EOS 170 II Flashcards
(207 cards)
meaning of ‘tsunami’
tau = harbor nami = wave
tsunami ≠ tidal wave
nothing to do with Earth’s tides
tsunami stages
generation
propagation
inundation
Generation, causes of tsunami
anything that displaces ocean water
- volcanoes
- landslides
- meteorite impact
- earthquake
tsunami generation, volcano
caldera collapse
pyroclastic flow
underwater eruption
examples of volcano-caused tsunami
- Krakatau, 1883, caldera collapse
- Tonga, 2009, underwater eruption
example of landslide-caused tsunami
Lituya Bay, Alaska, 1958
wave up to 524m
example of impact-caused tsunami
Chicxulub, Mexico, 65Ma
earthquake-caused tsunamis
especially megathrust earthquakes at subduction zones
example of earthquake-caused tsunami, Indian ocean
‘boxing day’ tsunami, Dec 26, 2004
- M9.2 megathrust eq
- 3 largest ever recorded
- 1300km rupture, 8 minutes to rupture
- 230,000 deaths including ppl 6000km away in Africa
Tohoku tsunami
March 2011, Japan arc, triple junction, M9.0, thrust faulting, 18,500 deaths, 90% from drowning, ~360billion USD, ongoing costs associated w/ Fukushima
water waves
pulses of energy that move through a water mass causing water molecules to rotate in place
water wave particle motion
- prograde (unlike Rayleigh waves - retrograde)
- motion decreases with depth
- motion stops at 1/2L
water waves less than 1/2L
- orbits flatten into eclipses
- wave slows down
- wavelength decreases
- water, energy concentrated
- wave height increases
- shoaling
wind wave size, frequency, velocity determined by
- wind velocity
- wind duration
- wind consistency
- area of water body
wind wave vs tsunami; period, WL, velocity
period: W (5-20s); T (3600s, 1h)
WL: W(40-600m); T(100s of km)
V: W(8-30m/s); T(200m/s)
real danger of tsunamis
-momentum: tremendous mass of water floods inland for several minutes
depth of tsunami wave that can kill
knee-high
long L and p of tsunami allows
wave to bend around land and hit multiple shores: wrapping/refracting
velocity of tsunami wave in deep water
V = sqr. (gD) g = 9.8m/s2 D = water depth
average tsunami velocity in PO
D = 5500m V = 230m/s average = 83/km/hr
run up
how far the waves go up the beach
shoaling
wave rising up
run up height/ distance
depends on nearshore bathymetry, shape of coastline