Abstract
Submarine landslides can be tremendous in scale. They are one of the most important processes for global sediment fluxes and tsunami generation. However, studies of prodigious submarine landslides remain insufficient. In this review paper, we compile, summarize, and reanalyze the results of previous studies. Based on this reanalysis, we discover the giant Baiyun–Liwan submarine slide in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea. We describe three concurrent pieces of evidence from ~23 Ma to 24 Ma, the Oligocene–Miocene boundary, for this landslide: the shoreward shift of the shelf break in the Baiyun Sag, the slump deposition to the southeast, and the abrupt decrease in the accumulation rate on the lower continental slope. This landslide extends for over 250 km, and the total affected area of the slide is up to ~35,000–40,000 km2. The scale of the landslide is similar to that of the Storegga slide, which has long been considered to be the largest landslide on earth. We suggest that strike–slip movement along the Red River Fault and ridge jump of the South China Sea caused the coeval Baiyun–Liwan submarine slide. The identification of the giant landslide will promote the understanding of not only its associated geohazards but also the steep rise of the Himalayan orogeny and marine engineering. More attention needs to be paid to areas with repeated submarine landslides and offshore installations.
Highlights
Terrestrial landslides are efficient agents for the transport of rock, sediment, and carbon [1].Alarmingly, submarine landslides on continental slopes can be more tremendous in scale—up to three orders of magnitude larger than terrestrial landslides in terms of total volume [2,3,4]
Our study suggests that the head scarp of the Baiyun–Liwan submarine slide is located at the the
The Baiyun–Liwan submarine slide seemed to be triggered by other tectonic events e.g., strike–slip observed by Tapponnier et al [46] reveals that the penetration of India into Asia extrudes Indochina movement the500
Summary
Terrestrial landslides are efficient agents for the transport of rock, sediment, and carbon [1]. Prodigious submarine landslides are rare, but can dramatically alter seafloor morphology and sedimentary structure, generate huge tsunamis, and damage offshore. Giant submarine landslides attract immense research interest on the global level due to their geological, due to their geological, ecological, societal, and economical significance. Apart from numerous small-scale submarine landslides, mass transport complexes accurately. Apart from numerous small-scale submarine landslides, 142 mass transport complexes an average of over can be found the submarine canyons of PRMB. We summarize several pieces of evidence and report the world’s potentially largest potentially largest landslide (the Baiyun–Liwan submarine slide, Figure 1) in the South China Sea, landslide (the Baiyun–Liwan submarine slide, Figure 1) in the South China Sea, as well as its scale, as well as its scale, timing, and triggering mechanism. The Baiyun slide andDongsha range ofcreep the Dongsha creep zone, respectively
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