The problem of past megatsunami reconstructions on the southern Kurils

Tsunamis are reconstructed on the basis of distribution of tsunamigenic sediments in coastal lowland sections. Reflections of anomalous tsunamis are recorded in detail in the lacustrine–boggy sections of the Lesser Kuril Ridge, while only fragments of these sediments have been found on the islands of the Greater Kuril Ridge. The distribution and composition of the sediments left by recent large-scale tsunamis (locally documented 1994 and 1894 Shikotan tsunamis and transoceanic 2011 Tohoku tsunami) are analyzed for the purpose of understanding deposition features during large and megatsunamis. Interregional correlation of the events during the last ~2.5 kyr is carried out with estimation of their scales. It is established that large events took place in the 17th and 18th centuries and approximately at 1.0, 1.4–1.6, 1.7–1.8, and 2.0–2.1 ka ago. New data on large tsunami chronology since the Middle Holocene are presented. A unique natural peatland section with abundant tsunamigenic sand layers is studied on the Pacific side of Zelenyi Island (Rudnya Bay), where deposition continued through the entire Holocene. The largest tsunamis which happened on the South Kuril Islands during the last ~7.5 kyr and can be classed as megatsunamis are revealed.