...------------------------------------------------- OPTION 1: Tectonic Activity and Hazards ------------------------------------------------- Note: These exemplar reports are based on the work of candidates under examination conditions, during the June 2010 examination series. The reports were originally hand written but have been typed up, with diagrams redrawn. Errors, including QWC errors, have in most cases been kept. The aim of these exemplar reports is to highlight good practice and areas of potential improvement. The marking levels and examiners comments given are indicative and should be used as a basis for discussion in the classroom, rather than indicating a specific grade. Pre-release research focus * Explore the range of tectonic event profiles and how these and other factors affect the responses of people and governments. * Research contrasting locations and hazard events to draw out the range of tectonic activity and the different responses generated. Report title: ‘Tectonic hazard profiles determine the way in which people and governments respond to hazards’. Discuss ------------------------------------------------- Student’s plan: Intro – definitions Park model THP factors Magnitude – Lincolnshire, Iripinia Speed onset - Popocatepetl, Kashmir Areal Extent – tsunami Other factors - economic development Scientific understanding Location Conclusion - why chose case studies Nevado del Ruiz Loma Prieta Introduction Tectonic hazards pose significant challenges...
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...With reference to particular examples, suggest why the impacts of tectonic hazards vary from place to place Tectonic hazards are natural events occurring due to movements or deformations of the earth’s crust with the potential to cause damage to lives and properties. E.g. earthquake and volcanic activities. The impact caused by tectonic hazards on lives and properties are mainly determined by physical factors, vulnerability factors and affected region’s capacity to cope. These factors are parts of the risk equation, which is used to measure the level of hazard risk of an area. Which I will be using it to explain why the impacts of tectonic hazards vary from place to place. One of the main reason why some place suffers more than the others is the global distribution of earthquakes, this is due to the margins of tectonic plates. It is commonly known that earthquakes happen on the plate boundaries. However, at some plate margins, earthquakes are more destructive and frequents, for example, Eurasian plate and Pacific plate, where Pacific plate sinks under the Eurasian plate. The impacts of tectonic hazards seem to vary significantly in countries with different economic development. This is evident in 2010, with an earthquake reached magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale, struck Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, with 316000 people being killed. Whereas in 2011, an earthquake reached magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale struck Japan caused just 20896 deaths. The significant...
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...[pic] Information on the exam: Unit 3 – GEOG3 - Contemporary Geographical Issues • 30% of A Level • 2 hour 30 minutes written examination • 3 questions: o 1 from Section A – Physical Geography Structured Questions o 1 from Section B – Human Geography Structured Questions o 1 from Section C – Essay Questions (You must not answer the option answered in either Section A or Section B) [pic] |Plate tectonics and associated hazards |Ecosystems: Change and Challenge | | | | |Plate movement |Nature of ecosystems | |Earth structure, plate tectonics theory: convection |Structure of ecosystems, energy flows, trophic levels, | |currents and sea-floor spreading. Evidence: |food chains and food webs. | |continental drift and palaeomagnetism. | | |Destructive, constructive and conservative plate ...
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...[pic] Information on the exam: Unit 3 – GEOG3 - Contemporary Geographical Issues • 30% of A Level • 2 hour 30 minutes written examination • 3 questions: o 1 from Section A – Physical Geography Structured Questions o 1 from Section B – Human Geography Structured Questions o 1 from Section C – Essay Questions (You must not answer the option answered in either Section A or Section B) [pic] |Plate tectonics and associated hazards |Ecosystems: Change and Challenge | | | | |Plate movement |Nature of ecosystems | |Earth structure, plate tectonics theory: convection |Structure of ecosystems, energy flows, trophic levels, | |currents and sea-floor spreading. Evidence: |food chains and food webs. | |continental drift and palaeomagnetism. | | |Destructive, constructive and conservative plate ...
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...“Discuss the view that the impact of earthquake hazards depends primarily on human factors (40)”. I agree to some extent about the statement above and that human factors can affect the impact of an earthquake hazard. A hazard is an object or process that has the potential to cause harm. Ground shaking, ground displacement and flooding are some of the hazards that are produced during an earthquake. In relation to the question above the type and severity of the impact can be affected by physical factors (such as the magnitude and frequency of the quake) as well as human factors (population density and education). I will be discussing the question using the following case studies, Sichuan, Indonesia and L’Aquila. On the 12th May 2008 an earthquake occurred at 2:28pm in Sichuan because the pressure resulting from the Indian plate colliding with the Eurasian was sent along the Longmenshan fault line that runs through Sichuan. The earthquake lasted 120 seconds and reached 7.9 on the Richter scale, one of the deadliest to strike China in recent years and its effects were felt as far away as Taiwan, Thailand and Bangladesh. Although the area has a long history of tectonic activity, it seems it was not prepared for an event of this magnitude. With a population consisting of 87.26m people the death toll stood at nearly 70 thousand along with 374,000 people injured and 5m left homeless. Making this Chinas worst earthquake since 1976 when 240,000 people were killed in Tangshan. Even...
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...“Discuss the view that the impact of earthquake hazards depends primarily on human factors (40)”. I agree to some extent about the statement above and that human factors can affect the impact of an earthquake hazard. A hazard is an object or process that has the potential to cause harm. Ground shaking, ground displacement and flooding are some of the hazards that are produced during an earthquake. In relation to the question above the type and severity of the impact can be affected by physical factors (such as the magnitude and frequency of the quake) as well as human factors (population density and education). I will be discussing the question using the following case studies, Sichuan, Indonesia and L’Aquila. On the 12th May 2008 an earthquake occurred at 2:28pm in Sichuan because the pressure resulting from the Indian plate colliding with the Eurasian was sent along the Longmenshan fault line that runs through Sichuan. The earthquake lasted 120 seconds and reached 7.9 on the Richter scale, one of the deadliest to strike China in recent years and its effects were felt as far away as Taiwan, Thailand and Bangladesh. Although the area has a long history of tectonic activity, it seems it was not prepared for an event of this magnitude. With a population consisting of 87.26m people the death toll stood at nearly 70 thousand along with 374,000 people injured and 5m left homeless. Making this Chinas worst earthquake since 1976 when 240,000 people were killed in Tangshan. Even...
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...Chapter 2: Plate Tectonics and Physical Hazards Earth Structure - Inner Core - Solid, High Temperature, 90% Iron, 1300 km thick - Outer Core - Liquid, similar to inner core, 2000 km thick, density of 10.7 g/cm3 - Mantle - Solid, iron & magnesium-rich silicate rocks, 3000 km thick, density of 4.5 g/cm3 -Lithosphere - Outer rind of the Earth - made up of tectonic plates - Asthenosphere - Below lithosphere - Hot layer of weak rocks - Crust - Outer rock layer of Earth, density of 2.8 g/cm3 - Moho – the boundary between Earth’s crust and mantle, marks the base of the continental crust, separates lighter crustal rocks from the more dense mantle - Isostacy (buoyancy) is the reason why there’s a difference in elevation between continental and oceanic crusts - Plate tectonics describes the movements of Earth’s plate (moves up to 11 cm/year) Hazards and Plate Boundaries - Most of tectonic actions, like earthquakes and volcanoes, occur near boundaries of the plates - Divergent boundaries: plates pulled away from each other by the sinking of lithosphere at oceanic trenches - If the plates are continental plates, once pulled apart they will form a continental rift zone, which can develop into a new ocean. Spreading continues allowing basaltic magma to push to the surface. - Convergent boundaries: plates moving towards each other - Subduction zone: when one or both plates are oceanic and the denser ones slides down into the asthenosphere...
