WESTERN TASMANIA SUBMARINE SLIDE
In 2019 Dr Martin Jutzeler and IMAS colleagues were successful in an application for a 42-day voyage in March 2022 on board the RV Investigator. The team will investigate the submarine deposits of a giant (450 km3) submarine landslide off the western Tasmania shelf. This landslide is undated and has never been formally identified before; its features suggest that it is a recent event (Pleistocene to Holocene?). They will map, image and sample the landslide from its headscarp on the continental shelf to its distal deep-sea deposits, using seismic reflection, coring and deep-tow cameras. Our team will identify the offshore continuation of the Mt Read Volcanics, with implications for improving the geological map of Tasmania and possible identification of further ore deposits offshore. Moreover, the study will contribute to risk mitigation and tsunami hazard assessment for shelf-initiated tsunami and map the benthic habitat of the western Tasmanian shelf.
QLD AND NSW NEOGENE SLIDES
Numerous Neogene landslides are spread along the passive margin of the eastern Australian seaboard. Our team will collaborate with Tom Hubble (University of Sydney) to characterise the architecture of the landslides and canyons that dissect the continental shelf. This study will emphasise the influence of plate tectonics for triggering mass wasting events, and will contribute to tsunami hazard assessment for shelf-initiated tsunamis.
