Reassessment of seismically induced, tsunamigenic submarine slope failures in Port Valdez, Alaska, USA

By: , and 
Edited by: Vasilis LykousisDimitris Sakellariou, and Jacques Locat

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Abstract

The M9.2 Alaska earthquake of 1964 caused major damage to the port facilities and town of Valdez, most of it the result of submarine landslide and the consequent tsunamis. Recent bathymetric multibeam surveys, high-resolution subbottom profiles, and dated sediment cores in Port Valdez supply new information about the morphology and character of the landslide deposits. A comparison of pre- and post-earthquake bathymetry provides an estimate of the net volume of landslide debris deposited in the basin and the volume of sediment removed from the source region. Landslide features include (1) large blocks (up to 40-m high) near the location of the greatest tsunamiwave runup (~50 m), (2) two debris lobes associated with the blocks, (3) a series of gullies, channels and talus, near the fjord-head delta and badly damaged old town of Valdez, and (4) the front of a debris lobe that flowed half-way down the fjord from the east end.

Study Area

Publication type Book chapter
Publication Subtype Book Chapter
Title Reassessment of seismically induced, tsunamigenic submarine slope failures in Port Valdez, Alaska, USA
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-6512-5_37
Volume 27
Year Published 2007
Language English
Publisher Springer
Contributing office(s) Alaska Science Center, Coastal and Marine Geology Program
Description 9 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Conference publication
Larger Work Title Submarine mass movements and their consequences: 3rd international symposium (Advances in natural and technological hazards research volume 27)
First page 357
Last page 365
Country United States
State Alaska
City Valdez
Other Geospatial Port Valdez
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
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