scholarly journals The Making of the NEAM Tsunami Hazard Model 2018 (NEAMTHM18)

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Basili ◽  
Beatriz Brizuela ◽  
André Herrero ◽  
Sarfraz Iqbal ◽  
Stefano Lorito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Model Development ◽  
Hazard Model ◽  
Tsunami Hazard ◽  
Tsunami Early Warning ◽  
North East ◽  
Average Return ◽  
The North ◽  
Earthquake Model ◽  
Hazard Curves ◽  
The Mediterranean

The NEAM Tsunami Hazard Model 2018 (NEAMTHM18) is a probabilistic hazard model for tsunamis generated by earthquakes. It covers the coastlines of the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and connected seas (NEAM). NEAMTHM18 was designed as a three-phase project. The first two phases were dedicated to the model development and hazard calculations, following a formalized decision-making process based on a multiple-expert protocol. The third phase was dedicated to documentation and dissemination. The hazard assessment workflow was structured in Steps and Levels. There are four Steps: Step-1) probabilistic earthquake model; Step-2) tsunami generation and modeling in deep water; Step-3) shoaling and inundation; Step-4) hazard aggregation and uncertainty quantification. Each Step includes a different number of Levels. Level-0 always describes the input data; the other Levels describe the intermediate results needed to proceed from one Step to another. Alternative datasets and models were considered in the implementation. The epistemic hazard uncertainty was quantified through an ensemble modeling technique accounting for alternative models’ weights and yielding a distribution of hazard curves represented by the mean and various percentiles. Hazard curves were calculated at 2,343 Points of Interest (POI) distributed at an average spacing of ∼20 km. Precalculated probability maps for five maximum inundation heights (MIH) and hazard intensity maps for five average return periods (ARP) were produced from hazard curves. In the entire NEAM Region, MIHs of several meters are rare but not impossible. Considering a 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years (ARP≈2,475 years), the POIs with MIH >5 m are fewer than 1% and are all in the Mediterranean on Libya, Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece coasts. In the North-East Atlantic, POIs with MIH >3 m are on the coasts of Mauritania and Gulf of Cadiz. Overall, 30% of the POIs have MIH >1 m. NEAMTHM18 results and documentation are available through the TSUMAPS-NEAM project website (http://www.tsumaps-neam.eu/), featuring an interactive web mapper. Although the NEAMTHM18 cannot substitute in-depth analyses at local scales, it represents the first action to start local and more detailed hazard and risk assessments and contributes to designing evacuation maps for tsunami early warning.

scholarly journals Tsunami risk perception in Southern Italy: first evidence from a sample survey

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Cerase ◽  
Massimo Crescimbene ◽  
Federica La Longa ◽  
Alessandro Amato
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Tsunami Hazard ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Civil Protection ◽  
North East ◽  
Tsunami Risk ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Way

Abstract. According to a deep-rooted conviction, the occurrence of a tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea would be very rare. However, in addition to the catastrophic event of Messina and Reggio Calabria (1908) and the saved danger for the tsunami occurred on Cycladic sea in 1956, 44 events are reported in the Mediterranean Sea between 1951 and 2003, and other smaller tsunamis occurred off Morocco, Aegean and Ionian seashores between 2017 and 2018. Such events, that are just a little part of the over 200 historically events reported for the Mediterranean (Maramai, Brizuela & Graziani, 2014) should remind geoscientists, civil protection officers, media and citizens that 1) tsunami hazard in the Mediterranean is not negligible, and 2) tsunamis come in all shapes and colours, and even a small event can result in serious damages and loss of lives and properties. Recently, a project funded by the European Commission (TSUMAPS-NEAM, Basili et al., 2018) has estimated the tsunami hazard due to seismic sources in the NEAM region (one of the four ICG coordinated by the UNESCO IOC) finding that a significant hazard is present in most coasts of the area, particularly in those of Greece and Italy. In such a scenario, where low probability and high uncertainty match with poor knowledge and familiarity with tsunami hazard, risk mitigation strategies and risk communicators should avoid undue assumptions about public’s supposed attitudes and preparedness, as these may results in serious consequences for the exposed population, geoscientists, and civil protection officers. Hence, scientists must carefully shape their messages and rely on well-researched principled practices rather than on good intuitions (Bostrom, & Löfstedt, 2003). For these reasons, the Centro Allerta Tsunami of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (hereinafter CAT-INGV) promoted a survey to investigate tsunami’s risk perception in two pilot regions of Southern Italy, Calabria and Apulia, providing a stratified sample of 1021 interviewees representing about 3.2mln people living in 183 coastal municipalities of two regions subjected (along with Sicily) to relatively high probability to be hit by a tsunami. Results show that people’s perception and understanding of tsunami are affected by media accounts of large tsunamis of 2004 (Sumatra) and 2011 (Tohoku, North East Japan): television emerged as the most relevant source of knowledge for almost 90 % of the sample, and the influence of media also results in the way tsunami risk is characterized. Risk perception appears to be low: for almost half of the sample the occurrence of a tsunami in the Mediterranean sea is considered quite unlikely. Furthermore, the survey’s results show that the word tsunami occupies a different semantic space with respect to the Italian traditional headword maremoto, with differences among sample strata. In other words, the same physical phenomenon would be understood in two different ways by younger, educated people and elders with low education level. Also belonging to different coastal areas appears to have a significant influence on the way tsunami hazard is conceived, having a stronger effect on risk characterization, for instance the interviewees of Tyrrhenian Calabria are more likely to associate tsunami risk to volcanoes with respect to other considered coastlines. The results of this study provide a relevant account of the issues at a stake, also entailing important implication both for risk communication and mitigation policies.

