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Can turbidites be used to reconstruct a paleoearthquake record for the central Sumatran margin?

Can turbidites be used to reconstruct a paleoearthquake record for the central Sumatran margin?
Can turbidites be used to reconstruct a paleoearthquake record for the central Sumatran margin?
Turbidite paleoseismology aims to use submarine gravity flow deposits (turbidites) as proxies for large earthquakes, a critical assumption being that large earthquakes generate turbidity currents synchronously over a wide area. We test whether all large earthquakes generate synchronous turbidites, and if not, investigate where large earthquakes fail to do this. The Sumatran margin has a well-characterized earthquake record spanning the past 200 yr, including the large-magnitude earthquakes in 2004 (Mw 9.1) and 2005 (Mw 8.7). Sediment cores collected from the central Sumatran margin in 2009 reveal that surprisingly few turbidites were emplaced in the past 100–150 yr, and those that were deposited are not widespread. Importantly, slope basin deposits preserve no evidence of turbidites that correlate with the earthquakes in 2004 and 2005, although recent flow deposits are seen in the trench. Adjacent slope basins and adjacent pairs of slope basin and trench sites commonly have different sedimentary records, and cannot be correlated. These core sites from the central Sumatran margin do not support the assumption that all large earthquakes generate the widespread synchronous turbidites necessary for reconstructing an accurate paleoearthquake record.

0091-7613
763-766
Sumner, Esther J.
dbba4b92-89cc-45d9-888e-d0e87e5c10ac
Siti, Marina I.
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McNeill, Lisa C.
1fe6a1e0-ca1a-4b6f-8469-309d0f9de0cf
Talling, Peter J.
1cbac5ec-a9f8-4868-94fe-6203f30b47cf
Henstock, Timothy J.
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Wynn, Russell B.
72ccd765-9240-45f8-9951-4552b497475a
Djajadihardja, Yusuf S.
e4b6fe8a-3cd2-4c81-9fb7-62fe7b8c9346
Permana, Haryadi
b5f42881-f590-449e-b718-506ee3a1d1c8
Sumner, Esther J.
dbba4b92-89cc-45d9-888e-d0e87e5c10ac
Siti, Marina I.
6bdc9c20-dbc6-4bad-b552-f2a90841bfe9
McNeill, Lisa C.
1fe6a1e0-ca1a-4b6f-8469-309d0f9de0cf
Talling, Peter J.
1cbac5ec-a9f8-4868-94fe-6203f30b47cf
Henstock, Timothy J.
27c450a4-3e6b-41f8-97f9-4e0e181400bb
Wynn, Russell B.
72ccd765-9240-45f8-9951-4552b497475a
Djajadihardja, Yusuf S.
e4b6fe8a-3cd2-4c81-9fb7-62fe7b8c9346
Permana, Haryadi
b5f42881-f590-449e-b718-506ee3a1d1c8

Sumner, Esther J., Siti, Marina I., McNeill, Lisa C., Talling, Peter J., Henstock, Timothy J., Wynn, Russell B., Djajadihardja, Yusuf S. and Permana, Haryadi (2013) Can turbidites be used to reconstruct a paleoearthquake record for the central Sumatran margin? Geology, 41 (7), 763-766. (doi:10.1130/G34298.1).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Turbidite paleoseismology aims to use submarine gravity flow deposits (turbidites) as proxies for large earthquakes, a critical assumption being that large earthquakes generate turbidity currents synchronously over a wide area. We test whether all large earthquakes generate synchronous turbidites, and if not, investigate where large earthquakes fail to do this. The Sumatran margin has a well-characterized earthquake record spanning the past 200 yr, including the large-magnitude earthquakes in 2004 (Mw 9.1) and 2005 (Mw 8.7). Sediment cores collected from the central Sumatran margin in 2009 reveal that surprisingly few turbidites were emplaced in the past 100–150 yr, and those that were deposited are not widespread. Importantly, slope basin deposits preserve no evidence of turbidites that correlate with the earthquakes in 2004 and 2005, although recent flow deposits are seen in the trench. Adjacent slope basins and adjacent pairs of slope basin and trench sites commonly have different sedimentary records, and cannot be correlated. These core sites from the central Sumatran margin do not support the assumption that all large earthquakes generate the widespread synchronous turbidites necessary for reconstructing an accurate paleoearthquake record.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 9 May 2013
Published date: July 2013
Organisations: Geology & Geophysics, Marine Geoscience

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 354090
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/354090
ISSN: 0091-7613
PURE UUID: c10f9052-63cd-4224-a693-3bc9820ce7ff
ORCID for Lisa C. McNeill: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8689-5882
ORCID for Timothy J. Henstock: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2132-2514

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Date deposited: 28 Jun 2013 15:49
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:09

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Contributors

Author: Marina I. Siti
Author: Lisa C. McNeill ORCID iD
Author: Peter J. Talling
Author: Russell B. Wynn
Author: Yusuf S. Djajadihardja
Author: Haryadi Permana

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