Patricio A. Catalán

Perspectives on the Long-Term Equilibrium of a Wave Dominated Coastal Zone Affected by Tsunamis: The Case of Central Chile

ABSTRACT Catalán, P.A.; Cienfuegos, R., and Villagrán, M., 2014. Perspectives on the long-term equilibrium of a wave dominated coastal zone affected by tsunamis: The case of Central Chile. The capability to predict the long term evolution of coastal state parameters can be severely affected by neglecting major geomorphic forcings. Among these, the effect of tsunamis as been largely neglected along the Chilean coast. In this contribution, we present a qualitative and descriptive assessment of the sudden change induced by the tsunami on a coastal location in Central Chile, and the consequent recovery process. The latter is driven mostly by strong wave forcing, with a very fast recovery capactity. The necessity and consequences of including tsunamis in long term evaluations fo coastal morphology are briefly discussed.

INTERACTION OF TSUNAMIS AND TROPICAL CYCLONES

Tsunamis and storm surge from tropical cyclones have devastating consequences for coastal settlements. Due to their importance, their incidence has been characterized by their resulting morphological changes using paleodeposits. This type of proxies can provide uncertainty on the type of genesis, which has led to debates in the scientific community. Nevertheless, the hypothesis of simultaneous events reaching the coast has not been address as a possible explanation of such deposits. In this study we perform numerical simulations to explore the interaction of a tsunami with a tropical cyclone storm surge at different astronomical tides. The study is based on the 1995 Manzanillo earthquake and hurricane Winifred (1992), showing how the interaction between events amplifies the water levels and current velocities generated by individual events. A sediment transport model is used to estimate bed level changes for different scenarios, providing insight on the expected morphological changes for individual and simultaneous events.

Observations and Modeling of the 27 February 2010 Tsunami in Chile

Chile; Coastal bluffs; Coastal uplift; Loss of life; Pacific islands; Regional scale; Survey data; Tsunami flow; Disasters; Earthquakes; Surveys; Tsunamis