scholarly journals Bridging Legends and Science: Field Evidence of a Large Tsunami that Affected the Kingdom of Tonga in the 15th Century

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franck Lavigne ◽  
Julie Morin ◽  
Patrick Wassmer ◽  
Olivier Weller ◽  
Taaniela Kula ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colonial History ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Science Field ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Neighbouring Island ◽  
Large Tsunami

The pre-colonial history (i.e. before the 16th century) of Tonga and West Polynesia still suffers from major gaps despite significant scientific advances in recent years, particularly in the field of archaeology. By the 14th century, the powerful Tu’i Tonga kingdom united the islands of the Tongan archipelago under a centralised authority and, according to tradition, extended its influence to neighbouring island groups in the Central Pacific. However, some periods of deep crisis were identified, e.g. in the mid- 15th century, marked by an abrupt cessation of inter-archipelago migration on the deep seas in the Pacific, significant cultural changes, and a decrease in accessible natural resources. The origins of these disturbances are still debated, and they are usually assigned to internal political problems or loss of external influence vis-à-vis neighboring chiefdoms. However, the hypothesis of a major natural disaster was rarely suggested up to now, while field evidence points to the occurrence of a very large tsunami in the past, including the presence of numerous megablocks that were deposited by a “red wave” (or peau kula, which also mean tsunami in the Tongan language) according to a local myth. Drawing on a body of new evidence from sedimentary signatures and radiocarbon dating of charcoal and marine bioclasts, geomorphology, and sedimentology, in support of previously published archaeological data, we argue that a large tsunami inundated large areas of Tongatapu island in the mid-15th century with runup heights up to 30 m, and that the Tu’i Tonga kingdom was severely impacted by this event. We also discuss the likely sources of this tsunami.

The kingdom of Tonga devastated by a megatsunami in the mid-15th century

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franck Lavigne ◽  
Julie Morin ◽  
Wassmer Patrick ◽  
Weller Olivier ◽  
Kula Taaniela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
History Of ◽  
Neighbouring Island ◽  
New Evidence

<p>The pre-colonial history of Tonga and West Polynesia still suffers from major gaps because its reconstruction is essentially based on legends left by oral tradition, and by archaeological evidence somehow difficult to interpret. By the fourteenth century, the powerful Tu'i Tonga kingdom united the islands of the Tongan archipelago under a centralised authority and, according to tradition, extended its influence to neighbouring island groups in the Central Pacific. However, some periods of deep crisis were identified, e.g. in the mid- 15<sup>th</sup> century, marked by an abrupt cessation of inter-archipelago migration on the deep seas in the Pacific, significant cultural changes, and a decrease in accessible natural resources. The origins of these disturbances are still debated, and are usually assigned to internal political problems or loss of external influence vis-à-vis neighboring states. However, the hypothesis of a major natural disaster was never suggested up to now.</p><p>Drawing on a body of new evidence from sedimentary signatures and radiocarbon dating of charcoal and marine bioclasts, geomorphology, and sedimentology, in support of previously published archaeological data, we argue that the Tu’i Tonga kingdom was severely impacted by a megatsunami in the mid-15th century. We also discuss the likely sources of this event, which happened in an isolated region of the world before the European maritime “great discoveries”. This tsunami could be the source of vivid local myths that strongly suggest that a giant wave covered almost the entire island of Tongatapu at one time.</p>

The trace of the Pacific-Cocos-Nazca triple junction in the Central Pacific and the formation of an overlapping spreading centre

Terra Nova ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Meschede ◽  
Udo Barckhausen ◽  
Martin Engels ◽  
Wilhelm Weinrebe
Keyword(s):  
Triple Junction ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
The Pacific

Annual, Interannual, and Intraseasonal Variability of Tropical Tropopause Transition Layer Cirrus

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 3097-3112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina S. Virts ◽  
John M. Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Annual Cycle ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Transition Layer ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Cirrus Clouds ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Tropical Tropopause ◽  
The Pacific

