An enigma of Carboniferous tsunamis: synthesizing the almost invisible knowledge

The Carboniferous was a long (~ 60 Ma) period, but the information on tsunamis of this age is scarce. An in-depth bibliographical survey was carried out to find the relevant literature sources. Subsequently, their content was analyzed to extract the information on Carboniferous tsunamis and to evaluate its quality. It was established that these events were studied sporadically and often marginally, but for about a half of century. Notably, several works argued against tsunami scenarios. The present analysis permitted to document the possible occurrence of tsunamis in many stages of the Carboniferous and in several paleogeographical domains (eastern margin of the Panthalassa Ocean, western edge and southern margin of the Paleotethys Ocean). Generally, the relative certainty of the information on Carboniferous tsunamis is limited, although it rises in a few cases. The outstanding rarity of the considered paleotsunamis is enigmatic, and it cannot be explained by their lower frequency or lower preservation in the Carboniferous. A research bias can be a plausible explanation of this enigma.