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Physical Geography > Tectonics > Flashcards

Tectonics Flashcards

1
Q

What is the temp, density, composition, physical state and what seismic waves do the crust have?

A

Temp- 400 degrees
Density- Low
Composition- Granite + Basalt
Physical state- Solid
Seismic waves- Surface and
body waves pass
through

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2
Q

What is the temp, density, composition, physical state and what seismic waves does the mantle have?

A

Temp- 870 degrees
Density- Medium
Composition- Peridotite
Physical state- Liquid/solid
Seismic waves- Body waves pass
through at
variable rates

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3
Q

What is the temp, density, composition, physical state and what seismic waves does the outer core have?

A

Temp- 4400- 6100 degrees
Density- Dense
Composition- 12% sulphur
88% iron
Physical state- Liquid
Seismic waves- P waves

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4
Q

What is the temp, density, composition, physical state and what seismic waves does the inner core have?

A

Temp- 7000 degrees
Density- Very dense
Composition- 20% nickel
80% iron
Physical state- Solid
Seismic waves- P waves

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5
Q

What happens at a divergent plate boundary?

A
  • Plates move apart
  • Shield volcanoes form
  • Mt Nyiragongo is an example
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6
Q

What happens at a destructive plate boundary?

A
  • Oceanic crust subducts beneath the continental plate
  • Creates earthquakes and volcanoes
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7
Q

What happens at collision plate boundaries?

A
  • Two continental plates collide
  • Neither can sink and so the land buckles upwards forming mountains
  • E.g. the Himalayas
  • Earthquakes can occur here
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8
Q

What happens at conservative plate boundaries?

A
  • Plates slide past one another
  • Pressure builds up
  • Energy is released causing an earthquake
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9
Q

What discovery was made in 1915

A

Alfred Wegener publishes his theory on continental drift, which states that Earth’s landmasses are constantly moving

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10
Q

What discovery was made in 1918

A

Sonar technology developed during WW1 which revealed details about the ocean floor, scientists now know that the crust exists under the world’s oceans, it becomes an assumption that the ocean floor moves as well as continents

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11
Q

What discovery was made in 1919

A

Arthur Holmes develops a theory that explains how the large landmasses move from convection currents through the mantle the same way that heated air circulates a room

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12
Q

What discovery was made in 1946

A

Scientists make use of the military sonar tech to map ocean floor

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13
Q

What discovery was made in 1954

A

First world map of volcanic eruptions and earthquake zones is published by a French seismologist J.P. Rothe

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14
Q

What discovery was made in 1960

A

Harry Hess and Robert Dietz propose the theory of sea floor spreading where magma oozes up from the Earth’s interior along the mid-oceanic ridges

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15
Q

What discovery was made in 1963

A

A pattern of magnetic striped rock on the ocean floor that provides evidence to support Hess and Dietz’s theory of sea floor spreading

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16
Q

What discovery was made in 1965

A

J Tuzo Wilson proposed that the entire crust of Earth is made of separate sections called plates

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17
Q

What discovery was made in 1983

A

GPS becomes available for public use and is able to track movement of plates

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18
Q

What are some primary hazards of earthquakes?

A
  • Crustal fracturing
  • Ground shaking
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19
Q

What is a secondary hazard of earthquakes?

A

Landslides

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20
Q

What determines the impact of a tsunami?

A
  • Duration of event
  • Wave amplitude
  • Physical geography of the coast
  • Degree of coastal development
  • Timing of the event
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21
Q

Order low-high damage caused from different types of magma, reasons and example

A
  • Basaltic low viscosity (Hawaii)
  • Andesitic moderate viscosity (Andes)
  • Rhyolitic high viscosity (Yellowstone)
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22
Q

What are pyroclasts?

A

Hot broken fragments of rock ejected at high velocities

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23
Q

What are landslides?

A

Huge flows of rocks, mud and tephra

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24
Q

What are poisonous gases?

A

CO2, HCL, SO2

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25
Q

What are lahars?

A

Volcanic mudflows generally composed of relatively fine sand and silt material

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26
Q

Case study lahar

A
  • Town of Armero, Colombia
  • Buried by a lahar from the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in 1985
  • 60km/h
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27
Q

What are Jokulhlaups?

A

Catastrophic glacial outburst flood, where water accumulates in a subglacial lake beneath a glacier and the flood is initiated following the failure of an ice dam

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28
Q

What is a disaster?

A

Interaction of tectonic hazard with vulnerable population

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29
Q

What does Degg’s model show

A

It shows that a natural disaster only occurs when a vulnerable population is exposed to hazard

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30
Q

What are the three categories which affect the hazard vulnerability of a country (Relating to Degg’s model)

A
  • Physical environment
  • Lack of resources available
  • Local scale
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31
Q

What is hazard vulnerability?

A

The capacity of a person or group to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impact of a natural hazard

32
Q

Formula for risk

A

Frequency or magnitude of hazard X level of vulnerability / Capacity of population to cope

33
Q

What does Park’s disaster response model show?

A

The effects of a disaster on the quality of life of a population over time, it can either improve the country, return to what is was, or never goes back to what it was

34
Q

What does the pressure and release model show?

A

The root cause, dynamic pressures, unsafe conditions and the hazards of an event

35
Q

Most vulnerable groups of people

A

Poor- Cant afford to leave, informal housing
Elderly- Physical unable, isolated
Women- Primary care givers to elderly and children, less able to access resources

36
Q

What is the richter scale?

