Meteorite impacts in the ocean: the danger of tsunamis on the coast of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Abstract

Comets, meteorites, or asteroids impacting against the Earth are not unusual events. Such impacts on the ocean could produce tsunamis which can reach coastal areas. This paper aimed to analyze the tsunami wave heights on the coast of Buenos Aires Province produced by a meteorite impact in the South Atlantic Ocean. This subject is carried out using a simplified analytical model based on the energy flux conservation. The worst scenario was obtained in the case of the meteorite falling at the deepest continental slope edge, on a transect orientated normally to Mar del Plata coast (around 42° S–54° W). The hazard would quickly decrease if the meteorite impacted farther this location. It was also inferred that, if the meteorite fell on the Patagonian or Brazilian continental shelves, or in the Pacific, Indian or North Atlantic oceans the dangerousness would be drastically reduced. Finally, the possible implementation of this simple analytical model is analyzed in different regions of the World Ocean.