Effective transport of event sediments from shelf to deep-sea through submarine canyon: Examples from the Japan and Ryukyu trench forearc

Large earthquakes and their related tsunamis resuspend and remobilize unconsolidated shallow marine sediments. Some of the resuspended grains form the dense water masses, and move downslope-ward gravitationally. Confined bathymetry of submarine canyon may play an important role on maintaining their density, and protecting dispersion and dilution of their bodies, and further leading the long-distance transport of the sediment grains from shelf to deep-sea. The 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunami made erosion and resuspension of shelf sediments at the wide areas along the Tohoku coast. Although generation of tsunami-induced turbidity currents was reported, there are only a few examples of the shelf sediment transport to deep-sea. Weak development of submarine canyons at the upper slope may explain this phenomena. On the other hand, many turbidites were observed in the sediment cores collected from a submarine fan at a forearc basin along the southern Ryukyu Trench. A lot of bioclastic (carbonate) coarse grains of shallow marine origin composed the turbidites. Deep incision of submarine canyons along the upper forearc slope may contribute the effective transport of coarse bioclasts from shelf to deep-sea in this area. No or few submarine canyon connecting the shelf with the trench floor makes the different source of the trench fill deposits at both trenchs.