Tagung der Internationalen Union für Geodäsie und Geophysik in Brüssel vom 20. August bis 2. September 1951

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Socotra Island,Yemen: field survey of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

The tsunami of 26th December 2004 severely affected Yemen’s Socotra Island with a death at a distance of 4,600 km from the epicenter of the Magnitude 9.0 earthquake. Yemen allowed a detailed assessment of the far-field impact of a tsunami in the main propagation direction. The UNESCO mission surveyed 12 impacted towns on the north and south shores covering from the east to the west tip of Socotra. The international team members were on the ground in Yemen from 11 to 19 October 2006. The team measured tsunami run-up heights and inundation distances based on the location of watermarks on buildings and eyewitness accounts. Maximum run-up heights were typically on the order of 2–6 m. Each measurement was located by means of global positioning systems (GPS) and photographed. Numerous eyewitness interviews were recorded on video. The tsunami impact on Socotra is compared with other locations along the shores of the Indian Ocean.     

Fault slip analysis in the Koralm Massif (Eastern Alps) and consequences for the final uplift of “cold spots” in Miocene times

The Paleogene and Neogene evolution of Austroalpine basement units east of the Tauern Window is characterised by the formation of two major sets of faults: (1) ESE–WNW- to E–W-trending faults, associated with ENE- and NNW-trending conjugate structures and (2) N–S to NNE-SSW striking structures, mainly acting as high-angle normal faults, often associated with E-dipping low-angle normal faults along the western margin of the Styrian Basin.Together with the stratigraphic evolution of the Styrian and Lavanttal Basins and the related subsidence histories a tectonic evolution may be reconstructed for this part of the Eastern Alps. In the southern part of the Koralm Massif, WNW-trending fractures were activated as dextral strike-slip faults, associated with the evolution of WNW-trending troughs filled up with coarse block debris. W- to WNW-trending fractures were reactivated as normal faults, indicating N–S extension. It is assumed that these phases resulted in subsidence and block debris sedimentation in Karpatian and Badenian times (ca. 17–13 Ma).In the Western Styrian Basin no Sarmatian (13–11.5 Ma) sediments are observed; Pannonian (11.5 to 7.1 Ma) sediments are restricted to the Eastern Styrian Basin. This indicates, that the Koralm basement and the Western Styrian Basin were affected by post-Sarmatian uplift, coinciding with a re-activation of N-trending normal faults along the eastern margin of the Koralm Massif. Therefore, we suggest that the final uplift of the Koralm Complex, partly together with the Western Styrian Basin, occurred during the early Pannonian (at approximately 10 Ma). The elevation of clastic deposits indicates that the Koralm Complex was elevated by approximately 800 m during this phase, associated with an additional phase of E–W-directed extension accommodated by N–S striking normal faults.     

Oscillating peat surface levels in a restiad peatland,New Zealand—magnitude and spatiotemporal variability

Hydrology, particularly the water table position below the surface (relative water level, RWL), is an important control on biogeochemical and ecological processes in peatlands. The surface elevation (SE) in a peatland oscillates in response to changes in effective stress on the peat matrix mainly caused by water level fluctuations. This phenomenon is called peatland surface oscillation (PSO). To investigate the spatiotemporal variability of PSO, surface elevation and the water level above sea level (AWL) were measured monthly (23 sites) over one year in a warm‐temperate restiad peatland, New Zealand. At one site peat surface elevation was measured indirectly by monitoring AWL and RWL continuously with pressure transducers. Annual PSO (the difference between maximum and minimum surface elevation) ranged from 3·2 to 28 cm (mean = 14·9 cm). Surface elevation changes were caused by AWL fluctuations. Spatially homogenous AWL fluctuations (mean 40 cm among sites) translated into RWL fluctuations reduced 27–56% by PSO except for three sites with shallow and dense peat at the peatland margin (7–17%). The SE‐AWL relationship was linear for 15 sites. However, eight sites showed significantly higher rates of surface elevation changes during the wet season and thus a non‐linear behaviour. We suggest flotation of upper peat layers during the wet season causing this non‐linear behaviour. Surprisingly, PSO was subjected to hysteresis: the positive SE‐AWL relationship reversed after rainfall when the surface slowly rose despite rapidly receding AWL. Hysteresis was more prominent during the dry season than during the wet season. Total peat thickness and bulk density together could only explain 50% of the spatial variability of PSO based on manual measurements. However, we found three broad types of SE‐AWL relationships differing in shape and slope of SE‐AWL curves. These oscillation types reflected patterns in vegetation and flooding. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reducing climate risk for micro-insurance providers in Africa: A case study of Ethiopia

