Storegga Slide
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The three Storegga Slides count among the largest recorded landslides. They occurred under water on the edge of Norway's continental shelf (Storegga is Norwegian for "the Great Edge") in the Norwegian Sea, 100 km north west of the Møre coast, where an area the size of Iceland slid, causing a megatsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean. The latest incident occurred around 6100 BC. In Scotland, traces of this tsunami have been recorded.
As part of the activities preparing the Ormen Lange natural gas field, the incident has been thoroughly investigated. One conclusion was that the slide was caused by material built up during the previous ice age, and that a reoccurrence would only be possible after a new ice age.
However, facts and arguments supporting such conclusion was never made public. Earlier it was concluded that the development of the Ormen Lange gas field would not significantly increase the risk of triggering a new slide.
New slides, potentially larger than Denmark in area, and 400m to 800m high, will trigger mega tsunamis and will be devastating for the coast areas around tke North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.
External links
- The BGS deep-tow boomer meets the Storegga Slide (http://www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/z_28_04.html)
- The Storegga slide investigation, including animations (http://www.ormenlange.com/en/about_ormen/key_features/storegga_slide/)
