Particle-size distribution of inferred tsunami deposits in Sur Lagoon,Sultanate of Oman

The sedimentary characteristics of shell beds within an interpreted tsunami deposit from Sur Lagoon, Oman were examined using shell taphonomy and high-resolution particle-size analysis. The tsunami bed was deposited by the 28 November, 1945 tsunami generated by the Makran subduction zone. Q-mode cluster analysis of particle-size data was evaluated as a means of discriminating individual tsunamite shell layers from lagoonal intertidal deposits. Results showed that the tsunami shell bed was more poorly sorted, and heterogeneous (in both the digested and undigested samples) than the background lagoonal sediments. The tsunami bed thickness correlated generally with the thickness of the shell-bed, however, cluster analysis extended the tsunami unit several centimeters above or below the shell bed in some cores. The particle-size analysis also showed subtle textural trends in the tsunami unit, suggesting that the tsunami bed was deposited in several distinctive phases during tsunami incursion into Sur Lagoon. The findings indicate that cluster analysis of particle-size data can be used to identify tsunami beds in intertidal environments and holds potential for identifying paleotsunami deposits in sediments from embayed intertidal–subtidal siliciclastic systems where obvious sedimentary structures may be absent.     

海啸预警与第四纪古海啸沉积记录研究进展

海啸对人类的生命和财产安全构成巨大的威胁,2004年12月26日苏门答腊特大海啸的发生,引起了国际社会对海啸预警问题的重视,并进一步认识到古海啸沉积研究的重要性.介绍了国际上对海啸预警和古海啸沉积研究的进展,重点综述古海啸沉积的研究现状、研究方法与识别标志.最近20年来,研究者们着重对滨岸、浅海或陆地上的现代海啸沉积和古海啸堆积物进行研究,而对深水区域的古海啸记录研究很少.笔者认为在海啸多发海域的深水区进行长柱状沉积物取样,通过沉积学和地球化学分析研究,把古海啸沉积从海底正常沉积中识别出来,再结合定年,有助于恢复古海啸史,明确长期的灾害风险.     

Erosion and sedimentation in Kalpakkam (N Tamil Nadu, India) from the 26th December 2004 tsunami

Laterally extensive sand sheets deposited by the 26th December 2004 Asian tsunami provide a valuable modern analogue for comparison with wash over deposits of unknown origin. In many places on the east coast of India, distinct deposits of marine sand drape the landscape and overlie the muddy soils of the coastal plain. This paper discusses detailed measurements of coastal topography, tsunami flow height, and deposit thickness made at Kalpakkam, India. Five transects were examined in detail to assess the sedimentology and spatial distribution of the tsunami deposit. Near the mean water line, the tsunami eroded approximately 10–25 cm of sand from the beach and berm. At Kalpakkam the sand sheet deposited by the tsunami begins 25 m from the shore extending 420 m inland where it becomes thin and patchy approximately 30 m from the limit of inundation. In some cases, the deposit consists of 2 to 4 normally graded units, with coarse sand near the base and fine sand at the top, a characteristic observed in many tsunami deposits worldwide. In many places, the deposits also contain numerous thin laminated units, a characteristic usually associated with storm over wash. The presence of the laminated beds is indicative of the complexity of tsunami sedimentation on the coast. Such observations are essential to the formation of definitive facies models for palaeo-overwash studies that are capable of distinguishing between sediments deposited by storms or tsunami.     

Forecasting of tsunami wave heights at the Russian coast of the Black Sea

Forecasting of tsunami wave heights at the Russian coast of the Black Sea is discussed. Prognostic numerical calculations of tsunamis were carried out for the tsunami sources uniformly distributed in the Black Sea basin (a total of 55 events). Their results are compared with the results of numerical modeling of the historical events (in 1939 and 1966) and the data of not numerous measurements. A preliminary forecast is made on this basis for the tsunami wave heights along the Russian coast of the Black Sea.     

