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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Historical Tsunami Observability For Izu–Bonin–Mariana Sources, Walter Szeliga, Rachelle Reisinger, Breanyn T. Macinnes Dec 2022

Historical Tsunami Observability For Izu–Bonin–Mariana Sources, Walter Szeliga, Rachelle Reisinger, Breanyn T. Macinnes

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

The Izu–Bonin–Mariana Subduction System (IBM) is one of the longest subduction zones in the world with no instrumental history of shallow focus, great earthquakes (Mw > 8). Over the last 50 years, researchers have speculated on the reason for the absence of large magnitude, shallow seismicity on this plate interface, exploring factors from plate age to convergence rate. We approach the question from a different point of view: what if the IBM has hosted great earthquakes and no documentable evidence was left? To address the question of observability, we model expected tsunami wave heights from nine great earthquake scenarios on the …


Sea Level Rise Estimation On The Pacific Coast From Southern California To Vancouver Island, Xiaoxing He, Jean-Philippe Montillet, Rui Fernandes, Timothy I. Melbourne, Weiping Jiang, Zhengkai Huang Sep 2022

Sea Level Rise Estimation On The Pacific Coast From Southern California To Vancouver Island, Xiaoxing He, Jean-Philippe Montillet, Rui Fernandes, Timothy I. Melbourne, Weiping Jiang, Zhengkai Huang

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Previous studies have estimated the sea level rise (SLR) at various locations on the west coast of the USA and Vancouver Island in Canada. Here, we construct an entire SLR profile from Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest to San Diego in Southern California. First, we process global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements at 405 stations blanketing the whole coast to generate a profile of vertical land motion (VLM) known to bias century-long tide gauge (TG) measurements recording relative SLR (RSLR). We are then able to estimate the absolute SLR (ASLR) by correcting the SLR with the VLM. Our study …


Diatoms Of The Intertidal Environments Of Willapa Bay, Washington, Usa As A Sea-Level Indicator, Isabel Hong, Benjamin P. Horton, Andrea D. Hawkes, Robert J. O.Donnell Iii, Jason S. Padgett, Tina Dura, Simon E. Engelhart Aug 2021

Diatoms Of The Intertidal Environments Of Willapa Bay, Washington, Usa As A Sea-Level Indicator, Isabel Hong, Benjamin P. Horton, Andrea D. Hawkes, Robert J. O.Donnell Iii, Jason S. Padgett, Tina Dura, Simon E. Engelhart

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

An understanding of the modern relationship between diatom species and elevation is a prerequisite for using fossil diatoms to reconstruct relative sea level (RSL). We described modern diatom distributions from seven transects covering unvegetated subtidal environments to forested uplands from four tidal wetland sites (Smith Creek, Bone River, Niawiakum River, and Naselle River) of Willapa Bay, Washington, USA. We compared our diatom dataset (320 species from 104 samples) to a series of environmental variables (elevation, grain-size, total organic carbon (TOCSOM), and porewater salinity) using hierarchical clustering and ordination. While no single variable consistently explains variations in diatom assemblages …


Toward Near‐Field Tsunami Forecasting Along The Cascadia Subduction Zone Using Rapid Gnss Source Models, Amy L. Williamson, Diego Melgar, Brendan W. Crowell, Diego Argas, Timothy I. Melbourne, Yong Wei, Kevin Kwong Aug 2020

Toward Near‐Field Tsunami Forecasting Along The Cascadia Subduction Zone Using Rapid Gnss Source Models, Amy L. Williamson, Diego Melgar, Brendan W. Crowell, Diego Argas, Timothy I. Melbourne, Yong Wei, Kevin Kwong

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Over the past 15 years and through multiple large and devastating earthquakes, tsunami warning systems have grown considerably in their efficacy in providing timely and accurate forecasts to affected communities. However, one part of tsunami warning that still needs improvement is forecasts catered to local, near‐field communities in the time after an earthquake rupture but before coastal inundation. In this study, we test a rapid, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)‐driven earthquake characterization model using a large data set of synthetic megathrust ruptures for its near‐field tsunami forecasting potential. We also provide a framework for tsunami forecasting that focuses on the …