Deep-water sediment transport patterns and basin floor topography in early rift basins: Plio-Pleistocene syn-rift of the Corinth Rift,Greece

Our current understanding on sedimentary deep-water environments is mainly built of information obtained from tectonic settings such as passive margins and foreland basins. More observations from extensional settings are particularly needed in order to better constrain the role of active tectonics in controlling sediment pathways, depositional style and stratigraphic stacking patterns. This study focuses on the evolution of a Plio-Pleistocene deep-water sedimentary system (Rethi-Dendro Formation) and its relation to structural activity in the Amphithea fault block in the Corinth Rift, Greece. The Corinth Rift is an active extensional basin in the early stages of rift evolution, providing perfect opportunities for the study of early deep-water syn-rift deposits that are usually eroded from the rift shoulders due to erosion in mature basins like the Red Sea, North Sea and the Atlantic rifted margin. The depocentre is located at the exit of a structurally controlled sediment fairway, approximately 15 km from its main sediment source and 12 km basinwards from the basin margin coastline. Fieldwork, augmented by digital outcrop techniques (LiDAR and photogrammetry) and clast-count compositional analysis allowed identification of 16 stratigraphic units that are grouped into six types of depositional elements: A—mudstone-dominated sheets, B—conglomerate-dominated lobes, C—conglomerate channel belts and sandstone sheets, D—sandstone channel belts, E—sandstone-dominated broad shallow lobes, F—sandstone-dominated sheets with broad shallow channels. The formation represents an axial system sourced by a hinterland-fed Mavro delta, with minor contributions from a transverse system of conglomerate-dominated lobes sourced from intrabasinal highs. The results of clast compositional analysis enable precise attribution for the different sediment sources to the deep-water system and their link to other stratigraphic units in the area. Structures in the Amphithea fault block played a major role in controlling the location and orientation of sedimentary systems by modifying basin-floor gradients due to a combination of hangingwall tilt, displacement of faults internal to the depocentre and folding on top of blind growing faults. Fault activity also promoted large-scale subaqueous landslides and eventual uplift of the whole fault block.     

An investigation of the active tectonics in central-eastern mainland Greece with imaging and decomposition of topographic and aeromagnetic data

We report the results of a joint analysis of aeromagnetic, topographic and tectonic data in central-eastern mainland Greece. The emphasis of the analysis is placed on the detection of coherent lineations (discontinuities), collocated and correlated with faulting structures detected by geological field observation. To this effect, edge detection and image enhancement were applied to digital aeromagnetic anomaly maps and digital elevation models, comprising bidirectional differentiation, wavelet transformation (imaging) and spatial decomposition/reconstruction in the wavenumber domain. The analysis facilitated the detection of significant topographic lineaments with NNE–SSW, ENE–WSW and ESE–WNW orientations. Respectively, the aeromagnetic data exhibit two families of significant NE–SW, and one family of ESE–WNW lineaments. The major aeromagnetic and topographic lineaments coincide and have comparable width scales of the order of 2–3 km, indicating that they are produced by significant discontinuities in the upper crust. The kinematics of the NE–SW faults varies between oblique-slip and strike-slip. These faults affect Neogene to Late Quaternary deposits and have been responsible for the formation of transverse depressions and horsts. This is also corroborated by focal plane solutions from small earthquakes recorded by local networks. The nature of these structures is not yet clear. However, they have been detected by diverse methodologies, they have considerable extent and are apparently active. These attributes suggest that they may possibly be related to the propagation and diffusion of the North Anatolian and North Aegean fault systems into the Greek mainland.     

