![]() ![]() He found that the traditional view of a magnitude-9 or so quake hitting on Jan. He wanted to know, he said, if there were any earthquake scenarios he could rule out. With this database at his disposal, he decided to see if he could compare the simulations with the geological evidence left behind after 1700. Part of that research involves creating databases of simulated earthquakes and their associated tsunamis. Melgar's main line of research focuses on tsunami warning systems. ![]() Researchers can also trace the path of the 1700 tsunami in rock, sand and soil deposits laid down by the mass of water. These diatoms are very sensitive to sea level, so which species were present in sediments from a particular place can reveal how deep the ocean water was at that time. Geologists can detect this subsidence by studying microscopic organisms called diatoms that live in the marshes along the Cascadia coastline. The earthquake caused the coastline to drop in elevation, a process called subsidence. The traditional view is that about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) of fault line between Vancouver Island and northern California broke in the quake. ![]() The 1700 quake occurred where the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate is subducting, or pushing under, the North American plate. ![]()
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