Evidence of extreme wave events from boulder deposits on the south-east coast of Malta (Central Mediterranean)

J. Causon Deguara () and R. Gauci ()
Additional contact information
J. Causon Deguara: University of Malta
R. Gauci: University of Malta

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2017, vol. 86, issue 2, No 19, 543-568

Abstract: Abstract Large boulder accumulations have been observed on various coasts bordering the Mediterranean and have been associated with extreme wave events such as powerful storms or tsunamis. This study provides an in-depth analysis of 430 boulder deposits, located along a 3.5 km stretch of rocky coast situated on the SE of the Maltese Islands. It includes a geomorphometric analysis of the observed boulders and use of numerical modelling to estimate wave height required to initiate boulder movement. Comparisons of aerial imagery over a period of 46 years have made it possible to identify boulder movement that could only be attributed to storm waves, given that no local tsunamigenic event has been recorded over this time period. Positioned in the central Mediterranean, the Maltese Islands are exposed to potential tsunamis generated by seismic activity associated with the Malta Escarpment, and the Calabrian and Hellenic arcs. Although imprints from historic tsunami impact cannot be excluded, results indicate that the area is exposed to strong storm waves that are capable of displacing some of the very large boulders observed on site.

Keywords: Boulder deposits; Extreme wave event; Storm waves; Tsunami; Coastal processes; Malta (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-016-2525-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:86:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s11069-016-2525-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11069

DOI: 10.1007/s11069-016-2525-4

Access Statistics for this article

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards is currently edited by Thomas Glade, Tad S. Murty and Vladimír Schenk

More articles in Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards from Springer, International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().