In the deep part of the Sea of Marmara (Turkey), the sedimentation developing upon the North Anatolian Fault is strongly influenced by the associated seismic activity, through gravity reworking (fluidized landslides) and tsunamis. Specific layers (homogenites + turbidites, HmTu), representing individual sedimentary events, have been characterized along three giant piston cores retrieved from the Çinarcik and Central (or Orta) basins. Pre-Holocene, nonmarine sediments, were analyzed, representing the last 12–17 kyr BP (before present). For a 2 kyr long interval, 11 events could be precisely correlated on both sides of the Central Basin's southwestern scarp. For each of them, based on the specific depositional process, the thickness difference between the two sites was considered as a direct estimation of the vertical component of a coeval coseismic offset. The homogenite (upper) component accounts for the major part of the thickness difference (ranging from 36 to 144 cm). These offsets were considered as likely representing dominantly vertical throws, along the transtensional southwestern boundary of the inner, pull-apart Central Basin. In terms of natural hazards, further investigations on this local behavior should rather be directed to tsunami genesis.

The Cariaco Basin and the Gulf of Cariaco in Venezuela are two major basins along the seismogenic El Pilar right lateral fault, among which the Cariaco Basin is a pull-apart. Both basins are sites of anoxia and organic-rich deposits. To examine whether the sediments in the Gulf of Cariaco have recorded traces of historical or prehistorical earthquakes, we extracted and analyzed twelve 1 m-long gravity cores, sampling the last millennium sedimentation. We focused on analyzing the sediment sources with different techniques (particle size analysis, XRF, loss on ignition tests, magnetic properties, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, ¹⁴ C dating). The results confirm that major upwelling occurs at the western gulf entrance and makes deep water flowing from the Cariaco Basin into the Gulf of Cariaco. These flows carry an organic-rich suspended load. Furthermore, we found evidence of a particular, widespread fine-grained siliciclastic deposit (named SiCL3) within the gulf, whose age suggests that it likely formed during the large 1853 AD earthquake that stroke the Cumaná city. We suggest that the earthquake-induced large submarine landslides that modified the topography of the gulf's entrance, which in turn promoted upwelling and open marine water flows from the Cariaco Basin. The layer SiCL3 would be the sediment load remobilized during this chain of events.

Potsherds from 7 Venezuelan islands have been studied using a two-fold magneto/dielectric technique in order to identify clay sources and characterize different stages of pottery craftsmanship. This is the first study of archeological material using this technique. Petrographic analyses appear to agree with the clusters of data identified in scatter plots of initial magnetic susceptibility versus saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM), and natural remanent magnetization (NRM). Thus, these magnetic parameters appear to be suitable for describing clay source characteristics. Effective magnetic grain sizes, investigated via stability analyses of SIRM and anystheretic remanent magnetization (ARM) upon alternating field (AF) demagnetization, and SIRM acquisition and AF demagnetization crossover plots, seem to be related to different steps of pottery craftsmanship, namely clay preparation, finishing and firing. Thermomagnetic curves might also provide valuable information about original firing conditions. A scatter plot of SIRMs intersections versus maximum current depolarization temperatures and average activation energies, shows a coarse correlation due perhaps to the fact that these rock magnetic and dielectric data are both associated to pore-related features.