Traces of Holocene tsunamis across the Sound of Lefkada, NW Greece

Vött, Andreas; Brückner, Helmut; Brockmüller, Svenja; Handl, Mathias; May, Simon Matthias; Gaki-Papanastassiou, Kalliopi; Herd, Rainer; Lang, Franziska; Maroukian, H.; Nelle, Oliver; Papanastassiou, D.

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2008.03.015

Cited by 63 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Mastronuzzi et al (2006) indicated the presence of layered units and bedrock fracturing as important preconditions for boulder displacement. Coastal sectors characterized by beachrocks and affected by tsunami wave impact often show on-shore broken slab accumulation (Nott, 2004;Vött et al, 2009;. In the study area, the slabs were probably torn out from the original beachrock unit which appears considerably fractured (Fig.…”

Section: Exceptional Storm Waves or Tsunami?mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…With this purpose, several recent studies focused on geomorphological and sedimentological field evidence of catastrophic wave impacts related to historical tsunami events (De Martini et al, 2010;Dominey-Howes, 2002;Goto et al, 2010;Mastronuzzi et al, 2006Mastronuzzi et al, , 2007Regnauld et al, 2010;Scheffers and Kellettat, 2003;Vött et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing enigmatic boulder deposits in NE Aegean Sea: importance of historical sources as tool to support hydrodynamic equations

Vacchi

Rovere

Ζουροσ

et al. 2012

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Due to their importance in the assessment of coastal hazards, several studies have focused on geomorphological and sedimentological field evidence of catastrophic wave impacts related to historical tsunami events. Among them, many authors used boulder fields as important indicators of past tsunamis, especially in the Mediterranean Sea. The aim of this study was to understand the mechanism of deposition of clusters of large boulders, consisting of beachrock slabs, which were found on the southern coasts of Lesvos Island (NE Aegean Sea). Methods to infer the origin of boulder deposits (tsunami vs. storm wave) are often based on hydrodynamic models even if different environmental complexities are difficult to be incorporated into numerical models. In this study, hydrodynamic equations did not provide unequivocal indication of the mechanism responsible for boulder deposition in the study area. Further analyses, ranging from geomorphologic to seismotectonic data, indicated a tsunami as the most likely cause of displacement of the boulders but still do not allow to totally exclude the extreme storm origin. Additional historical investigations (based on tsunami catalogues, historical photos and aged inhabitants interviews) indicated that the boulders are likely to have been deposited by the tsunami triggered by the 6.7 M s Chios-Karaburum earthquake of 1949 or, alternatively, by minor effects of the destructive tsunami produced by 1956's Amorgos Island earthquake. Results of this study point out that, at Mediterranean scale, to flank numerical models with the huge amount of the available historical data become a crucial tool in terms of prevention policies related to catastrophic coastal events.

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Section: Exceptional Storm Waves or Tsunami?mentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing enigmatic boulder deposits in NE Aegean Sea: importance of historical sources as tool to support hydrodynamic equations

Vacchi

Rovere

Ζουροσ

et al. 2012

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…The rel a tively large thick ness of the TD at Rowy is prob a bly caused by the subsurface palaeorelief. Thicker (up to 2 m) tsu nami de pos its have been re ported only in ar eas of ter rain low er ing such as la goons and lakes and in front of dif fer ent ob struc tions (Clague et al, 1994a, b;Dawson, 1994;Pe ters et al, 2001;Smith et al, 2007;Vött et al, 2009;Goff et al, 2010).…”

Section: Characteristics Of the Tsunami Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

The first geological record of a palaeotsunami on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, Poland

