Plate Tectonics Flashcards
When was the Haiti earthquake?
12 Jan, 2010
How many people died?
220,000 died, and 250,000 injured
Haiti - How many buildings collapsed? How many people homeless? What happened to the services?
300,000 buildings collapsed, resulting in 1.3 million homeless. Water, communication and electricity were damaged, police was in chaos
Why was the Haiti Earthquake affected so much?
Lack of regulation due to poverty
1/3 of Port Au Prince destroyed in the quake
2/3 of the population were unemployed before the quake, meaning citizens were poor and so could not recover as well as people in Iceland
Government had little money so facilities emergency services were very poor
Government could be poor due to in 1804 the debts created to have their independence (94 million gold franks)
1/2 of Haiti’s population were poor
How does being poverty affect risks to natural disasters?
Limited resources, lack of education and health services can increase their exposure to risks.
Name a few primary effects of Eyjafjallajökull
Eruption turned day to night because of the ash clouds
Over 36,000 people were killed
Plane flights were cancelled
Homes and roads were damaged
Name some secondary effects of Eyjafjallajökull
Sporting events were cancelled due to cancelled flights, impacting the tourism industry all over the world and impacting the economy badly
Fresh food imports were halted, so industries were affected by a lack of imported raw materials
Local water supplies were contaminated by fluoride
Flooding was caused by the glaciers melting
Europe lost over 6 million per day from loss in the tourism industry
Worldwide, businesses lost billions
Immediate responses to Eyjafjallajökull
A state of emergency was declared in Iceland, (regular and normal procedures were halted to put public health and safety first before anything else)
EU airspace was closed a a safety precaution, (first time since WW2)
Evacuation of the people happened before the volcano erupted to reduce lives lost
Long term responses to Eyjafjallajökull
Properties need to be rebuilt
Restoration of utilities, eg. Cleansing the fluoride from water sources
Developing opportunities for the economy to recover
What is the plate margin where 2 plates move away from each other?
Constructive Plate Margin - eg. Atlantic Ridge
What is the plate margin where 2 plates move towards eachother?
Destructive Plate Margin. 2 plates moving towards each other causes plates to crash or slide OVER each other, eg. Himalayas.
What can happen when plates crash together?
Earthquakes
What is a conservative plate margin?
Where 2 plates slide past each other, eg. San Andreas Fault
What are the layers of the Earth?
Crust, upper mantle, lower mantle, core.
What is the mantle?
A semi-liquid layer made of molten magma
What is the Lithosphere?
Crust and upper mantle
What is the outer core made of?
Iron and Nickel
What is the temperature at the outer core?
4700 Degrees Celsius
What is the temperature of the inner core?
5505 Degrees Celsius, (as hot as the surface of the sun)
What are the 7 continental plates?
African, Antarctic, Eurasian, Indo-Australian, North American, Pacific and South American.
What are Plate Tectonics?
The movement of plates, (also known as continental drift)
What is Pangea?
A supercontinent from millions of years ago
How do the plates move?
Heat within lower mantle drive convection currents which help to move the plates
What are plate margins?
Where tectonic plates meet, (eg. Conservative, constructive, destructive)
How can we map out our Earth?
Using seismographs
How thick is the continental crust?
20-30km
Where does the Asthenosphere occur?
At the base of the upper mantle, (100km)
What are the fastest plates in the world?
Pacific plate and Indo-Australian
What is an example of evidence for continental drift?
Fossil Locations
What is palaeomagnetism?
The study of rocks and their age
How many volcano zones does Iceland have?
30
What are some exclusive features of volcanic zones?
Springs, Vents, Magma, Gizas, etc
How is Montserrat’s plate boundary formed?
Formed by the Atlantic plate shifting towards and underneath the Caribbean plate, creating Volcanoes and Earthquakes, (destructive plate margin)
Effects of Earthquakes, (notes)
Many people die initially Many people are also injured Little space in hospitals Many aftershocks, (above 5.5 on Richter scale) Cultural heritage sites destroyed Rescue and aid arrives shortly after Tent cities are assembled There is desperation for food, water and resources Severe damage caused to buildings
What are relief efforts for future earthquakes in Haiti?
Micro-credit schemes, where charity donates money to civilians to begin work.
Improvements to buildings where more civilians can live in housing
Crop trials, where Oxfam invests in making the farmer’s product better to increase efficiency
