Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

Lanai Tsunami Impact About 105 Ka? Catastrophic Wave Erosion, Southeast Coast, Australia

According to the authors¹ along the southern coast of New South Wales sand barriers that have been dated to the last interglacial have been destroyed almost completely, probably by a catastrophic tsunami. On coastal abrasion ramps there is also evidence of catastrophic wave erosion that has been found to be at least 15 m above the present sea level. These erosional features cannot be attributed to either eustatic fluctuations or local uplift, as they are situated above the range of erosion by contemporary storm waves. Chronological evidence has been found that places the time when the last of the barriers formed during the last glacial was destroyed at about the same time as the submarine slide off Lanai in the Hawaiian Islands 105 ka that generated tsunamis which crossed the Pacific Ocean to cause erosion on this coast.

Sources & Further reading

1. Young, R. W., and E. A. Bryant. "Catastrophic Wave Erosion on the Southeastern Coast of Australia: Impact of the Lanai Tsunamis Ca. 105 Ka?". Geology 20, no. 3 (March 1, 1992 1992): 199-202.