Tsunamis Induced by Submarine Slumpings off the Coast of Israel

In the course of history several extreme changes in the sea level along the coast of the Levant have occurred. As these events have always been associated with earthquakes they were often described as tsunami or seismic sea waves. Reviewing the historical descriptions of such events at Israel’s coast, one finds more often a recession of the sea than a flooding of the shore. Such events may have been caused by slumpings on the continental slope. Based on data of actual submarine scars, a quantitative evaluation of this hypothesis was made. It was found that the slumping of a mass 6 km long, 2 km wide and about 50 m deep would cause the formation of a shock-induced solitary wave of about 10 m in height at the edge of the continental slope. The accompanying draw-down of the sea level at the coast would last aboul hours, and lay the sea floor bare for a distance of about ½-1½ km, in agreement with some historical descriptions. Though possibly occurring only once or twice in a millennium, earthquake-induced slumpings may constitute a danger to nuclear power plants, and not just to maritime vessels and installations

Consensus Paper: Cerebellum and Social Cognition.

The traditional view on the cerebellum is that it controls motor behavior. Although recent work has revealed that the cerebellum supports also nonmotor functions such as cognition and affect, only during the last 5 years it has become evident that the cerebellum also plays an important social role. This role is evident in social cognition based on interpreting goal-directed actions through the movements of individuals (social "mirroring") which is very close to its original role in motor learning, as well as in social understanding of other individuals' mental state, such as their intentions, beliefs, past behaviors, future aspirations, and personality traits (social "mentalizing"). Most of this mentalizing role is supported by the posterior cerebellum (e.g., Crus I and II). The most dominant hypothesis is that the cerebellum assists in learning and understanding social action sequences, and so facilitates social cognition by supporting optimal predictions about imminent or future social interaction and cooperation. This consensus paper brings together experts from different fields to discuss recent efforts in understanding the role of the cerebellum in social cognition, and the understanding of social behaviors and mental states by others, its effect on clinical impairments such as cerebellar ataxia and autism spectrum disorder, and how the cerebellum can become a potential target for noninvasive brain stimulation as a therapeutic intervention. We report on the most recent empirical findings and techniques for understanding and manipulating cerebellar circuits in humans. Cerebellar circuitry appears now as a key structure to elucidate social interactions

Storm Surges and Unusual Sea Levels on Israel's Mediterranean Coast

Storm surges occurring at Ashdod were investigated. It was found that the daily mean rise of the sea level due to storms may be considered as linearly related to the daily mean of wave heights or to wind velocities near the shore. The rise is about 6 cm per metre of increase in wave height, and about 7 cm for each 10 km/h increase in wind velocity. Most large storms raise the sea level by about 40-50 cm above the previously prevailing level, but in a few instances a short-term upsurge was found superimposed on the gradual daily rise of the storm surge. This additional rise of level is tentatively ascribed to a local storm effect, and might raise the sea level by a further 30-40 cm. Unusually high and low sea levels were also investigated. The basic mean sea level is considered as affected by the daily inequality of the tides, the range of the spring tides, the seasonal and the annual fluctuations o f the sea level, apart from storm effects. Evaluating these contributions it was found that if each factor would act at its maximum the hourly sea level might rise or drop by 1/4 m above or below the extremes (+ 100 cm, — 51 cm relative to the datum level) encountered in the 6 year period investigated

Seasonal Fluctuations of Monthly Mean Sea Level on the Coast of the Eastern Mediterranean

Ten-year averages for monthly mean sea levels have been calculated for Ashdod and Haifa. Their graph shows a major minimum in April, a major maximum in July/August, a minor minimum in October and a minor maximum in December, the range between extremes being 21 cm. The main causes for these fluctuations are to be found in barometric pressure variations in the Eastern Mediterranean, in thermal expansion of the sea, and in storm surges. The curve resulting from a quantitative evaluation of these effects is similar in rhythm and magnitude to the graph of the observed values