Probability Density Functions as Botanical-Climatological Transfer Functions for Climate Reconstruction

We present a new procedure, the pdf method (pdf=probability density function), for reconstructing Quaternary climate utilizing botanical data. The procedure includes the advantages of the indicator species method by considering the fossil and modern presence and absence of taxa rather than their frequencies, thus avoiding the need for modern analog plant communities. Overcoming the problematic use of absolute limits to describe climate response ranges is the main progress of the pdf method in comparison to the indicator species method. This advantage results from estimating probability density functions (pdfs) for monthly mean January and July temperature conditional on the present day occurrence of single taxa. Gaussian distributions sufficiently approximate pdfs of many, although not all, studied taxa. On the assumption of statistical independence, the procedure calculates a joint pdf as the product of the pdfs of the individual taxa. This algorithm weights each taxon according to the extent of its climate response range expressed by its covariance structure. We interpret the maximum of the resulting pdf as the most likely climate and its confidence interval as the uncertainty range. To avoid an artificial reduction of uncertainty arising from the use of numerous similar pdfs, a preselection method is proposed based on the Mahalanobis distance between pdfs. The pdf method was applied to the Carpinus phase of a profile from Gröbern, Germany, that spans the last interglaciation (Eemian). The reconstructed most probable January and July temperatures of about 0.0°C and 18.4°C barely differ from the modern values of −0.5°C and 18.3°C.     

Documentary and Geological Records of Tsunamis in the Aegean Sea Region of Greece and their Potential Value to Risk Assessment and Disaster Management

Understanding the nature and impacts of tsunamis within the Aegean Sea region ofGreece is of importance to both the academic community and those organisationsconcerned with tsunami disaster management. In order to determine hazard and riskand consequently pre-plan mitigative strategies, it is necessary to analyse historical(documentary) and geological records of former tsunami events. Therefore, firstlythis paper provides a summary of the written sources of information on Aegeantsunamis paying particular attention to published catalogues. From the availabledata, it is noted that a large number of events have been reported during the last3500 years. Secondly, the paper provides a review of the published on-shore(terrestrial) geological records of tsunamis within the region. From this analysisit is seen that little geological evidence has been identified for the large numberof tsunamis reported in the catalogues. Thirdly, the paper considers the reliabilityof the written and geological records and how problems of accuracy, coverage,extent and reliability, may have potential implications for the estimation of hazardand risk. The paper concludes by making recommendations for disaster managers,geologists and historians to work closely together.     

天祝-古浪5.4级地震震源机制和发震断层以及海原西断裂大震危险性讨论

研究了发生在海西断裂天祝拉分盆地1996年6月1日5.4级地震的震源机制，利用位于天祝－古浪地区的数字式微震监测台网纪录的余震的精确定位确定了本次地震的发震断层，研究表明这次地震是天祝拉分盆地中垂直于主断裂的近南北向断裂所形成，根据破裂模型和海原西断裂的应力积累状况，讨论了海原西断裂近期的大震危险性。     

四川省房屋建筑易损性研究

研究房屋建筑易损性特征是防震减灾工作必不可少的环节之一，本文通过对多年工作的系统总结，得出四川省不同地区的房屋建筑易损性矩阵，全省房屋建筑抗震性能总体水平不高，这是造成地震灾害加重的主要原因之一，随着经济发展实力的提高，适当提高全省房屋建筑抗震设防水平可大大减轻特别是中强地震所造成的经济损失。     

城市地区抗御地震灾害风险评估项目综述

城市地区抗御地震灾害风险评估项目系联合国在上世纪末为减轻地震灾害所实施的规模宏大，影响甚远的国际性研究项目，其宗旨是为了提高社会公众防灾意识，有效地减轻城市地区的地震灾害。这一历时2年的项目在有限的经费支持下，取得了令人瞩目的成绩。结合自贡市开展这个项目的实践。综合介绍和总结了该项目的情况及经验。     

华北近十年来水平运动动态与地震活动危险区的讨论

根据华北地区1999年和2001年两期高精度GPS观测结果，通过与1992，1995，1996年和1999年这几期资料的比较，发现近两年的运动与前有所不同，主要表现为：（1）阴山单元和鄂尔多斯单元之间显示为压性运动的性质，但比较微弱，它们之间的边界带上似乎有左旋走滑运动，但从整体上看并不显著。（2）晋冀鲁单元和燕山单元的整体活动性不如以前，各单元内部存在着较明显的差异运动，并山单元和晋冀鲁单元的北部存在着比较显著的东西向挤压，北京地区则表现为南北向挤压。（3）晋冀鲁单元南部与胶辽鲁苏单元的南部的趋势活动呈张性，优势运动方向为东南，这样的结果可能表明，华北目前存在着应力扰动行为，大同与天津之间的区域是受其影响最大的地区，该区有可能成为未来几年中强地震活动的一个主体地区。     

