Contributions expected from marine geodesy to the study of tsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

In the Mediterranean Sea, tsunamigenic sources may be found in several areas in the belt running from Gibraltar up to the Black Sea, but they are concentrated mainly around Italy and Greece. Most of the sources are located close to the coasts and excite tsunamis reaching the coasts soon after the generation time. Tsunami research and tsunami mitigation programs are only in a very initial stage in the Mediterranean area. The present activities are focused chiefly to tsunami potential evaluation and on tsunami propagation modeling. The establishment of efficient observational networks, centers for data management and services, and systems for issuing tsunami warnings are some of the most urgent needs. In this context, the envisaged contribution of marine geodesy is twofold. First, monitoring of submarine active faults and submarine volcanic areas by means of systems capable of detecting seafloor deformation may contribute in identifying periods in which the probability of tsunami generation increases beyond a threshold value, especially in those tsunamigenic zones where geodetic observations on land are insufficient (for example, eastern Sicily in Italy and the Hellenic Arc in southern Greece). Second, since most of the active sources are close to the coastline, computations of tsunami propagation and run‐up may be significantly enhanced by a better knowledge of the bathymetry of the seabelt facing the coasts.

Keywords:

• Marine positioning
• submarine earthquakes
• submarine eruptions
• tsunami hazard