Abstract
The large tsunami, which was generated by an earthquake on 26 December 2004, affected most of the countries around the Indian Ocean. A total of 48 tsunamigenic surface sediments have been collected from various coastal geomorphological features such as beaches, estuaries/creeks and mangrove areas in the Andaman group of islands. These samples were analysed for sediment characteristics such as sediment texture, granulometric studies. The studied tsunamigenic sediments, deposited by the 26 December 2004 tsunami in the Andaman group of islands consist of poorly sorted, coarse sand to medium sands, and are similar to depositional effects of previously reported earthquake-generated tsunami waves. The tsunamigenic sediment consists of a coarse sand layer with abundant reworked shell and other carbonate fragments. The tsunami sediments were mainly composed of boulders of corals and sand which determines the high-energy environment throughout the study area. The variation in Ф mean size, therefore, reveals the differential energy conditions that lead to the deposition of these kinds of sediments in different locations. The tsunamigenic sediments were mainly poorly sorted, moderately well sorted and well sorted during the post-tsunami (2005) and whereas they were mainly moderately well sorted to well sorted during the post-monsoon (2008). The symmetry of the samples varies from strongly fine skewed to strongly very coarse skewed in the post-tsunami (2005) and post-monsoon (2008). The Kurtosis of the tsunami sediments were mainly Platykurtic, Mesokurtic and Lepokurtic during the post-tsunami (2005) and mainly Mesokurtic and Lepokurtic in post-monsoon (2008).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alagarsamy R (1991) Organic carbon in the sediments of Mandovi estuary, Goa. Indian J Mar Sci 20:221–222
Altinok Y, Ersoy S (2000) Tsunamis observed on and near the Turkish coast. Nat Hazards 21:185–205
Amaral EJ (1977) Depositional environment of the St. Peter sandstone deduced by textural analysis. J Sediment Petrol 47:32–52
Andrews HV, Sankaran V (2002) Sustainable management of protected areas in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. ANET, IIPA, FFI, New Delhi
ANET (2003) Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory biodiversity strategy and action plan. Prepared under the National biodiversity strategy and action plan-India. GOIUNDP:145
Angusamy N, Rajamanickam GV (2006) Depositional environment of sediments along the southern coast of Tamil Nadu, India. Oceanologia 48(1):87–102
Atwater BF (1987) Evidence for great Holocene earthquakes along the outer coast of Washington State. Sci 236:942–944
Balistrieri L, Brewer PG, Murray JW (1981) Scavenging residence times of trace metals and surface chemistry of sinking particles in the deep ocean. Deep-Sea Res 28:101–121
Baruah J, Kotoky P, Sarma JN (1997) Textural and geochemical study on river sediments: a case study on the Jhanji River, Assam. J Indian Assoc Sedimentol 16:195–206
Berninghausen WH (1966) Tsunamis and seismic seiches reported from regions adjacent to the Indian Ocean. Bull Seismol Soc Am 56(1):69–74
Bondevik S, Svendsen JI, Johnsen G, Mangerud J, Kaland PE (1997) The Storegga tsunami along the Norwegian coast, its age and runup. Boreas 26(1):29–54
Bryant E (2001) Tsunami. The underrated hazard. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 320
Bryant E, Young R, Price D (1996) Tsunami as a major control of coastal evolution, Southeastern Australia. J Coast Res 12:831–840
Carver RE (1971) Procedures in sedimentary petrology. Wiley-Interscience, New York, p 653
Cauwet G (1987) Influence of sedimentological features on the distribution of trace metals in marine sediments. Mar Chem 22:221–234
Chakrabarti A (1977) Mass-spring-damper system as the mathematical model for the pattern of sand movement for an eroding beach around Digha, West Bengal, India. J Sediment Petrol 47:311–330
Chaudhri RS, Khan HMM, Kaur S (1981) Sedimentology of beach sediments of the west coast of India. Sed Geol 30:79–94
Chauhan OS (1990) Sedimentological parameters of beach sediments on the east coast of India. J Coast Res 6:573–585
Chauhan OS, Chaubey AK (1989) Comparative studies of moment, graphic and phi measures of the sands of the East coast beaches, India. Sediment Geol 65:183–189
Chauhan OS, Verma VK, Prasad C (1988) Variations in mean grain size as indicators of beach sediment movement at Puri and Konark beaches, Orissa, India. J Coast Res 27–35
Clague JJ, Bobrowsky PT, Hamilton TS (2000) A review of geological records of large tsunami at Vancouver Island, British Columbia and implications for hazard. Quat Sci Rev 19:849–863
Dawson AG (1994) Geomorphological effects of tsunami run-up and backwash. Geomor 10:83–94
Duane DB (1964) Significance of skewness in recent sediments, western Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. J Sediment Petrol 34(4):864–874
Folk RL, Ward MC (1957) Brazos river bars: a study in the significance of grain size parameters. J Sediment Petrol 27:3–27
Friedman GM (1961) Distinction between dune, beach and river sands from their textural characteristics. J Sediment Petrol 28:151–153
Friedman GM (1967) Dynamic Processes and Statistical parameters compared for size frequency distribution of beach river sands. J Sediment Petrol 37:327–354
Friedman GM (1979) Differences in size distribution of populations of particles among sands of various origin. Sed 26:13–32
Friedman GM, Sanders JE (1978) Principles of sedimentology. Wiley, New York, p 792
Gaudette HE, Flight WR, Toner L, Folger DW (1974) An inexpensive titration method for the determination of organic carbon in recent sediment. J Sediment Petrol 44:249–254
Heck NH (1947) List of seismic sea waves. Bull Seismol Soc Am 37:269–286
Hemphill-Haley E (1995a) Diatom evidence for earthquake induced subsidence and tsunami 300 years ago in southern coastal Washington. Geol Soc Am Bull 107:367–378
Hemphill-Haley E (1995b) Intertidal diatoms from Willapa Bay, Washington: application to studies of small-scale sea-level changes. Northwest Sci 69:29–45
Hunter LPS (1979) The surface charge of Suspended particles in estuarine and coastal waters. Nature 282:823–825
Hussain SM, Krishnamurthy RR, Suresh Gandhi M, Ilayaraja K, Ganesan P, Mohan SP (2006) Micropaleontological investigations of tsunamigenic sediments of Andaman Islands. Curr Sci 91:1655–1667
Iida K, Cox DC, Pararas-Carayannis G (1967a) Preliminary catalogue of tsunami occurring in the Pacific Ocean. University of Hawaii, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, Honolulu, p 274
Iida K, Cox DC, Pararas-Carayannis G (1967b) Preliminary catalogue of tsunami occurring in the Pacific Ocean. HIG 67-10, Data-report no. 5. University of Hawaii, Honolulu, p 274
Inman DL (1949) Sorting of sediments in the light of fluid mechanics. J Sediment Petrol 19:51–70
Keller WD (1945) Size distribution of sand in some dunes, beaches and sandstones. Bull Am Assoc Pet Geol 29:215–221
Klovan JE (1966) The use of factor analysis in determining depositional environments from grain size distributions. J Sediment Petrol 36:115–125
Krumbein WC (1937) Flood deposits of Arroyo Seco, Los Angeles Country, California, I. Bull Geol Soc Amer 53:1355–1402
Krumbein WC, Pettijohn FJ (1938) Manual of sedimentary petrography. I Appleton-Century Crofts Inc., New York, p 549
Kulkarni S (2000) Ecological assessment of coral reefs in Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, Wandoor, Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Conservation implications. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun
Lander J, Whiteside LS (1997) Caribbean tsunami, an initial history. Mayaguez Tsunami Workshop, Puerto Rico