The El Salvador earthquakes of January and February 2001: context, characteristics and implications for seismic risk

The small Central American republic of El Salvador has experienced, on average, one destructive earthquake per decade during the last hundred years. The latest events occurred on 13 January and 13 February 2001, with magnitudes M_w 7.7 and 6.6, respectively. The two events, which were of different tectonic origin, follow the patterns of the seismicity of the region although neither event has a known precedent in the earthquake catalogue in terms of size and location. The earthquakes caused damage to thousands of traditionally built houses and triggered hundreds of landslides, which were the main causes of fatalities. The earthquakes have clearly demonstrated trends of increasing seismic risk in El Salvador due to rapid population expansion in areas of high shaking and landslide hazard, exacerbated by deforestation and uncontrolled urbanisation. The institutional mechanisms required for the control of land use and building practice are very weak and present a major obstacle to risk mitigation.     

A methodology for the evaluation of long-term volcanic risk from pyroclastic flows in Campi Flegrei (Italy)

The volcanological history of Campi Flegrei suggests that the most frequent eruptions are characterized by the emplacement of pyroclastic flow and surge deposits erupted from different vents scattered over a 150-km² caldera. The evaluation of volcanic risk in volcanic fields is complex because of the lack of a central vent. To approach this problem, we subdivided the entire area of Campi Flegrei into a regular grid and evaluated the relative spatial probability of opening of vents based on geological, geophysical and geochemical data. We evaluated the volcanic risk caused by pyroclastic flows based on the formula proposed by UNESCO (1972), R=H×V×Va, where H is the hazard, V is the vulnerability and Va is the value of the elements at risk. The product H×V was obtained by performing simulations of type eruptions centered in each cell of the grid. The simulation is based on the energy cone scheme proposed by Sheridan and Malin [J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 17 (1983) 187–202], hypothesizing a column collapse height of 100 m for eruptions of VEI=3 and 300 m for eruptions of VEI=4 with a slope angle of 6°. Each simulation has been given the relative probability value associated with the corresponding cell. We made use of the GIS software ArcView 3.2 to evaluate the intersection between the energy cone and the topography. The superposition of the areas invaded by pyroclastic flows (124 simulations for VEI=3 and 37 for VEI=4) was used to obtain the relative hazard map of the area. The relative volcanic risk map is obtained by superimposing the urbanization maps.     

城市震害高危害小区的研究和GIS的实现技术

论述了在城市地震灾害中如何考虑诸方面因素来评价城市的灾害轻重分布情况。中建立坑危害小区分析模型，设想将城市划分等面积网格，给每个单元网格赋予灾害指数，以确定城市中受灾较为严重的区域，为求灾指挥提供决策信息。同时，将高危害小区的模型研究结果转化为计算机技术可以实现的GIS模型。该研究结果已应用于泰安市防震减灾示范研究项目中。     

南向行星际磁场事件与磁暴关系的研究

利用172-182年IMP-8飞船的太阳风观测资料和相应地磁活动性指数Dst和AE,研究了43个南向行星际磁场事件期间太阳风和磁层的耦合问题. 与这43个事件对应的地磁暴是中等的和强的磁暴(Dst＜-50nT). 结果表明:(1) 在43个事件中有11个(约占25.6髎)紧随激波之后,18个处于激波下游流场中(占42髎),其余14个(占33髎)和激波没有关连. 绝大多数事件都伴有太阳风动压和总磁场强度的增加;(2) 当行星际晨昏向电场强度EI＞-4mV/m时,只引起磁亚暴,对Dst指数没有明显影响. 仅当EI＜-5mV/m时,磁亚暴和磁暴才会同时出现;(3) 太阳风动压的增加会增强能量向环电流的输入,但不是密度和速度单独起作用,而是以PK=ρV2的组合形式影响能量的输入;(4) 虽然行星际磁场(IMF)南向分量BZ对太阳风和磁层的耦合起着关键作用,但IMF的BX和BY分量相对于BZ的大小对太阳风向磁层的能量传输也有一定影响. 当BX、BY相对BZ较大时能量耦合加强.