Tsunami backwash deposits on the Algarve continental shelf

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Klaus Reicherter
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2020 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 456667883

• Final Report Year: 2025

Final Report Abstract

Many coastal areas around the world are threatened by tsunamis, but the processes and sediment deposition by offshore tsunamis remain poorly understood. To accurately identify offshore tsunami deposits in continental shelf sedimentary archives, it is important to understand their characteristics. A comprehensive data set is crucial to reliably assess the associated risks, determine recurrence periods and define evacuation zones. Traditional and standardized methods have thoroughly investigated tsunami deposits on land, resulting in a) a sophisticated understanding of the criteria that contribute to the identification of tsunami deposits and b) the fundamental processes that determine the transport and deposition of tsunami sediments. In contrast, offshore studies are comparatively rare, so that certain aspects of tsunami hydrodynamics and offshore sediment transport remain obscure. Given these knowledge gaps, this dissertation aims to recognize and distinguish offshore tsunami deposits on the southwestern Algarve shelf; systematically characterize these offshore tsunami deposits using their geological, sedimentological, geochemical and geophysical signatures; to develop an all-encompassing model detailing offshore tsunami sediment transport and deposition; and to complete and refine the tsunami history for the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, focusing on the Portuguese Algarve coast. Our research focussed on the critical challenge of understanding offshore tsunami deposits, particularly focusing on the Southwestern Algarve Shelf in Portugal. The study was motivated by the pressing need to improve identification criteria for offshore tsunami deposits to refine tsunami risk assessments. While onshore tsunami deposits have been extensively studied, offshore deposits remain less understood, posing challenges for hazard mitigation in coastal regions. Characterizing offshore tsunami deposits, analyzing their geological, sedimentological, geochemical, and geophysical signatures. Two key tsunami events were examined: the 1755 CE Lisbon tsunami and a previously unidentified event from approximately 3600 cal yr BP. The thesis leverages a multi-proxy approach using sediment cores, radiocarbon dating, high-resolution X-ray computed tomography, and geoacoustic profiling.

Publications

• How to interpret Holocene palaeoenvironmental and cultural changes in SW Iberia based on the palynological record from the GeoB23519-01 core (RV METEOR cruise M152). Copernicus GmbH.
  Val-Peón, Cristina; Eichner, Daniela; López-Sáez, José A.; Reicherter, Klaus; Feist, Lisa; Costa, Pedro J.M.; Bellanova, Piero; Santisteban, Juan I.; Bosnic, Ivana; Schwarzbauer, Jan; Frenken, Mike; Vött, Andreas; Brückner, Helmut; Schüttrumpf, Holger; Andrade, César; Duarte, João F. & Kuhlmann, Jannis
  
• Lagoa de Santo André - The Holocene evolution of a coastal lake at the Atlantic coast of Portugal. Copernicus GmbH.
  Frank, Sebastian; Laermanns, Hannes; Pint, Anna; Wagner, Barbara; Bellanova, Piero; Feist, Lisa; Mathes-Schmidt, Margret; Reicherter, Klaus & Brückner, Helmut
  
• Regional study of microplastics in surface waters and deep sea sediments south of the Algarve Coast. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 40, 101488.
  Lechthaler, Simone; Schwarzbauer, Jan; Reicherter, Klaus; Stauch, Georg & Schüttrumpf, Holger
  
• Uncharted archives – imprints of tsunami backwash deposits on the Algarve shelf (Portugal). Copernicus GmbH.
  Bellanova, Piero; Reicherter, Klaus; Costa, Pedro J.M.; Frenken, Mike; Feist, Lisa; Schwarzbauer, Jan; Santisteban, Juan I.; Vött, Andreas; Bosnic, Ivana; Brückner, Helmut; Schüttrumpf, Holger; Andrade, César; Duarte, João F.; Kuhlmann, Jannis & M152 scientfic Team, the
  
• An overview on offshore tsunami deposits. Tsunamiites, 183-192. Elsevier.
  Costa, P.J.M.; Feist, L.; Dawson, A.G.; Stewart, I.; Reicherter, K. & Andrade, C.
  
