Could a tsunami hit Ireland?

therealist85

There is more of a chance of a zombie apocalypse than a tsunami. With all the volcanoes surrounding canary islands they would all need to erupt to wipe out this fine country. And the prediction for that is 100+ years. Im sure we will all be long gone by then.

The Moldy Gowl

More chance of zombie threads killing us

hatrickpatrick

There would appear to be three primary threats to Ireland as far as tsunamis are concerned.

#1, the volcanic Rockall Bank off Donegal was recently found to be far more unstable than previously thought. A collapse there could potentially trigger a tsunami if it was significant enough.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/ucd-scientists-find-volcanic-seabed-off-donegal-coast-that-could-cause-irish-tsunami-30492082.html

#2, as has been mentioned a few times, the Cumbre Veja volcano in the Canaries is known to be unstable. Based on a 1,750 foot high tsunami in Alaska in 1958 caused by a vertical rockfall, it has been suggested that a collapse of this volcano could cause an Atlantic-wide tsunami which would devastate coasts around the ocean. What the documentaries neglect to discuss, however, is that there's major uncertainty over the volcano's structure, such that while sliding and collapse are probably inevitable, no one knows whether such a collapse would be a gradual slide or a sudden total collapse involving the entire edifice. Only the latter would cause a megatsunami - a gradual collapse would probably cause tsunamis at each stage but they would be far more localized. Thus, anyone who claims that a Cumbre Veja tsunami is a certainty is being sensationalist - but anyone who writes it off as something which won't happen is also talking through their arse. It's physically possible and the only factor which will determine whether it happens is what form the volcano's eventual collapse takes - something nobody can predict, at least not until more is known about its internal structure.

#3, obviously, an Atlantic impact event from a space object would certainly cause a megatsunami. This one is rarely discussed though because in such a scenario, a megatsunami would be the least of our worries - anyone who survived that would have to contend with the ensuing nuclear winter.

A potential #4 - but this is something for which there is currently no sign in the Atlantic (although the Pacific appears to be cooking one up at the moment) is a super-eruption caused by the head of a new mantle plume breaking through the floor of the Atlantic. These tend to begin their lives with flood basalt eruptions and then subsequently move to explosive eruptions of rhyolite, either of which could cause a tsunami under the right conditions. Since very little is known about the underlying plumbing of volcanic hot spots, one of these could emerge with no warning at all, independent of plate tectonics.
However, deep mantle anomalies are theorized to anchor these hot spots, and the only one which seems to be currently in the process of forming is a superplume detected under the Pacific, and even this is not expected to emerge at the surface for a few hundred million years. So not really relevant to this discussion but still a fascinating read if anyone has time:
http://unews.utah.edu/news_releases/the-deep-roots-of-catastrophe/

cerastes

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

There would appear to be three primary threats to Ireland as far as tsunamis are concerned.

#3, obviously, an Atlantic impact event from a space object would certainly cause a megatsunami. This one is rarely discussed though because in such a scenario, a megatsunami would be the least of our worries - anyone who survived that would have to contend with the ensuing nuclear winter.

Would there be a Nuclear winter scenario if an asteroid hit mid atlantic?, depending on the mass and velocity, a megatsunami is certainly likely in that event, while I think that the Ocean may boil off to some extent, thats water vapour, it would affect the weather, but is it likely to not return. Unless the water vapour created clouds that blocked out and reflected light and the earth went into some cold cycle from which it couldnt warm.

Im not sure there would be a dust cloud though, anything that could create a dust cloud from hitting the atlantic, well a megatsunami might even seem insignificant.

I know the asteroid that is purported to have wiped out the dinosaurs is meant to have created a cloud of dust and ash that fell all over the earth, but it hit in a more relatively shallow area.

FullblownRose

Have we given up on Ebola so soon?

cerastes

FullblownRose wrote: »

Have we given up on Ebola so soon?

whats ebola got to do with a tsunami?

FullblownRose

cerastes wrote: »

whats ebola got to do with a tsunami?

Disaster scenario threads. I was being slightly sarcastic.

cerastes

A wave of ebola infected zombie attacks?

Capt'n Midnight

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Channel_floods,_1607

Floods resulted in the drowning of an estimated 2,000 or more people, with houses and villages swept away, an estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) of farmland inundated and livestock destroyed,[2] wrecking the local economy along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary, in what was then the Kingdom of England.

The coasts of Devon and the Somerset Levels as far inland as Glastonbury Tor, 14 miles (23 km) from the coast, were also affected. The sea wall at Burnham-on-Sea gave way,[3] and the water flowed over the low lying levels and moors. Thirty villages in Somerset were affected, including Brean which was "swallowed up" and where seven out of the nine houses were destroyed with 26 of the inhabitants dying. For ten days the Church of All Saints at Kingston Seymour, near Weston-super-Mare, was filled with water to a depth of 5 feet (1.5 m). A chiselled mark remains showing that the maximum height of the water was 7.74 metres above sea level.[4][5]
...
Haslett and Bryant found significant evidence for the tsunami hypothesis.[13] This included: massive boulders that had been displaced up the beach by enormous force; a layer up to 8 inches (20 cm) thick composed of sand, shells and stones within an otherwise constant deposit of mud that was found in boreholes from Devon to Gloucestershire and the Gower Peninsula; and rock erosion characteristic of high water velocities throughout the Severn Estuary.[8]
....
While the risk of similar future events is considered to be low, it is estimated that the potential cost caused by comparable flooding to residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural property could range from £7 to £13 billion at 2007 insured values.[15] Concern has also been expressed that the nuclear power stations at Hinkley Point and Oldbury could be endangered.[15]

Kirby

The answer to your question is yes.

Yes, it was definitely worth creating an account just to post that smiley. Bravo.