ALBERT

Description: 〈b〉Thermogeodynamic manifestations in the Caucasus and their genesis〈/b〉〈br〉 G. E. Gugunava, J. K. Kiria, and T. B. Bochorishvili〈br〉 eEarth Discuss., 4, 77-89, doi:10.5194/eed-4-77-2009, 2009〈br〉 〈b〉Publication in eE not foreseen〈/b〉 (discussion: closed, 2 comments)〈br〉 In the work two aspects of thermal character are considered: first of all this is the connection of subduction phenomena with thermal life of the Caucasus on the basis of over interpreted data of magnetotelluric sounding, and secondly, origin of thermostressed condition of the Caucasus and its geological aspects which is manifested in the following: 〈br〉〈br〉 1. in the zones of anomalous thermodisplacements thermofaults should occur (Le Pishon et al., 1977). These thermofaults are in good correlation with deep faults which are distinguished by geological and seismic methods, these thermofaults may be earthquake sources (Spitak, Racha, etc. earthquakes), also may be channels through which magma derivates (giving mineral deposits) may penetrate on surface (Gugunava and Gijeishvili, 1989); 〈br〉〈br〉 2. in the body of sedimentary complex thermostressed seals and seal failures occur, which are apparently traps for oil-gas fluids. Good correlation of thermodense anomalies with oil deposits of the Caucasus is shown (Alexidze et al., 1985; Gugunava, 1980). 〈br〉〈br〉 Everything above mentioned was carried out within frames of stationary thermal model which did not allow us to reveal time characteristics of interconnection of geological medium and thermal field. 〈br〉〈br〉 Now investigations are being carried out within the frames of stationary thermal model and its interconnection with geological environment.

Description: 〈b〉Morphology of the pore space in claystones – evidence from BIB/FIB ion beam sectioning and cryo-SEM observations〈/b〉〈br〉 G. Desbois, J. L. Urai, and P. A. Kukla〈br〉 eEarth, 4, 15-22, doi:10.5194/ee-4-15-2009, 2009〈br〉 The morphology of pore space has a strong effect on mechanical and transport properties of mudrocks and clay-rich fault gouge, but its characterization has been mostly indirect. We report on a study of Boom clay from a proposed disposal site of radioactive waste (Mol site, Belgium) using high resolution SEM at cryogenic temperature, with ion beam cross-sectioning to prepare smooth, damage free surfaces. Pores commonly have crack-like tips, preferred orientation parallel to bedding and power law size distribution. We define a number of pore types depending on shape and location in the microstructure: large jagged pores in strain shadows of clastic grains, high aspect ratio pores between similarly oriented phyllosilicate grains and crescent-shaped pores in saddle reefs of folded phyllosilicates. 3-D reconstruction by serial cross-sectioning shows 3-D connectivity of the pore space. These findings offer a new insight into the morphology of pores down to nano-scale in comparison to traditional pore size distributions calculated from mercury Injection experiments, explain slaking of clays by successive wetting and drying and provide the basis for microstructure-based models of transport in clays.

Description: 〈b〉Holocene evolution and sedimentation rate of Alikes Lagoon, Zakynthos island, Western Greece: preliminary results〈/b〉〈br〉 P. Avramidis and N. Kontopoulos〈br〉 eEarth, 4, 23-29, doi:10.5194/ee-4-23-2009, 2009〈br〉 In the present study we present preliminary results from Alikes lagoon in Zakynthos island, an area that is one of the most seismically active regions of Greece. In order to estimate – interpret the Holocene evolution of the area and to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental changes, we based on data derived from a 21 m sediment core. Sediment types, structure, colour, as well as contact depths and bed characteristics were recorded in the field. Standarised sedimentological analysis was carried out, on 46 samples including grain size analysis, calculation of moment measures, and micro- and molluscan fossils of 17 selected samples. Moreover, radiocarbon age determinations have been made on individual 〈i〉Cardium〈/i〉 shells from two horizons and whole – core Magnetic Susceptibility (MS) measurements were taken. The interpretation of depositional environments suggests a coastal environment (restricted-shallow) with reduced salinity such as a lagoon margin and in a tidal flat and/or marsh particularly. The maximum age of the studied sediments is about 8500 BP. The rate of sedimentation between 8280 BP while 5590 BP was 5.3 mm/yr and between 5590 BP and modern times is on the order of 1.03 mm/yr. These sedimentation rates results are similar to other coastal areas of western Greece.

Description: 〈b〉Foraminiferal response to environmental changes in Kiel Fjord, SW Baltic Sea〈/b〉〈br〉 A. Nikulina, I. Polovodova, and J. Schönfeld〈br〉 eEarth, 3, 37-49, doi:10.5194/ee-3-37-2008, 2008〈br〉 The living benthic foraminiferal assemblages in Kiel Fjord (SW Baltic Sea) were investigated in the years 2005 and 2006. The faunal studies were accomplished by geochemical analyses of surface sediments. In general, sediment pollution by copper, zinc, tin and lead is assessed as moderate in comparison with levels reported from other areas of the Baltic Sea. However, the inner Kiel Fjord is still exposed to a high load of metals and organic matter due to enhanced accumulation of fine-grained sediments in conjunction with potential pollution sources as shipyards, harbours and intensive traffic. The results of our survey show that the dominant environmental forcing of benthic foraminifera is nutrients availability coupled with human impact. A comparison with faunal data from the 1960s reveals apparent changes in species composition and population densities. The stress-tolerant species 〈i〉Ammonia beccarii〈/i〉 invaded Kiel Fjord. 〈i〉Ammotium cassis〈/i〉 had disappeared that reflects apparently the changes in salinity over the last 10 years. These changes in foraminiferal community and a significant increase of test abnormalities indicate an intensified environmental stress since the 1960s.

