Nan'ao,  an archaeological site of Song dynasty destroyed by tsunami

Yang, Wenqing; Sun, Liguang; Yang, Zhongkang; Gao, Shu; Shao, Da; Mei, Yanjun; Zang, Jingjing; Wang, Yuhong; Xie, Zhouqing

doi:10.1360/n972018-00740

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…However, the chances of preserving tsunami deposits greatly decrease due to intense human activities, for example, land reclamation, urban development in coastlines of the mainland. So far, all the sites which have reported geological evidence of possible tsunamis in SCS are located in relatively remote islands (Qiu et al, ), including Dongdao Island (Sun et al, ), Yongshu Island (Yu et al, ), Badoc Island near Luzon (Ramos et al, ) and Nanao Island in southern Chinese coastline (Yang et al, ). Based on the combined information of numerical results, geological setting and the available geological studies, we would suggest that the islands located in the offshore area of southern China have the highest chance for such evidence being found.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunamigenic Potential of the Baiyun Slide Complex in the South China Sea

Shi

et al. 2019

JGR Solid Earth

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The Baiyun slide complex contains geological evidence for some of the largest landslide ever discovered in the continental slopes of the South China Sea. High‐resolution seismic data suggest that a variety of landslides with varied scales have occurred repeatedly in this area. The largest landslide reconstructed from bathymetric and seismic data has an estimated spatial coverage of ~5,500 km2 and a conservative volume of ~1,035 km3. Here, using geomorphological and geotechnical data, we construct a series of probable landslide scenarios and assess their tsunamigenic capacity. By treating the slides as deformable mudflows, we simulate the dynamics of landslide movements. The simulated landslide motions match the geophysical observations interpreted in previous studies. Particularly, we are able to reproduce the spatial distribution of observed runout, including the distance, shape, and deposit thickness, for the most credible slide scenario. We investigate tsunami impacts generated by different slide scenarios and highlight the importance of initial water depth, sliding direction, and nearshore bathymetry. The worst‐case scenario is capable of producing basin‐wide tsunami, with maximum wave amplitudes reaching ~5 m near Hong Kong and Macau, 1–3 m in western Philippines, and at least 1 m along central Vietnam, southeast Hainan, and southern Taiwan. The most noticeable phenomenon we observed is that the southern Chinese coast is the hardest‐hit region in all the simulated scenarios regardless of the diverse slide features. We conclude that the persistence of high tsunami impact is caused by the unique bathymetric feature of the wide continental shelf in front of southern China.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunamigenic Potential of the Baiyun Slide Complex in the South China Sea

Shi

et al. 2019

JGR Solid Earth

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“…Red barbed curves show the megathrusts in this region. Geological tsunami records are marked with red stars (Ramos et al, 2017;Sun et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2018;Yu et al, 2009). The megacities are labeled in the legend and the seafloor subducting features are highlighted in the map.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However geological evidence from purported tsunami deposits may provide evidence of tsunamis at four locations in SCS (i.e. Figure 1, Ramos et al 2017;Sun et al 2013;Yu et al 2009;Yang et al 2018). Some studies suggest that a giant tsunami event might have occurred ca.1000-1064 AD (Ramos et al, 2017;Tang et al, 2018).…”

Section: Proposed Slip Deficit Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the credibility levels of these records varies (Bautista et al, 2012;Lau et al, 2010;Paris et al, 2014) and the geological-based interpretation suffers from the challenges of distinguishing tsunami waves from extreme storm surges, a series of records stand out with similar range of event ages. Notably, four independent geological and geomorphological studies (Ramos et al, 2017;Sun et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2018;Yu et al, 2009) (Figure 1) have purported evidence from coastal deposits which they have inferred to be the result of large tsunami event in SCS around 1000 to 1064 A.D., which is of near coincidence with a historical large wave event recorded in Chaoan, Guangdong in November, 1076 A.D. (Lau et al, 2010). The four independent sites of geological evidence are located at Dongdao island (Sun et al 2013), Yongshu island (Yu et al, 2009), Badoc island near Luzon (Ramos et al, 2017) and Nanao island in southern Chinese coastline (Yang et al, 2018) (Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Notably, four independent geological and geomorphological studies (Ramos et al, 2017;Sun et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2018;Yu et al, 2009) (Figure 1) have purported evidence from coastal deposits which they have inferred to be the result of large tsunami event in SCS around 1000 to 1064 A.D., which is of near coincidence with a historical large wave event recorded in Chaoan, Guangdong in November, 1076 A.D. (Lau et al, 2010). The four independent sites of geological evidence are located at Dongdao island (Sun et al 2013), Yongshu island (Yu et al, 2009), Badoc island near Luzon (Ramos et al, 2017) and Nanao island in southern Chinese coastline (Yang et al, 2018) (Figure 1). Since these studies identified only one event and if it were indeed generated by one tsunami, then we can conclude that the event was likely to be basin-wide and could only have been triggered by a very large MSZ event.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Revised earthquake sources along Manila Trench for tsunami hazard assessment in the South China Sea

