Title :

Tsunamigenic submarine landslides along the Xauen-Tofiño banks in the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean Sea)

Author(s) :

Rodriguez, Mathieu [Auteur]
Laboratoire de géologie de l'ENS [LGENS]
Maleuvre, Clément [Auteur]
Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie [ENSG]
Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris [iSTeP]
Laboratoire de géologie de l'ENS [LGENS]
Jollivet-Castelot, Martin [Auteur]
Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 [LOG]
Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris [iSTeP]
d'Acremont, Elia [Auteur]
Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris [iSTeP]
Rabaute, Alain [Auteur]
Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris [iSTeP]
Lafosse, Manfred [Auteur]
Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris [iSTeP]
Ercilla, Gemma [Auteur]
Vázquez, Juan-Tomás [Auteur]
Alonso, Belén [Auteur]
Ammar, Abdellah [Auteur]
Gorini, Christian [Auteur]
Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris [iSTeP]

Journal title :

Geophysical Journal International

Pages :

266-281

Publisher :

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Publication date :

2017

ISSN :

0956-540X

English keyword(s) :

Tsunamis
Submarine landslides
Submarine tectonics and volcanism
Africa

HAL domain(s) :

Planète et Univers [physics]
Planète et Univers [physics]/Sciences de la Terre

English abstract : [en]

The active Eurasia-Nubia plate boundary runs across the Alboran Sea in the Western Mediterranean Sea, where the connection between the Atlantic and Mediterranean water masses occurs. Earthquakes above magnitude M<SUB>w</SUB> ...
Show more >The active Eurasia-Nubia plate boundary runs across the Alboran Sea in the Western Mediterranean Sea, where the connection between the Atlantic and Mediterranean water masses occurs. Earthquakes above magnitude M<SUB>w</SUB> > 6 may favour the occurrence of landslides within contouritic drifts in the Alboran Sea. A compilation of recent multibeam data reveals for the first time the distribution of slope failures along the Xauen-Tofiño banks, in the southern Alboran Sea. Here, we provide a detailed mapping and description of the morphology of eight Holocene landslides, including volume estimations of the failed mass and the related mass transport deposits (MTDs). The most voluminous landslide mobilized ∼0.5 km<SUP>3</SUP> of sediment at the initial stage of slope failure, and formed a ∼2.2-5.6 km<SUP>3</SUP> MTD. A finite-difference numerical model, assimilating the landslide to a granular flow, simulates tsunami generation and propagation for a slide similar to the most voluminous one. Simulations show that the coastline of Al Hoceima may be impacted by a ∼0.5-m-high tsunami wave, whereas the coastline of Al Jebha may be impacted by a ∼1-m-high tsunami wave, only ∼13 min after sediment failure. The 0.2-m-high tsunami waves may impact the southern Spanish coast of the Iberian Peninsula ∼20 min after slide initiation. Although the elevations of the modeled tsunami waves are modest, landslides from the Xauen-Tofiño banks may represent a more dangerous source of tsunami in some parts of the Moroccan coast than earthquakes.Show less >

Language :

Anglais

Popular science :

Non

Collections :

• Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187

Source :

Harvested from HAL