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Associated Hazards
Section 1 : Plate
Movement
Structure of the Earth
Unit
3
Tectonic
Theory
Plate Margins
Hot Spots
The Core
Approximately the size of Mars
Starts about 2900km down
Centre is 6350 km down
The most dense part of the planet
Made up of rocks rich in iron and nickel
Core temperature over 6000oC
Outer core is semi-molten/liquid (only part of the planet which is!)
Inner core is solid
The Mantle
Separated from the core by the Gutenburg discontinuity
Largely composed of silicate rocks rich in iron and magnesium
Upper mantle (close to the crust) is rigid and together with the crust forms the lithosphere
Most of the mantle (asthenosphere) acts like it is semi-motlen.
Temperatures near the core reach 5000 oC
High temperatures near the core are believed to be responsible for the generation of
convection currents.
The Crust
Thinnest, coolest and least dense layer.
Rocks are rich in silicon, oxygen, aluminium, potassium and sodium
Separated from the mantle by the Mohorovijic (Moho) discontinuity.
Varies in thickness from 5 to 70 km
Supercontinents!
The Earth did not always look as it
does today.
It is believed that ~ 250 million years
ago all the continents were joined
together to form one
supercontinent called Pangaea.
Pangaea was a roughly C shaped
landmass that spread across the
Alfred Wegener put forward this theory in
equator.
1912.
Compare...
Geological evidence
The Appalachian Mountains of
eastern North America are thought to
link to the Caledonidesof Ireland,
Britain, Greenland, and Scandinavia
and the Anti-Atlas Range in Morroco.
Climatological evidence
Biological evidence
So far:
Wegener had convincing evidence for
continental drift.
However, sceptics were quick to point
out that there was no explanation of
the mechanism by which continents
could move over a solid earth.
It was not until the second half of the 20 th
century that major discoveries began to
suggest how this might be possible.
1948 A survey of
the floor of the
Atlantic Ocean
revealed a
continuous ridge
running north to
south.
1000km wide.
Heights of 2.5km
Composed of
volcanic rocks.
Similar found in
Pacific Ocean.
palaeomagnetism.
Young
More evidence The age of
the ocean floor.
Old
Old
BUT!
There is no evidence for the planet
growing in size as all of this ocean
crust accumulates.
So, what happens to all of this
oceanic crust?
This realisation led to the discovery
of huge trenches where large areas
of the ocean floor were being
subducted.
Pull slabs of
Pull crust apart
oceanic crust back
at spreading
down into the
ridges.
mantle at
suduction zones.
The Driving Mechanism for Plate Movement
Summary...
1912 Alfred Wegener put forward a
range of evidence for the existence of
Pangaea the supercontinent.
Later 20thC major discoveries:
1. Mid-Altantic Ridge palaeomagnetism,
sea floor spreading.
2. Subduction and ocean trenches.
3. Convection currents the cause of
plate movement.
Constructive
margins
Where plates move apart in oceanic areas
they produce mid-ocean ridges.
Where they move apart in continental crust
they produce rift valleys.
The space between the diverging plates is
filled with basaltic lava upwelling from below.
Constructive margins are some of the
youngest parts of the Earths surface, where
new crust is continuously being created.
Oceanic ridges
The longest continuous uplifted features on
the surface of the planet.
Have a total length of 60,000km.
In some parts they rise 3,000m above the
ocean floor.
Where two plates pull apart there is a
weaker zone in the crust and an increase in
heat near the surface. The hotter, expanded
crust forms a ridge.
Volcanic activity occurs along the ridge.
Rift valleys
Occur at constructive margins in
continental areas.
The heating and updoming of the crust
leads to fracturing and rifting.
As the sides of the rift move apart, central
sections drop down to form rift valleys.
Step faults
Inward facing
scarps
Fracture
Volcanic activity.
Active volcanoes are surface
evidence of volcanic activity beneath
the rift valley.
Mount
Kilimanjaro
Mount
Kenya
Destructive
margins.
There are two types of plate, so there
are three types of
destructive/convergent margin:
1. Oceanic plate moves towards
continental plate.
2. Oceanic plate moves towards oceanic
plate.
3. Continental plate moves towards
continental plate.
Oceanic-continental convergence.
The denser oceanic plate is forced
under the lighter continental one,
into the upper mantle.
This process is known as subduction.
As the oceanic crust descends,
friction with the overlying continental
crust builds up and causes major
earthquakes.
Example:
The Peru-Chile Trench.
Also known as the Atacama
Trench.
Eastern edge of Nazca Plate
being subducted under the
South American Plate.
Max depth: 8,065m
Length: 5,900km
Width: 64km
Oceanic - oceanic
convergence.
Two oceanic plates moving towards
each other.
One is forced under the other and
the processes involved with
subduction begin.
The crust that is subducted may be
marginally the denser of the two
plates or is the one which is moving
more quickly.
Mariana Islands
Guam
Continental-continental
convergence.
As continents have similar density and
thus buoyancy, they will not be subducted.
They collide with each other.
Their edges and the sediments between
them are forced up into fold mountains.
Deep roots in the lithosphere.
No volcanic activity.
Movement of the plates can trigger
shallow-focus earthquakes.
Indo-Australian Plate
Moving north and east
Himalayas
Approx. 5.8cm/year
Eurasian Plate
(rigid)
In parts the Indo-Australian plate is being pushed under to form the mountain
roots up to 70km deep.
This movement causes great stresses which are released by earthquakes.
Often extremely violent and destructive. E.g. Sichuan, 2008 China, 80,000
deaths.
350km wide
Extend for 3,000km
Conservative
margins.
San Francisco
1906
1989
Task
Complete the summary table of the
different types of plate margin.
Plenary
Mark Scheme
Section 2: Vulcanicity
Volcanic Activity
Major forms of Extrusive
activity
Minor forms of Extrusive activity
Case study MEDC
Case study LEDC
An example of a
hotspot: Hawaii
Describe the location of the
Hawaiian Island chain in relation to
plate boundaries. (you can use a
simple sketch map)
Fold Mountain
formation
Task:
Challenge:
Draw the fold
If you finish see if you can label the plate
mountains and ocean
boundaries which help create each set of fold
trenches onto your
mountains you will need to use your plate
world map. Use pg 4 LO: To understand
boundary
how foldmap.
mountains form
with reference to examples.
to help you label
Animation of fold
mountains
Tasks:
Read the sheet
Answer the questions/diagrams
and fill in the definitions.
6/15/15
Key words
Nappes - a large, sliver of rock that
has been thrusted far from its
original position by thrust faulting
during continental plate collisions.
Anticlines - an upwardly curving
fold.
Synclines - A fold in rocks in which
the rock layers dip downward.
Geosynclines - a large-scale
depression in the earth's crust
6/15/15
6/15/15
Classification of volcanoes
1.
Fissure volcano
- Occur where an elongated crack in the
crust allows lava to spill out over a large
area, forming lava plateau.
-Typically found along spreading ridges.
-Rock type: Basaltic
-Location: rifts/early constructive
margins
-Eruptions: Gentle, persistant.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12662036
2.
Shield volcano
- Made of basaltic rock.
- Form gently sloping cones from layers
of less viscous lava.
-Rock type: Basaltic
-Location: hot spots and where oceanic
crust meets oceanic crust.
-Eruptions: Gentle, predictable.
3.
Composite volcano
-The most common type found on land.
- Created by layers of ash from initial
explosive phases of eruptions and later
layers of lava from the main eruption
phases.
-Rock type: Andesitic is of moderate
viscosity and forms thick lava flows and
domes
-Location: Destructive margins
-Eruptions: Explosive, unpredictable
4.
5.
Northern Arizona
6.
Caldera volcano
- Form when gases that have built up
beneath a blocked volcanic vent result
in a catastrophic eruption that destroys
the volcano summit.
-Rock type: Andesitic
-Location: Destructive margins
-Eruptions: Very explosive,
unpredictable
Shape of Volcano
Fissure Volcano
Shield Volcano
Composite Volcano
Ash-cinder cone
volcano
Caldera volcano
Diagram
Rock type
Location
Type of eruption
Lava
The physical nature of lava is
linked to its chemical composition
Lava
General rules
Basaltic Lava
Phoehoe
Acid Lava
Intrusive Volcanism
Sill
Dyke
Batholith
Plutons
Large masses of
intrusive igneous
rock. Most
commonly granite.
Plutons and
batholiths are often
used
interchangeably.
Laccolith
Formed when an igneous intrusion
goes in between layers of rock and
bubbles up.
Geysers are
hot springs that
erupt
periodically.
Water in the
lower crust is
heated by
rocks and turns
into steam;
pressure
increases and
the steam and
water explode
onto the
surface.
The
ingredients
needed for
geyser activity
are: heat,
water, and
underground
rock hard
enough to
withstand
intense
pressures.
Extrusive Features
Other features
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of
geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust.
There are hot springs all over the earth, on every continent
and even under the oceans and seas.
Boiling mud: hot water mixes with mud and surface deposits.
mudpot
Hverarnd sulphuric mud pools (solfataras). The ground is unstable there and you
cannot walk everywhere. Blue-gray mud is boiling and produces small or big
(depending on water content) bubbles that burst. The ground is yellow and reddish
and the noise from an abandoned hot water well is penetrating. The smell of sulphuric
dioxide is everywhere.
EYJAFJALLAJKULL
To understand:
the nature of the volcanic hazard
the impact of the event
management of the hazard and
responses to the
event.
As the eruption
took place
beneath glacial
ice, the resulting
melt water flowed
back into the
erupting volcano
which created two
specific
phenomena:
The first
response was
that 500
farmers were
evacuated
overnight.
Some roads
were closed for
fear of flash
floods
Between 14th
and 21st April
flights in the
airspace of many
NW European
countries were
stopped.
The Kenyan
flower industry
was also
impacted by the
eruption, costing
growers between
$1.5m and $2m
a day.
A royal Navy
warship collected
soldiers returning
from Afghanistan
and stranded
holiday makers
from the Spanish
port of Santander.
Vaporizing
water
increased the
explosive
power.
The lava
cooled very
rapidly
creating a
cloud of highly
abrasive, glass
rich ash which
could damage
jet engines.
A thick layer of
ash fell on farm
pastures at
Raufarfell. This
has become wet
and compact,
making it very
difficult to
continue
farming,
harvesting or
grazing
livestock.
Eyjafjallajkull is
one of Icelands
smaller icecaps
located in the far
south of the
island. It covers
the caldera of a
volcano 1666m in
height.
The volcanic
events started in
March 2010 are
considered to be
a single eruption
divided into
different phases.
Initially a fissure
opened up, about
150m in length
with 10 to 12
erupting lava
craters ejecting
lava at a
temperature of
about 1000c up
to 150m into the
air.
This eruption
produced a
spectacular
volcanic
Disneyland and
tourists flocked to
the site to see
amazing lava
flows. The lava
was basalt and
relatively viscous
so lava flow was
slow.
12th April.
A second volcanic
fissure opened
during an
earthquake
measuring 3.2
magnitude
beneath
Eyjafjallajkull
and many smaller
earthquakes were
recorded
The second
phases is
estimated to have
been a volcanic
explosive index
(VEI) 4 eruption,
which is large, but
not nearly the
most powerful
eruption in VEI
terms
The volcano is in
a remote corner
of Iceland. The
local, dispersed
farming
community is
home to few
people.
Type of volcano=
Cause =
Type of eruption=
Impacts
Lava type=
VEI =
Responses
Little research
1977
60 mph
Several hundreds killed
2002
14,000 homes
350,000 flee
Ken Sims
US vulcanologist
University of Wyoming
Rock Climber and mountaineer
Hasnt owned a TV set for 25 years
The Players
Dario Tedesco
Italian
EU funded
Goma, is the most dangerous
city in the world.
