The New Zealand coastline is susceptible to tsunami hazards from both regional and trans-pacific sources. With a coastal population only expected to increase over the coming decades, the risk associated with tsunami activity has seen a similar increase. The historical record for tsunami in New Zealand only extends back a mere 200 years and is too short to capture the range of tsunami that could potentially affect the coastline. In efforts to better prepare against future events, various paleotsunami studies have been undertaken across the New Zealand coastline to study tsunami that occurred before the historical record began. Despite this, a lack of well-preserved indicators within deposits has led to a scarcity in high-resolution evidence that has been well dated. This study utilises the preservation capabilities of the Omaha Beach barrier system that has built seaward (prograded) over the past ~ 6500 years, in order to identify viable evidence for a paleotsunami deposit as well as po
Coasts are important as they are dynamic and one of the most prone environments to the impacts of climate change. Sea level rise is one of the most significant issues of the present day and it will continue to evolve as a more critical issue in the future. Therefore, it is of utmost importance and urgency for coastal environments to be properly managed to best mitigate the effects on coastal hazards such as storms, sea level rise and occasionally tsunami. The successful management of coasts requires knowledge on how these hazards have affected environments in the past. Studying prograded barriers is an effective and reliable way to determine the occurrence of coastal hazards over millennial time scales. These barrier types accumulate seaward over time, and therefore allow preservation of storms, relative sea-level changes, and tsunami. Geological hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic activity are also an important consideration in tectonically active regions, and prograded barriers