Geography - Dynamic Landscapes Flashcards
what is sea floor spreading and paleomagnetism?
this happens along divergent plate boundaries, plates move apart so magma rises to the surface and cools. this forms ridges in the sea floor
plaeomagnetism is when the earth’s magnetic field changes direction every 400,000 years. this can be seen as minerals in rocks change direction.
what are the characteristics of p-waves.
- they compress and expand as they move through the crust.
- faster than s-waves
what are the characteristics of s-waves.
move up and down as they move through the crust.
what are the characteristics of:
- love waves
- rayleigh waves
LOVE WAVES
-move from side to side
RAYLEIGH WAVES
- ‘roll’ through the ground.
- causes the ground to move up and down, causing lots of damage.
how do tsunamis form?
- displacement of a large column of water, usually caused by a fault block rising.
- water radiates from all directions.
- wave energy is crowded into a smaller volume of water as it approaches land, this causes the wave to increase in height as it slows down.
- waves can reach up to 20m, around 40% of the energy is deflected back into the sea.
what are the features of the following boundaries: -conservative -divergent -convergent (oceanic-oceanic) -convergent (continental-continental) convergent (continental-oceanic)
CONSERVATIVE
-strike-slip faults cause powerful earthquakes.
DIVERGENT
-small, not very explosive earthquakes.
CONVERGENT (CONTINENTAL-OCEANIC)
- explosive and destructive composite volcanoes.
- tsunamis can also form here due to destructive earthquakes.
CONVERGENT (CONTINENTAL-CONTINENTAL)
- fold mountains
- volcanoes are very rare.
- destructive earthquakes, up to magnitude 9.
CONVERGENT (OCEANIC-OCEANIC)
- forms ocean trenches.
- the more dense plate subducts underneath the less dense plate.
what does the VEI scale measure?
-shows the explosivity of volcanoes.
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how do hot spot volcanoes form?
- radioactive decay sends an abnormally hot mantle plume through the mantle.
- this is hot enough to burn through the crust.
- the crust continues to move but the hot spot stays stationary.
what is the definition of disaster?
an event where a place cannot adjust and there’s significant deaths or economic losses. the UN says that it’s a disaster when there are 500 deaths or more.
what is the definition of hazard?
a physical event which has a negative impact on people causing death, injury etc.
what’s the hazard risk equation?
(hazard x vulnerability) / capacity to cope.
what are root causes in the PAR model?
- political/economic systems etc.
- government corruption, for example.
what are dynamic pressures in the PAR model?
the effects the root causes might have.
what are unsafe living conditions in the PAR model?
the conditions the dynamic pressures will lead to.
what is magnitude?
the size of a tectonic hazard
what is speed of onset?
how slowly or rapidly the tectonic hazard develops
what is duration?
the amount of time a tectonic hazard lasts.
what is areal extent?
how widespread the tectonic hazard is
what is spatial predictability?
the likelihood of a hazard happening in a particular area.
what is frequency?
the number of times the hazard is likely to occur.
how have tectonic disaster trends changed over time?
recently, the recorded number of tectonic disasters has increased.
why have the numbers of tectonic disasters increased?
- equipment is more sensitive.
- we have more communication technology.
- increasing global population.
- urbanisation.
what can effect the accuracy and reliability of data in tectonic hazards?
- many improvements in monitoring.
- disasters aren’t recorded in some areas.
- a disaster might happen in a remote area.
- effort is more towards saving people than collecting data.
what are the criteria for a disaster to be considered a mega disaster?
- 2000 deaths or more
- over 200,000 homeless.
- dependence on aid for over a year.
what are the 3 stages of the hazard management cycle?
- pre-disaster
- response
- post-disaster.
what does the pre-disaster stage of the hazard management cycle involve?
- risk assessment
- mitigation
- preparedness (raising public awareness)
what does the response stage of the hazard management response involve?
- evacuation
- saving people.
- assessing damage.
what does the post-disaster stage of the hazard management cycle involve?
- reconstruction
- economic recovery
- risk assessment.
what does park’s response model show?
- sequence of 3 phases after a hazard event.
- it relates to the socio-economic status of the country affected.
what are the strengths of park’s response curve?
it shows what happens before the disaster and considers all levels of response.
what are the 3 ways of managing hazards?
- modify the event: (change the tectonic hazard)
- modify the vulnerability: (make the population more resilient)
- modify the loss: (accept or share losses from the hazard)