Marine Geology 239 (2007) 163 – 172

www.elsevier.com/locate/margeo

Horizontal and vertical variation of 2004 Indian tsunami deposits: An

example of two transects along the western coast of Thailand
Kazuaki Hori a,⁎, Ryota Kuzumoto a , Daisuke Hirouchi b , Masatomo Umitsu c ,
Naruekamon Janjirawuttikul d , Boonrak Patanakanog d
a
Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Meijo University, 468-8502 Nagoya, Japan
b
Disaster Prevention Research Center, Aichi Institute of Technology, 470-0392 Toyota, Japan
c
Department of Geography, Nagoya University, 464-8601 Nagoya, Japan
d
Office of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Land Development Department, Phaholyothin Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand

Received 4 July 2006; received in revised form 8 January 2007; accepted 23 January 2007

Abstract

We investigated horizontal and vertical variations in modern tsunami deposits along two transects at Nam Khem and Khao Lak,
western coast of Thailand, deposited by the large tsunami associated with the earthquake (magnitude 9.0) of 26 December 2004 off
Sumatra, Indonesia. Tsunami waves 6–10 m high struck the area approximately 2 h after the earthquake. Tsunami deposits cover
the low-lying coastal plains and extend more than 1 km inland from the shoreline. No landward decrease in sediment thicknesses
was found clearly at either transect. Terrace scarps and a steep slope behind the coastal plain probably stopped tsunami deposition
further inland, causing substantial sediments to be deposited in front of these features. Very clear vertical variations in grain size
and multiple layers are found in the deposits to about 600 m inland at Nam Khem. Fine-grained sediments overlie the coarse-
grained sediments of the basal layer of the tsunami deposits. At some sites, the fine-grained sediments are overlain by another layer
of coarse-grained sediments, suggesting deposits laid down in succession by multiple waves. The basal coarse-grained sediments at
Nam Khem fine landward. The up-flow waned inland based on the assumption that the grain size of the basal deposits relates to the
strength of the up-flow. These results are potentially useful in disaster prevention and coastal environmental change management as
well as for interpreting paleotsunami deposits in geological records.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: tsunami; grain size; coastal geomorphology; Thailand; 2004 Sumatra earthquake

1. Introduction deposits of the 1992 Flores (Indonesia) tsunami (Shi et

al., 1995; Minoura et al., 1997), the 1993 southwest
Modern tsunami deposits associated with large Hokkaido earthquakes (Sato et al., 1995; Nishimura and
earthquakes, especially those occurring after 1990, Miyaji, 1995; Nanayama and Shigeno, 2004), the 1994
have been studied. For example, the distribution, grain Java tsunami (Imamura and Takahashi, 1995; Dawson et
size, and sedimentary processes associated with tsunami al., 1996), and the 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami
(Gelfenbaum and Jaffe, 2003) have been investigated.
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 52 838 2493; fax: +81 52 832 These measurements, in combination with eyewitness
1178. observations and information on shore morphology and
E-mail address: [email protected] (K. Hori). on current flow direction and depth deduced from
0025-3227/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2007.01.005
164 K. Hori et al. / Marine Geology 239 (2007) 163–172

