Isostatic Modelling, Vertical Motion Rate Variation and Potential Detection of Past-Landslide in the Volcanic Island of Tahiti

TL;DR

This study models the isostatic effects of large landslides on volcanic islands, showing significant vertical motion changes that impact sea-level reconstructions and suggesting past landslides can be detected through vertical motion analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a modelling approach to quantify isostatic vertical motions caused by landslides on volcanic islands, linking these to past landslide events and sea-level change reconstructions.

Findings

Giant landslides caused 80-110 m coastline uplift in Tahiti.

A landslide involving 0.2 km^3 displaced volume can cause 1 m coastal motion.

A subsidence rate change in Tahiti is linked to a landslide 6 kyr ago.

Abstract

Intraplate volcanic islands are often considered as stable relief with constant vertical motion and used for relative sea-level curves reconstruction. This study shows that large landslides cause non-negligible isostatic adjustment. The vertical motion that occurred after landslide is quantified using a modelling approach. We show that a giant landslide caused a coastline uplift of 80-110 m for an elastic thickness of 15 km < $T_e$ < 20 km in Tahiti. Theoretical cases also reveal that a coastal motion of 1 m occurred for a landslide involving a displaced volume of 0.2 $km^3$ and influence relative sea-level reconstruction. In Tahiti, a change in the subsidence rate of 0.1 mm/yr (from 0.25 mm/yr to 0.15 mm/yr) occurred during the last 6 kyr and could be explained by a landslide involving a minimum volume of 0.2 $km^3$, $6 \pm 1$ kyr ago.