The onshore tsunami record in southern Chile – historical and beyond: Sedimentology, geochemistry, stratigraphy and regional correlation

The continental margin of central and southern Chile (33°S - 44°S) is one of Earth’s destructive margins hardest hit by severe earthquakes and tsunami. The February 27, 2010 earthquake and tsunami was the fifth major event of this kind, after 1575, 1657, 1751 and 1835, to impact southern and central Chile. In this light, the paleotsunami record of southern Chile is widely considered to be well established. In fact, however, only one site at Río Maullín has been studied in detail.- This project will explore and constrain the (paleo)tsunami record of central and southern Chile. In the proposed project, six larger sites will be investigated for their paleotsunami record by trenching and percussion gouge probing. We address the following questions: “What is the historical and longer term sedimentological tsunami record in central and southern Chile”, and “What can we learn about its regional distribution and longer term recurrence intervals?” We will analyze the formation and sedimentology of (paleo)tsunami deposits. Foraminifera will inform on water depths of sediment entrainment during run-up, diatom assemblages will give ecological indications characterizing run-up and backflow deposits. Diverse analytical methods (XRF Core Scanner, Multi-Sensor Core Logging) will determine stratigraphic and regional compositional variations and diagnostic similarities. Key deposits will be dated by the OSL and 14C methods.