Evidence of NW extension of the North Anatolian Fault Zone in the Marmara Sea: a new interpretation of the Marmara Sea (Izmit) earthquake on 17 August 1999

Active faults aligning in NW–SE direction and forming flower structures of strike-slip faults were observed in shallow seismic data from the shelf offshore of Avcılar in the northern Marmara Sea. By following the parallel drainage pattern and scarps, these faults were traced as NW–SE-directed lineaments in the morphology of the northern onshore sector of the Marmara Sea (eastern Thrace Peninsula). Right-lateral displacements in two watersheds of drainage and on the coast of the Marmara Sea and Black Sea are associated with these lineaments. This right-lateral displacement along the course of these faults suggests a new, active strike-slip fault zone located at the NW extension of the northern boundary fault of the ?ınarcık Basin in the Marmara Sea. This new fault zone is interpreted as the NW extension of the northern branch of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ), extending from the ?ınarcık Basin of the Marmara Sea to the Black Sea coast of the Thrace Peninsula, and passing through B üy ük ?ekmece and K ü ? ük ?ekmece lagoons. These data suggest that the rupture of the 17 August 1999 earthquake in the NAFZ may have extended through Avcılar. Indeed, Avcılar and İzmit, both located on the Marmara Sea coast along the rupture route, were strongly struck by the earthquake whereas the settlements between Avcılar and İzmit were much less affected. Therefore, this interpretation can explain the extraordinary damage in Avcılar, based on the newly discovered rupture of the NAFZ in the Marmara Sea. However, this suggestion needs to be confirmed by further seismological studies.     

Ecological and physiological features of the mesopelagic mysid,Meterythrops microphthalma,in the Japan Sea

The abundance and vertical distribution pattern of a mysidMeterythrops microphthalma were investigated in the Japan Sea. Results from vertical hauls from 602–982 m depth to the surface around Yamato Rise in April 1987 indicated that the dominance (by biomass) ofM. microphthalma was third to fifth of major zooplankton taxa. Vertical distribution investigated at a single station in Toyama Bay in June, September and December 1986 showed that the most part of population of this mysid inhabited consistently below 250 m depth. No marked diurnal vertical migration was evident. Data on body composition and oxygen consumption rate ofM. microphthalma are presented. Water content of the body was 75.6–83.8% of wet weight, and ash was 11.4–20.4% of dry weight. Carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen were 37.9–47.5%, 6.2–7.4% and 9.4–10.1%, respectively, of dry weight. Oxygen consumption rates were 2.2–11.0µl O₂ individual^–1 hr^–1 at 0.5°C, and were directly proportional to body mass. From the comparison with the published data on epipelagic and bathypelagic mysids it is revealed that both body nitrogen composition and oxygen consumption rate expressed as adjusted metabolic rate [AMR₀₂,µl O₂ (mg body N)^–0.85 hr^–1] ofM. microphthalma are intermediate between high epipelagic and low bathypelagic levels, indicating typical mesopelagic features.     

Jellyfish patch formation investigated by aerial photography and drifter experiment

Jellyfish patch formation is investigated by conducting a drifter experiment combined with aerial photography of a sustained patch of the moon jellyfish in Hokezu Bay, Japan. Jellyfish patches are aggregations of individuals that are caused by a combination of swimming (active influence) and advection by currents (passive influence). The drifter experiment involved the injection of 49 drifters around a distinct surface patch of jellyfish within an area of approximately 300 m × 300 m. The drifters’ motion, caused only by the passive influence, was recorded in a series of 38 aerial photographs taken over approximately 1 h. The ambient uniform current field larger than the patch scale was estimated from the movement of the centroid position of drifters, while the distribution of horizontal divergence and relative vorticity around the patch was estimated from the time-derivative in areas of triangles formed by the drifters. The centroid positions of both drifters and patches moved stably toward the bay head at different speeds. The difference vector between the patch and drifter centroids was directed to the sun, and was opposite to the ambient current. The distributions of vorticity and divergence around patches exhibited inhomogeneity within the patch scale, and the drifters in this nonuniform current field aggregated near the convergence area within 1 h. The results suggest that horizontal patch formation is predominantly influenced by passive factors at the surface of Hokezu Bay. Furthermore, the upward swimming against downwelling may make sustained patch in surface layer.     

Mytilus californianus as an indicator of heavy metals on the northwest coast of Baja California, Mexico.

Samples of Mytilus californianus were analyzed to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of Ag, Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn concentrations on the northwest coast of Baja California and to compare the results with levels reported for California, USA. The samples were collected at eight sites from the US-Mexican border to San Quintín, BC (300 km south of the border) in February and July 1982 and 1994. During both years, north-south gradients in the concentration of Ag and Pb were observed, with the highest values close to the US-Mexican border (Ag = 0.60-1.54 and Pb = 0.21-2.89 micrograms g-1) and the lowest in the southern part of the study area (Ag = 0.05-0.10 and Pb = not detectable-0.03 microgram g-1). The Ag and Pb gradients suggest that their distributions are affected by anthropogenic activities close to the US-Mexican border. South-north gradients in the concentration of Cd (minimum = 0.59-2.16 and maximum = 2.61-12.93 micrograms g-1), for both 1982 and 1994, were observed. The geographic annual means of Pb for California (average of six stations along the entire state) were significantly higher than those of this study (average of the eight sampling sites) in 1982 and 1994. Cu in California was significantly greater than that of this study only in 1994. Cluster analyses on all metals indicate three similar geographic zones in 1982 and 1994, suggesting a relative consistency in the processes that determine the spatial variability of the concentration of some metals in M. californianus on the northwest coast of Baja California.     

