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Paleotsunami Detectives Hunt for Ancient Disasters

49 points by Hooke 4y ago

onychomys 4y ago
From one of the links [0] in the article, this simply bonkers description of a boat riding a tsunami wave like a surfboard... "As the wave passed Cenotaph Island it seemed to be about 50 feet high near the center of the bay and to slope up toward the sides. It passed the island about 2 1/2 minutes after it was first sighted, and reached the Badger about 1 1/2 minutes later. No lowering or other disturbance of the water around the boat was noticed before the wave arrived. The Badger, still at anchor, was lifted up by the wave and carried across La Chaussee Spit, riding stern first just below the crest of the wave, like a surfboard. Swanson looked down on the trees growing on the spit, and believes that he was about 2 boat lengths (more than 80 feet) above their tops. The wave crest broke just outside the spit and the boat hit bottom and foundered some distance from the shore. " [0] https://geology.com/records/biggest-tsunami.shtml https://geology.com/records/biggest-tsunami.shtml
- eesmith 4y ago
  You might like this dramatized portrayal of the Gouverneur Generaal Loudon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouverneur_Generaal_Loudon_(ship) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouverneur_Generaal_Loudon_(sh... ) facing the tsunami from Krakatoa - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sga7dooXn1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sga7dooXn1Y .
irrational 4y ago
Between sea levels rising and the risks of tsunamis, I certainly would not want to live anywhere near the coast. It’s a nice place to visit though.
- TomK32 4y ago
  Just because of rare (depending on the location even rarer) events you mustn't overrate your personal risk. It's just the same for personal risk of terrorism which is so rare compared to any other sort of common accident or even personal eating habits.
  - ljf 4y ago
    While tsunamis might well be rare, the impacts of rising sea levels will be felt amongst low lying areas and coastal communities before the end of this century. We will see a lot of property destroyed across the world and large groups of (rich and poor) climate refugees moving to new and safer areas.
    - sacrosancty 4y ago
      [dead]
    - ljf 4y ago
      Reply to person asking: Current estimates are around 2 billion people impacted by 2100 - around 1/4 of the earths estimated population at that time: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2017/06/rising-seas-could-result-2-billion-refugees-2100 https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2017/06/rising-seas-could-r...
  - pixl97 4y ago
    When looking at things like long term personal properly ownership it gets difficult to make a good risk assessment. For example, you are a nomad generally sleep in the wilderness. What are the risks of a tree branch falling on you at night over your lifetime, or lighting hitting the tree verses the risk of a hailstorm beating you down. Which provides the less risky shelter. I would not count natural disasters and terrorism on the same scale. For the vast majority of individuals terrorism is so much more low risk that it's nearly a rounding error. Terrorism is generally a pin point. Natural disasters are 'generally' not. A hurricane will not only affect you, it will affect everything around you. All services around you can be shut down for an indefinite period of time leading to a situation where you have no food, water, or shelter. There are also non-individual risks, such as choosing where to build a nuclear plant or hospital. Do you build your hospital, a complex that could remain there for 100+ years, in the path of a potential tsunami? Do you build it in the foothills farther away where it won't be destroyed, but in the meantime makes people go farther to reach it? I personally am not one for having society build 'close' to the ocean. The sea has no respect for property rights, and we just love socializing the insurance of buildings put in much higher risk zones than they should be.
- INTPenis 4y ago
  Historically people have not wanted to live on the coast, just near it. On the coast was mostly reserved for poor people.
martyvis 4y ago
Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, Australia has records of tsunami going over 80m cliffs (240ft) and carrying 6m boulders up 25m. Large tsunami may have occurred only 300 and 800 years ago. https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1138&context=scipapers https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredi...

49 points by Hooke 4y ago

From one of the links [0] in the article, this simply bonkers description of a boat riding a tsunami wave like a surfboard... "As the wave passed Cenotaph Island it seemed to be about 50 feet high near the center of the bay and to slope up toward the sides. It passed the island about 2 1/2 minutes after it was first sighted, and reached the Badger about 1 1/2 minutes later. No lowering or other disturbance of the water around the boat was noticed before the wave arrived. The Badger, still at anchor, was lifted up by the wave and carried across La Chaussee Spit, riding stern first just below the crest of the wave, like a surfboard. Swanson looked down on the trees growing on the spit, and believes that he was about 2 boat lengths (more than 80 feet) above their tops. The wave crest broke just outside the spit and the boat hit bottom and foundered some distance from the shore. " [0] https://geology.com/records/biggest-tsunami.shtml https://geology.com/records/biggest-tsunami.shtml

eesmith 4y ago
You might like this dramatized portrayal of the Gouverneur Generaal Loudon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouverneur_Generaal_Loudon_(ship) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouverneur_Generaal_Loudon_(sh... ) facing the tsunami from Krakatoa - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sga7dooXn1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sga7dooXn1Y .

irrational 4y ago

Between sea levels rising and the risks of tsunamis, I certainly would not want to live anywhere near the coast. It’s a nice place to visit though.

TomK32 4y ago
Just because of rare (depending on the location even rarer) events you mustn't overrate your personal risk. It's just the same for personal risk of terrorism which is so rare compared to any other sort of common accident or even personal eating habits.
- ljf 4y ago
  While tsunamis might well be rare, the impacts of rising sea levels will be felt amongst low lying areas and coastal communities before the end of this century. We will see a lot of property destroyed across the world and large groups of (rich and poor) climate refugees moving to new and safer areas.
  - sacrosancty 4y ago
    [dead]
  - ljf 4y ago
    Reply to person asking: Current estimates are around 2 billion people impacted by 2100 - around 1/4 of the earths estimated population at that time: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2017/06/rising-seas-could-result-2-billion-refugees-2100 https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2017/06/rising-seas-could-r...
- pixl97 4y ago
  When looking at things like long term personal properly ownership it gets difficult to make a good risk assessment. For example, you are a nomad generally sleep in the wilderness. What are the risks of a tree branch falling on you at night over your lifetime, or lighting hitting the tree verses the risk of a hailstorm beating you down. Which provides the less risky shelter. I would not count natural disasters and terrorism on the same scale. For the vast majority of individuals terrorism is so much more low risk that it's nearly a rounding error. Terrorism is generally a pin point. Natural disasters are 'generally' not. A hurricane will not only affect you, it will affect everything around you. All services around you can be shut down for an indefinite period of time leading to a situation where you have no food, water, or shelter. There are also non-individual risks, such as choosing where to build a nuclear plant or hospital. Do you build your hospital, a complex that could remain there for 100+ years, in the path of a potential tsunami? Do you build it in the foothills farther away where it won't be destroyed, but in the meantime makes people go farther to reach it? I personally am not one for having society build 'close' to the ocean. The sea has no respect for property rights, and we just love socializing the insurance of buildings put in much higher risk zones than they should be.
INTPenis 4y ago
Historically people have not wanted to live on the coast, just near it. On the coast was mostly reserved for poor people.

martyvis 4y ago

Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, Australia has records of tsunami going over 80m cliffs (240ft) and carrying 6m boulders up 25m. Large tsunami may have occurred only 300 and 800 years ago. https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1138&context=scipapers https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredi...