Indonesian Throughflow as a preconditioning mechanism for submarine landslides in the Makassar Strait

R. Brackenridge; U.  Nicholson; B.  Sapiie; D. Stow; D. R. Tappin

doi:10.1144/sp500-2019-171

Indonesian Throughflow as a preconditioning mechanism for submarine landslides in the Makassar Strait

R. Brackenridge, U. Nicholson^* (Corresponding Author), B. Sapiie, D. Stow, D. R. Tappin

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geology and Geophysics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

37 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The Makassar Strait is an important oceanic gateway, through which the main branch of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) transports water from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. This study identifies a number of moderate (>10 km ³) to giant (up to 650 km ³) mass transport deposits within the Makassar North Basin Pleistocene–Recent section. The majority of submarine landslides that formed these deposits originated from the Mahakam pro-delta, with the largest skewed to the south. We see clear evidence for ocean-current erosion, lateral transport and contourite deposition across the upper slope. This suggests that the ITF is acting as an along-slope conveyor belt, transporting sediment to the south of the delta, where rapid sedimentation rates and slope oversteepening results in recurring submarine landslides. A frequency for the >100 km ³failures is tentatively proposed at 0.5 Ma, with smaller events occurring at least every 160 ka. This area is therefore potentially prone to tsunamis generated from these submarine landslides. We identify a disparity between historical fault rupture-triggered tsunamis (located along the Palu-Koro fault zone) and the distribution of mass transport deposits in the subsurface. If these newly identified mass failures are tsunamigenic, they may represent a previously overlooked hazard in the region.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	195-217
Number of pages	23
Journal	Geological Society Special Publications
Volume	500
Early online date	1 Apr 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1144/sp500-2019-171
Publication status	Published - 2020

Bibliographical note

This work was completed as part of a Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) pump-priming project at Heriot Watt University (PI Nicholson). We would like to thank our partners at Bandung Institute of Technology, and the members of the Indonesian Marine Geological Institute and Geological Survey of Indonesia for their discussion and contribution to this research. We thank TGS and Multiclient Geophysical for permission to publish seismic and multibeam data respectively. D.R. Tappin publishes with the permission of the Executive Director of the BGS (United Kingdom Research and Innovation).

Keywords

EAST KALIMANTAN
TSUNAMI GENERATION
PLATE-TECTONICS
SOUTHEAST-ASIA
GRAND-BANKS
SLOPE
WATER
SULAWESI
HISTORY
OCEAN

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10.1144/sp500-2019-171Licence: CC BY

Brackenridge_etal_SP_Indonesian_Throughflow_VOR
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by The Geological Society of London http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Final published version, 15 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{a738e5bfd6ff4e708d546fcdde4bb67c,

title = "Indonesian Throughflow as a preconditioning mechanism for submarine landslides in the Makassar Strait",

abstract = "The Makassar Strait is an important oceanic gateway, through which the main branch of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) transports water from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. This study identifies a number of moderate (>10 km 3) to giant (up to 650 km 3) mass transport deposits within the Makassar North Basin Pleistocene–Recent section. The majority of submarine landslides that formed these deposits originated from the Mahakam pro-delta, with the largest skewed to the south. We see clear evidence for ocean-current erosion, lateral transport and contourite deposition across the upper slope. This suggests that the ITF is acting as an along-slope conveyor belt, transporting sediment to the south of the delta, where rapid sedimentation rates and slope oversteepening results in recurring submarine landslides. A frequency for the >100 km 3failures is tentatively proposed at 0.5 Ma, with smaller events occurring at least every 160 ka. This area is therefore potentially prone to tsunamis generated from these submarine landslides. We identify a disparity between historical fault rupture-triggered tsunamis (located along the Palu-Koro fault zone) and the distribution of mass transport deposits in the subsurface. If these newly identified mass failures are tsunamigenic, they may represent a previously overlooked hazard in the region. ",

keywords = "EAST KALIMANTAN, TSUNAMI GENERATION, PLATE-TECTONICS, SOUTHEAST-ASIA, GRAND-BANKS, SLOPE, WATER, SULAWESI, HISTORY, OCEAN",

author = "R. Brackenridge and U. Nicholson and B. Sapiie and D. Stow and Tappin, {D. R.}",

note = "This work was completed as part of a Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) pump-priming project at Heriot Watt University (PI Nicholson). We would like to thank our partners at Bandung Institute of Technology, and the members of the Indonesian Marine Geological Institute and Geological Survey of Indonesia for their discussion and contribution to this research. We thank TGS and Multiclient Geophysical for permission to publish seismic and multibeam data respectively. D.R. Tappin publishes with the permission of the Executive Director of the BGS (United Kingdom Research and Innovation). ",

year = "2020",

doi = "10.1144/sp500-2019-171",

language = "English",

volume = "500",

pages = "195--217",

journal = "Geological Society Special Publications ",

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publisher = "Geological Society of London",

