Tsunamis

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

misconception that a tsunami is a tidal wave. Although the impact of a tsunami on a coastline may change depending upon the tidal level at the time when one occurs, tsunami waves are unrelated to tides. Instead, tides are the product of imbalanced gravitational forces coming from the planets, the Sun, and most of all, the Moon. In the open, the water level may rise and fall several feet as a tsunami passes by. However, tsunami frequently go undetected by ships because the water takes approximately 10 to 30 minutes to reach it highest level and fall back down. As a tsunami approaches the coastline, it can form a deadly wall of water that rises more than 100 feet (30 meters) high.
The most frequent cause of are earthquakes. These earthquakes are stimulated by the upward or downward thrust of a block from the ocean floor. This process is called submarine faulting. These fault movements are often followed by earthquakes are referred to as łtsunamigenic earthquakes˛. An ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

of equilibrium could potentially be the driving force of a tsunami as well. A landslide that initiates above sea level and then plunges into the sea or takes place entirely under water can interrupt the balance of of the overlying water column as the sediment is redistributed across the basin. Such submarine landslides may accompany the collapse of volcanic structures or large earthquakes. On July 9, 1958, the largest tsunami waves produced by a landslide occurred at Lituya Bay in Alaska. Higher than 1,740 feet above the shoreline with a 525 meter splash-up, it is surprising that they were generated solely by a massive rockslide which had resulted from an ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: