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
Q

what are ridge push and slab pull?

A

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
Q

example of resources

A

water
soil
mineral and rock
energy resources

27
Q

Factors that led to Earth’s Diverse Biosphere

A

Distance from the sun
ability to retain its atmosphere

28
Q

Scientific Inquiry

A

a systematic and logical process that tries to explain
how the physical world operates

29
Q

Physical Geology

A

-study of the solid earth and the
process that shape and modify
the plane

30
Q

when did human evolution start?

A

7 mya

31
Q

Cherry Hills

A

(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
Q

natural processes can be classified into two, what are these two?

A

incremental and sporadic

33
Q

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 ____

A

low

34
Q

Early humans

A

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
Q

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.

A

typically slow to recognize environmental problems

36
Q

When sporadic events occur infrequently, it becomes more likely that a human generation will pass between events, causing people to be ______

A

complacent about the risk.

37
Q

“There is a limit to the number of humans that
the Earth can support”

A
  • Thomas Malthus
38
Q

people lose their sense of connection with the natural world, despite the fact they remain dependent upon Earth’s environment

A

disconnection from the natural environment

39
Q

what is geohazard?

A

the result of natural acitive geologic processes, hazardous to people or infrastructure or may be occuring in naturally remote areas

40
Q

occurs when amount added over successive time increments keeps increasing

A

exponential

41
Q

it generates small changes with time examples are uplift and erosion

A

incremental

42
Q

take place somewhat randomly as discrete events examples flood, volcanic eruption, earthquakes and landslides

A

sporadic

43
Q

delay corrective measures until the
consequences become more severe and noticeable

A

Environmental Risk

44
Q

are dry stream beds that flow as rivers or streams after periods of rainfall

A

ephemeral streams

45
Q

what are upstream and downstream industries?

A

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
Q

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.

A

rapid; slow or negative

47
Q

Some environmental degradation are?

A

irreversable

48
Q

risk

A

(probability of an event) × (expected consequences)

49
Q

industrial evolution

A

17th to 18 century

50
Q

a stream or part of a stream that has flowing water during certain times of the year when groundwater provides water for streamflow

A

intermittent stream

51
Q

two types of growth rates

A

linear growth and exponential growth

52
Q

consequences in order to build a city

A

removal of forest and grasslands
reduced ability to absorb h2o
increased frequency and severity of floods
decreased quality and quantity of water supply

53
Q

Differential hypothesis, theory and law

A

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
Q

A concept that is simply the amount of biologically
productive land/sea area needed to support the lifestyle
of humans. Expressed in global hectares

A

Ecological Footprint

55
Q

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?

A

atmosphere, biosphere, solid earth and hydrosphere

56
Q

environmental geology

A

-geologic principles and
knowledge are used to address
problems arising from the
interaction between humans and
the geologic environment

57
Q

what is mantle convection?

A

the movement of the mantle as it transfers heat from the core to the brittle lithosphere

58
Q

if the hypothesis is incorrect, propose another?

A

hypothesis

59
Q

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_______

A

technology and innovation