@article {Papadopoulos2014, title = {{Historical and pre-historical tsunamis in the Mediterranean and its connected seas: Geological signatures, generation mechanisms and coastal impacts}}, journal = {Marine Geology}, volume = {354}, year = {2014}, pages = {81{\textendash}109}, publisher = {Elsevier}, abstract = {The origin of tsunamis in the Mediterranean region and its connected seas, including the Marmara Sea, the Black Sea and the SW Iberian Margin in the NE Atlantic Ocean, is reviewed within the geological and seismotectonic settings of the region. A variety of historical documentary sources combined with evidence from onshore and offshore geological signatures, geomorphological imprints, observations from selected coastal archeological sites, as well as instrumental records, eyewitnesses accounts and pictorial material, clearly indicate that tsunami sources both seismic and non-seismic (e.g. volcanism, landslides) can be found in all the seas of the region with a variable tsunamigenic potential. Local, regional and basin-wide tsunamis have been documented. An improved map of 22 main tsunamigenic zones and their relative potential for tsunami generation is presented. From west to east, the most important tsunamigenic zones are situated offshore SW Iberia, in the North Algerian margin, in the Tyrrhenian Calabria and Messina Straits, in the western and eastern segments of the Hellenic Arc, in the Corinth Gulf of Central Greece, in the Levantine Sea offshore the Dead Sea Transform Fault and in the eastern side of the Marmara Sea. Important historical examples, including destructive tsunamis associated with large earthquakes, are presented. The mean recurrence of strong tsunamis in the several basins varies greatly but the highest event frequency (1/96. years) is observed in the east Mediterranean basin. For most of the historical events it is still unclear which was the causative seismic source and if the tsunami was caused by co-seismic slip, by earthquake-triggered submarine landslides or by a combination of both mechanisms. In pre-historical times, submarine volcanic eruptions (i.e. caldera collapse, massive pyroclastic flows, volcanogenic landslides) and large submarine landslides caused important tsunamis although little is known about their source mechanisms. We conclude that further investigation of the tsunami generation mechanisms is of primary importance in the Mediterranean region. Inputs from tsunami numerical modeling as well as from empirical discrimination criteria for characterizing tsunami sources have been proved particularly effective for recent, well-documented, aseismic landslide tsunamis (e.g., 1963 Corinth Gulf, 1979 C{\^O}te d{\textquoteright}Azur, 1999 Izmit Bay, 2002 Stromboli volcano). Since the tsunami generation mechanisms are controlled by a variety of factors, and given that the knowledge of past tsunami activity is the cornerstone for undertaking tsunami risk mitigation action, future interdisciplinary research efforts on past tsunamis are needed. {\textcopyright} 2014 Elsevier B.V.}, keywords = {Geological signatures, Historical tsunamis, Mediterranean region, Tsunami impact, Tsunami mechanisms}, issn = {00253227}, doi = {10.1016/j.margeo.2014.04.014}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84901663041\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Papadopoulos, Gerassimos A. and Gr{\'a}cia, Eul{\`a}lia and Urgeles, Roger and Sallares, Valenti and De Martini, Paolo Marco and Pantosti, Daniela and Gonz{\'a}lez, Mauricio and Yalciner, Ahmet C. and Mascle, Jean and Sakellariou, Dimitris and Salamon, Amos and Tinti, Stefano and Karastathis, Vassilis and Fokaefs, Anna and Camerlenghi, Angelo and Novikova, Tatyana and Papageorgiou, Antonia} } @article {Cameselle2014, title = {{Late Miocene sedimentary architecture of the Ebro Continental Margin (Western Mediterranean): implications to the Messinian Salinity Crisis}}, journal = {International Journal of Earth Sciences}, volume = {103}, number = {2}, year = {2014}, pages = {423{\textendash}440}, keywords = {Ebro, Erosion, Mediterranean, Messinian, Miocene, Sea level}, issn = {1437-3254}, doi = {10.1007/s00531-013-0966-5}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00531-013-0966-5}, author = {Cameselle, Alejandra L and Urgeles, R and De Mol, B and Camerlenghi, Angelo and Canning, Jason