天文潮与海啸耦合数学模型研究——以东中国海温州湾为例

在COMCOT海啸数学模型中加入潮汐边界条件,建立了东中国海天文潮与海啸耦合数学模型。在琉球海沟内侧设计震级为7.6级的海底地震,根据地震板块的错动方向不同,设计正波先行与负波先行两种海啸波,通过调整海啸波发生时间,使海啸波波峰遭遇温州湾天文高潮位。将天文潮与海啸耦合模型计算结果与线性叠加计算结果进行比较,结果表明:无论正波先行还是负波先行,天文潮与海啸耦合计算相比线性叠加的结果,海啸波的到达时间均有所提前;而从海啸波波高来看,线性叠加的计算结果则比耦合计算结果偏高。     

Deposits of the 1983 and 1993 tsunamis on the coast of Primorye

Deposits of the two strongest tsunamis of the 20th century have been found on the eastern coast of Primorye. The tsunamis had epicenters in the Sea of Japan west of the coast of Hokkaido. The distribution and preservation of deposits in bays of different geomorphological structure have been analyzed. The best defined sedimentary covers occur in the upper part of sections in low-lying areas of bay shores, where the wave runup was more than 3 m. The best preserved deposits have been observed in bays attributed to loworder streams. Variations of the structural composition of tsunami deposits formed by traction processes associated with the tsunamis have been analyzed depending on distance from the shoreline; the sources of material have been identified. Tsunami waves transported sand not only from beaches, ancient storm ridges, and terraces, but also from the underwater coastal slope; waves also grabbed material from estuarine lagoons and lakes located in the shore inundation zone. Deposits include marine diatoms with dominant sublittoral planktonic and benthic species, which suggests that the material was transported from a depth no more than 15 m. Deep-sea species of diatoms and their fragments have been encountered. Among freshwater diatoms are species with different ecological identities, indicating erosion and redeposition of material transported from various sources.     

Progress in the Study of Coastal Storm Deposits

Numerous studies have been carried out to identify storm deposits and decipher storm-induced sedimentary processes in coastal and shallow-marine areas. This study aims to provide an in-depth review on the study of coastal storm deposits from the following five aspects. 1) The formation of storm deposits is a function of hydrodynamic and sedimentary processes under the constraints of local geological and ecological factors. Many questions remain to demonstrate the genetic links between storm-related processes and a variety of resulting deposits such as overwash deposits, underwater deposits and hummocky cross-stratification (HCS). Future research into the formation of storm deposits should combine flume experiments, field observations and numerical simulations, and make full use of sediment source tracing methods. 2) Recently there has been rapid growth in the number of studies utilizing sediment provenance analysis to investigate the source of storm deposits. The development of source tracing techniques, such as mineral composition, magnetic susceptibility, microfossil and geochemical property, has allowed for better understanding of the depositional processes and environmental changes associated with coastal storms. 3) The role of extreme storms in the sedimentation of low-lying coastal wetlands with diverse ecosystem services has also drawn a great deal of attention. Many investigations have attempted to quantify widespread land loss, vertical marsh sediment accumulation and wetland elevation change induced by major hurricanes. 4) Paleostorm reconstructions based on storm sedimentary proxies have shown many advantages over the instrumental records and historic documents as they allow for the reconstruction of storm activities on millennial or longer time scales. Storm deposits having been used to establish proxies mainly include beach ridges and shelly cheniers, coral reefs, estuary-deltaic storm sequences and overwash deposits. Particularly over the past few decades, the proxies developed from overwash deposits have successfully retrieved many records of storm activities during the mid to late Holocene worldwide. 5) Distinguishing sediments deposited by storms and tsunamis is one of the most difficult issues among the many aspects of storm deposit studies. Comparative studies have investigated numerous diagnostic evidences including hydrodynamic condition, landward extent, grain property, texture and grading, thickness, microfossil assemblage and landscape conformity. Perhaps integrating physical, biological and geochemical evidences will, in the future, allow unambiguous identification of tsunami deposits and storm deposits.     

