2007-12-19 10:03:04 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
It depends. A tsunami is a surface wave, so in deep water (water deeper than the wave height) they can be just a few inches above the normal sea level. As the wave reaches shallower water the bottom of the wave touches the sea floor and the wave rises out of the water. At some point the mass of water at the top of the wave will be too great for the motion of the wave to support it and the wave will break and wash inland.
The point at which the wave breaks and the maximum height it can reach are a function of the size of the wave itself (how much energy was used to create it) how slowly the sea floor near the shore shallows (rapid shallowing means the wave breaks earlier and is usually smaller) and the shape of the coastline (small bays cause bigger waves than a long straight coastline).
There is no theoretical maximum height. A big enough geological event, the total collapse of an undersea mountain for example, could create a wave with a height of hundreds of feet. How big that wave is when it reaches land depends (as I said) on the geography of the sea floor and coastline there.
2007-12-19 20:06:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
How Tall Can Tsunamis Get
2017-01-15 07:20:39 · answer #2 · answered by pao 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Guiness Book only documents what it the tallest recorded tsunami. That is not the question.
The tsunami from 10km asteroid impacting the ocean could be several kilometers high. Heck, it makes a hole that is 20 km deep, what do you think that would do to the sea?
Larger impacts (none in the last billion years) could produce tsunami evenn higher than that.
2007-12-19 11:48:35 · answer #3 · answered by nick s 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
how tall can tsunamis get?
2015-08-07 03:01:44 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
170 feet
2007-12-19 10:48:07 · answer #5 · answered by glenn t 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its when your mother jumped in the ocean. Wiped out half of humanity. Cold *** *****.
2016-03-20 05:08:57 · answer #6 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