A study on the influence of submarine debris flow rheology on tsunamis using an integrated numerical model

Under the influence of seismic phenomena, the submarine mass on the continental shelf edge can slide down, generating tsunami waves that propagate both towards the shore and out to sea, thereby threatening infrastructure and human life. This study uses an integrated numerical model to simultaneously simulate both the submarine landslide and tsunami waves using the nonlinear shallow water equations. Under the effect of the rheological properties of the submarine landslide, including internal friction, turbulence, and yield stress, the propagated tsunami characteristics are different in the same conditions of the landslide volume and simulation time. With the low value of yield stress, the landslide length and tsunami wave height are larger in seaward areas. On the other hand, with the high value of yield stress, the landslide length and tsunami wave height are larger in coastal areas. The results of this study contribute to enhancing the theoretical computations for explaining the complexity of tsunami phenomena caused by submarine landslides in real-life scenarios.