The Nile Valley of Egypt: A Major Active Graben that Magnifies Seismic Waves

— The Nile valley and the Nile delta are part of the active rift that is probably connected with the Red Sea tectonism. This zone is characterized by small-to-moderate size earthquakes that have caused extremely severe damage to recent and historical constructions. The most vulnerable area along the Nile valley is the one of Cairo-Faiyoum. Small local and large distant earthquakes could be a source of huge socio-economic damage in this area. The loose soft alluvial sediments of the Nile Canyon are the main factor behind this potential damage because they may greatly amplify the ground motion, as demonstrated by strong ground motion modelling. The largest amplification is generally concentrated along the edges of the graben and occurs at frequencies between 1 Hz and 2 Hz. This may explain the huge damage caused by distant earthquakes during recent and historical times. The distribution of intensity values during the events of 1926 and 1992 is well correlated with the modelled spatial distribution of the spectral amplification.Dr. El-Sayed passed away in Mansoura on February 11, 2003.     

On Epicentral Location of the 1216 Mahu Earthquake in Leibo County, Sichuan Province

A query regarding the now commonly accepted epicentral location of the 1216 Mahu earthquake in Leibo County, Sichuan Province is proposed after examination of local historical records of earthquakes, field investigation of the Mahu barrier lake, study of geological environment for the earthquake and the available data then a relocation of the earthquake epicenter is suggested in the paper.     

Erodibility of soft freshwater sediments in Markermeer: the role of bioturbation by meiobenthic fauna

The Markermeer is a large and shallow man-made freshwater lake in the Netherlands, characterized by its high turbidity. As part of a study aiming to mitigate this high turbidity, we studied the water–bed exchange processes of the lake’s muddy bed. The upper centimeter’s–decimeter’s of the lake bed sediments mainly consists of soft anoxic mud. Recent measurements have proved the existence of a thin oxic layer on top of this soft anoxic mud. This oxic layer, which is much easier to be eroded than the anoxic mud, is believed to be related with Markermeer’s high-turbidity levels. Our hypothesis is that the thin oxic layer develops from the anoxic mud, enhanced by bioturbation. Actually, we will demonstrate that it is the bioturbated state of the bed that increases its erodability, and not the oxidation state of the sediments. In particular, we will refer to bioturbation caused by meiobenthic fauna. The objective of this study is therefore to determine the influence of the development of the thin oxic layer on the water–bed exchange processes, as well as to establish the role of bioturbation on those processes. This is done by quantifying the erosion rate as a function of bed shear stresses, and at different stages of the development of the oxic layer. Our experiments show that bioturbation increases the rate at which Markermeer sediments are eroded by almost an order of magnitude. The short-term fine sediment dynamics in Markermeer are found to be driven by the complex and highly dynamic interactions between physics, chemistry, and biology. Finally, the long-term fine sediment dynamics are driven by the erosion of the historical deposits in the lake’s bed, which is only possible after bioturbation, and which leads to an increase of the stock of sediments in the lake’s muddy bed.     

Sudden enhancement of sedimentation flux of~(210)Pb_(ex) as anindicator of lake productivity as exemplified by Lake Chenghai

Recent sediments in lakes and gulfs are a sensi-tive recorder of the information about environmentalchanges in the catchment areas during recent geologi-cal history. Precise determination of the ages of sedi-ments is the key to deciphering the environmental re-cords. The 210Pb dating technique and the markertechnique based on fallout radionuclide 137Cs havefound wide applications in sedimentation rate on atime scale of several tens to one hundred years, as wellas the varve chron…     

黄河下游南四湖地区黄河河道变迁的湖泊沉积响应

黄河下游地区湖泊演化多与黄河河道变迁密切相关,进行高分辨率的湖泊沉积环境的研究,可揭示历史时期黄河下游的河道变迁,本文以南四湖ＤＳ孔为例,探讨河道变迁的湖泊沉响应。     

山西洪洞、临汾历史大震区现今地震的重新定位

利用临汾地区无线传输地震台网资料，对1303年洪洞（M＝8）、1695年临汾（M＝73／4）两次特大地震所在区域1987年－1999年发生的1670次中、小地震进行了重新定位。结果表明，重新定位后震源深度的测定情况比原有结果有很大改善，定位精度明显提高。两次历史大震所在区域中现今地震的密集区，与两次大震各自的高烈度区长轴方向、形状和大小相吻合，反映了历史大震震源断层对现今小震活动的约束作用。小震震源深度的分布情况表明，两次历史大震的震源断层可能都比较浅。重新定位结果为利用现今小震的群体特征研究历史大震的震源断层提供了良好的基础资料。     

Seismicity of western Macedonia, Greece

The seismicity of western Macedonia is examined in the present paper. On the basis of historical information as well as on instrumental data it is found that this area is characterized by low seismicity. The focal region of the Grevena-Kozani 1995 earthquake exhibits the highest seismicity in terms of probabilities for the generation of strong (M_s ≥ 6.0) earthquakes in a period of fifty years. Two other regions with relatively high seismicity were also distinguished (west of Edessa and around Prespes lakes). Accurate determination of focal parameters of all earthquakes occurred in the area during October 1975-April 1995, by the use of a 3-D crustal model shows that the seismic activity is related to the graben structures of the studied area. Finally, evidence is presented that the triggering of the 1995 earthquake may be related to the impoundment of the Polyfytos artificial lake.     

