LRO01 - Underwater mudslides: Past learnings to alert incoming events || coulées de boue : apprentissages passés pour alerter les évènements entrants

The challenge led by the « Villa Médicis of the costline Organisation » in partnership with CRIHAM (University of Poitiers in France) examines risks of the past meteorological events in an interdisciplinary way.

The challenge propose an expert analysis of the « marine submersions and other surges ». Since the 2010 Xynthia storm, coastal users have been faced to atmospheric depressions in meteorological flooding. Regarding Earth’s geodynamics – for instance in the Indian Ocean disasters in December 2004 and off the coast of Fukushima in March 2011 – they are well aware of earthquakes’ role in the genesis of tsunamis but are less familiar with underwater landslides. Even small, they are crucial danger when they occur near the coast, as seen in 1979 with the expansion of Nice airport in France. In estuaries and paleo-estuaries, these submarine landslides may also provoke tsunamis. If it happens again, these geological accidents would be catastrophic. It is crucial now to identify, inventory and prevent potential future events through the Prevention Risk Plans and Flood Action Programs Prevention.

Archives study and bathymetry analysis remain a key work to prevent delicate geographical areas. The challenge team formed by experts in history, meteorology, geosciences and modelling, will optimize the time given by the sixth edition of Ocean Hackathon to bring solution and propose concrete tools to support Public Authorities and Territorial Communities in making decisions.