Two new tsunami papers have been published recently, and I am happy to be co-author of one of them. In Hoffmann et al. 2012 we report on our observations along the NE Omani coast between Fins and Sur. We found a ridge of imbricated boulders parallel to the coast, but in heights of several meters above m.s.l. on top of a cliff and dozens of meters inland. Also, extremely large blocks clearly stemming from the cliff were found. We used LiDAR to determine the mass of very large blocks (up to 40 t) and found this method to result in far lower weights than estimated with the classical method. 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
The Gulf Stream is ensuring the mild climate in Europe, everyone knows that. But does it really? Read Chris Rowan’s article on climate, Gulf Stream, heat capacity and atmospheric circulations.
Ritz et al. published a paper on the paleoseismicity of the North Tehran Fault, Iran. From trenching studies they claim at least 6 surface-rupturing events during the last 30 ka. Read the paper here at JGR-Solid Earth. Ritz, J.-F., H. Nazari, S. Balescu, M. Lamothe, R. Salamati, A. Ghassemi, A. Shafei, M. Ghorashi, and A. Saidi, 2012: Paleoearthquakes of the past 30,000 years along the North Tehran Fault (Iran), J. Geophys. Res., 117, B06305, doi:10.1029/2012JB009147. more
Three papers published recently caught my eyes. First, Andrej Gosar investigated the earthquake environmental effects (EEEs) of the 12 April 1998 Mw =5.6 Krn Mountains earthquake, Slovenia. The quake measured VII-VIII on the EMS-98 scale, and Andrej found that the intensities reached the same values on the ESI2007 scale. He reports that the intensity distributions for both scales are comparable, but show some differences due to the sparsely populated epicentral area. The research concentrated on rockfalls for EEE determination. It’s a nice example that also moderate events can be characterized using the ESI2007 scale.
more
The INQUA has set up an Early Career Researchers Committee (INQUA_ECR), and I am proud being a member of that. Its aim is to support young scientists, to get young scientists involved in INQUA activities, to build up (scientific) networks, and to use social media. I think that’s a great idea, because up to now, you won’t find INQUA on Twitter, Facebook etc. We have set up a Facebook page now – come on in and like us, share links and find job offers! Twitter will follow soon. We will organize young scientists meetings at conferences (e.g. in Australia next year) and provide a lot of infos for early career scientists.
more
Last week was really weird for earthquake geologists. We have seen one of the strongest earthquakes ever measured and another handfull of major events, all of them showing strike-slip fault movement. Manuel came up with the perfect description at his Planeet Aarde Geoblog: It’s strike-slip week on Planet Earth. more
The 86th Italian Geological Society Congress will be held in Arcavacata di Rende (CS) on 18-20 September 2012, at the Università della Calabria, Italy.
We advertise Session TS2.2: Paleoseismicity of the Mediterranean Region and surface – faulting hazard in urban areas. Convenors: Cinti F., Cucci L., Michetti A.M., De Martini P.M., Roberts G. more
The 3rd INQUA-IGCP 567 International Workshop on Active Tectonics, Paleoseismology and Archeoseismology will be held in Morelia (Mexico) from 18 – 24 November 2012. The workshop is the continuation of the BaeloClaudia2009 and Corinth2011 events. We invite all scientists in the fields of earthquake geology, paleoseismology, archeoseismology, tsunami studies, earthquake engineering, seismic hazard assessment to participate in the workshop. We will try to provide travel grants from INQUA and IGCP for young scientists. See Acambay1912.org for detailled information, registration and abstract submission.
more
UGM SESSION: PALEOSEISMOLOGY, SEISMIC AND TSUNAMI HAZARD
Mexican Geophysical Union Annual Meeting (RAUGM) 2012
28 October – 2 November, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
A CONSIDERABLE NUMBER OF POPULATED AREAS are located on active plate boundaries where great earthquakes and tsunamis have occurred in recent, historical and prehistorical times. Scientists have been working into explaining the origin and recurrence of these events to improve their ability to assess seismic and tsunami hazards in the near feature.
more
The Group on Active Tectonics (GAT) and the Environmental Geophysics University Laboratory (LUGA) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Campus Morelia seeks applicants for a Postdoctoral Research position. The candidate will pursue fundamental and applied research into either a) active tectonics and/or b) tsunami deposits and paleoseismology with focus on the Mexican Subduction Zone. The candidate will be responsible for the development and execution of field and laboratory research, and to conduct studies on the geologic signature left by great earthquakes and their tsunamis. The fields of application include earthquake hazard, tsunami hazard and long-term earthquake record of this active margin.
more
