Detailed measurements of thickness and grain size of a widespread onshore tsunami deposit in Phang‐nga Province, southwestern Thailand

Abstract

Abstract Measurements of thickness and grain size along flow‐parallel transects across onshore deposits of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami revealed macroscopic horizontal variations and provided new insights into tsunami sedimentation. The tsunami caused severe erosion of beaches, river mouths, and the shallow seafloor along the coast of southwestern Thailand and supplied sufficient sediment to deposit a kilometer‐wide blanket of sand on the land surface. The tsunami deposits generally fine landward with some fluctuations caused by local entrainment and settlement of sediments. Sediments of medium and fine sand are restricted to a few hundreds of meters inland from their source, whereas finer grained sediments were suspended longer and deposited 1 km or more inland. Although the thickness of the tsunami deposits is strongly influenced by local topography, they generally thin landward. In areas of low‐relief topography, the rate of landward thinning is exponential and reflects the dominance of sediment supply to nearshore areas over that to areas farther inland.