,,- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Physical Science and Engineering, Earth Systems Science and Engineering, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia (jialing.dai@kaust.edu.sa)
Situated at the northeastern end of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba is a narrow, semi-enclosed, deep basin between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas. Earthquake- and (submarine) landslide-generated tsunamis have been documented in historical records and supported by recent studies, posing a potential hazard to surrounding coastal communities. However, limited observational data hinder a comprehensive understanding of tsunami source processes and associated hazards in the region. Ongoing coastal development, including the NEOM project in northwestern Saudi Arabia, together with continued expansion of tourism, further underscores the need for improved tsunami hazard assessment in the Gulf of Aqaba.
In this study, we model multiple landslide-generated tsunami scenarios to investigate how landslide processes and source locations influence tsunami hazard in the Gulf of Aqaba. Simulations are performed with the open-source code D-Claw, a depth-averaged, finite-volume framework coupling shallow-water hydrodynamics with dense granular landslide flow. Results show that tsunami excitation is sensitive to landslide thickness, source volume, and material properties. In particular, solid volume fraction and permeability exert a pronounced control on tsunami generation efficiency: contractive, low-permeability slides produce larger waves than non-contractive, high-permeability counterparts. In addition, the landslide location strongly modulates localized tsunami wave heights along the Gulf coast. The narrow basin geometry yields short arrival times and promotes repeated reflections and resonant sloshing that persist for approximately 50 minutes, with the strongest response along shorelines proximal to the source. Taken together, these results highlight the critical role of landslide source characteristics and the topography–bathymetry in shaping tsunami hazard in confined basins such as the Gulf of Aqaba, underscoring the need for scenario-based, physics-driven hazard assessments.
How to cite: Dai, J., Li, B., and Mai, P. M.: Scenario-based landslide-generated tsunami modeling in the Gulf of Aqaba, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-13962, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-13962, 2026.
