Tertiary extension of continental crust and uplift of Psiloritis metamorphic core complex in the central part of the Hellenic Arc (Crete,Greece)

Kinematic analysis of the deformation in central Crete suggests that the structural evolution and exhumation of the high pressure/low temperature (HP/LT) rocks outcropping at the Mount Psiloritis metamorphic core complex are associated with a regional, Miocene, north-south extension and thinning of the continental crust. This tectonic regime developed under bulk coaxial strain conditions, with ductile deformation in the lower and brittle deformation in the upper crust, and followed, on the decompressional path, a north-south compression associated with a HP/LT metamorphism in the lower crust. This compressional event took place during Oligocene—Early Miocene and led to overthickening of the accretionary wedge in the Hellenic Arc. An east-west directed compression accompanied, in the final stages, the Miocene north-south extension of the continental crust.     

Multi‐scale spatiotemporal analyses of moose–vehicle collisions: a case study in northern Vermont

Moose–vehicle collisions (MVCs) pose a serious safety and environmental concern in many regions of Europe and North America. For example, in the state of Vermont, one‐third of all reported MVCs resulted in motorist injury or fatality while collisions have increased from two in 1982 to 164 in 2002. Our work used a MVC dataset from 1983 to 1999 in the Northeastern Highlands of Vermont (four major roads) to perform space, time and spatiotemporal analyses and guide future mitigation strategies. An adapted kernel density estimator was implemented for exploratory analyses to detect high density collision hotspots on roads. The kernel in space showed seven major density peaks which varied in magnitude and spread between roads. The kernel estimator in time for all roads showed an exponentially increasing trend with annual periodicity and a seasonal cyclic component, where the majority of collisions occurred from May to October. Spatiotemporal kernel estimation exhibited discontinuous density hotspots in time and space suggesting changing animal movement patterns across roads. We used an adapted Ripley's K‐function to test the hypothesis that MVCs clustering occurred at multiple scales in space, in time and in space–time combined. Statistically significant spatial clustering was evident on all roads at spatial scales from 2 to 10 km. A more consistent clustering in time occurred on all roads at a scale distance of 5 years. Similar to the kernel estimation, annual periodicity was also evident. Positive space–time clustering was present at small spatial (5 km) and temporal scales (2 years) indicating that where MVCs occur is also influenced by when they occur. In retrospect, using multiple road lengths, and the combined kernel estimation and Ripley's K‐function in time and space, provided a powerful methodology to study varying spatiotemporal patterns of wildlife collisions along roads. This can greatly assist transportation planners in identifying optimal mitigation strategies along specific roads, such as deciding on location and spatial length for permanent and expensive measures (e.g. crossing structures and associated fencing) versus less permanent and inexpensive structures (e.g. wildlife signage and reduced speed limits).     

Surface fault traces and fault plane solutions of the May–June 1978 major shocks in the Thessaloniki area, Greece.

It is shown that the foci of the recent earthquakes in the Thessaloniki area of northern Greece are located in an arcuate seismic zone which is associated with the Serbomacedonian geologic zone. Three main lines of fracture have been observed in the epicentral area after the May–June 1978 earthquakes. Field and macroseismic observations as well as fault plane solutions for the main shock and for the largest foreshock show that both earthquakes are due to a strike slip sinistral motion with a small reverse component on a steeply dipping and trending southeast-northwest fault.     

Surface fault traces,fault plane solution and spatial distribution of the aftershocks of the September 13, 1986 earthquake of Kalamata (Southern Greece)

A shallow earthquake ofM _S=6.2 occurred in the southern part of the Peloponnesus, 12 km north of the port of the city of Kalamata, which caused considerable damage. The fault plane solution of the main shock, geological data and field observations, as well as the distribution of foci of aftershocks, indicate that the seismic fault is a listric normal one trending NNE-SSW and dipping to WNW. The surface ruptures caused by the earthquake coincide with the trace of a neotectonic fault, which is located 2–3 km east of the city of Kalamata and which is related to the formation of Messiniakos gulf during the Pliocene-Quaternary tectonics. Field observations indicate that the earthquake is due to the reactivation of the same fault.A three-days aftershock study in the area, with portable seismographs, recorded many aftershocks of which 39 withM _S1.7 were very well located. The distribution of aftershocks forms two clusters, one near the epicenter of the main shock in the northern part of the seismogenic volume, and the other near the epicenter of the largest aftershock (M _S=5.4) in the southern part of this volume. The central part of the area lacks aftershocks, which probably indicates that this is the part of the fault which slipped smoothly during the earthquake.     