浙江沿海潜在区域地震海啸风险分析

采用COMCOT海啸模型建立三重网格模型模拟了2011年3月11日日本东北部9.0级地震引发的海啸发生、发展以及在我国东南沿海传播过程。震源附近浮标站以及浙江沿海的潮位站实测资料验证结果显示,大部分监测站首波到达时间和海啸波的计算值相差在15%以内,表明模型可较好的模拟海啸在计算域内的传播过程。研究表明日本南海海槽、冲绳海槽以及琉球海沟南部是影响浙江沿海主要的区域潜在震源,通过情景计算分别模拟3个潜在震源9.1级、8.0级和8.7级地震引发的海啸对浙江沿海的海啸风险,计算结果表明,海啸波产生后可在3~8h内传至浙江省沿岸,海啸波达1~3m,最大可达4m,此时浙江沿岸面临Ⅲ~Ⅳ级海啸风险,达到淹没至严重淹没等级。     

Spatiotemporal distributions of tsunami sources and discovered periodicities

Both spatial and spatiotemporal distributions of the sources of tsunamigenic earthquakes of tectonic origin over the last 112 years have been analyzed. This analysis has been made using tsunami databases published by the Institute of Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Geophysics (Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (United States), as well as earthquake catalogs published by the National Earthquake Information Center (United States). It has been found that the pronounced activation of seismic processes and an increase in the total energy of tsunamigenic earthquakes were observed at the beginning of both the 20th (1905–1920) and 21st (2004–2011) centuries. Studying the spatiotemporal periodicity of such events on the basis of an analysis of the two-dimensional distributions of the sources of tectonic tsunamis has made it possible to determine localized latitudinal zones with a total lack of such events (90°?75° N, 45°–90° S, and 35°?25° N) and regions with a periodic occurrence of tsunamis mainly within the middle (65°?35° N and 25°–40° S) and subequatorial (15° N–20° S) latitudes of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The objective of this work is to analyze the spatiotemporal distributions of sources of tsunamigenic earthquakes and the effect of the periodic occurrence of such events on the basis of data taken from global tsunami catalogs.     

Extreme storms in 2006–2007 on Shikotan Island and their impact on the coastal relief and deposits

This paper describes the results of investigations of the consequences of the storms on the Pacific coast of Shikotan Island that occurred on October 7–10, 2006 and January 6–8, 2007. These storms and their impact on the coastal zone can be considered as extreme events for the last 40–50 years. The heights and flooding area of the storm surges within bay coasts of different types were measured. The coastal relief’s changes are described. During the storms, a cover of deposits was formed having a size of up to 30 m outside the beach zone and up to 52 m in the near-mouth zones. The grain-size composition of the storm deposits is analyzed and their difference from other coastal facies, including tsunami sands, are established.     

Numerical Simulation of Tsunamis on the Tamil Nadu Coast of India

The State of Tamil Nadu was the most affected region in India during the tsunami of December 26, 2004, in the Indian Ocean, in terms of loss of life and damage. Numerical simulation was made for three tsunamis, the December 26, 2004, event, the Sumatra tsunami of 1833, and a hypothetical tsunami originating in the Andaman-Nicobar region. Since inundation is not included in these simulations, the tsunami amplitudes were deduced at the 10m depth contour in the ocean, off several locations on the coast of Tamil Nadu. The computed amplitudes appear reasonable as compared to known tsunami amplitudes from past events.     

Sedimentation particularities during the tsunami of December 26, 2004, in northern Indonesia: Simelue Island and the Medan coast of Sumatra Island

Sediments deposited during the tsunami of December 26, 2004, in coastal areas that differ in their structure and orientation relative to the tsunami front are studied with defining of the factors controlling particular features of the sedimentation under different wave intensities. The lithology of tsunami-related deposits and data on various fossils (diatoms, foraminifers, and mollusks) are analyzed. It is established that the tsunami resulted in the accumulation of sediments of various composition, which is explained by the features of the transformation of the wave as well as by the structure of the underwater coastal slope, the flooded zone, and the provenance. Variably oriented coseismic motions are one of the factors influencing the sedimentation patterns. The paleotsunami deposits discovered are compared with their recent counterparts.     

