The goal of this project is to identify environments conducive to the long-term preservation of tsunami deposits on the southern coast of India by 1) documenting the post-depositional fate of the 2004 tsunami deposits in various geomorphic settings, 2) comparing cyclone deposits with those of the 2004 tsunami to develop criteria for differentiating tsunami and storm deposits in the tropics and 3) finding and describing natural environments that preserve tsunami deposits in this tropical region. In these ways the project will help guide the search for paleotsunami deposits on low-latitude shores.