Seiches and the slide/seiche dynamics; subcritical and supercritical subaquous mass flows and their deposits. Examples from Swiss Lakes

Abstract Four historically documented large and potentially dangerous lacustrine waves in Swiss lakes show that these waves have been seiches (standing waves) triggered by sublacustrine slides; a statement which is in accordance with the experience of seismologists who see earthquakes triggering sei...

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Main Author: Christoph Siegenthaler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2021-10-01
Series:Swiss Journal of Geosciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s00015-021-00394-6
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author Christoph Siegenthaler
author_facet Christoph Siegenthaler
author_sort Christoph Siegenthaler
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Four historically documented large and potentially dangerous lacustrine waves in Swiss lakes show that these waves have been seiches (standing waves) triggered by sublacustrine slides; a statement which is in accordance with the experience of seismologists who see earthquakes triggering seiches in lakes. Nevertheless, large historical waves in Switzerland have recently been modeled as progressive shallow water waves (tsunamis), probably because the slide/seiche dynamics are not known, and experiments with subaquatic slides fail to generate seiches in test–flumes. It appears that these tests exhibit a small shear–energy/slide–energy ratio ε, if compared with the situation in lakes. These facts incite a shear–stress lemma that states that ε is the constituent factor for the slide/seiche coupling. The structure of the subaqueous mass flow deposit (MFD) in lakes Lucerne and Geneva suggests the occurrence of subcritical and of supercritical slide flows. The former would generate a contortite, a MFD with contorted bedding, the latter a debrite (mudclast conglomerate). Potential slide energy considerations are used for an estimation of the amplitudes of large seiches produced by subaquatic slides, a proceeding that yields partly similar and partly very different results, as compared with numerical tsunami simulations.
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spelling doaj.art-497ee0ad9ae7453fb6a9b528d1b7215d2022-12-21T19:29:43ZengSpringerOpenSwiss Journal of Geosciences1661-87261661-87342021-10-0111411810.1186/s00015-021-00394-6Seiches and the slide/seiche dynamics; subcritical and supercritical subaquous mass flows and their deposits. Examples from Swiss LakesChristoph SiegenthalerAbstract Four historically documented large and potentially dangerous lacustrine waves in Swiss lakes show that these waves have been seiches (standing waves) triggered by sublacustrine slides; a statement which is in accordance with the experience of seismologists who see earthquakes triggering seiches in lakes. Nevertheless, large historical waves in Switzerland have recently been modeled as progressive shallow water waves (tsunamis), probably because the slide/seiche dynamics are not known, and experiments with subaquatic slides fail to generate seiches in test–flumes. It appears that these tests exhibit a small shear–energy/slide–energy ratio ε, if compared with the situation in lakes. These facts incite a shear–stress lemma that states that ε is the constituent factor for the slide/seiche coupling. The structure of the subaqueous mass flow deposit (MFD) in lakes Lucerne and Geneva suggests the occurrence of subcritical and of supercritical slide flows. The former would generate a contortite, a MFD with contorted bedding, the latter a debrite (mudclast conglomerate). Potential slide energy considerations are used for an estimation of the amplitudes of large seiches produced by subaquatic slides, a proceeding that yields partly similar and partly very different results, as compared with numerical tsunami simulations.https://doi.org/10.1186/s00015-021-00394-6Historical reportsHomogeniteContortiteDebriteInternal hydraulic jumpShear energy
spellingShingle Christoph Siegenthaler
Seiches and the slide/seiche dynamics; subcritical and supercritical subaquous mass flows and their deposits. Examples from Swiss Lakes
Swiss Journal of Geosciences
Historical reports
Homogenite
Contortite
Debrite
Internal hydraulic jump
Shear energy
title Seiches and the slide/seiche dynamics; subcritical and supercritical subaquous mass flows and their deposits. Examples from Swiss Lakes
title_full Seiches and the slide/seiche dynamics; subcritical and supercritical subaquous mass flows and their deposits. Examples from Swiss Lakes
title_fullStr Seiches and the slide/seiche dynamics; subcritical and supercritical subaquous mass flows and their deposits. Examples from Swiss Lakes
title_full_unstemmed Seiches and the slide/seiche dynamics; subcritical and supercritical subaquous mass flows and their deposits. Examples from Swiss Lakes
title_short Seiches and the slide/seiche dynamics; subcritical and supercritical subaquous mass flows and their deposits. Examples from Swiss Lakes
title_sort seiches and the slide seiche dynamics subcritical and supercritical subaquous mass flows and their deposits examples from swiss lakes
topic Historical reports
Homogenite
Contortite
Debrite
Internal hydraulic jump
Shear energy
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s00015-021-00394-6
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