Abstracts
SEARCH Open Science Meeting
October 27, 2003
Seattle, Washington, USA
Contributions to Quaternary and Recent History of the Bering Sea Coast of Kamchatka, Russian Far East
Joanne Bourgeois1, Tatiana Pinegina2, Vera Ponomareva3, Veronika Dirksen4, Natalia Zaretskaia5, Kevin Pedoja6
1Earth & Space Sciences, Univ. of Washington, Box 351310, Seattle, WA, 98195-1310, USA, Phone 206 685-2443, Fax 206 543-0489, jbourgeo@u.washington.edu
2Inst. of Volcanic Geology & Geochemistry, Far East Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia
3IVGG, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy and , Russia
4St. Petersburg, Russia
5Geological Institute, Moscow, Russia
6France
This cooperative interdisciplinary project is currently funded principally by NSF (EAR/INT), as well as by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. Funded objectives include 1) Holocene volcanic history (tephra stratigraphy) of northern Kamchatka, both on its own scientific merit, and also as a tool for dating and correlation in other aspects of the project; 2) Holocene paleoseismology of eastern Kamchatka, especially history of earthquakes and tsunamis in this region; 3) Quaternary shoreline and sea level history of Kamchatka, including progradation (beach ridge history) and erosion, subsidence and uplift (terrace history). Auxiliary work (currently minimally funded) includes Holocene palynology and peat macrofossil studies; diatom studies. Potential applications range from natural hazard analysis to archaeology.
The southern Bering Sea coast of Kamchatka is tectonically active (undergoing uplift and deformation) and lies at a major plate boundary—the northern terminus of the Kuril-Kamchatka subduction zone. Volcanic ash layers from the very active Kamchatka volcanic chain permit widespread correlation and age control for the Holocene. Kamchatka probably has the best established Holocene tephra stratigraphy in the world, and we are working on a database for these tephra. Our key study sites are coastal peats; in this part of Kamchatka, we have found coastal peats as old as about 8000 years. They preserve a record of land-level changes, vegetation history, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and storms. Our methods also include measuring and description of coastal profiles and environments, so we are documenting current conditions at many sites along the Kamchatka Bering Sea coast. These surveys give us a baseline both for reconstructing the past, and for projecting future change.
Abstract Categories: Coastal Processes
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