HW_Tsunami Atlantic Ocean

EES 0836 Tsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean Disasters: Geology vs. Hollywood Introduction Following the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 that killed an estimated 300,000 people, NOAA updated its tsunami warning systems. Are tsunami buoys in the Atlantic Ocean necessary? In this assignment, we will investigate the tsunami hazards of the North Atlantic Ocean with regards to both major population/economic centers. With the help of Dr. Ilya Buynevich’s reaction to a clip from the movie Tidal Wave: No Escape (1997) we will also be able to infer what the wave might look like if it hit the coast of New Jersey, given the different trigger events from this activity . Learning Objective ● Identify the potential hazards associated with tsunamis in the Atlantic Ocean. (1, 5, a, b) ● Discuss the role science plays in helping to shape tsunami-specific policy. (1, 2, 5, b, c) Part 1 : Identification of major ports and population centers . Below is a list of six major ports or population centers that border the Northern Atlantic Ocean . Major Ports and Terminals of the Atlantic LI Lisbon (Portugal ( DA Dakar (Senegal ( NY New York (US ( CA Casablanca (Morocco ( HA Halifax (Nova Scotia ( RK Reykjavik (Iceland ( Looking at the map, you can see there are several coastal population centers. Think back to the lectures on tsunami generation. What are the triggers for tsunamis on the east coast ? For each trigger event you come up with, explain how that event could trigger a tsunami . Your list of possible tsunami triggers and explanation of how it could produce a tsunami : LI N Y D A C A H A RK

EES 0836 Part 2 : Calculate travel times for each location . For the purposes of this part of the assignment, we will concentrate on three distinct locations where the conditions to produce a catastrophic tsunami exist . Canary Islands : volcanic collapse of the west coast of La Palma (28.7 N, 17.9 W ( Antilles Trench : megathrust earthquake (17.9 N, 61.0 W ( Maritime Continental Shelf : catastrophic landslide (44.5 N, 57.0 W ( Of concern is the time it would take for a tsunami to reach each of the important ports. We will assume straight lines to calculate distance. We will also simplify by 1) assuming constant travel velocity, 2) ignoring effects of seafloor bathymetry or wave refraction, and 3) assuming tsunami waves radiate out equally in all directions. Using a constant open-ocean tsunami velocity of 700 kilometers / hour and the equation: Time = Distance / velocity , calculate the time in hours for tsunami waves to reach each port . Tsunami Travel Times Canary Islands Antilles Trench Maritime Shelf Location Distance (km ( Hours Distance (km ( Hours Distance (km ( Hours CA 1,120 1.6 5,550 7.93 4,130 5.9 DA 1,530 2.19 4,640 6.63 4,490 6.41 HA 4,350 6.21 2,970 4.24 510 0.73 LI 1,370 1.96 5,530 7.9 4,030 5.76 NY 5,250 7.5 2,840 4.06 1,430 2.04 RK 3,970 5.67 5,920 8.46 3,100 4.43 Questions : 1. Which city averages the closest to all three danger zones? _______HA_____ 2. Which city averages the farthest distance? _____RK_______ 3. What is the minimum time recorded on your chart? _____0.73_______ 4. For which city? ______HA______ 5. Would you support the idea that more tsunami buoys are needed in the Atlantic Ocean? Why or why

EES 0836 Part 3 : The impact of Deep Impact Watch the following clip from the movie Deep Impact (1998). In this scene, a bolide has entered Earth’s atmosphere and eventually impacts the Atlantic Ocean. When this happens in the clip, pause the clip and note the time in the table below. The impact produces a rather large tsunami that, within seconds, approaches and destroys the eastern coast, including New York City. Again, when this happens, pause the clip and record the time . Time (sec) Bolide hits ocean 0.06 Tsunami hits land 0.59 Difference between 53 sec Convert time in seconds to hours 0.015 hours Now that you have the time (in hours) between the impact and the resulting tsunami, you can now calculate distance. With all constants from the previous section, calculate the distance using the earlier equation, albeit slightly changed: Distance = time x velocity . Calculate distance: _______10.5_____ km Convert to miles: ____6.52________ miles Part 4 :Reaction video For this assignment, watch the reaction video from Ilya Buynevich where he watches a video clip from the movie: Tidal Wave: No Escape (1997). In the video, he addressed how tsunami waves approach land and how you can infer the processes that produce them by looking at how the wave approaches. In this activity, we looked at 4 possible ways in which a tsunami could happen in the Atlantic Ocean. In a brief paragraph, explain how the wave would approach the coast of New Jersey for each of the possible trigger locations . If a tsunami were to hit the coast of New Jersey, the wave would approach the shore would draw in a lot of water exposing a lot of the seafloor. The shape would not appear the way we think of a wave that a surfer would ride, but more of an incoming flood similar to a tide. Therefore, there would also not really be a wave break. There would likely be a steady flow of water onto the shore flooding the local areas .