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Sites at Garth's Voe and Scatsta Voe eastern Sullom Voe, Mainland, Shetland.

Sites at Garth's Voe and Scatsta Voe eastern Sullom Voe, Mainland, Shetland.

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All currently known sites in the United Kingdom with evidence for the Holocene Storegga Slide tsunami are described. Information on the altitude, distribution, stratigraphical context, age, particle size profile and microfossil characteristics of the deposits is presented. The tsunami involved a greater area than previously described, reaching a co...

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... Mainland island, Shetland, environmental and coastal change studies undertaken on the eastern shores of Sullom Voe by Birnie (1981Birnie ( , 1993) at Garth's Voe (site 3), and by and Smith et al. (1995) at Garth's Voe and Scatsta Voe (site 4) (Fig. 4) provide evidence for the tsunami when viewed in connection with recent work by Bondevik et al. (2003). At Garth's Voe, a distinctive sand horizon containing fragments of vegetation and lying at 1.63 m (0.83 m) to 1.71 m (0.91 m) occurs within the blanket peat. A similar exposure at Scatsta Voe, lying at 3.84 m (3.04 m) to 3.94 m (3.14 ...
Context 2
... work by Bondevik et al. (2003). At Garth's Voe, a distinctive sand horizon containing fragments of vegetation and lying at 1.63 m (0.83 m) to 1.71 m (0.91 m) occurs within the blanket peat. A similar exposure at Scatsta Voe, lying at 3.84 m (3.04 m) to 3.94 m (3.14 m) was traced tapering and rising inland within the peat to 12.45 m (11.65 m) (Fig. 4). Birnie (1981Birnie ( , 1993) obtained radiocarbon dates for wood beneath and above the sand (but not at its contacts) at Garth's Voe of, respectively, 7870780 (8980-8523) and 5130750 (5987-5745), while Smith (1993) obtained radiocarbon dates from peat contacts with the sand layer at Garth's Voe and Scatsta Voe, dating the lower ...

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... In a review of previously reported evidence for the SST in the UK, it was found that the tsunami involved an area much greater than known before, namely, the 600 km long coastal section from Shetland to NE England. Associated deposits show strong consistencies, a sheet of fine or fine to medium sand with coarser material at the base, fining-upward sequences, and a general fining-landward trend [30]. Run-up heights were found to be lower along the open coast compared to inlets and the SST was recognized as a major marker horizon in Holocene coastal sequences already at that time [30]. ...
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... The submarine landslide triggered at least one tsunami event that impacted the North Atlantic coast. In Scotland, the tsunami impacted around 600 km of coastline, extending several kilometres in land in places [2]. A recent reinterpretation of echosounder survey data of the Storegga slide [3] suggests that the Storegga slide includes two major submarine landslides: the Nyegga slide, which occurred at the end of the last Glacial Maximum around 20,000 years ago, as well as the Storegga slide, with the central section moving around 8150 ± 30 cal. yr BP [4] considered the main contributor to tsunami generation [5]. ...
... As such, they have the potential to inform present day coastal management [7]. Deposits have been found in Norway [8][9][10], Scotland [2,[11][12][13], the Shetland Islands [2,6], the Faroe Islands [14], and Greenland [15]. Studies of palaeotsunami deposits are an important aid in extending the long-term record and recurrence interval of highmagnitude events. ...
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... 5,6, Norway e.g. ref. 7, Shetland 6,8 , and the Faroe Islands 9 . Currents in the Storegga tsunami must also have disturbed the seabed and reworked offshore sediments, but to what extent? ...
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... However, there is an increasing concentration of finer particles and organic matter in the upper part of sublayer 3, possibly reflecting the waning stage between two waves, a pattern that has been found in other tsunami deposits of shallow coastal lakes as well (Bondevik et al. 1997;Bondevik 2022). The low concentration and poor preservation of pollen in the basal sand compared with all other facies of the core are in agreement with observations from tsunami deposits in the region (Smith et al. 2004) and elsewhere (Chagu e-Goff et al. 2012). ...
