SLATE — Submarine LAndslides and Their impact on European continental margins

Results in brief

Submarine LAndslides and Their impact on European continental margins

Submarine landslides can affect >1000s km2 of seafloor. Not only such large landslides but even small ones can pose a significant hazard, can pose a significant hazard because they may trigger tsunamis, and can damage seafloor infrastructure. As we need to understand associated risks, the main objective of SLATE was a better understanding of the processes acting prior to and during submarine landslides as well as their governing parameters. The vast and in-depth knowledge gained through the research-through-training in SLATE now helps to identify areas of unstable seafloor to close the lack in knowledge on why a specific submarine slope destabilizes whereas neighbouring slopes remain stable. This is an essential prerequisite to develop sustainable usage strategies for continental slopes and coastal areas. With a broad range of disciplines, methods, and technologies, some SLATE ESR projects investigated specific slopes while others based their research on a wider scale to generally investigate failure initiation. By bringing these two approaches together, SLATE provided both process-oriented knowledge and new expertise for hazard assessment. The SLATE project has been shown to be both timely and socio-economically-relevant, as highlighted by e.g. novel numerical landslide-triggered tsunami models to understand the nature of the 2018 Anak Krakatau volcano tsunami that resulted in 100s of fatalities, damage to coastal infrastructure and displaced >33,000 people. This is just one example of SLATE studies that provide new benchmarks for future hazard assessments, enable more resilient infrastructure routing, design and inform disaster preparedness and response strategies.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The over-arching aim of the SLATE ETN is (i) to understand key factors triggering submarine landslides, the subsequent motion and evolution of failed material, and ensuing geohazards eg tsunamis and (ii) to integrate an innovative broad range of scientific disciplines and private sector needs into a novel training and co-supervision of 15 ESRs. SLATE will focus on investigating submarine landslides and associated geohazards as important natural risks that threaten offshore infrastructures and coastal regions in Europe. Submarine landslides can move much longer than any slope failure on land, and occur on remarkably low gradients, suggesting fundamental and still poorly understood differences from onshore counterparts. A wide spectrum of tectonic and marine environmental settings needs to be investigated. To master this holistic approach, SLATE will bring together a world-class team of leading experts from renowned academic institutions and key non-academic partners with an unusually comprehensive set of interdisciplinary expertise. This ETN comprises experts with outstanding backgrounds in marine geophysics, sedimentology, civil engineering, geotechnics, tsunami research, and hazard assessment as well as marine technology. SLATE partners offer excellent datasets and skills that include field observations, lab experiments, as well as analytical, mathematical and numerical modelling techniques. Training will cover various geoscientific methods, as well as assessment of consequences and impacts on coastal regions and society. Together with various transferable and complementary courses skilled in SLATE, this integrative approach will guide the research of all projects to train a new generation of highly motivated and excellent qualified young scientists to tackle challenges linked to landslide-initiated hazards.SLATE will cover European-wide project with 10 beneficiaries from academia and non-academia (incl. industry) and 4 partner organizations from 6 countries.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

UNIVERSITAET BREMEN · BremenCoordinatorGermany
AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS · MadridSpain
CHRISTIAN-ALBRECHTS-UNIVERSITAET ZU KIEL · KielGermany
CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE · RomaItaly
CONTROL Y PROSPECCIONES IGEOTEST SL · FIGUERESSpain
INSTITUT FRANCAIS DE RECHERCHE POUR L'EXPLOITATION DE LA MER · PlouzaneFrance
ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI OCEANOGRAFIA E DI GEOFISICA SPERIMENTALE · Sgonico-TriesteItaly
NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY CENTRE · SouthamptonUnited Kingdom
STIFTELSEN NORGES GEOTEKNISKE INSTITUTT · OsloNorway
UNITED KINGDOM RESEARCH AND INNOVATION · SWINDONUnited Kingdom
UNIVERSITAET INNSBRUCK · InnsbruckAustria
UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM · DURHAMUnited Kingdom

SLATE · Submarine LAndslides and Their impact on European continental margins

Results in brief

Submarine LAndslides and Their impact on European continental margins

Project objective

Participants

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