The sedimentary

inventory
tsunamis
Zeitschrift fr Geomorphologie
Vol. 54,
Suppl. 3,of147-173
Stuttgart, Juli 2010

147

Article

The sedimentary inventory of tsunamis along the southern Gulf of

Cdiz (southwestern Spain)
Klaus Reicherter, David Vonberg, Benjamin Koster, Toms Fernndez-Steeger,
Christoph Grtzner and Margret Mathes-Schmidt
with 18 gures
Abstract. Outcrop evidence and shallow percussion drilling in coastal areas proved sedimentary
evidence for paleo-tsunamis along a 50 km long segment of the Atlantic coast of southern Spain. The
coast between Barbate and Tarifa yielded several depositional environments to preserve tsunamigenic
layers, both on top of rocky clis as well as in lagoons, marshlands and along sedimentary beaches.
Also, we focused on bays with river inlets, which are most probably sheltered from direct tsunami
wave action. In these bays, the Roman villages of Baelo Claudia and Mellaria are situated. We found
no evidence for tsunamigenic sediments there.
On the other side, the ndings of an enigmatic, most probable tsunamite has been encountered
upon the cli along the Barbarte-Zahara de los Atunes beach in various heights above mean sea level.
Because only one dark-colored ning-up layer with a paleocurrent direction towards the sea has
been found directly resting on folded Betic substratum, we interpret this layer as tsunamigenic back
wash sediments. The last major event that aected severely the coast of the Gulf of Cdiz was the
1755 Lisbon tsunami. Reportedly, wave heights reached > 10 m in the study area. So, it is likely that
coastal changes and deposition of tsunamigenic sediments in this area occurred, being attributed to
this 1755 event. However, also older sedimentary relicts of tsunamis have to be taken into account,
because sedimentary cores yield evidence for multiple intercalations.
Key words: 1755 Lisbon tsunami, tsunamites, back wash sediments, Gulf of Cdiz

1 Introduction
On November 1st, 1755 at 9.40 a.m. one of the most remarkable and destructive earthquakes
occurred in the East Atlantic Ocean o Portugal, leaving Lisbon and other cities completely
destroyed. The tsunami triggered by the earthquake devastated the entire Atlantic coastline
from central Portugal far down south to Morocco; also parts of the Atlantic archipelagos
of Madeira, Azores and Canaries were aected (Bryant 2007). A vast amount of literature
has been published on the seismogenic sources, economic and societal consequences of this
earthquake (e.g. Bryant 2007, Baptista et al. 1998), as well as reports on the wave action
of the tsunami (see Kortekaas & Dawson 2007) and also the wide-spread and highly variable deposits of the tsunami (e.g., Dawson et al. 1995, Dabrio et al. 1998; Hindson et
al. 1999; Luque et al. 2001, 2002; Alonso-Villalobos et al. 2003; Whelan & Kelletat
2005; Gracia et al. 2006; Becker-Heidmann et al. 2007; Kortekaas & Dawson 2007;
Mhammdi et al. 2008; Kaabouben et al. 2009).
The Gibraltar-Azores major fault and plate boundary between the African and the
Eurasian plates has produced several tsunamis in historical times, e.g. in 218 BC/216 BC,
210 BC, 209 BC, 60 BC, 382 AD, 881 AD, 1531 AD, 1731 AD, 1969 AD (after Bryant
2007). However, sedimentary evidence has been provided only for an event with an age of
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DOI: 10.1127/0372-8854/2010/0054S3-0023
0372-8854/10/5403-0023 $ 6.75

