Paleotsunami evidence on Kaua‘i and numerical modeling of a great Aleutian tsunami

Butler, Rhett; Burney, David A.; Walsh, David

doi:10.1002/2014gl061232

Cited by 27 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…1A;Nishenko and Jacob, 1990;Vallier et al, 1994;Carver and Plafker, 2008;Ryan et al, 2012b;Ruppert et al, 2013;Butler et al, 2014;Shennan et al, 2014b). That the Aleutian arc is capable of sending damaging tsunamis across the Pacific basin is illustrated by those produced by the series of mid-twentieth century M 8-9 ruptures in the central and eastern Aleutian arc, in 1946, 1957, 1964, and 1965(Butler, 2012Ross et …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunami recurrence in the eastern Alaska-Aleutian arc: A Holocene stratigraphic record from Chirikof Island, Alaska

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite the role of the Alaska-Aleutian megathrust as the source of some of the largest earthquakes and tsunamis, the history of its pre-twentieth century tsunamis is largely unknown west of the rupture zone of the great (magnitude, M 9.2) 1964 earthquake. Stratigraphy in core transects at two boggy lowland sites on Chirikof Island's southwest coast preserves tsunami deposits dating from the postglacial to the twentieth century. In a 500-m-long basin 13-15 m above sea level and 400 m from the sea, 4 of 10 sandy to silty beds in a 3-5-m-thick sequence of freshwater peat were probably deposited by tsunamis. The freshwater peat sequence beneath a gently sloping alluvial fan 2 km to the east, 5-15 m above sea level and 550 m from the sea, contains 20 sandy to silty beds deposited since 3.5 ka; at least 13 were probably deposited by tsunamis. Although most of the sandy beds have consistent thicknesses (over distances of 10-265 m), sharp lower contacts, good sorting, and/or upward fining typical of tsunami deposits, the beds contain abundant freshwater diatoms, very few brackish-water diatoms, and no marine diatoms. Apparently, tsunamis traveling inland over low dunes and boggy lowland entrained largely freshwater diatoms. Abundant fragmented diatoms, and lake species in some sandy beds not found in host peat, were probably transported by tsunamis to elevations of >10 m at the eastern site. Single-aliquot regeneration optically stimulated luminescence dating of the third youngest bed is consistent with its having been deposited by the tsunami recorded at Russian hunting outposts in 1788, and with the second youngest bed being deposited by a tsunami during an upper plate earthquake in 1880. We infer from stratigraphy, 14 C-dated peat deposition rates, and unpublished analyses of the island's history that the 1938 tsunami may locally have reached an elevation of >10 m. As this is the first record of Aleutian tsunamis extending throughout the Holocene, we cannot estimate source earthquake locations or magnitudes for most tsunami-deposited beds. We infer that no more than 3 of the 23 possible tsunamis beds at both sites were deposited following upper plate faulting or submarine landslides independent of megathrust earthquakes. If so, the Semidi segment of the Alaska-Aleutian megathrust near Chirikof Island probably sent high tsunamis southward every 180-270 yr for at least the past 3500 yr.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunami recurrence in the eastern Alaska-Aleutian arc: A Holocene stratigraphic record from Chirikof Island, Alaska

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In parallel with this study, Butler et al (2014) analyzed and dated the paleotsunami site in the Makauwahi sinkhole on the southeastern coast of Kaua'i between Po'ipu and Nawiliwili harbor (orange star in Fig. 3), positing evidence for a great tsunami there in the sixteenth century.…”

Section: Tsunami Inundations For the Earthquake Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Results indicate that an Eastern Aleutian earthquake of Mw 9.25 or greater is necessary to inundate the site. See Butler et al (2014) for details and further discussion.…”

Section: Tsunami Inundations For the Earthquake Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme tsunami inundation in Hawai‘i from Aleutian–Alaska subduction zone earthquakes

