Preview

Tsunamis: Ocean and Wave Shape Changes

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
473 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Tsunamis: Ocean and Wave Shape Changes
6 05 Tsunami Nicolai Kortendick 1. The web site presents extensive information regarding tsunamis. Survey the site. A. Select the five facts about tsunamis that were the most interesting or surprising to you. Make a list of your facts. 1. A tsunami is made up of a series of traveling ocean waves of extremely long wavelength. 2. They are triggered by earthquakes and undersea volcanic eruptions and deep sea landslides. 3. The wave shape changes and the height increases as it approaches the coastline. 4. Far field tsunamis have a long travel time so it is easier to predict their effects. 5. Near field tsunami have a travel time of one or two hours, making it harder to evacuate people to safe, high areas before the tsunami reaches the coast.

B. Now look over your list. In your opinion, what is the most intriguing item on your list? Explain.
The most intriguing item on the list to me is that tsunamis resemble waves that I see a lot every day and they have extremely long wavelengths. 2. If you were on a ship at sea, and a tsunami passed under your ship, what would probably be your reaction? Explain.
I would be pretty scared if I knew it was a tsunami, and I would be worried for the people on the coast it was heading for. It probably wouldn’t be a very big wave if I was far out in the ocean so it wouldn’t scare me as much. 3. The site offers a tsunami quiz. Take the quiz. What was your score?
I got 7 out of the 10 questions correct. 4. When you viewed the "Introduction to Waves" video, you learned several terms that apply to all waves. How do the following terms apply to tsunamis and what are typical values for a tsunami’s wavelength and amplitude?

Use the following sites to look for answers: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/tsunami http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/HBASE/Waves/tsunami.html C. Wavelength
Tsunamis have an extremely long wavelength (which is the distance between the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tsunami vs Hurricane

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hurricanes are considered to have a diameter of about 400 to 500 miles and the eye or center of it can be about 20 miles across. It is very calm at the eye part with very low winds and clear skies. But the eye is surrounded by a circular eye wall that has the storm’s strongest winds and rain. In contrast, a tsunami is composed of a series of waves, called a wave train, so its destructive force may be compounded as the waves reach shore. Anyone experiencing a tsunami should always remember that the danger may not have passed with the first wave. They should await word that it is safe to return home.…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    6.05 Lab

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Purpose: To investigate tsunamis Introduction:I have always been fascinated by tsunamis. I have to say that when I vacationed in Hawaii and snorkeled in the Pacific Ocean, I did give a fleeting thought to tsunamis. In the last activity, I mentioned that the characteristics and behaviors of waves that you learned from the video could be applied to other waves. As you complete this activity, I want you to think about the similarities between the rogue tsunamis and the common waves we have studied.Materials:none Procedure: 1. Answer the question based on your exploration on the tsunami website. 2. Submit the assignment according to the directions below.…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    7th Grade Science

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Tsunami- powerful seismic sea wave that begins over an ocean floor earthquake can reach 30 minutes height when approaching land and can use destruction in coastal areas.…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    [ 2 ]. Encyclopedia Britannica Academic Edition, Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, http://hsuezproxy.alc.org:2221/EBchecked/topic/ 1027119/Indian-Ocean-tsunami-of-2004 (accessed April 24, 2012).…

    • 1951 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The characteristics of tsunamis differ slightly from normal sea waves. For one, they often have extremely long wave lengths, in deep water an initial wavelength can be up to 100km. Their amplitude contrasts with the length and it is often nearly undetectable, especially in open ocean. When they are first triggered they have been recorded to travel at speeds of up to 600kmph. Once tsunamis reach the shore they first appear as a rapidly receding shore line. When they reach shallow water they slow down, increase rapidly in height and decrease in wave length. Friction and turbulence slow the wave even more. They will continue to travel until all energy has completely dissipated. Often this doesn’t happen until several hundred feet inland, the flow back can also be extremely destructive. Tsunamis also pose one extra threat, they will sometimes last several hours with the first wave being followed by a chain of waves.…