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... * Processes - physical, chemical, and biological ways in which events affect Earth’s surface * Internal processes come from forces within Earth * Plate tectonics * Result of internal energy of Earth * External processes come from forces on Earth’s surface * Atmospheric effects * Energy from the sun Definitions * Hazard – probability that a specific damaging event will happen within a particular period of time * Risk – a function of the hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and coping capacity * Disaster – hazardous event that occurs over a limited time in a defined area * Catastrophe – massive disaster that requires significant amount of money or time to recover Disaster Trends * Recently, there has been an apparent increase in natural disasters * Eg. Japan tsunami, Haiti earthquake, Hurricane Katrina * The United Nations designated the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Hazards Reduction * [graph] The cost of natural hazards is increasing worldwide, partly b/c world population doubled from 3bill to 6bill in only 40yrs [graph] The cost of natural hazards is increasing worldwide, partly b/c world population doubled from 3bill to 6bill in only 40yrs Mitigation – reduce the effects of something; natural disaster preparation Death and Damage Caused by Natural Hazards * Those hazards that have a great impact on human life may not cause the most property damage * Hazards vary greatly in their...
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... To understand why the Earth moves the way that it does along and through its diverse layers, we must have a better understanding of the physical science surrounding both plate tectonics, and earthquakes. This is a summation on earthquakes; what causes earthquake to occur, the effects of earthquakes on surroundings, how the strength of earthquakes are measured, and the regions in which earthquakes are most likely to take place. There are two types of plate margins exist; divergent margins and convergent margins. Convergent margins are the boundaries which are on two plates that proceed into one another and return (Murck, Skinner, & Mackenzie, 2008). As a result, this leads to the two distinctive forms of plate margins; it is dependent upon if the boundary is in between two continental plates, in between two pelagic plates, or in between both. However, divergent margins are by far different from convergent margins in that these margins are boundaries along two plates traveling apart from one another; taking place within the pelagic or continental crusts (Murck, Skinner, & Mackenzie, 2008). Earthquakes have a tendency to be most frequent along these boundaries being the most unmistakable expression of dynamic plate activities. The primary cause of earthquakes is the abrupt movement of what is referred to as the stressed blocks within the Earth’s crust alongside a particular fault line (Murck, Skinner, Mackenzie, 2008) . It...
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...Plate Tectonics Damian Neal EG 481 May 14, 2012 Instructor: Dr. M. Jiru Plate Tectonics Outline I. Revolution in Earth Science Continental Drift Hypothesis Sea-Floor Spreading: Clues and Processes II. The Plate Tectonic Model Motivating Observations Types of Plate Margins (Divergent and Convergent Margins) III. The Search for a Mechanism The Tectonic Cycle (the motion and influences that occur during the cycle) Plate Tectonics The location where two plates meet is called a plate boundary, and plate boundaries are commonly associated with geological events such as earthquakes and the creation of topographic features such as mountains, volcanoes, mid-ocean ridges, and oceanic trenches. The majority of the world's active volcanoes occur along plate boundaries. In 1912 Alfred Wegener introduced his continental drift hypothesis. Wegener's believed that at once the continents were at one time were all connected together forming a single continent in which, he referred to as the supercontinent. The supercontinent may also be referred to as the Pangaea, defined as the all lands. Wegener believed that the supercontinent had split into fragments like pieces of ice floating on a pond and that the fragments had slowly drifted to their present locations (Merali & Skinner, 2009). However, there was a problem with Wegener’s hypothesis...
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...core, a volcano is formed. Volcanic eruptions can cause lateral blasts, lava flows, hot ash flows, mudslides, avalanches, falling ash and floods. These eruptions can also trigger tsunamis, flash floods, earthquakes, mudflows and rock falls. Examples of volcanic mountains are Mount St. Helens, Mount Fuji, and Pinatubo. (Kusky, 2010). The earth’s crust is made up of huge slabs known as plates. Plates fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and float on the mantle. They are in constant motion, either towards each other or away from each other. Plate tectonics is considered to be the main theory currently used by most Earth Scientists to describe motion within the outer-most layer of the sold Earth, which is also known as the lithosphere. It is this movement that induces friction that causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Volcanism is associated with two of the plate boundary types, divergent and convergent margins. Volcanoes are formed when two tectonic plates meet; the heavier plate slides underneath the light plate and melts down to become magma. This mixes with trapped gases and steam in the magma chamber (Gates, 2009). Pressure from surrounding rocks forces the magma to the surface through weak points, such as fractures and when it reaches the crust an explosion occurs with regard to the amount of pressure available and the viscosity of magma creating a subduction volcano. Volcanoes can additionally be formed when two tectonic plates move away from each other. The impact of the...
