&amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Brief communication&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; &amp;quot;Does the Eltanin asteroid tsunami provide an alternative explanation for the Australian megatsunami hypothesis?&amp;quot;

J R Goff,D Dominey-Howes

doi:10.5194/nhess-10-713-2010

Abstract

Abstract. The Australian megatsunami hypothesis has been developed over two decades. It charts repeated inundation of the South East Australian coast during the Holocene by bolide impact megatsunamis. The most enigmatic evidence for these proposed events are high elevation cliff-top boulders. There is however an absence of known sources for these megatsunamis, and as such we question whether the researchers may have the correct mechanism but the wrong events. Given the low denudation rates of this passive, intraplate environment, we suggest that boulder emplacement may have been solely the result of the much older Eltanin asteroid tsunami about 2.5 Ma ago.

Highlights

Boulders deposited on cliff-tops up to 33 m above sea level (m a.s.l.) along the coast of South Eastern Australia may attest to the occurrence of numerous Holocene megatsunamis reportedly associated with bolide strikes into the Tasman Sea at intervals of 1:600–800 years (Bryant et al, 2001; Bryant, 2008)
The proposed late 15th century Mahuika Comet is used as a case study to describe the geological and geomorphological after-effects of such impacts (Bryant et al, 2007)
There is no evidence to support the claim of a comet impact in the Tasman Sea around the late 15th century

Summary

Introduction

Boulders deposited on cliff-tops up to 33 m above sea level (m a.s.l.) along the coast of South Eastern Australia may attest to the occurrence of numerous Holocene megatsunamis reportedly associated with bolide strikes into the Tasman Sea at intervals of 1:600–800 years (Bryant et al, 2001; Bryant, 2008). There is no evidence to support the claim of a comet impact in the Tasman Sea around the late 15th century

Results

Conclusion