Polish J. of Environ. Stud. Vol. 18, No.

1 (2009), 103-110

Original Research
Heavy Minerals in 2004 Tsunami Deposits
on Kho Khao Island, Thailand

R. Jagodziski*, B. Sternal, W. Szczuciski, S. Lorenc

Institute of Geology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Makw Polnych 16, 61-606 Pozna, Poland

Received: 2 October, 2008

Accepted: 23 November, 2008

Abstract

Heavy mineral assemblages were studied in onshore sandy deposits from the 26 December 2004 tsuna-
mi on Kho Khao Island, southern Thailand. The most common minerals included tourmalines, zircon, mus-
covite, biotite, limonites and opaque minerals. An abundance of micas and depletion in tourmalines allowed
us to distinguish the tsunami deposits from modern beach sediments and pre-tsunami soils. Major lateral and
vertical changes in the studied profiles were related to an increase in flake-shaped micas upward in the tsuna-
mi sequence as well as landward. These variations, although documented for one grain size fraction, corre-
sponded well with changes in the grain size distributions of the whole samples. The observed changes proba-
bly reflect wave hydrodynamics and a change in the sedimentation mode from bed-load deposition to settling
of the suspended load.

Keywords: tsunami deposits, heavy minerals, micas, Andaman Sea, Thailand

Introduction Lanka and Thailand [e.g. 6-12]. However, according to the

authors, apart from a study by Babu et al. [9] on pre- and
Identifying tsunami deposits in the geological record is post-tsunami mineral assemblages in beach deposits, no
often very difficult due to the huge variability in tsunami detailed mineralogical study has been performed on heavy
deposits, which are most commonly in the form of sand minerals in modern tsunami deposits.
sheets or boulders. However, it is important to recognize Studies of heavy minerals have many applications [13],
them, particularly on coasts without historical records of but the most common are those related to sediment prove-
tsunamis (e.g., Thailand), because identifying former tsuna- nance and paleo-hydrodynamic and transport reconstruc-
mi deposits may help in assessing tsunami hazard [e.g. 1]. tion [e.g. 14-18]. These applications may also be useful in
Unfortunately, there is no unique set of features that can tsunami deposit studies. Heavy minerals may help to deter-
help in recognizing tsunami deposits. Several authors [e.g. mine the region from which the sediments were eroded, and
2, 3] have tried to present a list of diagnostic features. But, their spatial mineralogical trends in tsunami deposits result-
it is clear that several of these must be met in order to iden- ing from hydraulic sorting may reflect sedimentological
tify the sediments as tsunami deposits. processes during the tsunami. It is also hypothesized that
In several studies of modern tsunami deposits left on the latter may leave a particular pattern in the heavy miner-
land, an enrichment in heavy minerals has been reported as al distribution, which may be helpful in identifying and
one of these characteristics, for example in deposits from interpreting older tsunami records.
the 1992 tsunami in Nicaragua [4], the 2001 tsunami in The major objective of the present study is to apply
Peru [5] and the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, India, Sri heavy mineral analysis to the 26 December 2004 tsunami
deposits, modern beach sands and pre-tsunami soils from
*e-mail: [email protected] Kho Khao Island (Thailand). We addressed three questions:
104 Jagodziski R., et al.

- Can heavy mineral assemblages help distinguish tsuna- phi () = -log2D

mi deposits?
- Can we use them to find the source of the tsunami ...where D is the size in millimeters. The grain size statis-
deposits? tics (e.g., mean and sorting) were analyzed using the loga-
- Do the potential variations in heavy mineral assem- rithmic method of moments with the Gradistat software
blages within the tsunami deposits reflect the hydrody- [20]. Two of the most common fractions, 0.063-0.125 and
namics of the wave? 0.125-0.25mm, were separated by dry sieving and used for
heavy mineral separation with a heavy liquid of density
2.84 g cm-3. The studied fraction was treated with HCl to
Materials and Methods remove calcium carbonate minerals. The remaining heavy
minerals were identified and counted in a thin section under
Samples were collected shortly after the tsunami a petrographic microscope.
(February 2005) and before the rainy season, which could
alter the composition of the deposits [8, 19]. The samples
were taken from pits along five shore-perpendicular tran- Study Area
sects (4 to 6 pits for each transect) on Kho Khao Island,
Phang Nga Province, Thailand (Fig. 1). Within the tran- The study was conducted on samples from Kho Khao
sects, besides surface samples, the tsunami deposit layer Island, which was heavily affected by the 2004 tsunami.
was also sampled at seven locations in the vertical direc- The investigated western coast of the island is built of sev-
tion. To determine grain size distribution, sediment samples eral parallel beach ridges, mainly formed during the early to
were dried and sieved into twelve 0.5 phi intervals. A few mid Holocene sea level highstand [e.g. 21-23]. The island
samples were also analyzed using optical diffractometry on is separated at its north and south ends by up to 20m deep
a laser-diffraction-based Mastersizer 2000 Particle tidal channels from Phra Tong Island and the mainland,
Analyzer. The conversion of micrometers into phi values is respectively. The tsunami wave run-up was the highest at
based on the following relationship: the southern and northern tips of the island, reaching over