Butler

Walsh²,

Richards

2016

Nat Hazards

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami motivated an analysis of the potential for great tsunamis in Hawai'i that significantly exceed the historical record. The largest potential tsunamis that may impact the state from distant, Mw 9 earthquakes-as forecast by two independent tsunami models-originate in the Eastern Aleutian Islands. This analysis is the basis for creating an extreme tsunami evacuation zone, updating prior zones based only on historical tsunami inundation. We first validate the methodology by corroborating that the largest historical tsunami in 1946 is consistent with the seismologically determined earthquake source and observed historical tsunami amplitudes in Hawai'i. Using prior source characteristics of Mw 9 earthquakes (fault area, slip, and distribution), we analyze parametrically the range of Aleutian-Alaska earthquake sources that produce the most extreme tsunami events in Hawai'i. Key findings include: (1) An Mw 8.6 ± 0.1 1946 Aleutian earthquake source fits Hawai'i tsunami run-up/inundation observations, (2) for the 40 scenarios considered here, maximal tsunami inundations everywhere in the Hawaiian Islands cannot be generated by a single large earthquake, (3) depending on location, the largest inundations may occur for either earthquakes with the largest slip at the trench, or those with broad faulting over an extended area, (4) these extremes are shown to correlate with the frequency content (wavelength) of the tsunami, (5) highly variable slip along the fault strike has only a minor influence on inundation at these teletsunami distances, and (6) for a given maximum average fault slip, increasing the fault area does not generally produce greater run-up, as the additional wave energy enhances longer wavelengths, with a modest effect on inundation.

show abstract

“…Butler et al . () inferred that a tsunami had overtopped the sinkhole wall at its lowest point (7·2 m above sea level). Numerical tsunami modelling by these authors demonstrated that a Mw ca 9·25 earthquake centred in the eastern Aleutians would have been required to generate a tsunami large enough to overtop the sinkhole rim and create the deposit.…”

Section: Sedimentary Evidence Of Historical and Prehistoric Distant‐smentioning

confidence: 97%

“…However, a M w 9·25 or larger eastern Aleutian earthquake, as proposed by Butler et al . (), would presumably result in much larger runups that would be capable of inundating far into the valley interior.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 97%

Sedimentary evidence of prehistoric distant‐source tsunamis in the Hawaiian Islands

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the past 200 years of written records, the Hawaiian Islands have experienced tens of tsunamis generated by earthquakes in the subduction zones of the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ (for example, Alaska–Aleutian, Kuril–Kamchatka, Chile and Japan). Mapping and dating anomalous beds of sand and silt deposited by tsunamis in low‐lying areas along Pacific coasts, even those distant from subduction zones, is critical for assessing tsunami hazard throughout the Pacific basin. This study searched for evidence of tsunami inundation using stratigraphic and sedimentological analyses of potential tsunami deposits beneath present and former Hawaiian wetlands, coastal lagoons, and river floodplains. Coastal wetland sites on the islands of Hawai΄i, Maui, O΄ahu and Kaua΄i were selected based on historical tsunami runup, numerical inundation modelling, proximity to sandy source sediments, degree of historical wetland disturbance, and breadth of prior geological and archaeological investigations. Sand beds containing marine calcareous sediment within peaty and/or muddy wetland deposits on the north and north‐eastern shores of Kaua΄i, O΄ahu and Hawai΄i were interpreted as tsunami deposits. At some sites, deposits of the 1946 and 1957 Aleutian tsunamis are analogues for deeper, older probable tsunami deposits. Radiocarbon‐based age models date sand beds from three sites to ca 700 to 500 cal yr bp, which overlaps ages for tsunami deposits in the eastern Aleutian Islands that record a local subduction zone earthquake. The overlapping modelled ages for tsunami deposits at the study sites support a plausible correlation with an eastern Aleutian earthquake source for a large prehistoric tsunami in the Hawaiian Islands.

show abstract

Paleotsunami evidence on Kaua‘i and numerical modeling of a great Aleutian tsunami

Cited by 27 publications

References 14 publications

Tsunami recurrence in the eastern Alaska-Aleutian arc: A Holocene stratigraphic record from Chirikof Island, Alaska

Tsunami recurrence in the eastern Alaska-Aleutian arc: A Holocene stratigraphic record from Chirikof Island, Alaska

Extreme tsunami inundation in Hawai‘i from Aleutian–Alaska subduction zone earthquakes

Sedimentary evidence of prehistoric distant‐source tsunamis in the Hawaiian Islands

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About