Paper detail

Tsunami wave runup on coasts of narrow bays

The runup of tsunami waves on the coasts of the barrow bays, channels and straits is studied in the framework of the nonlinear shallow water theory. Using the narrowness of the water channel, the one-dimensional equations are applied; they include the variable cross-section of channel. It is shown that the analytical solutions can be obtained with use of the hodograph (Legendre) transformation similar to the wave runup on the plane beach. As a result, the linear wave equation is derived and all physical variables (water displacement, fluid velocity, coordinate and time) can be determined. The dynamics of the moving shoreline (boundary of the flooding zone) is investigated in details. It is shown that all analytical formulas for the moving shoreline can be obtained explicitly. Two examples of the incident wave shapes are analysed: sine wave and parabolic pulse. The last example demonstrates that even for approaching of the crest only, the flooding can appear very quickly; then water will recede relatively slowly, and then again quickly return to the initial state.