Macroseismic information from historic pictorial sources

Prephotographic depictions of earthquakes can contain important information on the types and amount of damage due to a large earthquake in historic times. Care must be used in evaluating such depictions because some are more accurate than others, and many depictions contain little that is of value in making estimates of seismic intensity. Depictions of two earthquakes, in 1692 at Jamaica and in 1843 at Guadeloupe, illustrate the utility of depictions in intensity estimation. A depiction of the scene at Port Royal in Jamaica of the 1692 shock suggests that the major damage was caused by soil slumping and a tsunami, with the ground shaking itself probably only having been about MMI VII. Two depictions of Pointe-à-Pitre at Guadeloupe after the 1843 event contain evidence that the town was damaged by strong ground shaking as well as by major soil failures. The ground shaking here was probably MMI VII–IX. These and other pictures are being assembled for a monograph of prephotographic earthquake depictions in the Americas.     

Microzonation of the city of Basel

During the past centuries, the city of Basel has suffered damage caused by earthquakes. One extraordinary event described in historical documents is the strong earthquake which occurred in 1356. The 1356 event, one of the strongest earthquakes in northwest-Europe, was obviously much stronger than the low-magnitude earthquakes observed in the area during this century. Even though the present seismicity in the Basel area is low, strong earthquakes have to be expected due to the city's geographical location close to the northern boundary of the African-European convergence zone, at the southern end of the Rhinegraben. A crucial step towards preparedness for future events and mitigation of earthquake risk involves a microzonation study of the city. The study is carried out in three steps: (1) a detailed mapping of the geology and geotechnical properties of the area, (2) measurement, interpretation and modelling of ambient noise data, and (3) numerical modelling of expected ground motions during earthquakes. A qualitative microzonation of the centre of Basel is presented, and it is discussed by comparing it to the historically reported damage of the 1356 earthquake.     

Tree-ring evidence for 1842–1843 eruptive activity at the Goat Rocks dome,Mount St. Helens,Washington

Until the 18 May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, a debris fan and adjacent forest downslope from the dacitic Goat Rocks dome, on the north flank of the volcano, contained evidence that the dome was active in 1842 or 1843. The fan was destroyed by the debris avalanche of 18 May. Before 1980, the oldest tree cored on the debris fan showed that the fan predated 1855 by a few years. The young age of this tree suggests that the dome was active several decades after extrusion of the nearby andesitic floating island lava flow, dated to 1800. An anomalous series of narrow rings that starts with the 1843 ring is present in cores from two older trees adjacent to the fan. These ring-width patterns imply that these trees were damaged in late 1842 or early 1843 by flowage material from the dome; the trees were probably singed by an ash-cloud surge that originated on the dome as a hot-rock avalanche. Several lines of evidence suggest that the anomalous ring patterns record tree injury by surge, rather than by lahars or nonvolcanic causes (climate or insects). First, comparable ring patterns formed in all sampled trees that survived the 18 May surge, but formed in only a few sampled trees abraded or partially buried by 18 May lahars. Second, a 13-cm fine-ash layer, consistent with either tephra fall or surge emplacement, was present on the 1840s forest floor; yet the lack of similar tree-ring responses to 1980 tephra fall shows that such minor tephra fall could not have caused the ring patterns. Third, identical 1843 narrow-ring patterns are absent in control trees further from the volcano. The ring patterns of the trees adjacent to the Goat Rocks fan provide the first field evidence that the dome was active in late 1842 or early 1843. Thus, the new tree-ring dates confirm stratigraphic evidence for the youth of the activity of the Goat Rocks dome. They also link historical accounts of mid nineteenth century volcanism at Mount St. Helen with continuing dome extrusion. The dates additionally corroborate and revise the dacite-andesite-dacite petrologic cycle interpretation of Mount St. Helens' Goat Rocks eruptive period (1800–1857). They constrain the cycle to no more than 43 years. Lastly, the dates support the notion that the vent that erupted the 1800 dacitic T tephra was different from the one that produced the Goat Rocks dome. We infer that the magma that formed the floating-island lava flow plugged the T tephra vent. This forced residual magma from the compositionally zoned magma chamber into an alternate conduit. The second conduit produced the unnamed 1842 lithic tephra and the Goat Rocks dome.     

长白山自然保护区历史森林景观的初步重建

本文在对环境因子(包括年均温、年降水量、海拔高度、坡度和坡向)进行空间表达的基础上,建立了长白山自然保护区当前森林景观垂直带(包括阔叶红松林、云冷杉林、岳桦林和苔原)与这些环境因子间的逻辑斯蒂回归模型,然后利用1997年各环境因子的空间数字面来反推1975年森林景观带的空间分布,并根据1975年MSS遥感影像计算机监督分类的结果,用Kappa指数对模型预测结果进行验证。结果表明,苔原、岳桦林、云冷杉林和阔叶红松林1975年的预测分布面积分别为7243.83hm2、6517.08hm2、125570.16hm2和34264.80hm2,与遥感分类结果相比,苔原和云冷杉林的面积分别减少了29.04%和3.05%;岳桦林和阔叶红松林的面积分别增加了246.45%和8.6%。用逻辑斯蒂回归模型可以较好地预测苔原在保护区内的分布范围,同时在一定程度上也能预测阔叶红松林的分布范围,但是对岳桦林和云冷杉林分布范围的预测结果较差。尽管如此,作为一种方法性的探讨,本文可以为森林景观空间分布和环境因子变化的关系以及森林景观对气候变化的反应研究提供一种新思路。     

