On the causes of landslides: Human activities,perception, and natural processes

Conceptual equations are presented for the net benefits, total risk, and total vulnerability associated with hazard zone occupation. It is shown that, as they are polycausal phenomena, landslides require a more sophisticated approach to this form of analysis than that employed for most other forms of hazard.Three examples of landsliding are examined. At Cuyocuyo, in the Peruvian Cordillera Oriental, slope instability is virtually inevitable, but human intervention may be disturbing some very fragile natural equilibria. At Calciano, in southern Italy, deforestation has resulted in a mudflow disaster, although man-made factors are not the only causes at work. Finally, in the Valle dell'Orco (also in southern Italy) demographic and agrarian change have aided the partial metamorphosis of the catchment into a large-scale mudflow complex (although the longer-term causes are natural, tectonic ones). These examples illustrate parts of the continuum that extends from dominant natural to dominant anthropogenic causes.Human intervention has played a key role in stimulating the natural antecedents of landslides occurring in the study areas. It is concluded that risk perception has not been wide enough to promote adequate risk mitigation, in part because of a failure properly to conceive of landslides as polycausal phenomena, in which man-made causes effectively cannot—and should not—be separated from natural ones.     

The role of choke points in the ocean context

Choke points are narrow international waterways where three characteristics are present. The waterway should be narrow and capable of being closed off to both commercial and military snipping. There should be no readily available maritime route to utilize in the event of closure. Finally, the choke point should be of considerable significance to at least several States. This article identifies seven “primary” choke points which seem to satisfy these criteria. These are Gibraltar, Bab el Mandeb, Hormuz, the Danish and Turkish Straits, and the Suez and Panama Canals. It also identifies eleven “secondary” choke points, where at least one of the reouired characteristics is missing. The eleven include Dover, Bering and Magellan Straits, as well as Malacca-Singapore and a number of others in the Western Pacific. Turning to a consideration of the status of choke points in a Post-Cold War era, the article notes four basic assumptions: (1) the intense military rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union will be reduced in coming years; (2) for many countries marine-related environmental concerns may be increasing considerably; (3) as the Cold War recedes, regional contests and confrontations will grow more intense; and (4) the overall densities of water-borne traffic will undergo change as the relative economic growth of regional centers changes. The article then considers the potential impact of these trends on the future role of choke points.     

Thermal analysis in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell

A new technique actively controls thermal radiation and monitors sample properties during laser-heating in a diamond anvil cell. The technique can be described as a qualitative application of thermal analysis. Discontinuities in temperature, laser power, visible thermal radiation, or in their derivatives as functions of time can be associated with the enthalpy of phase transitions (such as melting) or with changes in maternal properties (such as emissivity).The technique is illustrated with melting experiments on iron-magnesium-silicate perovskite. Temperature corrections associated with these experiments are discussed and the results are briefly reviewed.     

Zur Frage der Geschwindigkeit des Deckenschubes

Zusammenfassung In den folgenden Ausführungen werden Daten über die Geschwindigkeit der Bewegung von Schubdecken in der Hauptbewegungsphase geliefert. Die hierfür verwendeten Beispiele stammen aus den Ostalpen und Westkarpaten. Eine sichere Geschwindigkeits-Bestimmung ist derzeit noch nicht durchführbar. Es können aber Minimalbewegungswerte von etwa 1,5 mm/Jahr errechnet werden. Die reale Transportgeschwindigkeit könnte auch wesentlich höher liegen, vielleicht bei 10–20 mm/Jahr.

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This paper presents facts pertaining to the velocity of the overthrust of nappes during a tectonical phase by means of examples from the Eastern Alps and the Western Carpathians. An exact determination of this velocity is still not possible. One can calculate minimum values of near 1,5 mm/year. The real velocity of the overthrusts of nappes might be much higher, perhaps 10–20 mm/year.

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Résumé L'article expose des données sur la vitesse des mouvements des nappes de charriage pendant la phase principale de transport. Les exemples présentés proviennent des Alpes orientales et des Carpathes occidentales. Il n'est pas possible jusqu'à présent de faire une détermination plus exacte de cette vitesse. Mais on peut calculer un minimum de transport d'environ 1,5 mm/an. La vitesse réelle des mouvements de translation pourrait même être nettement plus élevée, et atteindre peut-être 10–20 mm/ an.