Classifying convective and stratiform rain using multispectral infrared Meteosat Second Generation satellite data

This paper investigates the potential for developing schemes that classify convective and stratiform precipitation areas using the high infrared spectral resolution of the Meteosat Second Generation—Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (MSG-SEVIRI). Two different classification schemes were proposed that use the brightness temperature (BT) Τ _10.8 along with the brightness temperature differences (BTDs) Τ _10.8–Τ _12.1, Τ _8.7–Τ _10.8, and Τ _6.2–Τ _10.8 as spectral parameters, which provide information about cloud parameters. The first is a common multispectral thresholding scheme used to partition the space of the spectral cloud parameters and the second is an algorithm based on the probability of convective rain (PCR) for each pixel of the satellite data. Both schemes were calibrated using as a reference convective\stratiform rain classification fields derived from 87 stations in Greece for six rainy days with high convective activity. As a result, one single infrared technique (TB₁₀) and two multidimensional techniques (BTD_all and PCR) were constructed and evaluated against an independent sample of rain gauge data for four daily convective precipitation events. It was found that the introduction of BTDs as additional information to a technique works in improving the discrimination of convective from stratiform rainy pixels compared to the single infrared technique BT₁₀. During the training phase, BTD_all performed slightly better than BT₁₀ while PCR technique outperformed both threshold techniques. All techniques clearly overestimate the convective rain occurrences detected by the rain gauge network. When evaluating against the independent dataset, both threshold techniques exhibited the same performance with that of the dependent dataset whereas the PCR technique showed a notable skill degradation. As a result, BTD_all performed best followed at a short distance by PCR and BT₁₀. These findings showed that it is possible to apply a convective/stratiform rain classification algorithm based on the enhanced infrared spectral resolution of MSG-SEVIRI, for nowcasting or climate purposes, despite the highly variable nature of convective precipitation.     

Transverse fault zones of subtle geomorphic signature in northern Evia island (central Greece extensional province): An introduction to the Quaternary Nileas graben

Reconnaissance level geomorphological observations in the northern part of Evia (Euboea) Island, suggest that a major topographic feature, the 17 km long and 15 km wide Nileas depression (NDpr), corresponds to a previously undetected graben structure, bounded by fault zones of ENE–WSW to NE–SW general strike. These fault zones have been active in the Quaternary, since they affect the Neogene deposits of the Limni–Histiaia basin. They strike transverse to the NW–SE active fault zones that bound northern Evia in the specific area and are characterised along most of their length by subtle geomorphic signatures in areas of extensive forest cover and poor exposure.The NDpr was formed during the Early–Middle Quaternary, after the deposition of the Neogene basin fill. During the Middle–Late Quaternary, the NW–SE fault zones that bound northern Evia have been the main active structures, truncating and uplifting the NDpr to a perched position in relation to the northern Gulf of Evia graben and the submarine basin on the Aegean side of the island. The present-day morphology of the NDpr, with an interior (floor) comprised of Middle Pleistocene erosional surfaces extensively dissected by drainages, was shaped by erosion during this uplift. Judging from their geomorphic signatures, the fault zones that bound the NDpr must have been characterised by low or very low rates of activity during the Late Quaternary. Yet, that they may still be accommodating strain today is suggested by moderate earthquakes that have been recorded within the NDpr.The fault zone at the SE flank of the NDpr (Prokopi–Pelion fault zone) may be very important in terms of earthquake segmentation of the active NW–SE Dirfys fault zone that controls the Aegean coast of northern Evia, given that the intersection between the two presents striking morpho-structural similarities with the intersection of two fault zones with the same directions on the mainland (the Atalanti and Hyampolis fault zones), which is known to have acted as a barrier to the propagation of the Atalanti earthquake ruptures in 1894.     

Seismicity study in Pournari reservoir area (W. Greece) 1981–2010

The spatial-temporal evolution of seismicity is examined, during the initial impoundment of Pournari reservoir located on Arachthos River (Western Greece), as well as for the next 30 years. The results show that, despite the relatively moderate-to-high seismicity from west to east, there is no remarkable earthquake in the vicinity before the first reservoir impoundment. Immediately after the impoundment (January 1981), and during the first 4 months, a considerable number of low-magnitude seismic events were recorded in the broader area of the dam. Moreover, two independent major events occurred on March 10, 1981 (M _L ?=?5.6) and April 10, 1981 (M _L ?=?4.7) with focal depths 13 and 10 km, respectively. The detailed analysis of the two corresponding aftershock sequences shows that they present different behaviors (e.g., larger b-value and lower magnitude of the main aftershock) than that of other aftershock sequences in Greece. This seismicity is probably due to triggering, via the water loading mechanism and the undrained response due to a flysch appearance on the reservoir basement. The activation of the thrust fault may be attributed to the bulging of evaporites that characterize the disordered structure of W. Greece, via possible water intake. The detailed processing of the recorded seismicity during the period 1982–2010, in comparison with the variations of Pournari Dam water level, shows an increase of shallow seismicity (h?≤?5 km) in the vicinity of the reservoir up to a 10-km distance—in contrast to the initial period, characterized by a number of deeper events due to the background response change from undrained to drained status.     

