Review of the neotectonics of the Eastern Turkish–Armenian Plateau by geomorphic analysis of digital elevation model imagery

Digital elevation model (DEM) images provide synoptic views of the Earth’s surface allowing the analysis of landforms of still active tectonic and volcanic structures at regional scale. A DEM at 250 m pixel size constitutes regional scale data particularly efficient to investigate the late Miocene–Quaternary deformation of the Eastern Turkish–Armenian Plateau in the Arabian–Eurasian area of convergence. Geomorphic analysis of the DEM image associated with review of fault-plane solutions of earthquakes show that faults are mostly strike-slip with small vertical component. Here we show that the orientations of the tectonic and volcanic structures fit with a tectonic regime characterized by N–S shortening and E–W lengthening, consistent with westward escape of Anatolia perpendicular to the direction of the Arabia–Eurasia shortening. The uniform uplift of the plateau, the predominance of strike-slip faulting, the lack of major thrusts and the occurrence of normal faults do not support a model of going-on crustal thickening due to intracontinental convergence. On the contrary, our observations can be better interpreted in terms of lithospheric thinning and mantle upwelling related to gravity escape of Anatolia.     

Early Estimation of Seismic Hazard for Strong Earthquakes in Taiwan

A shakemap system providing rapid estimates of strong ground shaking could be useful for emergency response providers in a damaging earthquake. A hybrid procedure, which combines site-dependent ground motion prediction models and the limited observations of the Real-Time Digital stream output system (RTD system operated by Central Weather Bureau, CWB), was set up to provide a high-resolution shakemap in a near-real-time manner after damaging earthquakes in Taiwan. One of the main factors that affect the result of ground motion prediction analysis is the existence of site effects. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the local site effects and their influence in the ground shaking and then establish an early estimation procedure of potential hazard for damaging earthquakes. Based on the attenuation law, the site effects of each TSMIP station are discussed in terms of a bias function that is site and intensity-level dependent function. The standard deviation of the site-dependent ground motion prediction model can be significantly reduced. The nonlinear behavior of ground soil is automatically taken into account in the intensity-level dependent bias function. Both the PGA and the spectral acceleration are studied in this study. Based on the RTD data, event correctors are calculated and applied to precisely estimate the shakemap of damaging earthquakes for emergency response.     

Analysis of Post-Failure Slope Movements within the Framework of Hazard and Risk Analysis

The paper first recalls briefly a methodological framework to assess landslide hazard and risk analysis in terms of predisposition, triggering andrevealing factors. This framework, that reflects the mechanisms involved in the landslide, is based on the Geotechnical Characterisation of slope movements proposed by Vaunat et al. (1994) and Leroueil et al. (1996). The Geotechnical Characterisation can be schematized by a 3-D matrix having the following axes: types of movement; types ofmaterial; and the four stages of movement: pre-failure, failure, post-failure andreactivation. For each relevant element of this 3-D matrix, there is a characterisationsheet including: the controlling laws and parameters, the predisposition factors, thetriggering or aggravating factors, the revealing factors and the consequences of the movement. The paper focuses afterwards on the post-failure stage, which generallyis the most destructive, and on the mobility index. It is shown that this laterindex can be described as the product of sub-indices associated with failure, brittlenessof the material, ability of the soil to develop pore pressures, geometry of the moving soil mass and characteristics of the terrain. It is also shown how these aspectscan be incorporated into the Geotechnical characterisation of slope movements. This seems to provide a rational basis for examining slope movements at the post-failure stage and assessing associated risks.     

Water quality variation and clam growth: Is pH really a non-issue in estuaries?

A tandem deployment system was used to critically evaluate relationships between important water chemistry parameters (pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen) and biotic performance based on clam growth. The effects of environmental conditions on growth of juvenile clams,Mercenaria mercenaria, were determined after 7-day field deployments in cages at reference sites from 1998 to 2000. Continuous measurements of the overlying water chemistry parameters were monitored by deploying an in situ water quality instrument (Hydrolab Datasonde) at the same time. While salinity was identified as an important determinant of clam growth over wide salinity ranges (10–35‰), pH was also found to be a very important parameter, especially in low-salinity regimes (<25‰). Average pH measurements ranged from 7.2 to 7.8; minimal pHs ranged from 6.9 to 7.6. The results indicated that when average pH levels fell below 7.5 or minimum pH levels fell below 7.2, growth rates were <50% that of clams deployed under higher pH conditions. Estuarine systems are generally perceived as being well-buffered so pH is frequently assumed to be unimportant, but our results suggest that pH levels can decline in estuarine systems to levels that can adversely affect biological responses. The potential impacts on biological resources of even moderate decreases in pH, particularly in systems that naturally tend to have lower pH conditions, may be more important than previously realized.     