Fig. 1. Location of the study area and sampling points. A) Location of the study area, B) Kho Khao Island in the Andaman Sea, and
C) sampling points. The dashed line shows the 2004 tsunami inundation limit. L1-L5 stand for lateral sampling transects, and V1-V7
mark the studied vertical profiles.
Heavy Minerals in 2004 Tsunami... 105

6m, whereas in the middle part the run-ups were much tsunami sandy soil. The tsunami deposits are composed of
smaller, less than 3m [8]. This was partly related to the off- two layers, the lower cross-stratified and the upper with
shore coral bank. The inundation zone was more than 1km horizontal lamination and an upward-fining trend. In profile
wide, and the southern, low-lying part of the island was V3, tsunami deposits are 17cm thick and composed of
completely flooded. moderately to well-sorted fine sand, slightly fining upward.
Profile V4 is composed of 11cm of poorly to moderately-
Results sorted fining-upward tsunami deposits covering pre-tsuna-
mi soil. The mean grain size of the tsunami deposits
Sediment Type decreases upward from medium sand to very coarse silt.
Profile V5 is composed of pre-tsunami soil covered with a
The detailed sedimentological properties of tsunami 7cm-thick blanket of moderately well-sorted to poorly-sort-
deposits are presented elsewhere [24]; here, we only report ed medium sand tsunami deposits. The deposits are charac-
the major characteristics. Sedimentary deposits from the terized by a fining-upward trend. Profile V6 covers the
tsunami were found in most places where tsunami flooding upper part of a 34cm-thick tsunami deposit layer. It is made
occurred. The thickness of most of the deposits was mainly up of two fining-upward sequences composed of poorly-
from 5 to 20cm. The studied samples belong to a wide tex- sorted sediments. The lower sequence starts with coarse
tural range, from coarse silt to coarse sand, with very fine sand and ends with very coarse silt, while the upper one
to medium sand being the most common. These deposits starts with medium sand and fines into very fine sand.
are usually poorly to moderately sorted and from very fine Profile V7 is composed of a 15cm-thick tsunami deposit
to very coarsely skewed. The studied pre-tsunami soils are layer with one fining-upward sequence that consists of
composed mostly of moderately well-sorted fine to medi- poorly-sorted medium to very fine sand.
um sand, and the beach sediments from poorly to moder-
ately sorted medium to coarse sand.
The studied lateral profiles are characterized by coarser Heavy Minerals Assemblage
sediments closest to the shoreline (usually <100m land-
ward), and almost uniform sediments more landward. The The analyzed heavy minerals (HM) in the selected grain
finest sediments are found mostly in the middle of the inun- size fractions constitute 0.17 to 5.67%, with 1.69% on aver-
dation distance. For instance, in profile L1 the finest sedi- age. The suite of HM is very poor. They are divided on the
ments are found from 50 to 410, and at 1050m from the basis of their abundance into major and accessory minerals.
shoreline, in profile L2 from 430 to 740m, for L3 around The first group includes tourmalines, muscovite, biotite,
100 and from 800 to 1000m, and in profiles L4 and L5 from limonites, nontransparent heavy minerals (opaque) and zir-
120 to 220m. The mean grain sizes of samples from the ver- con. Major minerals compose a total of 99% of all HM. The
tical profiles are presented in Fig. 2. Profile V1 includes accessory minerals are chlorites, amphiboles, epidotes, gar-
tsunami deposits composed of well-sorted fine sand (25- nets and rutile. Major minerals are common throughout the
70cm) with a slight upward-fining trend, and post-tsunami study region, but the contents of particular minerals vary
deposits of a new beach. The borders are marked with sharp widely. The minimum content of each is around 0%. The
erosional contacts. Profile V2 is composed of 9cm of mod- tourmalines content in the HM is 37.8% on average, but the
erately-sorted medium sand tsunami deposits lying on pre- maximum reaches as high as 77.8%. Limonites, opaque

