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Environmental Geology > HUMANS AND THE GEOLOGIC ENVIRONMENT > Flashcards

HUMANS AND THE GEOLOGIC ENVIRONMENT Flashcards

1
Q

what is the forces driving the motion of plates?

A

ridge push and slab pull

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2
Q

what are the indication of environmental geology

A

tragedy of the commons
disconnection from the natural environment

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3
Q

EGGA 2004

A

Engineering Geological and Geohazard Assessment Report, the requirement for environmental compliance to safeguard development projects

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4
Q

involves taking steps to reduce a
specific risk i.e., identify a threat and subsequently reduce
the probability of such to occur and minimize its
impact/consequences

A

Risk management

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5
Q

environmental problems related to geology generally fall into one of two categories, what are these two?

A

hazards and resources

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6
Q

The key to sustainability, therefore, is not just Earth’s total population, but also _____

A

humanity’s per capita consumption rate of resources.

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7
Q

Developed countries have a much a larger E.F. than the
global average. True or false?

A

true

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8
Q

give general examples of hazards

A

earthquakes
volcanic eruptions
flood
mas wasting
pollution

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9
Q

example of irreversible degradation

A

groundwater, overfishing

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10
Q

what is carrying capacity?

A

determines the size of the population that can exist or will be tolerated there. and equilibrium between the availability of habitat and the population the habitat can support over time

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11
Q

high siltation (deposition) _____ probability of flood

A

increases

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12
Q

how do science operate?

A

with observation, hypothesis, experiment (data gathering), analysis of results and conclusion

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13
Q

what are freeloaders?

A

people that take advantage of somebodies action

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14
Q

historical geology

A

-interprets Earth’s past by
unravelling the information held in
rocks

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15
Q

what is linear growth?

A

amount added over successive time periods remains the same

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16
Q

environmentalists continue to sound the alarm that
population growth will eventually outstrip the planet’s
ability to support all of its human inhabitants due to…

A
  • Loss of topsoils worldwide
  • Depletion of water supplies
  • Future decline of conventional supplies of oil and gas
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17
Q

has flowing water year-round during a typical year

A

perennial streams

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18
Q

Pollution may occur gradually over many years where its
effects on human health are not so readily apparent. This
can cause society to?

A

delay corrective measures until the consequences become more severe and noticeable

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19
Q

To lower the risk of flooding, the probability of flooding
can be reduced through the construction of dams and
levees, and the consequences can be minimized via
_______ that limit development on floodplains.

A

zoning laws

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20
Q

the self-interest of individuals results in the destruction of common and shared resources

A

the tragedy of the commons

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21
Q

what is geology?

A

study of the solid earth, which includes the materials it is
composed of and the various processes that shape the
planet

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22
Q

low probability = high _____

A

consequences

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23
Q

H. sapiens started?

A

200,000 yrs ago

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24
Q

what is an experiment?

A

a controlled method of testing a hypothesis

25
what are ridge push and slab pull?
ridge push is caused by the potential energy gradient from the high topography of the ridges. slab pull is caused by the negative buoyancy of the subducting plate
26
example of resources
water soil mineral and rock energy resources
27
Factors that led to Earth's Diverse Biosphere
Distance from the sun ability to retain its atmosphere
28
Scientific Inquiry
a systematic and logical process that tries to explain how the physical world operates
29
Physical Geology
-study of the solid earth and the process that shape and modify the plane
30
when did human evolution start?
7 mya
31
Cherry Hills
(August 1-3, 1999) More than 50 people died and hundreds of houses were destroyed as a result of the incident. The complex slide started out as a slump and developed into a debris flow near the base, why egga was created
32
natural processes can be classified into two, what are these two?
incremental and sporadic
33
The low frequency of tsunamis means that several generations may pass between events, thereby lulling people to live in harm’s way. People either become ignorant of the hazard or choose to accept the risk as they understand that the probability of such an event is ____
low
34
Early humans
have no permanent habitat because of resources and weather learned to clear the land and grow crops recognized areas with the most productive soils human utilized through mining
35
With incremental processes, people are ______________ because the changes from year to year are small. Most difficult to recognize are incremental problems where upward and downward swings mask the overall change.
typically slow to recognize environmental problems
36
When sporadic events occur infrequently, it becomes more likely that a human generation will pass between events, causing people to be ______
complacent about the risk.
37
“There is a limit to the number of humans that the Earth can support”
- Thomas Malthus
38
people lose their sense of connection with the natural world, despite the fact they remain dependent upon Earth's environment
disconnection from the natural environment
39
what is geohazard?
the result of natural acitive geologic processes, hazardous to people or infrastructure or may be occuring in naturally remote areas
40
occurs when amount added over successive time increments keeps increasing
exponential
41
it generates small changes with time examples are uplift and erosion
incremental
42
take place somewhat randomly as discrete events examples flood, volcanic eruption, earthquakes and landslides
sporadic
43
delay corrective measures until the consequences become more severe and noticeable
Environmental Risk
44
are dry stream beds that flow as rivers or streams after periods of rainfall
ephemeral streams
45
what are upstream and downstream industries?
upstream includes the exploration and production of crude oil or natural gas, downstream refers to the processes applied after extraction through to it being delivered to the customer in whatever format required
46
Developing nations generally have ___ population growth because of high birth and death rates that result in age groups with large numbers of people who potentially can have children. Developed nations typically experience ______ growth because of low birth and death rates that lead to relatively few people who may potentially have children.
rapid; slow or negative
47
Some environmental degradation are?
irreversable
48
risk
(probability of an event) × (expected consequences)
49
industrial evolution
17th to 18 century
50
a stream or part of a stream that has flowing water during certain times of the year when groundwater provides water for streamflow
intermittent stream
51
two types of growth rates
linear growth and exponential growth
52
consequences in order to build a city
removal of forest and grasslands reduced ability to absorb h2o increased frequency and severity of floods decreased quality and quantity of water supply
53
Differential hypothesis, theory and law
hypothesis is a tentative explanation that can be tested by further investigation theory is a well-supported explanation of the observation scientific law is a statement that summarizes the relationship between variables (absolute)
54
A concept that is simply the amount of biologically productive land/sea area needed to support the lifestyle of humans. Expressed in global hectares
Ecological Footprint
55
the Earth system is composed of four major subsystems that interact in a highly complex and integrated manner, where changes in one subsystem affect the others. these are?
atmosphere, biosphere, solid earth and hydrosphere
56
environmental geology
-geologic principles and knowledge are used to address problems arising from the interaction between humans and the geologic environment
57
what is mantle convection?
the movement of the mantle as it transfers heat from the core to the brittle lithosphere
58
if the hypothesis is incorrect, propose another?
hypothesis
59
Population growth is exponential whereas increases in food production is linear. However, his model failed to take into account the ability of humans to increase food production at an exponential rate through_______
technology and innovation

Environmental Geology (5 decks)

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