Where the buffalo roam: Boundaries and the politics of scale in the yellowstone region

For more than twenty years, the state of Montana has pursued a controversial policy of lethal control to manage winter migrations of bison from Yellowstone National Park. In the late 1990s, as the state and a number of federal agencies attempted to cooperatively outline a more palatable scenario for bison management, local environmental groups became active participants in the debate. This paper examines the strategies pursued by these organizations in the course of their attempt to construct a new, ecosystem-level territorial space and jurisdictional scale for bison, and places their struggle within the context of existing work in geography on the politics of scale. Ultimately, the failure of their efforts illustrates some of the important constraints faced by social groups that attempt to create new territorial regimes and new scales of resistance in the interstices of existing political structures.     

Fitness-for-Purpose of Reference Material Reference Values in Relation to Traceability of Measurement, as Illustrated by USGS BCR-1, NIST SRM 610 and IAEA NBS28

As in all fields of sample analysis, reference materials play a large role in supporting measurements in the geosciences. While a rather large number of materials are in distribution (> 380), not all are equally effective or fit-for-purpose in supporting laboratory data quality and thereby assuring the desired comparability of measurements between laboratories. Equally important, reference values that are not fit-for-purpose cannot be used effectively to establish traceability links between laboratory measurements and national and international standards. The needed fitness-for-purpose is not achieved for reference values either when more than one reference value has been proposed and a consensus does not exist among users as to which should be used by all, or when reference value uncertainties are too large in comparison to those of routine laboratory measurements. The focus of this review will be, first to outline the current reality, and second to suggest ways in which certifications of RMs can be improved to provide reference values that are universally accepted and more fit-for-purpose in general laboratory use. The discussion will be illustrated largely by current uses of USGS BCR-1, NIST SRM 610 and IAEA NBS28, as these three materials are those for which the largest body of newly published data exists, according to recent bibliographies of the geoanalytical literature published annually in Geostandards Newsletter: The Journal of Geostandards and Geoanalysis.     

Sediment yield and storage variations in the Négron River catchment (south western Parisian Basin,France) during the Holocene period

In the Négron River catchment area (162 km²), surface‐sediment stores are composed of periglacial calcareous ‘grèze’ (5 × 10⁶ t) and loess (21 × 10⁶ t), and Holocene alluvium (12·6 × 10⁶ t), peat (0·6 × 10⁶ t) and colluvium (18·5 × 10⁶ t). Seventy‐five per cent of the Holocene sediments is stored along the thalwegs. Present net sediment yield, calculated from solid discharge at the Négron outlet, is low (0·6 t km^?2 a^?1) due to the dominance of carbonate rocks in the catchment. Mean sediment yield during the Holocene period is 7·0 t km^?2 a^?1 from alluvium stores and 7·6 t km^?2 a^?1 from colluvium stores. Thus, the gross sediment yield during the Holocene period is about 18·7 t km^?2 a^?1 and the sediment delivery ratio 3 per cent. The yield considerably varies from one sub‐basin to another (3·9 to 24·5 t km^?2 a^?1) according to lithology: about 25 per cent and 50 per cent of initial stores of periglacial grèze and loess respectively were reworked during the Holocene period. Sediment yield has increased by a factor of 6 in the last 1000 years, due to the development of agriculture. The very high rate of sediment storage on the slope during that period (88 per cent of the yield) can be accounted for by the formation of cultivation steps (‘rideaux’). It is predicted that the current destruction of these steps will result in a sediment wave reaching the valley floors in the coming decades. Subboreal and Subatlantic sediments and pollen assemblages in the Taligny marsh, where one‐third of the alluvium is stored, show the predominant influence of human activity during these periods in the Négron catchment. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.