The relief of the Swiss Alps and adjacent areas and its relation to lithology and structure: topographic analysis from a 250-m DEM

In this paper we discuss the large-scale geomorphological characteristics of the Swiss Alps based on numerical analysis of a digital elevation model and compare these to an erodibility map constructed from a geotechnical map of Switzerland and regional geomorphological studies. Comparing the erodibility map with the large-scale morphometry shows an intimate relationship between mountain-scale erodibility and topography. On average, higher mean elevations and steeper mean slopes correlate with regions where rocks of low erodibility prevail. Areas with high peaks as well as the main water divides are controlled by the presence of bedrock with low to very low detachability. The drainage network of the Swiss Alps shows a close relationship to the lithological differences as well. Major longitudinal valleys follow easily erodible units. In the eastern and western part of the Swiss Alps, the highest values of local relief are located to the south of the main water divide, whereas in the central part, local relief is higher to the north of the main water divide. The large-scale geomorphic characteristics regarded in the framework of the geological history of uplift and denudation suggest that low and very low erodibilities lead to the development of areas of high elevations which are likely to persist over periods of 10–15 Ma. As the analysis of the Lepontine area shows, 20 Ma after cessation of exhumation, such high elevations are likely to be worn down and to manifest themselves as high relief only.     

Carbonate-hosted siliceous crust type mineralization of Carnic Alps (Italy-Austria)

A carbonate-hosted stratabound siliceous crust type (SCT) mineralization (base metal sulphides, barite, fluorite) occurs over large areas of Carnic Alps and Karawanken in the Eastern Alps. It concerns a pervasively silicified lithological unit, up to some tens of metres thick, which caps the unconformity landscapes developed on epicontinental Devonian–Dinantian carbonates. The SCT mineralization is directly overlaid by different transgressive siliciclastic sediments, which range from Lower Carboniferous to Lower Permian. The presence of fragments of the SCT mineralization in the transgressive siliciclastic sediment bounds its whole lithological evolution within a short stratigraphic interval of Lower Carboniferous age. Selected features of the regional and lithostratigraphic setting are discussed. The chemical characterisation is based on the statistical evaluation of compositional data of 581 selected samples. Three significant groups of elements have been distinguished: (1) the hydrological and metasomatically active elements (Si, Ba, F), which show a strong negative correlation amongst themselves and characterise the silica-saturated aqueous solutions; (2) the terrigenous elements (Al₂O₃, K₂O, Fe_tot, TiO₂, B, Be, Ce, La, Nb, V, Y, Zr), which suggest a continental margin environment for silica deposition; (3) the sulphide metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Sb, As, Hg, Cd), which define the metalliferous signature of the SCT mineralization.Some consistent, but still debatable genetic aspects of the SCT mineralization are as follow: (1) silica may be supplied by illitization of clay-rich basinal sediments during their diagenesis. δ¹⁸O of microcrystalline quartz ranges from +18.5‰ and +24.6‰ and is very similar to δ¹⁸O of authigenic quartz deriving from diagenetic processes of illitization of clay-rich basinal sequences. (2) The diagenetic evolution of these sediments may trigger off the movement of silica-rich marine pore waters. δ³⁴S of barite ranges from +15.5‰ to +19.3‰ with an average of +17.7‰ and are in good agreement with δ³⁴S of sulphate in ocean waters of Upper Devonian–Lower Carboniferous age. (3) A convective hydrological system, connected with sinsedimentary transtensive tectonics, active in the Carnic Alps since the Frasnian, may be the transport mechanism of aqueous solutions. (4) A weak drop in pH in the dominant carbonate environment represents the conditions for silica precipitation.SCT mineralization, showing persistent, independent and distinct characters, occurs over large areas also in other sites of the Alpine belt and outside Italy and Austria. Therefore, it points to important markers for some sedimentary sequences as well as to a worldwide significant cyclic metallogenic event. It represents a new ore deposit-type within the carbonate-hosted mineralization.     

Emplacement at granulite facies conditions of the Sesia–Lanzo metagabbros: an early record of Permian rifting?

The evolution of the pre-Alpine Corio and Monastero metagabbros points to strong chemical and mineralogical similarities with that of other Permian gabbro bodies of the Alps, which are concentrated in the Southalpine and Austroalpine domains. The structural and metamorphic pre-Alpine evolution of these gabbros records a re-equilibration following the emplacement in the deep crust (P=0.6–0.9 GPa and T=850±70 °C), exhumation through amphibolite facies conditions (P=0.5–0.35 GPa and T=570–670 °C), followed by a greenschist facies imprint (0.25≤P≤0.35 GPa and T<550 °C). This retrograde P–T evolution suggests that the exhumation occurred in a high thermal gradient regime, such as that induced by upwelling of an asthenospheric plume during continental rifting. This would be consistent with the crustal thinning known to have occurred in both the Southalpine and Austroalpine domains during Permian times. The gabbros and their country acid granulites are spatially associated with the serpentinised subcontinental mantle of the Lanzo Massif. This lithologic association and the metamorphic evolution is similar to that of the Fedoz gabbro (Austroalpine Domain of the Central Alps) and completely different from that observed in passive margins, where no remnants of the lower crust occur and the upper granitic crust directly overlies the serpentinized lherzolites. The location of Permian gabbro bodies in the Austroalpine and Southalpine domains and their absence in the Helvetic domain is evidence for asymmetric rifting.     

Alpine Evidence for Atmospheric Circulation Patterns in Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum

The configuration of Alpine accumulation areas during the last glacial maximum (LGM) has been reconstructed using glacial–geological mapping. The results indicate that the LGM ice surface consisted of at least three major ice domes, all located south of the principal weather divide of the Alps. This implies that the buildup of the main Alpine ice cover during oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 2 was related to precipitation by dominant southerly atmospheric circulation, in contrast to today's prevalent westerly airflow. Such a reorganization of the atmospheric circulation is consistent with a southward displacement of the Oceanic Polar Front in the North Atlantic and of the associated storm track to the south of the Alps. These results, combined with additional paleoclimate records from western and southern Europe, allow an interpretation of the asynchronous evolution of the different European ice caps during the last glaciation. δ¹⁸O stages (OIS) 4 and 3 were characterized by location of the Polar Front north of 46°N (Gulf of Biscay). This affected prevailing westerly circulation and, thus, ice buildup in western Scandinavia, the Pyrénées, Vosges, and northern Alps. At the LGM, however, the Polar Front lay at 44°N, causing dominating southerly circulation and reduced precipitation in central and northern Europe.     

A preliminary investigation of strong-motion data from the French Antilles

Strong-motion networks have been operating in the Caribbean region since the 1970s, however, until the mid-1990s only a few analogue stations were operational and the quantity of data recorded was very low. Since the mid-1990s, digital accelerometric networks have been established on islands within the region. At present there are thought to be about 160 stations operating in this region with a handful on Cuba, 65 on the French Antilles (mainly Guadeloupe and Martinique), eight on Jamaica, 78 on Puerto Rico (plus others on adjacent islands) and four on Trinidad.After briefly summarising the available data from the Caribbean islands, this article is mainly concerned with analysing the data that has been recorded by the networks operating on the French Antilles in terms of their distribution with respect to magnitude, source-to-site distance, focal depth and event type; site effects at certain stations; and also with respect to their predictability by ground motion estimation equations developed using data from different regions of the world. More than 300 good quality triaxial acceleration time-histories have been recorded on Guadeloupe and Martinique at a large number of stations from earthquakes with magnitudes larger than 4.8, however, most of the records are from considerable source-to-site distances. From the data available it is found that many of the commonly-used ground motion estimation equations for shallow crustal earthquakes poorly estimate the observed ground motions on the two islands; ground motions on Guadeloupe and Martinique have smaller amplitudes and are more variable than expected. This difference could be due to regional dependence of ground motions because of, for example, differing tectonics or crustal structures or because the ground motions so far recorded are, in general, from smaller earthquakes and greater distances than the range of applicability of the investigated equations.     

阿尔卑斯山区的危险区区划

通过介绍荒溪治理林业工程体系的基本原理,论述了阿尔卑斯山区危险区区划的重要性、产生背景、现状、原理和方法,并对其区划存在的问题和局限性进行了系统分析,以期为我国开展山地自然灾害防治工作提供借鉴资料．     

A Twilight Zone: Identity Crisis in French Geopolitics

The paper initially describes some of the most important historical processes that have conditioned France's geopolitical position in the contemporary world. It discusses the current changes in France's geopolitics as a changing reality of international relations and as a changing discourse of scholars and experts, that reflects those real world changes. The paper focuses on French politics in Africa and on France's policy in Europe after the end of the Cold War. In Africa the French post-colonial empire with its close ties between domestic regimes, French business interests and the French state becomes unsustainable after the bipolar rivalry has been suspended. In Europe French policy can no longer be presented as either an independent view among a series of others (Europe des patries) nor as a successful effort to press French views by way of a larger European entity. The paper presents an overview of geopolitical literature written in France as a reflection of these conditions.     

Regionalization of rainfall thresholds: an aid to landslide hazard evaluation

 Rainfall, soil properties, and morphology are major factors controlling shallow landsliding. A series of meteorological events that triggered soil slips in northern Italy were studied to define rainfall thresholds and to evaluate a possible regionalization. Soil properties, triggering rainfall, and local lithological and morphometrical settings of different sites were used as input to an infiltration model. The approach allows the recognition of several triggering conditions in the Piedmont, Pre-Alpine and Alpine regions. This suggests the need for different rainfall thresholds with respect to those derived with other methods. Intensity versus rainfall duration relationships become particularly important when related to soil permeability and thickness, and demonstrate the role of antecedent precipitation. Events with exceptional water discharge from obstructed road culverts reveal the role played by anthropic structures in triggering such phenomena. Different approaches to slope stability analysis are shown, taking into account bedrock lithology, topography, seepage, and local saturation conditions. Received: 23 October 1997 · Accepted: 25 June 1997