Scientists have discovered the cause of giant underwater landslides in Antarctica which they believe could have generated tsunami waves that stretched across the Southern Ocean.
Scientists have discovered the cause of giant underwater landslides in Antarctica which they believe could have generated tsunami waves that stretched across the Southern Ocean.
An international team of researchers, led by Dr Jenny Gales from the University of Plymouth, uncovered layers of weak, fossilised and biologically-rich sediments hundreds of metres beneath the seafloor.
These formed beneath extensive areas of underwater landslides, many of which cut more than 100 metres into the seabed.
Writing in Nature Communications, the scientists say these weak layers – made up of historic biological material – made the area susceptible to failure in the face of earthquakes and other seismic activity.
Read more at University of Plymouth
Image: The research vessel JOIDES Resolution surrounded by sea ice as it approaches Antarctica's eastern Ross Sea during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 374 (Credit: Jenny Gales/University of Plymouth)
