Magnitude and source area estimations of severe prehistoric earthquakes in the western Eastern Alps

In slowly deforming intraplate tectonic regions such as the Alps only limited knowledge exists on the occurrence of severe earthquakes, their maximum possible magnitude and their potential source areas. This is mainly due to long earthquake recurrence rates exceeding the time span of instrumental earthquake records and historical documentation. Lacustrine paleoseismology aims at retrieving long-term continuous records of seismic shaking. A paleoseismic record from a single lake provides information on events for which seismic shaking exceeded the intensity threshold at the lake site. In addition, when positive and negative evidence for seismic shaking from multiple sites can be gathered for a certain time period, minimum magnitudes and source locations can be estimated for paleo-earthquakes by a reverse application of an empirical intensity prediction equation in a geospatial analysis. Here, we present potential magnitudes and source locations of four paleo-earthquakes in the western Eastern Alps based on the integration of available and updated lake paleoseismic data. The paleoseismic records at Plansee and Achensee covering the last ~10 kyrs were extended towards the age of lake initiation after deglaciation to obtain the longest possible paleoseismic catalogue at each lake site. Our results show that 25 severe earthquakes are recorded in the four lakes Plansee, Piburgersee, Achensee and potentially Starnbergersee over the last ~16 kyrs, from which four earthquakes are interpreted to left imprints in two or more lakes. Earthquake recurrence intervals range from ca. 1,000 to 2,000 years with a weakly periodic to aperiodic recurrence behavior for the individual records. We interpret that relatively shorter recurrence intervals in the more orogen-internal archives Piburgersee and Achensee are related to enhanced tectonic loading, whereas a longer recurrence rate in the more orogen-external archive Plansee might reflect a decreased stress transfer across the current-day enhanced seismicity zone. Plausible epicenters of paleo-earthquake scenarios coincide with the current enhanced seismicity regions. Prehistoric earthquakes with a minimum moment magnitude (MW) 5.8–6.1 might have occurred around the Inn valley, the Brenner region and the Fernpass-Loisach region, and might have reached up to MW 6.3 at Achensee. The paleo-earthquake catalogue might hint at a shift of severe earthquake activity near the Inn valley from east to west to east during Postglacial times. Shakemaps highlight that such severe earthquake scenarios not solely impact the enhanced seismicity region of Tyrol, but widely affect adjacent regions like southern Bavaria in Germany.

The Diversity of Ray-finned Fishes (Actinopterygii) in Plio-Pleistocene Java

Java has been known in the world of Paleontology as a contributor to the findings of Homo erectus fossils, but there are still other fossil findings that have not been identified until now, especially fossil fishes of the subclass Actinopterygii. This research was conducted to recognize the diversity of the actinopterygians fishes in Plio-Pleistocene of Java and to determine the diagnostic characters of each taxon group of fossils in the Plio-Pleistocene of Java. The study was carried out using comparative anatomical methods with present-day specimens and fossil findings collection of the Laboratory of Bioanthropology and Paleoanthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada; Bandung Geological Museum and Sangiran Early Man Site. The research found at least 8 species of fish fossils in Java which belong to three order, i.e., the order Siluriformes with 5 identified species: Bagarius gigas, Hemibragus nemurus, Clarias macrocephalus, family Ariidae with indeterminate genus or species, Plotosus canius, Clarias batrachus, and family Pangasiidae with indeterminate genus or species; the order Perciformes with two identified species: Anabas testudineus and Sphyraena crassidens; and the order Cypriniformes with one identified species: Osteochilus vittatus. Based on the fossil findings showed that the Java Island during the Plio-Pleistocene used to be a marine environment that gradually ascending into a lowland river which closes to mangrove swamps and estuaries while the ancient Bandung lake site was a lacustrine environment with calm currents and is overgrown with riparian vegetation.

Sigmoid generalized complementary equation for wet surface evaporation at the scale with changing advections

<p>Understandings the processes and estimating the amount of wet surface evaporation across various scales are crucial to the evaporation research. The Penman (1948) and Priestley-Taylor (1972) equations are derived for a wet patches and an extensive wet surface respectively, with an obviously different effects of advection. However, the evaporation for a wet surface between these two scales is difficult to estimate because of the changing advections. The sigmoid generalized complementary (SGC) equation, which expresses the ratio of actual evaporation (E) to Penman potential evaporation (E<sub>Pen</sub>) as a function of the proportion of the radiation term (E<sub>rad</sub>) in E<sub>Pen</sub>, is used to model the wet surface evaporation process by setting the symmetric parameter to be infinity, and was validated by data from flux sites over a lake site (CN-MLW) from China, a wetland site (US-WPT) from the United State, and a paddy site (JP-MSE) from Japan. The SGC equation robustly describes the growth of E/E<sub>Pen</sub> upon E<sub>rad</sub>/E<sub>Pen</sub> with upper flatness part over the wet surface with significant changing advection effects, and could account for the variation of the Priestley-Taylor coefficient directly. Thus, the SGC equation outperforms the Priestley-Taylor equation with a constant coefficient for estimating wet surface evaporation at the scale with changing advections.</p>