evidence such as bent or broken plants and water marks 2006) reported that the sediments deposited by the
on buildings, have improved our understanding of tsunami in coastal Thailand are composed mainly of fine
paleotsunami deposits derived from geological records to medium sand. Fujino et al. (2006, in press) also
and have established the importance of tsunami showed that mean grain sizes of tsunami deposits at
sedimentation in the evolution of coasts (Dawson, Khao Lak are very fine to medium sand and thickness of
1994). the deposits does not clearly decrease landward. We
The great earthquake (Mw 9.0) that occurred off the conducted a field survey of the onshore tsunami deposits
west coast of northern Sumatra at 07:58 local time, 26 at Khao Lak and Nam Khem villages, western Thailand,
December 2004, generated a giant tsunami that at the beginning of March 2005 to further characterize
inundated Indian Ocean coasts and transported large these tsunami deposits. Here, we describe the tsunami
amounts of sediments from the sea bottom onto the sedimentation and discuss horizontal and vertical
shore. The western coast of Thailand (Fig. 1) was struck variations in the deposits in relation to coastal
by the tsunami approximately 2 h after the earthquake topography and characteristics of the tsunami waves.
(Satake, 2004). The waves caused intensive erosion and
subsequent deposition of sediments along the coasts 2. Study area
(Szczuciński et al., 2006). Szczuciński et al. (2005,
The coastal lowlands of western Thailand, which
face the Andaman Sea, are located more than 500 km
northeastward of the earthquake epicenter. Most of the
lowlands around Nam Khem and Khao Lak are no more
than 2–3 km wide and 4–5 m above sea level. Many
artificial mounds and ponds remain in the lowlands as a
result of mining in a former time, and regularly shaped
ponds along the coasts are used for shrimp culture at
present. Terraces or hills bound the lowlands on the
eastern, landward side.
According to reports of eyewitnesses, three tsunami
waves inundated the Nam Khem area, the second one
being very large (M. Umitsu, unpublished). Water
elevation along the coast reached 6–10 m above sea
level (Yasuda and Harada, 2005). Tsuji et al. (2006) also
reported that the tsunami heights are less than 10 m
except at a few locations. The waves caused heavy
damage to most villages and resort facilities in the
lowlands.

3. Methods

We established two transects, one at Nam Khem (lat

8°50′20 to 8°50′25″N, long 98°16′1 to 98°16′37″E)
(Figs. 2 and 3) and the other at Khao Lak (lat 8°40′52 to
8°41′2″N, long 98°14′25 to 98°15′19″E) (Figs. 4 and
5), after referring to satellite images. Each transect was
almost perpendicular to the coastline. A topographic
cross section along each transect was made by using a
hand level and a laser ranger to clarify the topography.
The zero elevation and distance points of each cross
section reflect the sea level and shoreline position,
respectively, at the time the measurements were
performed. Corrections for tide were calculated from
astronomic tide levels at Ao Kaulak (N8°36′, E98°15′)
Fig. 1. Map showing the study area. (Tsuji et al., 2005).
 K. Hori et al. / Marine Geology 239 (2007) 163–172 165

Fig. 2. Satellite image showing the Nam Khem transect. Open circles and italic letters show positions and names of pits, respectively. Numbers
indicate the thickness of the tsunami sediments (cm). The location of the satellite image is shown in Fig. 1.

With a small shovel, we dug 11 pits at Nam Khem grain size of each sample was determined (Tables 1
(Fig. 3) and 12 at Khao Lak (Fig. 5) along the and 2).
respective transects to observe the tsunami deposits.
Sediment thickness, lithology, and succession char- 4. Results
acteristics were described in each pit (Figs. 3 and 5).
Bulk samples of the deposits were collected from 4.1. Nam Khem
almost all pits in which a vertical grain size change
could not be detected clearly by eye. From those pits The land surface of the transect at Nam Khem is 4–
in which a vertical grain size change was observed 5 m above sea level. A small inlet lies just south of the
clearly, the different layers were sampled separately. In transect. The most seaward site, N1, was near the top of
the laboratory, the samples were sieved into fractions a scarp. Behind the scarp is a low-lying plain with
between − 2.5 phi and 4.5 phi to determine the grain depressions. Some clear depressions 1–2 m in depth (at
size distribution (phi = − log2D, where D = diameter in N2, N5, and N8) correspond to present and abandoned
mm). Each size class was one-quarter phi. The median small channels oriented almost parallel to the shoreline.
166 K. Hori et al. / Marine Geology 239 (2007) 163–172

Fig. 3. Topographic cross section at Nam Khem and geological columns of pits. The zero points of the cross section are the sea level and the shoreline
position at local time 9:00, 7 March 2005. The location of the cross section is shown in Fig. 2.