A

A logarithmic scale used to measure the strength of earthquakes, uses a seismometer

37
Q

What is the moment magnitude scale?

A

Uses the energy released by all shockwaves as well as area of rupture and movement

38
Q

What is the mercalli scale?

A

Measures intensity of the earthquake and the amount of damage caused by the earthquake

39
Q

What is the volcanic explosivity index?

A

Logarithmic scale comparing the energy released and the type of eruption

40
Q

What 9 factors determine the severity of a hazard?

A
  • Duration
  • Magnitude
  • Predictability
  • Regularity
  • Frequency
  • Speed of onset
  • Spatial concentration
  • Areal extent
  • Number of hazards (type)
41
Q

What is speed of onset?

A

How long until a hazard reaches people

42
Q

What is spatial concentration?

A

Whether it happens in a known area as people will be more prepared if it is

43
Q

What is areal extent?

A

The size of the area impacted

44
Q

Define inequality

A

Usually refers to an unfair situation or distribution of assets and resources

45
Q

4 components of vulnerability

A
  • Social
  • Economic
  • Environmental
  • Political
46
Q

What are some political factors regarding vulnerability?

A
  • Communications
  • Corruption
  • Conflicts
  • Effectiveness of emergency services
  • Investment into infrastructure
  • Geopolitical relationships
47
Q

What is governance?

A

Process of overseeing and controlling the direction of an organisation or country

48
Q

Which 3 factors can influence governance?

A
  • Economic
  • Political
  • Administrative
49
Q

What is an example of a disaster management agency in the USA?

A

FEMA- helps people and communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters

50
Q

What is an example of an under funded and under resourced agency in the Philippines?

A

PHIVOLCS

51
Q

What should governance be considered against?

A
  • Increase in global economic activity
  • Increased activity of institutions such as the EU operating across national borders
  • The rise of neo-liberal ideology values
  • The spread of info tech
52
Q

What are the nature of tectonic hazards impacts influenced by?

A
  • Population density
  • Degree of urbanisation
  • Isolation and accessibility
53
Q

What is Reason’s swiss cheese model?

A

Highlights the fact that a particular disaster can be linked to a single hazard event, but then there is a cascade of other events that provide context for the hazard
A hazard therefore becomes a disaster when several holes line up, creating the conditions for loss of life, property and livelihood

54
Q

What is a mega disaster?

A

Either:
- Over 2000 deaths
- Over 200,000 made homeless
- GDP of a country is reduced by at least 5%
- Dependence on aid from abroad for a year or more after the event

55
Q

Where are multiple hazard zones likely to be found?

A

Where plate boundaries intersect

56
Q

How can we predict volcanoes?

A
  • Change in the shape of the volcano
  • Laser beams
  • Changes in temperature
  • Modelling
57
Q

How can we predict earthquakes?

A

Cannot accurately predict as tectonic plates are so complicated
However, animals can predict as they sometimes abandon their habitat before it occurs

58
Q

What is the mitigation stage of the hazard management cycle?

A
  • Identifying hazards and taking steps to reduce the impact of them
  • Aim to reduce loss of life
59
Q

What is the preparedness stage of the hazard management cycle?

A
  • Minimising loss of life and property
  • Facilitating response and recovery
  • Education
60
Q

What is the response stage of the hazard management cycle?

A
  • Coping with the event
  • Search and rescue
  • Evacuation
61
Q

What is the recovery stage of the hazard management cycle?

A
  • Short term (providing services and temporary shelter
  • Long term (rebuilding, reopening)
62
Q

What is hazard mitigation?

A

Strategies meant to avoid, delay or prevent hazard events

63
Q

What is hazard adaptation?

A

Strategies designed to reduce the impacts of hazard events

64
Q

Ways to earthquake proof a building?

A
  • Movement frames
  • Braces
  • Shear wall
  • Dampers
  • Liquid filled damper
  • Seismic base isolator
65
Q

How can we modify the event for tsunamis?

A
  • Physical barriers e.g. seawalls
  • Using sand dunes as it provides protection against coastal flooding
  • Minimising new development in tsunami hazard zones
66
Q

How can we modify the event for volcanoes?

A
  • Spraying sea water on approaching lava
  • Monitor volcanic activity with seismometers
  • Lava diversion
  • Minimising new development in volcano hazard zones
67
Q

What is land use zoning?

A

Divides land into different areas for specific uses, such as residential, commercial, industrial, or agricultural in order to protect people from a hazard

68
Q

What is meant by modifying the event?

A

Increasing the resilience of a community to increase their capacity to cope

69
Q

What is the K-NET?

A

Network of strong motion seismographs installed at approximately 1000 locations in Japan

70
Q

What are the warning signs for volcanoes?

A

Numerous small earthquakes and a swelling of the ground surface

71
Q

What are the 4 stages of the hazard management cycle?

A

Recovery, prevention and mitigation, response and preparation

72
Q

What is the role of aid donors?

A
73
Q

What is internal governmental aid?

A

Typically used in emerging and developed countries where the disaster mitigation is achieved by spreading the financial load throughout the tax payers of the country

74
Q

What is the role of NGO’s in disaster management?

A

When the local government is struggling to respond, or doesn’t have the resources to do so as they can provide funds, co-ordinate search and rescue and help develop reconstruction plans

75
Q

What is the role of insurance in disaster management?

A

Natural disasters are expensive and the economic costs can be staggering
Provides businesses and individuals the money they need to repair and rebuild

Physical Geography (5 decks)

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