Contribution to the identification of the sea intrusion mechanism of brackish karst springs

A method of identifying the dominant hydrodynamic sea-intrusion mechanism of brackish karst springs is presented. A karst spring becomes brackish when tubes, which bring the freshwater to the spring (freshwater discharge), intersect other tubes that come from the sea and bring saltwater to the freshwater tubes (saltwater discharge) when the saltwater pressure at the intersection is higher than the freshwater pressure. There are two potential seawater intrusion mechanisms. The first one is the difference between the freshwater density and the seawater density, and the second is the venturi effect. Both mechanisms are present but it is a matter of great significance to know which mechanism dominates. In order to find out the dominant mechanism, the seawater discharge versus the freshwater discharge was charted using the MODKARST model, which estimates these discharges. The model determines how the freshwater discharge affects the saltwater discharge estimating thereby the dominant seawater intrusion mechanism. Application was made to the “Almiros” and “Makaria” springs in Greece.

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Resumen Se presenta un método para identificar el mecanismo hidrodinámico dominante de la intrusión marina en manantiales salobres cársticos. Un manantial cárstico se vuelve salobre cuando los conductos, que suministran agua dulce al manantial (caudal de agua dulce), interceptan a otros conductos provenientes del mar que traen agua salada a este (caudal de agua salada), bajo la condición que la presión del agua salada en la intersección es mayor que la del agua dulce. Hay dos mecanismos potenciales de intrusión salina. El primero es la diferencia de densidades entre agua salada y agua dulce, mientras que el segundo es el efecto venturi. Ambos mecanismos están presentes en cualquier caso, sin embargo es de gran importancia establecer cual de ellos predomina. Con el fin de hallar el mecanismo dominante se tabularon los valores de caudal de agua salada versus el de agua dulce. Lo anterior fue posible mediante el uso del modelo MODKARST, el cual estima estos caudales. A partir de esta tabla se puede examinar como el caudal de agua dulce afecta al de agua salada, estimando como resultado de lo anterior el mecanismo dominante en la intrusión marina. Esto se aplicó a los manantiales “Almiros” y “Makaria” en Grecia.

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Résumé On présente une méthode pour déterminer le mécanisme hydraulique dominant de l’intrusion de l’eau salée marine dans le cas des émergences karstiques saumatres. Une émergence karstique devienne saumatre á l’intersection des conduites de l’eau douce avec des autres conduits qui apportent l’eau salée de la mer. Ce processus est possible si la pression de l’eau salée dépasse la pression de l’eau douce. Il y a deux mécanismes potentiels de l’intrusion de l’eau salée. A la base du premier mécanisme se trouve la différence entre les densités de l’eau douce et de l’eau salée pendant que dans le deuxième mécanisme il s’agit de phénomène Venturi. Afin de trouver le mécanisme dominant on a cartographié avec le modèle MODKARST le rapport entre les décharges de l’eau douces et respectivement de l’eau salée. A partir de la carte résultée on peut estimer comment la décharge de l’eau douce influence celle de l’eau salée en estimant en même temps le mécanisme dominat de l’eau salée. On a appliqué la méthode dans le cas des émergences d’Almiros et Makaria de la Grèce.

     

A data-driven approach to assess large fire size generation in Greece

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami motivated an analysis of the potential for great tsunamis in Hawai‘i that significantly exceed the historical record. The largest potential tsunamis that may impact the state from distant, Mw 9 earthquakes—as forecast by two independent tsunami models—originate in the Eastern Aleutian Islands. This analysis is the basis for creating an extreme tsunami evacuation zone, updating prior zones based only on historical tsunami inundation. We first validate the methodology by corroborating that the largest historical tsunami in 1946 is consistent with the seismologically determined earthquake source and observed historical tsunami amplitudes in Hawai‘i. Using prior source characteristics of Mw 9 earthquakes (fault area, slip, and distribution), we analyze parametrically the range of Aleutian–Alaska earthquake sources that produce the most extreme tsunami events in Hawai‘i. Key findings include: (1) An Mw 8.6 ± 0.1 1946 Aleutian earthquake source fits Hawai‘i tsunami run-up/inundation observations, (2) for the 40 scenarios considered here, maximal tsunami inundations everywhere in the Hawaiian Islands cannot be generated by a single large earthquake, (3) depending on location, the largest inundations may occur for either earthquakes with the largest slip at the trench, or those with broad faulting over an extended area, (4) these extremes are shown to correlate with the frequency content (wavelength) of the tsunami, (5) highly variable slip along the fault strike has only a minor influence on inundation at these tele-tsunami distances, and (6) for a given maximum average fault slip, increasing the fault area does not generally produce greater run-up, as the additional wave energy enhances longer wavelengths, with a modest effect on inundation.