A terrace scarp at least 1.5 m high is about 1150 m Tsunami sediments more than 20 cm thick were
inland from the shoreline. found in the major depressions. At N2, they were
The tsunami wave height was estimated from the approximately 33 cm thick (Fig. 6c). In contrast, the
height of damage to roofs of houses between N10 and sediments were relatively thin at sites with convex
N11 (Fig. 6a). The wave height at these sites was at least topography (N1, N3, N6, N7, and N9). Sediment
2 m above ground level, giving a tsunami wave height of thickness did not apparently decrease with distance
approximately 6 m above sea level. Concrete piles near from the coast. For example, even at N11, 1100 m inland
N2 to N5 toppled eastward, showing that they were and in front of the terrace scarp, the sediments were still
broken during the tsunami run-up. 17 cm thick.
The low-lying plain is covered with siliciclastic Tsunami deposits composed of large as well as small
tsunami deposits. The boundary between the tsunami grains occur landward to at least N8 (600 m from the
sediments and the underlying brownish soil or sand is shoreline). However, tsunami deposits further inland, at
usually sharp and/or erosional. At some locations, the N9, N10, and N11, are composed of only small grains
top part of the tsunami deposits has been reworked. (median size, about 4.0 phi) (Fig. 6d). Plant fragments
Much grass and many woody plants accumulated in are common in the deposits at N10 and N11. Two
front of the terrace scarp, just landward of N11 (Fig. 6b). samples from N12, which is north of the transect, were
 K. Hori et al. / Marine Geology 239 (2007) 163–172 167

Fig. 4. Satellite image showing the Khao Lak transect. Open circles and italic letters show positions and names of pits, respectively. Numbers indicate
the thickness of the tsunami sediments (cm). The location of the satellite image is shown in Fig. 1. The image was downloaded from CRISP (2004).
Images acquired and processed by CRISP, National University of Singapore. IKONOS image © CRISP (2004).

Fig. 5. Topographic cross section at Khao Lak and geological columns of pits. No tsunami deposits were found at K13 located uppermost of the slope.
The zero points of the cross section are at the sea level and the shoreline position at local time 14:00, 7 March 2005. The location of the cross section is
shown in Fig. 4.
168 K. Hori et al. / Marine Geology 239 (2007) 163–172

