TECTONICS Flashcards

Question

2011 Tohoku Capacity to cope

Answer 1

Overall high capacity to cope → Earthquakes & Tsunamis are common ● 40% of Japan’s coastline has sea walls up to 10m high ● Japan has a hazards agency, the Japanese Meteorological Agency, which is set up for the prediction of earthquakes and tsunami ● Buildings in Japan are also designed to cope with Earthquakes, and Japan’s high level of development means that buildings are made to be life safe and can actually move with earthquake waves and reduce damage

Answer 2

Coastline vulnerable as majority of people live on coast of Japan ● Upper 10m of soil in the zone was vulnerable, as the waves amplified in the soil, liquefaction occurred ● High lit rate - 99%

Answer 3

Short-term ● The Japanese government responded by sending in specially trained people such as the Self-Defence Forces, a domestic response ● Many countries such as the UK sent search and rescue teams to help search for survivors ● NGOs and other Aid agencies helped too, with the Japanese Red Cross reporting $1 billion in donations ● 100,000 Japanese soldiers sent out for search and rescue ● Specialist search and rescue teams flown from overseas ● 3 mins post quake, tsunami warning issued on TV ○ Not everyone listened to this & also underestimated the Tsunami ● Temp evac zones (shelters opened) Long-term ● 6 days after the quake, a motorway was repaired ● Facilities were rebuilt over time ● Tsunami defence system was installed ● Total of 116 countries and 28 international organisations offered assistance ● Approx 10 tonnes of equipment was shipped out

Answer 4

Approx 16,000 dead (approx 60% of dead 60+)(approx 90% died by drowning) ● Approx 6000 injured ● Approx 4000 missing ● Approx 350,000 displaced people in the region needed catering for & issues included shortages of food, water, shelter, medicine and fuel for survivors ● Destroyed the Fukushima power nuclear power station ○ Caused loss of public trust in nuclear power (Germany & Italy even shut down some plants and scraped plans to build new ones) ● Electricity lost for 6 mil homes ● 4 million people left homeless ● Approx 20,000 still isolated weeks later ● 600 roads cut off, 32 bridges destroyed ● Approx 46, 000 buildings destroyed & approx 150, 000 were damaged ● Destroyed factories ∴ many left unemployed

Answer 5

Capital costs of construction of nuclear power stations ↑ due to enforced safety measures ● Global prices of Liquified Natural Gas ↑ ○ Worldwide availability & affordability of LNG affected due to Japan’s sudden demand ● Treatment of nuclear damage ● Cost of recovery = $235 billion ● Tokyo stocks fell

Answer 6

Radioactive release from 3 cooling reactors into the sea and local fishing grounds ● 5000km2 of coastal plains hit, destroying farmland & settlements ● Ruptured gas pipes lead to fires ● Natural habitats and vegetation damaged ● Liquefaction covered large areas in mud ● Many animals killed

Answer 7

Has 37 volcanoes, 18 of which are active ● 7000 islands, 1000 inhabited ● 102 mil population ○ 74% have been exposed to 2+ hazards ● 60% of its land is exposed to multiple hazards ● 2% of annual GDP is spent on clearing up typhoons ● 1950-2015 - 555 major hazard events occurred ● 2015 - WRI placed it 3rd on the most at risk country list

Answer 8

East Dorset Concordant Coast There has been erosion of the resistant limestone in Purbeck at the entrance to the Lulworth Cove This has formed a cove/bay

Answer 9

Sources → Where sediment is eroded from cliffs (Flamborough Head’s chalk, Hornsea’s boulder clay). River systems (River Humber) are also important sources ● Transfer zones → Places where sediment is moving along the coastline by LSD & offshore currents. Beaches, parts of dunes and salt marshes (Humber Estuary) perform this function ● Sinks → Locations where dominant process = deposition; depositional landforms are created such as offshore bars & spits (Spurn Head) Some coastal features can act as sources and sinks (sand dunes), depending on whether the coastline is dominantly depositional or erosional

Answer 10

Storms (short-term) could erode Spurn Head, disrupting the equilibrium however it returns over time. Negative feedback which helps to return the equilibrium: ● During a major erosive period (eg. winter), a lot of cliff collapse would occur resulting in a lot of chalk/boulder clay at the bottom of the cliff. This however protects the cliff base from further wave attack, slowing the erosion. ● Major erosion at Spurn Head = ↑ deposition offshore = offshore bar which protects the spit & allows it to recover

