What about a river tsunami in St. Louis?

We've all heard about the recent tragic ocean tsunami in Southeast Asia. But, what about damage to St. Louis if a major river tsunami would hit here?

Kids attending the Minority Scientist Showcase at the St. Louis Science Center last month had a chance to get some answers to questions about a possible river tsunami.

Adewale helps a student

Engineer Abe Adewale made aerial pictures that projected how much area rivers might rise after a major earthquake. The St. Louis metro area sits atop a major crack in the earth's crust called the New Madrid Fault.

Because of the recent tsunami, we think of such massive waves as being associated only with oceans. But, Adewale said that doesn't have to be the case.

The word comes from two Japanese words, tsu, (harbor) and nami, (wave).

In the 1800s, a major earthquake occurred along the New Madrid Fault south of St. Louis. The quake dammed up the Mississippi River and caused it to run backwards for a time.

You can imagine it wouldn't take long for floods to come to St. Louis if the Mississippi quit flowing south, even for a short time.

Adewale thought displays of a possible Midwest tsunami would be a timely scientific example for area kids attending the Showcase. He made the tsunami projections by using the Geographic Information System (GIS).

That complicated system of measurements and projections helps scientists to predict environmental effects of various changes they are planning.

Abe and Nicole Adewale

Adewale and wife, Nicole, are both civil engineers in ABNA Engineering, Inc. Their firm is in St. Louis' Central West End area.

The company designs public transportation projects. Among those in St. Louis are the expansions of the Metrolink rail system and Lambert Airport.

They also worked on the tunnel that takes Lindbergh Ave. under the proposed runway extension at Lambert.

The Adewales were among dozens of minority scientists presenting at the Showcase. The annual event allows kids to learn more about scientific careers available to them.

The Adewales passed out a sheet telling of careers that use the GIS. In addition to engineers, they included mapmakers, environmental analysts and surveyors.

Adeshola and Adeola Adewale

Two daughters, Adeola, 11, and Adeshola, 8, helped at the Adewale's Showcase booth.

In addition to learning about tsunamis and GIS, kids could do site planning for a home and also try to identify pictures of prominent African-American scientists and leaders.

Adeola helped create the quiz about famous African-Americans. She even decided to offer candy prizes for kids that identified the most leaders.

Adeola is a sixth grader at the McNair Middle School in University City. She said she wants to be an architect when she grows up.

Her sister, Adeshola, is at Flynn Park Elementary School in U City. She said she wants to follow in her parent's career footsteps but hasn't picked a definite occupation.

Abe Adewale is a native of Lagos, Nigeria. He came to this country for schooling. He has two bachelor's degrees. One is in physics from Clark College and the other in civil engineering from Georgia Tech University.

He received an MBA degree from SIU-Edwardsville in 1991.

He met his future wife when Nicole applied for a job at the Illinois Department of Engineering. He was working there at the time.

This is the fifth year the Adewales have presented at the Minority Scientists Showcase.

Among kids attending this year's Showcase were Jazell Williams, 9, and sister, Daysia, 6.

Jazell and Daysia Williams

Jazell and Adeshola Adewale both were interested in a booth that featured a Jeopardy game that talked about health and friendships.

Daysia was more interested in a booth sponsored by Sigma-Aldrich, a major scientific firm. That exhibit involved a density experiment involving water, oil and salt. The oil floated on top of the water while the salt sank to the bottom.

Many other organizations exhibited at the Showcase.

Among them were the Genome Sequencing Centers, which are charting human genes.

Also, the American Chemical Society and several local universities were on hand.