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A simple and efficient GIS tool for volume calculations of submarine landslides

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Abstract

A numeric tool is presented for calculating volumes of topographic voids such as slump scars of landslides, canyons or craters (negative/concave morphology), or alternatively, bumps and hills (positive/convex morphology) by means of digital elevation models embedded within a geographical information system (GIS). In this study, it has been used to calculate landslide volumes. The basic idea is that a (singular) event (landslide, meteorite impact, volcanic eruption) has disturbed an intact surface such that it is still possible to distinguish between the former (undisturbed) landscape and the disturbance (crater, slide scar, debris avalanche). In such cases, it is possible to reconstruct the paleo-surface and to calculate the volume difference between both surfaces, thereby approximating the volume gain or loss caused by the event. I tested the approach using synthetically generated land surfaces that were created on the basis of Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data. Also, I show the application to two real cases, (1) the calculation of the volume of the Masaya Slide, a submarine landslide on the Pacific continental slope of Nicaragua, and (2) the calculation of the void of a segment of the Fish River Canyon, Namibia. The tool is provided as a script file for the free GIS GRASS. It performs with little effort, and offers a range of interpolation parameters. Testing with different sets of interpolation parameters results in a small range of uncertainty. This tool should prove useful in surface studies not exclusively on earth.

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Acknowledgements

This publication is contribution no. 178 of the Sonderforschungsbereich 574 “Volatiles and Fluids in Subduction Zones” at Kiel University. I am grateful for comments and corrections by R. Urgeles and M.T. Delafontaine.

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  1. Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR), Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148, Kiel, Germany

    David Julius Völker

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  1. David Julius Völker
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Correspondence to David Julius Völker.

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Völker, D.J. A simple and efficient GIS tool for volume calculations of submarine landslides. Geo-Mar Lett 30, 541–547 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-009-0176-0

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