The housing loss assessment of rural villages caused by earthquake disaster in Yunnan Province

Introduction In accordance with the systematical theory of natural disaster, the intensity of disaster-causing factor and the frangibility of the disaster-bearing body decide the disaster degree (SHI, 1991, 2002). The building facilities is the uppermost disaster-bearing body in the earthquake disaster system, as the population and fortune in the city are concentrated, the density of the housings is large, the antiseismic and disaster reduction of the city have always been an important aspect…     

青藏高原东北隅弧形构造区现代中小地震密集区与历史强震的关系探讨

青藏高原东北隅地区位于青藏高原、鄂尔多斯和阿拉善三大块体交汇部位,发育一组以逆走滑活动为主的弧形断裂系,其新活动性强,历史及现代强震频发,是探讨现代中小地震密集区与历史强震关联性的理想地区,也是检验和发展小震密集区值方法及其适用条件的有利地区.本文采用甘肃省地震局对该区1970年以来1～5级地震仪器监测目录,利用网格点...     

不同前处理对湖泊沉积物粒度测量结果的影响

选择两个不同湖泊的沉积物为研究对象,通过对比不同前处理后的测量结果,比较了各种前处理方法的优劣,并提出两种较好的前处理方法.结果显示不同湖泊沉积物和同一湖泊的不同样品对各种前处理方法的响应并不相同,从整体上来看,经过去离子水浸泡后并用超声波分散的方法效果最好,目前最常用的传统的前处理方法结果也较好.测量结果还显示,经过(NaPO3)6处理后再用超声波分散容易使频率分布曲线出现细粒次峰,产生双峰分布的型式,原因也许与(NaPO3)6的分散作用使颗粒絮凝作用减小,增强超声波对颗粒的直接撞击作用,使颗粒被击碎从而产生双峰分布有关.     

历史强震震中精度统计特征及其对地震危险性研究的影响

以《中国历史强震目录(公元前23世纪——公元1911年)》为基础,将目录中给出的震中精度参数在分段时间和分段震级上进行统计分析,并给出各类精度地震的地理分布．研究结果表明, 58.4%的历史强震震中精度都在3类及以上,其震中不确定范围大于25 km;一般来说,年代越久远的历史地震,其震中精度越差,而且公元1500年以后的历史强震低精度地震所占比例仍然不小;MS6.0以上的历史强震, 3类、 4类和5类精度地震占了60.1 %;不同精度历史强震的地理分布各有特点,云南省1类、 2类精度地震最多,而新疆和西藏的历史强震绝大部分都是低精度地震事件．以震中精度表述的历史强震震中位置不确定性会对潜在震源区划分、近场区地震活动性研究以及地震构造环境评价等工作造成影响,因此在地震危险性研究与地震地质工作中,都需对低精度历史地震重新考证或适当取舍．      

analyses on the triggering facrors of large quantities of landslides in the upper reaches of the minjiang river,sichuan province

Over the past geological and historical period, tens of thousands of landslides occurred in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River, an area which is characterized by alpine valleys and has been densely populated over the past several hundreds of years. Discussing the triggering factor of these landslides is of great significance to geological hazard mitigation and prevention in this region. In this paper, we focus on four aspects of regional rainfall, shape features of landslide slopes, the corresponding relationship between landslide area and earthquake magnitude, and the recurring features of the reconstructed palaeoearthquake record at Diexi. Compared with those in Nepal, both mean seasonal rainfall accumulation and mean daily rainfall for the past 30 years are too low to reach the threshold values triggering landslides in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River. Secondly, landslides in the study area are usually absent of inner gorges(canyon topography)on the hillslope toes, which are confirmed in previous studies as typical features of landslides triggered by storms. Thirdly, wide distribution of the landslides in the study area supports our notion of earthquake-triggering because the landslides triggered by storms commonly distribute locally. Fourthly, periodicity analysis of the reconstructed palaeoearthquake record at Diexi provides a few cycles of twenty to thirty years, possibly corresponding to the earthquakes of magnitudes>5.0 or 5.5 which are believed to have caused soft-sediment deformation in the study area. In contrast, like the 2008 M_S8.0 Wenchuan earthquake, the average recurrence interval of the large earthquakes in the study area is 2.6ka. They caused tens of thousands of landslides and provided more coarse silt particles for the nearby lake sediments at least in 330 years for each time. This is consistent with exponential increase of earthquake magnitude from large to medium and of the landslide area with the increased earthquake magnitude. To sum up, we suggest that tens of thousands of landslides in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River were most likely triggered by earthquakes instead of storms. This preliminary viewpoint needs further examination in the future.     

Evidence for ground-rupturing earthquakes on the Northern Wadi Araba fault at the archaeological site of Qasr Tilah, Dead Sea Transform fault system, Jordan

The archaeological site of Qasr Tilah, in the Wadi Araba, Jordan is located on the northern Wadi Araba fault segment of the Dead Sea Transform. The site contains a Roman-period fort, a late Byzantine–Early Umayyad birkeh (water reservoir) and aqueduct, and agricultural fields. The birkeh and aqueduct are left-laterally offset by coseismic slip across the northern Wadi Araba fault. Using paleoseismic and archaeological evidence collected from a trench excavated across the fault zone, we identified evidence for four ground-rupturing earthquakes. Radiocarbon dating from key stratigraphic horizons and relative dating using potsherds constrains the dates of the four earthquakes from the sixth to the nineteenth centuries. Individual earthquakes were dated to the seventh, ninth and eleventh centuries. The fault strand that slipped during the most recent event (MRE) extends to just below the modern ground surface and juxtaposes alluvial-fan sediments that lack in datable material with the modern ground surface, thus preventing us from dating the MRE except to constrain the event to post-eleventh century. These data suggest that the historical earthquakes of 634 or 659/660, 873, 1068, and 1546 probably ruptured this fault segment.     

根据烈度分布确定华北历史地震破裂区的经验准则及其应用

地震破裂区是地震时沿发震断裂带的同震错动面或破裂面在地表的垂直投影区域,指示了震源断层/破裂的位置与尺度。确定过去长期的强震/大地震破裂区是鉴别地震空区、研究与预测强震危险性的重要基础。对于现代强震,破裂区可运用多种现代技术方法确定,但对于历史强震,破裂区确定的方法需要探索与发展。以华北地区为例,研究利用烈度/等震线资料、结合地震构造与震区地表地质环境等信息确定历史强震破裂区的方法,并开展应用试验。结果表明:研究区现代地震破裂区延伸的烈度区间与极震区烈度、震区环境之间存在密切关系,基于这种关系建立了2条经验准则,可分别用于根据烈度分布确定华北2类震区环境(基岩区和厚层第四纪松散堆积覆盖区)历史强震破裂区的位置与延伸。文中还提出通过综合地震构造、现代小震/余震分布等信息,辅助确定历史强震破裂区横向宽度的思路与途径。作为应用试验,文中确定了5次历史地震的破裂区,结果表明本文发展的经验准则及相应方法适用于华北地区历史强震破裂区的确定。     

板内大震原地准周期复发间隔的概率分布

以中国大陆大震原地复发资料为基础,采用比较合理的方法确定了板内大震在其活跃期内原地准确周期复发的概率密度函数,所得结果表明,板内大震在重复行为上具有板间特征地震相类似的分布特征,两者的差异在于,板内大震复发间隔的变分系数ＣＯＶ为０．２６,而板间特征地震的该值为０．２１５,即板内大震的重复间隔相对稍显离散。     

长江中游湖泊表层沉积物多环芳烃的分布、来源特征及其生态风险评价

为明确长江中游地区湖泊沉积物中多环芳烃（PAHs）的分布特征、来源及其生态风险,于2018年7月采集了该地区12个湖泊的表层沉积物样品.采用气相色谱-质谱联用仪（GC-MS）测定了沉积物中16种PAHs的含量.结果表明：12个湖泊沉积物中均检测出16种优控PAHs,PAHs的总含量在572.7~1766.2 ng/g （dw）之间（均值为976.5±285.0 ng/g （dw））.武汉市东湖沉积物中PAHs含量最高,达到1634.8±111.4 ng/g （dw）.与国内外其他地区湖泊沉积物相比,长江中游地区湖泊沉积物中PAHs含量高于国内偏远地区的抚仙湖、青海湖及博斯腾湖,低于东部地区的巢湖、太湖及美国经济工业发达地区的湖泊.根据单体PAH的聚类分析结果,12个湖泊可以分成3种类型,类型1主要以低环为主,占比为64.04%±7.02%,类型2低环和中高环分布相对平均,分别为50.76%±5.17%和49.24%±5.17%,类型3低、中、高环分布相对平均,占比分别为35.35%±3.56%、26.17%±0.45%和38.48%±3.84%.综合该区域PAHs的分布特征及异构体比值法与主成分分析法的结果表明,类型1湖泊沉积物中PAHs主要来源为煤炭、木材等生物质的燃烧源;类型2和类型3湖泊沉积物中PAHs主要来源为煤炭、木材等生物质的低温燃烧以及机动车等燃烧汽油、柴油的尾气排放和工业炼焦等化石燃料的高温燃烧源.沉积物中PAHs与总有机碳（TOC）之间显著的相关性表明,沉积物中TOC含量是影响长江中游湖泊沉积物中PAHs归趋分布的主要因素.长江中游流域湖泊沉积物中PAHs的RQ_NCs值均小于800,且RQ_MPCs值大于1的风险商值法生态风险评价结果表明,长江中游流域湖泊表层沉积物中PAHs整体呈中等风险水平.     

