Mass flows, turbidity currents and other hydrodynamic consequences of small and moderate earthquakes in the Sea of Marmara

Type Article
Date 2022-12
Language English
Author(s) Henry PierreORCID1, Özeren M. Sinan2, Yakupoğlu Nurettin3, Çakir ZiyadinORCID3, de Saint-Léger Emmanuel4, Desprez De Gésincourt Olivier4, Tengberg Anders5, Chevalier Cristele6, Papoutsellis Christos1, Postacıoğlu Nazmi7, Dogan Uğur8, Karabulut HayrullahORCID9, Uçarkuş Gülsen3, Çağatay M. Namık3
Affiliation(s) 1 : Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Collège de France, CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence, France
2 : Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey
3 : Geological Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey
4 : CNRS, DT INSU, Parc national d'instrumentation océanographique, Plouzané, France
5 : Aanderaa Data Instruments AS, Bergen, Norway
6 : Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, MIO, Aix-en-Provence, France
7 : Physics Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey
8 : Department of Geomatic Engineering, Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
9 : KOERI, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey
Source Natural Hazards And Earth System Sciences (1561-8633) (Copernicus GmbH), 2022-12 , Vol. 22 , N. 12 , P. 3939-3956
DOI 10.5194/nhess-22-3939-2022
WOS© Times Cited 1
Abstract

Earthquake-induced submarine slope destabilization is known to cause mass wasting and turbidity currents, but the hydrodynamic processes associated with these events remain poorly understood. Instrumental records are rare, and this notably limits our ability to interpret marine paleoseismological sedimentary records. An instrumented frame comprising a pressure recorder and a Doppler recording current meter deployed at the seafloor in the Sea of Marmara Central Basin recorded the consequences of a Mw 5.8 earthquake occurring on 26 September 2019 and of a Mw 4.7 foreshock 2 d before. The smaller event caused sediment resuspension and weak current (<4 cm s−1) in the water column. The larger event triggered a complex response involving a debris flow and turbidity currents with variable velocities and orientations, which may have resulted from multiple slope failures. A long delay of 10 h is observed between the earthquake and the passing of the strongest turbidity current. The distance traveled by the sediment particles during the event is estimated to have extended over several kilometers, which could account for a local deposit on a sediment fan at the outlet of a canyon (where the instrument was located), but the sedimentation event did not likely cover the whole basin floor. We show that after a moderate earthquake, delayed turbidity current initiation may occur, possibly by ignition of a cloud of resuspended sediment.

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Henry Pierre, Özeren M. Sinan, Yakupoğlu Nurettin, Çakir Ziyadin, de Saint-Léger Emmanuel, Desprez De Gésincourt Olivier, Tengberg Anders, Chevalier Cristele, Papoutsellis Christos, Postacıoğlu Nazmi, Dogan Uğur, Karabulut Hayrullah, Uçarkuş Gülsen, Çağatay M. Namık (2022). Mass flows, turbidity currents and other hydrodynamic consequences of small and moderate earthquakes in the Sea of Marmara. Natural Hazards And Earth System Sciences, 22(12), 3939-3956. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3939-2022 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00810/92189/