Rotnicki

Rotnicka

Goslar

et al. 2016

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Tsu nami de pos its have not pre vi ously been re corded along the south ern coast of the Bal tic Sea. The re sults of pres ent research pro vide ev i dence of high-en ergy event lay ers that oc cur on the bot tom of two hemi spher i cal hol lows cut into glaciolimnic silt and glaciofluvial sand and gravel of Late Weichselian age. The event de pos its are rep re sented by poorly sorted ma rine sand with ad mix tures of peb bles and allochthonous biogenic de tri tus: ma rine, brack ish and oc ca sion ally fresh wa ter shells and shell de bris of bi valves and snails, plant macrofossils from the nearshore zone, shreds and lumps of peaty ma te rial, gyttja and organogenic silt, lumps of char coal, wood pieces and tree branches and trunks. All these fea tures are com monly con sid ered in dic a tive of tsu na mis. The age of the biogenic de tri tus found in the tsu nami layer ranges from 6,630 to 10,390 cal. yr BP, whereas the old est gyttja cov er ing the event lay ers is 6,600 cal. yr BP old. This means that the tsunami oc curred be tween 6,600 and 6,630 cal. yr BP. Var i ous causes of the tsu nami event are con sid ered, in clud ing the impact of me te or ites within the coastal plain and the lit to ral zone of the south ern Bal tic Sea.

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“…By means of a broad range of methods, this study aims (i) to provide a detailed documentation of the Gyra fan's geomorphological structure and sedimentary architecture; (ii) to verify the event-induced origin of the fan structure; (iii) to attempt a comprehensible determination of the related hydrodynamic process (tsunami or storm) which induced the washover structure; (iv) to date the triggering event; and thereby (v) to verify earlier investigations of Vött et al (2006Vött et al ( , 2009a, who suggested a tsunamigenic origin of Lefkada and Vonitsa (Hellenic Military Geographical Service, HMGS, 1987), Bathymetrical charts Amvrakikos Gulf and Lefkada channel (Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service, HNHS) and SRTM elevation data (NASA, 2006)]. (bottom): The Gyra washover fan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…1). Investigations on the washover structures in the eastern part of the Lefkada Lagoon were carried out by Vött et al (2008Vött et al ( , 2009a, and May et al (2012) (see also Fig. 2).…”

Section: Physical Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Gyra washover fan in the Lefkada Lagoon, NW Greece—possible evidence of the 365 AD Crete earthquake and tsunami

et al. 2012

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Coastal geomorphological and geological archives store valuable information about the geodynamic evolution of coastal areas and the contributing geomorphodynamic processes. The coastal geomorphology of the LefkadaPreveza coastal zone, NW Greece, holds evidence for the influence of both gradual, low-energy and episodic, high-energy coastal processes. Situated close to the Hellenic Arc and the Cefalonia transform fault, the area belongs to one of the seismically most active regions in the Mediterranean. Thus, tsunami events are assumed to have contributed to the coastal evolution in the study area according to tsunami catalogues and field evidence from previous investigations. The northern part of the Lefkada Lagoon, separated from the Ionian Sea by an extensive barrier beach system, is characterized by a number of fan-like washover structures, formed by different washover generations. In this paper, we present detailed geomorphological, sedimentological, geochemical and foraminiferal investigations on the most prominent fan structure, the Gyra fan, based on terrestrial and lagoonal sediment cores. The Gyra fan consists of a coarse-grained sequence of fully marine origin on top of lagoonal mud and a palaeosol, respectively. The sequence shows numerous characteristics of extreme wave deposits. Due to the dimension and morphology of the fan, the existence of up to four consistent and correlative stratigraphic subunits, their landward thinning and their comparable sedimentary characteristics, we argue that a tsunami event induced the formation of the Gyra fan, comprising at least four major inundation impulses. According to radiocarbon dates, this geomorphological structure was most likely formed by teletsunami effects triggered by the 365 AD earthquake off western Crete.

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Traces of Holocene tsunamis across the Sound of Lefkada, NW Greece

Cited by 63 publications

References 62 publications

Assessing enigmatic boulder deposits in NE Aegean Sea: importance of historical sources as tool to support hydrodynamic equations

Assessing enigmatic boulder deposits in NE Aegean Sea: importance of historical sources as tool to support hydrodynamic equations

The first geological record of a palaeotsunami on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, Poland

The Gyra washover fan in the Lefkada Lagoon, NW Greece—possible evidence of the 365 AD Crete earthquake and tsunami

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