Unit 3 - Tectonic hazards Flashcards
What’s the Earths structure?
Inner core, outer core, mantle and crust.
Characteristics of the core?
- iron and nickel at 6200*c
- inner core is 1250km thick
- outer core is 2200km thick
Characteristics of the mantle?
- rich in silicate rocks
- 2900km thick, 1000*c
- rocks are semi molten
What is the asthenosphere?
- apart of the mantle, 80-200km
- solid, but rocks can deform under pressure
What are the 2 types of crust?
- oceanic crust (6-10km)
- continental crust (70km)
What is the lithosphere?
The rigid outer layer of the Earth consisting of the crust and solid outermost layer of the upper mantle.
What is the Moho Discontinuity?
The boundary between the crust and the mantle.
What are the 3 types of plate boundary?
-converging/destructive
-diverging/constructive
-transform/conservative
Movement of converging boundaries?
Pulling together, causing push mountains (South america)
Movement of diverging boundaries?
Pulling apart, creating new land (Iceland)
Movement of conservative boundaries?
Moving next to each other (san andreas fault)
What is the theory of convection currents?
- heat is moved towards the crust by circuling convection currents
- spread out the surface, like a conveyer belt
- the plates move on the asthensphere
What data is against convection currents?
modern scientific technologies have been unable to identify any convection cells in the mantle that would be strong enough to move plates.
What is ridge push?
-molten magma rises at a midocean ridge divergent boundary
- rocks are heated, expand and rise above the seafloor, forming a slope away from the ridge
- as rock cools, it becomes denser, causing it to slide down the pkates, exerting a force
- the gravitational sliding is the active driving force
What is slab pull?
-at the convergent plate boundaries, one plate is denser than another
- the denser plates subducts under the less dense plate
- the subducting plate is colder and heavier than the mantle, so it continues to sink, pulling the rest of the plate with it.
What happens to the plates at diverging plate boundaries at oceanic plates?
- diverging plates under oceans driven by slab pull, bring magma to the surface to form a ridge
- can form volcanoes and new islands
What happens to the plates at diverging plate boundaries at continental plates?
- mountain ridges are found at the plate margins as hot magma forces the crust to bulge
- parallel faults are found, forming rift valleys
What happens to the plates at converging plate boundaries at oceanic plates?
-the colder, denser plate will subduct beneath the other, forming an ocean trench
- some magma may be able to rise, forming island arcs.
What happens to the plates at converging plates boundaries at continental/ocean margins?
- the denser oceanic plate is subducted by slab pull
- less dense continental crust gets buckled and folded, to form mountain chains
What happens to the plates at converging plate boundaries at continental margins?
- continental plates have similar densities so no subduction
- fold mountains are created to relieve pressure
- earthquakes can occur at these
How are hotspots formed?
- plumes of magma rise to the crust
- forms volcanoes at the surface
- as the plate continues to move, more volcanoes form
- as continental volcanoes move, they become extinct
What are earthquakes along diverging plate boundaries like?
Shallow and related to volcanic activity
What are earthquakes like at oceanic boundaries?
Frequent and powerful, may cause tsunamis
What are earthquakes like at continental boundaries?
Mainly shallow, can be powerful and hazardous if humans inhabit the area
Why can earthquakes occur away from plate margins?
Stress creating movements at old fault lines
What human activity can cause Earthquakes?
Fracking for gas extraction, unnatural movement of gas causes movement of plates.
What are eruptions like at divergent plate margins?
Usually non-violent and most are in the deep ocean
What are eruptions like at convergent plate margins?
Can be violent and hazardous if close to urban settlements
What is the definition of magnitude?
The size or physical force of a hazard event
What are the 3 scales for earthquake magnitude?
Richter, movement magnitude and mercalli.
What is the richter scale?
- based on seismic waves on a seismic graph
- uses a logarithmic scale, 1-9
- widely used
What is the movement magnitude scale?
- measure the energy released
- takes into account geology, area and fault movement
- scale 1-9
- used since 2002 for large quakes
What is the Mercalli scale?
- a quanlitative scale that measures intensity based off visual damage
- from I to XII
What is the magnitude of volcanoes measured with?
Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)
What is the volcanic explosivity index?
- the volume of materia ejected, eruption cloud height, and direction used to determine explosivity value
What does the VEI not take into account?
Sulphur dioxide emissions, so limited in describing the effects on the atmosphere.
What can accurate/inaccurate predictions of hazards allow?
- reduce the impact of a hazard by allowing the evacuation of danger zones
- too many inaccurate predictions may increase the impact of future hazards as people will begin to ignore warnings
What is the seismic gap theory?
Over a period of time, all parts of a fault must attain the same average level of movement. A seismic gap with no quakes could result in a significant quake.
Why is there greater prediction for volcanoes?
There are usually warning signs before the eruption
- gas emissions
- hydrology
- temp changes
- seismic activity
What is the link between frequency and magnitude?
The higher the frequency, the smaller the magnitude.
The smaller the frequency, the larger the magnitude.
What can be put in place to manage the impact of frequent earthquakes?
Earthquake proof buildings and earthquake resistant drills, for example in Japan
What is the link between duration and impact of earthquakes?
The longer the duration, the more impact is caused on land.
What can extend the duration and impact of an earthquake?
The causation of secondary factors, like lahars, tsunamis and aftershocks.
What is speed of onset?
Speed of onset refers to how quickly the peak of the hazard arrives.
What is the speed of onset like for an earthquake?
Its almost instant, allowing no time to issue warnings, hence creating a larger damaging impact.
What is the speed of onset like for a volcanic eruption?
Usually slower speed of onset, which allows avasive action, thus reducing impact.
Example - 20,000 lives saved by evacuating in the pinatubo eruption of 1991.
What is areal extent?
The size of the geographical area effected by the tectonic event.
What increases the potential impact?
Increasing the area covered by the hazard.
What 6 factors are included in a tectonic hazard profile?
- magnitude
- speed of onset
- duration
- areal extent
- spacial predictability
- frequency
Name the 5 types of volcanoes.
- shield
- composite/stratovolcano
- cinder/ash
- acid/dome
- caldera
Shape and formation of a shield volcano?
- effusive eruption where large quantities of lava pour from the central vent
- lava travels a long way before solidifying
- produces tall volcanoes with gently sloping sides
- eruptions tend to be frequent, but not explosive
- occurs at diverging margins and hotspots
Shape and formation of stratovolcanoes?
- many layers of solidified lava and volcanic ash
- lava is slow flowing and solidifies quickly
- produces steep sloping sides
- ash occurs in explosive eruptions, often after the vent has become blocked with solidified lava
- occur at converging plate margins
Shape and formation of cinder volcanoes?
- gas forces lava high into the air, where it breaks into small fragments
- fragments cool and fall as cinders
- produces a short, symmetrical cone with relatively steep sides and a crater at the top
- often occurs at the sides of shield or composite volcanoes
- many are formed from one eruption
Shape and formation of acid volcano?
- viscous, acidic lava erupts effusively but cannot travel far before solidifying
- lava builds up to form a steep sided cone
Shape and formation of a caldera volcano?
- gasses trapped in a magma chamber eventually causes an extremely explosive eruption
- the upper part of the volcano can be destroyed
- the ground above magma chamber can subside, leaving a large depression, which can eventually flood
What are icelandic eruptions like?
Effusive - Lava flows freely from the open fissure
What are hawaiin eruptions like?
Effusive - fluid lava flows from a vent, some maybe thrown into the air