Tsunamigenic submarine landslides along the Xauen-Tofiño banks in the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean Sea)

Abstract

The active Eurasia-Nubia plate boundary runs across the Alboran Sea in theWestern Mediterranean Sea, where the connection between the Atlantic and Mediterranean water masses occurs. Earthquakes above magnitude Mw > 6 may favour the occurrence of landslides within contouritic drifts in the Alboran Sea. A compilation of recent multibeam data reveals for the first time the distribution of slope failures along the Xauen-Tofiño banks, in the southern Alboran Sea. Here, we provide a detailed mapping and description of the morphology of eight Holocene landslides, including volume estimations of the failed mass and the related mass transport deposits (MTDs). The most voluminous landslide mobilized ~0.5 km3 of sediment at the initial stage of slope failure, and formed a ~2.2-5.6 km3 MTD. A finite-difference numerical model, assimilating the landslide to a granular flow, simulates tsunami generation and propagation for a slide similar to the most voluminous one. Simulations show that the coastline of Al Hoceima may be impacted by a ~0.5-m-high tsunami wave, whereas the coastline of Al Jebha may be impacted by a ~1-m-high tsunami wave, only ~13 min after sediment failure. The 0.2-m-high tsunami waves may impact the southern Spanish coast of the Iberian Peninsula ~20 min after slide initiation. Although the elevations of the modeled tsunami waves are modest, landslides from the Xauen-Tofiño banks may represent a more dangerous source of tsunami in some parts of the Moroccan coast than earthquakes.