Description: 〈b〉Palaeomagnetic investigations of sediments cores from Axios zone (N. Greece): implications of low inclinations in the Aegean〈/b〉〈br〉 E. Aidona, D. Kondopoulou, R. Scholger, A. Georgakopoulos, and A. Vafeidis〈br〉 eEarth, 3, 7-18, doi:10.5194/ee-3-7-2008, 2008〈br〉 Sediment cores from 13 deep boreholes (1–4.1 km) distributed within Axios zone in Northern Greece have been studied by means of palaeomagnetism. Both low field magnetic susceptibility and intensity of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) indicate rather weakly magnetised materials. A set of 390 samples have been subjected to thermal and alternative field demagnetization. Isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) acquisition curves and thermomagnetic analysis suggest the dominance of magnetite. Thin sections from 30 selected samples were studied in order to more precisely characterise their magnetic mineralogy. This investigation also reveals the presence of magnetite and pyrite in framboidal form. An attempt to re-orient some of the samples was partially successful by using the viscous component and the anisotropy method. These techniques were applied in order to correct the palaeomagnetic directions due to the orientation ambiguity of the core samples. The corrected mean direction converges towards an eastward value, in agreement with the overall pattern of the onshore results from previous investigations in the study area. 〈br〉〈br〉 Finally, the observed inclinations of characteristic remanences in these rocks are much lower than the expected ones but converge with those obtained from formations on land.

Description: 〈b〉Zoogeography of the bottom Foraminifera of the West-African coast〈/b〉〈br〉 V. Mikhalevich〈br〉 eEarth Discuss., 3, 1-9, doi:10.5194/eed-3-1-2008, 2008〈br〉 〈b〉Revised manuscript has not been submitted〈/b〉 (discussion: closed, 8 comments)〈br〉 The sediment samples from the continental shelf of West-Equatorial Africa (from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Niger estuary), depths ranging from 0 to 69 m were found to contain 176 bottom foraminiferal species. For the majority of them (126 species), their areas of occurrences were mapped and the peculiar features of the geographical range and distribution were studied. The species natural habitats were established based on the taxonomical revision of the species in study all over the World Ocean based on the collections of the Zoological Institute RAS and wide literary data. The method of perforated cards was used to mark the geographical locations of all of the species studied. In order to establish the species geographic zonal distribution (together with their depth habitat) the five characteristic groups of the species were separated: 1. pan-oceanic (cosmopolitan), 2. widely spread tropical-boreal, 3. tropical-law boreal, 4. tropical-subtropical, 5. tropical. The percent of the species of each group among the species composition was established for the fauna of each station and for the whole region.

Description: 〈b〉Geometry of the Turkey-Arabia and Africa-Arabia plate boundaries in the latest Miocene to Mid-Pliocene: the role of the Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone in eastern Turkey〈/b〉〈br〉 R. Westaway, T. Demir, and A. Seyrek〈br〉 eEarth, 3, 27-35, doi:10.5194/ee-3-27-2008, 2008〈br〉 We suggest a working hypothesis for the geometry of the strike-slip faults that formed the boundaries between the Turkish, African and Arabian plates in the latest Miocene to Mid-Pliocene (LMMP), between ~7–6 Ma and ~3.5 Ma. This geometry differed significantly from the modern geometry; the northern Dead Sea Fault Zone (DSFZ) was located east of its present line and the TR-AR boundary was formed by the Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone (MOFZ), located well north of the modern East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ). The MOFZ is potentially the most problematic aspect of such a scheme, given the dramatically different interpretations of it that have been proposed. However, the presently-available evidence, albeit limited, is consistent with our proposed interpretation. Significant differences between the proposed LMMP fault geometry and the modern geometry include, first, the transtensional geometry of the MOFZ, the modern EAFZ being typically a left-lateral transform fault zone but with localized transpression. Second, the MOFZ slip rate was much lower than the ~9–10 mm a〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 EAFZ slip rate; it is estimated as ~2–3 mm a〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, having produced no more than ~8 km of slip during its approximately three million year long activity. The Euler vector is tentatively inferred to have involved relative rotation between the Turkish and Arabian Plates at ~0.85±0.15° Ma〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 about a pole at ~37.75±0.15° N, ~38.8±0.3° E. Third, unlike at present, there was no throughgoing linkage of left-lateral faulting between the LMMP DSFZ and the MOFZ; instead, the DSFZ terminated northward, and the MOFZ terminated southward, in a zone of localised crustal shortening adjoining the suture of the former Neotethys Ocean in the Kahramanmaraş-Pazarcık region of SE Turkey. The different motion of the Turkish plate relative to Arabia, and, thus, relative to Eurasia, means that senses and rates of crustal deformation can be expected to have been different during the LMMP phase from at present, throughout the eastern Mediterranean region.

Description: 〈b〉Late Pleistocene palaeoproductivity patterns during the last climatic cycle in the Guyana Basin as revealed by calcareous nannoplankton〈/b〉〈br〉 G.-E. López-Otálvaro, J. A. Flores, F. J. Sierro, I. Cacho, J.-O. Grimalt, E. Michel, E. Cortijo, and L. Labeyrie〈br〉 eEarth, 4, 1-13, doi:10.5194/ee-4-1-2009, 2009〈br〉 Variations in the assemblage and abundance of coccoliths reveal changes in oceanic and atmospheric dynamics in the Guyana Basin over the last climatic cycle, mainly linked to latitudinal variations in the ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone). Records of the N ratio (a palaeoproductivity index of coccolithophores) allowed us to monitor nutri-thermocline fluctuations. Nannofossil accumulation rates (NAR) vary closely with the N ratio, indicating a strong correlation between these two palaeoproductivity proxies. Decreases in the N ratio and NAR values suggest lower palaeoproductivity during glacial substages, indicating a deep nutri-thermocline (deep stratification of the mixed layer) as a consequence of the piling up of warm water dragged by the NEC. This setting was favoured by the southern shift of the ITCZ and Trade winds which blew perpendicular to the Guyana coast. By contrast, increases in the N ratio and NAR values revealed higher palaeoproductivity during interglacial substages, suggesting a shoaling of the nutri-thermocline. This scenario is favoured by a northward displacement of the ITCZ with the southeast Trade winds blowing alongshore. Additionally, palaeoproductivity changes during substages of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6-5 are of much higher amplitude than those recorded in substages of MIS 4-2 and the early Holocene. Similarities between the palaeoproductivity and the 65° N summer insolation records, suggest a link between the depth of nutri-thermocline, the latitudinal migration of the ITCZ and ice-sheet changes in the Northern Hemisphere.

