Geology department examines science behind tsunami

Natural phenomena like the devastating tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean Dec. 26 are among the incidents the IU Department of Geological Sciences studies. \nThe geology department offers both undergraduate and graduate courses that examine seismic activity. Department Chairman Professor Abhijit Basu said on the opening day of classes that several professors in the department discussed the recent tragedy with their students.\n"Nearly all our undergraduate courses touch on the issue of tsunamis because we talk about earthquakes," he said.\nThe geology department, which will participate Thursday in a forum examining the implications of the tsunami, recorded the earthquake, said Professor Michael Hamburger. Both the equipment in Bloomington and the equipment at a research station in Venezuela, where IU is involved with the National Science Foundation's Proyecto Caribe project, recorded the seismic activity. The Proyecto Caribe project examines the structure of tectonic plates on South America's northern boundary. \nHamburger said the earthquake's epicenter occurred along a stretch where two major tectonic plates meet. \n"The earthquake was the result of the release of many hundred years of accumulated stress along the boundary of the Australian plate to the south and the Eurasian plate to the north, which converge at the Indonesian archipelago," Hamburger said.\nThe Eurasian plate has been sliding slowly below the Australian plate for dozens of years at the rate of about 2.4 inches per year. This movement creates stress that accumulates on the eastern edge of the Australian plate. The Dec. 26 jolt across a 700-mile stretch along the two plates caused them to slide instantaneously 50 feet past each other. The dramatic shifting of the ocean floor levels displaced millions of tons of ocean water, which traveled away from the epicenter and hurtled across the ocean at up to 500 miles per hour. \nProfessor of Geological Sciences Gary Pavlis said earthquakes and the tsunamis they produce are nearly impossible to predict or prevent, but tsunamis' effect on humans can be significantly reduced with the implementation of tsunami early warning systems. Such an underwater system is set up in the Pacific Ocean, which is considered the ocean most highly prone to underwater earthquakes. Neither the Atlantic nor the Indian Ocean are equipped with such technology. \nPavlis said achieving regional cooperation in developing a warning system can be very difficult. \n"One of the reasons there is no system in place (in the Indian Ocean) is because it is a complicated mix of technology, politics and economics," he said.\nTsunami waves are difficult to spot in deep water because the majority of their mass is submerged below the ocean level. As they approach land, however, the waves' water has nowhere to go but up, creating waves several meters tall capable of traveling several hundred yards inland. The death toll from the recent tsunamis is estimated at more than 150,000 people, and many coastal towns and villages from Thailand to Somalia were engulfed by the waves. The humanitarian and relief effort is expected to continue for several more months.\nFor more information about Thursday's forum, which also will include Mayor Mark Kruzan and an official from the State Department's Bureau of Southeast Asia and Pacific Affairs, visit www.indiana.edu/~tsunami.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Rami Chami at rchami@indiana.edu.