Our working area was the northern and north-eastern coast of the Sultanate – terraces, lagoons, beach walls, beaches, archaeological sites. Of course, as neotectonic guys we always had a look at faults.

Intense discussion took place on the most beautiful beach wall of the Arabian Peninsula.

We did some drillings to find out about tsunamites and tempestites and opened several pits to check the sediments.

Sascha and Ben are opening a pit for checking the stratigraphy in a lagoon in northern Oman.

We also did a lot of ground penetrating radar and magnetic susceptibility measurements to find out about the geophysical parameters of our deposits.

Measuring the magnetic susceptibility in a trench.

Ground penetrating radar at the beach.

The Edelmann driller helped to investigate sediments down to 2m depth.

All in all we felt this field trip was successful. We found very interesting and promising new sites in the eastern parts of the coast and recorded tons of data. All the mapping filled dozens of pages in my field book.

To get an idea about our geological field work, I’ve prepared a little video:

What’s your field work like? Post videos!

Differential LiDAR and cross section. Elevation difference map and cross section showing the distributed deformation as slip steps from the NW Borrego fault into the Paso Inferior accommodation zone (from Oskin et al. (2012).

In the image above and video link below, blue means the earth has descended whereas red shows uplift. This region was scanned before the earthquake following a survey in 2006, permitting a comparison with the post-earthquake record. This study proved very important for this type of earthquake, because strain was distributed and displacement didn’t happen on a major fault line, but through a series of several smaller faults. Learning how such areas behave can provide important insights to seismic hazard assessment. The postevent survey reveals numerous surface ruptures, including previously undocumented blind faults within thick sediments of the Colorado River delta. Differential elevation changes show distributed, kilometer-scale bending strains as large as ~10³ microstrains in response to slip along discontinuous faults cutting crystalline bedrock of the Sierra Cucapah. According to the authors due to this unaccounted deformation paleoseismic measurements might underestimate fault slip rates at depth and in addition to slip rate, maximum earthquake size may also be misjudged due to incomplete knowledge of the linkages between faults.

Here is the 3D visualization of the earthquake zone based on differential LiDAR

Recent (major) earthquakes:

• The 23 October 2011 Van Earthquake – Losses and Lessons Convener: M. Erdik, Co-Convener: F. Wenzel

Active faults:

• Advances in earthquake source imaging for studying active faults, Convener: H. Sudhaus, Co-Conveners: P. M. Mai, A. Piatanesi
• Seismotectonics and crustal deformation in Africa, Convener: M. Meghraoui, Co-Conveners: R. Durrheim, A. Ayele, V. Midzi
• Caucasian convergence zone: Deep-seated structure, volcanism and neotectonics Convener: A. L. Sobisevich, Co-Conveners: L. V. Eppelbaum, E. Sharkov
• Electro-magnetic phenomena and connections with seismo-tectonic activity,
  Convener: P. F. Biagi, Co-Conveners: T. Maggipinto, M. Hayakawa
• Integrating geodetic and geological studies of active crustal deformation, Convener: M. Westerhaus, Co-Conveners: M. Becker, T. Wright, A. Demoulin
• Rock Physics and Natural Hazards, Convener: S. Vinciguerra, Co-Conveners: G. Di Toro, D. Faulkner
• Active tectonics along continental faults, Convener: M. Ferry, Co-Conveners: K. Vanneste, I. T. Kukkonen, M. V. S. Ask, Dr. Olesen
• Paleoenvironmental, tectonic and human evolution across the Levant-Anatolia Regions, Convener: F. Anselmetti, Co-Conveners: T. Litt, M. Stein
• Seafloor Expression of Tectonic and Geomorphic Processes, Convener: S. Krastel, Co-Convener: J. K. Hillier
• Visualization, Imaging and Mapping in Modern Structural Geology and Tectonics, Convener: U. Exner, Co-Conveners: K. McCaffrey, G. Pennacchioni

Seismic Hazard:

• Time-dependent earthquake occurrence and seismic hazard: physics and statistics
  Convener: G. Zöller, Co-Conveners: S. Hainzl, M. Cocco, M. Naylor
• Multi-type hazard and risk assessment, Convener: J. Zschau, Co-Conveners: K. Fleming, H. Modaressi, P. Gasparini
• Seismic hazard in real and nonlinear seismology, Convener: G. Marmureanu, Co-Conveners: R. Madariaga, G. F. Panza
• Early warning systems for natural hazards and risks, Convener: T. Glade, Co-Convener: G. Papadopoulos
• Anthropogenic seismicity and seismic hazard: methods, observations and modeling,
  Convener: S. Cesca, Co-Conveners: B. Orlecka-Sikora, A. F. do Nascimento, S. Turuntaev, J. Suckale
• Natural hazard resilient cities, Convener: D. Serre, Co-Convener: B. Barroca