Table 1 sediment layer. Multiple coarse-grained layers are

Median grain size and fraction of fine grain smaller than 0.045 mm intercalated with fine-grained sediments at N7.
(4.5 phi) of the tsunami deposits at Nam Khem
Sample no. Site Depth Median phi >4.5 phi 4.2. Khao Lak
(cm) (%)
1 N1 0–3.5 1.44 0.4 The land surface along the transect at Khao Lak is
2 N1 3.5–7 1.78 0.2 approximately 4 m above the sea level. The tsunami
3 N1 7–11 3.97 2.8 eroded small scarps along the coast here (Fig. 6f). A
4 N1 11–14 1.00 0.8
narrow sandy ridge less than 200 m wide extends
5 N2 0–3 3.14 3.5
6 N2 3–13 1.07 0.5 southward. A sandy flat (K4, K5, and K6) approxi-
7 N2 13–19 2.81 3.3 mately 1 m above the sea level is behind this ridge. A
8 N2 19–33 0.57 0.8 bathtub was found on the flat, presumably carried there
9 N3 0–1.5 3.70 0.4 by tsunami waves from a destroyed resort facility near
10 N3 1.5–2 3.94 5.2
the coast. The low-lying plain landward of the tidal flat
11 N3 2–3.5 4.07 1.7
12 N3 3.5–4 3.39 1.9 extends inland to about 1500 m, where a highway, Route
13 N3 4–9 3.64 1.0 4, runs from north to south. Behind the highway, the
14 N3 9–14 0.90 0.3 land begins to slope upward toward the hills or terraces
15 N4 0–6 4.04 0.5 that bound the plain.
16 N4 6–11 1.79 2.5
Tsunami height and direction were estimated from
17 N5 3–14 3.81 3.1
18 N5 14–22 1.66 2.2 damaged buildings and trees and flattened grasses. A
19 N6 0–1.5 4.03 5.5 hotel is located just north of K2 and K3. Because a part
20 N6 1.5–3.5 1.96 0.4 of the outside walls of the building between the first and
21 N6 3.5–4.5 3.87 7.3 second floors showed watermarks, the tsunami probably
22 N7 0–4.5 4.09 9.7
ran up to that height. The watermarked wall is about 9 m
23 N7 4.5–5 2.29 4.6
24 N7 5–6 4.03 7.4 above sea level. A branch of a tree, about 2.7 m above
25 N7 6–7 1.98 1.9 the ground, was damaged near K7. Therefore, tsunami
26 N7 7–8 3.50 4.9 wave height at this site was about 7 m above sea level.
27 N8 2–15 4.12 8.3
28 N8 15–21 1.80 1.9
29 N9 0–1 4.07 8.8
30 N10 1.5–10 4.05 7.7 Table 2
31 N11 0–10 4.05 7.0 Median grain size and fraction of fine grain smaller than 0.045 mm
32 N11 10–17 3.82 5.2 (4.5 phi) of the tsunami deposits at Khao Lak
33 N12 0–4 3.90 5.2
34 N12 4–5 3.94 2.2 Sample no. Site Depth Median phi <4.5 phi
(cm) (%)
35 K1 0–8 1.51 0.4
36 K2 0.5–2.5 2.06 0.9
composed of grains with a median size of 3.90 and 37 K3 0.5–2.5 4.25 30.7
3.94 phi (Table 1). 38 K3 2.5–3.0 4.22 25.0
Very clear vertical variations in grain size and 39 K4 0–1.5 3.48 5.5
multiple layers were found from N1 to N8 (Fig. 6c 40 K4 1.5–3 1.38 2.5
and e). Fine-grained sediments overlie coarse-grained 41 K4 3–4 3.47 15.2
42 K4 4–5 3.54 9.4
sediments, which constitute the basal layer of the 43 K4 5–21 − 0.73 0.2
tsunami deposits. Small molluscan shell fragments are 44 K5 0–4 2.89 5.9
commonly included in the coarse deposits. The basal 45 K5 4–13 0.19 0.6
coarse-grained sand at N4 and N8 shows upward-fining, 46 K6 0–5 3.86 17.9
and, notably, the basal coarse-grained deposits at N1, 47 K6 5–20 1.07 0.6
48 K7 1–4 3.72 9.0
N4, N5, and N8 have a relatively high mud content 49 K7 4–8 1.76 2.3
(> 10.0%). Two cycles of an upward-fining succession 50 K8 0–4 3.44 4.5
occur at N2. Moreover, the boundary between the upper 51 K9 0–7 3.90 8.5
and lower successions is erosional. A similar succession 52 K10 0–9 3.36 3.2
was found at N1, although the upper layer of coarse- 53 K11 0–9 3.82 7.6
54 K12 0–4 3.72 7.0
grained sediments lacks an overlying fine-grained
 K. Hori et al. / Marine Geology 239 (2007) 163–172 169

Grasses around K10 were flattened toward the west– deposits there are very thin and fine-grained (Fig. 6h).
southwest (Fig. 6g). Because a small river between K8 The deposits at K4, K5, and K6, on the tidal flat, range
and K9 flows southwestward, these grasses must have from 13 to 21 cm thick. The basal sediments at these
been flattened by tsunami backwash. sites are thick and very coarse-grained and erode the
The tsunami deposits, which rest on the underlying underlying deposits. The basal sediments contain
strata with sharp boundaries, occur to approximately molluscan shell fragments, coral fragments, a broken
1500 m inland. No tsunami deposits were observed at brick, and mud clasts. These coarse basal sediments may
K13, which is on the upper part of the slope, or at K14, not be tsunami deposits; they might be the tidal flat
on a flat surface in front of the slope. According to an sediments deposited by rivers, tidal currents, or storms.
eyewitness, a run-up wave reached the K13 site, Thus, we excluded these basal sediments in the
suggesting that the upper limit of sediment deposition following description and discussion.
by the tsunami is below the maximum run-up height. At Khao Lak, tsunami deposits with median grain
The deposit thickness is less than 10 cm at most sites. sizes of medium sand or larger occur from the shoreline
A landward decrease in sediment thickness is not to K7, about 700 m landward. In contrast, only small
obvious. Although K2 and K3 are close to the coast, the grains with median sizes ranging from 3.36 to 3.90 phi

