Submarine landslides are among the largest sedimentary transport events on Earth. We study aspects of their distribution in space and time, preconditioning factors, post-failure dynamics, physical properties, and hazards/societal impacts. Techniques that we employ are (1) geophysical data interpretation: 2D and 3D multichannel seismic, multibeam bathymetry, backscatter, side scan, and sub-bottom profiler data; (2) borehole logging data, (3) sediment cores, (4) numerical slope stability modeling, and (5) physical tank/flume experiments.
Publications on Submarine Landslides (*indicates graduate student advisee or post-doc).
Sawyer, D.E., *Mason, R. A., Cook, A. E., and *Portnov, A., (2019), Submarine Landslides Induce Massive Waves in Subsea Brine Pools, Scientific Reports, 9:128, DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-36781-7.
*Lenz, B.L., Sawyer, D.E., Phrampus, B., Davenport, K., and Long, A., (2018), Seismic Imaging of Seafloor Deformation Induced by Impact from Large Submarine Landslide Blocks, Offshore Oregon, Geosciences, v. 9, no. 10, doi:10.3390/geosciences9010010.
Hill, J. C., Brothers, D. S., Hornbach, M. J., Sawyer, D. E., Shillington, D. J., and Bécel, A., (2018), Subsurface controls on the development of the Cape Fear Slide Complex, central US Atlantic Margin, Geological Society, London, Special Publications, v. 477, doi: https://doi.org/10.1144/SP477.17.
Sawyer D. E., R. S. Reece, S. P. S. Gulick, and *B. L. Lenz (2017), Submarine landslide and tsunami hazards offshore southern Alaska: Seismic strengthening versus rapid sedimentation, Geophysical Research Letters, 44, doi:10.1002/2017GL074537.
*Moore, Z. T., and D. E. Sawyer, (2016), Assessing post-failure mobility of submarine landslides from seismic geomorphology and physical properties of mass transport deposits: an example from seaward of the Kumano Basin, Nankai Trough, offshore Japan, Marine Geology, Vol. 374, pp. 73-84.
Sawyer, D. E., and J. R. DeVore* (2015), Elevated shear strength of sediments on active margins: Evidence for seismic strengthening, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, doi:10.1002/2015GL066603.
Sawyer, D.E., and *B.N Hodelka, (2015), Chapter 48: Tiny fossils, big impact: the role of foraminifera-enriched condensed section in arresting the movement of a large retrogressive submarine landslide in the Gulf of Mexico, in proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, 2015.
*Akinci, L. and D.E. Sawyer, (2015), Chapter 39: Salt Diapirism and Slope Failure in the Carolina Trough, Eastern North American Margin, in proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, 2015.
Sawyer, D.E., P.B. Flemings, and M. Nikolinakou, (2014), Continuous deep-seated slope failure recycles sediments and limits levee height in submarine channels, Geology, doi:10.1130/G34870.1
Sawyer, D.E., P. B. Flemings, D. Mohrig, and J. Buttles, (2012), Mudflow Transport Behavior and Deposit Morphology: Role of Shear Stress to Yield Strength Ratio in Subaqueous Experiments, Marine Geology, 307-310, pp 28-39, doi:10.1016/j.margeo2012.01.009
Yamamoto, Y., and Sawyer, D.E., (2012), Systematic Variations in the Fabric and Physical Properties of Mass-Transport Deposits in the Ursa Region, Northern Gulf of Mexico, Ch. 58., Y. Yamada et al. (eds.), Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research 31, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3_58, p. 649-658.
Sawyer, D. E., P. B. Flemings, B. Dugan, and J. T. Germaine (2009), Retrogressive failures recorded in mass transport deposits in the Ursa Basin, Northern Gulf of Mexico, J. Geophys. Res., 114, B10102, doi:10.1029/2008JB006159.
Sawyer, D.E., Flemings, P.B., Dugan, B., Shipboard Scientific Party, IODP Expedition 308, (2007), Lateral Variations in Core, Log, and Seismic Attributes of a Mass Transport Complex in the Ursa Region, IODP Expedition 308, Northern Gulf of Mexico, Proceedings of the Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, April 30-May 3, 2007, OTC Paper #19098.
Dugan, B., Flemings, P.B., Sawyer, D.E., Iturrino, G.J., Moore, J.C., Schneider, J., (2007), Physical Properties of Stacked Slumps in the Ursa Region, Northern Gulf of Mexico (IODP Expedition 308) Determined from Log, Core, and Seismic Data, Proceedings of the Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, April 30-May 3, 2007, OTC Paper #18704.