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. . . 1,5 /. , 10–20 /.

     

Results of deep seismic soundings along international profile VII in Czechoslovakia and poland

Summary The paper deals with the results of DSS measurements along international profile VII, carried out by Czechoslovak and Polish geophysicists in 1970 – 71. The profile situation is shown in Fig. 1. By 1971 part of the profile in the region of the Bohemian Massif between points 1 and 3 and in Poland between points 5 and 7 had been surveyed (Fig. 2). The seismograms were used to construct the travel-time curves of the fundamental types of waves P^K, P^M, P_n (Fig. 4). The mean velocities were computed from the travel-time curves of the reflected waves (P^M and P^K) and the refracted waves (P_g). Isolines of the mean velocities could be constructed for the region of the Bohemian Massif (Fig. 6). The velocity data found were used for the depth interpretation of the travel-time curves of the principal types of waves and to construct a seismic section (Fig. 8). In the region of the Pre-Sudeten block the thickness of the crust was found to be 34–37 km, and in the Sudeten it increased to 40 km. Towards the south the thickness of the crust gradually reduces to 30 km in the system of the Luice faults. In the Bohemian Cretaceous the thickness of the crust is about 30 km. Further to the south, in the region of the Moldanubicum, the thickness of the Earth's crust increases rapidly, and at the southern border of the Central Bohemian pluton it reaches values of about 42 km.     

Constructing the Coronal Magnetic Field By Correlating Parameterized Magnetic Field Lines With Observed Coronal Plasma Structures

A method is presented for constructing the coronal magnetic field from photospheric magnetograms and observed coronal loops. A set of magnetic field lines generated from magnetogram data is parameterized and then deformed by varying the parameterized values. The coronal flux tubes associated with this field are adjusted until the correlation between the field lines and the observed coronal loops is maximized. A mathematical formulation is described which ensures that (i) the normal component of the photospheric field remains unchanged, (ii) the field is given in the entire corona over an active region, (iii) the field remains divergence-free, and (iv) electric currents are introduced into the field. It is demonstrated that a parameterization of a potential field, comprising a radial stretching of the field, can provide a match for a simple bipolar active region, AR 7999, which crossed the central meridian on 1996 November 26. The result is a non-force-free magnetic field with the Lorentz force being of the order of 10^–5.5 g cm s^–2 resulting from an electric current density of 0.079 A m^–2. Calculations show that the plasma beta becomes larger than unity at a relatively low height of 0.25 r supporting the non-force-free conclusion. The presence of such strong non-radial currents requires large transverse pressure gradients to maintain a magnetostatic atmosphere, required by the relatively persistent nature of the coronal structures observed in AR 7999. This scheme is an important tool in generating a magnetic field solution consistent with the coronal flux tube observations and the observed photospheric magnetic field.     

Major and trace elements in igneous rocks from apollo 15

The concentrations of major and trace elements have been determined in igneous rocks from Apollo 15. All materials analyzed have typical depletions of Eu except for minerals separated from sample 15085. Four samples have concentrations of trace elements that are similar to those of KREEP. The samples of mare basalt from Apollo 15 have higher concentrations of FeO, MgO, Mn, and Cr and lower concentrations of CaO, Na₂O, K₂O, and rare-earth elements (REE) as compared to the samples of mare basalt from Apollos 11, 12, and 14. The samples can be divided into two groups on the basis of their normative compositions. One group is quartz normative and has low concentrations of FeO while the other is olivine normative and has high concentrations of FeO. The trace element data indicate that the samples of olivine normative basalt could be from different portions of a single lava flow. At least two and possible three parent magmas can be identified from the samples of the quartz normative group on the basis of their concentration ratios of Sm to Eu. Within each group, the compositions of the samples appear to be related by crystallization of olivine or pyroxene. Significant variations of the ratio of concentration of Sm to Eu cannot be produced without plagioclase-liquid equilibrium. The source material of mare basalt may be depleted in Eu. Alternatively, the magmas may have assimilated a small volume of material similar to KREEP.Paper dedicated to Prof. Harold C. Urey on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 29 April 1973.