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approx. 2300 yr BP in the Valdelagrana area near Cdiz (Luque et al. 2002). These authors
argued that the extent of the 2300 yr BP tsunamite, the impact and the morphological
changes along the coast are of a comparable intensity and magnitude of the Lisbon 1755
tsunami. Remains of the other tsunami events have not been found to date, which is important to note, because the age assessment of the layers described in this study is relative and
refers only to the youngest preserved tsunamites.
We will not discuss the cause and source of the Lisbon 1755 event, but we need to
keep in mind some observations during the event: in Lisbon harbor 18 individual waves
were described, probably secondary waves generated by reections in the estuary setting of
the Tejo river. Along the Algarve coast sedimentary evidence for three major waves were
found by Kortekaas & Dawson (2007), and which was clearly distinguishable from storm
deposits. The historically reported wave heights vary signicantly along the coast: Lisbon
620 m; Cabo So Vicente 1530 m; Algarve 913 m; Cdiz and Huelva 420 m; Tarifa
11 m; Gibraltar 2 m; Tangiers 10 m (data and references in Whelan & Kelletat 2005). At
Cape Trafalgar, boulder deposits were described at a height of 19 m a.s.l. and attributed to
the Lisbon 1755 event. The entire tombolo of the Cape Trafalgar was most probably completely washed over by the tsunami (Whelan & Kelletat 2005). All these descriptions
suggest that the coastline between Barbate and Tarifa was hit by at least one historic tsunami
with a considerable vertical run-up (ca. 10 m) and accompanied by far reaching horizontal
ingressions in the marshlands (Fig. 1). The mean tidal range in this area of the Gulf of Cdiz

Fig. 1. Topographic map of the study area in southern Spain and studied localities; arrows indicate
direction of tsunami waves of the 1755 Lisbon event, numbers give vertical run-up (modied from
Gracia et al. 2006). White squares indicate detailed maps of Figs. 2 and 15.

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varies between 1.5 and 2.39 m, mean spring tidal level is 3.71 m (Gutirrez-Mas et al.
2003). Rare winter storms have been observed with around 1.5 m wave height (Gracia
et al. 2006).
2 Historical tsunamis along the Gulf of Cdiz
The Gulf of Cdiz and the Portuguese and Spanish coasts are a classical European site
for tsunami deposits. Earlier works provide evidence for the 1755 Lisbon tsunami at the
Valdelagrana spit bar near Cdiz, where wash-over fans were recognized (Luque et al.
2002). Also, Luque et al. (2002) found evidence for an older, Roman tsunami (2300 yr
BP) in the same area. Whelan & Kelletat (2005) described larger boulder deposits at the
Cape Trafalgar, and attributed those to the 1755 Lisbon tsunami. The same deposits were
interpreted by Gracia et al. (2006) as tsunamites, and they described a run-up height (vertical run-up) of > 19 m in that area. Further south in the Bolonia Bay, Alonso-Villalobos
et al. (2003) described wash-over deposits in the Arroyo de Alpariate with an age of
21501825 yr BP. Later, Becker-Heidmann et al. (2007) dated thick sand deposits (at
about 4 m above mean sea level) and interpreted them as probable tsunamigenic sediments.
However, the charcoal yielded ages of 455475 35 BP, and are approximately 200 years
older than the Lisbon event. Possibly, the charcoal has been reworked during wave action.
Other tsunami deposits in the Bolonia Bay were described by Gracia et al. (2006), which
constitute block elds. These block elds have unfortunately not been dated. Near Tarifa,
in the Marismas of the Ro Jara, historical damage of buildings (bridges) and geomorphological and geological mapping of Gracia et al. (2006) evidenced as well deposits here
wash-over fans of the Lisbon tsunami. Also, these deposits were not dated.
During our eld campaigns from 2006 to 2009 we studied the coast between Barbate
and Tarifa of the Atlantic coast of southern Spain (Fig. 1), both on top of rocky clis as
well as in lagoons and along sedimentary beaches (Marismas de Barbate and Zahara de
los Atunes, Los Lances N of Tarifa). Also, we focused on bays (Bolonia, Valdevaqueros),
which are most probably sheltered from direct tsunami wave action. However, reections
and diractions of the waves may occur and may hit these areas. In these bays, the Roman
villages of Baelo Claudia and Mellaria, respectively, are situated (e.g. Silva et al. 2006,
2009).
Here, we describe new ndings of tsunami deposits along the coast between Barbate
and Tarifa. We have found extraordinary back wash sediments, and we will give a sedimentary description of those.
2.1 Site description
Marismas de Barbate: The marshlands of Barbate (Marismas de Barbate, Fig. 2) have only
little elevation of about 0 to 1 m above mean sea level and are ooded permanently by the
tide. The salt marsh is intensely inuenced by human activity and alteration (MuozPrez et al. 2002). In the meantime, a project for the restoration of this unique faunal and
oral refuge closing down an open garbage dump was very successful. The plain at area