Paleoseismicity:

• Large Earthquake and Tsunami Activity
  Convener: M. Bezzeghoud, Co-Conveners: E. Buforn, H. Hebert, H. M. Fritz
• Active tectonics along continental faults, Convener: M. Ferry, Co-Conveners: K. Vanneste, I. T. Kukkonen, M. V. S. Ask, Dr. Olesen

Geomorphology/Archeoseismology:

• Historical methods in geomorphological research: insights on environmental history’s contribution to geomorphology, Convener: N. Jacob-Rousseau, Co-Conveners: F. Gob, G. Houbrechts, L. Astrade
• Tectonics, sedimentation and surface processes, Convener: S. Castelltort, Co-Conveners: A. Whittaker, J. Vergés
• Crustal faulting and deformation processes observed by InSAR, GPS and modelling techniques, Convener: T. R. Walter, Co-Conveners: R. Malservisi, R. Lanari, T. Dixon, F. Zucca, M. Shirzaei
• Geodynamic, tectonic and paleoenvironmental evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean: from Dinarides to Turkey, Convener: L. Le Pourhiet, Co-Conveners: A. Okay, D. J. J. van Hinsbergen, N. Chamot-Rooke, K. Ustaszewski, B. Huet
• Geodynamics of the westernmost Mediterranean and NW Africa, Convener: C. J. Garrido, Co-Conveners: G. Booth-Rea, J. Galindo-Zaldivar, A. Chalouan, R. Carbonell, A. Levander, C. R. Ranero, V. Sallares, R. de Franco, N. Zitellini
• Late Quaternary environments and societies: progress in geoarchaeology, Convener: H. Brückner, Co-Convener: M. Engel

Earthquake environmental effects:

• Mechanisms and processes of landslides in seismically- or volcanically-active environments, Convener: V. Del Gaudio, Co-Conveners: J. Wasowski, H. Fukuoka, C.-T. Lee, R. W. Jibson
• Landslide hazard and risk assessment, and landslide management, Convener: P. Reichenbach, Co-Conveners: F. Guzzetti, A. Günther

Tsunamis:

• New developments in tsunami science and in mitigation of tsunami risk, including early warning, Convener: S. Tinti, Co-Conveners: H. Hebert, I. Didenkulova, Dominey-Howes
• Submarine Landslides: Mechanisms, Processes and their Sedimentary Record, Convener: S. Krastel, Co-Conveners: M. Strasser, A. Errera, J. Chaytor, R Urgeles
• Large Earthquake and Tsunami Activity
  Convener: M. Bezzeghoud, Co-Conveners: E. Buforn, H. Hebert, H. M. Fritz

I hope you find some interesting sessions. If you should be too tired or need a break, have a look at the Vienna Natural History Museum. It’s really great!

A very, very, very small part of the rock and mineral collection.

And they have fossils, great fossils!

Peter L. Falkingham has recently published a paper on how to create 3D models with free open source software:

Falkingham, P. L., 2012: Acquisition of high resolution three-dimensional models using
free, open-source, photogrammetric software. Palaeontologia Electronica Vol. 15, Issue 1; 1T:15p; palaeo-electronica.org/content/93-issue-1-2012-technical-articles/92-3d-photogrammetry.

In his article he describes the procedure for paleontological purposes – models of Chirotherium tracks, trilobites, elephants, tree roots. That’s nice work in my opinion and useful for many applications. It also reminds me of a video by Ron Schott, showing a 3D model of mud cracks:

ArcLand has also some nice examples about the use of 3D models – but they use LiDAR. Anyway, this is a cool project and a beautiful site. I didn’t know about it.

Common knowledge within the geoscience community is that it is impossible to play rock-paper-scissors with a geologist because rock always wins per definition. You can, however, play this with a geophysicist. It’s just that you need to replace paper with georadar and scissors with geoelectrics:

Rock-paper-scissors as geophysicists play it. Some say that geoelectrics will always lose, but other claim that GPR has no chance to win...

Anyway, a colleague of mine just told me that this won’t work either since geoelectrics will always lose…

The Geological Society has published a great animation of the rock cycle. Perfect for teaching, have a look!

David Bressan‘s post “Forensic Seismology” is full of nice examples and explanations, but obviously the most interesting one currently is the impact of the Costa Concordia registered by an Italian seismograph. Oh, now I see that David has a picture with a cute donkey. Since I always say that donkeys are the most underestimated animals, here’s another donkey image with some geology, too:

The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries has produced some great maps, showing the possible tsunami inundation for different earthquake scenarios. Nice work. We should really put more effort into awareness and preparedness.