Evaporite Dissolution Subsidence in the Historical City of Calatayud,Spain: Damage Appraisal and Prevention

Calatayud in NE Spain is an historically important city built on recent alluvial deposits underlain by gypsum and other soluble rocks. Since its foundation by the Muslims in 716 A.D., the city development has been strongly influenced by geohazards including flooding, subsidence and slope movements. Most of the flooding problems have been mitigated by diversion of the local drainage. However, dissolution of the evaporite bedrock in the urban areas continually causes subsidence and triggers rock-falls from the gypsum cliffs overlooking the city. Subsidence is also caused by the hydrocollapse of gypsiferous silt in the alluvial fan deposits. Building damage in the city was surveyed using a classification scheme developed originally to record damage in British coal mining areas. The Calatayud damage survey shows that the worst building subsidence is concentrated along the line of a buried channel that runs underneath the gypsiferous silt alluvial fan. Natural subsurface drainage causes the dissolution and subsidence, which is aggravated by leakage from water and sewage pipes. Some building damage has been exacerbated during reconstruction by incomplete piling leaving buildings partially unsupported. Mitigation measures include the control of water leakage by the installation of flexible service pipes. Careful construction techniques are needed for both conservation and new developments, especially when piled and minipiled foundations are used. Geomorphological mapping is cost-effective in helping to locate and avoid the zones of subsidence for future development.     

Geographic Information Technologies and the History of a Shoreline: The Case of Chapter 91 in New Bedford,Massachusetts*

This article discusses the use of geographic information technologies to assist researchers in the exploration of historical databases. The case study is a pilot project in which we used geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) to study the history of the Public Waterfront Act (the “Chapter 91” program), a policy designed to balance private property rights, public interest, and environmental protection in the Massachusetts tidelands. The issues discussed range from the role of GIS in society and its limitations as a representational tool to the ability of current GIS to deal with historical data and to manage temporal attributes.     

Erroneous interpretation of historical documents related to the epicenter of the 1927 Jericho earthquake in the Holy Land

The 1927 earthquake was the strongestseismic event (M = 6.2) of the 20th centuryin the Holy Land and the first significantone in the region to be recorded worldwideby seismometers. By quoting theseismological station in Ksara, the ISSlocated the epicenter 40 km north of theDead Sea. This location, which wassupported by secondary and tertiarymacroseismic `evidence' and became one ofthe most accepted `facts', was neverquestioned nor reevaluated.We show how an initial mistaken earthquakelocation, supported by questionableevidence, struck roots and eventually becamean accepted fact. This typical `chain oferrors' may serve as a warning regardingtreatment of historical macroseismicsources, as well as historical microseismicdocuments. The conclusions drawn from thisstudy, while focusing on historicaldocumentation, fit well the new epicenterof the 1927 earthquake, recalculated in ourformer study.     

历史时期我国沙尘暴东渐的原因分析

对历史时期我国沙尘暴发生的特点进行初步总结的结果显示:自汉代之后,沙尘暴发生的范围开始向东扩展,至元明清时期,其发生范围扩展到几乎整个华北地区.这一发展趋势虽与气候的冷暖干湿变化密切相关,但农业经济开发活动向西北地区的转移也是重要原因之一.     

Population, Economy and Environment in Island Southeast Asia: An Historical View with Special Reference to Northern Sulawesi

This article attempts to provide a long historical perspective on the relationship between population, environment, and the use of economic resources (particularly agricultural land) in island Southeast Asia. Historically speaking, it is argued, both the size and the distribution of Southeast Asia's human population have been determined mainly by economic factors: population geography has reflected economic geography, and population growth has followed economic growth. Partly because population densities were adjusted, roughly speaking, to local economic conditions, agricultural practices were typically sustainable in the sense that average yields did not decline over time. Episodes of population growth, stimulated by commerce, mostly took place in relatively favourable agricultural environments, and were accompanied by capital and labour investments that made possible higher sustainable yields per hectare of farmland. These arguments are supported with reference to historical sources from Indonesia (particularly northern Sulawesi) and the Philippines.     

历史地理学与西部资源的可持续发展--以新疆为例

在西部干旱地区，人类活动对自然环境的影响，人在自然环境的演变过程中所发挥的作用是这门学科研究的关键问题。西部大开发为历史地理学的发展提供新的契机。新疆是西部干旱地区环境最敏感的地带，研究其历史时期人与区域环境发展演变的关系、人文地理等现象，能够为我国的西部大开发提供理论依据，最终实现西部资源环境的可持续发展。