Seismites resulting from high-frequency, high-magnitude earthquakes in Latvia caused by Late Glacial glacio-isostatic uplift
A.J. (Tom) van Loona,*, Ma?gorzata Pisarska-Jamro?yb,M��ris Narti?sc, M��ris Kriev��nsc, Juris Somsd
a Geocom Consultants, Valle del Portet 17, 03726 Benitachell, Spain; b Institute of Geology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Mak��w Polnych 16, 61-606 Poznan', Poland; c Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Latvia, Rainis Blvd. 19, 1576 Riga, Latvia; d Department of Geography, Daugavpils University, Parades 1, LV 5401 Daugavpils, Latvia
Abstract Geologically extremely rapid changes in altitude by glacial rebound of the Earth crust after retreat of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet at the end of the last Weichselian glaciation in?uenced the palaeogeography of northern Europe. The uplift of the Earth crust apparently was not gradual, but shock-wise, as the uplift was accompanied by frequent, high-magnitude earthquakes. This can be deduced from strongly deformed layers which are interpreted as seismites. Such seismites have been described from several countries around the Baltic Sea, including Sweden, Germany and Poland.Now similarly deformed layers that must also be interpreted as seismites, have been discovered also in Latvia, a Baltic country that was covered by an ice sheet during the last glaciation. The seismites were found at two sites: Near Valmiera in the NE part and near Rakuti in the SE part of the country. The seismites were found in sections of about 7 m and 4.5 m high, respectively, that consist mainly of glacio?uvial and glaciolacustrine sands and silts. At the Valmiera site, 7 seismites were found, and at the Rakuti site these were even 12 seismites.The two sections have not been dated precisely up till now, but lithological correlations and geomorphological characteristics suggest that the sediments at the Valmiera site cannot be older than 14.5 ka. Because the accumulation of the section did not take more than about 1000 years, the average recurrence time of the high-magnitude (M �� 4.5�C5.0) earthquakes must have been maximally only 100�C150 years, possibly only 6�C7 years. The sediments at Rakuti must also have formed within approx. 1000 years (17�C16 ka), implying a recurrence time of high-magnitude earthquakes of maximally once per 100�C200 years.
Corresponding Authors:
E-mail address: geocom.vanloon@gmail.com (A.J. van Loon).
Cite this article:
. Seismites resulting from high-frequency, high-magnitude earthquakes in Latvia caused by Late Glacial glacio-isostatic uplift[J]. Journal of Palaeogeography, 2016, 5(4): 363-380.
. Seismites resulting from high-frequency, high-magnitude earthquakes in Latvia caused by Late Glacial glacio-isostatic uplift[J]. Journal of Palaeogeography, 2016, 5(4): 363-380.
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