Tsunami washover deposits, Tawharanui, New Zealand

Barrier dunes on the northern side of the Tawharanui Peninsula, north of Auckland, New Zealand, appear to have been overtopped by extreme waves that have deposited two large sand washover lobes in a back beach wetland. Present-day storm surges and storm waves are incapable of overtopping the barrier dunes. However, historical data and numerical models indicate tsunamis are amplified by resonance within the adjacent bay and Hauraki Gulf. Further, the location of nearshore reefs in close proximity to the washover lobes suggests that the interaction between tsunamis and the reefs further amplified the waves at those locations. The presence of a distinctive pumice (Loisels Pumice) within the washover deposits suggests that the deposits are associated with a 15th Century eruption from the submarine Mt Healy caldera located northeast of New Zealand.     

Sheltered coastal environments as archives of paleo-tsunami deposits: Observations from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

The 2004 earthquake left several traces of coseismic land deformation and tsunami deposits, both on the islands along the plate boundary and distant shores of the Indian Ocean rim countries. Researchers are now exploring these sites to develop a chronology of past events. Where the coastal regions are also inundated by storm surges, there is an additional challenge to discriminate between the deposits formed by these two processes. Paleo-tsunami research relies largely on finding deposits where preservation potential is high and storm surge origin can be excluded. During the past decade of our work along the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the east coast of India, we have observed that the 2004 tsunami deposits are best preserved in lagoons, inland streams and also on elevated terraces. Chronological evidence for older events obtained from such sites is better correlated with those from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, reiterating their usefulness in tsunami geology studies.     

Elevated marine deposits in Bermuda record a late Quaternary megatsunami

Deposits of coral-bearing, marine shell conglomerate exposed at elevations higher than 20 m above present-day mean sea level (MSL) in Bermuda and the Bahamas have previously been interpreted as relict intertidal deposits formed during marine isotope stage (MIS) 11, ca. 360–420 ka before present. On the strength of this evidence, a sea level highstand more than 20 m higher than present-day MSL was inferred for the MIS 11 interglacial, despite a lack of clear supporting evidence in the oxygen-isotope records of deep-sea sediment cores. We have critically re-examined the elevated marine deposits in Bermuda, and find their geological setting, sedimentary relations, and microfaunal assemblages to be inconsistent with intertidal deposition over an extended period. Rather, these deposits, which comprise a poorly sorted mixture of reef, lagoon and shoreline sediments, appear to have been carried tens of meters inside karst caves, presumably by large waves, at some time earlier than ca. 310–360 ka before present (MIS 9–11). We hypothesize that these deposits are the result of a large tsunami during the mid-Pleistocene, in which Bermuda was impacted by a wave set that carried sediments from the surrounding reef platform and nearshore waters over the eolianite atoll. Likely causes for such a megatsunami are the flank collapse of an Atlantic island volcano, such as the roughly synchronous Julan or Orotava submarine landslides in the Canary Islands, or a giant submarine landslide on the Atlantic continental margin.     

Distribution and sedimentary characteristics of tsunami deposits along the Cascadia margin of western North America

Tsunami deposits have been found at more than 60 sites along the Cascadia margin of Western North America, and here we review and synthesize their distribution and sedimentary characteristics based on the published record. Cascadia tsunami deposits are best preserved, and most easily identified, in low-energy coastal environments such as tidal marshes, back-barrier marshes and coastal lakes where they occur as anomalous layers of sand within peat and mud. They extend up to a kilometer inland in open coastal settings and several kilometers up river valleys. They are distinguished from other sediments by a combination of sedimentary character and stratigraphic context. Recurrence intervals range from 300–1000 years with an average of 500–600 years. The tsunami deposits have been used to help evaluate and mitigate tsunami hazards in Cascadia. They show that the Cascadia subduction zone is prone to great earthquakes that generate large tsunamis. The inclusion of tsunami deposits on inundation maps, used in conjunction with results from inundation models, allows a more accurate assessment of areas subject to tsunami inundation. The application of sediment transport models can help estimate tsunami flow velocity and wave height, parameters which are necessary to help establish evacuation routes and plan development in tsunami prone areas.     

