Submarine landslide tsunamis, mechanisms of granular flows at multiple scales; a new UK/China multidisciplinary research collaboration

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Over the past 20 years tsunamis from submarine landslides, such as slumps and blocks, have become better understood from international collaborations between geologists and numerical modelers. Tsunamis from large volume translational submarine landslides such as Storegga and Grand Banks are less well understood because their complex internal deformations, on failing, are challenging to model and understand in the context of tsunami generation. The objective of this proposal, therefore, is to bring together geologists with expertise in submarine landslide tsunamis and numerical modelers who research subaerial granular sediment flows in a new marine context through an international collaboration which will lead to a better understanding of the physics of submarine translational sediment movement in the generation of tsunamis. These submarine landslide tsunamis are a hazard to both the UK (e.g. the North Sea) and China (in the South China Sea). To address their complex mechanisms the project aims to establish new partnerships between UK researchers from the British Geological Survey and the University of Edinburgh and Chinese researchers from Tongji University. Our vision is to radically improve model predictability and applicability through fusing critical mechanisms at the particle, continuum and field scales, enabled by transdisciplinary collaborations.