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August 6, 2002
For more information on these science news and feature
story tips, contact the public information officer
at the end of each item at (703) 292-8070.
Editor: Josh Chamot
Contents of this News Tip:
Team in South
Pacific Studies Source of Historic Tsunami
Researchers are
scouring the South Pacific and interviewing
elderly islanders to find out what caused
a historic tsunami. The massive tidal
wave originated in the Aleutian Islands
of Alaska on April 1, 1946, but had repercussions
thousands of miles away. It produced the
highest waves ever recorded in Hawaii,
where it killed 159 people.
Seeking information about the damage from
the giant waves, Costas Synolakis of the
University of Southern California, Los
Angeles, and Emile Okal of Northwestern
University in Evanston, Illinois, are
investigating the fog-shrouded Aleutians
- the area of the epicenter - and tropical
islands much farther south. The National
Science Foundation (NSF) is supporting
this research.
On the treeless Aleutian islands of Unimak
and Sanak, the scientists have mapped
large logs of driftwood deposited up to
2 kilometers (1.25 miles) inland, at altitudes
reaching 42 meters (138 feet).
The team has also interviewed scores of
elderly residents from the Marquesas Islands,
a chain in French Polynesia; remote Easter
Island, more than 3,700 kilometers (2,300
miles) west of the coast of Chile; and
the Juan Fernandez Islands, about 700
kilometers (435 miles) west of Chile.
The researchers translated people's memories
of the 1946 flood levels into a quantitative
database.
The researchers suspect the underlying
geophysical activity included both a very
slow seismic rupture and a major underwater
landslide near the epicenter. They plan
to report their findings at a future meeting
of the American Geophysical Union. The
data will feed models for predicting the
effects from future Pacific tsunamis on
Hawaii and on the mainland U.S. coast.
[Amber Jones]
For more information, see: http://www.usc.edu/dept/tsunamis/1946
and http://www.earth.nwu.edu/people/emile/
Interview with Mrs. Catherine Barsinas,
64, a witness of the damage wrought on
the Island of Hiva Oa by the large 1946
Aleutian tsunami. The witness has led
the researchers along a road up a valley
to the exact limit of inundation by the
wave. The distance to the shore (328 m)
and altitude (6.7 m) of this location
were measured using surveying methods
and entered into the database which will
allow researchers to model the generation
and propagation of the tsunami across
the Pacific Ocean.
From left to right: Daniel Rousseau (Summer
Intern, University of Southern California)
recording the interview on video tape;
Mrs. Barsinas; Professor Costas Synolakis
(University of Southern California) taking
GPS measurements; Professor Emile Okal
(Northwestern University) leading the
interview; Mr. Barsinas; Dr. Gérard Guille
(Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, France).
Photo credit: G. Fryer
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Interview with Ronald Wilson, 65, an eyewitness
of the 1946 tsunami. On the picture, Mr.
Wilson (left) points to a topo map of
the Island of Sanak, and describes to
Professor Emile Okal of Northwestern University
(right) locations where the tsunami deposited
driftwood on this otherwise treeless island.
The field location is shown by the symbol
on the map of Alaska in the background.
Photo credit: Costas Synolakis, University
of Southern California, Los Angeles
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Driftwood identified as watermark from
inundation by 1946 tsunami on Unimak Island.
On this treeless island, this stump was
deposited at an altitude of 40 m, and
a distance of 412 m from the shore (visible
at far right). Left to right: Dr. George
Plafker (US Geological Survey, retired;
Prof. Emile Okal, Northwestern University;
Professor Costas Synolakis, University
of Southern California). In the distance,
partly shrouded in clouds, Shishaldin
Volcano.
Photo credit: S. Egli
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Summer Sport
for Father-Son Team Means Shooting Lasers to Assess
Structural Safety
Civil engineer David Bloomquist of the
University of Florida recruited a father-son
team to help evaluate a new laser imager's
ability to diagnose structural damage.
Last fall, the OPTECH laser was field
tested at the World Trade Center and Pentagon
sites where it was used to "map" building
damage with high-resolution, 3-D images.
NSF supported the data analysis.
The recruits are William Scott, winner
of Florida's teacher-of-the-year award
for 2002, who teaches science and physics
at the University of Florida's P.K. Yonge
Developmental Research School for K-12
students, and his son, Ian Scott, an industrial
engineering student and star football
player at the university. Civil engineering
students Laura DeAngelo and Jonathan Sanek
have joined them for the summer project.
The crew will conduct their research in
the Gainseville area of Florida, conducting
pre- and post-damage assessments of burned
wood-frame structures and distressed concrete
walls. Back in the lab, the team will
also analyze buckled steel beams.
Comparison of before-and-after pictures
and spatial coordinates can help engineers
rapidly estimate a structure's stability
during rescue and recovery efforts, Bloomquist
said. Eventually, the laser technique
could help civil and construction engineers
develop better designs for urban structures
and methods to minimize damage from explosions,
fires and other disasters. [Amber
Jones]
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In their summer program, Jonathan Sanek,
Ian Scott, and Laura DeAngelo will be
using an OPTECH, Inc. 3-D laser imager
to assess damage to structures.
Photo Credit: Brian Anderson, Univ.
of Florida
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Science Teachers
Experience the Arctic
While her colleagues were basking in the
summer's heat, science teacher Kim Hanisch
was watching snow fall in a summer squall
that was part of the changing weather
on Alaska's North Slope.
Hanisch, who teaches at Ogallala High School
in Ogallala, Nebraska, is studying Arctic
birds as one of six teachers doing research
in the Arctic this year as part of the
NSF Teachers Experiencing Antarctica and
the Arctic (TEA) program. Three teachers,
from Vermont, Washington state, and Ohio
are studying global climate change, glaciers
and antifreeze proteins in insects. Two
teachers have already completed their
experience this season: a science teacher
from Table, North Carolina, who has been
studying the relationship between vegetation
and snow pack across Alaska, and a science
teacher at the Washington School for the
Deaf in Portland, Oregon, who has been
studying lake ice growth and decay.
Through the TEA program, teachers boost
their own research skills and learn ways
to engage students in topics related to
polar research. The program, facilitated
by the American Museum of Natural History
in New York City, the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers' Cold Regions Research and
Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New
Hampshire, and Rice University in Houston,
Texas, has established a collaborative
polar learning community of teachers,
students, administrators and interested
members of the public. [Bill Harms]
To follow the teachers in the field, please
see: http://tea.rice.edu
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Dallas Trople, a high school science teacher
in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, measures
elevations at a research site in Alaska,
where he is part of a team studying changes
in topography brought on by a melting
glacier.
Photo Credit: Photo courtesy Dallas
Trople
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Dallas Trople, high school science teacher
in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, packs up
his gear for a day of work studying the
Matanuska Glacier in Alaska.
Credit: Photo courtesy Dallas Trople
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