Canadian Scientists First Directly Measure Submarine Landslides in Bute Inlet; Science Study Monitors Every Second for 18 Days, Slides Last Minutes to Hours
A study in British Columbia's Bute Inlet, Canada, has for the first time directly measured submarine landslides as they happened, the findings published in Science. The team deployed instruments at the Homathko Delta and monitored underwater sediment movement continuously, once per second, for 18 days, recording multiple slide events.
The monitoring showed that submarine landslides are not single instantaneous events but progressive processes lasting minutes to hours: sediment first creeps slowly, then accelerates downslope, and finally accumulates at the base. The researchers said previous understanding of submarine landslides relied mainly on after-the-fact traces and model simulations, and that direct observations will help improve risk assessments for submarine cables and pipelines and inform tsunami warning. Bute Inlet is one of the few places in the world where active submarine landslides can be observed directly.
图中是加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省 Bute Inlet，本研究在此源头的 Homathko Delta 观测海底滑坡。
Source: Science
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图为加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省 Bute Inlet。David Stanley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
