The Late Tertiary-Quaternary onshore tsunami record of nothern Chile and southern Peru: towards the recognition of diagnostic features of onshore tsunami deposits (short title: Chile-Peru tsunami deposits)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hans Heinrich Bahlburg
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2006 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 28034814

The recognition of onshore and offshore tsunami deposits is made difficult by the absence of hitherto recognized uniquely diagnostic features. Also unknown is the hydrodynamical process by which tsunami deposit sediment in both environments. However, the recognition of onshore deposits in particular is crucial to establishing the tsunami record of a basin margin and to evaluating its tsunami risk.- In the proposed project we will study Late Tertiary to Quaternary tsunami deposits preserved on marine terraces at the coasts of northern Chile and southern Peru. We will measure the deposits in the field, derive run-up parameters and sample the siliciclastic deposits for systematic grain-size analysis. Dating of the deposits by AMS-14C, ERS and OSL will establish and better define a hitherto very fragmentary local record which then can be compared to other Pacific margins to differentiate local and regional from teletsunami. The grain-size data to be obtained will improve our understanding of the hydrodynamics of tsunami run-up, the field data will indicate the magnitude of the tsunami impacts at the coasts. The combined data set will finally offer a more representative assessment of the spatial and temporal tsunami hazard and risk affecting the coasts of northern Chile and southern Peru.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Canada, Chile
• Participating Persons: Dr. M. Cisternas; Professor Dr. John J. Clagué; Professor Dr. Hans Wilke