Deposition by the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami on coastal lowland controlled by beach ridges near Sendai, Japan

A study of the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami deposits on the coastal lowland of the Sendai Plain, Japan was carried out along a shore-perpendicular survey line in the Arahama area. Field descriptions and tsunami water depth measurements were complemented by sedimentary analyses, including grain size, grain fabric and diatom analysis. The tsunami deposits show a generally fining-inland trend along the 3.4 km long transect. The depositional facies, grain size analysis and grain fabric data suggest that most of the tsunami deposits were laid down during the tsunami inflow, except at one site. These tsunami deposits are characterized by parallel-laminated or massive sand and silt with pieces of woods, fragments of glass, rip-up mud clasts and an erosional base. Minor backwash deposits overlying the inflow sand layer were only observed on one beach ridge and attributed to the topographic high. Marine diatom species comprised only approximately 2% of the diatom assemblage in tsunami deposits and their content decreased landward. In this study, diatom assemblages were similar in the rice field soil and tsunami layers, suggesting that the muddy fraction of the deposits mainly consists of sediments derived from the tsunami-eroded rice field soil. As a result of soil erosion, the tsunami had a high suspended sediment load. Furthermore, after the first tsunami inundation, seawater left by the tsunami did not drain completely to the sea because of the high coastal beach ridge and/or coastal subsidence due to the massive earthquake. Therefore, strong tsunami outflows to the sea did not occur and these areas were covered by mud deposited from stagnant water.