Answer 11

Human intervention (coastal management, sea level rise etc) can impact long-term dynamic equilibrium. Examples of positive feedback that lead to this: ● ↑ storms due to climate change = beach eroded faster ∴ recent debris never protects the cliff for long leading to overall erosion ↑ in speed ● Rising sea levels = ↑ erosion of Spurn head (eg), as sediment removed faster than replaced

Answer 12

Triangular landform created by sediment deposition from a river

Answer 13

Built the Aswan High Dam Has led to water withdrawals for industry, cities and farming from the reservoir behind the Aswan High Dam ● Sediment being trapped by the reservoir and dam; water in the dam flows very slowly allowing sediment to be deposited

Answer 14

Impacts of the dam River discharge ↓ from 35 billion m3 per year to 10 billion m3 ● Sediment volume fell from 130 million tonnes to about 15 million tonnes ● Erosion rates at the Rosetta (where one of the main delta branches of the river meets the sea) increased from 20m to over 200m per year

Answer 15

World’s most densely populated country (approx 170 million, 2015) ● Much of country is very low-lying (1-3m above sea level) ● 46% of country lives less than 10 metres above sea level ● 70% of Bangladesh is less than 10m above sea level ● Lies on floodplains of 3 major rivers: Brahmaputra, Meghna and Ganges → empty into Bay of Bengal through smaller estuaries ∴ river and coastal flooding combine ○ Triangular shape of the Bay of Bengal concentrates a cyclone storm surge as it moves N ↑ its height when it reaches land ● Almost all the coastline consists of unconsolidated delta sediment, which is very susceptible to erosion ● Deforestation of coastal mangrove forests has removed vegetation that ince stabilised coastal swamps and dissipated wave energy during tropical cyclones

Answer 16

High winds damaged housing, roads, bridges etc ● Electricity and communications knocked out, roads/ waterways became impassable ● Drinking water contaminated by debris, fresh water sources were inundated with salt water ● Sanitation infrastructure destroyed, raising the risk of disease ● 15, 000 deaths Economic - 1.7billion USD cost Breached many coastal and river embankments causing severe flooding in low-lying areas

Answer 17

50km from Flamborough to Spurn Head ● 1 of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe ○ 2m per year ● Long fetch (500-800km)

Answer 18

Weather ● Winter storm surges = strong waves & higher sea levels ○ Also intensify sub aerial processes ○ Saturated clay cliffs suffer increased runoff leading to slumping & other forms of mass movement Waves ● NE fetch - (500-800km) ● Destructive waves erode the beaches and attack the foot of the cliffs, removing the clay in suspension ○ LSD then carriers this material S ■ The tides and the lower energy environment of the Humber estuary allows sediments to collect forming a spit, mudflats and sand dunes near to spurn head Geology ● Mainly chalk & boulder clay (rapidly eroded by the sea) ○ Flamborough head - more resistant chalk has been able to survive the large-scale erosion ○ The boulder clay cliffs to the S are more easily eroded & their retreat has formed the sweeping bay of Holderness

Answer 19

Illustrates how wave erosion can produce the arch, stack and wave-cut platform features associated with chalk rock ○ The chalk is resistant to erosion and has a distinctive lithology ○ The horizontal bedding planes are seen in cliffs at Flamborough Head and North Landing where they assist in the development of wave cut platforms

Answer 20

Made up of Boulder clay cliffs which are formed from material left by ice sheets - retreating at an average of 2m per year (10x the rate of chalk cliffs) ○ A result of the combined effects of land processes and sea erosion ■ On land - rainwater enters the clay and the weight of the water causes material to slide seawards - cause slumping ■ Cliff-foot - fine clay is easily removed by waves exposing the cliff foot to sea erosion (cliffs at Easington are retreating locally at rates of over 10m a year)

Answer 21

Sediments are deposited here where the winds, waves and river estuary have created a recurved spit - grows by approx 10cm each year

Answer 22

Golden sands resort lost 100 chalets in 15 yrs ○ Lack of tourism ○ 80,000m2 of farmland lost per yr ■ By 2100, 200 homes & many roads projected to be lost to sea

