Storegga Slide
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The three Storegga Slides count among the largest recorded landslides in history. They occurred under water on the edge of Norway's continental shelf (Storegga is Norwegian for "the Great Edge") in the Norwegian Sea, 100 km north west of the Møre coast, where an area the size of Iceland slid, causing a very large tsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean. This collapse involved a 290km stretch of coastal shelf, with a total area of 5,580km3 of deposited debris. The latest incident occurred around 6100 BC. In Scotland, traces of the subsequent tsunami have been recorded, with deposited sediment being discovered in the Firth of Forth 80km inland, and 4 metres above normal tide levels.
As part of the activities to prepare the Ormen Lange natural gas field, the incident has been thoroughly investigated. One conclusion is that the slide was caused by material built up during the previous ice age, and that a reoccurrence would only be possible after a new ice age. This conclusion is supported by numerous exhaustive published scientific studies.
Facts and arguments supporting such conclusion were made public in 2004. Earlier it was concluded that the development of the Ormen Lange gas field would not significantly increase the risk of triggering a new slide. A new slide, potentially larger than Denmark in area, and 400 m to 800 m high, would trigger a very large tsunami that would be devastating for the coast areas around the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.
[edit] Possible mechanism
Earthquakes, together with gas like methane released from the decomposition of gas hydrates, are considered to be the likely triggering mechanisms for the slides.
