Sudden, probably coseismic submergence of Holocene trees and grass in coastal Washington State

Growth-position plant fossils in coastal Washington State imply a suddenness of Holocene submergence that is better explained by coseismic lowering of the land than by decade- or century-long rise of the sea. Growth-position fossils implying sudden submergence include the stems and leaves of salt-marsh grass entombed in tide-flat mud close to 300 yr ago and roughly 1700 and 3100 yr ago. In some places the stems and leaves close to 300 yr old are surrounded by sand left by an extraordinary, landward-directed surge - probably a tsunami from a great thrust earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone. -from Authors