Geology project investigates tsunami deposits on West Coast
UW-Eau Claire professor and senior use ground-penetrating radar to assist in their findings in Oregon
Trevor Tinberg
Issue date: 10/30/06 Section: Campus News
For some academic and scientific scholars, field research can take weeks or even years to conduct, but one group from UW-Eau Claire carried out the task in just a few days.
"We basically left and did midnight to midnight and overnight trips so that we could work three long days in the field and collected the data with the people out in Oregon," said Harry Jol, professor of geography.
Jol and senior Holly Johnson were a part of a recent project that investigated coastal tsunami deposits in northwest Oregon. The project was completed with the help of Curt Peterson, professor of geology at Portland State University.
The team used ground-penetrating radar to study the extent of the old tsunami deposits, as well as the size of wave run-up at coastal sites in Oregon.
Jol, an expert in GPR and earth sciences, and his team focused on assisting Oregon communities in taking steps to find and address the risk of tsunamis to coastal communities in their state.
He said the geomorphic signs of upheaval and flooding preserved in the state's waters show as many as 13 tsunamis in the past 4,600 years. Each of these tsunamis was caused by large earthquakes.
The use of GPR in the project allowed the team to understand the extent of the tsunami deposits by providing information on the complex surfaces on these coastal environments. The team focused mainly on the deposits from tsunamis that took place in 1964 and 1700.
"The 1964 deposits are still usually on surface," Jol said. "In our specific areas where people had got caught in the 1964 tsunami, we worked with people in the community there. So we know where these deposits are, where people's houses were taken off, where cars were displaced and moved and destroyed."
The information collected from the tsunami deposits will help communities on the West Coast form evacuation plans for many people living in the areas in danger, Jol said.
"We're not talking about hundreds of people; we're talking thousands. There's tens of thousands of people that within minutes have to evacuate, so we do have a very, very serious problem on the West Coast."
"We basically left and did midnight to midnight and overnight trips so that we could work three long days in the field and collected the data with the people out in Oregon," said Harry Jol, professor of geography.
Jol and senior Holly Johnson were a part of a recent project that investigated coastal tsunami deposits in northwest Oregon. The project was completed with the help of Curt Peterson, professor of geology at Portland State University.
The team used ground-penetrating radar to study the extent of the old tsunami deposits, as well as the size of wave run-up at coastal sites in Oregon.
Jol, an expert in GPR and earth sciences, and his team focused on assisting Oregon communities in taking steps to find and address the risk of tsunamis to coastal communities in their state.
He said the geomorphic signs of upheaval and flooding preserved in the state's waters show as many as 13 tsunamis in the past 4,600 years. Each of these tsunamis was caused by large earthquakes.
The use of GPR in the project allowed the team to understand the extent of the tsunami deposits by providing information on the complex surfaces on these coastal environments. The team focused mainly on the deposits from tsunamis that took place in 1964 and 1700.
"The 1964 deposits are still usually on surface," Jol said. "In our specific areas where people had got caught in the 1964 tsunami, we worked with people in the community there. So we know where these deposits are, where people's houses were taken off, where cars were displaced and moved and destroyed."
The information collected from the tsunami deposits will help communities on the West Coast form evacuation plans for many people living in the areas in danger, Jol said.
"We're not talking about hundreds of people; we're talking thousands. There's tens of thousands of people that within minutes have to evacuate, so we do have a very, very serious problem on the West Coast."
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