Tsunamis

Tsunamis

Tsunamis are generated by different natural effects like earthquakes, seaquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, underwater explosions or even the impact of a meteorite or comet on the ocean.

1-. Relationship between tsunamis and the rock cycle

Tsunamis affects the rock cycle when the huge wave reaches the land. The rock may suffer weathering because of this environmentalfactor that is water (the tsunami) and erosion, that is when the sediments that compose the rock are transport or move through, in this case, by the water of the tsunami. Also the impact of this wave may kill submarine and land living species, so the rests of the plants or animals affected by the tsunami could become fossils in rocks, in asphalt or petrificated fossils.

2-. Effect of Tsunamis onthe Earth landscape through time

Santorini Gulf of Lisboa Krakatoa Mesina
Island Cadiz
1650 BC 218-210 BC 1755 AD 1883 AD 1908 AD
Pacific Alaska Valdivia Tumaco Nicaragua
Ocean
1946 AD 1958 AD1960 AD 1979 AD 1992 AD

Tsunamis have changed and shaped the landscape of the planet through time. The earth has suffered erosion because of tsunamis, causing the creation or destruction of landforms, the disappearance of lands, the destruction of cultures and other important effects.

Hokkaido Indian Chile JapanOcean
1993 AD 2004 AD 2010 AD 2011 AD

* Santorini Island: This tsunami caused the extinction of the Minoan culture. According to this, the waves that the explosion of the Santorani volcanic island caused, destroyed the city of Teras, this caused the destruction of important ports, the fleet and blighted crops because of salt water and the ashcloud.
* Gulf of Cadiz: In the Iberic peninsula a massive rupture of strata took place. The tsunami shaped the coastal areas of Guadalquivir and Doñana.
* Lisboa: The Lisboa earthquake which was a 9 in the Richter scale had its epicenter in the Azores- Gibraltar fault. Part from destroying Lisboa it made the floor tremble reaching Germany. This caused a great tsunami that affected all theAtlantic coasts. This tsunami killed millions of people.
* Krakatoa: A huge and strong volcanic eruption destroyed the 45% of the island and caused a tsunami that killed approximately 20.000 people.
* Mesina: In the south of Italy, Sicilia y Calabria, a very strong earthquake was produce together with a seaquake that completely destroyed the city of Mesina, in Sicilia. In that naturaldisaster approximately 70.000 people died.
* Pacific Ocean: An earthquake in the Pacific Ocean created a tsunami that killed 165 people in Hawaii and Alaska.
* Alaska: A great earthquake of 8.5 degrees in the Richter scale almost destroyed a whole mountain, generating a mega tsunami of 580 meters high. That was the biggest wave ever seen.
* Valdivia: The biggest earthquake of 9.5 degreesin the Richter scale, that affected the south of Chile, generated a tsunami that affected all the coastal areas surrounding the Pacific Ocean.
* Tumaco: An important earthquake of 8.1 degrees Richter caused a tsunami that reached the city of Tumaco causing great damage.
* Nicaragua: An earthquake between 7.2 to 7.8 degrees in the Richter scale generated a tsunami that affected great part ofthe coastal region of this country.
* Hokkaido: This tsunami was generated by a earthquake caused in Japan. The waves of this tsunami reached 31 meters but Japan was the only region affected.
* Indian Ocean: One of the most devastating tsunamis that killed approximately 750.000 people. The earthquake was of 9.1 degrees in the Richter scale and the waves reached the 20 to 30 meters. This...