Offshore tractive current deposition: the forgotten tsunami sedimentation process

Following the classic research on the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) bolide impact, a considerable literature has emerged on aspects of tsunami sea floor sedimentation. This contribution addresses the poorly understood area of offshore tsunami tractive flow. Comparisons are made with turbidity-current action and it is noted that—whereas early studies focused on submarine tsunami sedimentation and relationships with turbiditycurrent processes and submarine-canyon evolution—much recent research on tsunami sedimentation has instead focused on processes of onshore tsunami sediment deposition. Thus, the study of offshore tsunami sedimentation is very much a neglected research area.