhon Valley, Central Mongolia. We used Georadar, SQUID-gradiometers, capacitive-coupled geoelectrics, octocopter stereoimages, shallow drillings, datings, and archaeological excavations for an geoarchaeological project. Using geophysical, archaeological and geological observations, we assumed a dating in the Turk/Uighur period (6th–9th century AD) and a re-use under Mongolian reign (12th–17th century AD). This would mean that this site is the furthermost walled structure in the peri-urban area of Khar Balgas. more
Although I already recommended some papers earlier this week, I have two more to mention: Supawit Yawsangratt and colleagues published new data on “Evidence of probable paleotsunami deposits on Kho Khao Island, Phang Nga Province, Thailand”. Nat Hazards, 63,151-163, DOI 10.1007/s11069-011-9729-4 in a special issue dedicated to tsunami research. Ran et al. presented work on the Wenchuan EQ epicentral area: “Paleoseismic events and recurrence interval along the Beichuan -Yingxiu fault of Longmenshan fault zone, Yingxiu, Sichuan, China.” Tectonophysics (2012), doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2012.07.013. more
Currently I spend my time working on some papers that deal with tsunamis in the Eastern Mediterranean and earthquakes in Spain. Searching for literature and looking for data on the Minoan catastrophe I came across this new open access publication by Simon Jusseret and Manuel Sintubin:
Our colleagues from IGCP567 – Earthquake Archaeology put a lot of effort into getting rid of catastrophism and into making archeoseismology a more reliable, quantitative science. By the way, don’t miss the next workshop on archeoseismology and active tectonics in Mexico 2012! more
The deadline for the 3rd INQUA-IGCP567 workshop on Active Tectonics, Paleoseismology and Archeoseismology has been extended to 15 August 2012. The meeting will be held from 19-24 November in Morelia, Mexico, in remembrance of the devastating Acambay earthquake form 1912. Registration is between $60 and $250, an additional fieldtrip can be booked for $60. more
The coolest thing I’ve seen this week came from the British Geological Survey. They developed an app (for Android only) called iGeology 3D, which paints the geological map of your position around you. Yes, in 3D. Yes, only in the UK, but hey – great stuff! And it’s free, okay, it’s tax money… On Facebook, students are already stating that they will have a very easy mapping course next year. I can only hope that classical mapping (with compass, a map made up of paper, hammer, hand lens, acid and all that 20th Century stuff) will remain a basic course for all geoscience students. I’ve seen a geological compass app for a smartphone in the field recently, but it worked on very few hardrock surfaces only, because the owner didn’t want to dirty his mobile… more
Angela Landgraf (Uni Potsdam), Simon Kübler (LMU Munich), Seth Stein (NW University, IL) and myself would like to draw your attention to our session about “Controls on Seismicity and Fault Rupture in Low-Strain Intraplate Regions” (T010) at the 2012 AGU Fall Meeting 2012 (3 – 7 Dec). We are looking for a variety of contributions from intraplate regions that have experienced earthquakes during Quaternary times and hope for good and interesting discussions with you during the meeting. The submission deadline is quite soon, at 8 August 23:59 EDT/03:59 +1 GMT.
Looking forward to see many of you there – Angela, Simon, Seth and Esther more
The Journal of Iberian Geology has now published a Special Issue “Active Faults in Iberia“, with J.J. Martínez-Diaz, E. Masana, and M.A. Rodríguez-Pascua as guest editors: J Iber Geol, 38 (1), 201. This volume comprises a great collection of new data on active faults, paleoseismology, intraplate earthquakes, and seismic hazard. One article also introduces the Quaternary Active Faults Database of Iberia. And the best thing is – all articles are open access and available for download! more
Our colleagues from the Bulgarian Academy of Science, Geological Institute “Strashimir Dimitrov“, have published a report on the coseismic and secondary effects of the May 22, 2012 Pernik earthquake, Western Bulgaria. The earthquake had a magnitude of MW5.6, see this special website of EMSC. Radulov et al. report intensities of up to VII (MSK) and various coseismic and secondary earthquake effects. more
Two new paper have recently been published on the Tohoku Tsunami that devastated the Japanese coast in March, 2011.
In Sedimentary Geology, Chagué-Goff et al. published their results from investigations of chemical markers left by the waves in March, 2011. The authors sampled the tsunamites two, five and seven months after the event and determined the concentrations of chemical markers such as C, Ca, Cl, K, N, S, and Sr. more