Answer 23

Physical processes have been turned into hazards & a potential threat to life and property because of increasing population levels in the area due to retirement & tourism ● LSD has been impacted due to the implementation of unsuitable defence strategies ● Global warming - sea level rising, increasing frequency and intensity of storms (Humber Estuary particularly at risk - 1⁄2 mil people live less than 2m above current sea level)

Answer 24

Businesses close - lack of tourism ○ No insurance for coastal erosion as too expensive/not available ○ Houses ■ DEFRA, E Riding Development fund raised 1.2 mil which supported 36 homes financially

Answer 25

Lack of sediment means less wildlife diversity e.g behind Spurn Head

Answer 26

Sea walls - Hornsea & Withernsea ● Revetments - Easington gas terminal (handles 25% of North sea production of natural gas) ● Gabions - Skipsea ● Groynes - Hornsea (repairing and new ones = £5.2 mil), Withernsea and Mappleton ● Rip-rap - Withernsea and Easington ● Cliff regrading - Mappleton

Answer 27

● Beach nourishment - Hornsea and Mappleton ● Do nothing - Neck of spurn head ● Managed retreat - Suggested for Hornsea in 1994 but not implemented

Answer 28

Village was 3.5km from sea but by 1988, the sea was on the doorstep In 1991 a scheme was implemented costing £2.1 mil (supported by EU funding)

Answer 29

Amazon rainforest contains 60% of the world’s rainforest ● Known as the ‘green lungs’ of the world ● Over 20% of rainforest has been destroyed at an accelerating rate in the last 50 yrs

Answer 30

Used to release 20km3 of water to the atmosphere per day but this is reducing ● Deforested areas are 3oC warmer than forested areas ● Dry seasons are getting longer, with a 21% ↓ in rainfall by 2050 ● Previously 75% of intercepted water returned by EVT, now 25%

Answer 31

Winter: November to January ○ Recharge occurs during this time as precipitation is higher than evapotranspiration ○ Highest rainfall month: February ○ The soil moisture surplus lasts till May ● Evapotranspiration levels remain similar all year (100-150mm) ○ This is because the average temp remains around 25oC year round ● Rainfall lower May to November ○ Higher evapotranspiration than precipitation so there is a soil moisture deficit by October

Answer 32

● Precipitation relatively constant throughout the year (50mm/month) ○ Tends to decrease slightly between May and August (Summer) ● Evapotranspiration exhibits large variations ○ July = 70mm ○ December = 5mm ● Soil moisture deficit tends to occur in July and August as plants have used up the winter surplus

Answer 33

Precipitation remains low year round ○ July & August is maximum (24mm) ● Evapotranspiration tends to occur only between May and September due to a slight rise in temperatures ○ Peak is July = 126mm ● Soil moisture recharge primarily occurs between September and May - mainly due to snowmelt ○ Surplus at the start of summer but a deficit tends to be reached by August

Answer 34

Semi arid area already Humans do not cause the drought but they act like a positive feedback loop, enhancing its impacts ● Air pollution from Europe and N America cooled the Earth, preventing tropical rains moving Northwards ● Higher sea temps (from global warming) prevented moist Atlantic air moving over W Sahel ● Desertification has resulted from overuse of land due to population pressures

Answer 35

Context: 6700km long 11 countries compete for the Nile's water, though it has modest discharge levels relative to its size at 80bn cubic metres Large number of national borders 300mil people live in the Nile Basin and this is projected to double Egypt is dependent on the Nile for 95% of its water needs, but other states such as Ethiopia need large supplies of water to develop crop irrigation, HEP production and industrial processing in order to ↓ poverty Grand Renaissance dam could lead to war

Answer 36

It will transfer a total of 44.8 bn cubic metres of water per yr ● Central government will provide 60% of the cost of the scheme, with the rest coming from local authorities, which, in turn, will charge domestic and industrial users ● Water conservation, improved irrigation, pollution treatment and environmental protection are included in the plans ● Will reduce the abstraction of groundwater

Answer 37

Critics are concerned about the uncertainties and risks associated with the project ● These include the likelihood of significant ecological and environmental impacts along the waterway ● The Yangtze River is already severely polluted, and water of the Yellow Rivers is undrinkable ○ Some fear ecological disaster ● It will submerge 370km2 of land ● 345000 will have to relocate ● The Eastern route is industrial and risks further pollution