Description: 〈b〉Decline of coral reefs during late Paleocene to early Eocene global warming〈/b〉〈br〉 C. Scheibner and R. P. Speijer〈br〉 eEarth, 3, 19-26, doi:10.5194/ee-3-19-2008, 2008〈br〉 Since the 1980s the frequency of warming events has intensified and simultaneously widespread coral bleaching, and enhanced coral mortality have been observed. Yet, it remains unpredictable how tropical coral reef communities will react to prolonged adverse conditions. Possibly, coral reef systems are sufficiently robust to withstand continued environmental pressures. But if coral mortality increases, what will platform communities of the future look like? The co-evolution of early Paleogene carbonate platforms and palaeoclimate may provide insight. Here we document the impact of early Paleogene global warming on shallow-water carbonate platforms in the Tethys. Between 59 and 55 Ma, three discrete stages in platform development can be identified Tethys-wide: during the first stage carbonate platforms mainly consisted of coralgal reefs; during the second – transitional – stage coralgal reefs thrived only at middle latitudes and gave way to larger foraminifera as dominant carbonate producer in low latitudes; finally, during the third stage, newly developing larger foraminifera lineages completely took over the role as main carbonate-producing organisms in low to middle latitudes. We postulate that rising temperatures led to a stepwise demise of Paleocene coral reefs, giving way to an unprecedented expansion of larger foraminifera, dominating Tethyan platforms during the early Eocene.

Description: 〈b〉Characteristics of chlorites in seismogenic fault zones: the Taiwan Chelungpu Fault Drilling Project (TCDP) core sample〈/b〉〈br〉 Y. Hashimoto, O. Tadai, M. Tanimizu, W. Tanikawa, T. Hirono, W. Lin, T. Mishima, M. Sakaguchi, W. Soh, S. R. Song, K. Aoike, T. Ishikawa, M. Murayama, K. Fujimoto, T. Fukuchi, M. Ikehara, H. Ito, H. Kikuta, M. Kinoshita, K. Masuda, T. Matsubara, O. Matsubayashi, K. Mizoguchi, N. Nakamura, K. Otsuki, T. Shimamoto, H. Sone, and M. Takahashi〈br〉 eEarth, 3, 1-6, doi:10.5194/ee-3-1-2008, 2008〈br〉 The iron content and the asymmetry of iron and magnesium ions in chlorites are examined for the Chelungpu Fault in Taiwan, which is a seismogenic fault. The samples are collected from the cores drilled for the Taiwan Chelungpu Fault Drilling Project (TCDP, borehole B). Three fault zones are recognized as candidates for the source of seismogenic materials. The fault zones are composed of fractured-damaged rocks, breccia, gray gouge, black gouge, and black material. Chlorite from each type of rock was analyzed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The iron content and asymmetry of the iron and magnesium ions in the chlorites were estimated from the XRD peak ratios. The hydroxide and silicate layers of chlorite in the black gouge and black material have low iron contents. Many studies have suggested that a temperature rise occurred at the fault zones. In addition, the temperature rise can result in the production of iron oxides such as magnetite or maghemite, as reported by other studies. However, the temperature rise cannot explain the low value of iron content in the chlorites. Another reason for the low value of iron content is the variation in the pH of the fluid, which can be controlled by radical reactions. Therefore, on the basis of chlorite characteristics, the reactions at the seismogenic fault are due not only to the thermal decomposition resulting from the temperature rise and but also to rock-fluid interactions.

Description: 〈b〉Syn- and post-orogenic exhumation of metamorphic rocks in North Aegean〈/b〉〈br〉 R. Lacassin, N. Arnaud, P. H. Leloup, R. Armijo, and B. Meyer〈br〉 eEarth, 2, 51-63, doi:10.5194/ee-2-51-2007, 2007〈br〉 The Olympos-Ossa-Pelion (OOP) ranges, in NW Aegean, encompass Greece highest summit and are located near the extremity of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF). Structural and thermochronological data gathered in the OOP ranges show that the main exhumation of metamorphic nappes occurred in the Eocene, at ca. 43–39 Ma. This early exhumation, associated with ductile, then brittle-ductile normal faulting with northeastward transport, is coeval with orogenic shortening in the close area. Cooling rates, and likely exhumation, have been low between ~40 Ma and ~20 Ma. 〈sup〉40〈/sup〉Ar/〈sup〉39〈/sup〉Ar crystallization ages (between 20 and 15 Ma) appears related to brittle-ductile normal faulting and likely associated with Neogene Aegean back-arc extension. The dating of a diabase dyke, and the geometry of associated brittle jointing, of onshore and offshore active normal faults suggest a shift in extension direction after 4Ma, possibly in relation with the propagation of the NAF in northern Aegean.

Description: 〈b〉Impact vesiculation – a new trigger for volcanic bubble growth and degassing〈/b〉〈br〉 D. A. Rothery, J. M. Sumner, O. Spieler, and D. B. Dingwell〈br〉 eEarth Discuss., 2, 151-167, doi:10.5194/eed-2-151-2007, 2007〈br〉 〈b〉Revised manuscript has not been submitted〈/b〉 (discussion: closed, 3 comments)〈br〉 We highlight a potentially important trigger for bubble growth and degassing in volcanic bombs. We have successfully triggered bubble growth in previously unvesiculated samples of silicate melt during experiments to simulate volcanic bomb impact, by firing pellets at, and dropping weights onto, melt samples. We call this phenomenon "impact vesiculation". Further work is required on real volcanic bombs to establish the extent to which impact vesiculation occurs in nature. However, our experiments are sufficient to demonstrate that impact vesiculation is a viable processes and should be borne in mind in analysis of bubble populations and degassing histories of bombs and spatter-fed lava flows. Degassing caused by impact vesiculation can occur only at ground-level, so any attempt to calculate the amount of erupted gas available for transport high into the atmosphere by convection above the source of a fountain-fed lava flow that is based on subtracting the volatile content of fluid inclusions from the volatile content of the resulting lava flow would be an overestimate if significant impact vesiculation has occurred.

Description: 〈b〉Use of remote sensing and GIS in mapping the environmental sensitivity areas for desertification of Egyptian territory〈/b〉〈br〉 A. Gad and I. Lotfy〈br〉 eEarth Discuss., 3, 41-85, doi:10.5194/eed-3-41-2008, 2008〈br〉 〈b〉Revised manuscript has not been submitted〈/b〉 (discussion: closed, 3 comments)〈br〉 Desertification is defined in the first art of the convention to combat desertification as 〈i〉"land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from climatic variations and human activities".〈/i〉 Its consequence include a set of important processes which are active in arid and semi arid environment, where water is the main limiting factor of land use performance in such ecosystem . Desertification indicators or the groups of associated indicators should be focused on a single process. They should be based on available reliable information sources, including remotely sensed images, topographic data (maps or DEM'S), climate, soils and geological data. The current work aims to map the Environmental Sensitivity Areas (ESA's) to desertification in whole territory of Egypt at a scale of 1:1 000 000. 〈br〉〈br〉 ETM satellite images, geologic and soil maps were used as main sources for calculating the index of Environmental Sensitivity Areas (ESAI) for desertification. The algorism is adopted from MEDALLUS methodology as follows; 〈br〉〈br〉 ESAI = (SQI * CQI * VQI)〈sup〉1/3〈/sup〉 〈br〉〈br〉 Where SQI is the soil quality index, CQI is the climate quality index and VQI is the vegetation quality index. The SQI is based on rating the parent material, slope, soil texture, and soil depth. The VQI is computed on bases of rating three categories (i.e. erosion protection, drought resistance and plant cover). The CQI is based on the aridity index, derived from values of annual rainfall and potential evapotranspiration. Arc-GIS 9 software was used for the computation and sensitivity maps production. 〈br〉〈br〉 The results show that the soil of the Nile Valley are characterized by a moderate SQI, however the those in the interference zone are low soil quality indexed. The dense vegetation of the valley has raised its VQI to be good, however coastal areas are average and interference zones are low. The maps of ESA's for desertification show that 86.1% of Egyptian territory is classified as very sensitive areas, while 4.3% as Moderately sensitive, and 9.6% as sensitive. 〈br〉〈br〉 It can be concluded that implementing the maps of sensitivity to desertification is rather useful in the arid and semi arid areas as they give more likely quantitative trend for frequency of sensitive areas. The integration of different factors contributing to desertification sensitivity may lead to plan a successful combating. The usage of space data and GIS proved to be suitable tools to rely estimation and to fulfill the needed large computational requirements. They are also useful in visualizing the sensitivity situation of different desertification parameters.

Description: For more than three years, the GRACE pair of satellites have been orbiting the Earth, monitoring the time variable mass distribution for scales ranging from regional to global. The GRACE data have been released for a broad scientific community and sets of gravity fields are available. This paper shows that there are evidences at interrannual time scales for the presence of ENSO signal in the data, strongly correlated with the hydrological mass distribution, and also similar to the expected hydrological signature associated with the ENSO cycle. This signal dominates, at global scale, the one associated with geodynamic sources.

Description: Exceptional preservation of aragonite secreted by ammonites offers an opportunity to determine the seasonal temperature variations of Mesozoic surface waters. Ontogenetic profiles of carbon and oxygen isotope compositions have been obtained from the nacreous layer of a well-preserved Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) ammonite (Perisphinctes) from Madagascar. A similar range of oxygen isotope compositions was also obtained from an associated benthic bivalve (Astarte) which suggests the absence of sampling bias. Late Jurassic seasonal variations in the southern Hemisphere were close to 2.5°C and relatively weak when compared to the 2.5–6.5°C temperature range prevailing in the present-day Indian ocean at a paleolatitude of 40±1° S. According to the hypothesis of an ice cap-free Late Jurassic Earth, average sea surface temperatures may have been up to 7°C higher than now.

Description: We review both present and past motions at major plate boundaries, which have the horizontal component in average 10 to 100 times faster (10–100 mm/yr) than the vertical component (0.01–1 mm/yr) in all geodynamic settings. The steady faster horizontal velocity of the lithosphere with respect to the upward or downward velocities at plate boundaries supports dominating tangential forces acting on plates. This suggests a passive role of plate boundaries with respect to far field forces determining the velocity of plates. The forces acting on the lithosphere can be subdivided in coupled and uncoupled, as a function of the shear at the lithosphere base. Higher the asthenosphere viscosity, more significant should be the coupled forces, i.e., the mantle drag and the trench suction. Lower the asthenosphere viscosity, more the effects of uncoupled forces might result determinant, i.e., the ridge push, the slab pull and the tidal drag. Although a combination of all forces acting on the lithosphere is likely, the decoupling between lithosphere and mantle suggests that a torque acts on the lithosphere independently of the mantle drag. Slab pull and ridge push are candidates for generating this torque, but, unlike these boundary forces, the advantage of the tidal drag is to be a volume force, acting simultaneously on the whole plates, and being the decoupling at the lithosphere base controlled by lateral variations in viscosity of the low-velocity layer.

Description: We have performed fall-experiments with basaltic andesite rock samples from Merapi volcano, using an apparatus designed to analyze samples heated up to 850°C. Relative pressure changes during impact and fragmentation of the samples were measured by a pressure transducer. From 200°C, dynamic pressure waves were formed on impact and fragmentation. Peak and duration of the pressure signal, and degree of fragmentation were found to strongly increase with increasing temperature of rock samples. The pressure waves are most likely generated by sudden heating of air forcing it to expand. We propose that the observed pressure changes are analogues to pyroclastic surges that may be generated on impact and fragmentation of large blocks during passage of a pyroclastic flow over a steep cliff. We infer that rock temperatures of ca. 400°C are sufficient for this process to occur, a temperature common in pyroclastic flows even in distal reaches.

Description: A pseudotachylyte bounded by a carbonate-matrix implosion breccia was found at a fossilized out-of-sequence thrust in the Shimanto accretionary complex, Japan. This occurrence resulted from the following events: first implosion of host rock due to interstitial fluid pressure increase and asymmetric fracturing; second, Ca-Fe-Mg carbonate precipitation; and third, frictional melting. The rock-record suggests that these events took place in a single seismogenic slip event. Resulting from abrupt drop in fluid pressure after implosion, hydro-fracturing and fluid escape, recovered high effective friction promoted melting during fault movement. Coexistence of fluid implosion breccia and pseudotachylyte has never been reported from continental pseudotachylyte, but might be characteristic from hydrous seismogenic faults in subduction zone.

