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Tsunami or storm surge? NTU scientists find clues in the unseen
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Adam Switzer (right) and Chris Gourmanis core sediment samples from storm deposits in Phra Thong Island.
PHOTO: YAP WENSHU
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SINGAPORE - A research team from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has come one step closer to solving a riddle that has troubled geologists for years: Determining if traces of a coastal flooding event were left by a tsunami or a storm.
They found that the key to distinguishing the two events was not in how the sediments looked, but in what they contained: Tsunamis and storm surges leave behind sediments with unique microbial signatures.
