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Investigation of the 1960 Chilean tsunami on the Pacific Coast of Canada

University of British Columbia

A set of closely-spaced tide-gauge records of the 1960 Chilean tsunami was obtained on the Pacific Coast of Canada. The object of this study was to glean as much as possible of the information contained in these records. The investigation was carried on by power spectrum analysis, cross-spectrum analysis and visual inspection of the tide-gauge records. An interpretation is offered which invokes the mechanisms of wave buildup due to shoaling, clapotis effect, resonance, viscous dissipation, and shift of energy between wave and current by Reynolds stresses to explain the form of the power spectra. In the appendices are given a formula for the response characteristics of stilling wells, an application of an electrical engineering result for the response characteristics of pressure gauges, an elucidation of the conversion of power estimates to the positive frequency range, an interpretation of the phase difference from cross-spectra, and a formula for prewhitening the covariances before performing the Fourier transform in the spectral analysis.

Text

2011-12-02

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/39463

Physics

University of British Columbia

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