Giant Submarine Landslide on the East Antarctic Margin During the Plio‐Pleistocene
Abstract A giant submarine landslide complex is reported on the George V margin of East Antarctic continental rise. Such landslides are imaged on seismic profiles that display evidence of basal glide planes and headwall scarps. A longitudinal seismic transect, and correlation to nearby drill sites s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115073 |
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| author | Xiaoxia Huang Laura DeSantis German Leitchenkov Carlota Escutia Flavio Accaino Morelia Urlaub Robert M. McKay |
| author_facet | Xiaoxia Huang Laura DeSantis German Leitchenkov Carlota Escutia Flavio Accaino Morelia Urlaub Robert M. McKay |
| author_sort | Xiaoxia Huang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract A giant submarine landslide complex is reported on the George V margin of East Antarctic continental rise. Such landslides are imaged on seismic profiles that display evidence of basal glide planes and headwall scarps. A longitudinal seismic transect, and correlation to nearby drill sites suggest the slide was formed after the early Pliocene. To our knowledge, it is the largest submarine landslide ever identified on the Antarctic margin, with approximately 2,300 km3 of sediments evacuated from the shelf. We propose potential triggers for this slide, including weak layers, fluid and isostatic rebound following ice sheet retreat, although hypothesis relating to the processes has to be tested by direct stratigraphic data. Given the size of the landslide, an improved understanding of whether it was formed during a single event or more gradually during a prolonged interval is critical to evaluate whether Antarctic submarine geohazards may exist in a rapidly changing climates. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-916aee50aa0d4511b3c830cb95f7555f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-916aee50aa0d4511b3c830cb95f7555f2025-08-20T04:02:09ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-07-015213n/an/a10.1029/2025GL115073Giant Submarine Landslide on the East Antarctic Margin During the Plio‐PleistoceneXiaoxia Huang0Laura DeSantis1German Leitchenkov2Carlota Escutia3Flavio Accaino4Morelia Urlaub5Robert M. McKay6Institute of Deep‐Sea Science and Engineering Chinese Academy of Sciences Sanya ChinaNational Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics OGS Trieste ItalyAll Russia Scientific Research Institute for Geology and Mineral Resources of the Ocean St. Petersburg RussiaInstituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra CSIC‐Univ. de Granada Armilla SpainNational Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics OGS Trieste ItalyGEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel Kiel GermanyVictoria University of Wellington Wellington New ZealandAbstract A giant submarine landslide complex is reported on the George V margin of East Antarctic continental rise. Such landslides are imaged on seismic profiles that display evidence of basal glide planes and headwall scarps. A longitudinal seismic transect, and correlation to nearby drill sites suggest the slide was formed after the early Pliocene. To our knowledge, it is the largest submarine landslide ever identified on the Antarctic margin, with approximately 2,300 km3 of sediments evacuated from the shelf. We propose potential triggers for this slide, including weak layers, fluid and isostatic rebound following ice sheet retreat, although hypothesis relating to the processes has to be tested by direct stratigraphic data. Given the size of the landslide, an improved understanding of whether it was formed during a single event or more gradually during a prolonged interval is critical to evaluate whether Antarctic submarine geohazards may exist in a rapidly changing climates.https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115073submarine landslideEast AntarcticaPlio‐Pleistoceneseismic dataice sheets |
| spellingShingle | Xiaoxia Huang Laura DeSantis German Leitchenkov Carlota Escutia Flavio Accaino Morelia Urlaub Robert M. McKay Giant Submarine Landslide on the East Antarctic Margin During the Plio‐Pleistocene Geophysical Research Letters submarine landslide East Antarctica Plio‐Pleistocene seismic data ice sheets |
| title | Giant Submarine Landslide on the East Antarctic Margin During the Plio‐Pleistocene |
| title_full | Giant Submarine Landslide on the East Antarctic Margin During the Plio‐Pleistocene |
| title_fullStr | Giant Submarine Landslide on the East Antarctic Margin During the Plio‐Pleistocene |
| title_full_unstemmed | Giant Submarine Landslide on the East Antarctic Margin During the Plio‐Pleistocene |
| title_short | Giant Submarine Landslide on the East Antarctic Margin During the Plio‐Pleistocene |
| title_sort | giant submarine landslide on the east antarctic margin during the plio pleistocene |
| topic | submarine landslide East Antarctica Plio‐Pleistocene seismic data ice sheets |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115073 |
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