Preliminary identification of candidate layer of 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami sediment deposited in Seungko Meulat village in Aceh Besar Regency, Indonesia.

Investigation of sediments carried by tsunami 2004 was conducted in Seungko Meulat village, located in Lhoong subdistrict of Great Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia. Seungko Meulat is directly opposite the Indian Ocean thus it is probable to be affected by the giant tsunami that has hit Aceh province. The deposit samples were taken at two points using a hand drill with a depth of over 1 meter. The collected samples have been further prepared in the laboratory including cleaning, refining, and sieving. Based on our visual observations, the 2004 tsunami candidate layer was found in our study. Tsunami deposits were identified at a depth of 4 cm with a thickness of 16-24 cm. The layers are characterized by light brown coarse to fine sand material located above a dark brown paleosoil layer with sharp erosion contacts. The tsunami deposits of coarse size at the bottom gradually turn into medium to fine sand at the upmost layer. The finer grain size of sand material reflects weakened tsunami waves in the pre-backwash deposition. Moreover, the lower part of the tsunami deposition layer is rich in plant roots, stems, and anthropogenic products. Based on the results obtained, the tsunami layers found in this study have characteristics that are almost similar to the tsunami layer found in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]