Recurrent climate hazards challenge subsistence farmers in developing countries. Reliance on various diversification strategies and traditional risk sharing among kin and families has serious limitations, such as the problem of covariate risk within such networks. Index-based crop insurance could help to reduce people's climate-related risk, but raising the necessary capital to make insurance schemes financially secure is difficult for micro-insurance providers. We examine the extent to which spatial pooling of micro-insurance schemes could reduce these capital requirements. We simulate a hypothetical insurance market operating in Ethiopia, using rainfall data and yield estimates for 15 stations. By performing a Monte Carlo analysis, risk capital required to keep the probability of financial ruin below a threshold value is identified. We investigate the marginal benefits of pooling increasing numbers of sites, as well as the relationship between the benefits of pooling and the spatial covariance of rainfall. We find spatial diversification to offer considerable savings in required capitalization with as few as three sites pooled, as well as a weak but significant relationship between rainfall covariance and those benefits. The results suggest that spatial pooling may be an attractive option for micro-insurers, worthy of a detailed case-by-case analysis when designing index-insurance schemes.     

Migration dynamics of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) and response to spring environmental variability in the southeastern Bering Sea

In the southeastern Bering Sea, Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) migrate from the Pribilof Islands region where they overwinter, to the Alaska coast where they spawn in spring. The migration sustains a nearshore commercial fishery that targets roe-bearing females just prior to spawning. Herring also are taken as bycatch in groundfish trawl fisheries, where time and area closures in these fisheries are triggered by herring bycatch caps. Using herring bycatch data collected since the 1970s by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observers aboard groundfish fishing vessels, a retrospective analysis was conducted to describe the seasonal migration pattern of Pacific herring in the southeastern Bering Sea and to study its spatial and temporal variability. Observed changes in herring catch per unit of effort were compared with variability in climate and oceanographic conditions. The seasonal migration is complex, but annual shifts in migration routes and a possible northward shift of the overwintering grounds was identified. Pre-spawning herring aggregated in different areas depending on whether spawning occurred early or late in spring. The thermal structure of the ocean around the ice edge appears to influence herring migration timing and route as well as spawning date. Thus, on the basis of recent changes in sea-ice extent and duration, we suggest that the herring bycatch savings area that was developed from data collected in the 1980s should be revised to reflect prevailing conditions.     

Synchronous climatic change inferred from diatom records in four western Montana lakes in the U.S. Rocky Mountains

Late-Holocene environmental and climatic conditions were reconstructed from diatom assemblages in sediment cores from four western Montana lakes: Crevice Lake, Foy Lake, Morrison Lake, and Reservoir Lake. The lakes show synchroneity in timing of shifts in diatom community structure, but the nature of these changes differs among the lakes. Two of the sites provide highly resolved records of hydrologic balance, while the other two stratigraphic sequences primarily record temperature impact on lake thermal structure. All four lakes show significant change in five discrete intervals: 2200–2100, 1700–1600, 1350–1200, 800–600, and 250 cal yr BP. The similarities in the timing of change suggest overlying regional climatic influences on lake dynamics. The 800–600 cal yr BP shift is evident in other paleorecords throughout the Great Plains and western US, associated with the transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to the Little Ice Age. Large-scale climatic mechanisms that influence these lake environments may result from atmospheric circulation patterns that are driven by interactions between Pacific and Atlantic sea-surface temperatures, which are then locally modified by topography.