Carina Andreea Bobulescu
7th Grade, Hunter College High School
New York, NY
Tsunamis can cause huge devastation in just a few minutes, as waves multiple stories tall overwhelm people and buildings. But tsunamis are few and far between, and tsunami barriers are ugly and can harm wildlife and ocean industries. “I wanted to see if I could find a way to make the barriers more efficient, while at the same time addressing these problems,” Carina says. She decided to compare tsunami barriers on the shore with ones further out in the ocean.
Breaking the Wave: Tsunami Barrier Placement for Maximum Wave Mitigation
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Project Background
Carina built a model shoreline with a large plastic box and a Styrofoam “shore,” along with water for a calm “ocean.” She then held a water-filled bag over the “ocean” end of her box and dropped it, creating a big wave. Carina measured how much water ended up on the other side of the shoreline. Then, she placed different barriers in front of her wave. She tested barriers on the shore, a partially submerged barrier close to the shore and a partially submerged barrier further out, each time creating a wave and measuring how much water overflowed the barrier.
Carina showed that the shoreline barrier was the most effective, reducing “flooding” by 81.72 percent. The barrier closer to the shore reduced overflow by 63.45 percent, and the barrier furthest out reduced it by 52 percent.
Beyond the Project
Carina is a swimmer, on the student council, and enjoys the debate team and being in the model U.N. “I can argue about topics I care about in a great community,” she says. But she most enjoys reading. “It can both transport me to realms where anything is possible and give me fascinating information about the world that I live in,” Carina says. “I also really enjoy writing poems and short stories because I can express my thoughts through it.” She’d like to be a medical doctor, to apply her passion for science to making people’s lives better.
