Case Studies🇳🇵🇮🇸🇵🇭 Flashcards
How was the African Rift valley formed?
- Elevated heat flow from mantle caused pair of thermal ‘bulges’ in central Kenya and the African region in Ethiopia
- As bulges formed they strand fractured creating faults in continental crust
- Conventional currents in asthenosphere cause extensions of crust. As crust extends garbens (down dropped blocks) and horses (up thrown blocks)are formed
- As rift continues to extend parts of crust become thin enough for oceanic type basalts to be erupted ➡️ new oceanic crust
- African crust will split in 2 forming the Nubian and Somalian plate
Where is the San Andreas fault line?
. In California from Salton Sea in south to cape Mendocino in North
. Lies in extreme western part of North America passing through Pacific Ocean in vicinity of San Francisco
Which 2 plates cause the San Andreas fault?
North American and Pacific plate
What could be some potential effects of an earthquake at the San Andreas fault line?
- Many houses destroyed
- Infrastructure damaged as close to fault line
- Roads + communication lines destroyed ➡️ Rapid Transit System
- Landslides+ wildfires
What happened at the 1906 earthquake at the San Andreas fault line?
- 3000 + people killed
- Damaged 28,000 buildings
- 225,000 made homeless
. Magnitude of 7.8
What are some of the features of Mauna Loa - shield volcano?
. Erupts once every year
. Located in United States
. Damage came to $1.5 million
. Evacuation zones put in place
What are some of the features of Yellowstone - super volcano?
. X 1000 bigger than Mt St Helens in 1980
. Caldera formed 55Km x 80 km wide
. Could kill 100000 people instantly
. Emergency kits could be installed
When did Eyjafjallaökull happen in Iceland?
In April 2010 ➡️ Impactes most of Europe in some way
Where is Eyjafjallaökull located?
. In Iceland along constructive plate margin between North American and Eurasian plates moving apart
What are the associated hazards of Eyjafjallaökull?
. Drop in temperature
. Rift valley formation
. Shield volcanoes
. Lava flow like a tricle
. Gentle earthquakes
. Ash produced
What were some of the primary effects of Eyjafjallaökull?
. Ash released ➡️ 5000 farmers had to be evacuated near volcano+ roads shut - social
. No fly zone imposed across Europe ➡️ losing £130 million a day for airlines - economic
. Water contaminated ➡️ high concentrations of fluoride mixed with water - deadly effects - environmental
. Ash cloud blocked sun - environmental
What were some of the secondary effects of Eyjafjallaökull?
. Trains across Europe boomed ➡️ as planes shut down people got around by trains, more usage + more profit - economic
. Effects on Kenya ➡️ 20% of economy based on fresh veg ➡️ 50,000 farmers temporarily unemployed - social + economic
. International flights disrupted - economic
. Many sport fixtures cancelled due to no planes ➡️ 2010 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix postpones - social
What were some of the immediate responses to Eyjafjallaökull?
. 17 million in aid donated from UK
. People evacuated from south to undeveloped north
. Temporary infrastructure built
. Exclusion zone created
What were some of the long term responses to Eyjafjallaökull?
. £41 million in long term aid to develop north
. Integrated structure for air traffic ➡️ 9 airspace blocks will replace 27 blocks
. Increase tourism in area ➡️ 2011 visitor centre was built
. Rebuilt river banks even higher than before ➡️ Icelandic government
What was the magnitude and depth of the Nepal 2015 earthquake?
. Magnitude of 7.9 on Richter Scale
. Depth of 15km
Why was Nepal more at risk of such a severe earthquake?
- Ranked 153rd out of 185 for wealth ➡️ GDP of $3800 per capita
- Lie on a plate boundary ➡️ Indo - Australian and Eurasian plates
- Vulnerable, weak buildings ➡️ weak infrastructure due to lack of money
- Landslide risk ➡️ prone to earthquakes due to Himalayan mountains cause by landslides
- Frequent earthquakes➡️ don’t have chance to recover from previous earthquake due to economic reasons
What were some of the primary effects of the Nepal 2015 earthquake?