A warm season climatology of mesoscale convective systems in the Mediterranean basin using satellite data

A 3-year climatology of isolated warm season mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) was built for the Mediterranean basin using Meteosat Second Generation infrared imagery and an objective identification and tracking algorithm. A dataset of 4,718 MCS trajectories was constructed for the warm season of the period 2005–2007, which in turn was split into two subsets (deep and weak convective) according to the intensity of convection using a discriminant parameter in the MCS properties. Several parameters related to geographical, temporal, radiative, morphological, and motion related properties were calculated for each MCS. The majority of MCSs are mainly continental and strongly correlated with orography showing an increased formation from April to June when maximum is found. Initiation and dissipation time revealed a distinct diurnal cycle having a strong correlation with the typical diurnal heating cycle of the atmosphere. On average, a typical isolated MCS in the Mediterranean basin initiates between 14:00 and 17:00 local solar time, tends to be small with elongated shape, short-lived, usually moving toward northeast to southeast with a mean velocity of 36 km/h. When comparing the two MCS subsets, some notable differences were revealed. Weak convective MCSs initiate earlier, move faster, travel longer, tend to reach slightly smaller sizes, are more linear, present higher cloud top temperatures, and have lower fractions of convective cloud type areas than deep convective systems.     

Liquefaction, ground fissures and coastline change during the Egio earthquake (15 June 1995; Central-Western Greece)

The destructive earthquake (Ms = 6.1 R) that hit the town of Egio and the surrounding area of the Northern Peloponnessos (Greece) generated extensive liquefaction, ground fissuring and coastline changes.
Historical data indicate that the same region has experienced episodic earthquake damage, with some seismogenic phenomena having reoccurred at the same locations. In conclusion, it is confirmed that this is a high seismic risk region, where proper building design and planning can reduce the potential danger if the geodynamic setting is properly taken into account.     

Modeling and mapping temperature and precipitation climate data in Greece using topographical and geographical parameters

This study presents a methodology for modeling and mapping the seasonal and annual air temperature and precipitation climate normals over Greece using several topographical and geographical parameters. Data series of air temperature and precipitation from 84 weather stations distributed evenly over Greece are used along with a set of topographical and geographical parameters extracted with Geographic Information System methods from a digital elevation model (DEM). Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) obtained from MODIS Aqua satellite data is also used as a geographical parameter. First, the relation of the two climate elements to the topographical and geographical parameters was investigated based on the Pearson’s correlation coefficient to identify the parameters that mostly affect the spatial variability of air temperature and precipitation over Greece. Then a backward stepwise multiple regression was applied to add topographical and geographical parameters as independent variables into a regression equation and develop linear estimation models for both climate parameters. These models are subjected to residual correction using different local interpolation methods, in an attempt to refine the estimated values. The validity of these models is checked through cross-validation error statistics against an independent test subset of station data. The topographical and geographical parameters used as independent variables in the multiple regression models are mostly those found to be strongly correlated with both climatic variables. Models perform best for annual and spring temperatures and effectively for winter and autumn temperatures. Summer temperature spatial variability is rather poorly simulated by the multiple regression model. On the contrary, best performance is obtained for summer and autumn precipitation while the multiple regression model is not able to simulate effectively the spatial distribution of spring precipitation. Results revealed also a relatively weaker model performance for precipitation than that for air temperature probably due to the highly variable nature of precipitation compared to the relatively low spatial variability of air temperature field. The correction of the developed regression models using residuals improved though not significantly the interpolation accuracy.