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This
page is dedicated to share with you some information about my
professional activity. I am a geologist. I work as a
researcher-lecturer and Gamma Lab manager at the Institute of Geology,
Adam
Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. I am interested mainly in modern geological processes, in particular those which pose a threat to people. On this webpage I present some information about the work I am involved in. So, you may find some published results, information about my projects, laboratories and teaching materials for students. I hope that You will find something interesting here. Enjoy! |
| CONTACT dr Witold Szczuciński Institute of Geology Adam Mickiewicz University ul. Maków Polnych 16 61-606 Poznań, Poland Tel.: +48 618296025 @ and www see my CV |
Best wishes, Witek |
02.09.2011
The
results of 5 years monitoring of tsunami deposits left by the 2004
Indian Ocean
Tsunami were recently published as open access paper in Natural Hazards
journal
see: http://www.springerlink.com/content/h2kp22825gv80051/
The
preservation potential and the post-depositional changes of the onshore
tsunami
deposits in the coastal plain setting, under conditions of a tropical
climate
with high seasonal rainfall, were assessed by reinvestigating trenches
located
along 13 shore-perpendicular transects; the trenches were documented
shortly
after the tsunami and after 1, 2, 3 and 4 years. The tsunami deposits
were
found preserved after 4 years at only half of the studied sites. In
about 30%
of the sites, the tsunami deposits were not preserved due to human
activity; in
a further 20% of the sites, the thin tsunami deposits were eroded or
not
recognised due to new soil formation.
The
most significant changes took place during the first rainy season (see
figure)
when the relief of the tsunami deposits was levelled; moderate sediment
redeposition took place, and fine surface sediments were washed away,
which
frequently left a residual layer of coarse sand and gravel. The fast
recovery
of new plant cover stabilised the tsunami deposits and protected them
against
further remobilisation during the subsequent years.
After
five rainy seasons, tsunami deposits with a thickness of at least a few
centimetres were relatively well preserved; however, their internal
structures
were often significantly blurred by roots and animal bioturbation. A
comparison
between the first post-tsunami survey and the preserved record suggests
that
tsunamis with a run-up smaller than three metres are not likely to be
preserved; for larger tsunamis, only about 50% of their inundation area
is
likely to be presented by the preserved extent of the tsunami deposits.
Fig.
Schematic presentation of the post-depositional history
of the 2004 tsunami deposits on a coastal plain in Thailand. Visual
presentation is supplemented with the associated main processes that
are listed
to the right. The thickness of particular layers is not to scale.
The first results of UNESCO International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST) work in areas hit by 11th March 2011 tsunami in Japan are already available!
