Comment on “Lost tsunami” by Maria Teresa Pareschi et al.

Abstract

] A numerical simulation recently published byPareschi et al. [2006a] (hereinafter referred to asPAR2006) suggests the possible occurrence of a majortsunami that should have hit the eastern Mediterranean inthe early Holocene. The catastrophic collapse of the easternflank of the Etna Volcano that formed the Valle del Bove[Calvari and Groppelli, 1996; Calvari et al., 1998] isreported as the trigger of this tsunami that generated apelagic turbidite nicknamed ‘‘Homogenite’’ [Kastens andCita, 1981] or ‘‘Augias turbidite’’ [Cita et al., 1984; Hieke,1984] throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Since itsdiscovery, this deposit characterized by an acousticallytransparent facies on seismic profiles has been related tothe 3500 years old collapse of the Santorini Caldera[Kastens and Cita, 1981]. Several papers published in thelast 25 years followed this interpretation [see Cita andRimoldi, 2005, and references therein]. So there is a generalagreement about the tsunamigenic origin for the widespreadhomogenite deposits, while a big discrepancy exists be-tween the timing of this event and the formation of the Valledel Bove which cannot be younger than 7600 calibrated yr.B.P. [Calvari and Groppelli, 1996].[