Scientists have identified weak, biologically-rich sediments beneath Antarctica's seafloor as the cause of giant underwater landslides that could generate far-reaching tsunamis. These sediments formed in warmer periods and, with current climate change trends, similar events may occur again, possibly
An international team of scientists has found the cause of giant underwater landslides in Antarctica, which may have triggered far-reaching tsunamis. The researchers identified layers of weak, biologically-rich sediments under the seafloor which, due to their susceptibility to earthquakes and other seismic activity, were behind these landslides. These layers were formed in warmer times, when Antarctica’s temperatures were up to 3°C higher, sea levels were higher, and ice sheets smaller.
These formed beneath extensive areas of underwater landslides, many of which cut more than 100 meters into the seabed., the scientists say these weak layers – made up of historic biological material – made the area susceptible to failure in the face of earthquakes and other seismic activity. Through analyzing the effects of past underwater landslides, they say future seismic events off the coast of Antarctica might again pose a risk of tsunami waves reaching the shores of South America, New Zealand, and South East Asia.
By analyzing those samples, they found microscopic fossils which painted a picture of what the climate would have been like in the region millions of years ago and how it created the weak layers deep under the Ross Sea.
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