Geomorphology and event-stratigraphy of recent mass-movement processes in Lake Hallstatt (UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape, Austria)

Lake Hallstatt, nestled within the UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape of Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut, serves as a natural laboratory for studying subaquatic landslides. The study reveals that larger mass-transport deposits (MTDs) in the lake are likely triggered by earthquakes, with sediment cores documenting distinct event deposits linked to historically recorded floods and moderate seismic activity. High-resolution bathymetry, reflection seismic data, and sediment core analyses were used to characterize recent (<200 years) landslides, including rock falls, subaqueous slope failures, and shore collapses. The lake's high sedimentation rate (c. 0.5 cm per year) provides a detailed record of these events, suggesting deeper subsurface evidence of even larger mass-movement processes that warrant further investigation with longer cores.

Strasser, M., Berberich, T., Fabbri, S., Hilbe, M., Huang, J.-J. S., Lauterbach, S., Ortler, M., Rechschreiter, H., Brauer, A., Anselmetti, F., & Kowarik, K. (2020). Geomorphology and event-stratigraphy of recent mass-movement processes in Lake Hallstatt (UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape, Austria). Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 500(1), 405–426. https://doi.org/10.1144/sp500-2019-178