Genesis Flood and Tsunami Run-Up: A Study of Zero Water Depth

This research uses the Crank-Nicolson implicit scheme in two-dimensional finite-difference codes to overcome the numerical dispersion associated with tsunami wave propagation as the water depth approaches zero at the shoreland in order to accurately measure the distance of water moving over dry land. Accurately capturing the motion of water from the deep ocean to the coastal area faces numerical dispersion resulting from modeling tsunami behavior at the shoreline, which leads to an inaccurate solution thus causing unrealistic results. This study is developing a finite difference code that uses an implicit method, like the Crank-Nicolson method, to address the numerical issues in tsunami run-up modeling to improve the current MABBUL code method. While Dr. Baumgardner's work provided evidence of the sedimentary record left behind by such cataclysmic events, it also highlighted the limitations of existing numerical schemes in accurately representing the transition region where water depth tends to near-zero values. In addressing the limitations of existing numerical schemes, our study will employ a mesh-based method that effectively tracks discrete particles propagating through the computational domain during tsunami events. We are currently modeling using the Crank-Nicolson method to overcome these issues. This implicit approach is chosen for its ability to handle stiff equations that arise in wet-dry conditions and to stabilize the numerical solution in regions where conventional explicit methods fail. We expect this research to advance our understanding of the major role that tsunamis played in generating the sediment record during the Genesis Flood.