Description: We report here the results of a petrographic and geochemical study of remarkably well-preserved kimberlites from the Kangamiut region in Greenland. The samples contain between 5 and 45% of olivine in the form of rounded "nodules", each 1 to 5 mm in diameter. Most originally were single crystals but many consist of polycrystalline, monomineralic aggregates. Olivine compositions vary widely from nodule to nodule (from Fo 81-93) but are constant within individual nodules. A thin rim of high-Ca olivine of intermediate composition (Fo 87-88) surrounds many nodules. Deformation structures in olivine in the nodules and in the matrix demonstrate a xenocrystic origin for the olivine: only olivine in the thin rims is thought to have crystallized from the kimberlite magma. Using major and trace element data we show that the kimberlite compositions are controlled by the addition of xenocrystic olivine into a parental magma that contained only about 16–18% MgO. The monomineralic character of the olivine nodules is problematic because dunite is a rare rock in the lithospheric mantle. The source of the xenocrystic olivine lacked pyroxene and an aluminous phase, which make up about half of most mantle-derived rocks. It appears that these minerals were removed from the material that was to become the nodules, perhaps by fluids that immediately preceded the passage of the kimberlites. We speculate that this mantle "defertilization" process was linked to interaction between CO2-rich fluid and mantle and that this interaction controlled the geochemical and isotopic composition of kimberlites.

Description: Nine ERS-1 and ERS-2 descending orbit data acquired over the Aira Caldera between June 1995 and November 1998 were used to create 31 differential interferograms. Although the interferograms exhibit a relatively low level of coherence, even for couples sampling short time intervals (6 months), Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DinSAR) reveals a pattern of range change signal during the observation period in the urban area of Kokubu city. The analysis of the ground deformation time series relative to the earliest ERS images evidenced a maximum uplift of 23 mm between the north and the south of the city during the studied period. Taking the reduced surface of the coherent area into account, we performed a simple modelling of the deformation field assuming a spherical inflating source within an elastic half-space medium. This simple model predicts a source located beneath the centre of Aira Caldera with a maximum volume increase of 30 106 m3 between 1995 and 1997, which would produced an inflation of about 7 cm of the centre of Aira Caldera and 4 cm of the south of Kokubu city. These results are in good agreement with other geophysical observations carried out on Aira caldera during this unrest period. Despite the limited spatial extent of the coherent areas around Aira Caldera, this study shows that DinSAR method using ERS data can be successfully used to detect subtle ground displacement changes of the volcanic complex and thus provides complementary information to ground-based geodetic monitoring of dynamic processes at Aira Caldera and Sakurajima volcano.

Description: Researchers at the Center for Climatic Research (CCR) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have revised and calibrated a global volcanic database compiled from more than 2000 radiocarbon-dated eruptions from the late Pleistocene and Holocene. The updated database is available online as an appendix to this correspondence (http://www.electronic-earth-discuss.net/1/123/2006/eed-1-123-2006-supplement.zip). We briefly describe the database, suggest some potential applications, and invite other researchers in the geologic and atmospheric sciences to both use and help refine the archive by incorporating additional data as it becomes available.

Description: The Eratosthenes Seamount (Eastern Mediterranean) is interpreted as a crustal block in process of break up in response to subduction and incipient collision of the African and Eurasian Plates. Subsidence is considered to be the mechanism triggering the Messinian to Pleistocene water deepening above this unique structure. However, the application of a recently developed transfer equation of depth range distribution of benthic foraminifera indicates that sea-level changes may also have played a role, although it was generally minor. In particular, we suggest that across the Miocene/Pliocene boundary and during the Pliocene-Pleistocene, the eustatic signal is frequently coupled with uplifts and subsidence. The uplift of Cyprus across the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition is clearly recorded in the paleodepth curve. Micropaleontological studies and the use of this transfer equation based on the distribution of benthic foraminifera proves to be useful when studying the paleodepth history of complex sites, where tectonic and eustatic signals combine. We also show that marginal seas record global sea-level changes that can be identified even in tectonically active settings.

Description: The strontium isotope composition of seawater has varied over geological time in response to changes in the rates of continental weathering relative to ocean crust alteration. However, the potential of the seawater 87Sr/86Sr curve to trace globally integrated chemical weathering rates has not been fully realised because ocean 87Sr/86Sr is also strongly influenced by the isotopic evolution of Sr sources to the ocean. A first attempt is made here to normalise the seawater 87Sr/86Srr curve to plausible trends in the 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the three major Sr sources: carbonate dissolution, silicate weathering and submarine hydrothermal exchange. The normalised curve highlights the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian interval as a period of exceptionally high chemical weathering rates, which can be linked to increased nutrient availability, bioproductivity and oxygenation of Earth's surface environment. Use of normalised seawater 87Sr/86Sr curves will, it is hoped, help to improve future geochemical models of Earth System dynamics.

Description: The Lunar cratering record is consistent with the occurrence of a late heavy bombardment (LHB), which marked the end of terrestrial planet accretion 3.8 billion years ago. However, clear evidence of a LHB on Earth has not yet been identified. Here it is shown that the LHB did indeed occur on Earth and that we are breathing its aftermaths. The terrestrial atmosphere and hydrosphere is enriched in noble gases relative to the abundance of volatiles in the mantle. This enrichment is consistent with the mass delivered to Earth during the LHB only if this material consisted of ~0.5% Kuiper-belt objects mixed in with a population of largely chondritic (i.e. asteroidal) impactors. This places strong constraints on dynamical models for early Solar System evolution.

Description: The Olympos-Ossa-Pelion (OOP) ranges, in NW Aegean, encompass Greece highest summit and are located near the extremity of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF). Structural and thermochronological data gathered in the OOP ranges show that the main exhumation of metamorphic nappes occurred in the Eocene, at ca. 43–39 Ma. This early exhumation, associated with ductile, then brittle-ductile normal faulting with northeastward transport, is nearly coeval with orogenic shortening in the close area. Cooling rates, and likely exhumation, have been low between ~40 Ma and ~20 Ma. 40Ar/39Ar crystallization ages (between 20 and 15 Ma) appears related to brittle-ductile normal faulting and likely associated with the onset of Aegean back-arc extension. The dating of a diabase dyke, and the geometry of associated brittle jointing, of onshore and offshore active normal faults imply a shift in extension direction after 4 Ma. Such a shift is probably related the propagation of the NAF in northern Aegean known to have occurred around 5 Ma.