A Record of Palaeo-Tsunami in the Indian Ocean

The history of catastrophic events on the Indian coast helps us to understand the frequency and magnitude of the tsunamis that occurred in the Indian Ocean. These catastrophic events have changed the coastal landscape and have left significant records for further studies. These rare events have occurred in the Indian Ocean. There have been megatsunamigenic events in the past due to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Those events due to earthquakes have proved more catastrophic than the volcanic activities. There has been limited official records of the causality and magnitude of palaeo-tsunamigenic events. These have been studied using the various proxies. The rate of sedimentation is a proportional tool to study the magnitude of a tsunami and this has proved to be a successful tool along with foraminiferal assemblages. Causes for a tsunami to occur are by and large, the subduction zone earthquakes of the Indian plate has been the most common source for tsunami in the Indian Ocean. More often the Andaman and Nicobar and the Indonesian islands have been vulnerable to tsunami than the mainland of India and Sri Lanka.

In summary, in the last 200 years at least three basin-wide tsunamis have occurred, with several smaller tsunami affecting one or more coastlines in the region. The December 2004 M-9 tsunami seems to have been the largest and most destructive in the last two centuries, suggesting most tsunami are likely to be smaller but still allowing the possibility that even larger tsunami could be generated in propitious circumstances.     

Reconstructing tsunami run-up from the characteristics of tsunami deposits on the Thai Andaman Coast

Tsunamis can leave deposits on the land surface they inundate. The characteristics of tsunami deposits can be used to calculate tsunami run-up height and velocity. This paper presents a reconstruction of tsunami run-up from tsunami deposit characteristics in a simple mathematical model. The model is modified and applied to reconstruct tsunami run-ups at Ao Kheuy beach and Khuk Khak beach, Phangnga province, Thailand. The input parameters are grain-size and maximum run-up distance of the sediment. The reconstructed run-up heights are 4.16–4.91 m at Ao Kheuy beach and 5.43–9.46 m at Khuk Khak beach. The estimated run-up velocities (maximum velocity) at the still water level are 12.78–19.21 m/s. In the area located 70–140 m inland to the end of run-up inundation, estimated mean run-up velocities decrease from approximately 1.93 m/s to 0 m/s. Reasonably good agreements are found between reconstructed and observed run-up heights. The tsunami run-up height and velocity can be used for risk assessment and coastal development programs in the tsunami affected area. The results show that the area from 0 to 140 m inland was flooded by high velocity run-ups and those run-up energies were dissipated mainly in this area. The area should be designated as either an area where settlement is not permitted or an area where effective protection is provided, for example with flood barriers or forest.     

陆架海岸台风沉积记录及信息提取

长时间尺度风暴强度–频率关系与气候变化相关联,而器测记录和历史记载难以提供充分的信息,因此从沉积记录中提取风暴信息成为一个前沿科学问题。在应用上,这项研究可为海岸带城市群应对未来气候和海面变化提供决策依据。本文回顾了台风沉积记录研究进展,显示陆架泥质沉积、海滩及海岸沙丘、潮滩、潟湖、巨砾是台风事件记录的良好载体,可通过层序形态和物质特性分析而识别。同时,还需进一步完善分析方法,以区分台风、冬季风暴、河流洪水和海啸等不同类型的极端事件沉积。在台风强度信息提取方面,陆架泥质沉积所含贝壳–粗颗粒沉积物可作为海底再悬浮强度的指标,但需更多实测数据的率定;海滩及海岸沙丘顶部的台风沉积分布高程指示了台风激浪流的上冲高度,而台风巨砾的重量可以与近岸波浪的波高建立联系。以上数据经过换算后可以得出台风强度的信息,虽然这些间接的沉积学信息还不足以建立风暴强度–频率关系,但有助于台风强度大数据的建立。潮滩、潟湖沉积连续性好,可构成台风事件的时间序列,然而关于台风强度却是多解的,台风最大风力、持续时间、移动路径、登陆地点的不同组合可能产生同样的事件沉积。我们建议,应发展台风信息提取的新方法,来解决这个问题。进行现代过程模拟,根据已知的台风事件资料构建沉积物输运堆积模型,使之能够复演事件沉积的特征;进行多个地点事件沉积的反演模拟,在此情形下,即便每个站位的结果是多解的,但针对多个站位上求取其解的交集之后,多解性将下降,这种模拟方法可称之为“解空间收缩法”;采用大数据融合方式,将其他来源的台风强度数据纳入模拟体系,可进一步降低风暴信息提取的不确定性。动力过程模拟与大数据融合方法的建立,有助于获得与沉积记录同样时间尺度的台风强度–频率关系曲线,进而分析台风动态与气候变化的关系。     

