Dam Break Wave over Conical Island

A "full stroke" wave (wave generated by a full stroke of the wavemaker) passing over a conical island. This is intended to represent the passage of a landfalling tsunami around a small offshore island, with the goal of determining the runup characteristics on the beach. Experiment performed in the Directional Wave Basin at the O.H. Hinsdale Lab at Oregon State University, July 2016. This experiment was part of work supported by NSF-CMMI Grant 153890.

(Explanation cribbed from a reply I gave in the comments): One of the purposes of this experiment is to see whether the local belief that offshore islands reduce the inundation of the tsunami on the beach right behind the island was correct or not. That belief can affect the effectiveness of early warning systems. If you watch as the beach gets inundated when the tsunami hits it, the runup of the water is noticeably higher in one spot than elsewhere. That spot is directly behind the island.

The remainder of our experiments show that, at best, the inundation behind the island is no different than it would be on other parts of the beach where there is no island. It is never lower, and in some cases as high as twice the excursion of the runup with no island involved. This fits with field observations taken in Indonesia after a tsunami caused by the Mentawai earthquake in 2010.

[toshley]

The important thing to note is that when the wave washes up on the beach, the part of the wave that hit the cone island actually washes further up onto the beach. It's not dramatic, but it is counter intuitive. You would expect that the island would protect the beach behind from the wave, not make it worse.

[KarterAnderson]

Who else just randomly got this in their recommended?

[JDoerp]

20 second video. Precise and accurate description. No click bait thumbnail. Over 2 million views. ==YouTube perfection & no understanding as to why anyone would click the dislike button, you knew exactly what to expect when clicking on this video.

[Jurvake]

Mom, Can we go to beach?
“No, we have beach at home”
Beach at home:

[razagamer]

This was the smoothest wave I have ever seen in my life.

[drdca]

Wow, that’s quite counterintuitive! Neat!

[jameskaihatu]

Just a note.

I am not responsible for what shows up in anyone’s “recommended” list. If you want fewer mentions of any experimental videos in your recommended lists, view fewer waterborne disaster videos.

Thanks,

[rymerdaveedjec]

Imagine you're an ant then you see this.

[nitroexsplosion]

I love the calm bubbling as it washes up the slope.

[rosalinabarnes]

Exactly what i need right now ..





*A DAM BREAK*

[toyday]

Thanks youtube for recommending such a fantastic video...

[Thatrandomdude]

0:01 Wave generation
0:02 Wave destruction
0:04 People see and scream
0:06 Island gets washed
0:09 Many people oof

[Zotesoap]

people talk about random recommendations but no, I sought this out because things like this fuel the terror that keeps me awake!

[tedtective]

YouTube :- hmn been 5 years let's recommend a new video to everyone.


Me :- yay, another one. Also I truly do need a dam break

[Chorkaloopa]

Awesome. Did you also try different shapes for the island/barrier? Also, if there were several islands in series toward the shoreline. Seems like anyway you block it, the wave perpendicular to the blocked area will meet up and still find its way to complete its full trespass onto the shore. :)

[GuiDuckz]

Ah yes. Youtube decides to put this on my recomended for the 5th time

[tedsmith]

I love the phrase 'offshore island'. I thought all islands tended to be offshore, otherwise we call them mountains.

[PsilocybinOnYT]

Gotta love a beautiful Dam Break Wave at 3 A.M.

[beepboopgpt]

Getting tired on these recommended recommended comments.

[joshz]

Hello youtube recommendation...but super interesting! Where the wave fills back in behind the island, it washes up further.