Whereisyourcurrentworkfocused?

Mycurrentworkfocusesondescribingcoastlinesandlookingfortsunamidepositsallovertheworld.IcontinuetoworkintheMediterraneanandamalsosearchingalongcoastlinesofthePacificandAtlantic Oceans.


Tsunamisarelargeandpowerfuloceanwavesthatgrowinsizeastheyreachtheshore.Mostarecausedbyearthquakes.Whenthishappensunderwater,biggapsmayappearontheoceanfloor.Whenwatermovesintofillthisgap,atsunamiforms.Tsunamiscancausemajordamageastheyrushinland,flooding cities.


OneofGoodman’sareasofstudyearlyinhercareerwastheancientcoastalcityofCaesareainIsrael.ItwasbuiltbyKingHerodalmost2,000years ago.

abeachinCaesarea, Israel

underwaterruinsin Caesarea

DescribeyourfirstdiveatCaesarea.

Oneoftheexcavationleaderstookusoutforatourofthesite.Hewantedtocheckhowallofourgearwasfunctioningaswellasseehowwellwecouldhandleourselvesbeforetheexcavationsbeganafewdayslater.Iwas,byfar,theleast-experienceddiverinthegroup,soIwasverynervous.However,assoonaswedroppedintothewaterandweresurroundedbymassiveblocksofancientbuildings,IwastoodistractedbyallthethingstoseetoeventhinkaboutwhetherornotIwasagoodenough diver.


Wecruisedaroundtheancientcementblocks,nowcoveredinmarineplantsandcritters.Atonepoint,theyledusthroughaspacebetweentheblocksthatfeltlikeasmallcanyon.Itfeltalittletootight!Butattheverybottomofthatnarrowspace,ourguidefannedthesandawayfromtheblock,andwecouldseewoodthatwas2,000yearsold!Itwasworthgoingintothattight space.

Whatwereyoulookingforduringthatseasonofexcavation?

Eventhoughthereweresomewritingsthatsuggestedthattsunamishadhappenedinthepast,wedidn’thaveanyproofoftsunamisonland.Oneoftheproblemswasthatinanarchaeologicalsiteonacoastlinetheretendstobealotofsand,pottery,shell,andgravel.Guesswhatisusuallyinatsunamideposit?Thesamethings!Thismadeithardtorealizethatsomeofthoselayersinthesitewereactuallyfromatsunamieventandnotjustmaterialfrombuildingthe site.


Toconfirmtheirsuspicions,theteamlookedforevidenceoftsunamisbelowthe surface.

Goodmancollectsasedimentsampleinasmall bag.

Goodmanshowsstudentswhattheinsideofacoresamplelooks like.

Wecollectedevidenceusingafewdifferenttechniques.Thefirstevidencewascollectedduringunderwaterarchaeologicalexcavations.Theseexcavationsaredoneusingsomethingcalledawaterdredge,whichissortoflikeanunderwatervacuum cleaner.


Theevidencethatwefoundinthoseexcavations,andlaterincoresamples,waslayersofmaterialsthatcamefromthedeepseamixedwithmaterialsfromtheshallowseaandbeach,and ​​​​​​​materialthatcamefromtheland.Themixtureincludedpottery,shells,pebbles,microscopicorganisms,patchesofmud,andsometimesevenlargepiecesofcarvedmarble.Theonlythingthatcouldcausethiswouldbeverystrong waves.


Theteamthenlinkedthismixofmaterialwithwhattheyknewaboutthe past.

Oncewerecognizedthisevidence,welookedatthewrittenevidenceanddiscoveredthattheageofthesedepositswasthesameastheageoftheeventsweread about.


Thediscoverywasreallyimportantforprovingthatthewrittenrecordswerenotdescribingregularstormsorotherevents,butactualtsunamis.Italsotoldusthatpeoplelivingtheretodaymightneedtoprepareforatsunamihappeninginthe future.


Theteamwantedtogetafullerpictureofwhatwasunderwater.Buttheydidn’thavetherighttools.Theyneededtoinventsomethingtosolvetheir problem.


Weknewthat,ifwhatwefoundwasevidenceofanancienttsunami,thedebrisfieldshouldbeverylarge.Tofindout,weneededtotakecoresamplesusinglongpipesthatweinsertintotheseafloor.Theproblemwasthatthisisnotsoeasytodoinsandyseafloors.Youneedtoreallyhammerthepipeinalongtime,andthenyoumustremoveit somehow.


Everyoneworkedtogethertothinkabouthowwemightconnectanautomatichammertothetopofthepipetohammeritin,thenattachropesandfloatstopullitout.Ittookalotofsketching,thinking,andtrialanderroruntilwegotitright.Thefirstseason,wecollectedtwocoresin12days.Now,wecancollectthreecoresinasingle day!


Problem-solvingisreallyimportantinexploration.Sometimesyouhavetobuildthetoolthatyouneed.ThisisoneofthepartsofexplorationthatIlovethe most.

Goodmanholdssteadyapipebeingusedtotakeacoresampleofthe seabed.