Climate change and soil erosion in a small alpine lake basin on the Loess Plateau,China

Multi‐proxy indices retrieved from sediments in Lake Chaonaqiu, an alpine lake on the western Loess Plateau (LP) of China, were used to reconstruct a precipitation history over the last ~300 years. The results correlate well with records from tree rings and historical documents in neighboring regions. We show that the lake oscillated between two states, i.e. wetter climatic conditions, which favored denser vegetation cover, and promoted weaker catchment soil erosion; and drier climatic conditions, which lead to less vegetation coverage, correlate with stronger surface soil erosion. Several intensive soil erosion events were identified in the sediment cores, and most of these occurred during decadal/multi‐decadal dry periods, and correlate well with flood events documented in historical literature. The results of this study show that soil erosion by flood events is particularly intense during dry periods, and further highlights the role of vegetation cover in the conservation of water and soil in small lake basins on the Chinese LP. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

设定地震及其烈度影响判别

设定地震常用于震害预测、地震小区划和重大工程选址,烈度衰减模型反映了地震引起的地面震动及其影响的强弱程度分布。设定地震包括确定性和非确定性设定两种方法,确定性方法基于构造或历史地震,非确定性方法是基于概率危险性方法,用于估计区域或城市未来可能遭遇的地震危险。缺失等震线或震害记载不详的历史地震和概率设定地震都不能确切地反映地震破坏影响,借助于烈度衰减关系模型和GIS,可直观地判别其影响分布情况,便于设定地震的取舍。     

Distribution of GDGTs in lake surface sediments on the Tibetan Plateau and its influencing factors

Quantitative paleotemperature records are vital not only for verifying and improving the accuracy of climate model simulations, but also for estimating the amplitude of temperature variability under global warming scenarios. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) affects atmospheric circulation patterns due to its unique geographical location and high elevation, and studies of the mechanisms of climate change on the TP are potentially extremely valuable for understanding the relationship of the region with the global climate system. With the development of biomarker-based proxies, it is possible to use lake sediments to quantitatively reconstruct past temperature variability. The source of Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers (GDGTs) in lake sediments is complex, and their distribution is controlled by both climatic and environmental factors. In this work, we sampled the surface sediments of 27 lakes on the TP and in addition obtained surface soil samples from six of the lake catchments. We analyzed the factors that influence GDGT distribution in the lake sediments, and established quantitative relationship between GDGTs and Mean Annual Air Temperature (MAAT). Our principal findings are as follows: the majority of GDGTs in the lake sediments are bGDGTs, followed by crenarchaeol and GDGT-0. In most of the lakes there were no significant differences between the GDGT distribution within the lake sediments and the soils in the same catchment, which indicates that the contribution of terrestrial material is important. iGDGTs in lake sediments are mainly influenced by water chemistry parameters (pH and salinity), and that in small lakes on the TP, TEX₈₆ may act as a potential proxy for lake pH; however, in contrast bGDGTs in the lake sediments are mainly controlled by climatic factors. Based on the GDGT distribution in the lake sediments, we used proxies (MBT, CBT) and the fractional abundance of bGDGTs (f_abun) to establish calibrations between GDGTs and MAAT, respectively, which potentially provide the basis for paleoclimatic reconstruction on the TP.     

长江中下游浅水湖泊沉积物腐殖质组分赋存特征

应用化学方法,对长江中下游浅水湖泊表层沉积物有机质含量、腐殖质组成及结合形态进行了研究.结果表明:①长江中下游浅水湖泊11个沉积物的有机质含量变化较大.在0.98%-11.0%之问波动.污染程度重的沉积物中有机质含量均较污染程度轻的高.其有机质的分布特征与沉积物污染程度和湖泊周边的人类活动有关.②腐殖质组成中,胡敏酸(...