Fatal landslides in Europe

Landslides are a major hazard causing human and large economic losses worldwide. However, the quantification of fatalities and casualties is highly underestimated and incomplete, thus, the estimation of landslide risk is rather ambitious. Hence, a spatio-temporal distribution of deadly landslides is presented for 27 European countries over the last 20  years (1995–2014). Catastrophic landslides are widely distributed throughout Europe, however, with a great concentration in mountainous areas. In the studied period, a total of 1370 deaths and 784 injuries were reported resulting from 476 landslides. Turkey showed the highest fatalities with 335. An increasing trend of fatal landslides is observed, with a pronounced number of fatalities in the latest period from 2008 to 2014. The latter are mostly triggered by natural extreme events such as storms (i.e., heavy rainfall), earthquakes, and floods and only minor by human activities, such as mining and excavation works. Average economic loss per year in Europe is approximately 4.7 billion Euros. This study serves as baseline information for further risk mapping by integrating deadly landslide locations, local land use data, and will therefore help countries to protect human lives and property.     

Paleoclimatic implications of late quaternary lacustrine sediments in Western Nubia, Sudan

Owing to the hypercontinental location of Western Nubia, secular fluctuations of climate have been filtered and wet phases can be considered as representative of conditions throughout the southeastern Sahara. The study area is crossed by the 20-mm isohyet; between 9300 and about 4000 yr B.P., however, there were widespread lake and swamp environments with freshwater molluscs, ostracods, and diatoms, and a species-rich savanna mammal fauna. The center of the West Nubian Basin (approx. 18°N), an area of about 20,000 km², was occupied by a semiaquatic landscape which was situated at the same latitude as Paleolake Chad. From extensive lake carbonates up to about 4 m thick, a long-term rise of the groudwater table is inferred. Environments developed that now exist at about latitude 13°N. Radiocarbon dates from lake sediment sequences cluster between 30,000 and 21,000 yr B.P., indicating a Pleistocene wet phase. A gap in radiocarbon dates between 21,000 and 11,000 yr B.P. signals a phase of hyperaridity, similar to the present hyperarid phase, with eolian deflation and deposits of sand being the dominant forms of erosion and accumulation.     

Enrichment of redox-sensitive trace metals (U,V, Mo,As) associated with the late Hauterivian Faraoni oceanic anoxic event

The Faraoni Level is a short-lived oxygen-deficient event that took place during the latest Hauterivian. In order to improve our understanding of the palaeoenvironmental conditions that occurred during this event, we have analysed the contents of several redox-sensitive trace elements (U, V, Mo, As, Co, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb, Cr) from bulk limestone samples of late Hauterivian–early Barremian age from three reference sections. U, V, Mo and As show consistent and significant enrichments during the Faraoni event whereas the other redox-sensitive trace elements analysed here are not systematically enriched. In order to explain this discrepant behaviour, we propose that the Faraoni Level was deposited during a period of anoxic conditions near the sediment–water interface. The distinctive peaks in U, V, Mo and As contents are traceable throughout the three studied sections and represent a good correlation tool which helps to identify the Faraoni Level and its equivalents in the western Tethyan realm and outside of the Tethys. For example, a peak in U contents in upper Hauterivian sediments of the northwestern Pacific realm (ODP leg 185, site 1149) may well be an expression of the Faraoni event in this particular basin.     

The use of maximum entropy to increase the informational content of hydrological networks by additional gauges

ABSTRACT

The optimization and extension of existing gauging networks are a challenging task, which can be done under consideration of many different aspects. One possibility is to maximize the obtained information on regional hydrological characteristics by new gauges compared to existing ones. For this, information theory approaches are most suitable. Here, the principle of maximum entropy is applied to calculate the probability of non-similarity of catchments to determine locations of new gauges according to the catchment characteristics that are most relevant for the hydrological conditions. The realization in an interactive application, provided online, makes use easy for practitioners and scientists. Goodness-of-fit measures are applied to investigate the explanatory power of the model and the contribution of each characteristic to the model, which gives information on the most influential properties of the catchment. The relevance of the proposed approach is proven by comparing hydrological signatures between similar and non-similar catchment.     

Middle to Late Pleistocene environments based on stable organic carbon and nitrogen isotopes of loess-palaeosol sequences from the Carpathian Basin

Stable organic carbon and nitrogen isotopes can be used to interpret past vegetation patterns and ecosystem qualities. Here we present these proxies for two loess-palaeosol sequences from the southern Carpathian Basin to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment during the past 350 ka and establish regional commonalities and differences. Before now, isotopic studies on loess sequences from this region were only conducted on deposits from the last glacial cycle. We conducted methodological tests involving the complete decalcification of the samples prior to stable isotope analyses. Two decalcification methods (fumigation method and wet chemical acidification), different treatment times, and the reproducibility of carbon isotope analyses were tested. Obtained results indicate that the choice of the decalcification method is important for organic carbon stable isotope analyses of loess-palaeosol sequences because ratios vary by more than 10‰ between the wet chemical and fumigation methods, due to incomplete carbonate removal by the latter. Therefore, we suggest avoiding the fumigation method for studies on loess-palaeosol sequences. In addition, our data show that samples with TOC content <0.2% bear increased potential for misinterpretation of their carbon isotope ratios. For our sites, C₃-vegetation is predominant and no palaeoenvironmental shifts leading to a change of the dominant photosynthesis pathway can be detected during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. Furthermore, the importance of further stable nitrogen isotope studies is highlighted, since this proxy seems to reflect past precipitation patterns and reveals favourable conditions in the southern Carpathian Basin, especially during interstadials.     

