Prehistoric tsunamis

Prehistoric tsunamis are tsunamis and so-called "megatsunamis" that occurred before recorded history. The events have been identified through oral tradition and/or geological evidence. Those events that have been identified through contemporary records are listed as historic tsunamis.

List

Approx. date	Location	Cause	Evidence for tsunami
66 million years BP	Chicxulub crater, Yucatan	asteroid strike	presumed^[1]^[2]
35.5 million years BP	Chesapeake Bay	bolide impact	presumed^[3]
10,000 yrs BP	Seton Portage, British Columbia	landslide into lake	presumed^[4]
8,000 years BP	Mount Etna, Sicily	volcanic landslide	submarine sediments off Etna, submerged settlements off eastern Mediterranean coast, e.g. Atlit Yam^[5]^[6]
8,000 years BP	Norwegian Sea	submarine landslip (Storegga Slide)	deposited sediments in Scotland^[7]^[8]
5,500 BP	Northern Isles	tsunami (Garth tsunami)	deposits and contemporaneous mass burials^[9]
4,000 BP	Réunion island	landslide	presumed^[10]

References

^ Bryant, Edward (June 2014). Tsunami: The Underrated Hazard. Springer. p. 178. ISBN 978-3-319-06133-7.
^ Renne, Paul R.; Deino, Alan L.; Hilgen, Frederik J.; Kuiper, Klaudia F.; Mark, Darren F.; Mitchell, William S.; Morgan, Leah E.; Mundil, Roland; Smit, Jan (7 February 2013). "Time Scales of Critical Events Around the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary" (PDF). Science. 339 (6120): 684–687. Bibcode:2013Sci...339..684R. doi:10.1126/science.1230492. PMID 23393261. S2CID 6112274.
^ Poag, C. Wiley. Chesapeake Invader: Discovering America's Giant Meteorite Crater. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-691-00919-8
^ "SetonPortage.ca website". Archived from the original on 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
^ Than, Ker (2006-11-30). "Ten-Story Tsunami Thrashed Mediterranean 8,000 Years Ago". Fox News. Retrieved 2005-12-20.
^ Hecht, Jeff (2006-12-13). "How Etna's Neolithic Hiccup Set Off a Tsunami". New Scientist. Retrieved 2005-12-20.
^ Bondevik, Stein; Dawson, Sue; Dawson, Alastair; Lohne, Øystein (5 August 2003). "Record-breaking Height for 8000-Year-Old Tsunami in the North Atlantic" (PDF). Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union. 84 (31): 289, 293. Bibcode:2003EOSTr..84..289B. doi:10.1029/2003EO310001. hdl:1956/729. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
^ Bondevik, S; Lovholt, F; Harbitz, C; Stormo, S; Skjerdal, G (2006). "The Storegga Slide Tsunami – Deposits, Run-up Heights and Radiocarbon Dating of the 8000-Year-Old Tsunami in the North Atlantic". American Geophysical Union meeting.
^ Cain, Genevieve; Goff, James; McFadgen, Bruce (1 June 2019). "Prehistoric Coastal Mass Burials: Did Death Come in Waves?". Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 26 (2): 714–754. doi:10.1007/s10816-018-9386-y. ISSN 1573-7764.
^ Mega-tsunami: Wave of Destruction. Background article. BBC Two television programme first broadcast 12 October 2000

[1] Bryant, Edward (June 2014). Tsunami: The Underrated Hazard. Springer. p. 178. ISBN 978-3-319-06133-7.

[Renne2013-2] Renne, Paul R.; Deino, Alan L.; Hilgen, Frederik J.; Kuiper, Klaudia F.; Mark, Darren F.; Mitchell, William S.; Morgan, Leah E.; Mundil, Roland; Smit, Jan (7 February 2013). "Time Scales of Critical Events Around the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary" (PDF). Science. 339 (6120): 684–687. Bibcode:2013Sci...339..684R. doi:10.1126/science.1230492. PMID 23393261. S2CID 6112274.

[3] Poag, C. Wiley. Chesapeake Invader: Discovering America's Giant Meteorite Crater. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-691-00919-8

[4] "SetonPortage.ca website". Archived from the original on 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2009-05-15.

[5] Than, Ker (2006-11-30). "Ten-Story Tsunami Thrashed Mediterranean 8,000 Years Ago". Fox News. Retrieved 2005-12-20.

[6] Hecht, Jeff (2006-12-13). "How Etna's Neolithic Hiccup Set Off a Tsunami". New Scientist. Retrieved 2005-12-20.

[stein-7] Bondevik, Stein; Dawson, Sue; Dawson, Alastair; Lohne, Øystein (5 August 2003). "Record-breaking Height for 8000-Year-Old Tsunami in the North Atlantic" (PDF). Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union. 84 (31): 289, 293. Bibcode:2003EOSTr..84..289B. doi:10.1029/2003EO310001. hdl:1956/729. Retrieved 2007-01-15.

[8] Bondevik, S; Lovholt, F; Harbitz, C; Stormo, S; Skjerdal, G (2006). "The Storegga Slide Tsunami – Deposits, Run-up Heights and Radiocarbon Dating of the 8000-Year-Old Tsunami in the North Atlantic". American Geophysical Union meeting.

[9] Cain, Genevieve; Goff, James; McFadgen, Bruce (1 June 2019). "Prehistoric Coastal Mass Burials: Did Death Come in Waves?". Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 26 (2): 714–754. doi:10.1007/s10816-018-9386-y. ISSN 1573-7764.

[10] Mega-tsunami: Wave of Destruction. Background article. BBC Two television programme first broadcast 12 October 2000

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