Submarine earthquake– and tsunami–induced event deposits

—Disturbance of the sea floor by huge earthquakes and their related tsunamis, and the use of disturbance records in marine sediments for the history of past huge earthquakes and tsunamis—

Abstract

Huge earthquakes and tsunamis have agitated and disturbed the sea floor. Many marine geological surveys after the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake indicated large disturbances of the sea floor by the earthquake and its related tsunami across a wide area from the coastal to the Japan Trench floor. Resuspension of marine surface sediment by the earthquake and tsunami might generate turbidity currents. Deposition of turbidites, which are deposits from turbidity currents, has been recognized. Therefore, earthquake- and tsunami- induced turbidite is a potential tool for understanding the history of past huge earthquakes and tsunamis. For the estimation of the origin and evolution of earthquake- and tsunami-induced turbidity currents and the selection of suitable locations for turbidite paleoseismology, marine geological information such as samples and characteristics of surface sediments and depositional modes is useful and important.