Application of Supervised Classification Techniques to Distinguish Past Tsunami-Generated Layers: A Case Study in South-Western Spain

This paper applies three supervised classification techniques to distinguish between tsunami-generated and non-tsunami-generated layers in a sediment core obtained from Doñana National Park (south-west Spain), based on their mineralogical and rare-earth element content. The tsunami-generated layers are characterized by high rare-earth element contents and, in most cases, increased levels of quartz, feldspars and dolomite. This differentiation, combined with palaeontological and sedimentological criteria, reveals that a tsunami occurred in this area during the Upper Pleistocene, between 44 and 50 kyr ago, during the MIS-3 isotopic stage. These statistical techniques could be applied to define tsunami-generated layers in sediment cores more precisely, in conjunction with multidisciplinary geological analyses.