Researches about tsunamis showed that a huge mass of water movement caused not only life and property losses on coastal areas, but also caused severe damages on ocean ecosystem due to huge mass of sand movements and tsunami backwash flow. In this study, it is aimed to understand the horizontal changes in suspended sediment concentration in water, originated from the tsunami run up and backwash flow with an experimental setup. This study has showed that the tsunami induced sediment transport has two layer sediment clouds as it is observed and the empirical equations have verified this fact
The most particular characteristics of tsunamis which are also categorized as long waves, are due to their strong water mass movement on the terrestrial part of the coastal line. During the propagation of the tsunamis in deep water, due to their considerably low wave heights and very long wave periods in open water conditions, they have no severe effect. However as they reach to the coastal region and start the runup process, life and property losses are recorded. Tsunamis also terminate their movement in wave character in a particular depth and start their movement as a mass. Runup process of the water mass is directly affected by the topographical characteristics of the coastal area. As the water mass reaches to a certain level, backwash flow starts. Researches about tsunamis showed that a huge mass of water movement caused not only life and property losses on coastal areas, but also caused severe damages on ocean ecosystem due to huge mass of sand movements and tsunami backwash flow. Suspended matters in water can accumulate on reefs and marine flora causing adverse effects on water quality due to the oxygen deficiency. Furthermore, recent investigations on ocean floor have focused on analyzing, sediment depositions in layers, which can be the geological records of ancient tsunamis, to determine the magnitude of past tsunami.
