Tsunami sedimentary facies deposited by the Storegga tsunami in shallow marine basins and coastal lakes, western Norway

Sedimentary successions in small coastal lakes situated from 0 to 11 m above the 7000 year BP shoreline along the western coast of Norway, contain a distinctive deposit, very different from the sediments above and below. The deposit is interpreted to be the result of a tsunami inundating the coastal lakes. An erosional unconformity underlies the tsunami facies and is traced throughout the basins, with most erosion found at the seaward portion of the lakes. The lowermost tsunami facies is a graded or massive sand that locally contains marine fossils. The sand thins and decreases in grain size in a landward direction. Above follows coarse organic detritus with rip-up clasts, here termed 'organic conglomerate', and finer organic detritus. The tsunami unit generally fines and thins upwards. The higher basins (6-11 m above the 7000 year shoreline) show one sand bed, whereas basins closer to the sea level 7000 years ago, may show several sand beds separated by organic detritus. These alternations in the lower basins may reflect repeated waves of sea water entering the lakes. In basins that were some few metres below sea level at 7000 years BP, the tsunami deposit is more minerogenic and commonly present as graded sand beds, but also in some of these shallow marine basins organic-rich facies occur between the sand beds. The total thickness of the tsunami deposit is 20-100 cm in most studied sites. An erosional and depositional model of the tsunami facies is developed.