C} } @article {Cameselle2013, title = {{Late Miocene sedimentary architecture of the Ebro Continental Margin (Western Mediterranean): implications to the Messinian Salinity Crisis}}, journal = {International Journal of Earth Sciences}, volume = {103}, number = {2}, year = {2013}, month = {nov}, pages = {423{\textendash}440}, abstract = {The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) resulted from a significant multi-phase drop and subsequent reflooding of the Mediterranean Sea from 5.96 to 5.33 Ma. Well-developed drainage networks, characterized by step-like profiles and abrasion platforms, are associated to this event. The Ebro Continental Margin (Western Mediterranean) presents an additional complexity since the capture of the drainage of the adjacent subaerial Ebro Basin took place sometime prior to the Messinian stage. Using 3D seismic reflection data, this work provides new insights into the origin of the step-like profile of the Messinian erosional surface (MES) and timing of the capture of the subaerial Ebro Basin. The results obtained indicate a sedimentary-active continental slope and delta progradation during Middle-Late Miocene, in a normal regressive context associated to a pre-Messinian proto-Ebro River. The mature development attained by the Messinian Ebro River network during the MSC corroborates that the capture of the Ebro Basin occurred prior to the MSC. The configuration of the clinoforms below the MES suggests that deltaic sediments of the Messinian Paleo-Ebro River deposited during the Tortonian and initial Messinian sea-level drawdown. The MES formed at the top of the Tortonian Highstand, where a fluvial network was deeply carved, and in the topset region of the Messinian Falling Stage Systems Tract, where minor erosion occurred. Fluvial deposits are outstandingly preserved on the main valleys of the MES. Therefore, the step-like profile of the MES was not created during Zanclean inundation, but during the latest stages of the main Messinian sea-level fall and lowstand. {\textcopyright} 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.}, keywords = {Ebro, Erosion, Mediterranean, Messinian, Miocene, Sea level}, issn = {1437-3254}, doi = {10.1007/s00531-013-0966-5}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84894260158\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Cameselle, Alejandra L. and Urgeles, Roger and De Mol, Ben and Camerlenghi, Angelo and Canning, Jason C.} } @booklet {Volpi2013, title = {{Late Neogene to Recent seafloor instability on the deep Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula}}, year = {2013}, month = {mar}, publisher = {SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology)}, abstract = {17 pages, 12 figures, 1 table}, keywords = {Antarctic Peninsula, contourite sedimentation, Pacific margin, Slope instability}, isbn = {isbn: 978-1-56576-287-9}, url = {http://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/72631}, author = {Volpi, Valentina and Amblas, David and Camerlenghi, Angelo and Canals, Miquel and Rebesco, M. and Urgeles, Roger} } @article {Urgeles2013, title = {{Submarine landslides of the Mediterranean Sea: Trigger mechanisms, dynamics, and frequency-magnitude distribution}}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface}, volume = {118}, number = {4}, year = {2013}, month = {dec}, pages = {2600{\textendash}2618}, publisher = {Blackwell Publishing Ltd}, abstract = {Submarine landslides are ubiquitous along Mediterranean continental margins. With the aim of understanding mass-wasting processes and related hazard at the scale of a large marine basin encompassing multiple geological settings, we have compiled data on their geometry, age, and trigger mechanism with a geographic information system. The distribution of submarine landslides in the Mediterranean reveals that major deltaic wedges have a higher density of large submarine landslides, while tectonically active margins are characterized by relatively small failures. In all areas, landslide size distributions display power law scaling for landslides > 1 km3. We find consistent differences on the exponent of the power law (${\th}eta$) depending on the tectonic setting. Available age information suggests that failures exceeding 1000 km3 are infrequent and may recur every \~{}40 kyr. Smaller failures that can