| 1. |
- Treydte, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
-
Recent human-induced atmospheric drying across Europe unprecedented in the last 400 years
- 2024
-
Ingår i: NATURE GEOSCIENCE. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 17, s. 58-65
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The vapor pressure deficit reflects the difference between how much moisture the atmosphere could and actually does hold, a factor that fundamentally affects evapotranspiration, ecosystem functioning, and vegetation carbon uptake. Its spatial variability and long-term trends under natural versus human-influenced climate are poorly known despite being essential for predicting future effects on natural ecosystems and human societies such as crop yield, wildfires, and health. Here we combine regionally distinct reconstructions of pre-industrial summer vapor pressure deficit variability from Europe's largest oxygen-isotope network of tree-ring cellulose with observational records and Earth system model simulations with and without human forcing included. We demonstrate that an intensification of atmospheric drying during the recent decades across different European target regions is unprecedented in a pre-industrial context and that it is attributed to human influence with more than 98% probability. The magnitude of this trend is largest in Western and Central Europe, the Alps and Pyrenees region, and the smallest in southern Fennoscandia. In view of the extreme drought and compound events of the recent years, further atmospheric drying poses an enhanced risk to vegetation, specifically in the densely populated areas of the European temperate lowlands. The atmosphere has dried across most regions of Europe in recent decades, a trend that can be attributed primarily to human impacts, according to tree ring records spanning 400 years and Earth system model simulations.
|
|
| 2. |
- Olszak, Janusz, et al.
(författare)
-
Luminescence and radiocarbon dates from alluvial sediments, Podhale, Central Europe — A methods comparison
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Catena. - : Elsevier BV. - 0341-8162. ; 221
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon (14C) techniques were employed to investigate the absolute ages of alluvial sediments in Podhale in the West Carpathians, southern Poland. This is an approach to (i) testing the credibility of the above dating methods by their reciprocal age control and (ii) further implications to regional geochronology and to dating campaigns of alluvial sequences elsewhere. Nine geological sections comprised of mineral and organic material were selected for the study. Our age determinations range from 26.9 to 2.27 ka, and are in good geochronological order. OSL age estimates show good agreement with independent ages from radiocarbon dating. However, in three alluvial successions the discrepancy between the resulting ages is considerable. We attribute the difference to the partial bleaching, and organic material redeposition. We also report on an age reversal of sediments in a single geological section. This might have been resulted from the alluviation-erosion scheme of meandering rivers over a millennial time-scale, i.e. the dominance of channel migration, point bar deposition (lateral accretion), and crosswise erosion. Finally, new geochronological data are provided abolishing sediment age assumptions based on uncertain chronostratigraphical approaches.
|
|
| 3. |
- Tokarski, Antek K., et al.
(författare)
-
Active faulting and seismic hazard in the Outer Western Carpathians (Polish Galicia) : Evidence from fractured Quaternary gravels
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of Structural Geology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0191-8141. ; 141
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This report opens a new window on Quaternary tectonics of the Outer Western Carpathians. We discuss results of fractured clasts analysis in Quaternary fluvial gravels within a 4.500 km2 large area comprising a part of the Outer Carpathians including Nowy Sącz Intramontane Basin (NSIB) as well as in the innermost part of the Carpathian Foredeep. Quaternary gravels bearing fractured clasts are widespread within the area, we observed them in 180 exposures. In the Carpathian Foredeep and in the Outer Carpathians excluding the NSIB, the exposures of gravels bearing fractured clasts are located largely close to (<2 km) all major overthrusts and close to (<0.75 km) the cross-fold faults of the Skawa River Fault System (SRFS). The clast-cutting fractures are mostly joints attesting to widespread Quaternary tectonic activity of the faults. Moreover, the density of occurrence of gravels bearing fractured clasts is considerably higher within the NSIB than in other parts of the study area. Furthermore, our results shed new light on the seismic hazard in the study area. In our interpretation, the clast-cutting fractures are damage resulting from coseismic rupturing of underlying bedrock faults or from regional seismic shaking. We conclude that in the study area the seismic hazard posed by natural seismicity can matter only in case of planning there the erection of critical structures like nuclear power plants, nuclear waste repositories or gas storage facilities. On the other hand, we infer that the appreciable seismic hazard is near the cross-fold faults of the SRFS, due to the location of Świnna Poręba Artificial Lake there, which can lead to triggering significant seismicity in the area. Furthermore, we suggest that fractured clasts can serve worldwide as providers of information on paleoseismicity and can be useful for mapping blind faults.
|
|
| 4. |
- Tokarski, Antek K., et al.
(författare)
-
Seismic damage in Quaternary fluvial gravels in low-seismicity thrust-and-fold-belts : Case study of the Outer Western Carpathians (Poland and Slovakia)
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Journal of Structural Geology. - 0191-8141. ; 178
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this contribution, we propose a model of Quaternary seismicity in the Outer Western Carpathians. The model presents results of analysis of fractured clasts performed in 268 exposures of Quaternary fluvial gravels within the ca. 5,000 km2 large segment of the Outer Western Carpathians comprising: Outer Carpathian nappes, the innermost part of the Carpathian Foredeep, and two intramontane basins – the Orava-Nowy Targ Basin and the Nowy Sącz Basin. Moreover, to precise stratigraphic position of the host gravels we performed OSL dating in 16 exposures and 14C dating in 4 exposures. Outside the intramontane basins, seismic damage in Quaternary strata is largely focused along all major overthrusts and some of the large-scale strike-slip and normal faults, whereas, within the intramontane basins, the damage is dispersed within the whole basins. Our results show that seismic damage within Quaternary strata in the Outer Western Carpathians results both from co-seismic fault rupture and from seismic shaking. During Quaternary times, the Outer Western Carpathians have been affected by earthquakes since the Pleistocene until Present. Seismic damage in Quaternary strata results from light (Mw5-) earthquakes with the exception of hanging limbs of the normal faults bordering the Orava-Nowy Targ Intramontane Basin which have been affected also by moderate (Mw5+) earthquakes. Our model can be significant for understanding seismic hazards in low-seismicity thrust-and-fold belts. In the studied case, this is important as the densely populated intramontane basins show the largest seismic damage.
|
|
