Quantitative lacustrine paleoseismology in Carinthia, Austria: improving the Environmental Seismic Intensity Scale and assessing strong earthquake recurrence in formerly-glaciated intraplate settings (Quake-Lake Carinthia)
Funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) (09.2017-08.2022)
PI: Jasper Moernaut
Co-PI: Michael Strasser
Project Members: Christoph Daxer, Ariana Molenaar
We overcome this knowledge barrier by using lake sediments as natural seismometers. Strong earthquakes can deform lacustrine sediments and produce underwater landslides.
The detailed work on the Carinthian lakes forms the fundaments of a worldwide comparison of lake paleoseismology, where we evaluate how different sedimentary features in different lake systems can be used to reveal the shaking strength of past earthquakes. We combine present and new knowledge to construct a generic methodology which can be applied to improve seismic hazard assessments in many places worldwide.
Publications (peer-reviewed):
Overview
Moernaut, J., 2020. Time-dependent recurrence of strong earthquake shaking near plate boundaries: a lake sediment perspective. Earth Science Reviews 210, 103344. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103344
Carinthia and Tyrol:
Daxer, C., Ortler, M., Fabbri, S.C., Hilbe, M., Hajdas, I., Dubois, N., Piechl, T., Hammerl, C., Strasser, M., Moernaut, J., 2022. High-resolution calibration of seismically induced lacustrine deposits with historical earthquake data in the Eastern Alps (Carinthia, Austria). Quaternary Science Reviews 284, 107497. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107497
Oswald, P. Strasser, M., Skapski, J., Moernaut, J., 2022. Magnitude and source area estimations of severe prehistoric earthquakes in the western Eastern Alps. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 22, 2057-2079. doi:10.5194/nhess-22-2057-2022
Kiefer, C., Oswald, P., Moernaut, J., Fabbri, S.C., Mayr, C., Strasser, M., Krautblatter, M., 2021. A 4,000 year debris-flow record based on amphibious investigations of fan delta activity in Plansee (Austria, Eastern Alps). Earth Surface Dynamics. doi:10.5194/esurf-9-1481-2021
Oswald, P., Moernaut, J., Fabbri, S.C., De Batist, M., Hajdas, I., Ortner, H., Titzler, S., Strasser, M., 2021. Combined on-fault and off-fault paleoseismic evidence in the postglacial infill of the inner-alpine lake Achensee (Austria, Eastern Alps). Frontiers in Earth Science. Doi:10.3389/feart.2021.670952
Oswald, P., Strasser, M., Hammerl, C., Moernaut, J., 2021. Seismic control of large prehistoric rockslides in the Eastern Alps. Nature Communications. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21327-9
Daxer, C., Sammartini, M., Molenaar, A., Pichl, T., Strasser, M., Moernaut, J.,2020. Morphology and spatio-temporal distribution of lacustrine landslides in Wörthersee, Eastern Alps, Austria. Geological Society of London, Special Publications 500. doi:10.1144/SP500-2019-179
Process-oriented studies in Chile and Alaska
Molenaar, A., Van Daele, M., Huang, J.-J., Strasser, M., De Batist, M., Pino, M., Urrutia, R., Moernaut, J., 2022. Disentangling factors controlling earthquake-triggered soft-sediment deformation in lakes. Sedimentary Geology. doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2022.106200.
Praet, N., Van Daele, M., Moernaut, J., Mestdagh, T., Vandorpe, T., Jensen, B., Witter, R.C., Haeussler, P.J., De Batist, M., 2022. Unravelling a 2300 year long sedimentary record of megathrust and intraslab earthquakes in proglacial Skilak Lake, south-central Alaska. Sedimentology. doi.org/10.1111/sed.12986
Molenaar, A., Van Daele, M., Vandorpe, T., Degenhart, G., De Batist, M., Urrutia, R., Pino, M., Strasser, M., Moernaut, J., 2021. What controls the remobilization and deformation of surficial sediment by seismic shaking? Linking lacustrine slope stratigraphy to great earthquakes in South-Central Chile. Sedimentology. doi.org/10.1111/sed.12856
Praet, N., Van Daele, M., Collart, T., Moernaut, J., Vandekerkhove, E., Kempf, P., Haeussler, P.J., De Batist, M., 2020. Turbidite stratigraphy in proglacial lakes – deciphering turbidite trigger mechanisms using a statistical approach. Sedimentology. doi:10.1111/sed.12703
Moernaut, J., Van Daele, M., Heirman, K., Wiemer, G., Molenaar, A., Vandorpe, T., Melnick, D., Hajdas, I., Pino, M., Urrutia, R., De Batist, M., 2019. The subaqueous landslide cycle in south-central Chilean lakes: the role of tephra, slope gradient and repeated seismic shaking. Sedimentary Geology 381, 84-105.
doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2019.01.002
Van Daele, M., Araya-Cornejo, C., Pille, T., Vanneste, K., Moernaut, J., Schmidt, S., Kempf, P., Meyer, I., Cisternas, M., 2019. Distinguishing intraplate from megathrust earthquakes using lacustrine turbidites. Geology 47(2), 127-130. doi: 10.1130/G45662.1
Main Project Collaborators:
Christa Hammerl / Stefan Weginger (ZAMG - Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, Vienna)
Wolfgang Recheis / Gerald Degenhart / Markus Erhardt (Innsbruck Medical University)
Stefano Fabbri (University of Bern)
Marc De Batist / Maarten Van Daele / Nore Praet (Ghent University)
Patrick Oswald (University of Innsbruck)