The 12 November 1999 Mw 7.1 earthquake ruptured the Düzce segment of the North Anatolian Fault Zone and produced a ∼40‐km‐long surface rupture. To improve knowledge about earthquake recurrence on this fault, we undertook paleoseismological trench investigations. We found evidence for repeated surface faulting paleoearthquakes predating the 1999 event during the past millennium. Dating was based on radiocarbon, 210Pb analyses, and archaeological considerations. In addition to the 1999 earthquake, prior surface faulting earthquakes are dated as follows: A.D. 1685–1900 (possibly end of 19th century), A.D. 1495–1700, and A.D. 685–1020 (possibly A.D. 890–1020). The A.D. 967 and A.D. 1878 historical earthquakes are good candidates to have ruptured the Düzce fault correlating with the oldest and penultimate paleoearthquakes. No obvious correlation for the third paleoearthquake (A.D. 1495–1700) exists. These results shows that the Düzce fault considerably participates, along with the parallel Mudurnu fault sections, in the seismogenic deformation taking place along this part of the North Anatolian Fault. Four events since A.D. 685–1020 (possibly A.D. 890–1020) would yield an average recurrence time for the Düzce fault of 330–430 years (possibly 330–370 years). The three most recent earthquakes, including 1999, occurred within 500 years. Merging results from other paleoseismological studies along the Düzce fault show a consistency of results and yields average recurrence times for the past 2000 years of 320–390 years. Assuming that the 1999 slip (2.7 m average, 5 m maximum) is representative of the behavior of this fault, the above recurrence times yield a reference figure of fault slip rate in the range 6.9–15.6 mm/a.

Tree-ring analysis of subfossil Pinus sylvestris L., from nine new peatland sites located beyond the species’ current northern limit in Scotland, established a regional chronology called WRATH-9. The chronology has been provisionally dated against Irish pine chronologies and provides the first annual resolution picture of Scots pine expansion from c. 3200 BC and subsequent demise from c. 3000 BC. Pine germination and growth is suggested to be associated with a widespread fall in bog water-tables that indicates a regional climatic control. Bog pines progressively declined in number, rather than died out in a single event, reflecting their growth in a marginal habitat, close to a critical ecological threshold. The use of tree-ring sequences from in situ bog pine macrofossils provides a higher resolution insight into past conditions than possible with existing radiocarbon and pollen-based chronologies.

Tsunami deposits present an important archive for understanding tsunami histories and dynamics. Most research in this field has focused on onshore preserved remains, while the offshore deposits have received less attention. In 2009, during a coring campaign with the Italian Navy Magnaghi, four 1 m long gravity cores (MG cores) were sampled from the northern part of Augusta Bay, along a transect in 60 to 110 m water depth. These cores were taken in the same area where a core (MS06) was collected in 2007 about 2·3 km offshore Augusta at a water depth of 72 m below sea level. Core MS06 consisted of a 6·7 m long sequence that included 12 anomalous intervals interpreted as the primary effect of tsunami backwash waves in the last 4500 years. In this study, tsunami deposits were identified, based on sedimentology and displaced benthic foraminifera (as for core MS06) reinforced by X‐ray fluorescence data. Two erosional surfaces (L1 and L2) were recognized coupled with grain‐size increase, abundant Posidonia oceanica seagrass remains and a significant amount of Nubecularia lucifuga, an epiphytic sessile benthic foraminifera considered to be transported from the inner shelf. The occurrence of Ti/Ca and Ti/Sr increments, coinciding with peaks in organic matter (Mo incoherent/coherent) suggests terrestrial run‐off coupled with an input of organic matter. The L1 and L2 horizons were attributed to two distinct historical tsunamis (ad 1542 and ad 1693) by indirect age‐estimation methods using 210Pb profiles and the comparison of Volume Magnetic Susceptibility data between MG cores and MS06 cores. One most recent bioturbated horizon (Bh), despite not matching the above listed interpretative features, recorded an important palaeoenvironmental change that may correspond to the ad 1908 tsunami. These findings reinforce the value of offshore sediment records as an underutilized resource for the identification of past tsunamis.

No abstract

No abstract