Answer 38

S of China is rich in water, whilst N is not. Beijing region has 35% of the population and 40% of arable land but only 7% of its water Subsequently, a N-S water diversion project began in 2003 which will take 50 yrs to complete and will build 3 canals

Answer 39

Per capita water consumption fell from 165 L per day in 2000 to 150 L in 2015, through metering the water supply and education of the public difficulties ● Leakages have been cut to 5% ● Water prices are scaled - the price rises if use goes about a certain level ● Subsidies protect poorest citizens from expensive water ● The whole of Singapore is a water harvesting catchment ○ Diversified supplies include local catchment water, recycled water and desalinated water ● Infrastructure to capture as much of the runoff from the urban areas as possible ● Recycling water in their NEWater scheme, where grey water is purified through membranes and ultraviolet disinfection (in the future this will provide 55% of the country’s needs)

Answer 40

used to depend on coal from up north and south Wales, but the discovery of oil and gas in the North Sea has changed it

Answer 41

Large Basin & long river ● Large water demand & growing population ● Large part of the basin is desert or semi-arid ● 7 US states and Mexico take water from it ● Climate change is creating drier conditions and variable river levels Mexico takes 10% of the total flow ● The states in the Lower Basin take 50% and the Upper basin falls short by 10% ● California takes 20% more than its allocation, which had been agreed separately in 1963 ● Native Americans are owed 5% but they could claim more because their reservations extend along the river and two of its tributaries

Answer 42

The UK has 150 years of coal reserves, but extraction is now unrealistic and expensive due to technology and environmental policies. The last deep coal mine closed in 2015, despite 80% of energy coming from fossil fuels. 'Clean coal' technology exists, but coal has lost political support.

Answer 43

Norsk Hydro runs over 600 HEP plants - supply 97.5% of the renewable energy HEP plants expensive to start but cheap to maintain - expensive to transport from rural areas to urban and isolated areas HEP used since 1907, and the Norwegian Water and Energy Directorate manages the nation’s power supply.

Answer 44

Steep valleys and mountainous and plentiful rain - ideal for HEP Much of the oil in territorial waters is exported as is Svalbard coal

Answer 45

$101,000 2022

Answer 46

Govt has an interventionist approach - prevents foreign ownership of primary energy sources Royalties and taxes paid into government from the sale of fossil fuels boost standard of living through gov spending, but profits also go to a sovereign wealth fund to prepare for a future without fossil fuels and investment in environmentally sustainable projects.

Answer 47

46,000 in 2022

Answer 48

1,300 and 2,400

Answer 49

The UK has legally enshrined targets to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels

Answer 50

'Green Deal'

Answer 51

In 2015, Norway committed to a 40% reduction in domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

Answer 52

Norway’s CO2 emission were 11.74 tonners per capita compared to 11.6 in 1989

Answer 53

In 2015, the UK’s CO2 emissions were 7.13 tonners per capita compared to 11.5 in 1980.

Answer 54

Between Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. o 2 nd largest chokepoint for oil and gas transit by tanker o In December 2015, the International Maritime Bureau reported piracy attacks along it. o Criminal gangs’ frequency seized ships for hostage payments- over 500 attacks occurred from 2009-15.

Answer 55

Russia is the second largest gas in the world ● The Yamal- Europe Pipeline o 4107km gas pipeline o It runs from Russian through Belarus and Poland into Germany. o Russia’s Gazprom exports 80% of their Gas to Europe- try to avoid transit states. ● Nord Stream Pipeline: o Runs 1200km along the bed of the Baltic Sea ● South Stream Pipeline: o Runs under the Black Sea to Bulgaria. War with Ukraine has hindered the amount of gas exported to Europe.

