The Value of Tsunami Signatures in Marine Geoarchaeological Deposits

Summary

Pre- instrumentally recorded (about 100 years) catalogues of tsunami events rely heavily on written descriptions. While textual evidence provides a wealth of useful information, it is limited with regard to reliability, geographic range, consistency and quality. One way in which these records can be complemented and improved is through the discovery, identification, and description of offshore upper-shelf tsunami deposits. This approach has proved especially successful in recent and past studies at Caesarea, Israel. For example, comparative study between contemporaneous sequences within the anthropogenically-influenced coastal and near shore stratigraphy to the lesser disturbed offshore stratigraphy provides a unique window into the human response to these events and yields important parameters that can better inform tsunami models and magnitude estimations. A range of examples will be provided from recent research in the eastern Mediterranean.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Marine Geoarchaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-1,11