Survey of Western Palestine 1880, Palestine Exploration Fund 1:63,360 mosaicked map

The Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) Survey of Western Palestine (1871-1877) is highly praised for its accuracy and completeness; the first systematic analysis of its planimetric accuracy was published by Levin (2006). To study the potential of these 1:63,360 maps for a quantitative analysis of land cover changes over a period of time, Levin has compared them to 20th century topographic maps. The map registration error of the PEF maps was 74.4 m using 123 control points of trigonometrical stations and a 1st order polynomial. The median RMSE of all control and test points (n = 1104) was 153.6 m. Following the georeferencing of each of the 26 sheets of the PEF maps of the Survey of Western Palestine, a mosaicked file has been created. Care should be taken when analysing historical maps, as it cannot be assumed that their accuracy is consistent at different parts or for different features depicted on them.

Physical properties and sedimentology on core GeoB1510-1

Detailed information about the sediment properties and microstructure can be provided through the analysis of digital ultrasonic P wave seismograms recorded automatically during full waveform core logging. The physical parameter which predominantly affects the elastic wave propagation in water-saturated sediments is the P wave attenuation coefficient. The related sedimentological parameter is the grain size distribution. A set of high-resolution ultrasonic transmission seismograms (ca. 50-500 kHz), which indicate downcore variations in the grain size by their signal shape and frequency content, are presented. Layers of coarse-grained foraminiferal ooze can be identified by highly attenuated P waves, whereas almost unattenuated waves are recorded in fine-grained areas of nannofossil ooze. Color-encoded pixel graphics of the seismograms and instantaneous frequencies present full waveform images of the lithology and attenuation. A modified spectral difference method is introduced to determine the attenuation coefficient and its power law a = kfn. Applied to synthetic seismograms derived using a "constant Q" model, even low attenuation coefficients can be quantified. A downcore analysis gives an attenuation log which ranges from ca. 700 dB/m at 400 kHz and a power of n = 1-2 in coarse-grained sands to few decibels per meter and n ? 0.5 in fine-grained clays. A least squares fit of a second degree polynomial describes the mutual relationship between the mean grain size and the attenuation coefficient. When it is used to predict the mean grain size, an almost perfect coincidence with the values derived from sedimentological measurements is achieved.

Integrated transnational macroseismic data set for the strongest earthquakes of Vrancea

A unique macroseismic data set for the strongest earthquakes occurred since 1940 in Vrancea region, is constructed by a thorough review of all available sources. Inconsistencies and errors in the reported data and in their use are analyzed as well. The final data set, free from inconsistencies, including those at the political borders, contains 9822 observations for the strong intermediate-depth earthquakes: 1940, Mw=7.7; 1977, Mw=7.4; 1986, Mw=7.1; 1990, May 30, Mw=6.9 and 1990, May 31, Mw=6.4; 2004, Mw=6.0. This data set is available electronically as supplementary data for the present paper. From the discrete macroseismic data the continuous macroseismic field is generated using the methodology developed by Molchan et al. (2002) that, along with the unconventional smoothing method Modified Polynomial Filtering (MPF), uses the Diffused Boundary (DB) method, which visualizes the uncertainty in the isoseismal's boundaries. The comparison of DBs with previous isoseismals maps represents a good evaluation criterion of the reliability of earlier published maps. The produced isoseismals can be used not only for the formal comparison between observed and theoretical isoseismals, but also for the retrieval of source properties and the assessment of local responses (Molchan et al., 2011).

Oxygen consumption in Arctic sediments

Total sediment oxygen consumption rates (TSOC or Jtot), measured during sediment-water incubations, and sediment oxygen microdistributions were studied at 16 stations in the Arctic Ocean (Svalbard area). The oxygen consumption rates ranged between 1.85 and 11.2 mmol m**-2 d**-1, and oxygen penetrated from 5.0 to >59 mm into the investigated sediments. Measured TSOC exceeded the calculated diffusive oxygen fluxes (Jdiff) by 1.1-4.8 times. Diffusive fluxes across the sediment-water interface were calculated using the whole measured microprofiles, rather than the linear oxygen gradient in the top sediment layer. The lack of a significant correlation between found abundances of bioirrigating meiofauna and high Jtot/Jdiff ratios as well as minor discrepancies in measured TSOC between replicate sediment cores, suggest molecular diffusion, not bioirrigation, to be the most important transport mechanism for oxygen across the sediment-water interface and within these sediments. The high ratios of Jtot/Jdiff obtained for some stations were therefore suggested to be caused by topographic factors, i.e. underestimation of the actual sediment surface area when one-dimensional diffusive fluxes were calculated, or sampling artifacts during core recovery from great water depths. Measured TSOC correlated to water depth raised to the -0.4 to -0.5 power (TSOC = water depth**-0.4 to -0.5) for all investigated stations, but they could be divided into two groups representing different geographical areas with different sediment oxygen consumption characteristics. The differences in TSOC between the two areas were suggested to reflect hydrographic factors (such as ice coverage and import/production of reactive particulate organic material) related to the dominating water mass (Atlantic or polar) in each of the two areas. The good correlation between TSOC and water depth**-0.4 to -0.5 rules out any of the stations investigated to be topographic depressions with pronounced enhanced sediment oxygen consumption.

Grain size analysis of sediment core GeoB1510-2

Detailed information about the sediment properties and microstructure can be provided through the analysis of digital ultrasonic P wave seismograms recorded automatically during full waveform core logging. The physical parameter which predominantly affects the elastic wave propagation in water-saturated sediments is the P wave attenuation coefficient. The related sedimentological parameter is the grain size distribution. A set of high-resolution ultrasonic transmission seismograms (-50-500 kHz), which indicate downcore variations in the grain size by their signal shape and frequency content, are presented. Layers of coarse-grained foraminiferal ooze can be identified by highly attenuated P waves, whereas almost unattenuated waves are recorded in fine-grained areas of nannofossil ooze. Color -encoded pixel graphics of the seismograms and instantaneous frequencies present full waveform images of the lithology and attenuation. A modified spectral difference method is introduced to determine the attenuation coefficient and its power law a = kF. Applied to synthetic seismograms derived using a "constant Q" model, even low attenuation coefficients can be quantified. A downcore analysis gives an attenuation log which ranges from -700 dB/m at 400 kHz and a power of n=1-2 in coarse-grained sands to few decibels per meter and n :s; 0.5 in fine-grained clays. A least squares fit of a second degree polynomial describes the mutual relationship between the mean grain size and the attenuation coefficient. When it is used to predict the mean grain size, an almost perfect coincidence with the values derived from sedimentological measurements is achieved.