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...Discuss the view that the impact of earthquakes depends primarily on human factors: Earthquakes are caused by movement of tectonic plates that covering the earth’s surface. They occur at all plate boundaries; destructive, constructive and conservative, but the most intense tend to occur at subduction zones and conservative faults, such as the San Andres Fault in California. Every seismic event will be unique, and there are many factors influencing the extent to which it will have an impact on the environment and the populace. In many situations, both physical factors, related to the nature of the event and the topography of the area, and human factors, linked to demography and land use, have an influence on the effects of a hazard. When evaluating the impacts of an earthquake, the demography of an area will almost certainly have a large influence. Clearly, a very densely populated area will be more likely to have a higher death toll or a wider radius of influence than an event occurring in a more sparsely populated area, due to the simple fact that there are more people in the same amount of space to be affected. However it is not just this statistical fact that leads to a more people being affected. In many LEDC’s, the highest population density occurs in slum areas and shanty towns. The people living in these areas are ill equipped to cope with the effects of an earthquake due to a combination of factors, mostly centred around the conditions in which they live. The same is true...
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...reported, with magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes being mostly imperceptible and magnitude 7 causing serious damage over large areas. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale. At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacing the ground. When a large earthquakeepicenter is located offshore, the seabed sometimes suffers sufficient displacement to cause a tsunami. The shaking in earthquakes can also trigger landslides and occasionally volcanic activity. In its most generic sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event — whether a natural phenomenon or an event caused by humans — that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of geological faults, but also by volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear experiments. An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus orhypocenter. The term epicenter refers to the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter. [pic] [pic] Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998 [pic] [pic] Global plate tectonic movement |Contents | | [hide] | |1 Naturally occurring earthquakes | |1.1...
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...[pic] Course Syllabus GLG/101 Geology with Lab Please print a copy of this syllabus for handy reference. Whenever there is a question about what assignments are due, please remember this syllabus is considered the ruling document. Copyright Copyright ©2009 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. University of Phoenix© is a registered trademark of Apollo Group, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft©, Windows©, and Windows NT© are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Use of these marks is not intended to imply endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation. Edited in accordance with University of Phoenix© editorial standards and practices. Facilitator Information Michael Gutierrez gofiguretravel@email.phoenix.edu (University of Phoenix) gofiguretravel@q.com (Personal) 602-301-2633 (mountain) Facilitator Availability I am available from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mountain Time on most days, but I attempt to reserve Saturday for my family. On Sundays, I tend to be online in the late evening only. If these times are not convenient for you,...
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...Are the social impacts of an earthquake more important than the economic impacts? This case study will explore evidence in favour and against and then come to a overall conclusion based on the evidence to answer the question of should we spend more money on social impacts of an earthquake or the economic impacts of an earthquake. An earthquake is the sometimes violent shaking of the ground caused by movements of Earth's tectonic plates. Most earthquakes occur along fault lines, which is where two tectonic plates come together. Earthquakes strike suddenly and violently and can occur at any time, day or night, throughout the year. Smaller earthquakes might crack some windows and shake products off store shelves, but larger earthquakes can cause death and massive destruction, devastating communities and tend to weaken local economies. Arguments for the economic impacts of an earthquake. The earthquake hazard poses the most serious intermediate term risk to the health, safety, and economic viability of many parts of the United States and throughout the world. Recent earthquakes demonstrated the risks to modern industrial societies from such sudden event, affecting everything from massive loss of life, infrastructure damage, and financial instability. Much larger earthquakes can be expected to occur adjacent to many metropolitan regions in the United States. Some analysts have predicted that the earthquake could prevent Chile’s economy from growing during 2010. Initially...
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