A note on tsunami amplitudes above submarine slides and slumps

Tsunami generated by submarine slumps and slides are investigated in the near-field, using simple source models, which consider the effects of source finiteness and directivity. Five simple two-dimensional kinematic models of submarine slumps and slides are described mathematically as combinations of spreading constant or slopping uplift functions. Tsunami waveforms for these models are computed using linearized shallow water theory for constant water depth and transform method of solution (Laplace in time and Fourier in space). Results for tsunami waveforms and tsunami peak amplitudes are presented for selected model parameters, for a time window of the order of the source duration. The results show that, at the time when the source process is completed, for slides that spread rapidly (c(R)/c(T) greater than or equal to 20, where c(R) is the velocity of predominant spreading), the displacement of the free water surface above the source resembles the displacement of the ocean floor. As the velocity of spreading approaches the long wavelength tsunami Velocity (c(T) = rootgh), the tsunami waveform has progressively larger amplitude, and higher frequency content. in the direction of slide spreading. These large amplitudes are caused by wave focusing. For velocities of spreading smaller than the tsunami long wavelength velocity, the tsunami amplitudes in the direction of source propagation become small, but the high frequency (short) waves continue to be present. The large amplification for c(R)/c(T) similar to 1 is a near-field phenomenon. and at distances greater than several times the source dimension, the large amplitude and short wavelength pulse becomes dispersed. A comparison of peak tsunami amplitudes for five models plotted versus L/h (where L is characteristic length of the slide and h is the water depth) shows that for similar slide dimensions the peak tsunami amplitude is essentially model independent. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.