基于完整目录数据的全球海啸时空分异研究

海啸是自然灾害中对人类生命财产安全有严重威胁的灾难之一。随着全球气候变化和全球化贸易日益增强,越来越多的人口和经济暴露于海啸灾害。历史海啸灾害的时空分异分析可以帮助我们认识海啸灾害的演变规律,为灾害预警、灾害防控等提供有益参考。本文通过提取具有完整性和同质性的数据（爬高高度（RH））进行全球海啸的时空分异规律研究,结果表明:（1）对于0.1 m≤RH<0.5 m、0.5 m≤RH<1 m、1 m≤RH<5 m、5 m≤RH<10 m、10 m≤RH<20 m和20 m≤RH的间隔,海啸目录分别自1963年、1940年、1950年、1946年、1922年和1885年以来可以被认为是完整的;（2）全球海啸发生有一定的增加趋势,大约每年会多观测到7次波浪爬高事件。在0.1 m≤RH<5 m区间内,海啸发生呈现一定的周期性。当RH大于5 m时,表现出明显的增加趋势;（3）西北太平洋区域、南太平洋区域、东南太平洋区域、印度洋区域海啸发生有一定的增加趋势,而在北美区域则呈减少趋势,东北大西洋区域无显著变化;（4）除北美区域外,其他区域的海啸发生遵循一定的自组织临界行为,相比来说,东北大西洋区域更容易发生小的海啸事件,而西北太平洋区域和印度洋区域更容易发生各种强度的海啸事件。     

Assessment of tsunami hazard for coastal areas of Shandong Province,China

Shandong province is located on the east coast of China and has a coastline of about 3100 km. There are only a few tsunami events recorded in the history of Shandong Province, but the tsunami hazard assessment is still necessary as the rapid economic development and increasing population of this area. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential danger posed by tsunamis for Shandong Province. The numerical simulation method was adopted to assess the tsunami hazard for coastal areas of Shandong Province. The Cornell multi-grid coupled tsunami numerical model (COMCOT) was used and its efficacy was verified by comparison with three historical tsunami events. The simulated maximum tsunami wave height agreed well with the observational data. Based on previous studies and statistical analyses, multiple earthquake scenarios in eight seismic zones were designed, the magnitudes of which were set as the potential maximum values. Then, the tsunamis they induced were simulated using the COMCOT model to investigate their impact on the coastal areas of Shandong Province. The numerical results showed that the maximum tsunami wave height, which was caused by the earthquake scenario located in the sea area of the Mariana Islands, could reach up to 1.39 m off the eastern coast of Weihai city. The tsunamis from the seismic zones of the Bohai Sea, Okinawa Trough, and Manila Trench could also reach heights of >1 m in some areas, meaning that earthquakes in these zones should not be ignored. The inundation hazard was distributed primarily in some northern coastal areas near Yantai and southeastern coastal areas of Shandong Peninsula. When considering both the magnitude and arrival time of tsunamis, it is suggested that greater attention be paid to earthquakes that occur in the Bohai Sea. In conclusion, the tsunami hazard facing the coastal area of Shandong Province is not very serious; however, disasters could occur if such events coincided with spring tides or other extreme oceanic conditions. The results of this study will be useful for the design of coastal engineering projects and the establishment of a tsunami warning system for Shandong Province.     

Clay minerals as an indicator of the accumulation of the Upper Quaternary deposits in the St. Anna Trough (Kara Sea)

This paper is devoted to the studies of clay minerals from two cores collected in the northern and central regions of the St. Anna Trough, the largest trough of the Kara Sea. The Upper Quaternary glacial, glaciomarine, and marine deposits are characterized by various contents of kaolinite, chlorite, illite, and smectite. It is established that, from older to younger deposits, the amounts of kaolinite and chlorite generally decrease, while those of illite and smectite, on the contrary, increase. A joint analysis of the distributions of clay and heavy minerals over the section allowed us to refine the position of the sources for the terrigenous matter and their temporal variability. It is shown the changes in the sources of supply were directly related to the climate changes that occurred when passing from the glacial to marine sedimentation environments.