Deep-sea observations and modeling of the 2004 Sumatra tsunami in Drake Passage

The 2004 Sumatra tsunami was clearly recorded by two UK bottom pressure gauges, DPN and DPS, deployed in Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica. These open-ocean records were examined to estimate characteristics of the tsunami waves and to compare the results of numerical simulations with the observations. Maximum wave heights measured at these gauges were 4.9 cm at DPN and 7.4 cm at DPS; the travel times from the source area were 19 h 46 min and 19 h 39 min respectively, consistent with the times obtained from the nearby coastal tide gauges. The numerical model described well the frequency content, amplitudes and general structure of the observed waves, with only small time shifts probably related to wave dispersion effects. The shifts were 15 min for DPN and 10 min for DPS, with the modeled waves leading the observations in each case. Further inspection of the simulated and observed records revealed that the identified tsunami waves are related to the second (main) train of waves propagating by the energy conserving route along the mid-ocean ridges, while the first train of waves travelling by the fastest route across the ocean remained unrecognizable in the observed DPS and DPN records and undetectable in the records of coastal tide gauges because of their insignificant amplitudes compared to the background variabilit

Focusing of long waves with finite crest over constant depth

Tsunamis are long waves that evolve substantially, through spatial and temporal spreading from their source region. Here, we introduce a new analytical solution to study the propagation of a finite strip source over constant depth using linear shallow-water wave theory. This solution is not only exact, but also general and allows the use of realistic initial waveforms such as N-waves. We show the existence of focusing points for N-wave-type initial displacements, i.e. points where unexpectedly large wave heights may be observed. We explain the effect of focusing from a strip source analytically, and explore it numerically. We observe focusing points using linear non-dispersive and linear dispersive theories, analytically; and nonlinear non-dispersive and weakly nonlinear weakly dispersive theories, numerically. We discuss geophysical implications of our solutions using the 17 July 1998 Papua New Guinea and the 17 July 2006 Java tsunamis as examples. Our results may also help to explain high run-up values observed during the 11 March 2011 Japan tsunami, which are otherwise not consistent with existing scaling relationships. We conclude that N-waves generated by tectonic displacements feature focusing points, which may significantly amplify run-up beyond what is often assumed from widely used scaling relationships