Earthquakes in the stratigraphic record: teaching resources

Los terremotos, a partir de una cierta magnitud, pueden dejar huella en el registro estratigráfico. Este artículo se centra en las estructuras sedimentarias de deformación producidas por licuefacción, que reciben el nombre de sismitas. Se ofrecen algunas ideas y recursos para que el alumnado aplique varios principios estratigráficos básicos en la interpretación de estos paleoterremotos. Además, se incluyen algunos recursos de internet y algunos modelos análogos sencillos. El análisis y estudio de estas estructuras ayuda al alumnado a comprender que los sedimentos no son únicamente el resultado del ambiente sedimentario en el que se depositaron, sino que también son capaces de registrar eventos externos a la cuenca como es el caso de los terremotos. La utilización del registro estratigráfico de los terremotos como herramienta didáctica tiene un gran potencial por la infinidad de recursos en internet, con grabaciones cada vez más frecuentes y de mayor calidad de los efectos de los terremotos más recientes, que permite aplicar al alumnado, de forma sencilla, el principio del actualismo.Earthquakes above a certain magnitude can leave traces in the stratigraphic record by deforming sediments. This paper focuses on soft-sediment deformation structures induced by liquefaction, known as seismites. We offer ideas and resources, so that students can apply basic stratigraphic principles to the interpretation of paleoearthquakes. We also include Internet resources and simple analogue models. The analysis and study of these sedimentary structures will help students understand that sedimentary deposits are not only influenced by the environment in which they were deposited, but also by external processes such as earthquakes. The stratigraphic record of earthquakes is a powerful didactic tool due to the large amount of images and videos of the effects of recent earthquakes, which readily enable students to apply the principle of actualism.Este trabajo ha sido financiado por el proyecto del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación del Gobierno de España CGL2011-30153-C02-02

The buffering of transfer lines

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX179619 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

An evaluation of The Home Office funded CHOICES Programme delivered by COMPASS

In 2012 the Home Office closed the last remaining residential rehabilitation unit for under 18s with habitual or addictive drug and alcohol issues. The CHOICES programme was designed to offer individualised programmes supporting young people in future planning. This report is the evaluation of the programme delivered by COMPASS in three areas submitted to the Home Office in July 2013

Landscape evolution of Lundy Island: challenging the proposed MIS 3 glaciation of SW Britain

Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel of south-west Britain, holds a pivotal place in understanding the extent and timing of Quaternary glaciations in southern Britain, in particular the timing, extent and dynamics of the Irish Sea Ice Stream during the Devensian glaciation. New geomorphological observations and revised interpretations of geomorphological and cosmogenic exposure data lead to the conclusion that Lundy was not covered by ice in the last (Devensian) glaciation. Geomorphological features are related to surface lowering by means of granite weathering under mainly periglacial and cool-temperate conditions. Previously reported cosmogenic ages are re-interpreted to reflect a dynamic equilibrium of cosmogenic nuclide production and surface lowering during a prolonged period of subaerial granite weathering. This re-evaluation of the geomorphology of Lundy Island challenges recently proposed interpretations of early glacial cover of Lundy (MIS 4-3) and for cold-based ice cover at the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS 2), and instead supports existing regional ice sheet reconstructions. This study demonstrates that a robust, coherent geomorphological framework is fundamentally important to support the validity of detailed geochronological and stratigraphic investigations

Snow-avalanche boulder fans in Jotunheimen, southern Norway: Schmidt-hammer exposure-age dating, geomorphometrics, dynamics and evolution

Eleven snow-avalanche boulder fans were dated from two high-alpine sites in Jotunheimen using Schmidt-hammer exposure-age dating (SHD) and lichenometry. Average exposure ages of the surface boulders ranged from 2285 ± 725 to 7445 ± 1020 years and demonstrate the potential of SHD for dating active landforms and diachronous surfaces. Application of GIS-based morphometric analyses showed that the volume of rock material within 10 of the fans is accounted for by 16-68 % of the combined volume of their respective bedrock chutes and transport zones. It is inferred that the fans were deposited entirely within the Holocene, mainly within the early- to mid Holocene, by frequent avalanches carrying very small debris loads. Relatively small transport-zone volumes are consistent with avalanches of low erosivity. Excess chute volumes appear to represent subaerial erosion in the Younger Dryas and possibly earlier. Debris supply to the fans was likely enhanced by early-Holocene paraglacial processes following deglaciation, and by later permafrost degradation associated with the mid-Holocene Thermal Maximum. The latter, together with the youngest SHD age from one of the fans, may presage a similar increase in geomorphic activity in response to current warming trends