Hazards: Key Words Tests

Question 1

Acid dome volcanoes

Answer 1

Steep-sided convex cones associated with viscous, silica-rich gaseous lava that solidifies before running too far down slope.

Question 2

Adaptation

Answer 2

Accepting that natural events are inevitable and adapting our behaviour accordingly.

Question 3

Asthenosphere

Answer 3

A layer of softer almost-plastic like rock which moved very slowly and carries the lithosphere on top.

Question 4

Atmospheric hazards

Answer 4

Hazards driven by processes at work in the atmosphere.

Question 5

Caldera

Answer 5

Vast pit crater formed by a violent eruption which blows off the volcano’s summit.

Question 6

Composite cones (strato-volcanoes)

Answer 6

Formed from alternating eruptions of ash, tephra and lava, which builds up the volcano in layer, producing weaknesses that can be exploited by the magma.

Question 7

Conservative plate margins

Answer 7

When two plates slide past each other and crust is not destroyed by subduction.

Question 8

Constructive (divergent) plate margins

Answer 8

When two plates separate or diverge.

Question 9

Core

Answer 9

The centre and hottest part of the Earth, made up of the outer core and inner core.

Question 10

Crown fire

Answer 10

Wildfire which spreads across tree canopy and affects forested areas.

Question 11

Crust

Answer 11

The Earth’s outer shell, made up of oceanic crust and continental crust.

Question 12

Destructive (convergent) plate margins

Answer 12

When two plates collide or converge.

Question 13

El Niño

Answer 13

A cyclical climatic condition which involves the warming of the Pacific off the west coast of South America and affects global patterns of temperature and rainfall.

Question 14

Extrusive

Answer 14

Lava that is in contact with the air or sea, resulting in igneous rock which tends to be fine-grained with small crystals.

Question 15

Eye wall

Answer 15

The bank of cloud which rings the central eye in a tropical storm.

Question 16

Fatalism

Answer 16

An acceptance that hazards are natural events that we can do little to control and losses have to be accepted.

Question 17

Fissure eruptions

Answer 17

When lava escapes through a split or crack in the rock, which can create extensive lava plateaus.

Question 18

Geophysical hazards

Answer 18

Hazards driven by the Earth’s own internal energy sources.

Question 19

Gravitational sliding

Answer 19

The movement of tectonic plates as a result of gravity.

Question 20

Ground fire

Answer 20

Wildfire which burns beneath the ground layers of dry organic peat.

Question 21

Hazard

Answer 21

The threat of substantial loss of life, substantial impact upon life or damage to property that can be caused by an event.

Question 22

Hazard management cycle

Answer 22

A theoretical model of hazard management as a continuous 4-stage cycle involving mitigation, preparation, response and recovery.

Question 23

Hot spot

Answer 23

An area where radioactive decay within the Earth’s core is concentrated, generating very hot temperatures and heating the lower mantle.

Question 24

Hydrological hazards

Answer 24

Hazards driven by water bodies (mainly the oceans).

Question 25

Igneous rocks

Answer 25

Rocks formed by the cooling of molten magma, either underground (intrusive) or on the ground surface (extrusive).

Question 26

Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)

Answer 26

A cyclical ocean and atmospheric phenomenon that affects the climate of countries that surround the Indian Ocean Basin.

Question 27

Intrusive

Answer 27

Magma that cools, crystallises and solidified slowly below the surface resulting in coarse-grained igneous rocks.

Question 28

Ladder effect

Answer 28

The process of fires from the forest floor spreading to the tree canopy.

Question 29

Lahar

Answer 29

Mudflow composed mainly of volcanic ash mixed with water from a crater lake, snowmelt, glacier melt or prolonged torrential rain.

Question 30

Liquefaction

Answer 30

The jelly-like state of silts and clays resulting from intense ground shaking.

Question 31

Lithosphere

Answer 31

The outermost solid layer of the Earth, approximately 100km thick, comprising the crust and upper mantle.

Question 32

Love (L) waves

Answer 32

Seismic waves which travel on the surface and are the slowest waves but cause the most damage.

Question 33

Magma

Answer 33

Molten rock, gases and liquids from the mantle accumulating in cast chambers at great pressure deep within the lithosphere.

Question 34

Magma plume

Answer 34

A rising column of hot rock created by hot spots heating the lower mantle, creating localised thermal currents.