Reflections on High Seas Marine Protected Areas: A Comparative Analysis of the Mediterranean and the North-East Atlantic Models

2012 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshifumi Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
East Atlantic ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
High Seas

In 2010, the Contracting-Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention) created six marine protected areas (MPAs) on the high seas beyond 200 nautical miles with a view to protecting marine biological diversity. This is a significant step toward conservation of biological diversity on the high seas. The creation of high seas MPAs seems to provide a useful insight into the protection of community interests in marine spaces beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. At the same time, however, the creation of MPAs on the high seas raises some legal issues with regard to, inter alia, its legal ground, opposability to non-Contracting Parties, legitimacy, and practical implementation. Thus, this contribution seeks to examine legal issues regarding two types of MPAs on the high seas, namely: MPAs on the high seas which fall within potential exclusive economic zone of coastal States (the Mediterranean model) and MPAs on the high seas beyond 200 nautical miles (the North-East Atlantic model), respectively.

scholarly journals On the moroccan tsunami catalogue

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1227-1236 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Kaabouben ◽  
M. A. Baptista ◽  
A. Iben Brahim ◽  
A. El Mouraouah ◽  
A. Toto
Keyword(s):  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Mediterranean Coast ◽  
Tsunami Hazard ◽  
The West ◽  
Source Areas ◽  
Western Africa ◽  
The North ◽  
Tsunami Hazard Assessment ◽  
The Mediterranean

Abstract. A primary tool for regional tsunami hazard assessment is a reliable historical and instrumental catalogue of events. Morocco by its geographical situation, with two marine sides, stretching along the Atlantic coast to the west and along the Mediterranean coast to the north, is the country of Western Africa most exposed to the risk of tsunamis. Previous information on tsunami events affecting Morocco are included in the Iberian and/or the Mediterranean lists of tsunami events, as it is the case of the European GITEC Tsunami Catalogue, but there is a need to organize this information in a dataset and to assess the likelihood of claimed historical tsunamis in Morocco. Due to the fact that Moroccan sources are scarce, this compilation rely on historical documentation from neighbouring countries (Portugal and Spain) and so the compatibility between the new tsunami catalogue presented here and those that correspond to the same source areas is also discussed.

scholarly journals Seamount physiography and biology in the north-east Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 3039-3054 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Morato ◽  
K. Ø. Kvile ◽  
G. H. Taranto ◽  
F. Tempera ◽  
B. E. Narayanaswamy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
East Atlantic ◽  
Late 19Th Century ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Area North

Abstract. This work aims at characterising the seamount physiography and biology in the OSPAR Convention limits (north-east Atlantic Ocean) and Mediterranean Sea. We first inferred potential abundance, location and morphological characteristics of seamounts, and secondly, summarized the existing biological, geological and oceanographic in situ research, identifying examples of well-studied seamounts. Our study showed that the seamount population in the OSPAR area (north-east Atlantic) and in the Mediterranean Sea is large with around 557 and 101 seamount-like features, respectively. Similarly, seamounts occupy large areas of about 616 000 km2 in the OSPAR region and of about 89 500 km2 in the Mediterranean Sea. The presence of seamounts in the north-east Atlantic has been known since the late 19th century, but overall knowledge regarding seamount ecology and geology is still relatively poor. Only 37 seamounts in the OSPAR area (3.5% of all seamounts in the region), 22 in the Mediterranean Sea (9.2% of all seamounts in the region) and 25 in the north-east Atlantic south of the OSPAR area have in situ information. Seamounts mapped in both areas are in general very heterogeneous, showing diverse geophysical characteristics. These differences will likely affect the biological diversity and production of resident and associated organisms.

