The damage done by these marine disasters is often much higher than predicted by classical risk analyses and reaches new dimensions, especially in densely populated coastal areas, as shown by the Tohoku earthquake in Japan in March 2011.
The public lecture series, organized by the Cluster of Excellence “The Future Ocean” discusses current research issues that cover the origin and the global consequences of natural hazards from the ocean, as well as possible adaptation strategies for the affected coastal states. Topics of the lectures are earthquakes at submarine plate boundaries, historical storm floods, volcanic eruptions and super storms. The focus lies not solely on the Tohoku-Oki earthquake in Japan, but also the threat to the Canary Islands through slope failures and to Venice, the lagoon city, through sea level rise. Internationally renowned scientists such as Professor Mojib Latif (GEOMAR), Professor Jochen Zschau (German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ) and Dr. Anselm Smolka (Munich Re) will be part of the lecture series.
The opening lecture on April 18th 2013 will be given by Heidrun Kopp, Professor for marine geodesy at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, on “Strong Submarine Quakes: possible anywhere, anytime?”. In her lecture Heidrun Kopp will present the different plate boundaries and her research on the inner “life” of the subduction zones in the ocean.
The series will also introduce the Future Ocean semester topic “Dangerous Ocean”. In the summer term 2013, researchers from the areas of geosciences, economics and law along with coastline engineers will examine threats from the ocean including the effects on the coasts and the resulting social consequences.
Key points in brief
Time: Thursdays from April 18th until June 20th (except May 9th) at 6 pm.
Place: Kiel University, Audimax, Lecture Hall A, 24118 Kiel
Registration is not necessary. The event is barrier free.
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