Description: Sediment cores from 13 deep boreholes (1–4.1 km) from Axios zone in Northern Greece have been studied by means of palaeomagnetism. Both low field magnetic susceptibility and intensity of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) indicate rather weakly magnetised materials. 390 samples have been subjected to demagnetization process (AF and thermal) revealing in most of the cases the presence of magnetite. Isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) acquisition curves and thermomagnetic analysis suggest the dominance of magnetite. 30 thin sections were studied in order to more precisely characterise the magnetic mineralogy of the samples. This investigation also reveals the presence of magnetite and pyrite in framboidal form. An attempt to re-orient some of the samples was partially successful by using the viscous component and the anisotropy method. Re-orientation techniques were applied in order to correct the palaeomagnetic directions due to the orientation ambiguity of the core samples. The palaeomagnetic results confirm the clockwise Cenozoic rotation, in the study area in agreement with the overall pattern of the onshore results from previous investigations. Finally, the observed inclinations of characteristic remanences in these rocks are much lower than the expected ones but converge with those obtained from formations on land.

Description: We report gravel of the River Euphrates, capped by basalt that is Ar-Ar dated to ~9 Ma, at Shireen in northern Syria. This gravel, preserved by the erosion-resistant basalt, allows us for the first time to reconstruct the history of this major river during the Late Miocene. In response to progressive regional surface uplift, the Euphrates extended SE by ~800 km between the early Middle Miocene, when the coast was near Kahramanmarac{s} in southern Turkey, and the Pliocene, when it lay in western Iraq, east of the Arabian Platform uplands.

Description: Since the 1980s the frequency of warming events has intensified and simultaneously widespread coral bleaching, and enhanced coral mortality have been observed. Yet, it remains unpredictable how tropical coral reef communities will react to prolonged adverse conditions. Possibly, coral reef systems are sufficiently robust to withstand continued environmental pressures. But if coral mortality increases, what will platform communities of the future look like? The co-evolution of early Paleogene carbonate platforms and palaeoclimate may provide insight. Here we document the impact of early Paleogene global warming on shallow-water carbonate platforms in the Tethys. Between 59 and 55 Ma, three discrete stages in platform development can be identified Tethys-wide: during the first stage carbonate platforms mainly consisted of coralgal reefs; during the second – transitional – stage coralgal reefs thrived only at middle latitudes and gave way to larger foraminifera as dominant carbonate producer in low latitudes; finally, during the third stage, newly developing larger foraminifera lineages completely took over the role as main carbonate-producing organisms in low to middle latitudes. We postulate that rising temperatures led to a stepwise demise of Paleocene coral reefs, giving way to an unprecedented expansion of larger foraminifera, dominating Tethyan platforms during the early Eocene.

Description: The iron content and the asymmetry of iron and magnesium ions in chlorites are examined for the Chelungpu Fault in Taiwan, which is a seismogenic fault. The samples are collected from the cores drilled for the Taiwan Chelungpu Fault Drilling Project (TCDP). Three fault zones are recognized as candidates for the source of seismogenic materials. The fault zones are composed of fractured-damaged rocks, breccia, gray gouge, black gouge, and black material. Chlorite from each type of rock was analyzed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The iron content and asymmetry of the iron and magnesium ions in the chlorites were estimated from the XRD peak ratios. The hydroxide and silicate layers in the black gouge and black material have low iron contents. Many studies have suggested that a temperature rise occurred at the fault zones. In addition, the temperature rise can result in the production of iron oxides such as magnetite or maghemite, as reported by other studies. However, the temperature rise cannot explain the low value of iron content in the chlorites. Another reason for the low value of iron content is the variation in the pH of the fluid, which can be controlled by radical reactions. Therefore, the reactions at the seismogenic fault are due to not only the thermal decomposition resulting from the temperature rise and but also rock-fluid interactions based on the chlorite characteristics.

Description: To study the effect of stress-activated positive hole (p-hole) charge carriers on the infrared (IR) emission from rocks, we subjected a portion (~10 vol.%) of a large (60×30×7.5 cm3) block of anorthosite, a nearly monomineralic (Ca-rich feldspar) igneous rock, to uniaxial deviatory stress up to failure. We measured the IR emission from a flat surface ≈40 cm from the stressed rock volume over the 800–1300 cm−1 (7.7–12.5 μm) range. Upon loading, the intensity and spectrum of the IR emission change. Narrow bands near instantly appear at 930 cm−1 (10.75 μm), 880 cm−1 (11.36 μm), 820 cm−1 (12.4 μm) plus additional bands in the 1000–1300 cm−1 (10.0–7.7 μm) range. Upon further loading the bands broaden and shift. Their intensities increase but also fluctuate. Near the emission maxima at 300 K, at 1150 cm−1 and 1030 cm−1 (8.7 and 9 μm), barely any intensity increase occurs suggesting that the temperature of the surface does not actually increase. We propose that the observed narrow IR emission bands arise from vibrationally excited O-O stretching modes which form when p-hole charge carriers (activated in the stressed rock) spread into the unstressed portion of the rock to the surface, where they recombine and radiatively decay. The effect, stimulated IR emission due to hole-hole recombination, may help explain the enhanced IR emission seen in night-time satellite images of the land surface before major earthquakes known as "thermal anomalies''.

Description: We suggest a working hypothesis for the geometry of the strike-slip faults that formed the boundaries between the Turkish, African and Arabian plates in the latest Miocene to Mid-Pliocene (LMMP), between ~7–6 Ma and ~3.5 Ma. This geometry differed significantly from the modern geometry; the northern Dead Sea Fault Zone (DSFZ) was located east of its present line and the TR-AR boundary was formed by the Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone (MOFZ), located well north of the modern East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ). The MOFZ is potentially the most problematic aspect of such a scheme, given the dramatically different interpretations of it that have been proposed. However, the presently-available evidence, albeit limited, is consistent with our proposed interpretation. Significant differences between the proposed LMMP fault geometry and the modern geometry include, first, the transtensional geometry of the MOFZ, the modern EAFZ being typically a left-lateral transform fault zone but with localized transpression. Second, the MOFZ slip rate was much lower than the ~9–10 mm a−1 EAFZ slip rate; it is estimated as ~2–3 mm a−1, having produced no more than ~8 km of slip during its approximately three million year long activity. Third, unlike at present, there was no throughgoing linkage of left-lateral faulting between the LMMP DSFZ and the MOFZ; instead, the DSFZ terminated northward, and the MOFZ terminated southward, in a zone of localised crustal shortening adjoining the suture of the former Neotethys Ocean in the Kahramanmaraç-Pazarcık region of SE Turkey. The different motion of the Turkish plate relative to Arabia, and, thus, relative to Eurasia, means that senses and rates of crustal deformation can be expected to have been different during the LMMP phase from at present, throughout the eastern Mediterranean region.

