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The tsunami deposits left by the 26 December 2004 tsunami in the coastal zone of Thailand were studied within two months of the event and before any significant postdepositional changes could occur. The sediment structure and texture (grain size), as well as its thickness and spatial distribution, were documented for the tsunami deposits in 12 shore-perpendicular transects from areas of various tsunami runup and wave heights. The tsunami deposits were as thick as 0.4 m and were located as far as 1.5 km inland. They were composed mostly of poorly sorted sand and often consisted of one to four normally graded, massive or laminated layers. The deposits generally became finer in the landward direction; however, landward thinning trend of the deposits is not clear, and the maximum accumulation often is not located close to the shoreline but rather is further inland. In comparable coastal environments with similar available sediment sources the tsunami size (represented as the tsunami runup height) is reflected in the resulting deposits. Larger tsunamis are associated with deposits that are thicker, have a maximum accumulation located farther inland, include a finer sediment fraction (likely from deeper offshore areas) and frequently are composed of normally graded layers.

The 2004 tsunami deposits and probable paleotsunami deposits were studied at the southern Kho Khao Island, on Andaman Sea coast of Thailand. The 2004 tsunami laid down about 8 cm of fining upward medium sand and locally about 40 cm of massive coarse sand with common mud clasts. The sediments were characterized by the presence of marine foraminiferal assemblage; however, already after 5 years many of carbonate foraminiferal tests were partly or completely dissolved. The probable paleotsunami deposits form layer about 1 m thick. It consists of massive very coarse sand with common big shells and mud clasts. Its composition suggests a marine origin and the presence of mud clasts, and similarity to the 2004 tsunami deposits suggests that the layer was left by paleotsunami, which took place probably during the late Holocene, even though two shells within the layer gave 14 C ages of 40,000 years or more.

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Climate change is currently causing droughts in many parts of Thailand, especially in Dan Chang District, Suphan Buri Province where many areas are outside irrigation coverage and deep groundwater explorations are less successful due to groundwater shortages. Therefore, there is a need to explore other shallow groundwater (i.e. less than 15 m deep) resources to relieve the drought problems in the communities. This work uses integrated studies of remote sensing, geology and geophysics to identify the location of a paleochannel that contains shallow groundwater resources in the Nong Makha Mong Subdistrict, Dan Chang District, Suphan Buri Province. Potential sites were selected using preliminary remote sensing analysis along with field surveys. A high-resolution topography map from aerial photos was generated and 2D resistivity imaging surveys were conducted at the selected sites to delineate the location of the paleochannel. The drilled wells prove the success of the integrated study to identify the shallow groundwater in the paleochannel at a depth of 3 to 15 m with a groundwater yield of 4 m3/h. The sediments from the borehole suggest that a combination of alluvial deposits and fluvial sediments. Due to the relative lower cost of drilling shallow wells, this work could be used as a pilot project for local communities to explore shallow groundwater aquifers in paleochannels in areas that face a severe drought crisis and have very little deep groundwater potential.