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Probabilistic Hazard of Tsunamis Generated by Submarine Landslides in the Cook Strait Canyon (New Zealand)

Pure and Applied Geophysics volume 173, pages 3757–3774 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Cook Strait Canyon is a submarine canyon that lies within ten kilometres of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. The canyon walls are covered with scars from previous landslides which could have caused local tsunamis. Palaeotsunami evidence also points to past tsunamis in the Wellington region. Furthermore, the canyon’s location in Cook Strait means that there is inhabited land in the path of both forward- and backward-propagating waves. Tsunamis induced by these submarine landslides pose hazard to coastal communities and infrastructure but major events are very uncommon and the historical record is not extensive enough to quantify this hazard. The combination of infrequent but potentially very consequential events makes realistic assessment of the hazard challenging. However, information on both magnitude and frequency is very important for land use planning and civil defence purposes. We use a multidisciplinary approach bringing together geological information with modelling to construct a Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment of submarine landslide-generated tsunami. Although there are many simplifying assumptions used in this assessment, it suggests that the Cook Strait open coast is exposed to considerable hazard due to submarine landslide-generated tsunamis. We emphasise the uncertainties involved and present opportunities for future research.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the New Zealand Natural Hazards Platform (Contracts 2012-NIW-03-NHRP and CS-GNS-25) and by NIWA and GNS as part of its Government-funded, core research. The authors also wish to acknowledge the contribution of NeSI to the results of this research. New Zealand’s national compute and analytics services and team are supported by the New Zealand eScience Infrastructure (NeSI) and funded jointly by NeSI’s collaborator institutions and through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. URL http://www.nesi.org.nz. Thanks also to Finn Løvholt and an anonymous reviewer for their comments which have significantly improved this paper.

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  1. NIWA, PO Box 8602, Riccarton, Christchurch, 8011, New Zealand

    Emily M. Lane

  2. NIWA, Private Bag 14901, Kilbirnie, Wellington, 6241, New Zealand

    Joshu J. Mountjoy

  3. GNS Science, PO Box 30-368, Lower Hutt, 5040, New Zealand

    William L. Power & Christof Mueller

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  1. Emily M. Lane
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  2. Joshu J. Mountjoy
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Correspondence to Emily M. Lane.

Appendix 1: Tabulation of uncertainties and corresponding assumptions

Appendix 1: Tabulation of uncertainties and corresponding assumptions

The purpose of this paper is to develop a first iteration probabilistic tsunami hazard model for landslide tsunamis in Cook Strait. This analysis contains many uncertainties, and rests on various assumptions and approximations that have been made. Before the conclusions of this report can form the basis for extensive mitigation measures, it will be important to thoroughly analyse the various uncertainties involved. This is a large and complicated task, and this paper is intended to provide only a starting point for such an analysis. In Table A.1, we summarise the various identified sources of uncertainty, and the assumptions we have made here with regard to them. Where we believe an assumption is conservative (biased towards a greater tsunami hazard) we have indicated this with a (+), where we believe that the assumption is optimistic (biased towards a lower tsunami hazard) we have indicated this with a (−), and where there appears to be no obvious bias we have indicated this with a (~).

Table A.1: Tabulation of sources of uncertainty in the PTHA, and of assumptions made regarding them. Where it is thought that an assumption has a bias this is indicated with a (+) or (−) according to whether it is thought likely to increase or decrease the estimate of tsunami hazard. Where there is no clearly evident bias this is indicated with a (~).

Uncertainty Assumption
Accuracy of landslide magnitude–frequency distribution Assessed survey data are representative of current day conditions (~); un-assessed areas show the same M-F characteristics as the surveyed areas (~); all scars were generated in rapid single-event landslides (+)
Position of landslide block on slope before failure Top of slope (+)
Modelling assumptions on landslide rheology and failure mode—only one realisation modelled Gerris Volume of Fluid solver used (~)
Landslide density Relative density of 2.0 (~)
Shape of landslide body Triangular prism (~)
Degree of breakup of landslide block during descent Block remains rigid and intact (+)
Degree of breakup of landslide material on hitting canyon floor Total breakup into dense fluid (~)
Inaccuracy in modelling caused by using simplified 2D vertical slice profile to represent 3D canyon shape Simplified 2D profile approximates canyon with translational symmetry (~)
Conversion of 1D water surface into initial condition for 2D tsunami propagation modelling Accurate conversion of water levels (~); water velocity at initiation of tsunami propagation model is zero (−), see Lane et al. (2016)
Effect of dispersion on tsunami propagation Non-dispersive tsunami propagation equations (+)
Influence of bathymetry data quality Used best available (~)

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Lane, E.M., Mountjoy, J.J., Power, W.L. et al. Probabilistic Hazard of Tsunamis Generated by Submarine Landslides in the Cook Strait Canyon (New Zealand). Pure Appl. Geophys. 173, 3757–3774 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-016-1410-0

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Keywords

  • Probabilistic
  • tsunami
  • submarine landslides
  • Cook Strait