A Synthesis of Characteristics of Submarine Landslides Generated by the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake in Six Fjords

Abstract:

Submarine landslide-generated tsunamis were the single largest cause of fatalities in the M_w9.2 1964 Great Alaska earthquake. In the last decade, we studied the submarine slope failures in six fjords: Resurrection Bay, Port Valdez, Passage Canal, southern Dangerous Passage, Aialik Bay, and Harris Bay. The six fjords lie 20 to 30 km above the Alaska-Aleutian megathrust, which provides an ideal landslide trigger mechanism. To characterize the landslides, we used multibeam bathymetry data, pre- and post-event bathymetry differencing, sparker and chirp seismic data, wave runup directions and heights, shear wave velocity profiles, the onland sedimentary record of the tsunamis, observations during the earthquake, and tsunami models. All slides originated at the margins of the fjords, mostly in unconsolidated sediment of the fjord-head deltas(?), and transported sediment to the deepest part of the fjords. The slides transported material up to ~15 km, resulting in slide deposits up to 20 m thick, and a subsequent megaturbidite deposit up to 15 m thick. These slides resurfaced the entire fjord bottom and the resultant flow of sediment and water brought numerous deep dwelling fish to the surface, killed by the sudden pressure changes. Typical fjord sedimentation resulted in conditions primed for slope failures. Fjord-head deltas deposited unconsolidated sediment at the upper margins of the fjords, which composed the majority of sediment that failed during the earthquake. We find that the highest tsunami runups were correlated with blocky landslides that required unique depositional conditions. The Little Ice Age (LIA) occurred between the penultimate megathrust earthquake ~900 yr ago and 1964, with the most recent maximum extent around 1875AD. The LIA glacial expansion led to significant sedimentation at the margins of the fjords. Near Shoup Bay in Port Valdez, in Passage Canal, and probably in southern Dangerous Passage, ice overrode till and sediment deposited in front of the glaciers at the margins of the fjords. In the 1964 earthquake, this consolidated sediment failed, and was transported to the fjord bottoms as large blocks, but did not disaggregate to the extent of sediment deposited at more distal fjord head deltas. These blocks of sediment were particularly efficient at generating tsunamis with high runup.