Simulating Sublacustrine Landslide-Induced Paleotsunami in NW Alpine Lake at the Younger Dryas — Early Holocene climatic transition

Abstract

Mass movements and delta collapses are significant sources of tsunamis in lacustrine environments, impacting human societies enormously. Paleotsunamis studies play an essential role in understanding historical events and their consequences, along with their return periods. This study investigates a paleotsunami induced by a subaqueous mass movement during the Younger Dryas to Early Holocene transition, ca. 11,700 years ago in Lake Aiguebelette (NW Alps, France). Utilizing high-resolution seismic and bathymetric surveys associated with sedimentological, geochemical, and magnetic analyses, we uncovered a paleotsunami triggered by a seismically induced mass transport deposit. Numerical simulations of mass movement have been conducted using a visco-plastic Herschel-Bulkley rheological model and corresponding tsunami wave modeled with dispersive and nondispersive models. Our findings reveal for the first time that dispersive effects may be negligible for subaqueous landslides in a relatively small lake. This research reconstructs a previously unreported paleotsunami event and enhances our understanding of tsunami dynamics in lacustrine environments.

Keywords

Bibliographic record

BibTeX Citation

@article{Zafar2024simulatingsublacustrine,
  author = {Zafar, M. and Dutykh, D. and Sabatier, P. and Banjan, M. and Kim, J.},
  title = {Simulating Sublacustrine Landslide-Induced Paleotsunami in NW Alpine Lake at the Younger Dryas — Early Holocene climatic transition},
  journal = {J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth},
  year = {2024},
  volume = {129},
  number = {5},
  pages = {e2023JB028629},
  doi = {10.1029/2023JB028629},
  abstract = {Mass movements and delta collapses are significant sources of tsunamis in lacustrine environments, impacting human societies enormously. Paleotsunamis studies play an essential role in understanding historical events and their consequences, along with their return periods. This study investigates a paleotsunami induced by a subaqueous mass movement during the Younger Dryas to Early Holocene transition, ca. 11,700 years ago in Lake Aiguebelette (NW Alps, France). Utilizing high-resolution seismic and bathymetric surveys associated with sedimentological, geochemical, and magnetic analyses, we uncovered a paleotsunami triggered by a seismically induced mass transport deposit. Numerical simulations of mass movement have been conducted using a visco-plastic Herschel-Bulkley rheological model and corresponding tsunami wave modeled with dispersive and nondispersive models. Our findings reveal for the first time that dispersive effects may be negligible for subaqueous landslides in a relatively small lake. This research reconstructs a previously unreported paleotsunami event and enhances our understanding of tsunami dynamics in lacustrine environments.},
  keywords = {Lacustrine deposit, Sublacustrine landslide, Dispersive and non-dispersive tsunami models, Lacustrine deltas, Landslide tsunamis, Alpine Lake, Sedimentology, Lacustrine clay sediment, Paleotsunami, Seismic and bathymetric surveys, Lake Aiguebelette, Submarine landslide, Lacustrine carbonate, Submarine landslides, subaqueous landslide, Sedimentological and geochemical analysis, Herschel-Bulkley rheological model, Younger Dryas-Early Holocene transition, Lake sediment, Lacustrine paleoseismology, Lacustrine environments, Lacustrine, Paleotsunami deposits, Numerical simulation, Tsunami, Subaqueous delta, Lake sediment core, Paleotsunamis}
}