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Geology Exams > Volcanoes, Atmosphere, and Mass-Wasting > Flashcards

Volcanoes, Atmosphere, and Mass-Wasting Flashcards

1
Q

What is the VEI scale based on?

A
  1. Volume of magma erupted
  2. Volume of erupted material
  3. Eruption column height
  4. Eruption type
  5. Climate response
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2
Q

Describe Basalt

A
  • Mafic Extrusive Rock
  • Dark in color
  • Low-viscosity lava (flowy)
  • Icelandic, Hawaiian, Strombolian
  • Shield and Cinder Cones
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3
Q

Describe Rhyolite

A
  • Felsic Extrusive Rock
  • Light in color
  • High Viscosity lava (sticky)
  • Explosive & Pyroclastic Flows
  • Pelean and Plinian
  • Stratovolcanoes/Composite Domes
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4
Q

Describe Andesite

A
  • Intermediate Extrusive Rock
  • Medium in color (grey)
  • Medium Viscosity lava
  • Stratovolcanoes/Composite Domes
  • Strombolian and Vulcanian
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5
Q

Describe Gabbro

A
  • Mafic Intrusive Rock
  • Low-viscosity magma (flowy)
  • Icelandic, Hawaiian, Strombolian
  • Shield and Cinder Cones
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6
Q

Describe Granite

A
  • Felsic Intrusive Rock
  • High Viscosity magma (sticky)
  • Explosive & Pyroclastic Flows
  • Pelean and Plinian
  • Stratovolcanoes/Composite Domes
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7
Q

Describe Diorite

A
  • Intermediate Intrusive Rock
  • Medium Viscosity magma
  • Stratovolcanoes/Composite Domes
  • Strombolian and Vulcanian
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8
Q

What is a Pluton?
What is a Batholith?
What is the Sierra Mountains Batholith made of?

A
  1. Any type of intrusive rock body
  2. The largest type of pluton
  3. Granite
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9
Q

Define Aphantic, Porphyritic, and Vesicular

A
  1. Fine-grained extrusive rocks
  2. Phaneretic minerals within an aphantic land mass
  3. extrusive rocks that are filled with bubbles
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10
Q

Rank pyroclast from largest to smallest.

A

Bombs, Lapilli, Ash, Tuff

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11
Q

What is the most common type of igneous rock?

A

Basalt

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12
Q

What volcanoes are associated with VEI 1 eruptions?

A

Shield Volcanoes

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13
Q

What volcanoes are associated with VEI 2 eruptions?

A

Cinder Cones

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14
Q

What volcanoes are associated with VEI 3-4 eruptions?

A

Stratovolcanoes/Composite Dome volcanoes

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15
Q

What volcanoes are associated with VEI 4-6 eruptions?

A

Stratovolcanoes/Composite Dome volcanoes + pyroclastic flows

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16
Q

What volcanoes are associated with VEI 7-8 eruptions?

A

Calderas

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17
Q

What is Pahoehoe lava flow? What is an A’a lava flow?

A

P: Ropey surface
A: craggy surface

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18
Q

What is a lahar

A
  • Volcanic mudflow
  • ash and water mix
  • flows quickly
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19
Q

What volcano is closest to SSU?

A

Konocti

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20
Q

Eyjafjallajoekull (2010) eruption
Hint: air traffic

A
  • Covered by an ice-cap glacier
  • Divergent boundary and Hotspot
  • Canceled air traffic
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21
Q

Long Valley Caldera (USA)
Hint: bowen’s

A

Last eruption 760,000 ybp
Basaltic to rhyolitic
Pyroclastic clouds & flows
currently a resurgent dome

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22
Q

Crater Lake, Mount Mazama
Hint: Wizard

A

Rhyodacite magma
erupted in 5677 BCE
Wizard Island
Pyroclastic flow 1.25 km wide

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23
Q

Mount St. Helens 1980
Hint: landslide

A

Dacite eruption that killed 35 people
Height decreased by 1300ft
500 kph pyroclastic flows
172 earthquakes > M2.6 in 2 days
Largest landslide

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24
Q

What volcanoes are a part of the Cascades?