Converting local spectral and spatial information from a priori classifiers into contextual knowledge for impervious surface classification

A classification model was demonstrated that explored spectral and spatial contextual information from previously classified neighbors to improve classification of remaining unclassified pixels. The classification was composed by two major steps, the a priori and the a posteriori classifications. The a priori algorithm classified the less difficult image portion. The a posteriori classifier operated on the more challenging image parts and strived to enhance accuracy by converting classified information from the a priori process into specific knowledge. The novelty of this work relies on the substitution of image-wide information with local spectral representations and spatial correlations, in essence classifying each pixel using exclusively neighboring behavior. Furthermore, the a posteriori classifier is a simple and intuitive algorithm, adjusted to perform in a localized setting for the task requirements. A 2001 and a 2006 Landsat scene from Central New York were used to assess the performance on an impervious classification task. The proposed method was compared with a back propagation neural network. Kappa statistic values in the corresponding applicable datasets increased from 18.67 to 24.05 for the 2006 scene, and from 22.92 to 35.76 for the 2001 scene classification, mostly correcting misclassifications between impervious and soil pixels. This finding suggests that simple classifiers have the ability to surpass complex classifiers through incorporation of partial results and an elegant multi-process framework.     

Cretaceous–Tertiary structures and kinematics of the Serbomacedonian metamorphic rocks and their relation to the exhumation of the Hellenic hinterland (Macedonia, Greece)

 The kinematic pattern and associated metamorphism of the predominant ductile deformation and the subsequent deformational stages of the Serbomacedonian metamorphic rocks and granitoids are presented in terms of peri-Tethyan tectonics. A systematic record of structural and metamorphic data gives evidence of a main top-to-ENE to ESE ductile flow of Cretaceous age (120–90 Ma) associated with a crustal stretching and unroofing. A subordinate WSW to WNW antithetic sense of movement of the tectonic top is observed in places. The associated metamorphic conditions are estimated at 4.5–7.5 kbar and 510–580  °C. During Eocene to Miocene times these fabrics were successively deformed by low-angle extensional D_e ductile shear zones with top-to-NE and SW sense of movement and brittle shear zones of similar kinematic pattern, suggesting a transition from ductile to brittle deformation. D_e deformation was accompanied during its later stages by NW/SE-directed shortening. We also discuss the relation of this Cretaceous–Tertiary deformation of the Serbomacedonian metamorphic rocks with the Eocene to Miocene ductile, top-to-southwestward crustal shear of the adjacent Rhodope crystalline rocks. We regard the Serbomacedonian and the Rhodope metamorphic rocks to represent related metamorphic provinces, the most recent exhumation and cooling history of which is bracketed between the Eocene and Neogene. Received: 8 December 1998 / Accepted: 19 April 1999     

Adaptable User Profiles for Intelligent Geospatial Queries

The geospatial information user community is becoming increasingly diverse, with numerous users accessing distributed datasets for various types of applications. Currently in GIS, unlike traditional databases, there is a lack of machine learning algorithms to customize information retrieval results. Thus the particular interests of individual users are not taken into account in traditional geospatial queries. In this paper we present a system that adjusts query results based on user requirements and needs. It does so by using a collection of fuzzy functions that express user preference specifically in GIS environments. The focus of this work is on preference learning for one‐dimensional, quantitative attributes, and on the customization of geospatial queries using this information. The model used to express user preferences adjusts gradually to the underlying complexity during a training process, starting with fairly simple linear functions and progressing to complex non‐linear ones as needed. Our advanced modeling capabilities are demonstrated through an applicability example, and statistical simulations show the robustness of our system.     

Understanding the 13 May 1995 western Macedonia earthquake: A paleoseismological approach

Paleoseismological research by means of trenching in the area that was affected by the Kozani-Grevena strong (M_s = 6.6) earthquake sequence, revealed evidence for past reactivations of the same seismogenic fault. Five trenches were excavated along the Palaeochori-Sarakina part of the fault, in which three surface faulting paleoevents were identified at ca. 8.97, 36.7 and 72.5 ka BP (TL dates). Recurrence interval based on these datings is about 30 ka, which is very long, verifying the ‘low seismicity’ status of the area. On this basis, the 1995 earthquake was an out of sequence event, because the elapse time since the last major event is 8.97 ka instead of 30. Assuming a constant rate of strain accumulation, this would also explain the small amount of surface displacement that was observed during the 1995 earthquake (maximum 18 cm, usually up to 10 cm) in respect to the displacements observed in the trenches (> 25 cm) for previous paleoevents.