Large Submarine Landslides on Continental Slopes: Geohazards, Methane Release, and Climate Change

Talling, Peter J.; Clare, Michael; Urlaub, Morelia; Pope, Ed; Hunt, James E.; Watt, Sebastian

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2014.38

Cited by 160 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The new seismic and bathymetry data imply a potential headwall of ~65–70 km length and up to 350 m height, indicating a large volume (~200 km 3 ) would be affected by initial failure. Complete failure would lead to one of the 15 largest non-volcanic submarine slides to have occurred in the past 36000 years40. As the affected area is located between the littoral states of the Arctic Ocean, a potential tsunami would not currently affect major coastal populations or infrastructure (see ref.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arctic megaslide at presumed rest

Geissler

Gebhardt

Groß

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Slope failure like in the Hinlopen/Yermak Megaslide is one of the major geohazards in a changing Arctic environment. We analysed hydroacoustic and 2D high-resolution seismic data from the apparently intact continental slope immediately north of the Hinlopen/Yermak Megaslide for signs of past and future instabilities. Our new bathymetry and seismic data show clear evidence for incipient slope instability. Minor slide deposits and an internally-deformed sedimentary layer near the base of the gas hydrate stability zone imply an incomplete failure event, most probably about 30000 years ago, contemporaneous to or shortly after the Hinlopen/Yermak Megaslide. An active gas reservoir at the base of the gas hydrate stability zone demonstrate that over-pressured fluids might have played a key role in the initiation of slope failure at the studied slope, but more importantly also for the giant HYM slope failure. To date, it is not clear, if the studied slope is fully preconditioned to fail completely in future or if it might be slowly deforming and creeping at present. We detected widespread methane seepage on the adjacent shallow shelf areas not sealed by gas hydrates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arctic megaslide at presumed rest

Geissler

Gebhardt

Groß

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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“…This implies an increase in the frequency of submarine landslides, but, again, we do not understand the basic physics well enough, and we have not had a recent event from which we can learn about the dynamics of seafloor methane releases. We note that substantial attention has been paid to the issue of whether massive submarine slope failures (triggered by other means) can have substantial impact in methane emissions, and a recent review [127] concluded that caution is needed before concluding that there is no link between large landslides and climate change.…”

Section: Will Climate Change Affect Future Tsunami Impacts?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunamis: bridging science, engineering and society

Kânoğlu

Titov

Bernard

et al. 2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Tsunamis are high-impact, long-duration disasters that in most cases allow for only minutes of warning before impact. Since the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, there have been significant advancements in warning methodology, pre-disaster preparedness and basic understanding of related phenomena. Yet, the trail of destruction of the 2011 Japan tsunami, broadcast live to a stunned world audience, underscored the difficulties of implementing advances in applied hazard mitigation. We describe state of the art methodologies, standards for warnings and summarize recent advances in basic understanding, and identify cross-disciplinary challenges. The stage is set to bridge science, engineering and society to help build up coastal resilience and reduce losses.

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“…Models of submarine slope failures triggered by seismic waves invoke cyclic shearing that leads to accumulating plastic strain and shear‐induced excess pore water pressure, decreasing the effective stress and leading to gravitational instability and failure [ Biscontin et al ., ]. Generally, slope failure initiation is more likely as the number of seismic cycles increases [ Biscontin et al ., ; Talling et al ., ], and on continental margin slopes, failure results when sediment pore pressures elevate due to cyclic shearing until shear stress at failure drops below slope stress [ Meunier et al ., ; Wang , ; Wang and Chia , ]. Laboratory experiments show that seismic shaking also enhances sediment permeability, so that seismically induced excess pore pressures may migrate both vertically and horizontally and continue to increase long after the initial loading ceases.…”

Section: Remotely Generated Seismic Wave‐triggered Slope Failurementioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment gravity flows triggered by remotely generated earthquake waves

et al. 2017

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Recent great earthquakes and tsunamis around the world have heightened awareness of the inevitability of similar events occurring within the Cascadia Subduction Zone of the Pacific Northwest. We analyzed seafloor temperature, pressure, and seismic signals, and video stills of sediment‐enveloped instruments recorded during the 2011–2015 Cascadia Initiative experiment, and seafloor morphology. Our results led us to suggest that thick accretionary prism sediments amplified and extended seismic wave durations from the 11 April 2012 Mw8.6 Indian Ocean earthquake, located more than 13,500 km away. These waves triggered a sequence of small slope failures on the Cascadia margin that led to sediment gravity flows culminating in turbidity currents. Previous studies have related the triggering of sediment‐laden gravity flows and turbidite deposition to local earthquakes, but this is the first study in which the originating seismic event is extremely distant (> 10,000 km). The possibility of remotely triggered slope failures that generate sediment‐laden gravity flows should be considered in inferences of recurrence intervals of past great Cascadia earthquakes from turbidite sequences. Future similar studies may provide new understanding of submarine slope failures and turbidity currents and the hazards they pose to seafloor infrastructure and tsunami generation in regions both with and without local earthquakes.

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Large Submarine Landslides on Continental Slopes: Geohazards, Methane Release, and Climate Change

Cited by 160 publications

References 44 publications

Arctic megaslide at presumed rest

Arctic megaslide at presumed rest

Tsunamis: bridging science, engineering and society

Sediment gravity flows triggered by remotely generated earthquake waves

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