Submarine Mass Failures as Tsunami Sources – their Climate Control

Tappin, D. R.

doi:10.1002/9781118482698.ch8

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 90 publications

(74 reference statements)

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“…Landslides are the second most important cause of tsunamis after earthquakes, but their potential to generate ocean‐wide catastrophic tsunamis is not well understood and limited to the study of a handful of well‐documented events [ Masson et al , ; Tappin , ; Harbitz et al , ]. The destruction of the Fukushima Daishi nuclear reactor [ Synolakis and Kanoglu , ] in 2011 sets their hazard toward critical facilities sharply into focus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Some giant submarine landslides do not produce large tsunamis

Løvholt

Bondevik

Laberg

et al. 2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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Landslides are the second most important cause of tsunamis after earthquakes, and their potential for generating large tsunamis depend on the slide process. Among the world's largest submarine landslides is the Storegga Slide that generated a large tsunami over an ocean‐wide scale, while no traces of a tsunami generated from the similar and nearby Trænadjupet Slide have been found. Previous models for such landslide tsunamis have not been able to capture the complexity of the landslide processes and are at odds with geotechnical and geomorphological data that reveal retrogressive landslide development. The tsunami generation from these massive events are here modeled with new methods that incorporate complex retrogressive slide motion. We show that the tsunamigenic strength is closely related to the retrogressive development and explain, for the first time, why similar giant landslides can produce very different tsunamis, sometimes smaller than anticipated. Because these slide mechanisms are common for submarine landslides, modeling procedures for dealing with their associated tsunamis should be revised.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Some giant submarine landslides do not produce large tsunamis

Løvholt

Bondevik

Laberg

et al. 2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…The Brunei Slide (Gee et al ., ), a giant submarine landslide off the northwest Borneo coast, does offer a possible non‐earthquake source for tsunamis in the South China Sea (Terry et al ., ), but that slide is unlikely to have experienced repeated failures during the late Holocene, so can probably be ruled out as responsible for generating multiple events that transported or realigned coastal boulders on Ko Larn. Several large river deltas in the region might produce delta‐front submarine landslides, but such failures are not generally recognised as tsunamigenic (Tappin, ). The shallow sea over the Sunda shelf also reduces the tsunami risk for the Gulf of Thailand.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous work along the eastern side of the Bay of Bangkok discovered the existence of coastal carbonate boulders (CCBs) on the islands of Ko Larn, Ko Khang Khao, and Ko Phai (Terry et al ., , , ). The CCBs were most reasonably deposited by past typhoons as opposed to tsunamis, since there are few if any potential tsunamigenic sources in the Bay of Bangkok or farther afield that could effectively inundate the area (Paris et al ., ; Ruangrassamee & Saelem, ; Tappin, ; Terry et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Strongly aligned coastal boulders on Ko Larn island (Thailand): a proxy for past typhoon‐driven high‐energy wave events in the Bay of Bangkok

Terry

Goff

2019

Geographical Research

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Recent studies of elevated carbonate boulder deposits on several rock islands near Bangkok have indicated that Thailand's capital city may not be as protected from typhoon strikes as previously thought. Here, new evidence is presented for past high‐energy wave (HEW) events in the form of statistically significant patterns of boulder alignment on exposed rocky shorelines of Ko Larn island. The long‐axis orientations of 193 coastal sandstone boulders were analysed across four study sites. Several scenarios for the unimodal, bimodal, and polymodal patterns found can be envisaged. Either the most recent HEW event was the strongest—in which case most clasts were rearranged unimodally (one observation site), or the strongest HEW event was earlier and subsequent weaker ones realigned only smaller boulders to produce bimodal or polymodal patterns (three observation sites). Inferred northeastward or eastward onshore flow directions are consistent with palaeo‐typhoons penetrating into the Bay of Bangkok on northwestward curving tracks. The calculated minimum flow velocities required to transport all sampled boulders are 5.5–7.8 m s−1, similar to other findings throughout the Asia‐Pacific region. It was observed that the absence of a fitted boulder geomorphology lends credence to the earlier proposed time frame of 150–200 years between typhoon phases in the upper Gulf of Thailand. The current work has provided additional insights into the characteristics of past HEW events that have a possibility of reoccurring again at some time in the future. Our findings continue to raise awareness for a reassessment of the risks of coastal hazards for the Chao Phraya River delta and densely populated Bangkok, for which storm surge modelling should be an urgent priority, so as to give better perceptions on how typhoon‐driven marine incursion would impact the city.

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“…Yet, it is unlikely that the Brunei Slide would have experienced repeated slumps within the late Holocene, so can probably be discounted as the source for the multiple events that transported the Ko Larn boulders. It should be further noted that the types of submarine landslides that occur at the front of river deltas are not generally recognized as being tsunamigenic (Tappin, ). Thus, it seems doubtful that periodic tsunamis would produce the recurrent episodes of past HEMI events described earlier.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prehistorical frequency of high‐energy marine inundation events driven by typhoons in the Bay of Bangkok (Thailand), interpreted from coastal carbonate boulders

Terry

Dunne

Jankaew

2016

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Rapidly rising populations of low‐lying megacities in Asia mean that understanding the potential risk of coastal flooding by storm surge is of paramount concern. The city of Bangkok and the wider Chao Phraya River delta at the head of the Gulf of Thailand is a region topographically vulnerable to coastal flooding, but without the record of a high‐energy marine inundation (HEMI) event in historical time owing to the atypical path that a typhoon must take to be able to produce such an event. This work builds upon previous findings that identified coastal depositional evidence for HEMI events in the form of coastal carbonate boulders (CCBs) located on Ko Larn Island in the eastern Bay of Bangkok. The HEMI events were most likely driven by typhoons and the CCBs are therefore interpreted as typhoon deposits. Through uranium/thorium dating, it is revealed that from ad 1400 to ad 1600 the Bay of Bangkok possibly experienced a phase of relatively heightened storm impact. During this period, the frequency of typhoon‐driven HEMI events was approximately four events in 200 years. Waves generated onshore minimum flow velocities (MFVs) in excess of 5 m/s. Such exceptional MFVs are unlikely to be produced during the annual northeast monsoon, but are consistent with typhoon‐impacted coastlines elsewhere in the tropical Asia–Pacific region where similar CCB evidence exists. Since ad 1600, the Bay of Bangkok has enjoyed a relatively quiescent phase, recording less frequent HEMI events and of lower magnitude. However, the re‐occurrence of a typhoon‐driven HEMI event on the scale of the prehistorical events that emplaced carbonate boulders at elevation on Ko Larn Island would threaten low‐lying coasts in the Bay of Bangkok, including the Chao Phraya delta, with potentially damaging inundation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Submarine Mass Failures as Tsunami Sources – their Climate Control

Cited by 18 publications

References 90 publications

Some giant submarine landslides do not produce large tsunamis

Some giant submarine landslides do not produce large tsunamis

Strongly aligned coastal boulders on Ko Larn island (Thailand): a proxy for past typhoon‐driven high‐energy wave events in the Bay of Bangkok

Prehistorical frequency of high‐energy marine inundation events driven by typhoons in the Bay of Bangkok (Thailand), interpreted from coastal carbonate boulders

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