Tsunami propagation on a transoceanic scale in Antarctica

Abstract

The long wave caused by earthquake, landslide or volcanic eruption can be propagated over the global ocean. The 1883 Krakatau volcanic eruption has generated a destructive tsunami higher than 40m on the Indonesian coast where more than 36 000 lives were lost. Sea level oscillations related with this event have been reported on significant distances from the source in the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake triggered extremely destructive tsunami waves which propagated over the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean through Drake Passage and Indian Ocean respectively. These transoceanic tsunamis are propagated to Antarctica and the impact of 2011 tsunami waves on the icebergs in Sulzberger is captured by satellite images. The worldwide propagation of the tsunami waves is studied numerically using two conventional models: ray tracing method and two-dimensional linear shallow-water model. Copyright © 2015 by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE).