Progradational and backstepping shoreface deposits in the Ladinian to Early Norian Snadd Formation of the Barents Sea

Shoreface sandstone deposits within the Early Carnian part of the Snadd Formation of the Norwegian Barents Sea can be traced for hundreds of kilometres in the depositional strike direction and for tens of kilometres in the depositional‐dip direction. This study uses three‐dimensional seismic attribute mapping and two‐dimensional regional seismic profiles to visualize the seismic facies of these shoreface deposits and to map their internal stratigraphic architecture at a regional scale. The shoreface deposits are generally elongate but show variable width from north‐east to south‐west, which corresponds to a sediment source in the northern part of the basin and a southward decrease in longshore sediment transport. The Snadd Formation presents an example of how large‐scale progradational shoreface deposits develop. The linear nature of its shoreface deposits contrasts with more irregular, cuspate wave‐dominated deltaic shorelines that contain river outlets, and instead implies longshore drift as the main sediment source. In map view, discrete sets of linear features bounded by truncation surfaces scale directly to beach ridge sets in modern counterparts. The shoreface deposits studied here are characteristic in terms of scale and basin‐wide continuity, and offer insight into the contrast between shallow marine deposition under stable Triassic Greenhouse and fluctuating Holocene Icehouse climates. Findings presented herein are also important for hydrocarbon exploration in the Barents Sea, because they describe a hitherto poorly understood reservoir play in the Triassic interval, wherein the most prominent reservoir plays have so far been considered to be found in channelized deposits in net‐progradational delta‐plain strata that form the topsets to shelf‐edge clinoforms. The documented presence of widespread wave‐dominated shoreface deposits also has implications for how the relative importance of different sedimentary processes is considered within the basin during this period.     

Tsunami hazard and exposure on the global scale

In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, a large increase in the activity of tsunami hazard and risk mapping is observed. Most of these are site-specific studies with detailed modelling of the run-up locally. However, fewer studies exist on the regional and global scale. Therefore, tsunamis have been omitted in previous global studies comparing different natural hazards. Here, we present a first global tsunami hazard and population exposure study. A key topic is the development of a simple and robust method for obtaining reasonable estimates of the maximum water level during tsunami inundation. This method is mainly based on plane wave linear hydrostatic transect simulations, and validation against results from a standard run-up model is given. The global hazard study is scenario based, focusing on tsunamis caused by megathrust earthquakes only, as the largest events will often contribute more to the risk than the smaller events. Tsunamis caused by non-seismic sources are omitted. Hazard maps are implemented by conducting a number of tsunami scenario simulations supplemented with findings from literature. The maps are further used to quantify the number of people exposed to tsunamis using the Landscan population data set. Because of the large geographical extents, quantifying the tsunami hazard assessment is focusing on overall trends.     

OSL and 14C chronologies of a Holocene sedimentary record (Garding‐2 core) from the German North Sea coast

The history of sea‐level change and sediment accumulation since the last deglaciation along the German North Sea coast is still controversial because of a limitation in the quantity and quality of chronological data. In the current study, the chronology of a 16‐ka coastal sedimentary record from the Garding‐2 core, retrieved from the Eiderstedt Peninsula in Schleswig‐Holstein, northern Germany, was established using OSL and AMS ¹⁴C dating techniques. The robust chronology using 14 radiocarbon and 25 OSL dates from the Garding‐2 core is the first long‐term record that covers the Holocene as well as the last deglaciation period in one succession in the German North Sea area. It provides a new insight into understanding the Holocene transgression and coastal accumulation histories. The combined evidence from the sedimentology and chronology investigations indicates that an estuarine environment dominated in Eiderstedt Peninsula from 16 to 13 ka, followed by a depositional hiatus between 13 and 8.3 ka, attributed to erosion caused by the Holocene transgression; the onset of the Holocene transgression at the core site occurred at around 8.3 ka. The sea level continued to rise with a decelerated rate until around 3 ka. Since 3 ka, the shoreline has begun to prograde. Foreshore (tidal flat) sediments have been deposited at the drilling site with a very high sedimentation rate of about 10 m ka^?1. At around 2 ka, a sandy beach deposit accumulated in the sedimentary succession, indicating that the coastline shifted landward, which may represent a small‐scale transgression in the late Holocene. At around 1.5 ka, terrestrial clastic sediment started to accumulate, indicating a retreat of the relative sea level in this area, which may be related to local diking activities undertaken since the 11th century.     

Meridional heat transport on a part of the northern hemisphere in November 1947, July 1949, and February 1950

Summary Horizontal flux of enthalpy and latent heat has been computed from synoptic maps over a large part of the northern hemisphere for several isobaric levels during 3 months. The flux of enthalpy and also the flux of latent heat is lowest in July and 3 to 4 times larger in winter. The flux is largest at 850 mb. The large scale eddy conductivity for the enthalpy increases with the horizontal meridional temperature gradient showing that the atmospheric energy exchange processes become more effective when the gradients are strong. From the convergence of the flux values the mean heating of an air column has been computed. This heating has a winter maximum of about 1° C/24 hrs at latitude 60°–70° N. The values for the polar region are considerably lower, indicating a considerable mean descending motion in the region. The correlation between flux or convergence of flux and circulation indices is found to be rather small. There is even a negative correlation between convergence of enthalpy and the zonal index.

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Zusammenfassung Der horizontale Transport von Enthalpie und latenter Wärme wurde auf Grund von Wetterkarten für verschiedene Druckniveaus über einem großen Teil der nördlichen Hemisphäre für drei verschiedene Monate berechnet. Sowohl der Enthalpie- wie der latente Wärmestrom ist am geringsten im Juli und drei- bis viermal größer im Winter; am größten ist er bei 850 mb. Der Großaustauschkoeffizient der Enthalpie nimmt mit dem horizontalen meridionalen Temperaturgradienten zu, was sich durch die Steigerung der atmosphärischen Energieaustauschprozesse bei Verstärkung des Gradienten erklärt. Aus der Strömungskonvergenz wurde die durchschnittliche Erwärmung einer Luftsäule berechnet. Diese Erwärmung zeigt ein Maximum von zirka 1° C/24 Studen im Winter in einer Breite von 60 bis 70° N. Die Werte für das Polargebiet sind beträchtlich niedriger und lassen eine merkliche absinkende Strömung erkennen. Die Korrelation zwischen Strömung oder Strömungskonvergenz und Zirkulationsgrößen hat sich als eher niedrig erwiesen. Die Korrelation zwischen der Konvergenz der Enthalpie und dem Zonalindex ist sogar negativ.

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Résumé Le flux horizontal d'enthalpie et de chaleur latente a été calculé à partir de cartes synoptiques couvrant une grande partie de l'hémisphère nord et cela pendant 3 mois pour plusieurs niveaux isobariques. Le flux d'enthalpie ainsi que celui de chaleur latente est à son minimum en juillet et est 3 à 4 fois plus grand en hiver. Le flux le plus important se trouve au niveau de 850 mb. Le coefficient de la conductivité turbulente de l'enthalpie à grande échelle croît avec le gradient horizontal méridional de température, et montre ainsi que les processus de l'échange d'énergie atmosphérique augmentent avec la force du gradient. L'auteur a calculé le réchauffement moyen d'une colonne d'air en partant de la convergence des valeurs du flux. Ce réchauffement atteint un maximum hivernal d'environ 1° C/24 h à 60°–70° de latitude N. Les valeurs des régions polaires sont notablement plus petites et laissent reconnaître un mouvement descendant considérable dans cette région. La corrélation entre le courant ou la convergence de flux et les valeurs de la circulation s'est avérée plutôt petite. Il y a même une corrélation négative entre la convergence de l'enthalpie et l'index zonal.

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With 6 Figures.     

The 1888 shoreline landslide and tsunami in Trondheimsfjorden,central Norway

Marine Geophysical Research - The 1888 landslide and tsunami along the shore of the bay of Trondheim, central Norway, killed one person and caused major damage to port facilities. Recent...     

Submarine landslide tsunamis: how extreme and how likely?

A number of examples are presented to substantiate that submarine landslides have occurred along most continental margins and along several volcano flanks. Their properties of importance for tsunami generation (i.e. physical dimensions, acceleration, maximum velocity, mass discharge, and travel distance) can all gain extreme values compared to their subaerial counterparts. Hence, landslide tsunamis may also be extreme and have regional impact. Landslide tsunami characteristics are discussed explaining how they may exceed tsunamis induced by megathrust earthquakes, hence representing a significant risk even though they occur more infrequently. In fact, submarine landslides may cause potentially extreme tsunami run-up heights, which may have consequences for the design of critical infrastructure often based on unjustifiably long return periods. Giant submarine landslides are rare and related to climate changes or glacial cycles, indicating that giant submarine landslide tsunami hazard is in most regions negligible compared to earthquake tsunami hazard. Large-scale debris flows surrounding active volcanoes or submarine landslides in river deltas may be more frequent. Giant volcano flank collapses at the Canary and Hawaii Islands developed in the early stages of the history of the volcanoes, and the tsunamigenic potential of these collapses is disputed. Estimations of recurrence intervals, hazard, and uncertainties with today’s methods are discussed. It is concluded that insufficient sampling and changing conditions for landslide release are major obstacles in transporting a Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA) approach from earthquake to landslide tsunamis and that the more robust Scenario-Based Tsunami Hazard Assessment (SBTHA) approach will still be most efficient to use. Finally, the needs for data acquisition and analyses, laboratory experiments, and more sophisticated numerical modelling for improved understanding and hazard assessment of landslide tsunamis are elaborated.     

Impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami along the Tamil Nadu coastline: field survey review and numerical simulations

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami had a significant impact on the Tamil Nadu coast in India. In this paper, a range of field survey data collected by different survey teams available in literature have been analyzed and compiled to serve as a basis for validation of numerical tsunami simulations. The individual field surveys reveal a significant scatter in the run-up data between the different teams, which point out that the uncertainty in these data must be taken into account when using them for validation. The inundation of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami is simulated for the coastlines of Chennai and Nagapattinam based on high-resolution topography. Different spatially uniform Manning friction as well as heterogeneous friction maps is used. Overall, the simulation results showed a good agreement with the field observations, but there are also some observed spatial variability in the goodness of the fit between the data and simulations. In some areas, clear discrepancies are found. The results obtained using detailed land use maps including spatially variable friction are not significantly more accurate than those employing spatially constant values. For most areas, parameters indicating relatively low friction provided best match with the observations. This may also suggest that the inundation is often strongly governed by local variations in topography.     

Submarine landslides and the importance of the initial sediment composition for run-out length and final deposit

Much remains to understand the dynamic processes during the flow of submarine landslides. A first relevant problem is to explain the extraordinary mobility of submarine landslides, which has no comparison in subaerial mass movement. Another challenging question is the apparent disparity between submarine landslides that remain compact for hundreds of kilometres and those that disintegrate during the flow, finally evolving into turbidity currents. This problem is linked to a central ongoing debate on the relative importance of turbidity currents versus submarine landslides in reshaping the continental margin. Based on three epitomic case studies and on laboratory experiments with artificial debris flows of various composition, we suggest a possible explanation for the disparity between compact and disintegrating landslides, identifying the clay-to-sand ratio as the key control parameter.