Building a park,immunising life: Environmental management and radical asymmetry

This paper engages in a critical assessment of environmental management as a way of rethinking our co-habitation with earthly powers. Focusing on the post-disaster reconstruction of Constitución, a Chilean costal city severely damaged by the 2010 tsunami, we argue that environmental management theory has not fully recognised that, sometimes, we humans confront excessive forces that cannot be diplomatically managed or assumed as manageable objects that will readily accept our invitation to compose a common world.Thinking with Sloterdijk’s notions of atmosphere and immunisation, this paper proposes a theoretical programme to re-frame post-disaster environmental management as the creation of life-enabling membranes to contain, isolate and immunise human existence from indifferent forces such as tsunamis. More specifically, we follow the technopolitical controversies around the design of an anti-tsunami park in Constitución to draw attention towards two crucial moments of this process: the definition of the park’s composition and the debate around the park’s fallibility. We argue that these moments point to a type of environmental management engaged in the articulation of an immunising atmosphere to secure an interior for human dwelling. Moreover, these two moments specify empirical challenges not fully developed in Sloterdijk’s atmospheric philosophy: the rearrangement of science, politics and materials that is brought along in the process of erecting an immunological membrane; and the bioeconomy of life (and death) that emerges upon the possibility of an immunitary breakdown. In the concluding section we turn to the ecological and ethical challenges opened up by an atmospheric approach to environmental management.     

Scenarios of tsunami amplitudes in the north eastern coast of Sea of Marmara generated by submarine mass failure

In this paper the tsunamis resulting from a submarine mass failure such as slides and slumps triggered by earthquakes or other environmental effects, which is settled at the bottom of the north eastern Sea of Marmara are examined in one sample region. As the solution method, one hybrid method is developed. The main objective of this method is to combine an analytical solution presenting near-field tsunami amplitudes above the submarine mass failure with a numerical solution indicating the tsunami amplitudes in the coastal regions. For this purpose, one common linear boundary between analytical and numerical solution domains is defined. Movements of Submarine Mass Failures (SMF) are modeled using one simple kinematics source model and the amplitudes of the tsunamis at the region that are closer to the landslide are computed by using the analytical method. SMF is modeled approximately from the bottom geometry, and an average depth is used. Scenarios of SMF are established depending on the velocities and thicknesses of the failure, and near-field tsunami amplitudes are obtained in the open sea during the source time. After the source times, the solutions are found in the numerical region using TELEMAC-2D software system with the mentioned boundary above. In this boundary, the output of the analytical solutions is taken as the boundary conditions or the disturbances for the numerical method. With these disturbances, the numerical method is performed and the amplitudes are calculated in the coastal area. The generation, propagation and coastal amplifications of the tsunamis are illustrated at some certain points and regions both in the open sea and near the coast line. The results have been visualized and discussed.     

Simulation of small-amplitude frequency-dispersive transient waves by means of the mild-slope equation

A numerical model based on the mild-slope equation is applied to reproduce the propagation of small-amplitude transient waves. The model makes use of the Fourier Transform to convert the time-dependent hyperbolic equation into a set of elliptic equations in the frequency domain. The results of two available experimental studies on tsunamis generated by landslides are used to validate the model, which appears to be able of carefully reproducing the effects of the frequency dispersion. An example application of tsunamis propagating around the Stromboli island is also presented to show the applicability of the present approach to real life scenarios. It is finally discussed how this model could be applied as support to a tsunami early warning system.     

验潮站和深海压力仪用于卫星高度计性能评估的可行性分析

在传统卫星高度计定标途径之外,探索了远海孤岛验潮站和深海压力仪分别用于卫星高度计性能评估的可行性。采用Harvest石油平台验潮站、1890000号验潮站和21419号深海压力仪,计算了Jason-3测量海面高偏差以及Jason-2、Jason-3海面高之间的相对偏差。由3种设备得到的Jason-3海面高偏差序列的标准差分别为3.98、2.87、8.61 cm,Jason-2、Jason-3海面高之间的相对偏差(Jason-3—Jason-2)分别为-3.62±2.17、-2.58±1.97、-2.60±1.30 cm,与国外定标站计算结果相比较,结果表明:Jason-3海面高相比于Jason-2海面高低约3.0 cm;选用的深海压力仪适合用于Jason-2、Jason-3之间海面高相对偏差的计算,但不适用于单颗卫星的定标或性能评估;远海孤岛验潮站适用于两者。     

The near-field tsunami amplitudes caused by submarine landslides and slumps spreading in two orthogonal directions

The aim of this study is to present the solutions for the near-field tsunami amplitudes caused by submarine landslumps and slides spreading in two orthogonal directions. A linearized shallow water wave theory is derived. The transform techniques (Fourier and Laplace transform) are used for the solution of Laplace equation. The results show that if the ratio of the velocties is v₁/v₂=0.1, the numerical results are almost the same as the values obtained for one dimensional movement of the slumps and slides. But, when the ratio of the velocties is v₁/v₂=1, obtained normalized peak amplitudes, η_max/ζ₀ are smaller than the numerical values for one dimensional solution. It is concluded that normalized peak amplitudes for the models are small because of the interaction of the velocities. Numerical examples are presented for various parameters.     

Steps Towards the Implementation of a Tsunami Detection, Warning, Mitigation and Preparedness Program for Southwestern Coastal Areas of Mexico

The highly vulnerable Pacific southwest coast of Mexico has been repeatedly affected by local, regional and remote source tsunamis. Mexico presently has no national tsunami warning system in operation. The implementation of key elements of a National Program on Tsunami Detection, Monitoring, Warning and Mitigation is in progress. For local and regional events detection and monitoring, a prototype of a robust and low cost high frequency sea-level tsunami gauge, sampling every minute and equipped with 24 hours real time transmission to the Internet, was developed and is currently in operation. Statistics allow identification of low, medium and extreme hazard categories of arriving tsunamis. These categories are used as prototypes for computer simulations of coastal flooding. A finite-difference numerical model with linear wave theory for the deep ocean propagation, and shallow water nonlinear one for the near shore and interaction with the coast, and non-fixed boundaries for flooding and recession at the coast, is used. For prevention purposes, tsunami inundation maps for several coastal communities, are being produced in this way. The case of the heavily industrialized port of Lázaro Cárdenas, located on the sand shoals of a river delta, is illustrated; including a detailed vulnerability assessment study. For public education on preparedness and awareness, printed material for children and adults has been developed and published. It is intended to extend future coverage of this program to the Mexican Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico coastal areas.     

The 1987–88 Alaskan Bight tsunamis: Deep ocean data and model comparisons

Excellent deep ocean records have been obtained of two tsunamis recently generated in the Alaskan Bight on 30 November 1987 and 6 March 1988, providing the best available data set to date for comparison with tsunami generation/propagation models. Simulations have been performed with SWAN, a nonlinear shallow water numerical model, using source terms estimated by a seafloor deformation model based on the rectangular fault plane formalism. The tsunami waveform obtained from the model is quite sensitive to the specific source assumed. Significant differences were found between the computations and observations of the 30 November 1987 tsunami, suggesting inadequate knowledge of the source characteristics. Fair agreement was found between the data and the model for the first few waves of the 6 March 1988 tsunami. Model estimates of the seismic moment and total slip along the fault plane are also in fair agreement with those derived from the published Harvard centroid solution for the 6 March 1988 event, implying that the computed seafloor deformation does bear some similarity to the actual source.     

Tsunamigenic zones in the Mediterranean Sea

A list of 300 tsunamis and similar phenomena known in the Mediterranean is given. Data reliability and wave intensity are estimated; mechanisms of tsunami generation are indicated and data from literature sources on the coordinates and magnitudes of tsunamigenic earthquakes are cited. Eighteen zones of excitation and manifestation of tsunamis are identified which can be integrated into four groups with respect to the recurrence period and maximum intensity of the tsunamis. The strongest tsunamis are excited in the Aegean Sea, and the Hellenic and Calabrian island arcs. The focal depth of the earthquake-generating tsunamis in the Mediterranean is, on average, less than that in the Pacific. Correspondingly, the magnitude of tsunamigenic earthquakes is lower. According to preliminary estimates, the Mediterranean tsunamis attenuate with distance more rapidly than do those in the Pacific Ocean.