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T1 - Indonesian Throughflow as a preconditioning mechanism for submarine landslides in the Makassar Strait

AU - Brackenridge, R.

AU - Nicholson, U.

AU - Sapiie, B.

AU - Stow, D.

AU - Tappin, D. R.

N1 - This work was completed as part of a Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) pump-priming project at Heriot Watt University (PI Nicholson). We would like to thank our partners at Bandung Institute of Technology, and the members of the Indonesian Marine Geological Institute and Geological Survey of Indonesia for their discussion and contribution to this research. We thank TGS and Multiclient Geophysical for permission to publish seismic and multibeam data respectively. D.R. Tappin publishes with the permission of the Executive Director of the BGS (United Kingdom Research and Innovation).

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - The Makassar Strait is an important oceanic gateway, through which the main branch of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) transports water from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. This study identifies a number of moderate (>10 km 3) to giant (up to 650 km 3) mass transport deposits within the Makassar North Basin Pleistocene–Recent section. The majority of submarine landslides that formed these deposits originated from the Mahakam pro-delta, with the largest skewed to the south. We see clear evidence for ocean-current erosion, lateral transport and contourite deposition across the upper slope. This suggests that the ITF is acting as an along-slope conveyor belt, transporting sediment to the south of the delta, where rapid sedimentation rates and slope oversteepening results in recurring submarine landslides. A frequency for the >100 km 3failures is tentatively proposed at 0.5 Ma, with smaller events occurring at least every 160 ka. This area is therefore potentially prone to tsunamis generated from these submarine landslides. We identify a disparity between historical fault rupture-triggered tsunamis (located along the Palu-Koro fault zone) and the distribution of mass transport deposits in the subsurface. If these newly identified mass failures are tsunamigenic, they may represent a previously overlooked hazard in the region.

AB - The Makassar Strait is an important oceanic gateway, through which the main branch of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) transports water from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. This study identifies a number of moderate (>10 km 3) to giant (up to 650 km 3) mass transport deposits within the Makassar North Basin Pleistocene–Recent section. The majority of submarine landslides that formed these deposits originated from the Mahakam pro-delta, with the largest skewed to the south. We see clear evidence for ocean-current erosion, lateral transport and contourite deposition across the upper slope. This suggests that the ITF is acting as an along-slope conveyor belt, transporting sediment to the south of the delta, where rapid sedimentation rates and slope oversteepening results in recurring submarine landslides. A frequency for the >100 km 3failures is tentatively proposed at 0.5 Ma, with smaller events occurring at least every 160 ka. This area is therefore potentially prone to tsunamis generated from these submarine landslides. We identify a disparity between historical fault rupture-triggered tsunamis (located along the Palu-Koro fault zone) and the distribution of mass transport deposits in the subsurface. If these newly identified mass failures are tsunamigenic, they may represent a previously overlooked hazard in the region.

KW - EAST KALIMANTAN

KW - TSUNAMI GENERATION

KW - PLATE-TECTONICS

KW - SOUTHEAST-ASIA

KW - GRAND-BANKS

KW - SLOPE

KW - WATER

KW - SULAWESI

KW - HISTORY

KW - OCEAN

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087348647&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1144/sp500-2019-171

DO - 10.1144/sp500-2019-171

M3 - Article

SN - 0305-8719

VL - 500

SP - 195

EP - 217

JO - Geological Society Special Publications

JF - Geological Society Special Publications

ER -

Indonesian Throughflow as a preconditioning mechanism for submarine landslides in the Makassar Strait

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Rachel Brackenridge

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Indonesian Throughflow as a preconditioning mechanism for submarine landslides in the Makassar Strait

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Profiles

Rachel Brackenridge

Cite this