Speaking about preparedness: The Song family is totally unprepared:

Have a nice weekend!

City of Ohrid

"Welcome to Ohrid" by jo-hu.de

Together with my colleagues I now have been several times to Lake Ohrid Basin, where Nadine is working on neotectonic evolution and morphotectonics. It’s right at the border between Albania and FYR of Macedonia. I once wrote a thesis about shallow subsurface sedimentary structures on the northern shore but that’s another story. I would like to fill you with enthousiasm to visit this UNESCO world heritage region.

There are quite a lot of interesting features not only from an geologic, but also from a limnological, zoological, paleoclimatological and, after all, sceneric and touristic point of view. Scroll down to the bottom and find a few selected papers about “Ancient Lake Ohrid”!

"City and Truck" by jo-hu.de

Speaking of which, Lake Ohrid is ancient, that means this lake has lasted over geologic times. Here, we are talking about at least 2-5 million years, possibly even 8 million years. Subduction zone roll-back determined the South Balkan Extension Regime, which created several N-S to NNW-SSE trending basins. A truly seismogenic landscape with numerous fault scarps and steep mountain ranges expose carbonates and metamorphic rocks next to smooth plains with fluvial and lacustrine sedimentary successions.

Plus, Lake Ohrid hosts over 200 endemic species like the salmo letnica, the Ohrid trout, which is believed to taste very delicious, but neither I nor you might try and taste it: our macedonian colleagues work hard on the protection of the species conservation.

A good time to visit Lake Ohrid is spring, when a lot of trees are in blossom and temperatures rise to a enjoyable level, like May or even June for example. You could visit not only the city of Ohrid with a magnificent old town and beautiful shorelines with some bars but also the monastery of Sveti Naum, where the Cyrillic writing system has been developed. And don’t forget to go to the Albanian side, Pogradec is worth a visit!

"Galicica Mountains" by jo-hu.de

Well, this post is intended to show you the way up the Galicica mountains, especially the highest peak Magaro at 2254 m amsl. On a sunny day you have great views over the Ohrid Basin, the mountain ranges and the neighboring Prespa lake. Although suitable to ambitioned beginners, the way to the top may be windy and perhaps snowy and you might have to find your own path.

When you have found the road towards the mountains you reach a rather small parking area on your right after some kilometres on the shoulder of Magaro. Lock your car and start walking uphill following the path towards the forest. Stay left and just follow the lead until all trees lie behind you. From now on it’s easy, because the task is: upslope! As we’ve been here, the area was really snowy so we just crossed the snowfields where we were wind-protected and kept facing the top. It is handy to carry a GPS device, so you don’t lose track. Wonder what the big metal plate could be and go on hiking. Once you reached the top, you could think about using a different way back. You should see where your car is parked, so walk towards it…

I provided a Google Earth-file where you can find the locations for driving, parking, and walking. For the biggest part of the track, you follow the way we went. Try the alternative route on your way back, there might be more beautiful views facing Albania!

Mine in Albania

Plantation near Ljubanishta

View to SW from Velestovo heigths

So what do you think? Travel to Lake Ohrid?

Save the kml-file via right click!

Albrecht, C. & Wilke, T. (2008): Ancient Lake Ohrid: biodiversity and evolution. Hydrobiologica 615, 1, 103-140. (link)
Burchfiel, B. et al. (2006): GPS results for Macedonia and its importance for the tectonics of the Southern Balkan Extensional Regime, Tectonophysics 413, 239-248. (link)
Dumurdzanov, N. et al. (2005): Cenozoic tectonics of Macedonia and its relation to the South Balkan Extensional Regime, Geosphere 1, 1-22. (link)
Hoffmann, N., et al. (2010): Evolution of ancient Lake Ohrid: a tectonic perspective. Biogeosciences 7, 3377-3386. (link)
Reicherter, K. et al. (2011). Active basins and neotectonics: morphotectonics of the Lake Ohrid Basin (FYROM and Albania). ZDGG 162 (2), 217 -234. (link)
Wagner, B. et al. (2008): The potential of Lake Ohrid for long-term palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, P3 259, 341-356. (link)

larger map

The German news magazine “Tagesschau” posted a nice Alfred Wegener quiz some days ago. Unfortunately it’s available in German only. What’s your score?

I came across this great article by David Bressan in Scientific American. He writes about the 1995 Kobe earthquake and, to me more interestingly, about early antiseismic measure in old buildings. This is quite interesting since we know similar features from different regions. Of course it’s hard to judge whether or not a 15th century temple in an earthquake prone area really was specially designed or if it was just a nice ornament that could withstand seismic shaking by accident. If our ancestors changed the design of their monuments after a large EQ event, they surely had something in mind, I guess.

