Hazards Flashcards
what are geophysical hazards?
volcanic and seismic hazards related to the lithosphere
what are atmospheric hazards?
includes tropical storms, droughts and tornadoes . Hazards related to the atmosphere
what are hydrological hazards?
involve flooding and are related to the hydrosphere
what is risk?
the potential for loss
what is vulnerability?
the exposure to hazards and ability to cope with them
what is resilience?
the degree to which a population or environment can absorb a hazardous event
what are features that increase resilience?
- emergency evacuation, rescue and relief systems in place
- helping each other/ community
- having a hazard resistant design or land use planning
why is it difficult to compare impacts between countries?
- the physical nature of the event is different
- the socio-economic characteristics of places are different
- economic costs in developed economies are large, but they are less costly in developing countries
- deaths in developed countries are lower
what are influences of vulnerability?
inequality of access to education, housing, healthcare, income
what is the fatalist approach to a hazard?
where people accept the risk and choose to do little about it. More likely in developing countries/LICs
what is a destructive plate margin?
when oceanic plate slides beneath continental plate and crust is destroyed as one goes beneath the other towards the subduction zone
what is a conservative plate margin?
plates sliding past each other horizontally
what is a constructive plate margin?
plates move apart from each other
characteristics of oceanic plate?
- high-density
- made of basaltic rock
- 7-10km thick
- subduct beneath other plates
characteristics of continental crust?
- 25-75km thick
- less dense
- granite- do not sink
what is an island arc?
- form at destructive subduction boundaries, when the descending plate melts and material rises towards the surface as magma
- when plutons of magma reach the surface they form volcanoes which may erupt offshore, causing al ine of volcanic islands eg. Marianas trench
what are volcanoes?
- found at constructive and destructive subduction boundaries, where the melted plate rises to the surface
what are deep sea trenches?
- found at destructive subduction boundaries, where oceanic subducts under continental eg. Marianas trench
what are fold mountains?
- destructive subduction and destructive collision boundaries
- as plates move together, sediment in the sea is pushed up into folds between them
what are rift valleys?
- formed at constructive plate boundaries where 2 continental plates pull apart
- as the crust thins it is heated forming cracks
- when an area of crust drops down between two parallel faults this is a rift valley
what are ocean ridges?
- formed at constructive boundaries where 2 oceanic plates pull apart
- as pressure is reduced the semi-molten magma of the mantle melts and rises up into the gap between the plates forming a ridge eg. mid-Atlantic
what is a hazard?
a natural event that has the potential to threaten both life and property