Fig. 2. Mean grain size (in scale) of samples analyzed in vertical profiles. Sediment type abbreviations: vcZ - very coarse silt, vfS
very fine sand, fS fine sand, mS medium sand, cS coarse sand.
106 Jagodziski R., et al.

minerals and muscovite have similar maximum contents of by very high contents of Tu+Zi, and much lower ones of
about 69%, with average values of 20.7, 17.7 and 16.3%, Ms+Bi. The content of the Opq+Li group is very similar or
respectively. Biotite and zircon, although present in most of slightly smaller than in the tsunami deposits. The only
the samples, have smaller concentrations, respectively 4.8 major difference between beach and soil sediments is the
and 1.3% on average. ratio of Opq to Li. Opaque minerals are twice as common
Because similar variations were found among some of in the beach sediments; in the soils the ratio was opposite.
the major minerals, they were grouped into three pairs. The
first is composed of tourmalines and zircon (Tu+Zi), as Lateral Changes in Heavy Mineral Contents
both minerals are transparent and usually found to be pris- within the Tsunami Deposits
matic in shape (close to spherical). The second pair consists
of micas: muscovite and biotite (Ms+Bi), which are char- The spatial changes in HM composition of the tsunami
acterized by a platy flake shape and almost the same densi- deposits (Fig. 3) were investigated along 5 lateral transects.
ty. These are the lightest among the studied minerals. The The greatest difference was observed between northern
third is a group of nontransparent HM composed of Kho Khao (transects L1 and L2) and the middle and south-
limonites and other opaque HM (Opq+Li). ern parts of the island. In the north, samples are dominated
by the Tu+Zi group, and Ms+Bi is in most cases <10%. In
the remaining transects, the contents of all three groups are
Heavy Minerals in the Tsunami Deposits,
on average similar, but vary a lot along the transects.
Beach Sediment and Paleosoils Transects L1 and L2 reveal the domination of the Tu+Zi
group, which reaches maximum concentrations in samples
The participations of these three HM groups, namely taken from the shoreline or closest to the shoreline and at
Tu+Zi, Ms+Bi and Opq+Li, were compared in the tsunami the maximum tsunami inundation distance. In the middle
deposits, modern beach sediments and pre-tsunami soils. part of the transects, the content of this group decreases to
The tsunami deposits are the most dissimilar (Table 1). about 60%, associated with an increase in opaque minerals
Their minor component is the Tu+Zi group, with an aver- (transect L1) or muscovite (transect L2). Changes in the lat-
age content of 33.1%. The Ms+Bi group, although with an eral transects L3-L5 (Fig. 3) are characterized by very high
average content of only 25.6%, dominates particularly in contents of minerals from the Tu+Zi group very close to the
samples from the middle and southern parts of the island, shoreline and a rapid decrease more than 100m inland. The
and in the uppermost part of the tsunami layer, where its Ms+Bi group is almost absent in the zone close to the
content commonly exceeds even 50%. The average content shoreline, but its content increases more inland, reaching
of Opq+Li is the highest, at 40%. However, similarly to the maximum values at 100, 300 and 700m from the coastline
previous groups, its content varies across a wide range. for transects L5, L4 and L3, respectively. The variations in
Beach sediments and pre-tsunami soils are similar as the Opq+Li group are large, from 1 to 73%, but no clear
regards the HM suite, but the contents of particular HM dif- trend is observed.
fer from tsunami deposits (Table 1). These are dominated
Vertical Changes in Heavy Minerals
in the Tsunami Deposits
Table 1. Mean, minimum and maximum concentrations of the
three major heavy mineral groups in tsunami deposits, beach The vertical changes in the HM composition were stud-
sediments and pre-tsunami soils.
ied along 7 profiles (Fig. 4) located mainly in the zone 50
sediment type Tu+Zi Ms+Bi Opq+Li 100 m from the shoreline. In the northern part of Kho Khao
Island three profiles were analyzed (V1-V3). The most
mean 33.1 25.6 40.0 common group, Tu+Zi, dominates the HM assemblage, but
st. dev. 25.0 27.9 17.7 reveals a slight decrease in the upper portion of the tsunami
tsunami deposits deposits. As in the surface samples, the Ms+Bi group is
max 75.9 95.9 73.4
poorly represented. It is found in concentrations greater
min 0.8 0.2 0.9 than 10% only in the uppermost parts of the tsunami
deposits in profiles V1 and V3. The Opq+Li group has
mean 57.0 8.5 33.2
small irregular variations, and its content varies from 20 to
st. dev. 21.7 14.7 17.7 34%. Profile V4 reveals the dominance of the Tu+Zi group
beach sediments and the absence of the Ms+Bi group in pre-tsunami soils.
max 78.1 43.6 71.6
The tsunami deposits are composed mainly of the Opq+Li
min 26.9 0.0 20.0 group, with similar participation of the remaining groups,
mean 52.7 8.0 32.8 except in the uppermost sample, where the Ms+Bi content
increases significantly. In profile V5, practically no verti-
st. dev. 26.8 15.9 21.3 cal changes are observed, in contrast to profile V6, which
pre-tsunami soils
max 78.1 43.6 71.6 shows a variable pattern. This profile is characterized by
two maxima in the Ms+Bi content, in the surface sample
min 8.0 0.0 8.0 (0-1.5cm) and in the middle part of the profile (3-8cm).
Heavy Minerals in 2004 Tsunami... 107