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... cal ka BP (Bondevik et al. 2012); the Garth tsunami at c. 5.500 cal ka BP; and the Dury Voe event at c. 1.500 cal ka BP (Bondevik et al. 2005), although Engel et al. (2023) suggest a slightly younger age for the Dury Voe event of c. 1.400 cal ka BP. Deposits from the tsunamis have been found in Norway (Bondevik et al. 1997a, b;Bondevik and Svendsen 1998), mainland Scotland (Smith et al. 1992(Smith et al. , 2004Dawson and Smith 1997;Long et al. 2016), the Shetland Islands (Smith et al. 2004;Bondevik et al. 2005), the Faroe Islands (Grauert et al. 2001) and Greenland (Wagner et al. 2007). ...
... cal ka BP (Bondevik et al. 2012); the Garth tsunami at c. 5.500 cal ka BP; and the Dury Voe event at c. 1.500 cal ka BP (Bondevik et al. 2005), although Engel et al. (2023) suggest a slightly younger age for the Dury Voe event of c. 1.400 cal ka BP. Deposits from the tsunamis have been found in Norway (Bondevik et al. 1997a, b;Bondevik and Svendsen 1998), mainland Scotland (Smith et al. 1992(Smith et al. , 2004Dawson and Smith 1997;Long et al. 2016), the Shetland Islands (Smith et al. 2004;Bondevik et al. 2005), the Faroe Islands (Grauert et al. 2001) and Greenland (Wagner et al. 2007). ...
... We carried out GPR surveys in the Shetland Islands to characterize the deposits created by these tsunamis. Initial surveys were undertaken in areas where deposits have been described by Bondevik et al. (2003Bondevik et al. ( , 2005, Smith et al. (2004) and Dawson et al. (2020) to establish the reflection characteristics of tsunami deposits in areas with ground truth. Once the signature of the tsunami deposits within the GPR data had been identified, we used GPR to explore a prospective site where there is no previous record of tsunami deposits. ...
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We use ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to investigate the geometry, inland extent, and continuity of sand layers interpreted as tsunami deposits in the Shetland Islands, UK. Four sites where sand layers within peat deposits are recorded in previous studies provide ground-truth. In addition, we describe survey results from one site where deposits are not exposed, to test the potential of GPR to identify candidate tsunami deposits in areas that are not well documented. Sand layers can be clearly imaged at all five locations because they are interbedded with peat and the contrast in lithology gives a good reflection on GPR profiles, even very thin sand layers, less than 1 cm in thickness, that are beneath the theoretical resolution of the GPR. 2-D and 3-D surveys show that tsunami deposits appear to drape a buried topography. Most sand layers form continuous reflections although some gaps are attributed to later erosion, most likely by streams. Sand layers have been traced up to 150 m inland and 10 m above the present shoreline which is consistent with data from boreholes. If a similar sized event occurred today it would have a devastating impact on the Shetland Islands.
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Tsunamis are a major hazard along many of the world's coastlines. To understand the impact of these events, a sufficiently long record of previous events is needed, which can be provided by their sedimentary deposits. A number of past events have left extensive sedimentary deposits that can be used to understand the hydrodynamics of the tsunami. The ca 8.15 ka Storegga submarine slide was a large, tsunamigenic mass movement off the coast of Norway. The resulting tsunami had estimated run‐up heights of around 10 to 20 m on the Norwegian coast, over 30 m in Shetland, and 3 to 6 m on the Scottish mainland coast. New cores were taken from the Ythan Valley in North‐East Scotland, where Storegga tsunami deposits have previously been found. High resolution sedimentary analyses of the cores, combined with statistical (changepoint) analysis, shows signatures of multiple waves. Moreover, detailed CT scans of the erosional basal surface reveal sole marks called skim marks. Taken in conjunction with the grain‐size and sedimentary fabric characteristics of the tsunami deposits, this indicates that the flow exhibited a high‐concentration basal component, with an initial semi‐cohesive phase, and that deposition was dominantly capacity‐driven. A multiple wave hypothesis is tested by creating a high resolution numerical model (metrescale) of the wave inundation, coupled to a previously published regional model. The inundation model confirms that multiple waves passed over the site in agreement with the sedimentological analysis. The sensitivity of the model to the reconstructed palaeocoastal geomorphology is quantitatively explored. It is concluded that local palaeogeomorphological reconstruction is key to understanding the hydrodynamics of a tsunami wave group in relation to its sedimentary deposit. Combining sedimentological data with high resolution inundation modelling is a powerful tool to help interpret the sedimentary record of tsunami events and hence to improve knowledge of their risks.
