The devastating mega-tsunamis of the past decade (Indian Ocean 2004, Chile 2010, Japan 2011) have triggered a large wave of research focused on this kind of natural disaster. A number of new tools from computational sciences were introduced into the community and today the simulation based knowledge creation has accelerated into a new level of capabilities for near-realistic complex simulations.

This session aims to display the state of the art in today’s complex modeling capabilities in simulating realistic source mechanisms and tsunami coupling by combining novel mathematical equation sets, advanced simulation techniques and scientific computing tools to solve high fidelity modeling problems. 3D physics based rupture models for earthquake-induced tsunami events represent one such example, where it is possible to simulate realistic dynamic ruptures, including the earth crust displacements, seismic wave release and dispersion for realistic geometrical set-ups. Modeling of failure mechanism due to slope instability and induced submarine landslide dynamics adopted for tsunami modeling purposes reveals more complex volume emplacement processes than traditional block sources. Source mechanisms related to volcanic activity, such as pyroclastic flows entering the water, and underwater explosions call for yet another type of advanced modeling techniques like two-phase flow techniques. These lead to better coupling results for the interaction of solids and fluids in the excitation of tsunami waves. The list of examples could be extended.

We invite abstracts that present such an example: a new simulation strategy, a novel equation set, a high-performance computational tool, or an advanced numerical method for realistic complex tsunami source interaction, as well as studies assessing the sensitivity of the modeled tsunami impact to the complexity and accuracy of the source model.

Solicited speaker: Kenny Ryan, kryan003@ucr.edu