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Fig. 2. Locality map of the drilling in the Marismas de Barbate, including the beach sections (stippled
box, see Figs. 6 and 7). For location see Fig. 1. Stippled line indicates max. horizontal run-up based
on topography and drill core evidence.

with tidal channels serves as an ideal tsunamite reservoir. We used a percussion coring tool
with an open window sampler to obtain samples. Three cores were drilled here, we reached
depths of > 5 m. Drill cores 7 (N3610419/W00553683, 5 m a.s.l.) and 8 (N3611209/
W00554177, 1.5 m a.s.l.) were successful; a third site (N3611041/W00553122) in the
ancient garbage dump was stopped after 4 m, because of recent anthropogenic material in
the core (plastics and glass shards), and failed. After core description, the same site was drilled
with a sampler with PVC liners for lab analyses. The cores in the liners underwent magnetic
susceptibility measurements and grain size analyses (Figs. 3a and 5a). Three ning-up and
thinning-up sequences were detected between 1.64 and 1.95 m in core 7 (Fig. 3a, legend
in Fig. 3b), all with erosive bases. A variety of benthic and planktic foraminifera from different bathymetric depths were found in the sieve residues (Ammonia sp., Cibicides sp.,

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Elphidium crispum, Miliolida sp., Globigerina sp., Quinqueloculina seminulum, Triloculina

sp.). Usually, the tests of the foraminifera are well preserved. Some, like Elphidium crispum,
show slight abrasion of the test. Other foraminifera are Cretaceous or Tertiary forms, which
are reworked from the basement rocks. Some samples contained large amounts of sponge
spicules. Also, coastal shallow-water fauna, like lamellibranches and gastropods are contained, partly broken. Grain size analyses of this interval (Fig. 5a) demonstrated a ning-up.
Magnetic susceptibility does not show any peculiar excursions, with the exception of the
bases of the rst two ning-up sequences (Fig. 3a), which mark a major erosive contact with
a coarse-grained base. The litholog of core 8 varies slightly from core 7, because of two
reasons: rstly, it was taken in the middle of the marshlands (Fig. 2), and secondly, elevation
is only 1.5 m a.s.l. In this core above 1.43 m clayey organic rich-sediments of the marsh
were drilled (Fig. 4). Between 1.43 and 2.00 m, a thick ning-up layer was encountered.
Below this event, mainly sands and conglomerates were found with some intercalations of
clayey sediments, which are found on top of a ning-up layer (2.302.39 m). The basal section of this core yields most probably two ning-up sequences with a large variety of microorganisms (Fig. 4). Again, grain size analyses revealed a ning-up tendency (Fig. 5c, samples
2 and 3). In summary, the sedimentary inventory of cores 7 and 8 provided evidence for
tsunamigenic layers, in core 8 most probably two subsequent sedimentary events layers
were encountered. Age dating of charcoal and biogenic material is currently in progress.
Beach section between Barbate and Zahara de los Atunes: The 5 km long rocky cli
was mapped, leveled and sampled (including sediment transfer preparations, STP). We
have surprisingly found only one sedimentary layer on top of the basement at the cli, in
varying altitudes between 1 and 4.5 m above mean sea level (Figs. 2 and 6). The basement
consists of Cretaceous to Eocene ysch deposits (mainly variegated marls and sandstones)
or MIS 5 terraces (Tyrrhenian, MIS 5 c and e) of approx. 125 kyr (brownish calcarenitic
sandstones; Zazo et al. 1999). The dark sandy layer of about 1 m thickness constitutes a
ning-up sequence with a coarse-grained base with conglomerates, shell debris and charcoal
(Fig. 6). These deposits are channeled (Fig. 7A), and clasts are imbricated (Fig. 7B), paleoow direction is towards the Atlantic. As the beach sands are white to yellowish (Fig. 6),
and the layer is dark, organic- and clay mineral-rich, but sandy, with shell debris and wellrounded cobbles of the basement. Detailed lithologs of the layers above the basement
and samples were taken at four localities along the coast (Fig. 8; Prole 1 at N 3609,963
W 553,153, prole 2 at N 3609,965 W 553,179, prole 3 at N 3610,058 W5 53,350,
and prole 4 at N36, 10,114 W 553,413). All proles have ning-up layers with varying thickness, the event layer usually consists of one ning-up cycle and is between 1.25
and 0.56 m thick (Fig. 9). The base of the layer is made up of coarse-grained material
and contains large shells (Acanthocardia tuberculata and A. aculeata, Glycimeris glycimeris,
gastropods) and subangular to rounded sandstones of the basement and brownish calcarenites of the MIS 5 terraces.
The sediment transfer preparations of the peculiar tsunamigenic layer (STP, ber glass
mats with varnish) from the clis were subject to magnetic susceptibility (MS) measurements in the lab (Fig. 10). The magnetic susceptibility can be used to distinguish materials
from dierent origins (e.g., Da Silva et al. 2009; Ellwood et al. 2000; Mullins 1977),

