Bill: The name of the program is "Mega-Tsunamis".
Here is a link that talks a bit about this based on a news release from the University of Southampton: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/08/040815234801.htm The phenomenon is generated by a large landslide. This was actually witnessed by two persons (a father and son) in their fishing boat in a bay up in Alaska some 30 years ago (I hope I got the number of years right). Some scientists speculate that a massive, sudden landslide dropping millions of tons of rock from a volcanic island into the ocean (for which there is apparently some evidence that this has happened in the past, though the event is fairly rare) could create a tsunami hundreds of meters high once it hits a coast. The key factor is that the the length of the wave is quite large, so that the pile-up of water as the wave hits shallow water is both steep and fast. Modeling apparently shows that this phenomenon as the wave reaches the shoreline is accelerated by the the arching motion of the wave as the rapidly moving upper part rises up over the slower moving water further down closer to the earth. Ezra ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Potts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 12:10 AM Subject: [USMA:31843] RE: Discovery Channel improving > I assume such a tsunami would be caused by an asteroid hitting the ocean. > > Can you tell us the name of the program, so I can find out when it will be > repeated? (In the meantime, I'll go to the Discovery Channel website and try > to find it by keyword search.) > > Bill Potts, CMS > Roseville, CA > http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Behalf Of Ezra Steinberg > >Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 22:36 > >To: U.S. Metric Association > >Subject: [USMA:31842] Discovery Channel improving > > > > > >Saw an interesting program on the Discover Channel about > >mega-tsunamis with waves over a kilometer tall (or even several > >kilometers tall). > > > >Most of the units given were in SI only (even by the American > >sounding narrator). In a few spots the narrator used US Customary > >units and a few other cases he used SI followed by US Customary. > > > >This shift by the Discovery Channel strikes me as purposeful. I'm > >guessing they've made a decision to enter a transition phase where > >they emphasize SI but give enough US Customary to avoid scaring > >off those in the audience who are not comfortable with SI. > > > >It looks like a good sign. > > > >Ezra > > > >