• Environmental Changes and Cultural Transitions in SW Iberia during the Early-Mid Holocene. Applied Sciences, 11(8), 3580.
  Val-Peón, Cristina; Santisteban, Juan I.; López-Sáez, José A.; Weniger, Gerd-Christian & Reicherter, Klaus
  
• The Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Cadiz as a natural laboratory for paleotsunami research: Recent advancements. Earth-Science Reviews, 216, 103578.
  De Martini, P.M.; Bruins, H.J.; Feist, L.; Goodman-Tchernov, B.N.; Hadler, H.; Lario, J.; Mastronuzzi, G.; Obrocki, L.; Pantosti, D.; Paris, R.; Reicherter, K.; Smedile, A. & Vött, A.
  
• The Santo André lagoon at the Atlantic coast of Portugal – Holocene evolution and event history. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 571, 110366.
  Laermanns, Hannes; Pint, Anna; Bellanova, Piero; Feist, Lisa; Wagner, Barbara; Frank, Sebastian; Mathes-Schmidt, Margret; Scheder, Juliane; Teichner, Felix; Reicherter, Klaus & Brückner, Helmut
  
• A comprehensive review on structural tsunami countermeasures. Natural Hazards, 113(3), 1419-1449.
  Oetjen, Jan; Sundar, Vallam; Venkatachalam, Sriram; Reicherter, Klaus; Engel, Max; Schüttrumpf, Holger & Sannasiraj, Sannasi Annamalaisamy
  
• Archaeological and Geophysical Evidence of a High-Energy Marine Event at the Phoenician Site of Cerro del Villar (Malaga, Spain). Natural Science in Archaeology, 179-201. Springer Nature Singapore.
  Álvarez-Martí-Aguilar, Manuel; Suárez-Padilla, José; Aubet, Mª Eugenia; Machuca Prieto, Francisco; Martín-Casado, Juan Manuel; Feist, Lisa; Val-Peón, Cristina & Reicherter, Klaus
  
• Contemporary pollution of surface sediments from the Algarve shelf, Portugal. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 176, 113410.
  Bellanova, Piero; Feist, Lisa; Costa, Pedro J.M.; Orywol, Sarah; Reicherter, Klaus; Lehmkuhl, Frank & Schwarzbauer, Jan
  
• Evaluation of organic indicators derived from extractable, hydrolysable and macromolecular organic matter in sedimentary tsunami deposits. Marine Geology, 443, 106671.
  Konechnaya, Olga; Bellanova, Piero; Frenken, Mike; Reicherter, Klaus & Schwarzbauer, Jan
  
• Geoarchäologische Forschungen zur römischen Fischsaucenproduktion in Lusitanien: Boca do Rio und Tróia. In: Engel, M., Stock, F. and Brückner, H. (coord.). Coastal Geoarchaeology in the Mediterranean – on the Interdependence of Landscape Dynamics, Harbour Installations and Economic Prosperity in the Littoral Realm, Panel 2.3, Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World 5, 5–25
  Hermann, F., Paul, K., Teichner, F., Reicherter, K., Brückner, H., Vaz Pinto, I. & Bernardes, J.P.
  
