Assessing the validity of proposed paleo-tsunami deposits in Sweden

Abstract

Until recently, the offshore effects of modern tsunamis were unknown. It is only within the past fifteen years that studies have started to examine the sedimentologic and stratigraphic signatures of modern tsunamis in the marine environment. Claims of paleo-tsunami deposits in Sweden, however, predate any knowledge of the offshore effects of tsunamis by more than ten years. These claims are based on lacustrine sediment sequences that would have been at outer shelf water depths during the proposed tsunamis. While numerous claims of paleo-tsunami deposits exist in Sweden, relatively few of these claims are reported in the peer-reviewed literature.The current study re-examines proposed paleo-tsunamis from Stockholm, Iggesund, and northern Uppland and points out a lack of critical geographical, stratigraphical, and chronological data. Additionally, consideration of the Holocene stratigraphy of these locations in the context of what is now known about the effects of tsunamis in the offshore environment indicates that there is currently no credible evidence of paleo-tsunamis in Sweden.