Volume 47 Number 3 November 2016 Page 1

Tsunami Inundation Mapping for Alaska Coastal Communities

Elena Suleimani Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK

ensuleimani@alaska.edu

Alaska experienced numerous devastating tsunamis in its history, and the impact of the 1964 tsunami is still visible in many communities. When the next tsunami happens is only a matter of time. To mitigate this risk, tsunami hazard needs to be assessed for many coastal communities in Alaska. This goal is best achieved through scenario planning, mitigation tools and broad public education. The Alaska Earthquake Center (AEC) conducts tsunami inundation mapping for Alaska communities along several segments of the Aleutian Megathrust, each having a unique seismic history and tsunami generation potential. Accurate iden-tification and characterization of potential tsunami sources is a critical component of our project. Alaska communities are also vulnerable to hazards related to locally generated waves, due to proximity of commu-nities to landslide-prone fjords and frequent earthquakes. We numerically model potential tsunami waves and extent of inundation that may result from future hypothetical earthquakes and landslides. We perform simulations for each source scenario using AEC’s numerical model of tsunami propagation and runup, which is validated through a set of analytical benchmarks and tested against laboratory and field da-ta. Results of numerical modeling combined with historical observations are compiled on inundation maps and used for site-specific tsunami hazard assessment by emergency planners.

AGS Luncheon Date & Time: Thursday, November 17th, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Program: Tsunami inundation mapping for Alaska coastal communities

Speaker: Elena Suleimani, Geophysical Institute, UAF, Fairbanks, AK

Place: BP Energy Center, 1014 Energy Court, Anchorage, AK

Reservations: Make your reservation before noon Tuesday, November 15th, 2016

Cost: Seminar only, no meal: Free Due to low demand catered lunch will no longer be available

For more information call (907) 854-2363 or visit the AGS website: http://www.alaskageology.org

 

Volume 47 Number 3 November 2016 Page 2

From the President’s Desk:

I’m looking forward to this month’s talk by Elena Suleimani, tsunami modeler from the Alaska Earth-quake Center, because last year she and her colleagues helped develop a preliminary run-up tsuna-mi model for the Katmai National Park coast. This preliminary model showed that the coast could experience a significant tsunami that could impact the many tourists and park employees that are often present on the Katmai coast during the summer season. The information that the Alaska Earth-quake Center provides is vital for managing coastal resources of Alaska coastal towns, but also the resources of the parks.

Sometimes when I say that I’m a geologist for the National Park Service people are surprised that the NPS has geologists. I’m always surprised that people are surprised, because the parks contain some of the best exposed and spectacular geology of the nation. As a prime example, Yellowstone was the first national park because of its unique geology. The areas designated as National Parks were often chosen because of their majestic landscapes. As geologists, we know that this landscape was formed by complex geologic processes. These remarkable geologic features in Alaska include the largest mountain in North America, the largest eruption in the 21st century, and a record of the ecological pathway through which Pleistocene animals (and humans) migrated. Like in the case of earthquakes and tsunamis, in Alaska, these geologic features are often dynamic, so it is imperative that we understand these processes in order to properly manage the parks.

Last month, the National Park Service hosted a Centennial Science and Stewardship Symposium at UAF that was attended by about 250 folks across natural and cultural resource disciplines. Denny Capps (Denali geologist) and I hosted a geology session that had talks about the long history of geo-logic exploration and research in the parks, effects of climate on the uplift of mountains and coasts, the globally important paleontological resources of the parks, and the effects of glacial retreat on the susceptibility of landslides and tsunamis. It was clear from these presentations, and the many post-ers, that research in the parks is vibrant and is important for providing science for making manage-ment decisions. It was also clear by the presence of university researchers, USGS geologists, and contractors, that there is much interest in the geology of the parks. Importantly, Alaskan National Park lands make up over 60% of the NPS lands of the nation, so collaboration is necessary to ad-dress the geologic resource management issues of Alaska's National Parks.