A

Mt. Rainer, Mount St. Helens, Mt. Mazama, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lassen

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25
Q

1912 Novarupta
Hint: smokes

A

The largest eruption of the 1900s
VEI 6 eruption Alaska
Pyroclastic ash flows made the Valley of 10,000 Smokes - a layer of tuff still cooling

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26
Q

Mt Rainer 1895
Hint: McKenna

A

Lahar hazard to Seatle & Tacoma
Erupted 16 times between 1820-1892

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27
Q

Mt. Unzen 1991
Hint: Kraffts

A

Felsic + pyroclastic flows
Killed 43 people including the Kraffts
1792-lava dome collapsed creating a tsunami that killed 15,000 people (worst volcanic disaster in Japan history

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28
Q

Nevado del Ruiz 1985
Hint: lava domes

A

Colombia in the Andes
5 lava domes
Plinian eruptions
Dangerous lahars due to summit glaciers
23,000 buried in Armero

29
Q

Mount Pelee 1902
Hint: deadly

A

Deadliest eruption of the 1900s
Martinique (Caribbean)
30,000 killed by pyroclastic flows

30
Q

Thera, Santorini (~1600BCE)
Hint: Nile River

A

Destroyed the Minoan civilization of Greece
VEI 6 eruption
Killed 40,000
6km caldera that produced 200km deep ash layer of tuff
turned the Nile river red (biblical thing)

31
Q

Mount Vesuvius 76 CE
Hint: Pompeii

A

First observations of Plinian eruptions by Pliny the Younger (hence Plinian)
Buried Pompeii and Herculaneum in pyroclastic flows
Has erupted 50 times since

32
Q

Mount Etna 2011
Hint: tsunami

A

Low-viscosity lava flows (Very flowy) with intermittent caldera collapse
Sicily, Italy
Debris avalanches and pyroclastic flows happen intermittently which caused a tsunami

33
Q

Mount Pinatubo 1991
Hint: death toll

A

The death toll was relatively low (800) because the Philippine government listened to the Kraffts and made evacuation plans
Pyroclastic flows, ash, and lahars
VEI 6 erupted Andesite and Dacite
Global temp dropped 0.5 C
Coincided with a Typhoon Yunya

34
Q

What volcano erupted in 1257 AD? What were its global effects?

A

Mount Samalas in Indonesia, the top collapsed which caused a catastrophic eruption that blasted 27 miles high
This caused a volcanic winter, which in turn caused a famine that killed 50,000 people

35
Q

Mount Merapi

A

Most dangerous volcano in Indonesia

36
Q

What is insolation? What are the 3 types of wavelengths that come from insolation and their percentages?

A

incoming solar radiation that reaches Earth as a broad spectrum of wavelengths
~43% is visible, ~49% is near-infrared, and ~7% is UV

37
Q

What range can humans see?

A

The visible light spectrum (colors)

38
Q

What is Albedo?

A

The reflectivity of the Earth’s surface.
30% of the radiation from the sun is reflected back to the atmosphere

39
Q

What types of radiation does the Earth absorb?
What types of radiation does the Earth emit?

A

The Earth absorbs short-wave radiation
The Earth emits long-wave radiation

40
Q

What are greenhouse gases and how do they work? What is their impact on the Earth?

A

The most common ones are CO2, H2O, O3, NO2, and CH4
They absorb the long-wave radiation in the atmosphere and cause global warming

41
Q

What is the atmosphere?

A

An envelope of gases gravitationally attracted to the Earth
A heat engine that uses solar radiation to produce wind
Helps air circulate to create weather

42
Q

What are the layers of the atmosphere starting from the closest to the Earth’s surface to the furthest? Describe each layer.

A

Troposphere - Where weather and life reside
Stratosphere - Layered, planes fly through here, horizontal wind
Mesosphere - Middle, stops meteoroids
Thermosphere - Hot
Exosphere - air escapes

43
Q

What is the ozone layer?

A

a layer in the earth’s stratosphere containing a high concentration of ozone, which absorbs most of the ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth from the sun.

44
Q

Laki 1873
Hint: Dangerous Gases

A

Iceland VEI6 Basaltic lava flows
Fissure eruptions over 8 months
High levels of hydrofluoric acid & sulfuric acid killed 50% of livestock and 25% of pop
Poisonous gases caused crop failures in Europe, droughts in India, and famine in Japan

45
Q

68-60Ma Deccan Traps in India

A

Contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs
Thickness > 6,500ft
Area: 500,000km^2
Volume: 512,000km^3
Global temp dropped 20 degrees C

46
Q

250Ma Siberian traps in Siberia

A

Contributed to the Great Dying (just before dinos)
Thickness: 3.5 km
Area: ~7 million km^2
Volume: ~4 million km^3
Equatorial Ocean temp > 40 degrees C
Explosive eruptions of rhyolite + carbon