The guys from TopGear did a lot of crazy things, as you might know, and some of their trips led them to geologically interesting places: the Andes, the Northpole and os on. Now they tried (and managed to) access an Icelandic, erupting volcano (the one with the ash and the unpronounceable name) by car. Stupid idea, fascinating pictures:

Dave has a nice post on landslides triggered by the 1929 Murchison earthquake in New Zealand. Suvrat at Rapid Uplift published his conversion with journalists about the seismic risk of the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power plant. Nice idea!

For all the Where-on-GoogleEarth-fans out there: I’ve posted a hint for WoGE#327…

Have a nice weekend!

The Geosciences Center at the National Autonomous University of Mexico invites applications for Assistant Professor/Researcher Position with expertise in Paleoseismology and Neotectonics. Applicants are required to have a PhD, basic knowledge of Spanish (no fluency is needed), and expertise in field-based Paleoseismology or closely related fields. Applicants with some experience in Landslides effects and evaluation are particularly encouraged.

The position will be awarded as tenure-track depending on applicant qualifications. The successful applicant will teach high-quality graduate and undergraduate courses including paleoseismology and neotectonics, and will participate in already funded projects as well as seek new funding. The successful applicant will also supervise graduate students.

Submit a cover letter describing your interest in the position, current CV, statements of Teaching and Research Interests, and contact information for three professional references, to:

Dr. Gerardo Carrasco, direccion@geociencias.unam.mx

Director Centro de Geociencias, UNAM

Campus Juriquilla, Querétaro, Qro. Mexico

For further information see http://www.geociencias.unam.mx or email Dr. Ramon Zúñiga at ramon@geociencias.unam.mx. Review of applications will begin February 15, 2012, and the position will remain open until filled.

About the Geosciences Center at UNAM

The Geosciences Center at the National Autonomous University of Mexico is located in the central state of Queretaro, Mexico, where the southern extension of the Basin and Range province meets the Northern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.

100 years ago on 6 January, Alfred Wegener presented his continental drift theory for the first time. The Blogosphere was full with articles, among them:

• Planeet Aarde (Dutch, Nederlands)
• Daburnas Logbuch (German, Deutsch)
• Koprolitos (Spanish, Español)
• Storia della Geologia (Italian, Italiano)
• Geschichte der Geologie (German, Deutsch)
• Andrew Alden at About.com (English)
• Scientific American (English)
• Gunnar Ries at Scilogs (German, Deutsch)
• Seismo Blog (English)
• Geotripper (English)
• Amphibol (German, Deutsch)
• Canadensis (English)
• Human Stupidity (English)
• The Mathisen Corollary (English)
• Toumai’s Banana (German, Deutsch)
• Observatorio Redes (Spanish, Español)

You think you already know everything about Alfred Wegener and you’ve read everything about his theory? Well, check out this song:

Another really great video I found does perfectly explain why many small earthquakes do not release sufficient energy to avoid a big one:

Tom brought my attention to this video – a sonification of the Tohoku earthquake in Japan:

The Virginia earthquake was huge surprise to the people at the eastcoast. Chuck Bailey hast two nice posts on this event: Part 1, Part 2.

Now scientists say there’s no linkage between fracking and the Virginia earthquake. This discussion has become virulent during the last months and I am looking forward more data.

Most of you, dear readers, will have read a Lonely Planet Tour guide, I guess. Now they updated their entry on Christchurch, NZ, stating that this is an “exciting city”, because of the aftershocks. Can you believe this? Will they add a category for geological risks?

Just one more suggestion to everyone in Western Europe: On Friday, 24 January, Koji Okamura will give a guest lecture at Leuven University, Belgium: Lessons learned from the March 11, 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunamis. The lecture starts at 3 p.m. and will be held at KAST 01.07, Kasteel Arenberg, Heverlee. Download the anouncement (PDF) here.

Don’t miss the EGU abstract submission deadline and have a nice weekend!

I do envoke the Schott rule, which means you have to wait one hour for each previous win. Posting time is 15:04 UTC. If you are not sure about the rules, have a look here. You’ll also find a kmz-file with all the previous locations.

Click first on image, then on 1699 x 1084 in the header to enlarge:

Good luck!

Update: Since it’s been some days without a solution, here’s a larger image. Now it should be easy to find the spot.

Christoph endowed me a pair of aftersocks (M larger than 8 ) from www.aftersocks.co.nz. By the way, I learned that the inhabitants of Christchurch (NZ) are called Cantabrians.

Send us your photos of your special Christmas gifts.

Klaus