Description: Desertification is defined in the first art of the convention to combat desertification as "land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from climatic variations and human activities". Its consequence include a set of important processes which are active in arid and semi arid environment, where water is the main limiting factor of land use performance in such ecosystem . Desertification indicators or the groups of associated indicators should be focused on a single process. They should be based on available reliable information sources, including remotely sensed images, topographic data (maps or DEM'S), climate, soils and geological data. The current work aims to map the Environmental Sensitivity Areas (ESA's) to desertification in whole territory of Egypt at a scale of 1:1 000 000. ETM satellite images, geologic and soil maps were used as main sources for calculating the index of Environmental Sensitivity Areas (ESAI) for desertification. The algorism is adopted from MEDALLUS methodology as follows; ESAI = (SQI * CQI * VQI)1/3 Where SQI is the soil quality index, CQI is the climate quality index and VQI is the vegetation quality index. The SQI is based on rating the parent material, slope, soil texture, and soil depth. The VQI is computed on bases of rating three categories (i.e. erosion protection, drought resistance and plant cover). The CQI is based on the aridity index, derived from values of annual rainfall and potential evapotranspiration. Arc-GIS 9 software was used for the computation and sensitivity maps production. The results show that the soil of the Nile Valley are characterized by a moderate SQI, however the those in the interference zone are low soil quality indexed. The dense vegetation of the valley has raised its VQI to be good, however coastal areas are average and interference zones are low. The maps of ESA's for desertification show that 86.1% of Egyptian territory is classified as very sensitive areas, while 4.3% as Moderately sensitive, and 9.6% as sensitive. It can be concluded that implementing the maps of sensitivity to desertification is rather useful in the arid and semi arid areas as they give more likely quantitative trend for frequency of sensitive areas. The integration of different factors contributing to desertification sensitivity may lead to plan a successful combating. The usage of space data and GIS proved to be suitable tools to rely estimation and to fulfill the needed large computational requirements. They are also useful in visualizing the sensitivity situation of different desertification parameters.

Description: The sediment samples from the continental shelf of West-Equatorial Africa (from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Niger estuary), depths ranging from 0 to 69 m were found to contain 176 bottom foraminiferal species. For the majority of them (126 species), their areas of occurrences were mapped and the peculiar features of the geographical range and distribution were studied. The species natural habitats were established based on the taxonomical revision of the species in study all over the World Ocean based on the collections of the Zoological Institute RAS and wide literary data. The method of perforated cards was used to mark the geographical locations of all of the species studied. In order to establish the species geographic zonal distribution (together with their depth habitat) the five characteristic groups of the species were separated: 1. pan-oceanic (cosmopolitan), 2. widely spread tropical-boreal, 3. tropical-law boreal, 4. tropical-subtropical, 5. tropical. The percent of the species of each group among the species composition was established for the fauna of each station and for the whole region.

Description: A linear model is developed to study the effect of variations in composition upon extensive physical properties of continuously deposited sediment sequences. By applying this model to natural and synthetic remanence acquisition, an optimal method of relative paleointensity determination is derived. The sediment is regarded as a mixture of independent components, each of which behaves uniformly in depth with respect to its physical properties. The concentration of each sediment component is assumed to independently vary linearly with an external "environmental" signal. Remanence acquisition in each sediment component is linear in external field and concentration of the component. It is demonstrated that in this case the ideal normalization procedure for relative paleointensity determination is to divide the natural remanent magnetization by a biased normalizer. Common magnetic cleaning techniques improve the relative paleointensity record by removing nonlinear behavior and by reducing the bias to the normalizer. The proposed linear sediment model for any extensive physical property clearly separates the influences of concentration of sediment components from those of environmental signals. It thus opens many possibilities for extensions to nonlinear models.

Description: The morphology of pore space has a strong effect on mechanical and transport properties of mudrocks and clay-rich fault gouge, but its characterization has been mostly indirect. We report on a study of Boom clay from a proposed disposal site of radioactive waste (Mol site, Belgium) using high resolution SEM at cryogenic temperature, with ion beam cutting to prepare smooth, damage free surfaces. Pores commonly have crack-like tips, preferred orientation parallel to bedding and power law size distribution. We define a number of pore types depending on shape and location in the microstructure: large jagged pores in strain shadows of clastic grains, high aspect ratio pores between similarly oriented phyllosilicate grains and crescent-shaped pores in saddle reefs of folded phyllosilicates. 3-D reconstruction by serial sectioning shows 3-D connectivity of the pore space. These findings call for reinterpretation of traditional pore size distributions calculated from mercury Injection experiments, explain slaking of clays by successive wetting and drying and provide the basis for microstructure-based models of transport in clays.

Description: Variations in the assemblages and abundances of calcareous nannoplankton have allowed us to interpret changes in oceanic and atmospheric dynamics in the Guyana Basin, mainly linked to the southeast trades over the last climatic cycle. Records of the paleoproductivity index of coccolithophores (N ratio) allowed us to monitor the nutri-thermocline fluctuations. Additionally, nannofossil accumulation rates vary closely with the N ratio, indicating a strong correlation between these two paleoproductivity proxies. The dominance of upper (small Noelaerhabdaceae, Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica), over lower photic zone dwellers (Florisphaera profunda) during Termination II and interglacial substages 5.1 and 5.3 is related to eutrophic conditions due to a shoaling of the nutri-thermocline as a consequence of enhanced southeast Trade Winds. This activated an upwelling at the continental margin of the Guyana Basin. Low N ratio values and the dominance of F. profunda over the glacial substages of MIS 5 and glacial MIS 2-4 are linked to a deep nutri-thermocline (deep stratification of the mixed layer), at times of low influence of the southeast Trade Winds, and a weak upwelling. However, the N ratio during MIS 2-4 was slightly higher than those seen for the MIS 4/5 boundary and glacial substages 5.2 and 5.4. These micropaleontological proxies follow the insolation at high northern latitude (65° N): the high N ratio and NAR data from the Guyana Basin during Termination II and interglacials 5.1. and 5.3 are correlated with high insolation values, and low values of the N ratio and NAR during the MIS 4/5 boundary, glacials 5.2, 5.4 and MIS 2-4 are correlated with low insolation at the same latitudes. This situation suggests a link between the ITCZ, the southeast Trade Wind dynamics and the Northern Hemisphere climate changes during the last climatic cycle.

