Tsunamis are water waves triggered by impulsive geologic events such as sea floor deformation, landslides, slumps, subsidence, volcanic eruptions and bolide impacts. Tsunamis can inflict significant damage and casualties both nearfield and after evolving over long propagation distances and impacting distant coastlines. Tsunamis can also effect geomorphologic changes along the coast. Understanding tsunami generation and evolution is of paramount importance for protecting coastal population at risk, coastal structures and the natural environment. Accurately and reliably predicting the initial waveform and the associated coastal effects of tsunamis remains one of the most vexing problems in geophysics, and -with few exceptions- has resisted routine numerical computation or data collection solutions. While ten years ago, it was believed that the generation problem was adequately understood for useful predictions, it is now clear that it is not, especially nearfield. By contrast, the runup problem earlier believed intractable is now well understood for all but the most extreme breaking wave events.

An examination of ancient and contemporary submarine landslides and their impact Landslides are common in every subaqueous geodynamic context, from passive and active continental margins to oceanic and continental intraplate settings. They pose significant threats to both offshore and coastal areas due to their frequency, dimensions, and terminal velocity, capacity to travel great distances, and ability to generate potentially destructive tsunamis. Submarine Landslides: Subaqueous Mass Transport Deposits from Outcrops to Seismic Profiles examines the mechanisms, characteristics, and impacts of submarine landslides. Volume highlights include: Use of different methodological approaches, from geophysics to field-based geology Data on submarine landslide deposits at various scales Worldwide collection of case studies from on- and off-shore Potential risks to human society and infrastructure Impacts on the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and lithosphere

An examination of ancient and contemporary submarine landslides and their impact Landslides are common in every subaqueous geodynamic context, from passive and active continental margins to oceanic and continental intraplate settings. They pose significant threats to both offshore and coastal areas due to their frequency, dimensions, and terminal velocity, capacity to travel great distances, and ability to generate potentially destructive tsunamis. Submarine Landslides: Subaqueous Mass Transport Deposits from Outcrops to Seismic Profiles examines the mechanisms, characteristics, and impacts of submarine landslides. Volume highlights include: Use of different methodological approaches, from geophysics to field-based geology Data on submarine landslide deposits at various scales Worldwide collection of case studies from on- and off-shore Potential risks to human society and infrastructure Impacts on the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and lithosphere

Tsunamis are water waves triggered by impulsive geologic events such as sea floor deformation, landslides, slumps, subsidence, volcanic eruptions and bolide impacts. Tsunamis can inflict significant damage and casualties both nearfield and after evolving over long propagation distances and impacting distant coastlines. Tsunamis can also effect geomorphologic changes along the coast. Understanding tsunami generation and evolution is of paramount importance for protecting coastal population at risk, coastal structures and the natural environment. Accurately and reliably predicting the initial waveform and the associated coastal effects of tsunamis remains one of the most vexing problems in geophysics, and -with few exceptions- has resisted routine numerical computation or data collection solutions. While ten years ago, it was believed that the generation problem was adequately understood for useful predictions, it is now clear that it is not, especially nearfield. By contrast, the runup problem earlier believed intractable is now well understood for all but the most extreme breaking wave events.

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.

This book on the current state of knowledge of submarine geomorphology aims to achieve the goals of the Submarine Geomorphology working group, set up in 2013, by establishing submarine geomorphology as a field of research, disseminating its concepts and techniques among earth scientists and professionals, and encouraging students to develop their skills and knowledge in this field. Editors have invited 30 experts from around the world to contribute chapters to this book, which is divided into 4 sections – (i) Introduction & history, (ii) Data & methods, (ii) Submarine landforms & processes and (iv) Conclusions & future directions. Each chapter provides a review of a topic, establishes the state-of-the-art, identifies the key research questions that need to be addressed, and delineates a strategy on how to achieve this. Submarine geomorphology is a priority for many research institutions, government authorities and industries globally. The book is useful for undergraduate and graduate students, and professionals with limited training in this field.