TY - JOUR
T1 - Unexpected biotic resilience on the Japanese seafloor caused by the 2011 To¯hoku-Oki tsunami
AU - Toyofuku, Takashi
AU - Duros, Pauline
AU - Fontanier, Christophe
AU - Mamo, Briony
AU - Bichon, Sabrina
AU - Buscail, Roselyne
AU - Chabaud, Gérard
AU - Deflandre, Bruno
AU - Goubet, Sarah
AU - Grémare, Antoine
AU - Menniti, Christophe
AU - Fujii, Minami
AU - Kawamura, Kiichiro
AU - Koho, Karoliina Annika
AU - Noda, Atsushi
AU - Namegaya, Yuichi
AU - Oguri, Kazumasa
AU - Radakovitch, Olivier
AU - Murayama, Masafumi
AU - De Nooijer, Lennart Jan
AU - Kurasawa, Atushi
AU - Ohkawara, Nina
AU - Okutani, Takashi
AU - Sakaguchi, Arito
AU - Jorissen, Frans
AU - Reichart, Gert Jan
AU - Kitazato, Hiroshi
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - On March 11th, 2011 the Mw 9.0 2011 To¯hoku-Oki earthquake resulted in a tsunami which caused major devastation in coastal areas. Along the Japanese NE coast, tsunami waves reached maximum run-ups of 40m, and travelled kilometers inland. Whereas devastation was clearly visible on land, underwater impact is much more difficult to assess. Here, we report unexpected results obtained during a research cruise targeting the seafloor off Shimokita (NE Japan), shortly (five months) after the disaster. The geography of the studied area is characterized by smooth coastline and a gradually descending shelf slope. Although high-energy tsunami waves caused major sediment reworking in shallow-water environments, investigated shelf ecosystems were characterized by surprisingly high benthic diversity and showed no evidence of mass mortality. Conversely, just beyond the shelf break, the benthic ecosystem was dominated by a low-diversity, opportunistic fauna indicating ongoing colonization of massive sand-bed deposits.
AB - On March 11th, 2011 the Mw 9.0 2011 To¯hoku-Oki earthquake resulted in a tsunami which caused major devastation in coastal areas. Along the Japanese NE coast, tsunami waves reached maximum run-ups of 40m, and travelled kilometers inland. Whereas devastation was clearly visible on land, underwater impact is much more difficult to assess. Here, we report unexpected results obtained during a research cruise targeting the seafloor off Shimokita (NE Japan), shortly (five months) after the disaster. The geography of the studied area is characterized by smooth coastline and a gradually descending shelf slope. Although high-energy tsunami waves caused major sediment reworking in shallow-water environments, investigated shelf ecosystems were characterized by surprisingly high benthic diversity and showed no evidence of mass mortality. Conversely, just beyond the shelf break, the benthic ecosystem was dominated by a low-diversity, opportunistic fauna indicating ongoing colonization of massive sand-bed deposits.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84922789027&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/srep07517
DO - 10.1038/srep07517
M3 - Article
C2 - 25515588
AN - SCOPUS:84922789027
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 4
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
M1 - 7517
ER -
