Poster:
AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California USA, 3-6 December September 2012.
Authors:
Speranta-Maria Popescu, Damien Do Couto, Jean-Pierre SUC, Christian Gorini.
Abstract:
As a preliminary investigation, dinoflagellates have been searched in the Sri Lanka tsunami deposits (2004, Sumatra earthquake). The goals of this analysis were (1) to establish if dinoflagellate cysts (marine algae) are preserved in such types of deposits, and (2) to delimit the inland flooded surface. This work was performed on only 1-2 grams of sands, which had been sterilized at 121°C to prevent any microbial activity. The analysis points out the presence of several marine dinoflagellate cysts with a poor to moderate preservation, allowing to estimate the extent of the flooded area. In addition, a sample provided two dinoflagellate thecae, an exceptional occurrence because the cellulosic form of a dinoflagellate (i.e. the theca) is generally considered as unable to be preserved within sediments. In laboratory experiments, thecae are known to persist between 2 and 72 hours, depending of the species. If we accept a possible preservation of thecae in “peculiar” conditions, their presence in a tsunami sedimentary sequence may sign a precise instant of a tsunami event. Dinoflagellates have been searched in sedimentary basins affected by intense seismic activity: the Black Sea (Quaternary) and Alboran Sea (Messinian – Zanclean), two areas marked by important environmental changes. Marine dinoflagellate cysts are recorded in the Black Sea before its Holocene connection with Mediterranean through the Bosphorus Strait. Their occurrence constitutes a robust support for tsunamis already described in the region. In Late Messinian and Early Pliocene deposits from the Sorbas and Malaga basins (Alboran Sea region), cysts and thecae of marine dinoflagellates have been evidenced for the first time, maybe in relation with possible tsunamis.
This new approach is to be developed on other recent tsunami deposits in order to contribute to identify past tsunami events. One must mention that dinoflagellates may help in reconstruction of past sea-surface physical parameters (salinity, temperature and nutrient content). In addition, pollen grains may allow to identify which forcing caused huge marine floodings, geodynamic (earthquakes, megaslumps) or climate (storms, hurricanes).