Dr Jon Hill (University of York)

Title: Resolving the tsunami wave: interpreting palaeotsunami deposits by integrating laboratory experiments, numerical modelling and sedimentology

Abstract:
The 8.15ka Storegga submarine slide was a large, tsunamigenic slide off the coast of Norway. The resulting tsunami had estimated run-up heights of around 10-20m on the Norwegian coast, over 20m in Shetland,3-6 metres on the Scottish mainland coast and reached as far as Greenland. Run-up height can be estimated in certain locations via tsunami deposits, but these are not preserved everywhere. Moreover, the estimation of wave height and run-up depend on accurate knowledge of past sea-level. So far numerical modelling of the wave has focussed on the regional wave, with large scale, low resolution models that do not incorporate inundation and hence can only estimate the wave run up using offshore wave heights.

I will describe a set of laboratory, numerical and field experiments that can help disentangle the depositional processes of tsunamis.

 Combining sedimentological data with high resolution inundation modelling is a powerful tool in enhancing the sedimentary record of extreme coastal events. Together, they can help interpret the sedimentary record, extending the history of extreme events and hence improve risk knowledge.

https://jonxhill.wordpress.com/

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Erwin Luesink

Title: Stochastic wave-current interactionin stratied shallow water dynamics

Abstract:
Holm (Proc. Roy. Soc 2015) introduced a variational framework for stochastically parametrising unresolvedscales of hydrodynamic motion. This variational framework preserves fundamental features of fluid dynamics,such as Kelvin’s circulation theorem, while also allowing for dispersive nonlinear wave propagation, both within astratified fluid and at its free surface. The present work combines asymptotic expansions and vertical averagingwith the stochastic variational framework to formulate a new approach for developing stochastic parametrisationschemes for nonlinear wave fields. The approach is applied to a variety of stratied shallow water equationswhich descend from Euler’s three-dimensional fluid equations under approximation by asymptotic expansionsand vertical averaging. In the entire family of nonlinear stochastic wave-current interaction equations derivedhere using this approach, Kelvin’s circulation theorem reveals a barotropic mechanism for wave generation ofhorizontal circulation or convection (cyclogenesis) which is activated whenever the gradients of wave elevationand/or topography are not aligned with the gradient of the vertically averaged buoyancy.

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Lea Oljaca:

Title and Abstract: TBA