Lisitzi E (1974) Sea level changes. Elsevier Oceanographic Series, 8, New York, p 273
Loring DH, Nota DJG (1973) Morphology and sediments of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Bull Fish Res Board Can 182:147
Loring DH, Rantala RTT (1992) Manual for the geochemical analyses of marine sediments and suspended particulate matter. Earth-Sci Rev 32:235–283
Mackereth FJH (1965) Chemical investigation of lake sediments and their interpretation. Proceedings of the Royal Soc 161:285–309
Mason CL, Folk RL (1958) Differentiation of beach, dune and aeolian flat environments by size analysis, Mustang Islands, Texas. J Sediment Petrol 28:211–226
Mohan PM, Rajamanickam GV (1994) Organic matter and carbonate in the southwest continental shelf of India. J Geol Soc India 44:575–580
Mohan PM, Rajamanickam GV (1998) Depositional environments inferred from grain size along the coast of Tamilnadu, India. J Geol Soc India 52:25–28
Mohan PM, Rajamanickam GV (2001) Indian beach placers—a review: Hand book of Placer deposits, Edited by G. Victor Rajamanickam, New Academic, pp 23–52
Mohan PM, Shepherd K, Suresh Gandhi M, Rajamanickam GV (2000) Evolution of quaternary sediments along the coast between Vedaranyam and Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu. J Geol Soc India 56:271–283
Moiola RJ, Weiser D (1968) Textural parameters: an evaluation. J Sediment Petrol 38:45–53
Murty TS, Bapat A (1999) Tsunamis on the coastlines of India. Sci Tsunami Hazards 17(3):167–172
Nakata T, Kawana T (1995) Historical and prehistorical large tsunami in the southern Ryukyus, Japan. In: Tsuchiya Y, Shuto N (eds) Tsunami, progress in prediction disaster prevention and warning. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 211–221
Newcomb KR, McCann WR (1987) Seismic history and tectonics of the Sunda Arc. JGR 92(B1):421–439
NGDC (2001) Tsunami database at NGDC. URL: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/hazard/tsu.shtml
Nishimura Y, Miyaji N (1995) Tsunami deposits from the 1993 Southwest Hokkaido Earthquake and the 1640 Hokkaido Komagatake Eruption, Northern Japan. Pure Appl Geophys 144(3/4):719–733
Otto GH (1939) A modified logarithmic probability graph for the interpretation of mechanical analyses of sediments. J Sediment Petrol 9:62–75
Pande P, Kothari A, Singh S (1991) Directory of National Parks and Sanctuaries in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Management status and profiles. Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, p 171
Papadopoulos GA, Chalkis BJ (1984) Tsunamis observed in Greece and the surrounding area from antiquity up to the present times. Mar Geol 56:309–317
Pita FW, Hyne NJ (1974) The depositional environment of zinc, lead and cadmium in reservoir sediments. Water Res 9:701–706
Rajamanickam GV, Gujar AR (1984) Sediment depositional environment in some bays in central west coast of India. Indian J Mar Sci 14:13–19
Rajamanickam GV, Gujar AR (1988) Interpretation of environment of deposition from multivariate discriminant analysis. Indian J Mar Sci 15:234–247
Rajamanickam GV, Gujar AR (1997) Grain size studies on the nearshore sediments of Jaigad, Ambwah and Varvada Bays, Maharashtra, India. J Geol Soc India 49:567–576
Ramesh R, Anbu M (1996) Chemical methods for environmental analysis. Macmillan India Lit., Madras-2
Rao GN, Yao YD, Chen YL, Wu KT, Chen JW (2005) Particle size and magnetic field-induced optical properties of magnetic fluid nanoparticles. Phys Rev 72:031408
Rastogi BK, Jaiswal RK (2006) A catalog of tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. Sci Tsunami Hazards 25(3):128–143
Sahu BK (1964) Depositional mechanisms from the size analysis of clastic sediments. J Sediment Petrol 34:73–83
Salomons W, Forstner U (1984) Metals in hydrocycle. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp 63–98
