Ruth Durán

The BIG’95 Submarine Landslide–Generated Tsunami: A Numerical Simulation

This article presents a reasonable present-day, sea-level highstand numerical simulation and scenario for a potential tsunami generated by a landslide with the characteristics of the BIG’95 debris flow, which occurred on the Ebro margin in the western Mediterranean Sea in prehistoric times (11,500 cal yr BP). The submarine landslide deposit covers an area of 2200 km2 of the slope and base of slope (200–1800-m water depth), involving a volume of 26 km3. A leapfrog finite difference model, COMCOT (Cornell multigrid coupled tsunami model), is used to simulate the propagation of the debris-flow-generated tsunami and its associated impact on the nearby Balearic Islands and Iberian coastlines. As a requisite of the model, reconstruction of the bathymetry before the landslide occurrence and seafloor variation during landsliding have been developed based on the conceptual and numerical model of Lastras et al. (2005). We have also taken into account all available multibeam bathymetry of the area and high-resolution seismic profiles of the debris flow deposit. The results of the numerical simulation are displayed using plots of snapshots at consecutive times, marigrams of synthetic stations, maximum amplitude plots, and spectral analyses. The obtained outputs show that the nearest shoreline, the Iberian coast, would not be the first one hit by the tsunami. The eastward, outgoing wave would arrive at Eivissa Island 18 min after the triggering of the slide and at Mallorca Island 9 min later, whereas the westward-spreading wave would hit the Iberian Peninsula 54 min after the slide was triggered. This noticeable delay in the arrival times at the peninsula is produced by the asymmetric bathymetry of the Catalano-Balearic Sea and the shoaling effect due to the presence of the wide Ebro continental shelf, which in addition significantly amplifies the tsunami wave (>9 m). The wave amplitudes attain 8 m in Eivissa, and waves up to 3 m high would arrive to Palma Bay. Resonance effects produced in the narrow Santa Ponça Bay in Mallorca Island could produce waves up to 9 m high. A similar event occurring today would have catastrophic consequences, especially in summer when human use of these tourist coasts increases significantly.

MIOEPITELIOMA EN GLÁNDULAS SALIVARES

Resumen Los mioepiteliomas son tumores poco frecuentes (menos del 1% de la patologia tumoral) y se localizan principalmente en parotida y glandulas salivares menores del paladar. Describimos las caracteristicas histologicas e inmunohistoquimicas de este tipo de tumores a proposito de 2 casos intervenidos en nuestro Servicio de ORL.

SAND RIDGES IN THE MID-OUTER SHELF AS POTENTIAL SAND BORROWS AREAS (NW MEDITERRANEAN)

The Coastal Sediments ’15 conference, Understanding and Working with Nature, 11-15 May 2015, San Diego, California.-- 13 pages, 6 figures

Cold-Water coral distribution in an erosional environment: The strait of Gibraltar gateway

Publisher Summary The sill of the Strait of Gibraltar is the morphological, oceanographical, and ecological gateway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea for the post-Messinian crisis period. The seabed is composed of synorogenic Betic-Rif clayey flysch overlaid by Pliocene and/or Quaternary calcareous conglomerates and coral accumulations, as well as current transported sand and mud in the deepest parts. The Strait of Gibraltar is one of the busiest maritime zones in the world and is thus affected by invasive species, but the benthic community is poorly studied. Furthermore, the study zone is affected by benthic trawl fisheries on the shelf and near-shelf areas and by the laying of submarine cables. Overall, the naturalness of the study area is considered to be largely unmodified. Based on the Benthic Terrain model scheme, a morphological classification has been made of the bathymetric MBES data, indicating several morphological habitats in the area that can cause fragmentation in the main ecosystem. This classification is based on the rugosity, slope, curvature, depth, bathymetric positioning index (BPI) with annulus neighborhood of 1,125, 300, 120, and 60 m, and the range of standard deviation of the depth over a distance of 45 m based on a bathymetric grid of 15 m. The predicted textural distribution map is based on the rugosity, slope, and objectively classified morphological zones identified in combination with textural information of the sampled stations used in a maximum-likelihood statistic algorithm provided by ArcGIS. Coral distribution is based on grab samples and the layers of the derived morphological grids.

Cold-Water Coral Colonization of Alboran Sea Knolls, Western Mediterranean Sea

Publisher Summary The Alboran Sea is the westernmost basin of the Mediterranean Sea and represents a basin 350 km long and 150 km wide, with water depths between 0 and 2,000 m. The Alboran Sea is characterized by highly dynamic and variable water masses that make it one of the most productive areas in the oligotrophic Mediterranean Sea. Hydrodynamic features occur across all time and length scales, such as tidal motion, strong baroclinic jets, large-scale gyres, mesoscale eddies, upwelling regions, and frontal zones, all with important implications on the dynamics of plankton and benthic ecosystems [3]. The strong surface inflow of Atlantic water through the Strait of Gibraltar, known as the Atlantic Jet, maintains two semipermanent anticyclonic gyres consisting of a mixture of different proportions of Mediterranean and Atlantic waters that change in sympathy with tidal cycles. The knolls in the Alboran Sea are affected by benthic trawl fisheries, evidenced by trawl marks and lost fishing gear observed in the study area. Overall, the naturalness of the study area is considered to be modified. The topography of the Alboran Basin seafloor is characterized by pinnacles, knolls, banks, ridges, and troughs as a direct expression of the Pliocene-Quaternary compressive tectonic regime. Colonization in the past and present does not correspond to any particular side of the knoll flanks; hence, it appears there is no eznhanced source of nutrients nor any increased pressure related to sedimentation from any particular direction in the study area. Upscaling from detailed habitat maps of knolls to basin-wide predictive habitat maps reveals various potential CWC habitats that are not yet surveyed and might lead to new discoveries of relict and living CWC ecosystems in the basin.

Histiocitosis de células de Langerhans en O.R.L.

Resumen La histiocitosis de celulas de Langerhans (HCL) es una enfermedad poco frecuente caracterizada por el acumulo de histiocitos anomalos, junto con linfocitos y eosinofilos en diferentes organos y tejidos. La presentacion inicial en cabeza y cuello es relativamente frecuente. Presentamos dos casos de HCL con sintomas otorrinolaringologicos. Se discuten aspectos relacionados con el diagnostico, evaluacion y tratamiento. Abstract Langerhans’s cell histiocytosis (LCH) is an uncommon disease characterized by an accumulation of abnormal histiocytes, together lymphocytes and eosinophils in various organs and tissues. The head and neck are frecuent sites of initial presentation. We present two cases of LCH with otorhinolaryngologic symptoms. Current recommendations for diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of LCH are also discussed.