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Fig. 3: a) Litholog of drill core 7 (location in Fig. 2), numbers on the right side indicate sample
intervals for grain size analysis and wash samples, the blue line is the measured magnetic susceptibility.

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Fig. 3: b) Legend for the drill cores.

depending on their mineral content. The MS of a sample can be explained as its behavior
in an external magnetic eld, given by the magnetization of the sample divided by the magnetic eld strength, resulting in dimensionless SI units. Iron bearing or magnetic minerals
(ferromagnetic) like hematite and magnetite lead to high positive values of MS, while
diamagnetic minerals like quartz show only very weak and negative values. Weak positive values are related to paramagnetic minerals like dolomite and smectite. Marine and
terrestrial sediments show a clear dierence in their content of such minerals, with higher
MS values expected in terrigenous materials. Therefore, MS measurements should provide
additional information on the stratigraphy of the outcrop or at least support our assumptions in case they are right.
We used the Bartington MS2 system for our lab work with the MS2E sensor for the
sediment cores and the MS2K probe for the sediment transfer preparations (Fig. 10). For
the MS2E, the response volume of the sample is in the order of 0.2 cm, for the MS2K in
the order of 3 cm. This means that the E-sensor is very precise on smooth surfaces like core
halves, but the K-sensor is more suitable for rough surfaces like we have in outcrops. The
sample interval was 1 cm and 2.5 cm for the cores and the STP, respectively.

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Fig. 4. Litholog of drill core 8 (location in Fig. 2), numbers on the right side indicate sample intervals for grain size analysis and wash samples, the blue line is the measured magnetic susceptibility.
For legend see Fig.3b.

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Fig. 5. A) Grain size distribution of three samples of meter 12 of drill core 7 in Fig. 3a. B) Grain
size distribution of two samples of drill core 7 of meter 23 in Fig. 3a. C) Grain size distribution of
two samples of drill core 8 in Fig. 4. All proles show clearly a ning-up in the sieved samples, and
coarse-grained bases.

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Fig. 6. Coastal cli between Barbate and Zahara de los Atunes (see Fig. 2), dark layer on top of the
Cretaceous-Eocene Betic substratum is a tsunami and represents most probably back ow deposits,
possibly that of 1755. Height of the cli is about 4.5 m above mean sea level. Note the color dierence between the modern beach (white) and the cli top section (black), the black color origins from
reworking of dark weathered clays of the substrate and marsh deposits.

The STP analysis showed a clear contrast between the bedrock in the lower part of the
section and the sedimentary units in the upper part (Fig. 11). Values around 6.5 x 10-5 SI
units were measured for the tsunamigenic layer, thus implying a relatively high content
of minerals with terrestrial origin in this section. As we have described tsunamigenic sediments including marine shells, clay-rich soils, and even particles from ooded croplands,
the MS values coincide with these observations. The bedrock shows lower values in the
order of 2.5 x 10-5, due to marine formation of the unit. Only very rare ferromagnetic
minerals are incorporated in the bedrock ysch or at least have been washed out meanwhile.
To determine and compare the elevation of the tsunami deposits, line leveling was performed at 4 sections of the cli, which are identical to the 4 lithologic proles described
above in Figure 8. Leveling was done with a Leica Sprinter 150 electronic level. First all
levels were referenced to the mid water line, base and top of the cli. Later, line leveling

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Fig. 7. Cli section in detail of location in Figs. 2 and 6 (coordinates in the text). A. Channeled back
ow with coarse-grained basal deposits. B. Imbricated clasts in the back ow indicate paleocurrent
towards the sea (left). C. Shell debris and conglomerates in the back ow sediments.

Fig. 8: Lithologs of coastal outcrops of the tsunamigenic layer along the beach of barbate to Zahara (Fig. 2; coordinates and further information
in the text). See Figs. 6 and 7 for photos of prole 1. Numbers along sections are sampling points for grain size analysis and wash samples (e.g.,
P 1-1).

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Fig. 9. A. Grain size distribution of three samples of prole 1 in Fig. 8. B. Grain size distribution of
three samples of prole 2 in Fig. 8. C. Grain size distribution of two samples of prole 3 in Fig. 8.
All proles show clearly a ning-up in the sieved samples, and very coarse-grained bases. See also
photo of Fig. 10.

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Fig. 10. Tsunamite layer of the long beach section (see Fig. 6 for location), location of the sediment
transfer preparation in small photo. Measuring procedure of the magnetic susceptibility in the lab.

was applied to investigate the level dierence at the top of the dierent sections and subsequently of the tsunamigenic deposits. The advantage of the second method is in the much
lower error, as the top of the cli is a much more reliable survey point. The data show that
the tsunami deposits are not at one level, but seem to ll and follow a paleorelief (a small
channel, Fig. 12), which resembles to todays topography. Anyhow, the thickness of the
post-tsunami sediments (dune sands) is quite similar at the dierent sections. Local dierences may result from earthworks in connection of the military road with support lines and
water tubes close to the cli.
Interpretation: We interpret this layer as a back ow deposit. Paleo-current directions endorse these observations and the evidence that only one layer is preserved. Presumably, former tsunamites were eroded due to multiple wave action and the cli was
cleaned to the basement by the waves. The tsunamite contains reworked dark clayey
material from the marshlands of Barbate and a mixture of beach sands, boulders and
shells. The layer was deposited during the back ow of the last major wave. The Flandrian
transgression had a maximum at about 70006000 yr BP and reached altitudes of 1 m
above the present sea level in the Gulf of Cdiz (Somoza et al. 1997; Zazo et al. 2008)
and, therefore, cannot account for these deposits. Our interpretation of the principal sediment-depositing mechanisms eective in tsunami surges is based on eld observations of
deposit geometry and internal sedimentary characteristics, which are clearly not related to
a beach, neither to a lagoon; however, the non-littoral characteristics of the deposits are
remarkable. This is evidenced by the fact that lateral changes in characteristics of depositional facies are common and abrupt (channels) and show erosive bases, normal grading

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Fig. 11. Magnetic susceptibility measurements of the tsunamigenic layer (see Fig. 10 for location).
We measured left and right sides of the sediment transfer preparation. Note the excursion of the
SI-Index in the tsunamite in contrast to the Eocene marls (bedrock).

or ning-up. The tsunami deposit is clast-supported, polymodal, basal boulder-bearing

and composed mostly of well-rounded clasts and fewer angular clasts, partly imbricated
pointing to paleo-ow direction towards the Atlantic. The clay to sand-sized, bioclastic
(and Roman ceramic)-rich matrix is poorly sorted, implying that soft sediments eroded at
the lower erosional surface contributed to the tsunami deposit, suggesting mixed sources
of sediments (beach and marshes). Additionally, the faunal content in the wash samples
is not typical for a lagoon, rarely ostracods are found. The majority of faunal components
are shell debris, planktic and benthic foraminifera and reworked Tertiary and Cretaceous
species of the basement. Dating of the suspect tsunamigenic layer is in progress, based on

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Fig. 12. Results of leveling the beach cli in a NW-SE section. Numbers refer to proles in Fig. 8
(prole 2-1 is not depicted). The tsunamigenic layer is lling a pre-existing valley and is now covered
by the modern soil. Maximum cli height is 4.96 m, the thickness of tsunamites is here 0.72 m,
whereas within the paleochannel the tsunami deposits have the largest thickness. The mean tidal range
in this area of the Gulf of Cadiz between 1.5 and 2.39 m, max. spring tide is 3.71 m (GutirrezMas et al. 2003), respectively, from the cli base in a height of 1.3 m.

charcoal ndings and closed bivalve shells (may indicate a sudden death due to an event,
usually lamellibranchs disintegrate shortly after death into two shells, e.g., Donato et al.
2008).
Zahara de los Atunes: In the marshland of Zahara de los Atunes (Ro del Chacn)
further southward along the coast within the Arroyo de Zarzuela (Fig. 2) core 2 with 3 m
total length was drilled (N3608265, W 550485). After 1.86 m greenish-brown sands
are intercalated in the organic-rich marsh sediments, down-section further coarse-grained
intercalations follow (Fig. 13). The base of the upper sandy layer at 2.54 m is very rich in
shell debris and microfauna. The sandy portions of the drill core form ning-up sequences.
These sandy layers may be interpreted as tsunamigenic, also other mechanisms like storm
deposits can be discussed. The depth of the layer is comparable to core 8, described above
from the marshlands of Barbate (Fig. 2), the distance to the shore is almost identical. However, until age-assignments for these sediments are not available, a parallelization of the
event layers in Zahara and Barbate is not possible.
Bolonia Bay: Here, we investigated the beach, clis and Roman ruins of ancient
Baelo Claudia. As mentioned above, several indicators of tsunami deposits were already
published. Investigating deposits in the ruins, which may be tsunami-reworked postRoman colluvium (Silva et al. 2009), we focused on the topographic lower portion of
the village. The central E-W trending road, the Decumanus Maximus, is situated about
5 m above present-day sea level, and is to date not fully excavated. The post-Roman
colluvial deposits were sampled and washed, and, unfortunately we have not found

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Fig. 13. Litholog of drill core 2 of the marshlands of Zahara de los Atunes (location in Fig. 2; coordinates in the text), the blue line is the measured magnetic susceptibility. Legend in Fig. 3b.

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any evidence of marine species or above mentioned typical sedimentary features in the
colluvium in this part of the town (with the exception of some possibly wind-transported
Elphidium sp.).
Also, the deposits described by Becker-Heidmann et al. (2007) cannot clearly be
assigned to tsunami action, moreover the dating of the charcoal does not lead to a certain
interpretative result (cal AD 1421-1451). The characteristics of these brownish sandy sediments with some gravels and charcoal are ning-up layers. The altitude above the mean
sea level is approx. 35 m. The origin of this deposit remains ambiguous, because neither
washed samples nor microfossils are available. One rare documentation of a drill core of
the Arroyo de Alparlate (Alonso Villalobos et al. 2003) suggests washover sediments,
their exact location and origin remains open. The block elds of Gracia et al. (2006)
are related to small creek mouths into the Atlantic, and we regard these as storm deposits
reworking uvial pebbles. They are only found near the creeks and in heights of 23 m
above the mean sea level along the beach. In summary, the Bay of Bolonia (Enseada de
Bolonia) seems to form a natural shelter for major storm or tsunamigenic events along the
coast.

Fig. 14. Overview map of the Los Lances area NW of Tarifa (for location see Fig. 1), and drill sites
in the marshlands of the Ro Jara. Stippled line indicate maximum horizontal run-up as evidenced
by drilling results. Note the old Ro Jara bridge, an angular fragment of the bridge has been found
approximately 700 m SE (see Fig. 15).

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Fig. 15. a) Destroyed bridge across the Ro Jara (Gracia et al. 2006) in the Los Lances area (see
Fig. 14 for locality).

Valdevaqueros Bay (Mellaria): The locality of Mellaria is not the one indicated by
Gracia et al. (2006), who put the village in the northern part of the Los Lances bay. Most
probably, Mellaria was a Roman shery village directly at the coast in the Valdevaqueros
Bay. In this bay the rests of the Roman village of Mellaria are exposed, they are not excavated and building oors are covered by 2 m of sandy, clayey sediments, while parts of the
walls are visible at the surface. The lagoon of Valdevaqueros yields dark organic-rich marshy
sediments, which may possibly be reworked during wave action. We drilled cores along a
prole perpendicular to the coast up to 4 m depth. However, no indications for tsunamigenic sediments were found, most probably due to the sheltered location in the bay.
Los Lances area (Tarifa): The marshlands of the Ro Jara north of Tarifa are called Los
Lances (Fig. 14). Here, wash-over fans of the Lisbon tsunami (without age constraints) and
damage of a bridge were described (Gracia et al. 2006), based on historical reports. In
fact the bridge is severely damaged and out of use, we have found a fragment of the bridge
pillar approximately 770 m in SE direction (155) at the beach (Fig. 15). According to the
topography and the wave direction of the Lisbon 1755 tsunami, the bridge fragment may
represent a detrital part of back wash.

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Fig. 15. b) 1755-tsunami drifted (?) angular fragment of the stone bridge in the marsh and dune area
of Los Lances approximately 770 m SE of the bridge.

We drilled cores along two proles perpendicular and parallel to the coast up to 5 m
depth (Fig. 14). Cores 12 and 13 were not successful in terms of tsunami deposit recovery,
obviously the wash over did not reach these locations. Therefore, we have drawn a suspect
maximum horizontal run-up line in Fig. 14. The cores 5 and 11 in plastic liners were
subject to detailed sedimentological analyses (sieving, washing, laboratory core description), to geophysical investigations (magnetic susceptibility) and to (micro-)paleontological studies (foraminifera, shells). Drill core 5 (N 3602207, W 537318) and drill
core 11 (N 3601490, W 5 36986) show several intercalations of tsunamites downhole, which are interpreted as deposits of tsunami waves induced by repeated earthquake
activity or by submarine slides (Figs. 1618). A characteristic set of three major sedimentary packages always starting with a coarse-grained shell debris layer and erosive base, and
ending with a dark silty-clayey layer (Fig. 17), are interpreted as tsunami train deposits
(Reicherter & Becker-Heidmann 2009) representing deposits of (three) major
waves.

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Fig. 16. Litholog of drill core 11 of the marshlands of Los Lances (location in Fig. 15, coordinates
in the text). Legend in Fig. 3b.

