Airburst-generated tsunamis
In: Pure and Applied Geophysics. Birkhäuser: Basel. ISSN 0033-4553; e-ISSN 1420-9136, more
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| Keyword |
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| Author keywords |
Tsunami, asteroid-generated airburst, shallow water equations, linearized Euler equations |
| Abstract |
This paper examines the questions of whether smaller asteroids that burst in the air over water can generate tsunamis that could pose a threat to distant locations. Such airburst-generated tsunamis are qualitatively different than the more frequently studied earthquake-generated tsunamis, and differ as well from tsunamis generated by asteroids that strike the ocean. Numerical simulations are presented using the shallow water equations in several settings, demonstrating very little tsunami threat from this scenario. A model problem with an explicit solution that demonstrates and explains the same phenomena found in the computations is analyzed. We discuss the question of whether compressibility and dispersion are important effects that should be included, and show results from a more sophisticated model problem using the linearized Euler equations that begins to addresses this. |
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