... Deposits from this tsunami have been extensively mapped onshore in Scotland (e.g. Dawson et al., 1988;Smith et al., 2004), Norway (e.g. Bondevik et al., 1997), Shetland (Bondevik et al., 2003;Smith et al., 2004), and the Faroe Islands (Grauert et al., 2001). ...
... Dawson et al., 1988;Smith et al., 2004), Norway (e.g. Bondevik et al., 1997), Shetland (Bondevik et al., 2003;Smith et al., 2004), and the Faroe Islands (Grauert et al., 2001). Most likely, currents in the Storegga tsunami must also have disturbed the seabed and reworked offshore sediments, but to what extent? ...
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Since the end of the last ice age, no cold snap rivals the one dated to 8200 years ago. Its oceanic response has been reconstructed in part from sediments in the Norwegian Sea and North Sea. Here we show that these sediments have been reworked by currents generated by the Storegga tsunami, dated to the coldest decades of the 8.2 ka event. From a new simulation of the Storegga tsunami we calculated the maximum flow velocity to be 2–5 m/s on the shelf offshore western Norway and in the shallower parts of the North Sea, and up to about 1 m/s down to a water depth of 1000 m. We re-investigated sediment core MD95-2011, from which a large and abrupt 8.2 ka cooling had been inferred, and found the cold-water foraminifera to be re-deposited and 11,000 years of age. Oxygen isotopes of the recycled foraminifera and the content of sand grains, thought to be dropped from ice bergs, might have led to an interpretation of a too large and dramatic climate cooling. Our simulations imply that large parts of the sea floor in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea might have been reworked by currents during the Storegga tsunami.
... Bondevik et al., 1997). The low concentration and poor preservation of pollen in Unit VIIb compared to all other facies of the core is a common observation made in tsunami deposits of the region (e.g.,Smith et al., 2004) and elsewhere (e.g.,Chagué-Goff et al., 2012). ...
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To assess the long-term hazard of tsunamis, particularly in regions with a short and fragmented historical record, sedimentary deposits of tsunamis are an essential tool. In the North Sea region, evidence of tsunamis is scarce. The Shetland Islands are an exception, as they contain abundant deposits of the Storegga tsunami (c. 8150 cal. a BP), and additionally more fragmented evidence of younger tsunami events c. 5500 and c. 1500 cal. a BP. Sediments of the youngest tsunami (the "Dury Voe" event) have only been found at two sites so far, marked by thin landward ning and landward thinning sand sheets which are vertically con ned by peat. Here, we present sedimentary evidence for the youngest Shetland tsunami from the small coastal lake of Loch Flugarth, northern Mainland. Three gravity cores of up to 91.7 cm length were taken behind the barrier separating the lake from a shallow marine embayment. The cores show organic-rich background deposition with many sub-cm-scale sand layers, re ecting recurring storm overwash and a sediment source limited to the active beach and uppermost subtidal zone. A basal 13 cm-thick sand layer, dated to 426-787 cal. a CE based on 14 C, 137 Cs and Bayesian age-depth modelling, was found in all three cores. High-resolution grain-size analysis identi ed four normally graded sublayers with inversely graded traction carpets in the lower part of two sublayers. An organic-rich 'mud' drape and 'mud' cap cover the upper two sublayers, which also contain small rip-up clasts. Grain-size distributions show a difference between the basal sand layer and the coarser and better sorted thin storm layers. Principal component analysis of X-ray uorescence core scanning data also distinguishes both sand units: Zr, Fe and Ti dominate the basal sand, while the thin storm layers are high in K and Si. The enrichment of the basal sand layer in Zr and Ti, in combination with increased magnetic susceptibility, may be related to higher heavy mineral content in the basal sand re ecting the additional marine sediment source of a tsunami deposit below the storm-wave base. Based on reinterpretation of chronological data from the two published sites and the chronostratigraphy of the present study, the Dury Voe tsunami seems to be slightly younger, i.e., closer to 1400 cal. a BP. Although the source of the tsunami remains unclear, the lack of evidence for this event outside of the Shetlands suggests that it was smaller than the older Storegga tsunami, which affected most of the North Sea basin.