Natural Hazards and Earth System Science www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net 1561-8633 1684-9981 6 5 2006 10.5194/nhess-6-671-2006 http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/6/671/2006/ http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/6/671/2006/nhess-6-671-2006.html http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/6/671/2006/nhess-6-671-2006.pdf 671 685 2006-07-26 Numerical simulation of tsunami generation by cold volcanic mass flows at Augustine Volcano, Alaska C. F. Waythomas chris@usgs.gov P. Watts J. S. Walder U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Volcano Observatory, Anchorage, AK, USA Applied Fluids Engineering Inc., Long Beach, CA, USA U.S. Geological Survey, Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, WA, USA Many of the world's active volcanoes are situated on or near coastlines. During eruptions, diverse geophysical mass flows, including pyroclastic flows, debris avalanches, and lahars, can deliver large volumes of unconsolidated debris to the ocean in a short period of time and thereby generate tsunamis. Deposits of both hot and cold volcanic mass flows produced by eruptions of Aleutian arc volcanoes are exposed at many locations along the coastlines of the Bering Sea, North Pacific Ocean, and Cook Inlet, indicating that the flows entered the sea and in some cases may have initiated tsunamis. We evaluate the process of tsunami generation by cold granular subaerial volcanic mass flows using examples from Augustine Volcano in southern Cook Inlet. Augustine Volcano is the most historically active volcano in the Cook Inlet region, and future eruptions, should they lead to debris-avalanche formation and tsunami generation, could be hazardous to some coastal areas. 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