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2007 Tsunami Sedimentology Seminar

The 2007 Tsunami Sedimentology Seminar

Agenda

In order to make progress in tsunami sedimentology, we want to gather those who have thought specifically about tsunami sediment transport and other sedimentological aspects of tsunamis and their deposits [and erosional features], or related deposits. We will be asking you to [attempt to] treat one or two simple benchmark sets of data, as well as to present some of your own case histories. The focus will be on coastal plain/estuarine settings, rather than offshore.

Among fundamental questions we would like to answer from tsunami deposits are:

How big was the wave?
What was the water depth?
Can we tell if there was a bore?
Can we determine the slope[s] of the water surface?
How fast was the water flowing?
How many waves were there?
Is there evidence for reversals in transport [e.g., reflected waves?]
What else can a deposit tell us? [e.g., can it tell us about wavelength or period?]

To answer these questions, we want to ask:

What are different approaches to the problem, their strengths and drawbacks?
Do different approaches work [better] to answer certain [different] questions?
What assumptions need to be made to answer the questions? [e.g., is the deposit suspended load, can we assume quasi-steady, uniform flow,.]
How do vegetation and other roughness elements affect the flow and the deposit?
How does thickness of a deposit vary, and why? What are effects of topography?
What can deposit geometry and internal structure[s] tell us?
What can vertical and lateral trends in grading and sorting tell us?
What are recommended sampling strategies?
What are recommended methods of [grain size] analyses?

· Where are the best places to sample/study deposits in order to answer these questions? [e.g., lakes are good for recurrence intervals, but not so good for hydrodyanmics]

What are the similarities and differences among deposits of tsunamis, storms, floods and turbidity currents?

AND FINALLY:

What are the paths forward?
Can/should we set up more benchmarks?
What experiments would we like to see?
What are recommended means of training more students and young scientists to move us forward?

Logistical Details

When: April 30 - May 3

Where: UW's Friday Harbor Laboratories on San Juan Island, north of Seattle.

Housing and Catering: Housing will be dorm rooms and small cabins at Friday Harbor labs and catered food will be provided.

Arriving at Friday Harbor: We will depart from the University of Washington in Seattle for the Anacortes ferry terminal in mini-vans early on Monday morning 30 April.

Departing Friday Harbor: We will depart from Friday Harbor on the morning of Thursday May 3 and arrive in Seattle in the early afternoon.