'Tectonic Hazards' Key Words Flashcards
Atmospheric Hazards
Natural hazards association with Earth’s atmosphere, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wind, snow, drought, lightning and rain.
Drought
A long continuous period of dry weather
Earthquake
A sudden or violent movement within the Earth’s crust followed by a series of aftershocks.
Fatalities
Deaths caused by disasters or accidents
River flood
Where river discharge exceeds river Channel capacity and water spills onto the floodplain
Geological hazards
Natural hazards associated with Earth’s geological processes such as volcanoes, landslides, mudflows, avalanches and earthquakes.
Hazard risk
The probability or chance that a natural hazard may take place
Landslides
The movement of rock, earth or debris down the slope of a hill
Mudflow
When saturated soil and weak rock flow down a slope
Natural disaster
When a natural event, or hazard impacts on human activities
Natural hazard
A natural event that poses a threat to humans and/or property
Poverty
Deprivation in well-being, such as lack of access to wealth, food, shelter, water and education
Social effect
The effect of an event on the lives of people or community
Economic effect
The effect of an event on the economy of a place
Tropical storm (hurricane, cyclone, typhoon)
An area of low pressure with winds moving in spiral around a calm central point called the eye of the storm - winds are powerful and rainfall is heavy
Tsunami
Huge waves caused by earthquakes
Urbanisation
When an increasing percentage of a country’s population comes to live in towns and cities.
Volcano
A large landform, typically conical in shape, formed by a series of volcanic eruptions over a long period of time
Conservative plate margin
Two plates sliding alongside each other, in the same or different directions
Constructive plate margin
Tectonic plate margin where rising magma adds new material to plates that are diverging or moving apart
Continental crust
The low density, thick outer layer of Earth which forms our continents
Convection currents
Circular movements of heat within the Earth which drive the movement of tectonic plates
Destructive plate margin
Tectonic plate margin where two plates are converging and oceanic plate is subduction - there could be violent earthquakes and explosive volcanoes
Ground deformation
Changes in the shape of volcanoes which is closely monitored to predict eruptions
Immediate responses
Reaction of people as the disaster happens and in the immediate aftermath
Lava
Magma that has erupted from a volcano
Long-term responses
Later reactions that occur weeks, months and years after the event
Magma
Molten Rick beneath the Earth’s surface
Management strategies
Techniques of controlling, responding to, or dealing with an event.
Mantle
A hot, dense layer of Earth found between the crust and core
Monitoring
Recording physical changes i.e. detecting heat and shape changes of volcanoes using remote sensing, to help forecast when and where a natural hazard might strike.
Oceanic crust
The dense, thin outer layer of Earth that lies underneath the ocean.
Planning
Actions taken to allow communities to respond to and recover from natural disaster e.g. evacuation
Plate margin
The border between two tectonic plates
Prediction
Using historical evidence and monitoring, scientists can make predictions about when and where a hazard may happen
Primary effects
Initial impact of a natural event on people and property, causes directly by it, i.e. the buildings collapsing following an earthquakes
Remote sensing
Satellites detect heat and changes to a volcano’s shape.
Ridge Push and Slab Pull
The movement of tectonic plates due to the upwelling of magma at a margin (ridge push) and the pulling down of the plates at a plate margin (slab pull)
Search and rescue
An immediate response to a disaster where people are removed from danger and aid is provided
Secondary effects
After-effects that occur as indirect impacts of a natural event, sometimes on a longer timescale, i.e. fires due to ruptured gas mains, resulting from the ground shaking
Seismicity
The frequency and distribution of earthquakes in a certain area, recorded by seismographs
Subduction
At a destructive margin, where the denser oceanic plate moves beneath the less dense continental plate.
Tectonic hazard
Natural hazard caused by the movement of tectonic plates (i.e. volcanoes and earthquakes)
Tectonic plate
Section of the Earth’s crust about 100km thick
Volcanic belt
Distributor pattern of volcanoes that follows plate margins
