title: Offshore Evidence for an Undocumented Tsunami Event in the 'Low Risk' Gulf of Aqaba-Eilat, Northern Red Sea.
abstract: Although the Gulf of Aqaba-Eilat is located in the tectonically active northern Red Sea, it has been described as low-risk with regard to tsunami activity because there are no modern records of damaging tsunami events and only one tsunami (1068 AD) referred to in historical records. However, this assessment may be poorly informed given that the area was formed by and is located along the seismically active Dead Sea Fault, its population is known to fluctuate in size and literacy in part due to its harsh hyper-arid climate, and there is a dearth of field studies addressing the presence or absence of tsunamigenic deposits. Here we show evidence from two offshore cores for a major paleotsunami that occurred ~2300 years ago with a sedimentological footprint that far exceeds the scarce markers of the historically mentioned 1068 AD event. The interpretation is based on the presence of a laterally continuous and synchronous, anomalous sedimentological deposit that includes allochtonous inclusions and unique structural characteristics. Based on sedimentological parameters, these deposits could not be accounted for by other transport events, or other known background sedimentological processes.
authors.affiliation: University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Israel.
authors.forename: Beverly
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goodman Tchernov
authors.affiliation: Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Shikmona, Israel.
authors.forename: Timor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: Interuniversity Institute of Marine Sciences-Eilat, Coral Beach, Israel.
authors.forename: Yonathan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shaked
authors.affiliation: University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Israel.
authors.forename: Nairooz
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Qupty
authors.affiliation: Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Shikmona, Israel.|Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Mor
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanari
authors.affiliation: University of Kansas-Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niemi
authors.affiliation: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Amotz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agnon
mesh_terms: D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D049690:History, Ancient; D019156:Indian Ocean; D057192:Tsunamis / Q000266:history*
references.citation: Nature. 2003 Jun 19;423(6942):853-8
references.pmid: 12815427
references.citation: Curr Biol. 2005 Nov 8;15(21):1926-30
references.pmid: 16271869