Massive Storegga Tsunami 8,200 Years Ago Could Have Wiped Out a Significant Portion of Population at Howick

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Lamiot)
Massive Storegga Tsunami 8,200 Years Ago Could Have Wiped Out a Significant Portion of Population at Howick

A massive tsunami may have caused the decline of population in Britain. However, the researchers needed to figure out what caused the disaster.

Massive Tsunami Behind Britain's Population 8,000 Years Ago

The Storegga slide, an underwater landslide near Norway, caused a tsunami approximately 8,200 years ago that destroyed much of northern Europe. There was a significant decline in Britain's population in that same period.

Researchers from the Universities of York and Leeds examined whether the population loss was caused by the tragedy alone or other reasons. In a new study, they used computer simulations to estimate the inland extent of the tsunami's waves.

They concluded that a sizable section of the inhabitants of Howick, Northumberland, in northern England, may have perished in the tsunami.

"The suggested population decline occurred immediately after the Storegga tsunami occurred," Patrick Sharrocks, the lead author of the paper detailing the research, said via email. "However, a cold period coincided with the tsunami, so it was unclear which event had a greater impact."

The huge waves that were caused by the landslides had far-reaching effects. There is evidence of the Storegga tsunami in Scotland, Greenland, Denmark, England, Norway, and the Shetland Islands.

Waves as high as ten to twenty feet have been reported around the UK mainland. The narrow valleys of the Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland may have amplified the effects, flooding the country with waves that reached heights of almost 65 feet.

No written documentation of the calamity exists. Instead, the narrative is found in the sedimentary deposits in lakes, lagoons, and other bodies of water that resulted from the tsunami. By bringing in more from the sea, the wave also removed sediment on land.

Even though these layers are unique, time and human activities frequently cause them to deteriorate. On the other hand, they can provide scientists with information on the interior travel distance of a wave and the frequency of such incidents.

None of the massive waves made it to Howick. Sediment in this area appears to have been caused by an abrupt occurrence. However, it's coarser than the finer sand linked to the Storegga waves elsewhere.

"Further sedimentary research at Howick could accurately identify whether deposits were produced by the tsunami at this location," Sharrocks said.

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How the Tsunami Could Have Drowned a Significant Portion of Population?

The British Isles rarely experience tsunamis. According to the findings, there was probably never one before the Storegga landslide for the Mesolithic population.

The researchers hypothesize that humans may have been driven to the water to gather stranded shellfish because of the retreating tide before a massive wave.

The tsunami might have drowned a sizable portion of the populace if that had occurred. Malnutrition among the survivors might have resulted from removing supplies like hazeltrees.

Sharrocks stated that while numerical models "can reconstruct the Storegga tsunami," they can never be entirely representative of historical occurrences. Because the event occurred so long ago, the terrain, height, and relative sea level position were all very unclear.

Based on their models, the tsunami would have only impacted Howick if it had occurred during high tide.

Researchers hypothesized that the tsunami might have obliterated signs of human habitation in Norway, Britain, and other places in a different report published in 2021. However, they also pointed out that evaluating "the extent to which this event was a disaster for the coastal communities" is challenging because "there remain very few archaeological sites with direct evidence of tsunami deposits."