Identification possible preserved 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami deposit collected from Pulot Village in Aceh Besar Regency, Indonesia

Abstract

Identification of the tsunami candidate layers deposited by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 has been successfully performed in Pulot Village, located in Leupung district, Aceh Besar Regency, Aceh Province. Based on a study of tectonic activity before and after the earthquake, Pulot Village was reported as one of the potential locations for finding tsunami deposits. Tsunami sediment is collected by inserting a hand drill into the ground more than 1 m deep. The presence of the 2004 tsunami candidate layers was identified according to the Troels-Smith characteristics. Based on our visual analysis, the prospective tsunami layer is found at a depth of 4 cm with a thickness of 8-38 cm, which is characterized by fine-medium sized dark brown sand deposits on weathered paleo soil layers. The sharp boundaries with the layers above and below it and the presence of organic material (plant roots, stems and anthropogenic material) can also be clearly observed in the tsunami deposit layers. The candidate layer for the 2004 tsunami deposit found will be further studied geochemically using a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument.