Clinopyroxene megacrysts from Enmelen melanephelinitic volcanoes (Chukchi Peninsula,Russia): application to composition and evolution of mantle melts

Clinopyroxene megacrysts from young melanephelinitic lavas were divided into Cr-rich and Cr-poor suites. Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic ratios of leached megacrysts and host lava are indistinguishable from each other and indicate a depleted source. Host lavas do not display chemical evidence for significant fractional crystallization, which is required to explain the compositional range of the megacrysts. This rules out a simple cognate genetic relationship between the two, and strictly defines megacrysts as xenocrysts. The well-defined correlations of trace elements with the Mg-numbers in the megacrysts are interpreted as the result of extensive fractional/equilibrium crystallization of magma over a large temperature range at near isobaric condition in the upper mantle. Trace element variations in megacrysts are consistent with fractional crystallization of clinopyroxene alone for the Cr-rich suite, and clinopyroxene + garnet for the Cr-poor suite from at least two bathes of related melts. Megacrysts parent magma might represent mantle melts, which were never erupted in their initial composition.     

A coupled-mode model for the refraction–diffraction of linear waves over steep three-dimensional bathymetry

A consistent coupled-mode model recently developed by Athanassoulis and Belibassakis [1], is generalized in 2+1 dimensions and applied to the diffraction of small-amplitude water waves from localized three-dimensional scatterers lying over a parallel-contour bathymetry. The wave field is decomposed into an incident field, carrying out the effects of the background bathymetry, and a diffraction field, with forcing restricted on the surface of the localized scatterer(s). The vertical distribution of the wave potential is represented by a uniformly convergent local-mode series containing, except of the ususal propagating and evanescent modes, an additional mode, accounting for the sloping bottom boundary condition. By applying a variational principle, the problem is reduced to a coupled-mode system of differential equations in the horizontal space. To treat the unbounded domain, the Berenger perfectly matched layer model is optimized and used as an absorbing boundary condition. Computed results are compared with other simpler models and verified against experimental data. The inclusion of the sloping-bottom mode in the representation substantially accelerates its convergence, and thus, a few modes are enough to obtain accurately the wave potential and velocity up to and including the boundaries, even in steep bathymetry regions. The present method provides high-quality information concerning the pressure and the tangential velocity at the bottom, useful for the study of oscillating bottom boundary layer, sea-bed movement and sediment transport studies.     

Pinios (Peneus) River (Central Greece): Hydrological — Geomorphological elements and changes during the quaternary

The Pinios River is the third longest river of Greece. It drains the entire drainage basin of Thessaly (eastern part of Central Greece), part of which is the largest plain of the country. In this research the hydrological, geomorphological and geological characteristics of the riverine area of Pinios were studied. Classification and grouping of these characteristics were then carried out, which led to the segmentation of the Pinios River into seven sections, each one with its own set of thematic data. These sets assign separate functions and evolutions of the river system during the Quaternary. Specifically, the basin of the present Pinios River, before its evolution into a river basin, comprised three separate and independent systems. The present Pinios River emerged as a river system from the merging of the lacustrine paleoenvironments along with the major tributaries that drained large parts of the present hydrological basin and as soon as the karstic openings of the central hill valley and the Tempi valley took place during the Quaternary. The followed methodology for the segmentation of the river can be used for the study of heterogeneous river systems.     

The POSEIDON Nearshore Wave Model and its Application to the Prediction of the Wave Conditions in the Nearshore/Coastal Region of the Greek Seas

In the present work, the Poseidon Nearshore Wave Model (PNWM) developed in the framework of the POSEIDON project 1 , and its application to the prediction of the wave conditions in nearshore/coastal regions of Greek seas is presented. The PNWM is based on a one-way energy coupling between a third-generation, phase-averaged, nearshore wave model and a local phase-resolving model, nested in the first model. The local wave model is supported by the consistent coupled-mode theory, based on an enhanced local-mode representation of the wave velocity field, which except for the propagating and the evanescent modes includes an additional mode, permitting the exact satisfaction of the sloping-bottom boundary condition, even in areas with locally steep bottom slope and large curvature. Thus, three-dimensional diffraction effects are fully treated in the local nested area. Numerical results are presented demonstrating the application of the PNWM to nearshore and coastal sites of the Greek seas.     

An estimate of probabilistic seismic hazard for five cities in Greece by using the parametric-historic procedure

A probabilistic procedure was applied to assess seismic hazard for the sites of five Greek cities (Athens, Heraklion, Patras, Thessaloniki and Volos) using peak ground acceleration as the hazard parameter. The methodology allows the use of either historical or instrumental data, or a combination of both. It has been developed specifically for the estimation of seismic hazard at a given site and does not require any specification of seismic sources or/and seismic zones. A new relation for the attenuation of peak ground acceleration was employed for the shallow seismicity in Greece. The computations involved the area- and site-specific parts. When assessing magnitude recurrence for the areas surrounding the five cities, the maximum magnitude, m_max, was estimated using a recently derived equation. The site-specific results were expressed as probabilities that a given peak ground acceleration value will be exceeded at least once during a time interval of 1, 50 and 100 years at the sites of the cities. They were based on the maximum peak ground acceleration values computed by assuming the occurrence of the strongest possible earthquake (of magnitude m_max) at a very short distance from the site and using the mean value obtained with the help of the attenuation law. This gave 0.24 g for Athens, 0.53 g for Heraklion (shallow) and 0.39 g Heraklion (intermediate-depth seismicity), 0.30 g for Patras, 0.35 g for Thessaloniki and 0.30 g for Volos. In addition, the probabilities of exceedance of the estimated maximum peak ground acceleration values were calculated for the sites. The standard deviation of the new Greek attenuation law demonstrates the uncertainty and large variation of predicted peak ground acceleration values.