Grain-size distributions of tsunami sediments
Abstract
Tsunami deposits indicate that suspended load transport is the main mechanism of movement throughout a tsunami event. Recent studies have touched on whether bed load transport
is also occurring, but not seen in deposits due to the high energy nature of tsunamis. By implementing the use of simulation and modeling the tsunami depositional process
may be fully understood. The program Python with PyLab was used to form distributions and calculate descriptive parameters with grain-size data from two past tsunamis, Chile
2010 and Peru 2008. The grain-size of the sediment from each tsunami was measured by two common techniques: sieving and digital particle counter. To interpret this real tsunami
data, numerical and analytical analysis were used to simulate tsunamis through the use of the Analytical Tsunami Deposit Model (ATDM). Both the real world and simulated data
were compared to each other and determined suspend load and bed load transport were occurring simultaneously during a tsunami event. Further research between the ATDM and
present day tsunamis will allow a more finite understanding of tsunami sedimentation.
Citation
Spencer, Sarah (2011). Grain-size distributions of tsunami sediments. Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -2011 -05 -9622.