Landslide generated tsunamis : numerical modeling and real-time prediction

• Main Author: Brune, Sascha
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: ddc:550; Institut für Geowissenschaften; Arctic; Norway; Storegga; Sumba; Sunda; Svalbard; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/3130; https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-32986; https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/files/3130/brune_diss.pdf

Submarine landslides can generate local tsunamis posing a hazard to human lives and coastal facilities. Two major related problems are: (i) quantitative estimation of tsunami hazard and (ii) early detection of the most dangerous landslides. This thesis focuses on both those issues by providing numerical modeling of landslide-induced tsunamis and by suggesting and justifying a new method for fast detection of tsunamigenic landslides by means of tiltmeters. Due to the proximity to the Sunda subduction zone, Indonesian coasts are prone to earthquake, but also landslide tsunamis. The aim of the GITEWS-project (German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System) is to provide fast and reliable tsunami warnings, but also to deepen the knowledge about tsunami hazards. New bathymetric data at the Sunda Arc provide the opportunity to evaluate the hazard potential of landslide tsunamis for the adjacent Indonesian islands. I present nine large mass movements in proximity to Sumatra, Java, Sumbawa and Sumba, whereof the largest event displaced 20 km³ of sediments. Using numerical modeling, I compute the generated tsunami of each event, its propagation and runup at the coast. Moreover, I investigate the age of the largest slope failures by relating them to the Great 1977 Sumba earthquake. Continental slopes off northwest Europe are well known for their history of huge underwater landslides. The current geological situation west of Spitsbergen is comparable to the continental margin off Norway after the last glaciation, when the large tsunamigenic Storegga slide took place. The influence of Arctic warming on the stability of the Svalbard glacial margin is discussed. Based on new geophysical data, I present four possible landslide scenarios and compute the generated tsunamis. Waves of 6 m height would be capable of reaching northwest Europe threatening coastal areas. I present a novel technique to detect large submarine landslides using an array of tiltmeters, as a possible tool in future tsunami early warning systems. The ...