Field data, numerical simulations and probability analyses to assess lava flow hazards at Mount Etna

Improving lava flow hazard assessment is one of the most important and challenging fields of volcanology, and has an immediate and practical impact on society. Here, we present a methodology for the quantitative assessment of lava flow hazards based on a combination of field data, numerical simulations and probability analyses. With the extensive data available on historic eruptions of Mt. Etna, going back over 2000 years, it has been possible to construct two hazard maps, one for flank and the other for summit eruptions, allowing a quantitative analysis of the most likely future courses of lava flows. The effective use of hazard maps of Etna may help in minimizing the damage from volcanic eruptions through correct land use in densely urbanized area with a population of almost one million people. Although this study was conducted on Mt. Etna, the approach used is designed to be applicable to other volcanic areas.

Radiocarbon dating on cold-water corals and planktonic foraminifera, grain size analysis, stable oxygen isotopes, and XRF data of sediment cores from the Alboran Sea

Cold-water corals are common along the Moroccan continental margin off Melilla in the Alboran Sea (western Mediterranean Sea), where they colonise and largely cover mound and ridge structures. Radiocarbon ages of the reef-forming coral species Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata sampled from those structures, reveal that they were prolific in this area during the last glacial-interglacial transition with pronounced growth periods covering the Bølling-Allerød interstadial (13.5-12.8 ka BP) and the Early Holocene (11.3-9.8 ka BP). Their proliferation during these periods is expressed in vertical accumulation rates for an individual coral ridge of 266-419 cm ka**-1 that consists of coral fragments embedded in a hemipelagic sediment matrix. Following a period of coral absence, as noted in the records, cold-water corals re-colonised the area during the Mid-Holocene (5.4 ka BP) and underwater photographs indicate that corals currently thrive there. It appears that periods of sustained cold-water coral growth in the Melilla Coral Province were closely linked to phases of high marine productivity. The increased productivity was related to the deglacial formation of the most recent organic rich layer in the western Mediterranean Sea and to the development of modern circulation patterns in the Alboran Sea.

(Table 2) Stable isotope analysis of Nuttallides truempyi and Rugoglobigerina rugosa from DSDP Site 62-463

Strong climatic and temperature fluctuations mark the Late Campanian and Maastrichtian as indicated by stable isotope records from the equatorial Pacific (Site 463) and middle and high latitude South Atlantic (Sites 525, 689 and 690). The first major global cooling decreased intermediate water temperatures (IWT) by 5-6°C between 73-70 Ma. At the same time, sea surface temperature (SST) decreased by 4-5°C in middle and high latitudes. Intermediate waters (IW) temporarily warmed by 2°C in low and middle latitudes between 70-68.5 Ma. Global cooling resumed between 68.5-65.5 Ma when IWT decreased by 3-4°C and SST by 5°C in middle latitudes. About 450 ka before the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary rapid global warming increased IWT and SST by 3-4°C, though SST in the tropics changed little. During the last 200 ka of the Maastrichtian, climate cooled rapidly with IWT and SST decreasing by 2-3°C. During the global cooling at 71-70 Ma and possibly at 67-65.5 Ma, the sources of cold intermediate waters in the equatorial Pacific, Indo-Pacific and South Atlantic were derived from the high latitude North Pacific. In contrast, during the global climate warming between 65.2-65.4 Ma, the middle latitude South Atlantic was closest to the source of IW production and implies that the low latitude Tethys played a major role in global climate change. Climate changes, sea-level fluctuations and associated restricted seaways appear to be the most likely mechanisms for the alternating sources of IW production.

Stable isotope analysis of benthic foraminifera and sedimentology on ODP Site 162-984

Sediments recovered at ODP Site 984 on the Reykjanes Ridge provided multicentennial-scale records (SST, planktic and benthic delta18O, IRD and magnetic susceptibility) of Late Pliocene climate change over the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (NHG), 2.95-2.82 Ma. Short-term climate variations prior and after the onset of continent-wide glaciation were compared to test the hypothesis, whether Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) cycles may have been triggered by continental ice breakouts. By means of spectral analyses for two selected interglacial stages prior to and after NHG (G15 and G1), we found that climate variability resembled that of the Holocene and the mid-Pliocene warm period. In contrast, DO-like periodicities near 1470, 2900, and 4400 yr indeed only occurred in glacial stages after the onset of NHG (G14, G6, and 104), but hardly in stage G20 prior to the onset. These results suggest a causal link between DO cycles and the Late Pliocene onset of major NHG and ice breakouts in the North Atlantic. This data set provides all primary data and spectral analysis related to this scientific work.