• High-resolution X-ray CT-scans as an innovative tool to characterise offshore tsunami deposits. X Simposio sobre el Margen Ibérico Atlántico, Bilbao 07.-09.07.2022, SC9: Registro geológico de eventos marinos extremos
  Feist, L., Costa, P.J.M., Falvard, S., Paris, R., Santisteban, J.I., Bellanova, P., Reicherter, K. & the M152 scientific Team
  
• M152/1 Tracing the unknown: offshore tsunami deposits. Status Conference Research Vessels 2022
  Reicherter, K., Feist, L., Bellanova, P., Schwarzbauer, J., Val-Peón, C., Lechthaler, S., Schüttrumpf, H., Vött, A., Brückner, H., Kuhlmann, J., Costa, P., Santisteban, J.I. & the M152 scientific team
  
• Multi-proxy Analysis of the AD 1755 Lisbon Tsunami Deposits in El Palmar de Vejer, Spain. Natural Science in Archaeology, 389-427. Springer Nature Singapore.
  Frenken, Mike; Cämmerer, Christoph; Bellanova, Piero; Feist, Lisa; Chaumet, Max; Raith, Kira; Schulte, Philipp; Lehmkuhl, Frank; Schwarzbauer, Jan & Reicherter, Klaus
  
• Offshore tsunami backwash deposits – hints through organic-geochemical analysis. X Simposio sobre el Margen Ibérico Atlántico, Bilbao 07.-09.07.2022, SC9: Registro geológico de eventos marinos extremos
  Bellanova, P., Schwarzbauer, J., Feist, L., Costa, P., Santisteban, J.I., Reicherter, K. & the M152 scientific Team
  
• The 1755 CE Lisbon tsunami deposits in El Palmar de Vejer, Spain. X Simposio sobre el Margen Ibérico Atlántico, Bilbao 07.-09.07.2022, SC9: Registro geológico de eventos marinos extremos
  Bellanova, P., Frenken, M., Feist, L., Schwarzbauer, J. & Reicherter K.
  
• The Baelo Claudia Tsunami Archive (SW Spain)—Archaeological Deposits of High-Energy Events. Natural Science in Archaeology, 313-344. Springer Nature Singapore.
  Reicherter, Klaus; Prados, Fernando; Jiménez-Vialás, Helena; García-Jiménez, Ivan; Feist, Lisa; Val-Peón, Cristina; Höbig, Nicole; Mathes-Schmidt, Margret; Antonio López-Sáez, José; Röth, Joschka; Alexiou, Simoni; Silva Barroso, Pablo G.; Cämmerer, Christoph; Borau, Laetitia; Matthias May, Simon; Kraus, Werner; Brückner, Helmut & Grützner, Christoph
  
• Tsunami Deposits in Atlantic Iberia: A Succinct Review. Natural Science in Archaeology, 105-126. Springer Nature Singapore.
  Costa, Pedro J. M.; Lario, Javier & Reicherter, Klaus
  
• Vulnerability of complex Roman production networks on the Atlantic coasts of southern Iberia –the example of Boca do Rio. X Simposio sobre el Margen Ibérico Atlántico, Bilbao 07.-09.07.2022, SC9: Registro geológico de eventos marinos extremos
  Feist, L., Bellanova, P., Laermanns, H., Frank, S., Hermann F., Mathes-Schmidt, M., Brill, D., Bernardes, J.P., Teichner, F., Brückner, H. & Reicherter, K.
  
• Contemporary pollution of surface sediments from the Algarve shelf, Portugal. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome. Session: 2D- Coastline changes under the effects of climate and geological processes: Session 155: Linking land and sea - multiple approaches to investigating human-environment interactions in the coastal zone
  Bellanova, P., Feist, L., Costa, P.J.M., Reicherter, K. & Schwarzbauer, J.
  
• Environmental pollution in offshore surface sediments from the Algarve shelf, Portugal. Gemeinsame Jahrestagung der SETAC GLB e.V. GDCh-FG- Umweltchemie & Ökotoxikologie, Basel
  Bellanova, P., Feist, L., Costa, P., Reicherter, K. & Schwarzbauer, J.
  