- 7000+ lives lost - social
- 60000+ homes destroyed - social
- Hospitals overwhelmed with casualties and injuries -social
- Over 2.8 million made homeless - social
What were some of the secondary effects of the 2015 Nepal earthquake?
- Earthquake triggered avalanches and rockfalls in Himalayans - environmental
- steep valleys of the area suffered many landslides, the village of Ghodatabela was covered, killing 250 people - environmental + social
- Tourism employment and income declined - economic
- Rice seed ruined, causing food shortage and income loss - economic, social + environmental
What were some of the short term responses to the 2015 Nepal earthquake?
- 3 million displaced to open green spaces to keep safe - social
- Red Cross rescue teams from Australia with medical supplies - social
- Dead bodies recovered from buildings - social + environmental
- China army workers bought in medical supplies - social
What were some of the long term responses to the 2015 Nepal earthquake?
- National building code put in place for buildings in Nepal - social
- $3 million grant to Nepal from Asian development bank - economic
- Temporary schools set up - social
- Long term recovery plans put in place by Red Cross - economic + social
What is a good case study to represent the effects of storm surge?
.Bhola cyclone in 1990 in Texas killed 6,000
. East Pakistan in 1970 killed as many as 500,000
. Storm surge was estimated to be 10m high
What is a good case study to represent the effects of strong winds?
Bhola hurricane killed 300,000 - 500,000 people + 86.4 million homes destroyed
What is a good case study to represent the effects of landslides?
Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines caused landslides + Hurricane Maria ➡️ 40000 landslides + 4000~ deaths
What is a good case study to represent the effects of river flooding/ heavy rainfall?
Hurricane Hillary in Los Angeles river jumped over 9 feet within few hours ➡️ dozen people had to be rescued from retirement home
What path did Hurricane Sandy take?
Went up the Atlantic Ocean and stayed in Ocean then went inland towards New York and Boston instead of going in sea
Give a timeline of Hurricane Sandy from October 22nd - October 29th
- October 22nd - low wind shear+ warm waters formed sufficient organised convections which slowly move to North from Kingston Jamaica
- October 23rd - storm reaches diameter in excess of 1100 miles far larger than normal storms
- October 24th- eye begins to develop + moving steadily towards northward direction due to approaching trough
- October 26th - storm keeps moving northward towards New York region
- October 29th - storm turns west towards land and strikes New York/ New Orleans region
What were some of the causes of Hurricane Sandy?
. Low pressure zone south of Kingston, Jamaica which caused sufficient organised convection
. Water temperature was 3 degrees hotter which gave Hurricane Sandy more strength as it moved Northward
. Sandy combined with 2nd storm on its travels making it worse
. Jet stream then pushed into New York due to unusual jet streams in Green,and where the storm would usually go
What were some of the primary effects of Hurricane Sandy?
. $71 billion damage
. 650,000 houses damaged / destroyed in NY+NJ
. 8.5 million businesses and homes without power
. 147 deaths
What were some of the secondary effects of Hurricane Sandy?
. International trade disruptions due to 18,000 cancelled flights
. 10m of beach lost in New Jersey making further erosion more likely
. Flooded infrastructure further disrupted businesses
. Psychological damage to those whose friends/ family died
What were some of the immediate responses of Hurricane Sandy?
. Army handed out food+ water to locals
. 45,000 army personnel deployed in 7 states
. Firefighters helped to evacuate people from their flooded homes
. Flood gates set up in substations for meteorological institutes
What were some of the long term responses of Hurricane Sandy?
. $10 billion sea barriers planned to be put in place
. Rebuilding aimed to be more hurricane proof
. Defence logistics agency supplied over 5 million gallons of ultra low subdue diesel
. $50.5 billion Sandy aid bill and president Obama signed into it too
