After the 2018 Anak Krakatoa eruption, a tsunami that ricocheted by way of the encompassing waters, killing a whole lot on close by islands. The supply of that tsunami was a small landslide. As soon as the air cleared and researchers might assess how a lot materials slid into the ocean, they had been shocked that such a small quantity created a lot destruction.
Now new efforts are revealing the linkage between landslides and the waves they make. Researchers launched glass beads right into a tank of water, observing the waves that kind because the beads run out. Relying on the relative preliminary top of the beads in comparison with the water depth, they noticed three completely different sorts of waves. Not solely that, they had been in a position to join the granular mechanics of the landslide to the hydrodynamic formation of waves, permitting predictions of the waves that may kind for a given landslide.
At present, the predictive mannequin isn’t refined sufficient to deal with a geometry as advanced as that of the Anak Krakatoa landslide, however it’s an vital step towards understanding — and doubtlessly mitigating the harm of — future oceanside landslides. (Picture and analysis credit score: W. Sarlin et al.; by way of APS Physics; submitted by Kam-Yung Soh)
