Extreme wave deposits on the Pacific coast of Mexico: Tsunamis or storms? — A multi-proxy approach

Historical and instrumental data show that the Pacific coast of Mexico has been exposed to destructive tsunamis over at least the past 500 years. This coast is also affected by hurricanes generated in the eastern Pacific. The great 1985 Mexico earthquake and its aftershock generated tsunamis that affected the Ixtapa–Zihuatanejo and Michoacán coast. The purpose of our study was two-fold — a) to determine whether storm and tsunami deposits could be distinguished, and b) whether tsunami deposits from historical events are preserved in the tropical environments of the Ixtapa–Zihuatanejo coast.Two anomalous sand units in the Ixtapa estuary are interpreted to be the result of high-energy marine inundation events that occurred in the last century. Several lines of evidence using a multi-proxy approach (historical studies, interviews with local witnesses, geomorphological and geological surveys, coring and trenching, laboratory analyses including grain size, micropaleontology, geochemistry, magnetic susceptibility and radiometric dating, and numerical modeling) indicate the occurrence of two tsunamis that we link to local events: the 21st September 1985 Mexico and possibly the 14th March 1979 Petatlan earthquakes. We thereby provide the first onshore geological evidence of historical tsunamis on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

► A multi-proxy approach was systematized on tsunami vs storm deposits in the tropics.
► Two marine inundations were identified at the Zihuatanejo–Ixtapa area.
► The origin of these extreme wave deposits (storm vs. tsunami) was assessed.
► Two tsunamis relate to local earthquakes — 1985 Mexico and possibly 1979 Petatlan.
► Coseismic deformation associated to the 1985 event is inferred.