47
Q

1452 Kuwae in Vanuatu
Hint: Little Ice Age

A

Caldera collapse
Initiated Little Ice Age: sulfate spike in antarctic& Greenland ice cores
Sweden had a total wheat crop failure
Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453
Ming Dynasty in China suffered a volcanic winter
Tens of thousands dead

48
Q

1600 Huaynaputna in Peru
Hint: Winds

A

VEI 6
1500 directly; 2mil worldwide
Russia: famine that killed up to 2 mil that caused the Tsar to be overthrown
Germany: wine harvest was 5% of normal
Swiss, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia: coldest winter on record
Pacific record sailing times due to high winds

49
Q

1815 Tambora
Hint: Temperature

A

VEI 7
Killed 10,000 from the blast + 80,000 from famine and disease
Caused 1816 “Year Without a Summer”
Global average temp dropped 5 degrees C

50
Q

1883 Krakatoa
Hint: Sound

A

VEI 6 intermediate eruption
15 mi high ash cloud that darkened the sky for 275 mi
Loudest sound in recorded history
global atmospheric shockwaves
global average temp 1.2 degrees C cooler for 5 yrs

51
Q

List some Calderas

A

Yellowstone, Long Valley, Toba, Taupo

52
Q

What primary disasters can cause mass wasting as a secondary disaster?

A

Droughts
Heat Waves
Winter Storms
Tropical Cyclones
Flooding
Wildfires
Local Storms
Volcanic Eruptions
Earthquakes

53
Q

Is there a minimum angle required for a mass-wasting event to happen?

A

No, but the steeper the slope, the less stable it is.

54
Q

What are the two important factors in the stability of land?

A

Water: added water decreases friction and adds weight
Oversteepening of slopes creates instability

55
Q

Where do mass movements occur?

A

Places where there are:
- excessive precipitation
- weak rock or soil
- undercutting
- flowing water
- steep terrain

56
Q

How can earthquakes cause mass wasting?

A

Shaking destabilizes slopes
Liquefaction causes soil and sediment to flow

57
Q

How can wildfires cause mass wasting?

A

Burning vegetation that keeps slopes stable

58
Q

What are the 3 classification processes of mass wasting?

A

Type of material, type of motion, and the velocity of the movement

59
Q

What types of materials fall under mass wasting?

A

Mud, Ash, Snow, Earth, Rock

60
Q

Describe Fall (mass wasting movement type)

A

Free-falling pieces

61
Q

Describe Slide (mass wasting movement type)

A

material that moves along a surface as a coherent mass.
Slump: movement of mass as a unit along a curved surface over steepened slopes
Block slide: fractured landslides
Rotational: most common
Submarine: occurs on volcanic flanks, continental slopes, & near active deltas

62
Q

Describe Flow (mass wasting movement type)

A

wet:
mudflows/lahars, debris flow, solifluction (tundra only)
dry:
debris avalanche (snow & rock), grain flow, earthflow (humid regions), creep (expansion and contraction)

63
Q

What are the largest mass-wasting events on Earth?

A

Volcanic Debris Avalanches

64
Q

Frank, Canada Landslide 1903

A

4:10 am
tons of limestone 1,300 ft high and 4,000 ft wide came down and buried a portion of Frank
killed 66 people
caused by unsafe mining techniques

65
Q

Winter of Terror 1951

A

649 avalanches in the Swiss Alps
Killed 265 people
~1000 structures destroyed

66
Q

1999 Vargas Tragedy
Hint: 20%

A

Venezuela
Killed 20% of the pop (10,000)
Caused by 40 in of rain falling within a few days
mudflows & landslides created alluvial fans
A similar event occurred in 1951

67
Q

1963 Vajont disaster
Hint: Dam

A

Italy
Lost 1901 people
A landslide fell into the water behind a dam creating a tsunami
They built the dam knowing the risk

68
Q

Why is San Francisco Bay Area so prone to landslides?

A

Volcanic history
Active fault lines
Climate
Storms and floods
Droughts
Wildfires

69
Q

Oso, Washington landslide 2014
hint: rainfall

A

A major landslide occurred 4 miles east of Oso, Washington, United States, on March 22, 2014, at 10:37 a.m. local time.
deaths: 43
Cause: soil saturation from heavy rainfall

Geology Exams (4 decks)

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