Answer 56

here are numerous deposits of tar sands in the world - but biggest in Canada & Venezuela ● Currently Tar sands produce about 40% of Canada’s oil output ● The 2015 fall in global price of oil had a depressing impact on the tar sands industry because extraction of bitumen is expensive, mainly due to large energy input

Answer 57

Going to provide 1.1 billion for the local economy and protect oil jobs for the foreseeable future Not likely to make a significant impact on the US's reliance on foreign energy however, as they import over 8.51 million barrels per day

Answer 58

In 2000, shale gas provided 1% of the USA’s gas supply, in 2015 it was nearly 25% ○ Most of the ↑ due to the growing use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to release oil & gas from underground formations that are otherwise too difficult to drill ● Most important Shale gas areas: NYC, Pennsylvania, Texas & W. Virginia ● Fracking now a key determiner of US oil security Environmental concerns ● Possible contamination of groundwater ● Production of pollutants eg. methane ● Random animal deaths

Answer 59

The discovery of huge oil deposit gar off the Brazilian coast in 2006 was hailed as one of the biggest oil finds to date ○ Drilling started in 2006, about 250km off the shores of SE Brazil, in waters 2000m deep. First oil extracted in 2010 ● Brazil = one of the leading emerging economies & needs Gas & oil ● By 2019, the aim of Petrobras (state oil company) was to produce 500,000 barrels of oil a day ○ May reach 3.5 mil barrels a day in 2025 before declining again Concerns ● Serious pollution of waters ● Rigs are beyond the range of most helicopters and access by ship made hazardous by prevailing rough seas ● The oil & gas reservoirs contain huge amounts of toxic, flammable & explosive gases

Answer 60

43.8% renewable 46.6 = non renewable Today, less energy is consumed than in 1970, despite the population ↑ of 6.5 million ● The UK is now more efficient, both in producing energy and in using it ● The rise of a less-energy intensive service sector at the expense of industry has also played a sig part ● Households now use 12% less energy while industry uses 60% less ○ BUT these savings have been offset by transport, particularly the big ↑ in the number of vehicles on the roads and of flight

Answer 61

4% of its energy comes from renewable sources ● Brazil is the world’s largest producer of ethanol from sugar cane ○ In 2019/20 sugar cane production estimated to be 643 mil metric tons ● Has become the leading exporter of sugar & ethanol

Answer 62

Approx 90% of new passenger vehicles sold in Brazil contain flex fuel engines that work using any combination of petrol & sugarcane ethanol ○ Has led to a sig ↓ in CO2 emissions ● Big business - $50bn per yr w/ 1,34 mil direct jobs ● Waste from processing sugar cane used to produce electricity ● Biodiesel from soybean oil is being developed

Answer 63

Displacement of other types of agriculture such as cattle pasture ○ Caused a need to create replacement pastures ○ Resulted in clearance of tropical rainforest and the deforestation is now basically cancelling out the ↓ in CO2 emissions related to the increasing use of ethanol

Answer 64

The forest acts as a global and regional regulatorm pumping 20 bn metric tonnes of water into the atmosphere daily, 3 bn more than the River Amazon discharges to the ocean ● The forest’s uniform humidity lowers atmospheric pressure, allowing moisture from the Atlantic ocean to reach further inland than areas w/out forest coverage ● Rain bearing winds travel W until deflected by the Andes and normally transport moisture S sto Buenos Aires and E to Sao Paulo

Answer 65

Since 1990, a more extreme cycle of drought and floods has developed in Amazonia, w/ a wetter rainy season, linked to shifts in the Inter-tropical convergence Zone) ● Rainfall has ↓ downwind of deforested areas, w/ Sae Paulo suffering a water crisis ● Severe droughts in 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2016 has increased stress which was already high due to decades of deforestation ○ 2005 drought damaged 30% of the forest ○ 2010 many areas still vulnerable, 50% of forest affected ■ During droughts, less CO2 absorbed and greater decomposition of dead biomass = increased CO2 emissions - approx 13 bn tonnes during 2005 & 2010 droughts)

Answer 66

A drier Amazon = forest becoming a net carbon emitter rather than a major global store

Answer 67

he Arctic will have the greatest ↑ in temp of any global location, especially in winter

Answer 68

Will ↓ the amount & duration of snow cover each yr and melt ice & permafrost ● Extra melting will ↑ river discharges earlier in spring and create river-ice floods ● Arctic sea ice will decline (3.8% a yr), creating habitat changes for polar bears and seals ● People in the Arctic may experience more building collapse (as permafrost thaws),, more flooding and ↑ in wildlife stress may lead to food insecurity as hunting areas change ● Infrastructure may be damaged, causing pollution (eg. pipelines) and cutting transport connections ● As Arctic ice disappears, there is likely to be an ↑ in exploration for oil & natural gas and shipping routes through the ocean

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