Fig. 6. Photographs of the study sites. (a) A house located between N10 and N11 at Nam Khem. The damaged roof suggests that the vertical tsunami
run-up height was no less than 2 m above the ground level. (b) The terrace scarp just behind N11 at Nam Khem. Woody plants and grasses were
transported and deposited in considerable amounts in front of the scarp. (c) N2 at Nam Khem. Tsunami sediments 33 cm thick are deposited in
depressions. (d) N10 at Nam Khem, where a deposit of very fine sand to coarse silt was found. The surface sediments may be reworked. (e) N3 at Nam
Khem. A coarse sand deposit overlies the underlying soil. The coarse sand is overlain by very fine sand, showing a vertical grain size change. (f)
Coastal erosion near K1 at Khao Lak. The tsunami caused severe coastal erosion that created small scarps. (g) K10 at Khao Lak. Grasses were
flattened toward a small channel, indicating that backwash flowing toward the channel had flattened the grasses. (h) K2 at Khao Lak. A thin deposit of
medium sand was found. (i) K9 at Khao Lak. Fine sediments 7 cm thick cover the buried soil with a sharp contact.
170 K. Hori et al. / Marine Geology 239 (2007) 163–172

were observed from K8 to K12 (Fig. 6i), although a whereas sediments are relatively thin where the local
clear landward-fining trend of tsunami sediments was topography is convex. Nishimura and Miyaji (1995)
not seen. The deposits from K10 to K12 contain many also pointed out that tsunami sediment thickness is
plant fragments. Median grain size does clearly decrease controlled by topographic undulations. However, depos-
landward very close to the shoreline (from K1 to K3). its accumulated in depressions may be eroded easily by
Vertical variations in grain size are not clear except at runoff flows during rains subsequent to the tsunami,
K4 and K7. Coarse-grained sediments (median grain resulting in low preservation potential.
size, 1.76 phi) are overlain by fine-grained sediments
(3.72 phi) at K7. At K1, sediments are also coarse- 5.2. Vertical and horizontal grain size variations in
grained. However, no fine-grained sediments overlie the tsunami deposits
coarse sediments there.
Clear vertical variations in grain size are found in the
5. Discussion deposits to about 600 m inland at Nam Khem. Fine-
grained sediments overlie the coarse-grained sediments
5.1. Relationship between tsunami deposits and of the basal layer of the tsunami deposits. The coarse-
topography grained sediments in our study commonly include
molluscan shell fragments, suggesting that the sedi-
Tsunami sediments cover almost the entire area of the ments were supplied from the beach and/or shallow sea
coastal lowlands at Khao Lak and Nam Khem and can bottom during a tsunami run-up wave. The overlying
be found more than 1000 m inland. Because a large fine-grained sediments with lower settling velocities had
amount of debris such as grass and woody plants been probably accumulated when run-up flows decel-
became trapped in front of the terrace scarp at Nam erated or stood still before the subsequent backflows.
Khem, tsunami waves are inferred to have struck this Normally graded sequences are reported from not only
scarp but, for the most part, not to have overtopped it. this tsunami deposits (Fujino et al., 2006; Szczuciński et
Thus, few tsunami sediments were deposited on the al., 2006) but also other modern tsunami deposits such
terrace surface. We found no tsunami sediments on the as the 1993 Hokkaido-nansei-oki earthquake (Nishi-
upper slope below the terraces and hills at Khao Lak. mura and Miyaji, 1995) and the 1998 Papua New
Therefore, topographic features such as scarps and Guinea tsunami (Gelfenbaum and Jaffe, 2003).
slopes controlled the distribution of the tsunami Two upward-fining successions found at N2 at Nam
sediments. If such topographic features had not been Khem suggest that tsunami waves inundated the low-
present landward of the coast, tsunami sediments would lands more than once. According to eyewitnesses, the
likely be distributed farther inland. For example, sand coast was struck by three tsunami waves, and the second