scholarly journals Genome-wide analysis clarifies the population genetic structure of wild Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Maroso ◽  
Konstantinos Gkagkavouzis ◽  
Sabina De Innocentiis ◽  
Jasmien Hillen ◽  
Fernanda do Prado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Sparus Aurata ◽  
Snp Markers ◽  
Gilthead Sea Bream ◽  
Sea Bream ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Mediterranean

AbstractGilthead sea bream is an important target for both recreational and commercial fishing in Europe, where it is also one of the most important cultured fish. Its distribution range goes from the Mediterranean to the African and European coasts of the North-East Atlantic. So far, the genetic structure of this species in the wild has been studied with microsatellite DNA, but the pattern of differentiation could not be fully clarified. In this study, almost 1000 wild sea bream from 23 locations in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic ocean where genotyped at 1159 SNP markers, of which 18 potentially under selection. Neutral markers suggested the presence of a weak subdivision into three genetic clusters: Atlantic, West and East Mediterranean. This last group could be further subdivided into an Ionian/Adriatic and an Aegean group using outlier markers. Seascape analysis suggested that this differentiation was mainly due to difference in salinity, and this was also supported by preliminary genomic functional analysis. These results are of fundamental importance for the development of proper management of this species in the wild and are a first step toward the study of the potential genetic impact of the sea bream aquaculture industry.

scholarly journals Observations on Nephrops norvegicus (L.) and on an epizoic population of Balanus crenatus Brug

1951 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Barnes ◽  
T. B. Bagenal
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
British Isles ◽  
Nephrops Norvegicus ◽  
General Biology ◽  
Far North ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Norway Lobster ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Mediterranean

The Dublin Prawn or Norway Lobster, Nephrops norvegicus (L.), is widely distributed on soft muddy bottoms, usually between 10 and 50 fathoms. It is found as far north as Iceland and the North Cape, is common in the North Sea and off the Atlantic shores of the British Isles, and extends as far south as the coast of Morocco; a variety, v. meridionalis (Zariquiey-Cenarro, 1935) is found in the Mediterranean and Adriatic (see Havinga, 1929, and Heldt & Heldt, 1931, for details of its distribution). Some aspects of the general biology of Nephrops have been dealt with by Höglund (1942) and Poulsen (1946) for Scandinavian waters, and by McIntosh (1904, 1908) and Storrow (1912)for the waters off north-east England. To a large extent all these workers relied on market catches.

scholarly journals Molecular Analysis of the Official Algerian Olive Collection Highlighted a Hotspot of Biodiversity in the Central Mediterranean Basin

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benalia Haddad ◽  
Alessandro Silvestre Gristina ◽  
Francesco Mercati ◽  
Abd Elkader Saadi ◽  
Nassima Aiter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Background ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
Genetic Resources Management ◽  
The Mediterranean

Genetic diversity and population structure studies of local olive germplasm are important to safeguard biodiversity, for genetic resources management and to improve the knowledge on the distribution and evolution patterns of this species. In the present study Algerian olive germplasm was characterized using 16 nuclear (nuSSR) and six chloroplast (cpSSR) microsatellites. Algerian varieties, collected from the National Olive Germplasm Repository (ITAFV), 10 of which had never been genotyped before, were analyzed. Our results highlighted the presence of an exclusive genetic core represented by 13 cultivars located in a mountainous area in the North-East of Algeria, named Little Kabylie. Comparison with published datasets, representative of the Mediterranean genetic background, revealed that the most Algerian varieties showed affinity with Central and Eastern Mediterranean cultivars. Interestingly, cpSSR phylogenetic analysis supported results from nuSSRs, highlighting similarities between Algerian germplasm and wild olives from Greece, Italy, Spain and Morocco. This study sheds light on the genetic relationship of Algerian and Mediterranean olive germplasm suggesting possible events of secondary domestication and/or crossing and hybridization across the Mediterranean area. Our findings revealed a distinctive genetic background for cultivars from Little Kabylie and support the increasing awareness that North Africa represents a hotspot of diversity for crop varieties and crop wild relative species.

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