Abstract Cloud fields based on the first three years of data from the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) mission are used to investigate the relationship between cirrus within the tropical tropopause transition layer (TTL) and the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), the annual cycle, and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The TTL cirrus signature observed in association with the MJO resembles convectively induced, mixed Kelvin–Rossby wave solutions above the Pacific warm pool region. This signature is centered to the east of the peak convection and propagates eastward more rapidly than the convection; it exhibits a pronounced eastward tilt with height, suggestive of downward phase propagation and upward energy dispersion. A cirrus maximum is observed over equatorial Africa and South America when the enhanced MJO-related convection enters the western Pacific. Tropical-mean TTL cirrus is modulated by the MJO, with more than twice as much TTL cirrus fractional coverage equatorward of 10° latitude when the enhanced convection enters the Pacific than a few weeks earlier, when the convection is over the Indian Ocean. The annual cycle in cirrus clouds around the base of the TTL is equatorially asymmetric, with more cirrus observed in the summer hemisphere. Higher in the TTL, the annual cycle in cirrus clouds is more equatorially symmetric, with a maximum in the boreal winter throughout most of the tropics. The ENSO signature in TTL cirrus is marked by a zonal shift of the peak cloudiness toward the central Pacific during El Niño and toward the Maritime Continent during La Niña.

scholarly journals Global atmospheric chemistry – which air matters

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (14) ◽  
pp. 9081-9102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Prather ◽  
Xin Zhu ◽  
Clare M. Flynn ◽  
Sarah A. Strode ◽  
Jose M. Rodriguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Central Pacific Ocean ◽  
Methane Budget ◽  
As Species ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Key Species ◽  
Probability Densities

Abstract. An approach for analysis and modeling of global atmospheric chemistry is developed for application to measurements that provide a tropospheric climatology of those heterogeneously distributed, reactive species that control the loss of methane and the production and loss of ozone. We identify key species (e.g., O3, NOx, HNO3, HNO4, C2H3NO5, H2O, HOOH, CH3OOH, HCHO, CO, CH4, C2H6, acetaldehyde, acetone) and presume that they can be measured simultaneously in air parcels on the scale of a few km horizontally and a few tenths of a km vertically. As a first step, six global models have prepared such climatologies sampled at the modeled resolution for August with emphasis on the vast central Pacific Ocean basin. Objectives of this paper are to identify and characterize differences in model-generated reactivities as well as species covariances that could readily be discriminated with an unbiased climatology. A primary tool is comparison of multidimensional probability densities of key species weighted by the mass of such parcels or frequency of occurrence as well as by the reactivity of the parcels with respect to methane and ozone. The reactivity-weighted probabilities tell us which parcels matter in this case, and this method shows skill in differentiating among the models' chemistry. Testing 100 km scale models with 2 km measurements using these tools also addresses a core question about model resolution and whether fine-scale atmospheric structures matter to the overall ozone and methane budget. A new method enabling these six global chemistry–climate models to ingest an externally sourced climatology and then compute air parcel reactivity is demonstrated. Such an objective climatology containing these key species is anticipated from the NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) aircraft mission (2015–2020), executing profiles over the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. This modeling study addresses a core part of the design of ATom.

scholarly journals New Caledonia and Vanuatu: Differences defined in a student reporting venture into the Pacific

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Lee Duffield
Keyword(s):  
New Caledonia ◽  
Field Trip ◽  
Daily News ◽  
Independent State ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Journalism Students ◽  
Neighbouring Island ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
The Coordinator

A reporting field trip by Australian journalism students to New Caledonia and Vanuatu in mid-2014 produced markedly differing impressions of the neighbouring island societies, linked to their ‘independence’ status—one as an integrated territory of France, the other as an independent state. The field trip, one of a series from the Queensland University of Technology, aimed at developing reporting skills through work in unaccustomed territory, especially different cultural settings. Over 17 days, six students and the coordinator, and author of this article, generated 18 feature-length reports for online outlets and a radio documentary. The article synthesises the collected work from the field, producing a thematic statement of findings. It records broad consensus in New Caledonia in favour of enacting the Matignon and Noumea Accords on independence, while noting an undercurrent of unresolved conflicts. It characterises public life in Vanuatu in terms of a democratic spirit, and the invocation of traditional ties within society, as the country grapples with problems of development and impacts of the outside world. This work is interpretative, concerned with identifying processes underlying events in daily news. It is proposed as a first step towards a scholarly construction of meta-analyses of the interpretative and informative power of journalistic reporting.

