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Electromagnetic field generated by tsunamigenic seabed deformation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 June 2023

E. Renzi*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematical Sciences, Loughborough University, Ashby Road, LE11 3TU Loughborough, UK
M.G. Mazza
Affiliation:
Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Department of Mathematical Sciences, Loughborough University, Ashby Road, LE11 3TU Loughborough, UK Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS), Am Faßberg 17, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
*
Email address for correspondence: e.renzi@lboro.ac.uk

Abstract

We derive a mathematical model of an electromagnetic (EM) field generated by tsunamigenic seabed deformation over an ocean of constant depth. We solve the governing Maxwell equations for the EM field, coupled with a potential flow model of Cauchy–Poisson type for the transient fluid motion forced by seabed deformation. Our new model advances previous studies, where simplified formulae without direct forcing were assumed for the wave field. Using complex integration and large-time asymptotics, we obtain a novel analytical solution for the magnetic field propagating at large distance from the seabed deformation in two dimensions. We show that this magnetic field is made of two terms, one proportional to an Airy function, and thus propagating similarly to the surface gravity wave, and one proportional to a Scorer function, which exhibits a phase lag with respect to the surface gravity wave. Such a phase lag explains the time difference between the arrival of the EM field and the surface gravity wave generated by seabed deformation, which were observed in recent measurements and numerical results. Finally, we discuss the opportunity to detect EM fields as precursors of surface gravity waves in tsunami early warning systems. We introduce a novel non-dimensional parameter to identify the propagation regime of the magnetic field, i.e. self-induction versus diffusion-dominated. We show that tsunami early warning via EM field is possible for diffusion-dominated regimes when the water depth is less than 2 km. Our findings provide a rigorous analytical explanation of existing observations and numerical results.

Information

Type
JFM Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Figure 1. Geometry of the system.

Figure 1

Figure 2. Space–time surface plots of the vertical magnetic field and free-surface elevation during the generation phase: ($a$) oscillatory component $b_z^o$ (3.8); ($b$) evanescent component $b_z^e$ (3.9); ($c$) total vertical field $b_z=b_z^o+b_z^e$; ($d$) free-surface elevation (2.18). Parameters are $h=2000\ \mathrm {m}$, $A=3\ \mathrm {m}$, $\varDelta =5000\ \mathrm {m}$, $F_z=-20\,000\ \mathrm {nT}$.

Figure 2

Figure 3. Time series of the free-surface elevation $\zeta$ (4.6) and magnetic field $b_z^o$ (4.13) at large distance $x = 3500\ \mathrm {km}$ from the epicentre. Parameters are $h=2000\ \mathrm {m}$, $A=3\ \mathrm {m}$, $\varDelta =5000\ \mathrm {m}$, $F_z=-20\,000\ \mathrm {nT}$.

Figure 3

Figure 4. Time series of the magnetic field $b_z^o$ (4.13) and its self-induction $g_z^o$ (4.15) and diffusion $m_z^o$ (4.14) components at large distance $x = 3500\ \mathrm {km}$ from the epicentre. Parameters are $h=2000\ \mathrm {m}$, $A=3\ \mathrm {m}$, $\varDelta =5000\ \mathrm {m}$, $F_z=-20\,000\ \mathrm {nT}$.

Figure 4

Figure 5. Time series of the free-surface elevation $\zeta$ (4.6) and magnetic field $b_z^o$ (4.13) at large distance $x = 3500\ \mathrm {km}$ from the epicentre. Parameters are $h=4000\ \mathrm {m}$, $A=3\ \mathrm {m}$, $\varDelta =5000\ \mathrm {m}$, $F_z=-20\,000\ \mathrm {nT}$.

Figure 5

Figure 6. Time series of the magnetic field $b_z^o$ (4.13) and its self-induction $g_z^o$ (4.15) and diffusion $m_z^o$ (4.14) components at large distance $x = 3500\ \mathrm {km}$ from the epicentre. Parameters are $h=4000\ \mathrm {m}$, $A=3\ \mathrm {m}$, $\varDelta =5000\ \mathrm {m}$, $F_z=-20\,000\ \mathrm {nT}$.

Figure 6

Figure 7. Behaviour of the non-dimensional time lag $\Delta t/\tau$ (dots) and the parameter $\xi$ (solid line) versus the magnetic Reynolds number ${R_m}$. The curve $y=2/{R_m}$ is plotted for reference (dashed line). The observation point is at $x=3500\ \mathrm {km}$.

Figure 7

Figure 8. Complex $s$-plane with poles and branch cut.