Tsunami-generated turbidity current of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake

Arai, Kazuno; Naruse, Hajime; Miura, Ryuichi; Kawamura, Kazutaka; Hino, Ryota; Ito, Yoshihiro; Inazu, Daisuke; Yokokawa, Miwa; Izumi, Norihiro; Murayama, Masafumi; Kasaya, Takafumi

doi:10.1130/g34777.1

Cited by 103 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Short-term sedimentation processes include various events that accompany earthquakes and volcanic activities. Subduction earthquakes, in particular, mobilize and redeposit a considerable amount of sediment as a result of slope instability and tsunamis (e.g., Seeber et al 2007;Noguchi et al 2012;Arai et al 2013). Sedimentary processes associated with earthquakes are crucial to the understanding of sedimentation systems in a subduction zone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Autobrecciation of unconsolidated surface sediment, which is considered to represent evidence of seafloor deformation by earthquake shaking as well as sliding or slumping, was reported from the source areas of the 1993 earthquake off southwestern Hokkaido (Takeuchi et al 1998) and the 2004 Sumatra earthquake (Seeber et al 2007). Tsunamis were reported as an important agent of sediment redistribution from the 365 AD Cretan earthquake (Polonia et al 2013) and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake (Noguchi et al 2012;Arai et al 2013;Ikehara et al 2014). The wellknown sequential breakage of undersea communication cables after the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake was the first documentation of landslide-triggered turbidity currents (Heezen et al 1954).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Accumulation of an earthquake-induced extremely turbid layer in a terminal basin of the Nankai accretionary prism

et al. 2014

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Seismic shaking is a major trigger for sediment redistribution in subduction zones, and clouds of dilute suspended sediment have been reported in association with large earthquakes. Dive observations in a basin on the slope of the central Nankai accretionary prism soon after the 2004 off-Kii Peninsula earthquakes documented a layer of suspended sediment with extremely high turbidity. We estimated the thickness of this bottom turbid layer to be more than 2.5 m by comparison of seafloor depths between surveys in 2004 and 2010 and about 2.6 m from instrumental evidence involving the submersion of a heat-flow probe. A high-resolution subbottom profiling survey across the basin revealed acoustically transparent layers thicker than 2 m. Because the slope basin is a terminal basin completely enclosed by topographic highs, we examined the possibility that the uppermost transparent layer was deposited as a consequence of the 2004 earthquakes. Considering the sediment source area and the volume of the basin fills, the mobilization and redeposition of thin surface sediments on the prism slope can account for the volume of the transparent layer. We conclude that the 2004 earthquakes caused widespread disturbance of the prism slope and concentrated surface sediments in this terminal basin. Our results emphasize the utility of a terminal basin in a subduction zone as an earthquake recorder.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accumulation of an earthquake-induced extremely turbid layer in a terminal basin of the Nankai accretionary prism

et al. 2014

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“…The nearshore settings are assumed to potentially hold a record of past tsunami backwash flows, while the deeper settings are investigated for possible records of turbidity currents linked to earthquake-triggered sediment failures or resulting from the evolution of tsunami backwash flows (e.g. Arai et al, 2013). In order to characterize the morphology and the sedimentary processes active at these locations, high-resolution single-channel seismic reflection profiles were acquired with a Sparker and a 3.5 kHz source by the Renard Center of Marine Geology, Ghent University (see profiles in Fig.…”

Section: Sampling Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This erosion may result from oceanographic processes such as storm-wave-induced resuspension or tsunami backwash flow (e.g. Arai et al, 2013), from the passing of a sediment density flow, or from a sediment failure in the coring site area. First, erosion by storm waves seems unlikely considering the relatively reduced length of the fetch in the Gulf of Corinth and the water depth in the Aigion Shelf (40 m).…”

Section: Possible Impacts Of Earthquakes In Different Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedimentary impacts of recent moderate earthquakes from the shelves to the basin floor in the western Gulf of Corinth

et al. 2017

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a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oIn seismically active areas, long term records of large earthquakes are indispensable to constrain reccurence patterns of large earthquakes. In the western Corinth Rift, one of the most active areas in Europe in terms of seismicity, data about ancient earthquakes are still insufficient, despite historical records covering the last two millenia and several studies in onshore paleoseimology. In this paper, we test the use of offshore sediments from the Gulf of Corinth to identify sediment failures and tsunamis that have been triggered by historical earthquakes. Two shelves (40-100 m deep), one sub-basin (180 m) and the basin floor (330 m) have been sampled by short gravity cores. The cores were analyzed in order to identify and characterize event deposits. The age control has been provided by 137 Cs and 210 Pb activity measurements showing that the cores represent 2 to 4 centuries of sedimentation. In each site, sandy event deposits are interbeded in the muddy, hemipelagic sedimentation. The age of event deposits has been compared to the record of historical earthquakes using new and published macroseismic data. This comparison shows temporal coincidence of some event deposits and documented earthquakes with a macroseismic intensity ≥ VII in the area, e.g. in 1861 CE, 1888 CE and 1909 CE. In nearshore, shallow-water settings, the record of event deposits does not exactly fit with the historical record of large earthquakes because too few event deposits are present. This may be due to the absence of sediment failures or to a lower preservation of the deposits in such settings. In the deepest site, in the basin floor, the correspondence is better: a sandy turbidite probably corresponds to each large earthquake since 1850 CE, except one aseismic sediment density flow that occurred at the end of the 20th century. Surprisingly, the Ms = 6.2, June 15, 1995 Aigion earthquake is only possibly recorded in one nearshore site on the Aigion Shelf, in the form of a tsunami back-wash flow deposit. This study showed that moderate earthquakes (M 5.8-6.5) can significantly impact marine sediments. Regarding the evaluation of seismic hazard in the area, the basin floor is proposed as a promising site for long term paleoseismology in the Gulf of Corinth, while shallower settings need to be considered more carefully.

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“…These core samples record the sedimentary structures before the earthquake. According to Ikehara (2012) and Arai et al (2013), sandy sediments were transported from an area shallower than several hundred meters in water depth and deposited on seabed of several thousand meters in water depth after the earthquake. This deposition might be a key to understanding paleo-earthquake events and/or paleo-tsunami events in marine core samples.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical and magnetic properties of piston core samples collected from the Japan Trench before the 2011 Tohoku earthquake

Kawamura

Kanamatsu

Oishi

et al. 2015

JAMSTEC Rep. Res. Dev.

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We report in detail deep-sea sediments around the Japan Trench. We have collected core samples using a piston corer system and a MBARI type corer during the cruises KH-05-3 and KH-07-3 by R/V Hakuho-maru and KR04-08, KR08-10, KR09-16 and KR10-12 by R/V Kairei of Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. We recovered totally sixteen piston core samples and two MBARI type core samples in these cruises before the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Fourteen coring sites are located on the outer rise on the Pacific plate, and 4 sites are on the landward trench slope. The core sediments are predominantly composed of diatomaceous silty clay interbedded with volcanic ash layers. Physical and magnetic properties of the core sediments, and lithological characteristics of tephras such as the refractive indices of volcanic glass and phenocrysts are reported as well.

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Tsunami-generated turbidity current of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake

Cited by 103 publications

References 22 publications

Accumulation of an earthquake-induced extremely turbid layer in a terminal basin of the Nankai accretionary prism

Accumulation of an earthquake-induced extremely turbid layer in a terminal basin of the Nankai accretionary prism

Sedimentary impacts of recent moderate earthquakes from the shelves to the basin floor in the western Gulf of Corinth

Physical and magnetic properties of piston core samples collected from the Japan Trench before the 2011 Tohoku earthquake

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