These proceedings include most of the available information on this major seismic event and its consequences. With an estimated moment magnitude of 7.7 and a heavy toll in terms of human and economic losses, it ranks as the largest intermediate-depth earthquake in Europe in the twentieth century. Nevertheless, because of the difficult conditions in the 1940s, the lessons learnt after the Vrancea earthquake were not extensively shared with the international scientific community and thus, this book fills a gap in the literature discussing the knowledge acquired after major disasters. Past experience together with current understanding of the 1940 Vrancea earthquake are presented along with the latest information on Romanian seismicity, seismic hazard and risk assessment, and seismic evaluation and rehabilitation of buildings and structures. Moreover, it includes excerpts from Romanian post-disaster reports and textbooks concerning the earthquake.

In the present authors attempted to have a clear insight into the interworking of geotectonic, geomorphic, hydrologic and anthropogenic factors leading to landslide in the Shiv khola Watershed, the most worst affected region of Darjiling Himalaya. This book includes the parameters responsible for landslide events in mountainous areas. It provides knowledge and understanding to the local people, planners, and policy makers about the causes and consequences of landslides as well as provides a suitable method to mitigate the landslips. The book deals with the role of land, water and soil in landslide phenomena. These three attributes have been described in terms of critical rainfall, critical slope, critical height and changes and development of drainage network in landslides. Mitigations and site-specific management options are evaluated considering the roles of local govt., community and other organizations in both pre-slide and post-slide periods. Various scientific methods have been used to assess the landslides that will bring about tremendous help to researchers in the field. In particular, Researchers in Mountain Geomorphology and Geological and Geographical Society will get tremendous help from some topics such as 1-D slope stability model, SCS Curve Number Technique, Assessment of morphological parameters, application of RS & GIS, Application of Analytical Hierarchy Process. Semi-quantitative approach is followed for understanding spatial distribution of cohesion, friction angle slope, lithology and lineaments, drainage, upslope contributing area, land use and land cover types etc. This book also reveals some techniques and models for initiating slope instability.

This book presents the genetic connections of metamorphism and geodynamics. It discusses the tectonic and magmatic processes as the reason of metamorphism, and the geological types of metamorphism, which define the features of - parameters and - -t paths. Three categories of metamorphism are distinguished depending on the heat flow rate: 1) at a geothermal gradient near to an average terrestrial ("normal") value; 2) at a heightened thermal gradient as the result of additional heat supply in the earth's crust by magmatic intrusions and diapirism of magma; 3) at a reduced thermal gradient during the collision of lithosphere plates and blocks of the earth's crust. The quantitative methods of description of metamorphism have been widely used in this book. The mathematical models of metamorphism have been studied in connection with magmatic intrusions, rifting process and magmatic diapirism. Mineral changes in the rocks controlled by variations of - of parameters, mass transfer and chemical reactions have also been characterized. The book proposes a quasi-stationary model of diffusion metasomatism with respect to the formation of zonal structures of minerals. The method of mineral thermobarometry for the conditions of unsteady equilibrium has been worked out; the quantitative analysis of mass transfer during metamorphic reactions in the rock matrix has been carried out, and the mobility of chemical elements at metamorphism has been estimated as well. The book is intended for specialists in the fields of petrology, mineralogy and geochemistry, and for students at the senior and graduate level.

This book sheds new light on improved methods for the study of the initiation and run-out of earthquake-induced landslides. It includes an initiation study method that considers tension-shear failure mechanism; an improved, rigorous, dynamic sliding-block method based on dynamic critical acceleration; and a run-out analysis of earthquake-induced landslides that takes account of the trampoline effect, all of which add to the accuracy and accessibility of landslide study. The book includes abundant illustrations, figures and tables, making it a valuable resource for those looking for practical landslide research tools.

This book features research on historical land use and land cover in the Amur River Basin, which are important not only for residents there but also for those affected by its material and water cycles. Land use and land cover are affected by natural and human interactions over long and short timescales. The authors address historical changes in the land cover analysis of the Amur. The Amur region of Russia, land cover change analysis of the Amur, wetland, and flooding of the Amur provide evidence of land cover change. Changes of wetland and floodplain sedimentation processes demonstrate the influences of land cover change on fluvial environment, which are discussed with geomorphology. Water chemistry is showing the physical dimension of the geography of the Amur. The development process of timber harvesting in the Khabarovsk area and land use dynamics in the twentieth century are important evidence of development. The Amur poses an essential question: how can we manage a transboundary watershed without disturbing terrestrial and marine ecosystems for future generations? This book provides essential information for geographers about this relatively unknown region.

Arabian Deserts provides a comprehensive coverage of all the deserts of Arabia largely based on the author's experience in Arabia over the last fifty years. It deals with every type of desert found there, including those formed by great sand seas, dunefields, evaporites, clay pans, stony plains, volcanic flows, desert plateaux and mountains, deltas, and desert islands. Distinctive landforms of Arabia deserts are described, together with their geological setting and the influence of climates both past and present. The six great sand seas of Arabia are emphasized since Ar Rub' al Khali Desert forms the world's largest continuous sand desert. Sources, sedimentology, and the mechanisms of formation of these great sand deserts are examined. Distinctive sand dunes and interdunes types found in Arabia are described, classified and explained. ...] The icluded CD-ROM contains high quality full color versions of photos and figures which are printed in black and white in the book itself.

Today, society s impact on the geographical environment, and especially on the Earth s surface, is obvious. Yet up until the last century, the forces of nature held sway, with mankind vulnerable and exposed to its vagaries. However, our recent development has meant that our effect on our surroundings is now commensurate with the power of nature itself. More and more, we face the consequences mostly disadvantageous of our interventions, and we must pay more attention to the wider impacts of our activities, which include everything from the extraction of fossil fuels to the influence of tourism. Anthropogenic geomorphology, as the study of the way man affects his physical environment, has thus developed rapidly as a discipline in recent decades. This volume provides guidance to students discussing the basic topics of anthropogenic geomorphology. The chapters cover both its system, and its connections with other sciences, as well as the way the subject can contribute to tackling today s practical problems. The book represents all fields of geomorphology, giving an introduction to the diversity of the discipline through examples taken from a range of contexts and periods, and focusing on examples from Europe. It is no accident that anthropogenic geomorphology has been gaining ground within geomorphology itself. Its results advance not only the theoretical development of the science but can be applied directly to social and economic issues. Worldwide, anthropogenic geomorphology is an integral and expanding part of earth sciences curricula in higher education, making this a timely and relevant text. "

Geomorphological research in the humid to seasonal tropics has primarily concentrated on the most characteristic landform assemblage of this zone, namely that of stepped, largely undissected etchplains, often dotted with inselbergs and cutting across ancient basement rocks. Although the author discusses extensively this subject, he puts particular emphasis on the differences of chemical weathering and land-forming processes on rocks of various lithology and structure. This contrast becomes most evident, when comparing the highly resistant quartzitic sediments often covering the basement rocks with the easily weathered volcanics, e.g. the Deccan traps of India.The book was first published in German in 1987. However, the present version is much more than a translation, encompassing a range of new ideas and findings in the field of tropical geomorphology. The number of maps and illustrations has also been increased.

The hazards posed to engineering structures by salt weathering are increasing because of such diverse factors as the spread of irrigation and high levels of atmospheric pollution. Salt weathering is also a potent cause of rock decay and geomorphological change in polar, coastal and desert environments. The book discusses the reasons why the hazards are increasing and presents striking case studies from many parts of the world. It also discusses the nature and sources of different salts, the mechanisms that cause the deterioration of building materials and natural rock outcrops, the geomorphological processes of salt attack and their impact on landform development, and the strategies and techniques that are available to combat salt attack. The book is extensively illustrated and has a very comprehensive bibliography of the multi-disciplinary literature.

This book examines relationships between climate-hydrological changes and other phenomena including land use and natural disasters during the Holocene and recent past. In particular, periods of rapid climatic shifts such as global warming and global cooling are examined through paleohydrological and other studies of various lake-catchment systems in East Asia, from Mongolia in the north to Taiwan in the south. A number of different research techniques are used in the work presented here, including sediment analysis and optically stimulated luminescence dating and the reader learns how the lake-catchment system functions as a "proxy observatory" for past and present environmental monitoring. The lake catchments studied by the authors of this volume are under similar climatic conditions, i.e., under the East Asia monsoon, with some systematic difference in climatic factors. Both proxy and observation data are available for the surrounding countries' provisions against natural disasters that are related to climate-hydrological events and readers will see how present instrumental observation data can be connected to past proxy data (sediment information) in the system.

shallow processes and for the pursuit of more Sediments are now known to undergo deforma tion in a wide variety of geological circumstances. quantitative relationships. With these goals in The deforming processes can happen on a vast mind, workers are increasingly drawing on the scale and at all stages before the material be principles and methods of the well-established comes fully lithified. In fact, as exploration of the engineering discipline of soil mechanics. earth continues, the widespread extent and im All this is beginning to attract wider geological portance of sediment deformation is still being interest. Yet to the newcomer, because progress revealed, for example, below the oceans and has been rapid in recent years, the literature is beneath ice sheets. At the same time, it is still already formidable. The information is scattered, being realized just how varied are the resulting so even an expert on sediment deformation in a structures, and how strikingly similar they can be certain setting may be unaware of analogous to those produced by the deformation of deeply problems and successes in other environments. buried rocks. At the same time, although the same basic prin However, there are few precedents to guide the ciples apply in the various geological regimes, a geologist in interpreting structures that formed in subtly different terminology is evolving, which unlithified sediments, or in understanding the can make the subject boundaries hard to cross."

This doctoral thesis applies measurements of ground deformation from satellite radar using their potential to play a key role in understanding volcanic and magmatic processes throughout the eruption cycle. However, making these measurements is often problematic, and the processes driving ground deformation are commonly poorly understood. These problems are approached in this thesis in the context of the Cascades Volcanic Arc. From a technical perspective, the thesis develops a new way of using regional-scale weather models to assess a priori the influence of atmospheric uncertainties on satellite measurements of volcano deformation, providing key parameters for volcano monitoring. Next, it presents detailed geodetic studies of two volcanoes in northern California: Medicine Lake Volcano and Lassen Volcanic Centre. Finally, the thesis combines geodetic constraints with petrological inputs to develop a thermal model of cooling magma intrusions. The novelty and range of topics covered in this thesis mean that it is a seminal work in volcanic and magmatic studies.

The continuously growing human population along the world s coasts will exacerbate the impact of human activities on all coastal environments. Restoration activities will therefore become increasingly important. In particular, sandy shores and coastal dunes will require significant restoration efforts because they are preferred sites for human settlement, industrial and urban development and tourism.

With this book experts in the field present a comprehensive review of restoration studies and activities, where successful and failed studies or approaches from around the world are contrasted and compared. A major asset the book provides is a compendium of studies showing that coastal dune restoration has many definitions and thus leads to many different actions.

This volume addresses those with an interest in conservation ecology and biology, coastal dune dynamics and geomorphology, and coastal management who are seeking information on the different strategies for coastal dune restoration applied in different regions of the world. Finally, it will be a valuable resource for coastal scientists and planners, as well as for local and state officials, residents of coastal communities, environmental advocates and developers.

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Based on contributions to the first General Assembly of the International Consortium on Landslides, this reference and status report emphasizes the mechanisms of different types of landslides, landslide risk analysis, and sustainable disaster management. It comprises the achievements of the ICL over the past three years, since the Kyoto assembly. It consists of three parts: research results of the International Programme on Landslides (IPL); contributions on landslide risk analysis; and articles on sustainable disaster management. In addition, the history of the ICL activities (under the support of UNESCO, WMO, FAO, UN/ISDR, and UNU) is recounted to create a comprehensive overview of international activity on landslides. The contributions reflect a wide range of topics and concerns, randing from field studies, identification of objects of cultural heritage at landslide risk, as well as landslide countermeasures.

Field work, supplemented by laboratory studies, is a cornerstone for the geological sciences. This volume provides an introduction to general field work through selected topics that illustrate specific techniques and methodologies. One hundred and twenty-three main entries prepared by leading authorities from around the world deal with aspects of exploration surveys, geotechnical engineering, environmental management. field techniques, mapping, prospecting, and mining.
Special efforts were made to include topics that consider aspects of environmental geology in particular those subjects that involve field inspections related to, for example, the placement of artificial fills, sediment control in canals and waterways, the geologic effects of cities, or the importance of expansive soils to environmental management and engineering. In addition, some widely ranging topics dealing with legal affairs, geological methodology, the scope and organization of geology, report writing, and other concepts, such as those related to plate tectonics and continental drift, provide a necessary perspective to the arena of field geology.

It is evident, that for a number of ecological and technical problems in rivers and lakes a better knowledge of sediment transport and sedimentation is needed together with the ability to predict and simulate sediment behaviour. On the other hand, a stagnation of research in these topics could be observed in the last decades. At the Symposium an attempt was made to present new results in mathematics and natural sciences relevant for the sediment problem. New strategies were discussed to tackle the complexity of the problem. Basic theoretical research and laboratory experiments alone are incomplete without a feedback from field observations and measurements. For that reason well-known researchers from both basic and engineering sciences were invited.
Turbulence, non-local phenomena, stability, interaction, feedback systems, self-organization, two-phase flow and chaotic processes, numerical simulations as well as measurement techniques and field results were the keywords of the Symposium. This proceedings are a good source for those interested in the state of the art.

The Earth's rocky mantle convects to lose heat, which comes from the liquid iron core below. The mantle's interfaces - the core-mantle boundary, and the lithosphere - may hold the key to understanding mantle motion because of the seismic anisotropy present in these parts of the Earth.
In this thesis, Andy Nowacki presents a precise but comprehensive review of the current state of the art in studying flow with anisotropy, mineral physics and geodynamics. New measurements of shear wave anisotropy in the lowermost mantle and at mid-ocean ridges are used to constrain mechanisms of creep and melt extraction in the mantle. A model of global flow is used to predict anisotropy in the deep Earth, and novel methods to forward model shear wave splitting are described. Future studies of mantle flow must incorporate the understanding gained in this thesis.
The thesis contains a substantive introduction to the structure of the Earth, seismic anisotropy in general and in the core-mantle boundary region, and mid-ocean ridge processes. It also describes novel methods for forward modelling and interpreting shear wave splitting data. Three chapters present timely research into dynamics at divergent plate boundaries and at the core-mantle boundary.

This book provides readers with in-depth insights into the changes in the Pantanal wetland from its formation to the actual and likely future states. It reveals that today's Pantanal is an evolutionary consequence of geological, ecological and, more recently, man-made events taking place at distinct space-time intervals. Topics include geotectonics and sun-earth interactions, which largely dictate the rate of drastic changes that eventually disrupt ecological stability and radically rebuild the regional landscape. Furthermore, the biota-climate system is discussed as a major driver reshaping the ecohydrology functioning of the landscape on an intermediate timescale. Also covered are major changes in the landscape ecohydrology and biodiversity due to recent land-use and climate changes induced by humankind in the Anthropocene. The ability to recognize how those temporal scales impact the Pantanal wetland provides the opportunity for wise management approaches and the sustainable development of the region.

Modeling of flow and transport in groundwater has become an important focus of scientific research in recent years. Most contributions to this subject deal with flow situations, where density and viscosity changes in the fluid are neglected. This restriction may not always be justified. The models presented in the book demonstrate immpressingly that the flow pattern may be completely different when density changes are taken into account. The main applications of the models are: thermal and saline convection, geothermal flow, saltwater intrusion, flow through salt formations etc. This book not only presents basic theory, but the reader can also test his knowledge by applying the included software and can set up own models.

This book contains selected contributions from the Sixth Meeting of the International Geographical Union's Commission on Land Degradation and Desertification, held in Perth, Australia, in September 1999. Collectively, these contributions explicitly seek to understand not only the mechanisms responsible for the problem of land degradation but their social and economic implications, the means of overcoming the problems, and the policy instruments whereby remedial measures may be implemented. This breadth of approach is both distinctive and essential if the problems are to be tackled effectively. The authorship comprises of specialists (mostly geographers) from universities, research organizations, and government agencies, who provide a truly international perspective with contributions from Iceland to Australia and from the USA to Japan. Audience: The book presents current research findings which will be of particular benefit to professionals and practitioners, as well as researchers and tertiary-level educationalists who are involved with land degradation.

Geomorphology deals with some of the most striking patterns of nature. From mountain ranges and mid-ocean ridges to river networks and sand dunes, there is a whole family of forms, structures, and shapes that demand rationalization as well as mathematical description. In the various chapters of this volume, many of these patterns are explored and discussed, and attempts are made to both unravel the reasons for their very existence and to describe their dynamics in quantitative terms. Particular focus is placed on lava and mud flows, ice and snow dynamics, river and coastal morphodynamics and landscape formation. Combining a pedagogical approach with up-to-date reviews of forefront research, this volume will serve both postgraduate students and lecturers in search of advanced textbook material, and experienced researchers wishing to get acquainted with the various physical and mathematical approaches in a range of closely related research fields.

With a length of about 1200 km, the Son-Narmada-Tapti Lineament (NSL) is one of the most prominent geomorphic features in the Indian subcontinent. Anomalous conductive bodies are delineated at mid-lower crustal depths below major earthquake epicentral zones. The region has been interpreted as the collision zone of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. The NSL zone is therefore also known to be the second most important tectonic feature in the Indian geology, after the Himalayas.
The present thesis describes significant new insight into the seismotectonics of this Central India tectonic zone, based on thorough magnetotelluric studies. The main objectives of the present study are: (i) to delineate subtrappean sediments across the NSL region along four different traverses, (ii) to understand the characterization of geo-electrical structure of the crust and examine the nature of geo-electrical signatures of the known faults, (iii) to integrate the results with other geophysical data such as seismicity, gravity and heat flow, in order to understand the tectonic scenario of the region.
Deep electromagnetic (magnetotelluric) analyses were integrated in this study with gravity, seismic and heat flow studies and distinct, delineated deep crustal features. The resulting high conductivity is justified with the presence of fluids at mid-lower crustal depths. The migration of these fluids from mantle to mid-lower crustal depths through pre-existing brittle fracture/fault zones were obviously caused by the plume related to the Deccan volcanism. Migration of the fluids generated a higher fluid pressure along the faults and resulted in earthquakes.
Based on the geo-electric sections derived along the four traverses of the Narmada-Son Lineament Zone, the present study gives important clues on the subduction/collision history in this important tectonic zone.

In many geological epochs, glacial sediments are widespread. This type of sedimentation results from the interaction between atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere under temperatures ranging from 0 to -80. Two types of glacial sediments exists: those from sea-ice and those from icebergs. Both types can be subdivided into various subfacies. Most widespread in the Northern Hemisphere is the Siberian subfacies, characterized by silt and clay and often misinterpreted as sediments of temperate zones. This reference book for researchers working on this kind of sediments provides a complete overview of the various glacial deposits in the ocean.

Coastal Dunes Form and Process Edited by Karl F. Nordstrom Norbert Psuty Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903, USA and Bill Carter Department of Environmental Studies, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland Coastal Morphology and Research Series Series Editor: Eric C. F. Bird This book deals with the formation and establishment of coastal dunes--considering both forms and processes in a wide variety of environments. These landforms are among the most sensitive to environmental change, yet they provide extensive protection against both short-term erosion and flooding and long-term sea-level rise. Until now, there has not been any major book to deal specifically with coastal dunes. The current volume surveys a range of dune features, such as the ephemeral characteristics in the rapidly subsiding Mississippi delta, the extensive sand sheets of Australia and South Africa and the Holocene dunes of Western Europe and North America. This book will provide essential background information for ecological and management studies of coastal dunes. It will be of immense value to geomorphologists, ecologists and other environmental scientists who work on the management of coastal dunes.

This book will open up a large body of data previously inaccessible or unknown to non-francophone geomorphologists, geologists and geographers. It provides an insight into the regional geomorphology of basement terrains in France and elsewhere which do not belong to the list of benchmark case studies, recurringly explained in mainstream textbooks. The essay style of the nine chapters, the permanent and holistic reference to landscapes of the real world, and the constant shuttle between field and laboratory studies help to remind students that the analysis of the geomorphic landscape is a humbling process of interpretation, requiring the collation of many strands of evidence. This is not always apparent in more linear textbooks on process geomorphology, where topics are dealt with in more detail but also more theoretically.