Tectonics Flashcards
Hazard risk equation
Risk = Event x Vulnerability
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Capacity to cope
Natural hazard vs disaster (events)
Hazard = potential threat to people / property
Disaster = losses experienced & harm caused (impact on community)
What’s important / needed for resilience
Vulnerability & community threshold (capacity to cope)
Types of vulnerability
- physical (hazard prone area, physical barriers)
- economic (losing jobs/incomes)
- social (DWAGES - disadvantaged / most vulnerable)
- knowledge (lack training & education /religion & beliefs may limit understanding)
- environment (high population density in risky areas)
Resilience definition
Factors of resilience
How well a population can recover from a disaster
- metabolic flows (supply/consumption chains)
- governance networks (institutional structures / organisations)
- social dynamics (demographics, inequity)
- built environment (ecosystem services)
How to build resilience
- good international relationships
- good governance
- thorough training / awareness
- pre-planned conversations
Scales used to measure magnitude & intensity of tectonic hazards
- Mercalli = measures intensity of shaking produced by earthquake
- Moment Magnitude Scale (MMS) = measures earthquake magnitude based on seismic movement
- Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) = measures explosiveness of volcanic eruptions
The Pressure and Release Model (PAR)
Used to analyse factors which cause vulnerability (inter-relationships between hazards & wider context)
- root causes
- dynamic pressures
- unsafe conditions
Root causes
Economic, demographic and political processes which affect large populations or entire country
- weak governance
- mismanagement of industry
- high reliance on products/industries easily affected by hazards
Dynamic pressures
Local economic or political factors that can affect a community or organisation
Due to:
- lack of basic services (health, education, police)
- lack of training & education for locals
- poor communication between gov & locales
- rapid urbanisation
- deforestation
Unsafe conditions
Physical conditions that affect an individual
- informal settlements
- lack of health & safety
- poor education
- poor infrastructure (electricity, sewage removal)
- unsafe building (disease/fire can spread easily)
- low income
(Kashmir)
Park model disaster response curve
Graphical representation of human responses to hazards
- steepness of curve shows how quickly an area deteriorates & recovers
- depth of curve shows scale of disaster
(More developed - less steep on deterioration, more steep on recovery & less deep)
Stages of Park model
Stage 1 - pre-disaster (modify cause & event)
Stage 2 - Relief (immediate local response - medial aid, search & rescue, appeal for foreign aid)
Stage 3 - Rehabilitation (foreign aid, modify the loss - temporary housing / services, food & water distributed)
Stage 4 - reconstruction (permanent rebuilding of physical & social infrastructure, reduce vulnerability to prevent further disasters (mitigation))
(Christchurch EQ, New Zealand)
Earth internal structure
- inner core = solid due to extreme pressures & high temp: produced by radioactive decay
- outer core = semi-molten rocks containing iron & nickel alloys, flows to create magnetic field
- mantle = semi-molten, temp gradient towards core creates convection currents - may contribute to lithosphere plate tectonic movement
asthenosphere = weakest part of upper mantle, lies beneath lithosphere - crust (Lithosphere) = thinnest, least dense & lightest layer of earth we live on made up of tectonic plates, oceanic crust a lot thinner than continental crust
Mantle convection
- mantle heated from below (core)
- in areas that are hotter it rises upwards (closer to core), area that are cooler sink down (near lithosphere)
- results in convection currents in mantle
- produces horizontal motion of mantle material close to Earth’s surface
Types for plate boundaries
- Destructive = move towards each other (earthquakes, volcanoes, ocean trenches)
- Constructive = away from each other (earthquakes, volcanoes, rift valleys, ocean ridges)
- Conservative = slide past each other in same direction at different speeds or opposite direction (friction overcome & plates slip past in sudden movement, shockwaves produce EQ)
What occurs at constructive plate boundaries
- sea floor spreading (paleo magnetism)
- ridge push & slap pull
Sea-floor spreading & paleo magnetism
Paleo magnetism = study of past changes in earth magnetic field, reverses every 200,000 years
- tectonic plates split apart from each other as magnetic field reverses & new rock comes from underneath
- as a result of mantle convection (less dense material rises, forming mountain/elevated area of sea floor)
- creates mid ocean ridges between 2 oceanic plates / rift valleys between 2 continental plates
Ridge push & slab pull
- driving force of plate tectonics
- mid-ocean ridges fall away under gravity, pushes plates further apart, widening the gap
- as plate is pulled at other end by gravity fed subduction, sinks into mantle