Abstract
The devastating 2004 tsunamis that hit the southwestern coast of Thailand pose a serious threat to people along the coastal zone. A major aim for the tsunami hazard prediction is better prediction of the next tsunamis and their impacts. In this paper, we present the first implications of recent slope failure events of the Andaman outer shelf and upper slope based on a new detailed bathymetric data and subbottom profiler records acquired during two cruises of the MASS project in 2006 and 2007. Morphometric analysis reveals a variety of anomalous features, including: three large plateaus surrounded by moats, ruggedness and unevenness of slope morphology, and two translational submarine landslides. Two submarine landslides are studied from the detailed bathymetric data and subbottom profiler record covering the upper slope of the Andaman Sea shelf break within Thai exclusive economic zone. Maximum approximated volumes of both displaced masses are 4.8×107 m3 and 2.2×107 m3. Considering the data, there is no evidence that landslides have been the sources for tsunami hazard potential in recent geological time. These prerequisites will allow better study of slope failure events in the area. Further investigation is required to better understand obvious geotectonic phenomena.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the Leibniz Institute of Marine Science (IFM-GEOMAR) and Southeast Asia START Regional Center for facilitating cooperative research between Thai and German scientists. We acknowledge the help of: Wilhelm Weinrebe, Ingo Klaucke, Sebastian Krastel, Ernst Flueh, Warner Brueckmann, Christian Hensen, and Suratta Bunsomboonsakul. We are grateful to Captain. Chonwat Singnu and his crew who made the cruises successful. The authors would like to especially thank Katja Lindhorst who gave a nice introduction to software KINGDOM Suite, Colin Tosh for English proofreading and Chantima Piyapong for editing the revised manuscript.
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Foundation item: The Financial Support Jointly by the National Research Council of Thailand and the German Research Foundation.
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Jintasaeranee, P., Snidvongs, A. Morphometric analysis of the Andaman outer shelf and upper slope—Implications for the recent slope failure events. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 42, 44–52 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-023-2154-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-023-2154-1