What are submarine landslides?

A submarine landslide is like when a big pile of sand or rocks on the ocean floor suddenly slips and slides down, making a mess in the water.

Imagine you're playing with your toy cars on a sandy hill. If the hill gets too steep or shakes a little, all the cars might tumble down at once, that’s kind of what happens with submarine landslides, but underwater!

Sometimes, underwater mountains or rivers bring lots of dirt and rocks to the ocean floor. Over time, this pile gets really heavy and unstable, like a wobbly tower of blocks.

Then, something might shake it, maybe an earthquake, or even a big storm, and boom, the whole thing slips down the slope, just like your toy cars going tumbling down the hill!

When a submarine landslide happens, it can send big waves through the ocean. Sometimes these waves grow into really big tsunamis, which can travel all the way to the shore and cause big splashes, or even floods!