Thursday, December 30, 2004
Atlantic Tsunami
The Atlantic Ocean basin is geologically stable, so it can't happen here, right?
Wrong. According to this paper by geologists Steven Ward and Simon Day,
Here's the tsunami that Ward and Day model:
Doc Searls and Howard Greenstein point to this, which says
What'd Santayana say?
Wrong. According to this paper by geologists Steven Ward and Simon Day,
Geological evidence suggests that during a future eruption, Cumbre Vieja Volcano on the Island of La Palma [in the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean near Africa] may experience a catastrophic failure of its west flank, dropping 150 to 500 km3 of rock into the sea. Using a geologically reasonable estimate of landslide motion, we model tsunami waves produced by such a collapse. Waves generated by the run-out of a 500 km3 (150 km3) slide block at 100 m/s could transit the entire Atlantic Basin and arrive on the coasts of the Americas with 10-25 m (3-8 m) height.
Here's the tsunami that Ward and Day model:
Doc Searls and Howard Greenstein point to this, which says
The western flank of Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma
in the Canaries is going to slide into the Atlantic one of these days: a
diagonal fracture has already separated it from the main body of the
volcano, and only friction still keeps it attached. "When it goes, it will
likely collapse in about 90 seconds," said Professor Bill McGuire, director
of the Benfield Grieg Hazard Research Centre at University College London.
And when it goes, probably during an eruption, the splash will create a
mega-tsunami that races across the Atlantic and drowns the facing coastlines.
What'd Santayana say?
Comments:
Plus, according to The Scotsman (http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1469192004), scientists are asking for a warning system in the Atlantic similar to that which exists in the Pacific. The risk-benefit seems like a no-brainer.
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: 1/02/2005 2:25 PM
: 1/02/2005 2:25 PM