My greatest fear is to make a big mistake
not to predict and eruption.
not the
classic Plinian
type
RAD7 tests
For Radon
Why?
Volcanoes are gas driven machines
Two isotopes of radon measured by radioactive clock ratio indicates time to surface
and chemical composition can be extrapolated.
Meanwhile the zero-age sample from the crater lake could be the Rosetta Stone
Section 3 : Seismicity
Earthquake Activity
Tsunamis
Case study MEDC
Case study LEDC
WHAT IS AN
EARTHQUAKE?
Sudden release of energy
Creates seismic waves (similar to waves through
water)
Waves spread out spherically
Greatest damage occurs at the epicentre
P-waves
P waves (primary waves) are
compressional waves.
In solids, these waves generally travel
almost twice as fast as S waves.
P waves can travel through any type of
material.
In air, these pressure waves take the form
of sound waves.
They travel at are 330m/s in air, 1450m/s
in water and about 5000m/s in granite.
(m/s = meters per second.)
Longitudinal
Sudden jolt felt as the quake hits.
S waves
S waves (secondary waves) are transverse which
means that the ground is displaced
perpendicularly (sideways) to the direction of
movement.
The ground moves alternately to one side and
then the other. (or up or down depending on
the direction of the wave.)
S waves can travel only through solids, not fluids
(liquids and gases)
Their speed is about 60% of that of P waves in a
given material.
S waves arrive second in a seismic station
because of their slower speed.
They are sometimes called shear waves.
L wave
What is an earthquake?
Focus
Shock waves
Epicentre
Seismograph
- measures the
effects of an
earthquake using
a scale of I to XII
Distribution of Earthquakes
What is the distribution of
Earthquakes?
Read the section in the book then use
following statements to make a short
paragraph explaining the distribution of
Earthquakes.
The Pacific Ring of Fire
70% of Earthquake and Volcanic activity is found around
its edges
Volcanoes and Earthquakes are frequent.
Represents the destructive plate boundaries around the
edges of the plate.
Liquefaction Explained
When violently shaken, soils with high moisture content lose their mechanical strength. Moisture
is shaken to the top layers of soil, even those that seem extremely dry, and begins to behave like
liquid. Causing buildings to become unstable on their foundations, sink and or collapse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwvv
YxSZ7PI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV2W
eR670ls
Scale
showing the
size of the
tsunami
waves that
hit Indonesia.
Case
study:
Haiti
Historical influence
Piracy and conquests
True government
Dictatorship
Coup and US intervention
Import and exports
Geography
Mountains and plains
Reliance on primary
produce
Centralisation
Migration
Curtailed secondary
industry
The event
Epicentre
Magnitude
Construction
Organisation
Progress?
7 months after quake, four after donors
conference and two after Interim Haiti
Recovery Commission
2% rubble cleared, 13,000 temporary
shelter built out of 125,000 promised
203 Bill Clinton special envoys office
suggested $16.3B spent or promised.
By end of 2010 $2.43B spent by UN or
NGOs but 93% went straight back to UN or
NGOs to pay for supplies or personnel!
October 17 2010
First death from cholera in
Meille on the Artibonite river
By 30th October death toll had
passed 400
Broken latrine pipes and
sewage dumped in open pits on
the riverside discharged human
effluent . UN camp at Minustah
recently has new soldiers from
Nepal a known source region for
Vibrio Cholera bacteria. 241,26
November - first case reaches
PaP
Mid November 1000 dead, Dec
4000
By Jan 2013 7500 dead, 580k ill
(6%) epidemic spreading to
Dominican Rep
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Election
First round of election in December 2010 supported
Celestin, the Unity candidate who Preval saw as his
successor
Potential winner Martelly (musician) with support of
the youthful population failed to qualify, leading to
extended riots
Organisation of American States recounted suggesting
- no recount (due to cost - removal of fraudulent tally
sheets
Martelly would go through Celestin not.
Leadership
Following intervention and visit of
Hilary Clinton election continued
fairly with two horse race
Martelly secures 67.5 % of vote and
enters new phase
Duvalier and Aristide return, both
shadows of former self and Preval
fades into background.
Overall Issues
Prior to the event political and natural background had led
to the poorest country in Western World
Post quake fears of violence led to poor interaction with
locals limiting distribution of food.
NGOs concentrated in capital [at hotels and previously
known locations]
Aid was sourced inefficiently through NGOs and UN as
government perceived to be corrupt
Disorganised land ownership made the establishment of Tshelters difficult meaning permanent housing was never
established
Cholera outbreak dealt a double blow before any real
changes
HOW TO BUILD
SMALL BUILDINGS
Shear walls
Concentrate the damage
Cross Bracing
Reinforced stone wall
Cross bracing
Construction of Pearl River Tower, China
LARGER BUILDINGS
Base isolation
SKY SCRAPERS
Tuned Mass Damper
HAITI
CHILE
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/10/earthquakes
Safe Houses
The earthquake in Haiti was a
reminder: Billions of people live in
houses that can't stand shaking. Yet
safer ones can be built cheaply
using straw, adobe, old tiresby
applying a few general principles.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/10/earthquakes-pg2
Appropriate?
In Los Angeles, Tokyo, and other rich cities in fault
zones, the added expense of making buildings
earthquake resistant has become a fact of life.
Concrete walls are reinforced with steel, for
instance, and a few buildings even rest on
elaborate shock absorbers. Strict building codes
were credited with saving thousands of lives
when a magnitude 8.8 quake hit Chile in late
February. But in less developed countries like
Haiti, where a powerful quake in January killed
some 222,500 people and left more than a million
homeless, conventional earthquake engineering
is often unaffordable. The devastation in Haiti
wouldnt happen in a developed country, says
engineer Marcial Blondet of the Catholic
University of Peru, in Lima. Yet it needn't happen
anywhere. Cheap solutions exist.
Reinforced Walls
Eucalyptus and Bamboo
structures help to
strengthen
Plastic meshes are
effective too
Need not be a metal
mesh
Blondet
Blondet has been working on ideas since 1970,
when an earthquake in Peru killed 70,000 or
more, many of whom died when their houses
crumbled around them. Heavy, brittle walls of
traditional adobecheap, sun-dried brick
cracked instantly when the ground started
bucking. Subsequent shakes brought roofs
thundering down. Blondet's research team has
found that existing adobe walls can be reinforced
with a strong plastic mesh installed under plaster;
in a quake, those walls crack but don't collapse,
allowing occupants to escape. "You rebuild your
house, but you don't bury anyone, Blondet says.
Plastic mesh could also work as a reinforcement
for concrete walls in Haiti and elsewhere.
Confined
Masonry
Brick wall framed
within concrete
uprights corner
column
And fixed horizontal
beams crowns
The box flexes on
cheap ground
absorbers made from
tyres
Lindt
Other engineers are working on methods that use
local materials. Researchers in India have
successfully tested a concrete house reinforced
with bamboo. A model house for Indonesia rests
on ground-motion dampers designed by John van
de Lindt of Colorado State University: old tires
filled with bags of sand. Such a house might be
only a third as strong as one built on more
sophisticated shock absorbers, but it would also
cost much lessand so be more likely to get built
in Indonesia. "As an engineer you ask, What level
of safety do I need? van de Lindt says. Then
you look at whats actually available and find the
solution somewhere in between."
Donovan
In northern Pakistan, straw is
available. Traditional houses are built
of stone and mud, but straw is far
more resilient, says California
engineer Darcey Donovan, and
warmer in winter to boot. Donovan
and her colleagues started building
straw-bale houses in Pakistan after
the 2005 earthquake; so far they
have completed 17.
Small windows
Light Roofs
Concrete roofs collapse
killing, metal roofs and
wooden trusses are lighter
Smaller, regularly spaced
opening cause less stresses
In Haiti improperly reenforced walls collapsed
along with heavy roofs