NPS Centennial Science and Stewardship Symposium website:

https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/tab2.aspx?EventID=1857571

Cheers! ~Chad

About the Speaker: Elena Suleimani holds a B.S. Degree in Radiophysics and Electronics from the Gorky State Univer-sity, Russia, a M.S. degree in Physical Oceanography from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Ph.D. in Geophysics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She has studied nonlinear dynamics of tsunami waves at the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and later numerical modeling of tsunami waves at the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Elena is currently at the Geophysical Institute in Fairbanks and is working on tsunami in-undation mapping for Alaska coastal communities.

 

Volume 47 Number 3 November 2016 Page 3

AGS 2016-17 Monthly Meetings Meetings at BP Energy Center, 11:30 am – 12:45 pm (3rd Tuesday of each Month, unless otherwise noted)

September 20, 2016 (Tuesday):

Speaker: Aaron Wech, USGS Alaska Volcano Observatory Talk: Using messy seismicity to investigate earthquakes, volcanoes, and plate boundary dynamics

October 18, 2016 (Tuesday):

Speaker: Helena Buurman, UAF Alaska Earthquake Center Talk: Is she gonna blow? A seismologist's take on predicting volcanic eruptions

November 17, 2016 (Thursday): Speaker: Elena Suleimani, Geophysical Institute, UAF Talk: Tsunami inundation mapping for Alaska coastal communities

December 8, 2016 (Thursday):

Speaker: Simon Katterhorn, joint GSA/AGS/SPE meeting, Glen Olds Hall, APU campus Talk: Controls on Continental Rift Evolution: The East African Rift in Kenya and Tanzania

December 13, 2016 (Tuesday): Speaker: Caelus Energy Talk: Smith Bay prospect

January 17, 2017 (Tuesday):

Speaker: Scott Anderson, Jahns Distinguished Lecturer, joint event with AEG. Talk: TBD

February 21, 2017 (Tuesday):

Speaker: Evan Twelker, Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Talk: TBD

March 21, 2017 (Tuesday):

Speaker: TBD Talk: TBD

April 18, 2017 (Tuesday):

Speaker: Tim Collett, USGS, AAPG Distinguished lecturer Talk: TBD

May, 2017 (Tuesday): No monthly meeting, PSAAPG sectional meeting in Anchorage instead

Membership Note

Membership renewal is November 1; annual dues are: Full members - $25; Students - $5

 

Volume 47 Number 3 November 2016 Page 4

 

Volume 47 Number 3 November 2016 Page 5

Geological Calendar of Events

Date  Time  Organization  Event  Location 

Nov 3  5:30 – 9:00pm 

SPE  SPE Alaska BBQ and Raffle Scholarship Fundraiser  8141 Briarwood St, Anchorage 

Nov 9th  4:00 – 6:00pm 

AAEP  AAEP Networking Event  Midnight Sun Brewing Co., Anchorage 

Nov 6th – Nov 12th 

  AMA  Alaska Miners Association Annual Meeting  Dena’ina Center Anchorage 

Nov 10th 

  GSA  Gino Alexander, BP Alaska “Seismic Acquisition in the Arctic” 

BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

Nov 16 – 17th 

  RDC  37th Alaska Resources Conference http://www.akrdc.org/conference 

Dena’ina Center Anchorage 

Nov 17th 

11:30  AGS  Dr. Elena Suleimani, UAF “Tsunami inundation mapping for Alaska coastal communities” 

BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

Nov 26th 

11:30  AAEP  Annual meeting and Brown Bag Speaker Series  BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

Dec 8th  11:30  AGS/GSA/SPE 

Dr. Simon Katterhorn UAA “Controls on Continental Rift Evolution: The East African Rift in Kenya and Tanzania" 

USGS, APU Campus Anchorage 

Dec 13th 

11:30  AGS  Caelus Energy  BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

Jan 17th 2017 

11:30  AGS  Marwan Wartes, State of Alaska   

BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

Jan 19th  11:30  AAEP  Brown Bag Speaker Series event  BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

Jan 23rd – 27th 

    Alaska Marine Sciences Symposium http://amss.nprb.org/ 

Hotel Captain Cook Anchorage 

Feb 6 - 10 

  Alaska Forum  Alaska Forum on the Environment 2017 http://akforum.com/ 

Dena’ina Center Anchorage 

Feb 21st 

11:30  AGS  Evan Twelker, State of Alaska  BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

