Numerical Modeling and Observations of Tsunami Waves in Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound, British Columbia

Fine, Isaac V.; Cherniawsky, Josef Y.; Rabinovich, Alexander B.; Stephenson, F.

doi:10.1007/978-3-0346-0057-6_4

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Wind effects on the fresh layer in the upper few metres of Alberni Inlet have been studied observationally (Farmer & Osborn, 1976) and numerically (Farmer, 1976;Hodgins, 1979). Alberni Inlet itself is the site of the largest documented Pacific tsunami inundation in Canada, which occured in 1964 (Fine, Cherniawsky, Rabinovich, & Stephenson, 2008). The anoxic sub-basin of Effingham Inlet, which is very rarely renewed (Thomson et al, 2017), contains sediments of interest in paleooceanographic studies (e.g., Hay et al, 2009).…”

Section: Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Cycles, Hypoxia, and Renewal in a Coastal Fjord (Barkley Sound, British Columbia)

Pawlowicz

2017

Atmosphere-Ocean

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The west coast of Vancouver Island (WCVI) is an important marine ecosystem in which concentrations of dissolved oxygen can reach hypoxic levels at certain times of the year. Although the general features of its oceanography are well understood, little is known in particular about the seasonal cycle of oxygen in shelf areas and its interannual variability. It is possible that high temporal resolution monitoring efforts could be carried out relatively easily in sheltered fjords adjacent to the shelf, but the linkages between conditions in these fjords and those on the shelf are also not known. Here a 10-year time series of monthly hydrographic stations in Barkley Sound, British Columbia, is used to identify the seasonal cycle of temperature, salinity, density, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll fluorescence in a WCVI fjord. Analysis suggests that there is a standard estuarine circulation in surface and near-surface waters of the Sound, as well as a deep renewal cycle in intermediate and deep waters, and that the two are largely independent. The deep basin in the Sound undergoes annual summer renewals in response to wind-driven upwelling on the shelf, separated by stagnation and hypoxia during fall, winter, and spring downwelling periods. Other than for the stagnant deep waters in winter, residence times in different parts of the Sound are only a few weeks. Barkley Sound characteristics thus adjust rapidly to shelf conditions, and inshore measurements can be used with care as a proxy for some shelf properties. However, phytoplankton biomass does not appear to be affected by the onset of deep renewal and the associated reversal of along-shore winds and instead responds to local factors. Finally, once the seasonal cycle has been accounted for, interannual variations in temperature, density, and dissolved oxygen are uncoupled, possibly in response to longer-term changes in the characteristics of source waters offshore and/or to changes in shelf processes.RÉSUMÉ [Traduit par la rédaction] La côte ouest de l'île de Vancouver est un écosystème marin important dans lequel les concentrations d'oxygène dissous peuvent s'abaisser à des niveaux hypoxiques à certains moments de l'année. Bien que ses grandes caractéristiques océanographiques soient bien comprises, il en va autrement notamment du cycle saisonnier de l'oxygène sur le plateau et de sa variabilité interannuelle. Il serait possible et relativement facile d'entreprendre des activités de surveillance à haute résolution dans les fjords abrités adjacents au plateau, mais les liens entre les conditions dans ces fjords et celles du plateau ne sont pas connus non plus. Nous utilisons ici une série temporelle mensuelle de dix ans issue des stations hydrographiques de la baie Barkley (Colombie-Britannique), afin de déterminer le cycle saisonnier de la température, de la salinité, de la densité, de l'oxygène dissous et de la fluorescence chlorophyllienne dans un fjord de la côte ouest de l'île de Vancouver. Les analyses laissent penser qu'il existe une circulation estuarienne ...

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Section: Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Cycles, Hypoxia, and Renewal in a Coastal Fjord (Barkley Sound, British Columbia)

Pawlowicz

2017

Atmosphere-Ocean

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“…These higher values are possibly the effect of wave resonance attributed to the regional geomorphology. Wave resonance has been observed in Port Alberni, located at the head of a narrow inlet in the western part of Vancouver Island, during the 1964 Alaskan earthquake (Fine et al, 2008). The recorded wave heights in the port were 3-4 times larger than in the adjacent areas, often recorded in the third or later waves, and the tsunami oscillations continued for days after the event (Fine et al, 2008).…”

Section: Predictions With Two Families Of Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wave resonance has been observed in Port Alberni, located at the head of a narrow inlet in the western part of Vancouver Island, during the 1964 Alaskan earthquake (Fine et al, 2008). The recorded wave heights in the port were 3-4 times larger than in the adjacent areas, often recorded in the third or later waves, and the tsunami oscillations continued for days after the event (Fine et al, 2008). It is likely that local topographic features can contribute to tsunami amplification also in other parts of the region.…”

Section: Predictions With Two Families Of Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probabilistic, high-resolution tsunami predictions in northern Cascadia by exploiting sequential design for efficient emulation

Salmanidou

Beck

Pazak

et al. 2021

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The potential of a full-margin rupture along the Cascadia subduction zone poses a significant threat over a populous region of North America. Previous probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment studies produced hazard curves based on simulated predictions of tsunami waves, either at low resolution or at high resolution for a local area or under limited ranges of scenarios or at a high computational cost to generate hundreds of scenarios at high resolution. We use the graphics processing unit (GPU)-accelerated tsunami simulator VOLNA-OP2 with a detailed representation of topographic and bathymetric features. We replace the simulator by a Gaussian process emulator at each output location to overcome the large computational burden. The emulators are statistical approximations of the simulator's behaviour. We train the emulators on a set of input–output pairs and use them to generate approximate output values over a six-dimensional scenario parameter space, e.g. uplift/subsidence ratio and maximum uplift, that represent the seabed deformation. We implement an advanced sequential design algorithm for the optimal selection of only 60 simulations. The low cost of emulation provides for additional flexibility in the shape of the deformation, which we illustrate here considering two families – buried rupture and splay-faulting – of 2000 potential scenarios. This approach allows for the first emulation-accelerated computation of probabilistic tsunami hazard in the region of the city of Victoria, British Columbia.

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Numerical Modeling and Observations of Tsunami Waves in Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound, British Columbia

Cited by 2 publications

References 19 publications

Seasonal Cycles, Hypoxia, and Renewal in a Coastal Fjord (Barkley Sound, British Columbia)

Seasonal Cycles, Hypoxia, and Renewal in a Coastal Fjord (Barkley Sound, British Columbia)

Probabilistic, high-resolution tsunami predictions in northern Cascadia by exploiting sequential design for efficient emulation

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