scholarly journals PERANG PASIFIK DI PULAU MOROTAI: Rekonstruksi Infrastruktur dan Strategi Perang

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Wuri Handoko ◽  
Arsthen P. Godlief ◽  
Cheviano E. Alputila
Keyword(s):  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Pacific War ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The World ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Military Archaeology

Pacific war in Morotai is an important historical event in Indonesia as well as in the world. The Pacific war involving two major powers, the Allies and Japan, left a trail of archaeological studies examined to record a very important historical event in the Pacific region of Morotai Island. Based on the concept of military archaeology, this study uses archaeological data to reconstruct infrastructure and allied strategies in combat against Japan. Investigation of these remains proceeded through studying textual and photographic records on the Allies' occupation of Morotai Island, and examination of modern-day aerial photographs of the terrain where the Allies built their infrastructure, followed by archaeological survey and through interviewing local residents to describe traces of the Pacific war infrastructure. The results explain that the preparation of good infrastructure by the allies is part of the war strategy, which determines the win for the allies against the Japanese.Perang pasifik di Morotai merupakan peristiwa sejarah yang penting di Indonesia dan juga di dunia. Perang Pasifik yang melibatkan dua kekuatan besar, Sekutu dan Jepang, meninggalkan jejak arkeologi peperangan yang dikaji untuk merekam peristiwa sejarah yang sangat penting di kawasan pasifik di Pulau Morotai. Berdasarkan konsep military archaeology, penelitian ini menggunakan data arkeologi untuk merekonstruksi infrastruktur dan strategi sekutu dalam pertempuran melawan Jepang. Investigasi arkeologi dilakukan dengan mempelajari catatan tekstual dan fotografis tentang pendudukan Pulau Morotai oleh Sekutu, dan pemeriksaan foto-foto udara modern di daerah Sekutu membangun infrastruktur, dan selanjutnya melakukan survei arkeologi dan wawancara penduduk setempat untuk menggambarkan jejak infrastrukutr perang pasifik. Hasil penelitian menjelaskan bahwa penyiapan insfrastruktur dengan baik oleh pihak sekutu merupakan bagian dari strategi perang, yang menentukan kemenangan bagi pihak sekutu dalam melawan Jepang.

scholarly journals Synoptic–Dynamic Climatology of Large-Scale Cyclones in the North Pacific

2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (12) ◽  
pp. 3567-3587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda M. Keller ◽  
Michael C. Morgan ◽  
David D. Houghton ◽  
Ross A. Lazear
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Height Anomaly ◽  
Maximum Frequency ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract A climatology of large-scale, persistent cyclonic flow anomalies over the North Pacific was constructed using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP–NCAR) global reanalysis data for the cold season (November–March) for 1977–2003. These large-scale cyclone (LSC) events were identified as those periods for which the filtered geopotential height anomaly at a given analysis point was at least 100 m below its average for the date for at least 10 days. This study identifies a region of maximum frequency of LSC events at 45°N, 160°W [key point 1 (KP1)] for the entire period. This point is somewhat to the east of regions of maximum height variability noted in previous studies. A second key point (37.5°N, 162.5°W) was defined as the maximum in LSC frequency for the period after November 1988. The authors show that the difference in location of maximum LSC frequency is linked to a climate regime shift at about that time. LSC events occur with a maximum frequency in the period from November through January. A composite 500-hPa synoptic evolution, constructed relative to the event onset, suggests that the upper-tropospheric precursor for LSC events emerges from a quasi-stationary long-wave trough positioned off the east coast of Asia. In the middle and lower troposphere, the events are accompanied by cold thickness advection from a thermal trough over northeastern Asia. The composite mean sea level evolution reveals a cyclone that deepens while moving from the coast of Asia into the central Pacific. As the cyclone amplifies, it slows down in the central Pacific and becomes nearly stationary within a day of onset. Following onset, at 500 hPa, a stationary wave pattern, resembling the Pacific–North American teleconnection pattern, emerges with a ridge immediately downstream (over western North America) and a trough farther downstream (from the southeast coast of the United States into the western North Atlantic). The implications for the resulting sensible weather and predictability of the flow are discussed. An adjoint-derived sensitivity study was conducted for one of the KP1 cases identified in the climatology. The results provide dynamical confirmation of the LSC precursor identification for the events. The upper-tropospheric precursor is seen to play a key role not only in the onset of the lower-tropospheric height falls and concomitant circulation increases, but also in the eastward extension of the polar jet across the Pacific. The evolution of the forecast sensitivities suggest that LSC events are not a manifestation of a modal instability of the time mean flow, but rather the growth of a favorably configured perturbation on the flow.

scholarly journals Development of a One-Month-Long, Westward-Propagating Subtropical Low in Boreal Summer

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 231-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Molinari ◽  
David Vollaro
Keyword(s):  
Wave Breaking ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
Wave Structure ◽  
Boreal Summer ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Monsoon Gyre ◽  
Jet Streak ◽  
Q Vector ◽  
Equatorial Rossby Wave

Abstract A strong MJO event produced an upper-tropospheric jet streak in northeast Asia and repeated wave breaking in the jet exit region along 150°E during July 1988. A midlatitude low moved equatorward and intensified in the presence of bandpass-filtered (15–100 day) Q vector forcing for upward motion associated with the wave breaking. This forced ascent helped to moisten the atmosphere enough to increase the column water vapor to above 55 mm. This value was sufficiently large to support a self-sustaining low even after the upper forcing weakened. The horizontal scale of the Q vector forcing was about 1500 km, consistent with the scale of most favorable convective response to quasigeostrophic forcing in the subtropics described by Nie and Sobel. The low lasted one month as it moved southwestward, then westward, while remaining north of 20°N. Maximum precipitation along the track of the low exceeded 700 mm, with an anomaly more than 400 mm. A climatology of long-lasting lows was carried out for the monsoon gyre cases studied previously. During El Niño, long-lasting lows often began near the equator in the central Pacific, and were likely to have a mixed Rossby–gravity wave or equatorial Rossby wave structure. It is speculated that the quasi-biweekly mode, the submonthly oscillation, the 20–25-day mode, and the Pacific–Japan pattern are each variations on this kind of event. During La Niña, long-lasting lows that originated in midlatitudes were more common. It is argued that these lows from midlatitudes represent a unique disturbance type in boreal summer.

Recreational billfish catches and gamefishing facilities of Pacific Island nations in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean

2003 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wade Whitelaw
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Purse Seine ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Central Pacific Ocean ◽  
Tax Relief ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Pacific Island Nations ◽  
Subsistence Fishing ◽  
Pacific Community

Gamefishing is a developing industry for many of the Pacific Island nations, with a number of countries encouraging the industry with tax relief and tourism promotion. This paper was prepared to provide a preliminary appraisal of gamefish facilities and recreational billfish catches of Pacific Island countries in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. The level of development of gamefishing varies among Pacific Island nations, with fishers of some countries only carrying out subsistence fishing (including billfish), whereas others have a well-developed gamefishing infrastructure. The gamefish facilities of each country are described, including charter operations, number of private vessels and berthing facilities. Estimates of recreationally caught billfish are also provided for each Pacific Island nation. These estimates have been facilitated by the development of a gamefish catch and effort database by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Presently, an estimated 1050 metric tonnes of marlin are caught by gamefishing in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, which compares with an estimate of around 18 000 metric tonnes caught by commercial longline and purse seine vessels.

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