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Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future, Volume I pp 4101–4116Cite as

Birkhäuser

Source Characterization and Tsunami Modeling of Submarine Landslides Along the Yucatán Shelf/Campeche Escarpment, Southern Gulf of Mexico

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Abstract

Submarine landslides occurring along the margins of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) represent a low-likelihood, but potentially damaging source of tsunamis. New multibeam bathymetry coverage reveals that mass wasting is pervasive along the Yucatán Shelf edge with several large composite landslides possibly removing as much as 70 km3 of the Cenozoic sedimentary section in a single event. Using GIS-based analysis, the dimensions of six landslides from the central and northern sections of the Yucatán Shelf/Campeche Escarpment were determined and used as input for preliminary tsunami generation and propagation models. Tsunami modeling is performed to compare the propagation characteristics and distribution of maximum amplitudes throughout the GOM among the different landslide scenarios. Various factors such as landslide geometry, location along the Yucatán Shelf/Campeche Escarpment, and refraction during propagation result in significant variations in the affected part of the Mexican and US Gulf Coasts. In all cases, however, tsunami amplitudes are greatest along the northern Yucatán Peninsula.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA, USA

    Jason D. Chaytor

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA

    Eric L. Geist

  3. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA

    Charles K. Paull, David W. Caress & Roberto Gwiazda

  4. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

    Jaime Urrutia Fucugauchi

  5. Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico

    Mario Rebolledo Vieyra

Authors
  1. Jason D. Chaytor
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  2. Eric L. Geist
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  3. Charles K. Paull
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  4. David W. Caress
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  5. Roberto Gwiazda
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  6. Jaime Urrutia Fucugauchi
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  7. Mario Rebolledo Vieyra
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason D. Chaytor .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey MS 999, Middlefield Rd 345, 94025, Menlo Park, CA, USA

    Eric L Geist

  2. Georgia Inst of Technology Sch of Civil & Environmental Eng, Atlantic Dr 790, 30332, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Hermann M. Fritz

  3. Russian Academy of Sciences P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Nakhimovski Prospect 36, 117997, Moskva, Russia

    Alexander B. Rabinovich

  4. Hokkado University, N10W8, Kita-ku, 060-0810, Sapporo, Japan

    Yuichiro Tanioka

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Chaytor, J.D. et al. (2016). Source Characterization and Tsunami Modeling of Submarine Landslides Along the Yucatán Shelf/Campeche Escarpment, Southern Gulf of Mexico. In: Geist, E.L., Fritz, H.M., Rabinovich, A.B., Tanioka, Y. (eds) Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future, Volume I. Pageoph Topical Volumes. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55480-8_22

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