Paleoseismology
Paleoseismology refers to a sub-area of tectonics and geodynamics that studies the activity of geologically young faults in the Holocene and Pleistocene : Depending on the energy released by them, earthquakes cause offsets of different sizes, which can be geologically transmitted and their geological evidence (e.g. .-filled column, event locations in sedimentary sequences) optionally by means of geochronological methods dated can be.
In this way, in addition to historical records and current seismological monitoring, the long-term displacement rate and the earthquake characteristics of a fault can be documented over a sufficiently long period of time to make predictions about the probable recurrence interval of large earthquakes and / or the expected strength of large earthquakes. Paleoseismological analyzes are part of the risk assessment. B. be taken out by insurance companies in relation to seismic risks.
literature
- R. Weldon, K. Scharer, T. Fumal, G. Biasi: Wrightwood and the earthquake cycle: What a long recurrence record tells us about how faults work. In: GSA Today. 14 (9), 2004, pp. 4-10.
- DW Burbank, RS Anderson: Tectonic Geomorphology. Blackwell Science, Malden 2001, 274 pp., ISBN 0-632-04386-5 .
- JP McCalpin: Paleoseismology. (2nd Edition), Academic Press, 2009, 629 pp., ISBN 0123735769 , ISBN 978-0123735768 .