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Topic 1 Tectonic Processes and Hazards Flashcards

1
Q

What is the lithosphere?

A

The crust and upper mantle. The zone where tectonic plates are formed

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2
Q

What is the asthenosphere?

A

Directly below the lithosphere, includes the rest of the mantle where rocks are much softer (plastic)

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3
Q

What is Moho Discontinuity?

A

The thin layer that separates the crust from the top of the mantle (inbetween)

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4
Q

What is Continental Drift?

A

A concept which suggests that continents can move around the Earth’s surface because of weaknesses of the sub-oceanic crust

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5
Q

What is a Divergent Plate Boundary?

A

Two plates move apart (diverge), which leads to the formation of new crust

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6
Q

What is a Mantle Plume?

A

A narrow region of mantle material that is hotter than the surrounding mantle

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7
Q

What are Hot Spots?

A

Volcanoes that are not found on plate boundaries. They are thought to be fed by underlying mantle plumes that are unusually hot compared with the surrounding mantle.

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8
Q

What is an earthquake?

A

The shaking of the ground caused by sudden motion along faults, or fractures in the earth’s crust

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9
Q

What is the Benioff Zone?

A

The area where friction is created between colliding tectonic plates resulting in intermediate and deep earthquakes

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10
Q

What are seismic waves?

A

The shockwaves created by the release of tension at a focal point. There are several types of seismic wave movement which travel through or around the Earth.

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11
Q

What are plates?

A

Massive slabs that make up the outer layer of the Earth’s surface

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12
Q

What is a fault?

A

A fracture/crack in the rocks that make up Earth’s crust

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13
Q

What is the epicentre?

A

The point at the Earth’s surface directly above the focus/hypocentre

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14
Q

What is the focus/hypocentre?

A

The point within the Earth where an earthquake rupture originates

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15
Q

What are primary waves?

A

Vibrations caused by compression, they shunt forwards and backwards in the direction of travel. They are the fastest moving waves, and are body waves.

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16
Q

What are secondary waves?

A

They vibrate at right angles sideways to the direction of travel. They are the second fastest moving waves, and are body waves.

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17
Q

What are love waves?

A

They vibrate along a horizontal plain (side to side). They are the slowest moving, and are surface waves.

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18
Q

What are body waves?

A

Travel through the earth’s body

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19
Q

What are surface waves?

A

Travel along the earth’s surface

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20
Q

What is a seismometer?

A

Measures seismic waves by detecting ground movement.

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21
Q

What is magnitude?

A

The amount of energy released at the epicentre (how big the Earthquake is)

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22
Q

What is the moment magnitude scale (MMS)?

A

Measures the total energy released by an earthquake the moment it occurs. Scale from 1 (smallest) - 10; it is a logarithmic scale.

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23
Q

What is Intensity?

A

Measures the earthquake’s effect on people, structures and natural environment.

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24
Q

What is the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale?

A

Takes observations from people who experienced the earthquake and rates them; Scale from 1 (hardly noticed) to X (catastrophic).

