Abstract
Tsunami records, obtained along coastlines at points distant from their source, are greatly modified from their deep water signatures. A better understanding of tsunamis propagating in deep water is required before successful predictions of tsunami amplitudes in coastal areas can be made. The principal modification mechanisms for tsunamis propagating in one horizontal dimension are phase dispersion and reflection from bottom topography. These mechanisms are studied separately by developing models which either include or exclude phase dispersion. Variational principles along with a set of scaling parameters are employed to derive approximate quasi-long wave equations in one horizontal dimension. This technique allows the introduction of a bottom topography function which may vary in both space and time. Differential equations which result are capable of governing wave solutions which are initiated by bottom motion as well as modified by both variation in depth and phase dispersion. The method is also carried out without recourse to scaling. A system of nonlinear differential equations results, which may be applied where the wave height is a large fraction of the water depth. ...
Mass, William John (1978). An investigation of dispersive and nondispersive long wave equations applied to oceans of variable depth. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -324563.