March 21st 

11:30  AGS  TBA  BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

April 18th 

11:30  AGS  Tim Collett, AAPG Distinguished Lecturer  BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

May 20th – 24th, 2017 

  AAPG  Pacific Section, American Association of Petroleum Geologists http://www.aapg.org/science/geographic/countries/united-states/pacific-section 

Sheraton, Anchorage 

 

Volume 47 Number 3 November 2016 Page 6

PRA

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Anchorage, AK 99503

(907) 272-1232, (907) 272-1344 (fax)

The Alaska Geological Society, Inc.

P.O. Box 101288

Anchorage AK 99510

On the web at: h p://www.alaskageology.org

The Alaska Geological Society is an organiza on which seeks to promote inter-est in and understanding of Geology and the related Earth Sciences, and to provide a common organiza on for those individuals interested in geology and the related Earth Sciences. 

This newsle er is the monthly (September-May) publica on of the Alaska Geological Society, Inc. Number of newsle ers/month: ~300 

EDITOR Ken Helmold 

Alaska Geological Society, Inc. P. O. Box 101288 

Anchorage, AK 99510 e-mail: ken.helmold@alaska.gov 

(907) 269-8673 (office) 

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

AGS annual memberships expire November 1. The annual membership fee is $25/year ($5 for students). You may download a membership applica on from the AGS website and return it at a luncheon mee ng, or mail it to the address above. 

Contact membership coordinator Ken Helmold with changes or updates  (e-mail: ken.helmold at alaska.gov; phone: 907-269-8673) 

All AGS publica ons are now available for on-line purchase on our website. Check to see the complete catalogue: 

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Volume 47 Number 3 November 2016 Page 7

2015 ‐ 2016 Alaska Geological Society Board

Commi ees and Delegates

Title Name Phone e-mail Affiliation President Chad Hults 332-0740 chadcph at gmail.com NPS Past-President Monte Mabry 230-4488 monte.mabry at live.com President-Elect Larry Smith 865-5803 ljsmith@gci.net Brook Range Petroleum Vice-President Keith Torrance 677-8257 keith.torrance at uicumiaq.com UMIAQ Treasurer Heather Heusser 947-9010 heather.heusser at alaska.gov AK DOG Secretary Dave Buthman 344-6001 dbuthman at hilcorp.com Hilcorp Director 15-2017 Jennifer Crews 263-4516 jennifer.r.crews at conocophillips.com ConocoPhillips Director 15-2017 Jamey Jones 786-7442 jvjones at usgs.gov USGS Director 15-2017 Mick Bradway brad8450 at yahoo.com Director 16-2018 Laura Gregersen 375-8240 Laura.gregersen at alaska.gov AK DOG Director 16-2018 Karri Sicard 451-5040 karri.sicard at alaska.gov AK DGGS Director 16-2018 Steve Wright 855-2363 alaskageo at aol.com Consultant

AAPG Delegate Marwan Wartes 451-5056 marwan.wartes at alaska.gov AK DGGS

Advertising Keith Torrance 677-8257 keith.torrance at uicumiaq.com UMIAQ

Com. Ed./Science Fair Jana DaSilva Lage 980-9368 jldasilva5 at hotmail.com APICC Field Trips Chad Hults 332-0740 chadcph at gmail.com NPS Bylaws Sue Karl 786-7428 skarl at usgs.gov USGS Memberships Kirk Sherwood 334-5337 sherwook at mtaonline.net Newsletter Editor Ken Helmold 269-8673 ken.helmold at alaska.gov AK DOG Publications Mick Bradway brad8450 at yahoo.com Scholarship Sue Karl 786-7428 skarl at usgs.gov USGS Website Jan Hazen homesteadgraphics@gmail.com Consultant Fundraising Sunny Foster 269-7569 sunny.foster at alaska.gov AK DEC

Title Name Phone e-mail Affiliation

PSAAPG AGS Representative Marwan Wartes 451-5056 marwan.wartes at alaska.gov AK DGGS