Late Quaternary palæoecology and palæoclimates of the eastern Sahara

Latest field research and palæoenvironmental reconstructions have revealed that within less than 6000 years the eastern Sahara experienced a dramatic climatic change similar to that in the western Sahara, passing from hyperaridity to semi-aridity (dry savanna) to its present hyperarid state. Groundwater levels started to rise about 9300 years before present (¹⁴C years BP), leading to the formation of a mosaic of freshwater lakes and swamps. Within a few decades, the aquifers were loaded and the palæopiezometric surface was as much as 25 m higher than it is today. The uplands generated up to 800 km long fluvial systems, which put an end to the endorheic drainage of the region and functioned as migration paths for large savanna mammals. These wetter conditions persisted in Western Nubia during the Holocene until ca 5000 years BP The climatic deterioration began around 5700 years BP as shown by evaporitic sediments. Reversal events prior to aridification during the Late Holocene were not recorded systematically in the sediments of the eastern Sahara because of the stability of the ecosystems. Changes in land-surface conditions such as palæolakes, swamps and vegetation created water vapour sources that generated local rainfall and buffered short dry spells. Radiocarbon-dated charcoal indicates that Neolithic human occupation culminated during this Early Holocene wet phase and ended ca 2000 years after the fading of the wet phase at about 3000 years BP, when the shallow aquifers were exhausted.     

Two large earthquakes in western Switzerland in the sixteenth century: 1524 in Ardon (VS) and 1584 in Aigle (VD)

The Valais is the most seismically active region of Switzerland. Strong damaging events occurred in 1755, 1855, and 1946. Based on historical documents, we discuss two known damaging events in the sixteenth century: the 1524 Ardon and the 1584 Aigle earthquakes. For the 1524, a document describes damage in Ardon, Plan-Conthey, and Savièse, and a stone tablet at the new bell tower of the Ardon church confirms the reconstruction of the bell tower after the earthquake. Additionally, a significant construction activity in the Upper Valais churches during the second quarter of the sixteenth century is discussed that however cannot be clearly related to this event. The assessed moment magnitude Mw of the 1524 event is 5.8, with an error of about 0.5 units corresponding to one standard deviation. The epicenter is at 46.27 N, 7.27 E with a high uncertainty of about 50 km corresponding to one standard deviation. The assessed moment magnitude Mw of the 1584 main shock is 5.9, with an error of about 0.25 units corresponding to one standard deviation. The epicenter is at 46.33 N and 6.97 E with an uncertainty of about 25 km corresponding to one standard deviation. Exceptional movements in the Lake Geneva wreaked havoc along the shore of the Rhone delta. The large dimension of the induced damage can be explained by an expanded subaquatic slide with resultant tsunami and seiche in Lake Geneva. The strongest of the aftershocks occurred on March 14 with magnitude 5.4 and triggered a destructive landslide covering the villages Corbeyrier and Yvorne, VD.     

Time-domain sparsity promoting least-squares reverse time migration with source estimation

Least-squares reverse-time migration is well known for its capability to generate artefact-free true-amplitude subsurface images through fitting observed data in the least-squares sense. However, when applied to realistic imaging problems, this approach is faced with issues related to overfitting and excessive computational costs induced by many wave-equation solves. The fact that the source function is unknown complicates this situation even further. Motivated by recent results in stochastic optimization and transform-domain sparsity promotion, we demonstrate that the computational costs of inversion can be reduced significantly while avoiding imaging artefacts and restoring amplitudes. While powerful, these new approaches do require accurate information on the source-time function, which is often lacking. Without this information, the imaging quality deteriorates rapidly. We address this issue by presenting an approach where the source-time function is estimated on the fly through a technique known as variable projection. Aside from introducing negligible computational overhead, the proposed method is shown to perform well on imaging problems with noisy data and problems that involve complex settings such as salt. In either case, the presented method produces high-resolution high-amplitude fidelity images including an estimate for the source-time function. In addition, due to its use of stochastic optimization, we arrive at these images at roughly one to two times the cost of conventional reverse-time migration involving all data.     

In search of the Earth‐forming reservoir: Mineralogical,chemical, and isotopic characterizations of the ungrouped achondrite NWA 5363/NWA 5400 and selected chondrites

High‐precision isotope data of meteorites show that the long‐standing notion of a “chondritic uniform reservoir” is not always applicable for describing the isotopic composition of the bulk Earth and other planetary bodies. To mitigate the effects of this “isotopic crisis” and to better understand the genetic relations of meteorites and the Earth‐forming reservoir, we performed a comprehensive petrographic, elemental, and multi‐isotopic (O, Ca, Ti, Cr, Ni, Mo, Ru, and W) study of the ungrouped achondrites NWA 5363 and NWA 5400, for both of which terrestrial O isotope signatures were previously reported. Also, we obtained isotope data for the chondrites Pillistfer (EL6), Allegan (H6), and Allende (CV3), and compiled available anomaly data for undifferentiated and differentiated meteorites. The chemical compositions of NWA 5363 and NWA 5400 are strikingly similar, except for fluid mobile elements tracing desert weathering. We show that NWA 5363 and NWA 5400 are paired samples from a primitive achondrite parent‐body and interpret these rocks as restite assemblages after silicate melt extraction and siderophile element addition. Hafnium‐tungsten chronology yields a model age of 2.2 ± 0.8 Myr after CAI, which probably dates both of these events within uncertainty. We confirm the terrestrial O isotope signature of NWA 5363/NWA 5400; however, the discovery of nucleosynthetic anomalies in Ca, Ti, Cr, Mo, and Ru reveals that the NWA5363/NWA 5400 parent‐body is not the “missing link” that could explain the composition of the Earth by the mixing of known meteorites. Until this “missing link” or a direct sample of the terrestrial reservoir is identified, guidelines are provided of how to use chondrites for estimating the isotopic composition of the bulk Earth.