Sunday, February 18, 2018

Myanmar Field Trip Part 2: Tidal bore

2018.02.16  Bago river mouth

みなさん こんにちは M2イジャです。今日はミャンマー二日目の研究について話します。
Kawasaki group in front of Bago river mouth

Observation

Today is a sensational moment for our research team. This is the first time for all of us to witness tidal bore in person. The phenomenon of tidal bore itself is astonishing. Even more overwhelming is the high speed of erosion of coastal line. After the occurrence of tidal bore, within 1 hour, the first collapse of soil cluster happened. Then, the continuous collapse keeps happening during the next hour.
On average, each collapse of soil cluster is around 1-meter width, 3-meter long, and 6-meters tall.
Kawasaki sensei observing tidal bore

“こわ!“ Kawasaki sensei said with surprise. Indeed, when such big soil clusters collapsed into river mouth, the ground under our feet was shaking. The feeling is similar to an earthquake.

The occurrence of tidal bore:

The erosion effect of tidal bore:

Satellite Map

According to satellite images and field survey data, it is estimated that 5km erosion of coastal line happened last 1 year. It’s undoubtedly a tremendous loss for Myanmar. The most interesting part is the satellite image on map app. When we open the map to locate our position, we found out that the land around 5-10km in front of us was land and now the lands have been eroded and become part of the river. The following picture shows the location of observation.
Drop pin is observation point in Bago river mouth

Drone

The coastal lab member utilized DJI Phantom Pro 4 to record the tidal bore and compared the coastal line before and after tidal bore. The recorded videos are very interesting. The analysis results and further content will be published once it’s finished.
Mr. Matsuba set up drone with curious local residents

Fun

Playing soccer game with locals
Preparing for observation
First dinner with all survey members
Fun fact: Myanmar has around 135 languages in the country. The official language is Burmese.

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