Sato H, Shimamoto T, Tsutsumi A, Kawamoto E (1995) Onshore tsunami deposits caused by the 1993 Southwest Hokkaido and 1983 Japan sea earthquakes. Pure Appl Geophys 144(3/4):693–717
Scheffers A, Kelletat D (2003) Sedimentologic and geomorphologic tsunami imprints worldwide—a review. Earth-Sci Rev 63:83–92
Schlee J, Webster J (1967) A computer programme for grain size data. Sed 8:45–53
Schlichting RB (2000) Establishing the inundation distance and overtopping height of paleotsunami from the late-Holocene geologic record at open coastal wetland sites, central Cascadia margin: Masters Thesis, Portland State University, pp 166
Schoettle M, Friedman GM (1973) Effect of man’s activities on distribution of trace elements in sub-bottom sediments of Lake George, New York. Sed 21(3):473–478
Seralathan P, Padmalal D (1994) Textural studies of the surficial sediments of Muvattupuzha river and central Vembanad Estuary, Kerala. J Geol Soc Indian 43:179–190
Sevon WD (1966) Sediment variation on farewell spit, New Zealand. NZ J Geol Geophys 9(1–2):60–75
Shankaranaraya Guptha MV (1979) Sediments of the Western continental shelf of India—environmental significance. J Geol Soc Indian 20:107–113
Shi S, Dawson AG, Smith DE (1995) Coastal sedimentation associated with the December 12th, 1992 Tsunami in Flores, Indonesia. Pure Appl Geophys 144(3/4):525–536
Shimp NF, Schleicher JA, Ruch RR, Heck DB, Leland HV (1971) Trace element and organic carbon accumulation in the most recent sediments of southern Lake Michigan. Illinois Geol Sur Envir Geol Note 41
Stein S, Okal E (2005) Speed and size of the Sumatra earthquake. Nature 434:581–582
Sumaon B, Kenneth P (2001) Gradistat: a grain size distribution and statistics package for the analysis of unconsolidated sediments. Earth Surf Processes Landf 26:1237–1248
Synolakis CE, Kong L (2006) Runup measurements of the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Earthq Spectra 22(3):67–91
Synolakis CE, Fritz HM, Titov VV (2005) Field survey of the Indian Ocean tsunami on Sri Lanka’s south coast. Proc., 5th Int. Conf. on Ocean Wave Measurement and Analysis, WAVES 2005, Madrid, Spain.
Tinti S, Maramai A (1996) Catalogue of tsunami generated in Italy and in Cote d’Azur, France, a step towards a unified catalogue of tsunami in Europe. Ann Geophys 39:1253–1300
Trefethen JM (1950) Classification of sediments. Am J Sci 248:55–62
Turner JR, Vousden D, Klaus R, Sutryanarayana C, Fenner D, Venkataraman K, Rajan PT, Subba Rao NV (2001) Remote sensing and rapid site assessment survey. Report of Phase 1: April 2001. GOI/UNDP GEF. Coral reef ecosystems of the Andaman Islands, New Delhi
Udden JA (1914) Mechanical composition of clastic sediments. Geol Soc Amer Bull 25:655–744
USGS (2005) Magnitude 9.0—Sumatra—Andaman island earthquake, off the west coast of northern Sumatra, 2004 December 26 at 00:58:53 UTC, USGS, NEIC, World Data Center for Seismology, Denver. (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2004/usslav)
Vousden D (2000) The management of coral reefs ecosystems of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Mission report-GOI-UNDP GEF, PDF-B Phase, New Delhi
Wentworth CK (1929) A scale of grade and class terms for clastic sediments. J Geol 30:377–392
Windom HL, Schropp SJ, Calder FO, Ryan JD, Smith RG, Burney LC, Lewis FG, Rawlinson CH (1989) Natural trace metal concentrations in estuarine and coastal marine sediments of the southeastern United States. Environ Sci Technol 23:314–320
Zhou Q, Adams WM (1986) Tsunamigenic earthquakes in China, 1831 BC to 1980 AD. Sci Tsunami Hazards 4:131–148
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ilayaraja, K., Krishnamurthy, R.R. Sediment characterisation of the 26 December 2004 Indian ocean tsunami in Andaman group of islands, bay of Bengal, India. J Coast Conserv 14, 215–230 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-010-0087-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-010-0087-2