Fig. 17. Detail of drill core 11, between 1.33 and 1.66 m, see Fig. 16 for litholog. Note large shell fragments and the two ning-up cycles ending
with a dark clayey layer, indicating tsunami train deposits (ning- and thinning-up sequences).

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Fig. 18. Litholog of drill core 5 of the marshlands of Los Lances (location in Fig. 15, coordinates in
the text), the blue line is the measured magnetic susceptibility. Legend in Fig. 3b.

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3 Conclusion
In conclusion, we found several dierent distinctive features of tsunamigenic deposits (Tuttle
et al. 2004; Dominey-Howes et al. 2006; Switzer & Jones 2008; Tappin 2007) along the
Spanish Atlantic coast between Barbate and Tarifa, which are characterized by:

clast-supported, polymodal, boulder-bearing basal deposits composed mostly of

well-rounded clasts and fewer angular clasts, partly imbricated;

normal grading or crude normal grading and erosive bases;

up to three ning and thinning-up sequences (tsunami train deposits, Reicherter

& Becker-Heidmann 2009);

faunal content (shallow marine macrofauna, like mussels, partly with closed shells
(Donato et al. 2008); widely absence of brackish or hypersaline faunal components,
like ostracods; microfauna, mainly planktic and benthic foraminifera from dierent bathymetrical habitats (including Globigerina sp. from open marine habitats),
and sponge spicules;

lateral changes in characteristics of depositional facies are common and abrupt

(channels);

clay to sand-sized, bioclastic (and Roman ceramic-)rich matrix is poorly sorted,

implying that soft sediments eroded at the lower erosional surface contributed to
the tsunami deposit;

mixed sources of sediments (beach and marshes).

These features are interpreted as:

non-cohesive and sediment-loaded subaquatic density ows;

deposits of successive waves in the tsunami wave train;

back ow or back wash deposits are characterized by the incorporation of sediments derived from mixed sources within the tsunami deposits, such as angular
clasts from nearby subaerial settings, rounded clasts reworked from beach gravels,
and shell debris and yellowish beach sands eroded from older, and unconsolidated,
shoreface deposits.

The lacking radiometric dating of the sediments (radiocarbon, mainly charcoal and shells;
dating is in progress) does not allow us to assign the sediments to distinct described tsunamis
hitting the Atlantic coast of Spain. However, we argue that the historical 1755 Lisbon event
was one of the major tsunamigenic waves with waves heights around 10 m. This would be
large and high enough to erase several prior features and to cause major changes along the
coast, which are reported in historical documents (see Gracia et al. 2006 for details). If the
ndings contain evidence for older events as described by Luque et al. (2001), is not clear.
However, the ndings of several typical tsunamigenic deposits along the Atlantic coast of
southern Spain suggest a certain tsunami thread, which should be incorporated in peoples
mind and hazard mitigation plans.

The sedimentary inventory of tsunamis

171

Acknowledgements
We thank the Junta de Andaluca for the permit to drill in the Natural Park of the Gibraltar
Strait, Ivan Garca (Conjunto de Baelo Claudia) for the introduction to the ancient Roman
site of Mellaria, Rena Stehn and Simon Baer for the help with the eld and lab work.
For eld discussions we like to thank our colleagues Pablo G. Silva, Javier Lario, Roland
Musbacher and Gerhard Daut. Our colleagues Andreas Vtt and Helmut Brckner (Univ.
of Cologne) provided thoughtful and very helpful reviews. The RWTH Aachen University
provided nancial support.
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Addresses of the authors:

Klaus Reicherter (corresponding author), David Vonberg, Benjamin Koster, Christoph Grtzner
and Margret Mathes-Schmidt, Inst. of Neotectonics and Natural Hazards, RWTH Aachen University,
Lochnerstr. 4-20, 52056 Aachen, Germany; k.reicherter@nug.rwth-aachen.de
Toms Fernndez-Steeger, Chair of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, RWTH Aachen
University, Lochnerstr. 4-20, 52056 Aachen, Germany

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