sheets deposited by tsunamis caused by large prehistoric one was very large. The second wave may have formed
earthquakes extend more than 3 km inland along the either succession. Nanayama and Shigeno (2004)
eastern Hokkaido beach ridge plains, which are bounded divided successions of tsunami deposits caused by the
mainly by Pleistocene uplands (Nanayama et al., 2003). 1993 Hokkaido-nansei-oki earthquake into four units,
The topography also affected the change of sediment two of which had two dominant grain size modes, and
thickness along the transects. Studies of both modern two a single dominant grain size mode. Based on
and ancient tsunamis (Moore and Moore, 1984; sedimentary facies and paleo-current directions by
Nishimura and Miyaji, 1995) have found that the analyzing sedimentary structures, they inferred that the
thickness of the deposits decreases with distance from former units were formed by the first and second run-up
the sea. However, deposit thicknesses do not clearly flows and that the latter units were deposited during the
decrease landward at either transect of Nam Khem or first and second backflows. Backflows also might
Khao Lak, probably because the terrace scarps and steep contribute to the formation of multiple fining upward
slopes obstructed tsunami run-up flows forcibly, causing successions at Nam Khem. However, the influence on
the accumulation of a large amount of sediments in front sedimentation could not be elucidated due to the lack of
of them. Fujino et al. (2006) also reported that thickness adequate data.
of tsunami deposits in the Khao Lak area shows no clear The median grain size of the deposits does not
relation to distance from the shore. decrease gradually from sea to land as a whole. It is
Microtopography also influences the thickness of notable, however, that coarse-grained sediments with
tsunami deposits. Thick tsunami sediments occur in median grain size of medium to coarse sand can be
present and abandoned stream channels at Nam Khem, found as far as 600–700 m inland, whereas only fine-
 K. Hori et al. / Marine Geology 239 (2007) 163–172 171

deposit thicknesses, which do not show a distinct

reduction with distance from the sea.
Vertical variations in the tsunami deposits are very
clear at many sites along the Nam Khem transect. The
deposits are found as far as 600 m inland. The basal
deposits are coarse-grained and include molluscan shell
fragments, and they are covered by fine-grained
deposits. Moreover, the fine-grained deposits at some
sites are in turn overlain by another coarse-grained layer
with an erosional lower boundary. Thus, these succes-
sions were formed by multiple tsunami waves.
The basal coarse-grained deposits along the Nam
Khem transect fine landward. The up-flow waned
Fig. 7. Median grain size of coarse-grained sediments at the base of progressively landward based on the assumption that
tsunami deposits and the overlying fine-grained sediments at the Nam
the median grain size of the basal deposits tracks the
Khem transect. Median grain size of fine-grained sediments at N9 to
N11 at which coarse-grained sediments are absent are also indicated. strength of the depositional up-flow.

Acknowledgement
grained sediments with median grain size of very fine
sand or smaller are observed further inland. At the Nam We thank A. Potichan, S. Watana, and T. Norkham
Khem transect, the median grain size of the coarse- for the support of our field survey. Constructive and
grained sediments constituting the base of tsunami thoughtful reviews by Witold Szczuciński and an
deposits seems to decrease landward (Fig. 7). On the anonymous reviewer are gratefully acknowledged.
other hand, median grain size of the overlying finer This study was supported financially by Special
sediments does not fine with distance inland and it is Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and
almost the same as the fine-grained sediments deposited Technology.
where fining-upward successions are not observed (N9
to N11). The source of coarse-grained sediments is
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