Abstract
Reef-platform coral boulders are produced, transported and deposited during high-energy marine inundation events such as large storms or tsunamis. Documented for centuries as extraordinary features of the coastal landscape, these enigmatic boulders have recently proven invaluable indicators for characterising and interpreting marine erosion and transport processes on shorelines. As such, the examination of boulder deposits has become increasingly applicable to coastal hazard and risk assessment studies, although a number of challenges remain unresolved. Future prospects are optimistic for improving boulder analysis, within the broader scope of developing multi-proxy approaches for investigating the impacts of high-magnitude inundation events on coasts.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Blair TC, McPherson JG (1999) Grain-size and textural classification of coarse sedimentary particles. J Sediment Res 69:6–19. doi:10.1306/D426894B-2B26-11D7-8648000102C1865D
Etienne S, Buckley M, Paris R, Nandasena NAK, Clark K, Chagué-Goff C, Goff J, Richmond B (2011) The use of boulders for characterizing past tsunamis: lessons from the 2004 Indian Ocean and 2009 South Pacific tsunamis. Earth Sci Rev 107:75–90. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.12.006
Goff J, Pearce S, Nichol SL, Chagué-Goff C, Horrocks M, Strotz L (2010) Multi-proxy records of regionally-sourced tsunamis, New Zealand. Geomorphology 118:369–382. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.02.005
Jaffe B, Buckley M, Richmond B, Strotz L, Etienne S, Clark K, Watt S, Gelfenbaum G, Goff J (2011) Flow speed estimated by inverse modeling of sandy sediment deposited by the 29 September 2009 tsunami near Satitoa, east Upolu, Samoa. Earth Sci Rev 107:23–37. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.03.009
Kain CL, Gomez C, Moghaddam AE (2012) Comment on ‘Reassessment of hydrodynamic equations: minimum flow velocity to initiate boulder transport by high energy events (storms, tsunamis)’. In: Nandasena NAK, Paris R, Tanaka N (eds) [Mar Geol 281:70–84] Mar Geol, 319–322:75–76. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2011.08.008
Kelletat D, Scheffers SR, Scheffers A (2007) Field signatures of the SE-Asian mega-tsunami along the west coast of Thailand compared to Holocene paleo-tsunami from the Atlantic region. Pure Appl Geophys 164(2–3):413–431. doi:10.1007/s00024-006-0171-6
Paris R, Cachão M, Fournier J, Voldoire O (2010) Nannoliths abundance and distribution in tsunami deposits: example from the December 26, 2004 tsunami in Lhok Nga (northwest Sumatra, Indonesia). Géomorphologie: relief, processus, environnement 1:109–118. doi:10.4000/geomorphologie.7865
Wassmer P, Gomez C (2011) Development of the AMS method for unconsolidated sediments. Application to tsunami deposits. Géomorphologie: relief, processus, environnement 3:279–290. doi:10.4000/geomorphologie.9491
Yu K, Zhao J, Shi Q, Meng Q (2009) Reconstruction of storm/tsunami records over the last 4000 years using transported coral blocks and lagoon sediments in the southern South China Sea. Quat Int 195(1–2):128–137. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2008.05.004
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Terry, J.P., Lau, A.Y.A., Etienne, S. (2013). Outlook for Boulder Studies Within Tropical Geomorphology and Coastal Hazard Research. In: Reef-Platform Coral Boulders. SpringerBriefs in Earth Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-33-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-33-8_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-4451-32-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-4451-33-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)