Crustal structure of the Southwest Subbasin,South China Sea,from wide-angle seismic tomography and seismic reflection imaging

The Southwest Subbasin (SWSB) is an abyssal subbasin in the South China Sea (SCS), with many debates on its neotectonic process and crustal structure. Using two-dimensional seismic tomography in the SWSB, we derived a detailed P-wave velocity model of the basin area and the northern margin. The entire profile is approximately 311-km-long and consists of twelve oceanic bottom seismometers (OBSs). The average thickness of the crust beneath the basin is 5.3 km, and the Moho interface is relatively flat (10–12 km). No high velocity bodies are observed, and only two thin high-velocity structures (~7.3 km/s) in the layer 3 are identified beneath the northern continent-ocean transition (COT) and the extinct spreading center. By analyzing the P-wave velocity model, we believe that the crust of the basin is a typical oceanic crust. Combined with the high resolution multi-channel seismic profile (MCS), we conclude that the profile shows asymmetric structural characteristics in the basin area. The continental margin also shows asymmetric crust between the north and south sides, which may be related to the large scale detachment fault that has developed in the southern margin. The magma supply decreased as the expansion of the SWSB from the east to the west.     

A catastrophe progression approach based index sensitivity analysis model for the multivariate flooding process

Flood mitigation should deal with those most sensitive flooding elements to very efficiently release risks and reduce losses. Present the most concerns of flood control are peak level or peak discharge which, however, may not always be the most sensitive flooding element. Actually, along with human activities and climate change, floods bring threats to bear on human beings appear in not only peak level and peak discharge, but also other elements like maximum 24-h volume and maximum 72-h volume. In this paper, by collecting six key flooding intensity indices (elements), a catastrophe progression approach based sensitivity analysis algorithm model is developed to identify the indices that mostly control over the flood intensity. The indices sensitivity is determined through a selected case study in the Wujiang River, South China, based on half a century of flow record. The model results indicate that there is no evident relationship of interplay among the index sensitivities, but the variability of the index sensitivity is closely related to the index variability and the index sensitivity increases with the decrease of index value. It is found that peak discharge is not the most influential flooding factor as is generally thought in this case. The sensitivity value of the maximum 24-h volume is the greatest influential factor among all the other indices, indicating that this index plays a leading role in the flood threat of the Wujiang River, South China. It is inferred that, for the purpose of flood warning and mitigation, the peak flood discharge is not always the most sensitive and dominant index as opposed to the others, depending on the sensitivity.     

A direct scaling analysis for the sea level rise

The estimation of long-term sea level variability is of primary importance for a climate change assessment. Despite the value of the subject, no scientific consensus has yet been reached on the existing acceleration in observed values. The existence of this acceleration is crucial for coastal protection planning purposes. The absence of the acceleration would enhance the debate on the general validity of current future projections. Methodologically, the evaluation of the acceleration is a controversial and still open discussion, reported in a number of review articles, which illustrate the state-of-art in the field of sea level research. In the present paper, the well-proven direct scaling analysis approach is proposed in order to describe the long-term sea level variability at 12 worldwide-selected tide gauge stations. For each of the stations, it has been shown that the long-term sea level variability exhibits a trimodal scaling behaviour, which can be modelled by a power law with three different pairs of shape and scale parameters. Compared to alternative methods in literature, which take into account multiple correlated factors, this simple method allows to reduce the uncertainties on the sea level rise parameters estimation.     

地震作用下非贯通节理岩体斜坡破坏的物理模型试验研究

地震作用下高斜坡破坏的发生发展过程比较短暂、剧烈,破坏机理相对复杂。本文采用模型试验的方法来研究地震作用下非贯通节理岩体斜坡的反应。试验结果表明:节理上的应变最大,模型上部应变大于下部应变;节理贯通机理复杂,多为拉剪复合型破坏;节理的贯通并不意味着斜坡的破坏,而是破坏了斜坡的整体性,使其处于临界状态。试验揭示了此类斜坡在地震作用下的动力响应及破坏机理,可为理论和工程实践应用提供有益的参考和指导。     

Extracting sea level residual in tidally dominated estuarine environments

Sea level comprises a mean level, tidal elevation and a residual elevation. Knowledge of what causes maximum water levels is often key in coastal management. However, different methods to extract deviations in water level (residuals) from modelled and observed elevation can give different results. The Dee Estuary, northwest England is a macrotidal estuary that undergoes periodic stratification. It is used here to demonstrate methods to extract the residual water level in response to the following interactive processes: tidal, river-induced stratification and flow, meteorology and waves. Using modelling techniques, the interaction and contribution of different physical processes are investigated. Classical harmonic tidal analysis, model simulations and filtering techniques have been used to “de-tide” the total elevation for short-term (approximately month long) records. Each technique gives a different result highlighting the need to select the correct method for a required study. Analysis of the residual components demonstrates that all processes inducing residuals interact with the tide generating a semi-diurnal residual component. It is suggested that modelling methods enable the full effect of tidal interaction to remain in the residual, whilst harmonic tidal analysis (partly) modify and filtering methods (fully) remove this component of the residual. The analysis methods presented and their influences on the resultant residual are applicable to other study sites. However, when applied specifically to the mouth of the Dee Estuary, the external surge is found to be the main contributor to the total residual, whilst local wind and stratification effects are of secondary importance.