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25
What are primary effects?
Occur as a direct result of an earthquake
26
What are secondary effects?
Occur as a result of the primary effects of an earthquake
27
What is crustal fracturing?
When energy released during an earthquake causes the Earth’s crust to crack, leaving gaps/ faults in the surface.
28
What is liquefaction?
Violent shaking during an earthquake causes surface rocks to lose strength and become more liquid than solid.
29
What are Landslides/ Avalanches?
Ground shaking places stress on slopes, so they weaken and fail. Particularly common in mountainous/steep areas.
30
What are aftershocks?
Smaller earthquakes that follow for weeks/months/years after an earthquake
31
What are tsunamis?
A series of larger-than-normal waves, which are usually caused by volcanic eruptions or underwater earthquakes.
32
What are water columns?
The area of seawater from the surface to the seafloor
33
What is the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART system)?
Using seabed sensors and surface buoys to monitor changes in sea level and pressure.
34
What are volcanoes?
An opening in the earth’s crust through which lava, ash and gas erupts.
35
What are shield volcanoes?
Mainly found on divergent plate margins; characterised by gently sloping sides and runny (basaltic) lava.
36
What are composite volcanoes?
Found on convergent plate margins; characterised by steep sides (cone shaped) and sticky (andesitic) lava.
37
What is basaltic lava?
Thin and runny, low silica, hottest and gentle/effusive.
38
What is andesitic lava?
Slow and viscous, intermediate silica and violent, moderately explosive.
39
What is Rhyolitic Lava?
Thick and stiff, high silica, coolest and very violent, cataclysmic.
40
What is the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)?
Measuring the size and force of volcanic eruptions; a scale from 0-8 (logarithmic).
41
What are lava flows?
Streams of lava that have erupted from a volcano onto the Earth's surface; they are very hot and destroy everything in their path.
42
What are pyroclastic flows?
A mixture of dense hot rock, lava, ash and gases ejected from a volcano; which moves quickly across Earth's surface.
43
What is tephra?
Pieces of volcanic rock and ash that blast into the air during volcanic eruptions.
44
What are ash falls?
Ejected from the volcano and causes roofs to collapse as it covers everything.
45
What are gas eruptions?
During a volcanic eruption, dissolved gases that are in magma are released into the atmosphere
46
What are lahars?
Masses of rock, mud and water that travel quickly down the sides of a volcano
47
What are Jokulhlaup (glacial outburst floods)?
The heat of a volcanic eruption melts the snow and ice in a glacier, leading to heavy and sudden floods.
48
What is a natural hazard?
Natural event that could pose as a threat to life and property
49
What is a natural disaster?
When a natural hazard has a significant impact on people, economy and the environment; exceeding the countries abilities to deal with it
50
What is vulnerability?
The ability to cope with, resist and recover from a natural hazard
51
What is capacity to cope?
The ability to protect lives, livelihoods and infrastructure from destruction, and to restore areas after the natural hazard has occurred.
52
What is the disaster risk equation?
(Hazards x Vulnerability) / Capacity to cope
53
What is the Pressure and Release Model (PAR)?
Suggests that the socio-economic context of the hazard is important. Including root causes, dynamic pressure and unsafe living conditions.
54
What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?
The total value of goods and services
55
What is the Human Development Index (HDI)?
Overall indicator of development and covers Gross National Income (GNI), education and life expectancy. (composite measure)
56
What is a Tectonic Hazard Profile?
A technique used to try to understand the physical characteristics of different types of tectonic hazards. They can be used to analyse and assess the same hazards which take place in contrasting locations/ at different times.
57
What is Spearman's Rank?
Statistical test that measures whether there is a statistical correlation between sets of data e.g whether there’s a relationship between magnitude and number of deaths of an earthquake.
58
What is the mean?
The ‘average’; calculated by adding up all the individual data values and dividing the total number of data items.
59
What is the median?
Middle value in the data set
60
What is the mode?
The most frequently occurring value/ category in a data set
61
What is the range?
Difference between the highest and lowest value in a data set
62
What are measures of dispersion?
Used to represent the degree to which the values in a data set vary from/ are dispersed around the average. e.g interquartile range, standard deviation
63
What is the interquartile range?
The interval spanning the middle 50% of values in a data set (25% of the data on either side of the median) - measuring the spread of values around the median
64
What is Standard Deviation?
Measures the spread of values around the median: incorporating all the values in the data set
65
Standard Deviation formula =
66
What is Development?
Usually considered as economic growth leading to an improvement in the standard of living. It can be measured in other ways e.g freedom, equality or wellbeing of the natural environment.
67
What is inequality?
Differences in income and wealth, and wellbeing between individuals, groups within a community or communities within a society.
68
What is governance?
How a place or area is managed by different levels of government. The policies regarding hazards can affect how prepared and resilient a place/area is.
69
What is the World Risk Index (WRI)?
Considers measures of exposure, susceptibility, coping capacity and adaptive capacity when looking at the risk of disasters.
70
What is speed of onset?
The time between an event occurring and it being felt.
71
What is Areal Extent?
The area over which damage occurs or a hazard is felt.
72
What is Spatial Predictability?
The extent to which the location of a hazard can be known in advance.
73
What are Hydrometeorological Hazards?
Natural hazards caused by climate processes (including droughts, floods, hurricanes and storms).
74
What are Multiple-Hazard zones?
Places where a number of physical hazards combine to create an increased level of risk for the country and its population.
75
What is prediction?
Knowing when and where a natural hazard will strike on a spatial and temporal scale that can be acted on meaningfully in terms of evacuation.
76
What is forecasting?
Much less precise than prediction; providing a percentage chance of a hazard occurring.
77
What is mitigation?
Action taken to reduce the impacts of a hazard event.
78
What is the Hazard Management Cycle?
A theoretical model of hazard management as a continuous four-stage cycle involving mitigation, preparation, response and recovery.
79
What is the 'Disk Risk' Model?
A model that attempts to explain the reasons for the decline in deaths in terms of disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.
80
What is Hazard Management?
A process in which governments and other organisations work together to protect people from the natural hazards that threaten their communities.
81
What is the Park’s Model (Hazard-Response Curve)?
A model that shows how a country or region might respond after a hazard event. It can be used to directly compare how areas of different levels of development might recover from a hazard event. Stages: relief, rehabilitation + reconstruction.
82
What is Hazard Mitigation?
Strategies meant to avoid, delay or prevent hazard events.
83
What is Hazard Adaption?
Strategies designed to reduce the impacts of hazard events.
84
What is Land-use Zoning?
Process by which local government planners regulate how land in a community may be used.
85
What are Diverting Lava flows?
Using barriers or digging channels to try to divert lava flows into safer directions.
86
What is Geographical information system (GSI) mapping?
Combines geographically referenced data on a map; on which you can look at specific data (e.g evacuation routes).
87
What is Hazard-resistant design?
Designing and constructing buildings that can withstand hazard events more effectively. e.g roofs of houses near volcanoes are sloped to reduce ash build up
88
Why is High-tech monitoring useful?
Allow scientists to learn about natural processes in the hope to eventually be able to predict them more accurately.
89
What is crisis mapping?
Uses crowd-sourced information as well as satellite imagery, other maps and statistical models to accurately map areas struck by disaster.
90
What is Modelling hazard impact?
Computer models allow scientists to predict the impacts of hazard events on communities: computer systems model the effects of a disaster.
91
Why is Public education useful?
Helps people to understand what they can do to protect themselves before, during and after a hazard event.
92
What is Community preparedness/adaptation?
People living in the community at risk develop suitable preparedness plans and educate local residents.
93
What is Disaster Aid?
Aid flows to countries and victims via governments, NGOs and private donors.
94
What is Internal Governmental Aid?
Typically used in emerging/developing countries: where financial load is spread throughout the taxpayers of the country.
95
What is Paleomagnetism?
The study of rocks that show the magnetic fields of the earth

Geography (4 decks)

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