Both maxima are associated with minima in the abundance mainly because pre-tsunami soils developed on old beach
of the remaining HM groups. In profile V7, like in profile ridges formed mainly during the Holocene sea level high-
V4, the change in composition is found only in the surface stand, so they are actually fossil beach sediments. The only
sample, in which a significant increase in Ms+Bi is major difference is in the proportion of limonites to
observed. opaques; this may be due to the authogenic formation of
limonites due to soil-forming processes. The difference
between tsunami deposits and beach sediments or soils is
Discussion more distinct and related to bigger contents of micas in
tsunami deposits rather than tourmalines. This difference
The results presented here reveal that in addition to the may be related to the mode of sediment transport and depo-
variation in heavy mineral composition within the tsunami sition. Beach sediments are transported mainly as a bed load
deposits, there are also differences between tsunami deposits, along the bottom. On the other hand, a tsunami can transport
beach sediments and pre-tsunami soils. These differences sediments in bed load and suspension. The micas, due to
may be significant for studies of paleotsunami deposits. In their flaky shape, may be more easily suspended in water
the present study, beach sediments and pre-tsunami soils and successively settled from suspension. Another charac-
have almost identical heavy mineral compositions. This is teristic feature is the vertical change in mica distribution

Fig. 3. Lateral changes in the contents of the major HM groups in the tsunami deposits.
108 Jagodziski R., et al.

within the tsunami deposits. These are usually most com- the tsunami wave. This conclusion agrees with the results of
mon in the uppermost part of the tsunami sequence. This previous studies on the potential source areas of the tsunami
feature may help in identifying the upper boundaries of deposits, based on textural parameters, microfossils, off-
tsunami deposits in the sedimentary record. One good shore erosional features and numerical models [e.g. 6, 24-
example of this potential application is represented by pro- 29]. However, it is not possible to specify the exact prove-
file V1 (Fig. 4), in which tsunami deposits are already cov- nance of the tsunami deposits due to small differences in the
ered by prograding beach sediments. heavy mineral assemblages, as well as limited reference data
In general, the similar heavy mineral assemblages of the [e.g. 30]. The observed low abundances of micas in the
three studied sediment types suggest that beach or pre- tsunami deposits on northern Kho Khao Island are probably
tsunami coastal soils may be source areas for tsunami related to the characteristics of nearshore sediments, which
deposits, but the common presence of micas suggests that are modified by very strong tidal currents. North of Kho
these sources are not unique, and that some inner shelf sed- Khao Island, there is a deep tidal channel (Fig. 1), which
iments were probably also eroded and transferred on land by serves as a bypass zone for large amounts of water pumped

Fig. 4. Vertical changes in the contents of the major HM groups in the tsunami deposits.
Heavy Minerals in 2004 Tsunami... 109

in and out during each flood and ebb tide. These conditions Acknowledgements
prevent the deposition of flaky minerals like micas, which
are probably transported further offshore or onto tidal flats This study was supported by the Polish Ministry of
east of Kho Khao. This causes the nearshore sediments near Science and Higher Education through research grant No.
the northern part of Kho Khao, which probably served as a N N523 376833. Witold Szczuciski was supported by a
source area for tsunami deposits, to be depleted in micas. fellowship from the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP).
The hydrodynamic properties of heavy minerals are dis- The authors thank Grzegorz Rachlewicz, Darunee
tinct from the most common mineral grains (e.g., quartz), Saisuttichai and Thawatchai Tepsuwan for their help during
but they also differ within the suite of heavy minerals due fieldwork, and Radosaw Jagodziski for his assistance in
to variable densities, shapes and diameters. The impact of laboratory work.
the latter was excluded in the present study by using the
same grain size fraction. Because of this, it may be surpris-
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