ABSTRACT Within the framework of catastrophic plate tectonics, large tsunamis are a plausible mechanism for producing fossil-bearing sediments of the Flood rock record. The focus of this research is to model the behavior of an overriding slab in response to a rapidly subducting plate with the aim of understanding in more detail the tsunami generation process. Key to this process is the locking and unlocking of the overriding and subducting slabs. The unlocking results in the rapid rise of the sea bottom and generation of a tsunami. Several key questions arise in this context that the model seeks to answer. What is the character of the friction for the plates to be locked sufficiently long to produce large tsunamis? What sort of the stresses occur to keep the slabs locked together? How rapidly can the deformed overriding slab relax mechanically from its deformed shape? How much deformational heating arises when the overriding slab is repetitively loaded? To address these questions in a quantitative manner, we apply the finite element analysis code Ansys. Preliminary results show the relaxation time is short enough (~15 min for 2.5 km of deflection of the overriding plate). Additionally, stresses look reasonable for the large deflections that are involved. KEYWORDS Catastrophic plate tectonics, large tsunamis, Genesis Flood, finite element analysis THE AUTHORS Tim Lewis has a master’s in mechanical engineering from Clemson University. For the past 13 years, he has been involved in the mechanical design of optical systems, analytical modeling of car tires, and the numerical modeling of the survivability of military vehicles in explosive events and the structural integrity of their commercial chillers. Currently, he is employed by Carrier Corporation. John Baumgardner has a Ph.D. in geophysics from UCLA and worked in computational physics at Los Alamos National Laboratory for most of his scientific career. Since the 1980’s he has published extensively on catastrophic plate tectonics in connection with the Genesis Flood. More recently he has developed software to study the erosion, sediment transport, and deposition produced by giant tsunamis during the Genesis Flood as the explanation of the layered, fossil-bearing sediment sequences that today blanket the continents. He currently is research professor emeritus in the School of Engineering at Liberty University. Tim Lewis, 9601 Newby Ln, Matthews, North Carolina 28105 tlewis3348@gmail.com John Baumgardner, School of Engineering, Liberty University, 1971 University Blvd., Lynchburg, Virginia 24515 jrbaumgardner@liberty.edu © Cedarville University International Conference on Creationism. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of Cedarville University. 9th 2023 665 Lewis, T., and J. Baumgardner. 2023. FE Analysis of Tsunami Generation During the Genesis Flood [poster]. In J.H. Whitmore (editor), Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Creationism, pp. 665-666. Cedarville, Ohio: Cedarville University International Conference on Creationism. FE ANALYSIS OF TSUNAMI GENERATION DURING THE GENESIS FLOOD
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