Qiu¹,

Li²,

Hsu³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Abstract. Seismogenic tsunami hazard assessments are highly dependent on the reliability of earthquake source models. Here in a study of the Manila subduction zone (MSZ) system, we combine the geological characteristics of the subducting plate, the geometry, and coupling state of the subduction interface to propose a series of fault rupture scenarios. We divide the subduction zone into three rupture segments: 14° N–16° N, 16° N–19° N and 19° N–21.7° N inferred from geological structures associated with the down-going Sunda plate. Each of these segments is capable of generating earthquakes of magnitude between Mw 8.5+ and Mw 9+, assuming a-1000-year seismic return period as suggested by previous studies. The most poorly constrained segment of the MSZ lies between 19° N–21.7° N, and here we use both local geological structures and characteristics of other subduction zone earthquakes around the world, to investigate the potential rupture characteristics of this segment. We consider multiple rupture modes for tsunamigenic-earthquake type and megathrust-splay fault earthquakes. These rupture models facilitate an improved understanding of the potential tsunami hazard in the South China Sea (SCS). Hydrodynamic simulations demonstrate that coastlines surrounded the SCS could be devastated by tsunami waves up to 10-m if large megathrust earthquakes occur in these segments. The regions most prone to these hazards include west Luzon of Philippines, southern Taiwan, the southeastern China, central Vietnam and the Palawan Island.

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Seabed erosion and deposition related to the typhoon activity of the past millennium on the southeast coast of China

Xiong

Zong

Huang

et al. 2020

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Catastrophic events often interrupt long‐term Earth surface processes. In coastal areas, although millennial‐scale trends of climatic and sea‐level changes determine the trajectory of sedimentary landform evolution, storm and/or tsunami activity can cause abrupt changes in depositional conditions that may alter the long‐term sedimentary processes. Here, we report a sedimentary hiatus that is widely observed from the late Holocene sedimentary sequence at the seabed along the southeast China coast. This hiatus was discovered by close temporal sedimentary and radiocarbon dating analyses of a seabed sedimentary sequence in the mouth area of the Pearl River estuary. The results suggest that a couple of metres in the middle to late Holocene sediment at the seabed were eroded by a catastrophic event happening c. 1000–800 cal. Years BP. In theory, a mega‐tsunami generated from the Manila Trench could have caused such erosion at the seabed, but there is a lack of direct geological and historical evidence to support such a hypothesis. Much more likely, a super‐typhoon struck the coast and caused the erosion. This hypothesis is strongly supported by the region's historical and geological records, which suggest a period characteristic of intense typhoons ranging from the Medieval Warm Period to the climate transition phase (c. 1000–600 cal. Years BP). During the subsequent Little Ice Age, deposition of sandy sediment continued, suggesting frequent but weaker typhoon activity. Over the past two centuries the deposition of sandy sediment and gravels began, implying the beginning of a phase of intensifying typhoon conditions, possibly a result of the recent warming climate. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Nan'ao, an archaeological site of Song dynasty destroyed by tsunami

Cited by 20 publications

References 38 publications

Tsunamigenic Potential of the Baiyun Slide Complex in the South China Sea

Tsunamigenic Potential of the Baiyun Slide Complex in the South China Sea

Revised earthquake sources along Manila Trench for tsunami hazard assessment in the South China Sea

Seabed erosion and deposition related to the typhoon activity of the past millennium on the southeast coast of China

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