• Geología y Arqueología del Terremoto-Tsunami de finales del Siglo IV a.C. que destruyó la ciudad Romana de Baelo Claudia (Cádiz, Sur España). Cuaternario y Geomorfología, 37(3-4), 37-57.
  Silva Barroso, Pablo Gabriel; Reicherter, Klaus; García-Jiménez, Iván; Prados-Martínez, Fernando; Pérez-Tarruella, Javier & Sánchez-Sánchez, Yolanda
  
• Holocene offshore tsunami archive – Tsunami deposits on the Algarve shelf (Portugal). Sedimentary Geology, 448, 106369.
  Feist, Lisa; Costa, Pedro J.M.; Bellanova, Piero; Bosnic, Ivana; Santisteban, Juan I.; Andrade, César; Brückner, Helmut; Duarte, João F.; Kuhlmann, Jannis; Schwarzbauer, Jan; Vött, Andreas & Reicherter, Klaus
  
• Microtextural signatures in quartz grains and foraminifera from tsunami deposits of the Portuguese shelf. Geo-Marine Letters, 43(1).
  Yhasnara, Missilene; Costa, Pedro J. M.; Dourado, Francisco; Martins, Maria Virginia Alves; Feist, Lisa; Bellanova, Piero & Reicherter, Klaus
  
• Portuguese offshore tsunami deposits - a hydroacoustic survey. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome. Session: 1C - Tsunami and marine geohazards: Session 180: Sedimentary record of past catastrophic coastal flooding (tsunami, storms)
  Feist, L., Costa, P.J.M., Falvard, S., Ganther, T., Paris, R., Juan I. Santisteban, J.I., Bellanova, P., Andrade, C. & Reicherter, K.
  
• Portuguese offshore tsunami deposits - high-resolution X-ray CT-scans as an innovative analytical tool. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome. Session: 1C - Tsunami and marine geohazards: Session 180: Sedimentary record of past catastrophic coastal flooding (tsunami, storms)
  Feist, L., Costa, P.J.M., Juan I. Santisteban, J.I., Bellanova, P., Bosnic, I., Albers, S., DeBatist, M., Duarte, J. & Reicherter, K.
  
• Shelf geomorphology and hydroacoustic expression of offshore tsunami deposits (Algarve, Portugal). DGGM Meeting 2023,04.-06.10.2023 Aachen
  Feist, L., Costa, P.J.M., Santisteban, J.I., Bellanova, P., Bosnic, I., Albers, S., De Batist, M., Duarte, J.F., Rodriguez, A. & Reicherter, K.
  
• Small-scaled variations in the 1755 CE tsunami deposits – Observations from a sedimentological trench. Continental Shelf Research, 267, 105097.
  Bellanova, Piero; Feist, Lisa; Mathes-Schmidt, Margret; Frenken, Mike; Schwarzbauer, Jan & Reicherter, Klaus
  
• Small-scaled variations in the 1755 CE tsunami deposits – observations from El Palmar de Vejer, Spain. DGGM Meeting 2023,04.-06.10.2023 Aachen
  Bellanova, P., Feist, L., Mathes-Schmidt, M., Schwarzbauer, J. & Reicherter, K.
  
• Luminescence dating of tsunami deposits from the algarve shelf, Portugal. Quaternary Geochronology, 81, 101513.
  Brill, Dominik; Zander, Anja; Costa, Pedro JM.; Feist, Lisa; Laermanns, Hannes; Reicherter, Klaus & Brückner, Helmut
  
• Mediterranean extreme wave sediments preserved in karst solution pockets in cliff-top sites on the island of Malta. Copernicus GmbH.
  Terry, James; Bellanova, Piero; Feist, Lisa; Mathes-Schmidt, Margret; Micallef, Aaron; Mottershead, Derek & Reicherter, Klaus
  
• Shallow seismic stratigraphy of the southwestern Algarve shelf (Portugal) and characteristics of offshore tsunami deposits. Marine Geology, 480, 107463.
  Feist, Lisa; Costa, Pedro J.M.; Santisteban, Juan I.; Albers, Stijn; Bellanova, Piero; Bosnic, Ivana; De Batist, Marc; Duarte, João F.; Rodrigues, Aurora & Reicherter, Klaus