Architecture and Failure Mechanism of the Offshore Slump Responsible For the 1998 Papua New Guinea Tsunami

After considerable controversy over the origin of the July 1998 PNG tsunami, there is now a large body of evidence that supports a sediment slump offshore of the devastated area. Between 1999 and 2000, four surveys were carried out offshore of the affected area, acquiring bathymetry, sediment cores, 3.5kHz seismic, multi-channel seismic and seabed imagery. In 2001, the same area was surveyed using single channel seismic that has been used to interpret the northern margin of PNG and the internal architecture of the slump. The susceptibility to slumping of the area offshore of northern PNG can be more definitively assessed.