Stone Age settlement and Holocene shore displacement in the Narva‐Luga Klint Bay area,eastern Gulf of Finland

Based on geological and archaeological proxies from NW Russia and NE Estonia and on GIS‐based modelling, shore displacement during the Stone Age in the Narva‐Luga Klint Bay area in the eastern Gulf of Finland was reconstructed. The reconstructed shore displacement curve displays three regressive phases in the Baltic Sea history, interrupted by the rapid Ancylus Lake and Litorina Sea transgressions c. 10.9–10.2 cal. ka BP and c. 8.5–7.3 cal. ka BP, respectively. During the Ancylus transgression the lake level rose 9 m at an average rate of about 13 mm per year, while during the Litorina transgression the sea level rose 8 m at an average rate of about 7 mm per year. The results show that the highest shoreline of Ancylus Lake at an altitude of 8–17 m a.s.l. was formed c. 10.2 cal. ka BP and that of the Litorina Sea at an altitude of 6–14 m a.s.l., c. 7.3 cal. ka BP. The oldest traces of human activity dated to 8.5–7.9 cal. ka BP are associated with the palaeo‐Narva River in the period of low water level in the Baltic basin at the beginning of the Litorina Sea transgression. The coastal settlement associated with the Litorina Sea lagoon, presently represented by 33 Stone Age sites, developed in the area c. 7.1 cal. ka BP and existed there for more than 2000 years. Transformation from the coastal settlement back to the river settlement indicates a change from a fishing‐and‐hunting economy to farming and animal husbandry c. 4.4 cal. ka BP, coinciding with the time of the overgrowing of the lagoon in the Narva‐Luga Klint Bay area.     

A new key pole for the East European Craton at 1452 Ma: Palaeomagnetic and geochronological constraints from mafic rocks in the Lake Ladoga region (Russian Karelia)

Palaeomagnetic and geochronological studies on mafic rocks in the Lake Ladoga region in South Russian Karelia provide a new, reliably dated Mesoproterozoic key paleopole for the East European Craton (Baltica). U–Pb dating on baddeleyite gives a crystallisation age of 1452 ± 12 Ma for one of the studied dolerite dykes. A mean palaeomagnetic pole for the Mesoproterozoic dolerite dykes, Valaam sill and Salmi basalts yields a paleopole at 15.2°N, 177.1°E, A₉₅ = 5.5°. Positive baked contact test for the dolerite dykes and positive reversal test for the Salmi basalts and for the dykes confirm the primary nature of the magnetisation. Comparison of this Baltica palaeopole with coeval paleomagnetic data for Laurentia and Siberia provides a revised palaeoposition of these cratons. The results verify that the East European Craton, Laurentia and Siberia were part of the supercontinent Columbia from the Late Palaeoproterozoic to the Middle Neoproterozoic.     

Combined Effects of Tectonic and Landslide-Generated Tsunami Runup at Seward, Alaska During the M W 9.2 1964 Earthquake

We apply a recently developed and validated numerical model of tsunami propagation and runup to study the inundation of Resurrection Bay and the town of Seward by the 1964 Alaska tsunami. Seward was hit by both tectonic and landslide-generated tsunami waves during the $M_{\rm W}$ 9.2 1964 megathrust earthquake. The earthquake triggered a series of submarine mass failures around the fjord, which resulted in landsliding of part of the coastline into the water, along with the loss of the port facilities. These submarine mass failures generated local waves in the bay within 5?min of the beginning of strong ground motion. Recent studies estimate the total volume of underwater slide material that moved in Resurrection Bay to be about 211?million m³ (Haeussler et?al. in Submarine mass movements and their consequences, pp 269?C278, 2007). The first tectonic tsunami wave arrived in Resurrection Bay about 30?min after the main shock and was about the same height as the local landslide-generated waves. Our previous numerical study, which focused only on the local landslide-generated waves in Resurrection Bay, demonstrated that they were produced by a number of different slope failures, and estimated relative contributions of different submarine slide complexes into tsunami amplitudes (Suleimani et?al. in Pure Appl Geophys 166:131?C152, 2009). This work extends the previous study by calculating tsunami inundation in Resurrection Bay caused by the combined impact of landslide-generated waves and the tectonic tsunami, and comparing the composite inundation area with observations. To simulate landslide tsunami runup in Seward, we use a viscous slide model of Jiang and LeBlond (J Phys Oceanogr 24(3):559?C572, 1994) coupled with nonlinear shallow water equations. The input data set includes a high resolution multibeam bathymetry and LIDAR topography grid of Resurrection Bay, and an initial thickness of slide material based on pre- and post-earthquake bathymetry difference maps. For simulation of tectonic tsunami runup, we derive the 1964 coseismic deformations from detailed slip distribution in the rupture area, and use them as an initial condition for propagation of the tectonic tsunami. The numerical model employs nonlinear shallow water equations formulated for depth-averaged water fluxes, and calculates a temporal position of the shoreline using a free-surface moving boundary algorithm. We find that the calculated tsunami runup in Seward caused first by local submarine landslide-generated waves, and later by a tectonic tsunami, is in good agreement with observations of the inundation zone. The analysis of inundation caused by two different tsunami sources improves our understanding of their relative contributions, and supports tsunami risk mitigation in south-central Alaska. The record of the 1964 earthquake, tsunami, and submarine landslides, combined with the high-resolution topography and bathymetry of Resurrection Bay make it an ideal location for studying tectonic tsunamis in coastal regions susceptible to underwater landslides.     

Robotic optical telescopes global network MASTER II. Equipment, structure, algorithms

Presented paper describes the basic principles and features of the implementation of a robotic network of optical telescopes MASTER, designed to study the prompt (simultaneous with gamma radiation) optical emission of gamma-ray bursts and to perform the sky survey to detect unknown objects and transient phenomena. With joint efforts of Sternberg astronomical institute, High altitude astronomical station of the Pulkovo observatory, Ural state university, Irkutsk state university, Blagoveshchensk pedagogical university, the robotic telescopes MASTER?II near Kislovodsk, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk and Blagoveshchensk were installed and tested. The network spread over the longitudes is greater than 6?h. A further expansion of the network is considered.     

The impact of hurricanes on sedimenting particulate matter in the semi-arid Bahía de La Paz,Gulf of California

From 2002 through 2004, time-series sediment trap samples were collected from a depth of 410 m in Cuenca Alfonso, Bahía de La Paz, on the SW coast of the Gulf of California. The instrument recorded the impact of the local passage of hurricanes “Ignacio” (24–26 August) and “Marty” (21–23 September) in 2003. These two events accounted for 82% of the total rainfall measured in 2003, equivalent to the annual average precipitation in years without hurricanes. Mean total mass fluxes (TMFs) of 2.88 and 3.58 g m⁻² d⁻¹ were measured during the week of each hurricane as well as the following week. This may have been enough to produce a lamina in the underlying sediment with characteristics peculiar to such events. The terrigenous component was particularly abundant, with notably higher concentrations of Fe, Sc, Co and Cs and REEs. In contrast, TMFs throughout 2002–2004 (excluding the hurricane periods) averaged only 0.73 g m⁻² d⁻¹ and had a larger marine biogenic component. The extraordinary elemental fluxes during the 29 days of hurricane-influenced sedimentation represented a great proportion of the totals over an entire “normal” year: Co (67.8%) >Sc (62.6) >Fe (59.6) >Cs (53.4)>Lu (51.5)>La (51.3)>Yb (51.0)>Ce (49.5) >Tb (48.4) >Sm (44.7)>Cr (36.5) >Ca (31.0)>Eu (25.4%). The terrigenous fraction was calculated using (a) TMF minus the sum of CaCO₃, biogenic silica and organic matter and (b) the ratio of Sc in the trap samples to the average in the Earth's crust. The latter was consistently smaller, but the two methods offered similar results following hurricanes (78% vs. 63%, respectively). For normal sedimentation, however, the difference method yielded values twice as large as the Sc method (58% vs. 30%) This suggests that the mineralogy of the terrigenous fraction may also vary, with unsorted dessert soil being carried to sea by the powerful flash floods associated with hurricanes. Eolian supply of particles, particularly Sc-free quartz grains, possibly from beyond the limited fluvial drainage basin, apparently dominates normal sedimentation.     

Modeling studies of the upper ocean response to a tropical cyclone

A coupled ocean and boundary layer flux numerical modeling system is used to study the upper ocean response to surface heat and momentum fluxes associated with a major hurricane, namely, Hurricane Dennis (July 2005) in the Gulf of Mexico. A suite of experiments is run using this modeling system, constructed by coupling a Navy Coastal Ocean Model simulation of the Gulf of Mexico to an atmospheric flux model. The modeling system is forced by wind fields produced from satellite scatterometer and atmospheric model wind data, and by numerical weather prediction air temperature data. The experiments are initialized from a data assimilative hindcast model run and then forced by surface fluxes with no assimilation for the time during which Hurricane Dennis impacted the region. Four experiments are run to aid in the analysis: one is forced by heat and momentum fluxes, one by only momentum fluxes, one by only heat fluxes, and one with no surface forcing. An equation describing the change in the upper ocean hurricane heat potential due to the storm is developed. Analysis of the model results show that surface heat fluxes are primarily responsible for widespread reduction (0.5°–1.5°C) of sea surface temperature over the inner West Florida Shelf 100–300 km away from the storm center. Momentum fluxes are responsible for stronger surface cooling (2°C) near the center of the storm. The upper ocean heat loss near the storm center of more than 200 MJ/m² is primarily due to the vertical flux of thermal energy between the surface layer and deep ocean. Heat loss to the atmosphere during the storm’s passage is approximately 100–150 MJ/m². The upper ocean cooling is enhanced where the preexisting mixed layer is shallow, e.g., within a cyclonic circulation feature, although the heat flux to the atmosphere in these locations is markedly reduced.