still cause significant damage might be relatively frequent (failures > 1 km3 may recur every 40 years). The database highlights that our knowledge of submarine landslide activity with time is limited to a few tens of thousands of years. Available data suggest that submarine landslides may preferentially occur during lowstand periods, but no firm conclusion can be made on this respect, as only 70 landslides (out of 696 in the database) have relatively accurate age determinations. The temporal pattern and changes in frequency-magnitude distribution suggest that sedimentation patterns and pore pressure development have had a major role in triggering slope failures and control the sediment flux from mass wasting to the deep basin. Key Points Comprehensive catalog of submarine landslides in the Mediterranean Sea Geologic setting controls flux of sediment from submarine landslides Consolidation and fluid flow largely control submarine landslide initiation {\textcopyright}2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.}, keywords = {frequency-magnitude, GIS, Mediterranean Sea, Submarine landslides, trigger mechanisms}, issn = {21699003}, doi = {10.1002/2013JF002720}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84892999015\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Urgeles, Roger and Camerlenghi, Angelo} } @inbook {Rebesco2012, title = {{One million years of climatic generated landslide events on the northwestern Barents Sea continental margin.}}, booktitle = {Submarine Mass Movement and Their Consequences, Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research}, year = {2012}, pages = {747{\textendash}756}, publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, organization = {Springer Netherlands}, address = {Dordrecht}, abstract = {Relatively recent, shallow landslides are imaged both on swath bathymetry, sub-bottom and multichannel seismic reflection (MCS) data from the upper-middle continental slope on the Storfjorden and Kveithola Trough Mouth Fans, NW Barents Sea margin. Giant paleo-landslide deposits, detected only by MCS profiles, are characterized by chaotic acoustic units up to about 250 m thick on the lower continental slope. The thickest, oldest landslide, dated between 1 and 0.8 Ma, took place just after the large-scale intensification of glaciation in the Barents Sea. The apparent spatial coincidence of landslides and channels with the boundary between the two fan systems, that are generated due to huge quantities of sediments transported to the continental slope by paleo-ice streams, suggests a common controlling climatic process for their development. Most probably the slides are related to the abundance of basal meltwater beneath the ice sheet, which in addition to determining ice stream motion and lubrication also influences the behavior of mass wasting processes. {\textcopyright} Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012.}, keywords = {Continental slope, NW barents sea margin, Sealloor morphology, Seismic reflection, Submarine landslide}, isbn = {978-94-007-2161-6}, doi = {10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84904105361\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Rebesco, Michele and Pedrosa, Maria T. and Camerlenghi, Angelo and Lucchi, Renata G. and Sauli, Chiara and De Mol, Ben and Madrussani, Gianni and Urgeles, Roger and Rossi, Giuliana and B{\"o}hm, Gualtiero}, editor = {Yamada, Yasuhiro and Kawamura, Kiichiro and Ikehara, Ken and Ogawa, Yujiro and Urgeles, Roger and Mosher, David and Chaytor, Jason and Strasser, Michael} } @inbook {Lucchi2012, title = {{Recent submarine landslides on the continental slope of Storfjorden and Kveithola Trough-Mouth Fans (north west Barents Sea)}}, booktitle = {Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, 34, Springer, Dordrecht (The Netherlands)}, year = {2012}, pages = {735{\textendash}745}, publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, organization = {Springer Netherlands}, address = {Dordrecht}, abstract = {Up to 12 submarine landslides retain a morphological evidence as concave amphitheater-like depressions of various sizes on the middle and upper slope of the Storfjorden and Kveithola Trough-Mouth Fans (TMFs), NW Barents Sea. The largest of them show lateral scarps 35-40 m high that reach the continental shelf edge and cover an