Description: We highlight a potentially important trigger for bubble growth and degassing in volcanic bombs. We have successfully triggered bubble growth in previously unvesiculated samples of silicate melt during experiments to simulate volcanic bomb impact, by firing pellets at, and dropping weights onto, melt samples. We call this phenomenon "impact vesiculation". Further work is required on real volcanic bombs to establish the extent to which impact vesiculation occurs in nature. However, our experiments are sufficient to demonstrate that impact vesiculation is a viable processes and should be borne in mind in analysis of bubble populations and degassing histories of bombs and spatter-fed lava flows. Degassing caused by impact vesiculation can occur only at ground-level, so any attempt to calculate the amount of erupted gas available for transport high into the atmosphere by convection above the source of a fountain-fed lava flow that is based on subtracting the volatile content of fluid inclusions from the volatile content of the resulting lava flow would be an overestimate if significant impact vesiculation has occurred.

Description: The living benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the Kiel Fjord (SW Baltic Sea) were investigated in the years 2005 and 2006. The faunal studies were accomplished by geochemical analyses of surface sediments. In general, sediment pollution by copper, zinc, tin and lead was assessed as moderate in comparison with levels reported from other areas of the Baltic Sea. However, the inner Kiel fjord is still exposed to a high load of metals and organic matter due to enhanced accumulation of fine-grained sediments in conjunction with a concentration of pollution sources as shipyards, harbours and intensive traffic. The results of our survey showed that the dominant environmental forcing of benthic foraminifera is nutrients availability coupled with human impact. A comparison with data from the 1960s revealed apparent changes in species composition and population densities over the past decades. The stress-tolerant species Ammonia beccarii invaded Kiel Fjord whereas Ammotium cassis disappeared, possibly due to low salinity that prevailed 10 years ago. These changes in foraminiferal community and a significant increase of test abnormalities indicate enforced environmental stress since the 1960s.

Description: A new combined understanding of plate tectonics, Earth internal structure, and the role of impulse in deformation of the Earth's crust is presented. Plate accelerations and decelerations have been revealed by iterative filtering of the quaternion history for the Euler poles that define absolute plate motion history for the past 68 million years, and provide an unprecedented precision for plate angular rotation variations with time at 2-million year intervals. Stage poles represent the angular rotation of a plate's motion between adjacent Euler poles, and from which the maximum velocity vector for a plate can be determined. The consistent maximum velocity variations, in turn, yield consistent estimates of plate accelerations and decelerations. The fact that the Pacific plate was shown to accelerate and decelerate, implied that conservation of plate tectonic angular momentum must be globally conserved, and that is confirmed by the results shown here (total angular momentum ~1.4 E+27 kgm2s−1). Accordingly, if a plate decelerates, other plates must increase their angular momentums to compensate. In addition, the azimuth of the maximum velocity vectors yields clues as to why the "bend" in the Emperor-Hawaiian seamount trend occurred near 46 Myr. This report summarizes processing results for 12 of the 14 major tectonic plates of the Earth (except for the Juan de Fuca and Philippine plates). Plate accelerations support the contention that plate tectonics is a product of torques that most likely are sustained by the sinking of positive density anomalies due to phase changes in subducted gabbroic lithosphere at depth in the upper lower mantle (above 1200 km depth). The tectonic plates are pulled along by the sinking of these positive mass anomalies, rather than moving at near constant velocity on the crests of convection cells driven by rising heat. These results imply that spreading centers are primarily passive reactive features, and fracture zones (and wedge-shaped sites of seafloor spreading) are adjustment zones that accommodate strains in the lithosphere. Further, the interlocked pattern of the Australian and Pacific plates the past 42 Million years (with their absolute plate motions near 90° to each other) is taken as strong evidence that large thermally driven "roller" convection cells previously inferred as the driving mechanism in earlier interpretations of continental drift and plate tectonics, have not been active in the Earth's mantle the past 42 Million years, if ever. This report also presents estimates of the changes in location and magnitude of the Earth's axis of total plate tectonic angular momentum for the past 62 million years.

Description: In the work two aspects of thermal character are considered: first of all this is the connection of subduction phenomena with thermal life of the Caucasus on the basis of over interpreted data of magnetotelluric sounding, and secondly, origin of thermostressed condition of the Caucasus and its geological aspects which is manifested in the following: 1. in the zones of anomalous thermodisplacements thermofaults should occur (Le Pishon et al., 1977). These thermofaults are in good correlation with deep faults which are distinguished by geological and seismic methods, these thermofaults may be earthquake sources (Spitak, Racha, etc. earthquakes), also may be channels through which magma derivates (giving mineral deposits) may penetrate on surface (Gugunava and Gijeishvili, 1989); 2. in the body of sedimentary complex thermostressed seals and seal failures occur, which are apparently traps for oil-gas fluids. Good correlation of thermodense anomalies with oil deposits of the Caucasus is shown (Alexidze et al., 1985; Gugunava, 1980). Everything above mentioned was carried out within frames of stationary thermal model which did not allow us to reveal time characteristics of interconnection of geological medium and thermal field. Now investigations are being carried out within the frames of stationary thermal model and its interconnection with geological environment.

Description: In the present study we present preliminary results of Zakynthos Alikes lagoon, which is one of the most seismically active regions of Greece. In order to estimate – interpret the Holocene evolution of the area and to reconstruct the palaeonvironmental changes, we based on the data of a 21 m sediment core. Sediment types, structure, colour, as well as contact depths and bed characteristics, were recorded in the field. Standarised sedimentological analysis were carried out, on 46 samples including grain size analysis, calculation of moment measures, and micro- and molluscan fossils of 17 selected samples. Moreover, radiocarbon age determinations have been made on individual Cardium shells from two horizons and whole – core Magnetic Susceptibility (MS) measurements were taken. The interpretation of depositional environments suggests a coastal environment (restricted-shallow) with reduced salinity such as a lagoon margin and in a tidal flat and/or marsh particularly. The maximum age of the study sediments is about 8500 BP. The rate of sedimentation between 8280 BP and 5590 BP was 5.3 mm/yr and between 5590 BP and modern times 1.03 mm/yr. The rate of sedimentation was higher until mid-Holocene while decrease after to 1.03 mm/yr, results which are similar to other coastal areas of western Greece.