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Natural Science Forum / Earth Science / Oceanography / February 2005tsnumai under ice?
Just wondering if large tsunamis ever occur at the polar regions, and what would the resulting wave look like on the ice surface ? Would there be a traveling ice breakup ? I would have thought that in the deeper waters ice would remain un effected. however when the tsunami wave comes closer to shore the ice will face increasing pressure from the water. as the water ahead of the wave is pulled out as the wave approaches, the ice next to shore is likley to slip down. I would then expect the wave to either penetrate the ice completely or not at all depending on the size of tsunami and thickness of ice. This is simply my theoretical opinion. I would be interested in any obeservation or studies into this. steve Depends on how polar you're talking. I mean how far north or south. If your talking in Antarctica, then no. Tsunamis are the wave caused by a submarine event (earthquake, eruption, etc.). So it would simply be an earthquake. If you're talking northpole, i believe that far enough north it's solid ice and the quake would transfer it's enrgy similaly to a land based quake. An offshore quake sending a tsunami toward an ice shelf however would (in my opinion) serve to break some of the ice. I don't think the period is long enough though to say break off the entire Ross Ice Shelf from Antarctica. Though i think that's one of those thatng that under the right (or wrong) circumstances there's no telling exactly what could happen. Very interesting question though. |
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