area of at least 1,120 km2. Submarine landslides are translational, with headwall and laterals scarps clearly cut into Last Glacial Maximum debris flows deposits. The largest landslides seem to be rooted at the base of a terrigenous/hemipelagic sedimentary unit inferred to be of Middle Weichselian age (Marine Isotopic Stage 3). Stratigraphic, lithological and geotechnical observations suggest that the rapid deposition of a thick sequence of fine-grained, high water content interlaminate plumites is the most important controlling factors in the generation of submarine landslides on the southern Storfjorden and Kveithola TMFs. {\textcopyright} Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012.}, keywords = {Barents Sea, Debris flow, Ice stream, Kveithola, Storfjorden, Submarine landslide, Trough-mouth fans}, isbn = {978-94-007-2161-6}, doi = {10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84904104155\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Lucchi, Renata G. and Pedrosa, Maria T. and Camerlenghi, Angelo and Urgeles, Roger and De Mol, Ben and Rebesco, Michele}, editor = {Yamada, Yasuhiro and Kawamura, Kiichiro and Ikehara, Ken and Ogawa, Yujiro and Urgeles, Roger and Mosher, David and Chaytor, Jason and Strasser, Michael} } @article {Urgeles2011a, title = {{New constraints on the Messinian sealevel drawdown from 3D seismic data of the Ebro Margin, western Mediterranean}}, journal = {Basin Research}, volume = {23}, number = {2}, year = {2011}, month = {apr}, pages = {123{\textendash}145}, abstract = {We present new 3D seismic and well data from the Ebro Margin, NW Mediterranean Sea, to shed new light on the processes that formed the Messinian Erosion Surfaces (MES) of the Valencia Trough (Mediterranean Sea). We combine these data with backstripping techniques to provide a minimum estimate of the Messinian sea level fall in the EBRO Margin, as well as coupled isostasy and river incision and transport modeling to offer new constraints on the evolution of the adjacent subaerial Ebro Basin. Four major seismic units are identified on the Cenozoic Ebro Margin, based on the seismic data, including two major prograding megasequences that are separated by a major unconfirmity: the MES. The 3D seismic data provide an unprecedented view of the MES and display characteristic features of subaerial incision, including a drainage network with tributaries of at least five different orders, terraces and meandering rivers. The Messinian landscape presents a characteristic stepped-like profile that allows the margin to be subdivided in three different regions roughly parallel to the coastline. No major tectonic control exists on the boundaries between these regions. The boundary between the two most distal regions marks the location of a relatively stable base level, and this is used in backstripping analysis to estimate the magnitude of sea level drop associated with the Messinian Salinity Crisis on the Ebro Margin. The MES on the Ebro Margin is dominated by a major fluvial system, that we identify here as the Messinian Ebro River. The 3D seismic data, onshore geology and modeling results indicate that the Ebro River drained the Ebro Basin well in advance of the Messinian. {\textcopyright} 2010 The Authors. Basin Research {\textcopyright} 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, European Association of Geoscientists \& Engineers and International Association of Sedimentologists.}, issn = {0950091X}, doi = {10.1111/j.1365-2117.2010.00477.x}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79952079451\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Urgeles, Roger and Camerlenghi, Angelo and Garcia-Castellanos, Daniel and De Mol, Ben and Garc{\'e}s, Miquel and Verg{\'e}s, Jaume and Haslam, Ian and Hardman, Martin} } @conference {Urgeles2007, title = {{Scientific Ocean Drilling Behind the Assessment of Geo-hazards from Submarine Slides}}, booktitle = {Eos}, volume = {88}, number = {17}, year = {2007}, pages = {192}, issn = {00963941}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-34249827905\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Urgeles, Roger and Camerlenghi, Angelo and Ercilla, Gemma and Anselmetti, Flavio and Br{\"u}ckmann, Warner and Canals, Miquel and Gr{\'a}cia, Eul{\`a}lia and Locat, Jacques and Krastel, Sebastian and Solheim, Anders} }