Distribution of arsenic, silver, cadmium, lead and other trace elements in water, sediment and macrophytes in the Kenyan part of Lake Victoria: spatial, temporal and bioindicative aspects

This is the first detailed report on the distribution of Ni, As, Sr and Ag in water, sediments and macrophytes from Lake Victoria, complemented with recent data on the heavy metals Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb. The study was conducted over an 11-month period at five sites in the Kenyan part of Lake Victoria: four sites in the Winam Gulf influenced by various anthropogenic pressures including a site near Kisumu City, and one in the main lake, perceived to have lesser direct anthropogenic influence. Compared with the main lake site, the water in Winam Gulf had significantly higher values for electrical conductivity and concentrations of dissolved components: organic carbon and bound nitrogen, as well as major and most trace elements. This contamination is also evident in surface sediments, which contained significantly higher levels of Cr, Zn, As, Ag, Cd and Pb compared with the main lake site. The mean levels of Cr, Cu, Zn, Ag and Pb exceeded probable effect levels at least at one of the gulf sites. The sediments at the Kisumu City site were classified as severely polluted with Cu (up to 259 mg/kg dw) and Pb (up to 1188 mg/kg dw). The sediment cores showed significantly higher levels of Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd and Pb in the surface (0–3 cm) versus subsurface (22–25 cm) layer at the Kisumu City site, indicating increasing pollution by these elements within the last 15 years. This is also the first report on trace elements in the emergent water plant Vossia cuspidata and submerged plant Ceratophyllum demersum from this lake. Even though the accumulation of most elements is comparable between C. demersum (whole plant) and V. cuspidata roots, the latter shows a better bioindicative potential. Contamination of the gulf with Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd and Pb is well mirrored in V. cuspidata roots. V. cuspidata strongly restricts the acropetal transport of trace elements, and hence using the shoots as fodder does not pose a risk to livestock.

Holocene Rupture History of the Central Teton Fault at Leigh Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

ABSTRACT Prominent scarps on Pinedale glacial surfaces along the eastern base of the Teton Range confirm latest Pleistocene to Holocene surface-faulting earthquakes on the Teton fault, but the timing of these events is only broadly constrained by a single previous paleoseismic study. We excavated two trenches at the Leigh Lake site near the center of the Teton fault to address open questions about earthquake timing and rupture length. Structural and stratigraphic evidence indicates two surface-faulting earthquakes at the site that postdate deglacial sediments dated by radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence to ∼10–11 ka. Earthquake LL2 occurred at ∼10.0 ka (9.7–10.4 ka; 95% confidence range) and LL1 at ∼5.9 ka (4.8–7.1 ka; 95%). LL2 predates an earthquake at ∼8 ka identified in the previous paleoseismic investigation at Granite Canyon. LL1 corresponds to the most recent Granite Canyon earthquake at ∼4.7–7.9 ka (95% confidence range). Our results are consistent with the previously documented long-elapsed time since the most recent Teton fault rupture and expand the fault’s earthquake history into the early Holocene.

Optical Properties of Dissolved Organic Matter and Controlling Factors in Dianchi Lake Waters

Characterization of dissolved organic matter (DOM) is useful in understanding environment quality and carbon cycling in the lake system. In this study, the fluorescence of DOM, major ions, and nutrients in water were investigated to understand the sources and the transformation of DOM in Dianchi Lake, the sixth largest freshwater lake in China. The dissolved organic carbon content in water above the deposition layer was higher than 5 mg C∙L−1 but lower than that in pore water. Two primary components of humic (C1) and protein-like components (C2) were identified using parallel factor (PARAFAC) modeling on sample fluorescence spectra. Organic components were related to mineral structures, and encapsulation of bacterial or algal cells into particulates could be disintegrated to release DOM. The aromaticity and the hydrophobicity of optical properties were regulated by percentages of chromophores (CDOM) of DOM in surface water, whereas by percentages of fluorophores (FDOM) in DOM in pore water, the underlying water layer was defined as a belt of transition. The molecular weight enhanced with percentages of C1 in CDOM increased in water above the sediment layer and the pore water at the northern lake site, but molecular weight attenuated with percentages decreased in pore water at the southern lake site. DOM not only originated from particulate decomposition but also derived from internal transformation among different, dissolved organic molecules. Small molecules were aggregated into larger ones, and, conversely, large molecules decomposed into small sizes. Another speculation is that dissolved molecules adsorbed or were encapsulated into particulates or were degraded and released into dissolved phases. The precise factors regulated composition, structure, and spectral properties of dissolved organic matter in the Dianchi Lake. This study highlights that sources of DOM and transformation mechanisms in the lake water could be correlated with nutrients and primary geochemical factors for mobility and distribution in different water compartments.

New oxygen isotope diagrams of late pleistocene and holocene ice wedges of Mamontova Gora and Syrdah Lake, Central Yakutia

The aim of the study was to obtain the data of stable oxygen isotope composition of Late Pleistocene and Holocene ice wedges of Mamontova Gora and Syrdakh exposures and their chronology, and reconstruction of winter air temperature during the time of ice wedge formation. Direct dating of organic microinclusions from the ice wedges of Mamontova Gora outcrops allowed to establish that the ice wedges are younger than 20 ka, but older than 10 ka BP. δ18O values of the Late Pleistocene ice wedges of Mamontova Gora vary from -24.7 to -30.9 ‰, δ18O values of the Holocene ice wedges of this exposures range from -23.2 to -25.9 ‰. δ18O values in the Late Pleistocene ice wedges near Syrdakh Lake vary from -29.2 to -32.5 ‰. Reconstructed mean winter air temperature during the most part of the ice wedge growth period in Mamontova Gora site within Late Pleistocene varied from -28 to - 31°C, mean January temperature reached -42, -46°C, for the Syrdakh Lake site Late Pleistocene winter conditions were more severe: mean winter air temperature varied from -30 to -32°C, mean January air temperature reached -44, -48°C. Holocene mean winter air temperature were higher and varied from -24 to - 28°C, mean January temperature varied from -36 to -42°C.

Widespread detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from natural aquatic environments in southern Ontario

To elucidate how widespread antibiotic resistance is in the surface water environment, we studied the prevalence of antibiotic resistance bacteria at four locations in southern Ontario. We found that the percentage of bacteria resistant to the antibiotic tetracycline was higher at the river site, which flows through agricultural land, and lower at the lake sites. A total of 225 colonies were selected for further testing of antibiotic disc susceptibility to eight different antibiotics to calculate the multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) score and the antibiotic resistance index for each site. Although the isolates from the lake site outside the city displayed resistance to fewer antibiotics, their MAR scores were not significantly different from that of the lake sites adjacent to urban beaches, showing that MAR was widespread in the natural water environments tested. Isolation of colonies under selection pressure to tetracycline was found to have a significant effect on the likelihood that the isolates would contain multiple resistance traits for other antibiotics. Identification of isolates selected on tetracycline was compared with that of isolates that were sensitive to tetracycline, and the community composition was found to be distinctly different, although isolates from the genera Chryseobacterium, Pseudomonas, and Stenotrophomonas were found in both communities.

Mecanismes De Contamination Des Eaux Souterraines Dans Le Secteur Du Lac Mbeubeuss, Dakar, Senegal

The physicochemistry of groundwater in the immediate environment of the dump, and its surroundings, shows that the true value of the electrical conductivity of groundwater is close to 2000 μS / cm. The value of electrical conductivity that is greater than 2000 μS / cm demonstrates groundwater contamination through the Mbeubeuss Lake landfill, with chemical groundwater facies dominated by Sodium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, and Calcium Chloride. The study of the unsaturated zone of the aquifer and the relationship between the major chemical elements of groundwater, rainwater, and seawater made it possible to specify, on one hand, the sources of mineralization of the groundwater at the Mbeubeuss Lake site and its surroundings. Indeed, the situation close to the sea would suggest a considerable intake of salts by aerosols and sea spray. Based on contribution to this study, the influence of the old sediments of the dry Lake Mbeubeuss and the percolation of leachates resulting from the decomposition of garbage landfilled under the action of rainwater would be added. On the other hand, this study also made it possible to determine the main processes of controlling the mineralization of groundwater. This includes the marine inputs, the dissolution-precipitation of clay minerals present in the geological formations constituting the aquifer, the dilution- concentration, evaporation, and anthropogenic pollution.