Deformation microstructures and timing of a large submarine landslide drilled offshore Martinique (IODP Exp. 340)

Abstract:

Flank-instabilities constitute a recurrent process in the long-term evolution of many volcanoes. A very large submarine landslide deposit (~2100 km², ~300 km³) drilled southwest Martinique island during the IODP Exp. 340 in 2012 is likely associated with one (or more) major volcanic flank collapse of Mount Pelée during the Late Pleistocene. A recent study revealed that this D1/D2 deposit is emergent in its central part, frontally confined, and mainly comprises remobilized seafloor sediments rather than debris avalanche material from the volcanic edifice (Brunet et al., subm).

Here, we investigate the sedimentary microstructures and timing of deformation from the central (Hole 1400B, ~37 km from the coastline) and distal (Hole 1399A, ~70 km from the coastline) units of the D1/D2 deposit, in order to better understand the emplacement dynamics of such potentially tsunamigenic submarine landslides. High resolution CT-Scan analyses were continuously performed on more than 300 m of sediment cores, in order to characterize and distinguish the internal architecture and the complex deformation features of the sediments at each drilling site. The establishment of the stratigraphy, based on δ¹⁸O measurements and AMS ¹⁴C dating, is still in progress and may confirm the possible link between the submarine landslide deposits and the flank collapse scars observed on the subaerial part of Martinique. These new insights into the timing and emplacement processes of this large submarine landslide will have important implications for tsunami hazards.

Reference

Brunet, M., Le Friant, A., Boudon, G., Lafuerza, S., Talling, P., Hornbach, M., Lebas, E., Guyard, H., and IODP Expedition 340 science party, submitted. Composition, geometry and emplacement dynamics of a large volcanic island landslide offshore Martinique: from volcano flank-collapse to seafloor sediment failure? Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.