Explosive eruption, flank collapse and megatsunami at Tenerife ca. 170 ka

Raphael Paris (1) , Juan J. Coello Bravo , María E. Martín González , Karim Kelfoun (1) , François Nauret (1)

1 LMV - Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans

Giant mass failures of oceanic shield volcanoes that generate tsunamis potentially represent a high-magnitude but low-frequency hazard, and it is actually difficult to infer the mechanisms and dynamics controlling them. Here we document tsunami deposits at high elevation (up to 132 m) on the northwestern slopes of Tenerife, Canary Islands, as a new evidence of megatsunami generated by volcano flank failure. Analyses of the tsunami deposits demonstrate that two main tsunamis impacted the coasts of Tenerife 170 kyr ago. The first tsunami was generated during the submarine stage of a retrogressive failure of the northern flank of the island, whereas the second one followed the debris avalanche of the subaerial edifice and incorporated pumices from an ongoing ignimbrite-forming eruption. Coupling between a massive retrogressive flank failure and a large explosive eruption represents a new type of volcano-tectonic event on oceanic shield volcanoes and a new hazard scenario.

Domaines: Volcanologie

Raphael Paris, Juan J. Coello Bravo, María E. Martín González, Karim Kelfoun, François Nauret. Explosive eruption, flank collapse and megatsunami at Tenerife ca. 170 ka. Nature Communications, 2017, 8, pp.15246. ⟨10.1038/ncomms15246⟩. ⟨hal-01636809⟩