Recent global events such as the devastating 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami, the 2004 Sumatran tsunami and the 2006 SE Asia undersea network cable failure underscore the societal and economic effects of submarine mass movements. These events call upon the scientific community to understand submarine mass movement processes and consequences to assist in hazard assessment, mitigation and planning. Additionally, submarine mass movements are beginning to be recognized as prevalent in continental margin geologic sections. As such, they represent a significant if not dominant role in margin sedimentary processes. They also represent a potential hazard to hydrocarbon exploration and development, but also represent exploration indicators and targets. This volume consists of a collection of the latest scientific research by international experts in geological, geophysical, engineering and environment aspects of submarine mass failures, focussed on understanding the full spectrum of challenges presented by submarine mass movements and their consequences.

Terrestrial mass movements (i.e. cliff collapses, soil creeps, mudflows, landslides etc.) are severe forms of natural disasters mostly occurring in mountainous terrain, which is subjected to specific geological, geomorphological and climatological conditions, as well as to human activities. It is a challenging task to accurately define the position, type and activity of mass movements for the purpose of creating inventory records and potential vulnerability maps. Remote sensing techniques, in combination with Geographic Information System tools, allow state-of-the-art investigation of the degree of potential mass movements and modeling surface processes for hazard and risk mapping. Similarly, through statistical prediction models, future mass-movement-prone areas can be identified and damages can to a certain extent be minimized. Issues of scale and selection of morphological attributes for the scientific analysis of mass movements call for new developments in data modeling and spatio-temporal GIS analysis. The book is a product of a cooperation between the editors and several contributing authors, addressing current issues and recent developments in GI technology and mass movements research. Its fundamental treatment of this technology includes data modeling, topography, geology, geomorphology, remote sensing, artificial neural networks, binomial regression, fuzzy logic, spatial statistics and analysis, and scientific visualization. Both theoretical and practical issues are addressed.

Submarine mass movements represent major offshore geohazards due to their destructive and tsunami-generation potential. This potential poses a threat to human life as well as to coastal, nearshore and offshore engineering structures. Recent examples of catastrophic submarine landslide events that affected human populations (including tsunamis) are numerous; e.g., Nice airport in 1979, Papua-New Guinea in 1998, Stromboli in 2002, Finneidfjord in 1996, and the 2006 and 2009 failures in the submarine cable network around Taiwan. The Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 also generated submarine landslides that may have amplified effects of the devastating tsunami. Given that 30% of the World’s population live within 60 km of the coast, the hazard posed by submarine landslides is expected to grow as global sea level rises. This elevated awareness of the need for better understanding of submarine landslides is coupled with great advances in submarine mapping, sampling and monitoring technologies. Laboratory analogue and numerical modeling capabilities have also developed significantly of late. Multibeam sonar, 3D seismic reflection, and remote and autonomous underwater vehicle technologies provide hitherto unparalleled imagery of the geology beneath the oceans, permitting investigation of submarine landslide deposits in great detail. Increased and new access to drilling, coring, in situ measurements and monitoring devices allows for ground-thruth of geophysical data and provides access to samples for geotechnical laboratory experiments and information on in situ strength and effective stress conditions of underwater slopes susceptible to fail. Great advances in numerical simulation techniques of submarine landslide kinematics and tsunami propagation, particularly since the 2004 Sumatra tsunami, have also lead to increased understanding and predictability of submarine landslide consequences. This volume consists of the latest scientific research by international experts in geological, geophysical, engineering and environmental aspects of submarine mass failure, focused on understanding the full spectrum of challenges presented by submarine mass movements and their consequences.

shallow processes and for the pursuit of more Sediments are now known to undergo deforma tion in a wide variety of geological circumstances. quantitative relationships. With these goals in The deforming processes can happen on a vast mind, workers are increasingly drawing on the scale and at all stages before the material be principles and methods of the well-established comes fully lithified. In fact, as exploration of the engineering discipline of soil mechanics. earth continues, the widespread extent and im All this is beginning to attract wider geological portance of sediment deformation is still being interest. Yet to the newcomer, because progress revealed, for example, below the oceans and has been rapid in recent years, the literature is beneath ice sheets. At the same time, it is still already formidable. The information is scattered, being realized just how varied are the resulting so even an expert on sediment deformation in a structures, and how strikingly similar they can be certain setting may be unaware of analogous to those produced by the deformation of deeply problems and successes in other environments. buried rocks. At the same time, although the same basic prin However, there are few precedents to guide the ciples apply in the various geological regimes, a geologist in interpreting structures that formed in subtly different terminology is evolving, which unlithified sediments, or in understanding the can make the subject boundaries hard to cross.

Terrestrial mass movements (i.e. cliff collapses, soil creeps, mudflows, landslides etc.) are severe forms of natural disasters mostly occurring in mountainous terrain, which is subjected to specific geological, geomorphological and climatological conditions, as well as to human activities. It is a challenging task to accurately define the position, type and activity of mass movements for the purpose of creating inventory records and potential vulnerability maps. Remote sensing techniques, in combination with Geographic Information System tools, allow state-of-the-art investigation of the degree of potential mass movements and modeling surface processes for hazard and risk mapping. Similarly, through statistical prediction models, future mass-movement-prone areas can be identified and damages can to a certain extent be minimized. Issues of scale and selection of morphological attributes for the scientific analysis of mass movements call for new developments in data modeling and spatio-temporal GIS analysis. The book is a product of a cooperation between the editors and several contributing authors, addressing current issues and recent developments in GI technology and mass movements research. Its fundamental treatment of this technology includes data modeling, topography, geology, geomorphology, remote sensing, artificial neural networks, binomial regression, fuzzy logic, spatial statistics and analysis, and scientific visualization. Both theoretical and practical issues are addressed.

With contributions from leading researchers in science and engineering, this book provides a global perspective on submarine mass movements and their consequences. Authors report on new findings from fundamental as well as site-specific studies from around the world. All studies relied on the most recent technologies, including multi-beam sonar imaging techniques, 3D seismic analysis, slope stability analysis, debris flow, and tsunami modeling.