中国火山岩型铀矿的主要地质特征

火山岩型铀矿主要分布于环太平洋的中、新生代多金属成矿带,产于以酸性岩或碱性岩为主的陆相火山岩系中,据对火山岩的^87Sr／^88 Sr含量初始比值测定、火山岩的稀土元素分布模式和火山岩中的熔融包体测温研究,推测火山岩浆是硅铝壳高温大部分熔融的产物,并不同程度受到地幔物质的混染。火山喷发受区域大断裂带控制,形成喷发岩带。火山喷发岩带可进一步划分为几条喷发亚带,喷发亚带则由一系列的火山活动中心组成。火山岩型铀矿均产于断陷红盆旁侧,或在其附近存在基性脉岩群,显示铀矿化与深部构造岩浆活动存在成因联系,适中的剥蚀程度是重要的找矿前提。     

Tsunami hazard in the Eastern Mediterranean: strong earthquakes and tsunamis in Cyprus and the Levantine Sea

A modern tsunami catalogue has been compiled for the region of Cyprus-Levantine Sea in which 24 certain or possible local tsunamis are listed from antiquity up to the present time, while six regional tsunamis, generated in the Hellenic arc, are documented which affected the region. Another set of 13 doubtful events not included in the catalogue are discussed. Tsunami intensities k and K were re-evaluated using the classic 6-grade and the new 12-grade intensity scales, respectively. The strongest tsunamis reported in the region of interest are those of 551 AD, 749, 1068, 1201, 1222, 1546 and 1759, all occurring along the Levantine coast from Gaza northward, with the exception of the 1222 wave which occurred in the Cyprean arc. The causative earthquakes, however, occur on land and are associated with the left-lateral strike-slip Levantine rift and, as such, remain unexplained. In this paper we speculate on the mechanism of these events. A second tsunami zone follows the Cyprean arc, where the situation of subaqueous seismogenic sources favours the generation of tsunamis by co-seismic fault displacements. Submarine or coastal earth slumping, however, may be an additional tsunamigenic component. Based on historical data, the average tsunami recurrence in the Cyprus-Levantine Sea region is roughly estimated to be around 30 years, 120 years and 375 years for moderate (k/K ≥ 2/3), strong (k/K ≥ 3/5) and very strong (k/K ≥ 5/8) events, respectively. The rate of tsunami occurrence equals 0.033, 8.3 × 10⁻³ and 2.7 × 10⁻³ events/year for intensity k/K ≥ 2/3, 3/5 and 5/8, respectively. For a Poissonian (random) process the probabilities of observing at least one moderate, strong or very strong tsunami are 0.28, 0.01 and 3 × 10⁻³ within 1 year, 0.81, 0.34 and 0.13 within 50 years and 0.96, 0.56 and 0.24 within 100 years, respectively. The tsunami potential in the Cyprus-Levantine Sea area is low relative to other Mediterranean tsunamigenic regions. However, the destructiveness of some historical events indicates the need to evaluate tsunami hazard by all available means. In addition, remote tsunamigenic sources, such as those of 1303 and 1481 in the eastern Hellenic arc, are able to threaten the coasts of the Cyprus-Levantine region and, therefore, such regional tsunamis should be taken into account in the evaluation of the tsunami risk of the region.     

Effects of rainy season on mobilization of contaminants from tsunami deposits left in a coastal zone of Thailand by the 26 December 2004 tsunami

Study on contamination of tsunami sediments deposited on 26 December 2004 conducted shortly after the tsunami in coastal zone of Thailand revealed elevated contents of salts in water-soluble and some heavy metals and arsenic in bioavailable fractions (Szczuciński et al. in Env Geol 49:321–331, 2005). Few months later rainy season started and effected in total rainfall of over 3,300 mm. This paper presents results of survey repeated 1 year after the tsunami. To assess the effects of rainy season on mobilization of previously determined potential contaminants, the same locations were sampled again and analysed with the same methods. The tsunami deposit layer was well preserved but in many locations the sediments were coarser than just after tsunami due to washing out of finer fractions. The water-soluble salts contents were strongly reduced after the rainy season. However, the concentrations of acid leachable heavy metals and metalloids were still elevated in comparison to reference sample from an area not impacted by tsunami. It is possible that the metals and metalloids are successively moved to more bioavailable fraction from forms which were more resistant to mobilization.     

北京五环城区浅部沉积层的三维地质结构建模

随着城市地下空间的开发利用,对三维地质结构的掌握成为科学合理开发利用地下空间的基本前提,三维地质模型的创建也得以迅速发展。三维地质结构模型可以直观展示地层空间分布形态,为地下空间资源的科学规划提供基础数据。本次工作首次完成了北京五环城区(750 km~2)的三维地质结构模型创建。建模工作基于研究区广泛分布的数千工程钻孔,通过筛选、标准化钻孔数据,绘制相应标准化地层剖面(107条),创建了钻孔模型,以及北京五环城区地下50 m以浅三维地质结构模型,并完成精度验证。本次建模过程整理了大量工程钻孔数据,综合考虑了冲洪积扇发育区地层互层、相交、尖灭、透镜体等复杂的地质现象,具有代表性,可为类似地质建模工作提供借鉴。此外,北京城区三维地质结构模型直观展示了研究区浅部的地层分布与地层结构,为后续三维属性模型的创建提供了实体框架,亦为区内地下空间资源地质评价提供了数据支撑。     

Kaolin deposits at Melthonnakkal and Pallipuram within Trivandrum block, southern India

The kaolin deposits at Melthonnakkal and Pallipuram mines form part of the Warkalli Formation belonging to the Tertiary sequence in southern Kerala and occur at the boundary between the Tertiary sequence and Precambrian granulite facies metapelites (khondalites). The sedimentary clays are composed mainly of kaolinite, quartz and gibbsite. XRD and SEM studies have revealed that kaolinite is well-crystallized variety and the platy crystals are scarcely broken in the sedimentary clays. These sedimentary kaolins are considered to have been formed by intense tropical weathering of the khondalites, and subsequently transported and deposited with high organic input into lakes near the weathering crust over the basement rock. Besides, the surficial parts of the sedimentary deposits are extensively lateritized with the formation of goethite and hematite by Quaternary tropical weathering processes.     

A Quantitative Assessment of the Human and Economic Hazard from Impact-generated Tsunami

In this article, we assess the human and economic hazard posed by tsunami waves generated from impacts of sub-2 km diameter asteroids. Annually, on average, 182(+197/−123) people will be affected by impact-induced waves with a corresponding infrastructure loss of $18(+20/−12)M/y. Half of the tsunami hazard stems from impactors with diameters less than 300 m. One near Earth asteroid will survive atmospheric transit and strike somewhere into Earth’s oceans every 5880 years, on average. In the mean generic scenario, the tsunami from the impact affects 1.1 million people and destroys $110B of infrastructure.     

石英脉型钼矿地质和地球化学特征研究现状综述

石英脉型钼矿床作为钼矿资源的一种主要工业类型,对于钼资源的开发具有重要意义,因此,其地质、地球化学特征及其成矿机制也引起了国内外学者的广泛关注。本文通过整理和分析国内主要石英脉型钼矿的矿床地质、矿区花岗岩的地球化学特征,以及相关成矿地球化学资料,发现石英脉型钼矿床具有如下地质和地球化学特征：产于断裂构造发育的地区,断裂为主要的控矿空间;矿区常发育花岗岩体,与成矿具有密切的空间和时间关系;矿体呈脉状,由石英脉和其两侧的蚀变围岩组成,其中主要矿物组合为辉钼矿、黄铁矿、黄铜矿、钾长石和石英;与成矿有关的花岗岩地球化学特征显示矿床主要形成于后碰撞伸展构造环境,岩浆源区为下地壳,并且有少量幔源物质的加入;流体包裹体数据显示,成矿流体具有中低温（160 ℃～375 ℃）、中低盐度（4%～28%）的特点;成矿流体的δ18O值为-7.3‰～4.8‰、δD值为-129‰～-50‰,表现为岩浆水和大气降水混合成因;成矿热液的总δ34S值为1.1‰～8.8‰,指示成矿体系中的硫来源于岩浆,并受地层硫的不同程度影响。     

Impact of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program on Operations of the Richard H. Hagemeyer Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

The first 7 years of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) have had a significant positive impact on operations of the Richard H. Hagemeyer Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC). As a result of its seismic project, the amount and quality of real-time seismic data flowing into PTWC has increased dramatically, enabling more rapid, accurate, and detailed analyses of seismic events with tsunamigenic potential. Its tsunameter project is now providing real-time tsunameter data from seven strategic locations in the deep ocean to more accurately measure tsunami waves as they propagate from likely source regions toward shorelines at risk. These data have already been used operationally to help evaluate potential tsunami threats. A new type of tsunami run-up gauge has been deployed in Hawaii to more rapidly assess local tsunamis. Lastly, numerical modeling of tsunamis done with support from the NTHMP is beginning to provide tools for real-time tsunami forecasting that should reduce the incidence of unnecessary warnings and provide more accurate forecasts for destructive tsunamis.     

吉林大东南岔金铜矿床地质特征及控矿条件分析

本文简要地介绍了矿区的成矿地质背景及主要矿床的地质特征,重点阐述了控矿因素,分析了区内下古生界五道沟群变质岩系、华力西晚期至燕山期侵入岩以及主要断裂构造与成矿作用的关系。通过对大东南岔金铜矿床控矿条件进行分析、评价,为区内及外围找矿提供依据。     

云南兰坪-维西地区铜矿床成矿地质条件研究

兰坪-维西地区属西南“三江”重要的有色金属成矿区(带),该区地质构造作用十分强烈且多期发生,基础地质与矿床研究相对薄弱。文章通过对该区地质勘查与科研成果的总结,讨论了铜矿床成矿地质条件。研究认为,脆性剪切变形作用与铜矿化关系密切,断裂活动有利于成矿作用的发生,成矿物质具有多源性。     

豫西祁雨沟矿田金矿化类型、特征及成因

祁雨沟矿田内金矿床类型有爆破角砾岩型和构造蚀变岩型,表现为"多型一体"的产出特征。通过对两种类型金矿床的研究认为,受拆离断层控制的爆破角砾岩筒和陡倾斜断层,控制着金矿床的形成和分布,并分别形成爆破角砾岩型金矿床和构造蚀变岩型金矿床;燕山晚期,在伸展作用背景下,地壳深处重熔性花岗岩浆沿构造薄弱带上侵并演化,先后形成爆破角砾岩型金矿床和构造蚀变岩型金矿床。     

French Polynesia Tsunami Warning Center (CPPT)

Since 1964, the Geophysical Laboratory in Tahiti has been charged with the responsibility of issuing tsunami warnings. But this research laboratory is also designed to conduct other missions. One of them is to study an oversee seismicity and volcanism in the South Central Pacific. For this activity the Geophysical Laboratory, which is also the French Polynesia Tsunami Warning Center (Centre Polynésien de Prévention des Tsunamis — CPPT), processes the data recorded by the Polynesian Seismic Network which includes 21 short-period stations, 4 broad-band three-component long period stations, and 2 tide gauge stations. These stations are, for the most, telemetered to CPPT in Tahiti which is equipped wilh data processing capabilities.At CPPT, Tsunami Warning is based on the measurement of the Seismic Moment through the mantle magnitudeM _m and the proportionality of observed tsunami height to this seismic moment.The new mantle magnitude scale,M _m, uses the measurement of the mantle of Rayleigh and Love wave energy in the 50–300 s period range and is directly related to the seismic moment throughM _m = logM _o – 20. Knowledge of the seismic moment allows an estimation of a range of high seas amplitudes for the expectable tsunami.The relation that estimates the tsunami height according to the seismic moment is based on the normal mode tsunami theory but also fits a dataset of 17 tsunamis recorded at Papeete (PPT) since 1958. This procedure is fully automatic: a computer detects, locates and estimates the seismic moment through theM _m magnitude and, in terms of moment, gives an amplitude window for the expected tsunami. These-several operations are executed in real time. In addition, the operator can use historical references and, if necessary, acoustic T waves.This automatic procedure, which has been operating at the CPPT since 1986, is certainly transposable and applicable to other tsunami warning centers that issue warnings for earthquakes detected more than 1000 km away, and has significant potential in the regional field.     

Reconstructing the pattern and depth of flow onshore in a palaeotsunami from associated deposits

The widespread sheets of fine particulate sediment frequently deposited by tsunami constitute valuable evidence from which to reconstruct tsunami inundation. This is illustrated with evidence from three sites near Montrose, in eastern Scotland, U.K., where a horizon of mainly sand, laid down during the Holocene Storegga Slide palaeotsunami of circa 8000 BP is examined. The horizon is remarkably consistent in its distribution, morphology, stratigraphy, and particle size characteristics. These properties allow inferences to be made on the nature of tsunami flow onshore and run-up. It is suggested that estimates can be made of the possible depth of water involved from the characteristics of the sediment, and thus of the extent of inundation involved in the tsunami at these sites.     

Paleovalley-related uranium deposits in Australia and China: A review of geological and exploration models and methods

The features and similarities in the geology of paleovalley-related uranium mineralizing systems in Australia and China can be used to refine strategies for exploration. Paleovalley-related uranium resources include sandstone-, lignite- and calcrete-style deposits that are developed within the host sediments deposited in paleovalleys. The paleovalleys incise either crystalline bedrock or older sedimentary rocks, and uranium was deposited and concentrated by the influx of oxidized/reduced groundwaters flowing in aquifers within the paleovalley fill. The critical features of paleovalley-related uranium deposits include sediment and uranium sources, geological setting, depositional environment, age and relative timing of mineralization, aquifer characteristics, availability and distribution of reductants, and preservation potential of the uranium mineral system. This set of information provides a basis to establish the uranium mineralization model, which can then be used to assist with generating targets for uranium exploration and prospectivity analysis of a region. With respect to Sino-Australian examples, paleovalley-related uranium deposits form mostly around the margins of sedimentary basins and the mineralization is commonly hosted within channel fills contained within paleovalleys developed upon, or proximal to, Precambrian crystalline rocks that contain primary uranium sources. The deposits that have been well studied show remarkably similar factors that controlled the formation of paleovalley-related uranium deposits. Basement/bedrocks with above-background (2.8 ppm U) levels of uranium (10–100 ppm) that are linked to, and/or, incised by paleovalleys are associated with these deposits and are the inferred source of the uranium. In these regions, extensive fluvial systems developed particularly during Mesozoic and Cenozoic times, uranium from the bedrock was first dispersed into the sediments, and then concentrated to form deposits through successive chemical remobilization, precipitation and concentration. The deposits formed in continental or marginal marine environments, and commonly are associated with reduced lithologies, containing pyrite and dispersed organic matter and/or seams of lignite, or show evidence of infiltrated hydrocarbons. The mineralization is developed where oxidizing fluids (carrying dissolved U) reacted with reductants in the sediments. Geological, geophysical and geochemical features of the paleovalleys and related uranium deposits are used to construct models to understand host sediment distribution, fluid flow and ore genesis that can assist exploration for paleovalley-hosted uranium deposits. Precise geometric definition of the basin margin and paleovalley architecture is important in identifying exploration targets and improving the effectiveness of drilling. Refinements in remote sensing, geophysical and data processing techniques, in combination with sedimentological and depositional interpretations, provide an efficient approach for outlining the principal drainage patterns and channel dimensions. To help reduce risk, an exploration strategy should combine these technologies with a detailed understanding of the physicochemical parameters controlling uranium mobilization, precipitation and preservation.     

新疆阿尔泰山南缘乔夏哈拉式铁铜矿床稀土元素地球化学特征及其地质意义

通过野外地质调查和系统的稀土元素地球化学研究，探讨了阿尔泰山南缘乔夏哈拉式铁铜矿床中磁铁矿矿体和块状富铜矿体的成因关系及找矿意义。研究表明，乔夏哈拉铁铜矿床中铁矿体和富铜矿体的稀土元素组成及配分模式迥然不同。前者具有低∑REE、富轻稀土元素及正铕异常等特点，指示火山成因性质；后者异常富集轻稀土元素、配分曲线向右倾陡，其成因可能与造山期中基性浅成岩浆作用有关。据此认为，铁矿体和铜矿体并非“同生”成因关系，很可能是两期成矿作用在空间上的“同位叠生”关系。     

Tsunami databases: The problems of acceptance and absence

Tsunami databases are not dissimilar from a wide variety of other data sources used by researchers, and yet users rarely, if ever, use them appropriately. They contain summary information of individual tsunamis, but they will always be incomplete because of the fragmentary data related to numerous past events and the difficulty of updating event information for those already included. Examples from AD1917 and AD1892 throw some light on this dilemma and show that not only is the uncritical use of such databases inappropriate, but that the data they contain may not be fit for the research questions being asked. This is unfortunate because it has probably led to at least one significant misconception developing within the tsunami community - that earthquakes are by far the most significant tsunami-genic source. When used appropriately though, tsunami database have the potential to inform and empower coastal communities.