    • 521 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    This electronic source provided me with basic tsunami information. I believe that it is important to have as much information as possible about my topic, so that I am able to get the most out of my project and understand it to the fullest.…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    ^ a b Gusiakov V.. "Tsunami Quantification: how we measure the overall size of tsunami (Review of tsunami intensity and magnitude scales)"HYPERLINK "http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/data/presentations/jtc/gusiakov.pdf"[->217]. Retrieved 2009-10-18.…

    • 4534 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    2)The Largest and most dangerous of oceanic waves is called tsunami or tidal waves. It’s wave could reach up to thousands of feet tall. 3)Tsunami is word originated from japan, and it’s equivalent in English is called “seismic sea waves.” There are many factors causing Tsunami. Most tsunamis that has…

    • 1349 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Seismic Hazards In Haiti

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This is caused by shallow-focus underwater earthquake; volcanic eruption and large land slide into the sea. The displacement of the water becomes the giant sea wave and they normally have a long wavelength over 100m and low wave height when they are still in the open ocean. When it approaches shallower water near the shoreline the speed and the height increases and it can reach 700km/h. tsunami is one of the most deadly seismic hazards can cause significant damage to buildings and infrastructure. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9 earthquake shook northeastern Japan, unleashing a savage tsunami. It killed over 15000 people and the total cost of the disaster was over $300billion and Japan is still recovering today.…

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The wave was beginning to form, it was go time. I have never run so fast in my life, trying not to leave behind the people I loved, but desperately trying to secure my safety. Sophia, Jack and I made it to a high rise building, over 20 floors. We were on the staircase, trying desperately to make it to the roof of the building, but the cries of the people in my beloved city were louder than I have ever heard before. We were only on the 7th floor when BAM, tsunami has hit. I saw everything happening from a window in the staircase. Hundreds of people being drowned in the rolling waves of the tsunami. The tsunami was so big and powerful, so eager to make us suffer. I couldn't tell if I was crying because of the beauty of it, or because it just killed my…

    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A century ago, August 26, 1883, the island of Krakatau (Krakatoa) in Indonesia, the volcano exploded with devastating fury. The eruption was one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in history. The effects were experienced on a global scale. Fine ash from the eruption were carried by winds exceeding as far away as New York level. The explosion was heard over 3000 miles away.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the morning of December 26, 2004 a magnitude 9.3 earthquake struck off the Northwest coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The earthquake resulted from complex slip on the fault where the oceanic portion of the Indian Plate slides under Sumatra, part of the Eurasian Plate. The earthquake deformed the ocean floor, pushing the overlying water up into a tsunami wave. The tsunami wave devastated nearby areas where the wave may have been as high as 25 meters (80 feet) tall and killed nearly 300,000 people from nations in the region and tourists from around the world. The tsunami wave itself also traveled the globe, and was measured in the Pacific and many other places by tide gauges. Measurements in California exceeded 40 cm in height, while New Jersey saw water level fluctuations as great as 34 cm. Eyewitness accounts, photos, and videos provided unprecidented documentation of the event. To prepare for future tsunamis, we encourage everyone to educate themselves about what they can do now, and in the event that they should ever be threatened by a tsunami.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    2011 Tohoku Earthquake

    • 3183 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Japan Meteorological Agency (2011), Tsunami information (observation) issued 12 March 2011, retrieved 14 March 2011. (Tohoku district.) Archived 18 April 2011 at WebCite…

    • 3183 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What are tsunamis, and how can we decrease deaths among the human population? Tsunamis are created when underwater tectonic plates rub up against each other creating potential energy and then when they shift, the potential energy turns into kinetic energy which create a very fast wave. Geoscience helps us to better understand them through many ways. Once a tsunami starts, they won’t stop because of all the energy but there are ways to warn people about them through the uses of geoscience. First, geoscientists can predict when and where a tsunami will be formed based on things like earthquake information, detection buoys, tide gauges, etc. these specific tools allow geoscientists to know when to warn the public to evacuate because of tsunamis.…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Geology Research Paper

    • 1044 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Zubair, Lareef. "Oceanography in the Indian Ocean." Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami. Web. 07 May 2012. <http://iri.columbia.edu/~lareef/tsunami/>.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays