Download Natural Disasters Study Guide: Key Concepts and Risk Management and more Exams Advanced Education in PDF only on Docsity!
ERTH 2415 STUDY GUIDE WITH
COMPLETE SOLUTION
Natural Disaster - ANSWER An extreme natural event in which a large amount of energy is released in a short time with catastrophic consequences for life and infrastructure in the vicinity
Society Ignores Natural Hazards - ANSWER Natural disasters are often triggered when __________
Natural Hazard - ANSWER A source of danger that exists in the environment and that has the potential to cause harm
Disasters - ANSWER __________ occur when hazards meet vulnerability
Vulnerability - ANSWER Likelihood that a community will suffer, both in terms of fatalities and physical damage, when exposed to hazards in the environment
Frequency - ANSWER Number of similar events per unit time (x number of occurrences per year)
Return Period - ANSWER The length of time between similar events (x amount of time between events)
Magnitude - ANSWER Amount of energy fuelling a natural event such as force of hurricane winds or amplitude of ground motion during an earthquake
Low - ANSWER __________ magnitude events occur frequently/short return period
High - ANSWER __________ magnitude events are rare/long return period
Disasters - ANSWER __________ occur where and when the earth's natural processes concentrate and release energy suddenly
Earth's Internal Energy, Gravity, Solar Energy, Impact Energy - ANSWER Four energy sources that fuel the Earth's natural processes
Gravity - ANSWER Force of attraction between two masses (m1 and m2), separated by a distance (r)
Solar Nebula - ANSWER Rotating flattened cloud of gas and dust from which the sun and the rest of the bodies in the solar system formed
4.6 Billion - ANSWER All planets formed at the same time __________
Differentiation - ANSWER The process by which gravity causes denser material to gradually migrate to the center of a planet
Surface - ANSWER Density of a planet increases from __________ to center
Solid Iron - ANSWER Inner core of the earth is very dense, composed of
Liquid Iron - ANSWER Outer core of the earth is very dense, composed of
Iron and Magnesium - ANSWER The dense mantle of the earth is composed of __________
Silicon and Oxygen - ANSWER The least dense layer of the earth, called the crust is composed of __________
Residual Impact Energy - ANSWER The center of the earth is hot due to __________ from planetary accretion
Response - ANSWER A forest firefighter suppresses a nascent fire with an axe is an example of __________
Recovery - ANSWER Middle-term activities to put the situation back to normal after a disaster
Recovery - ANSWER Removing debris after a mass movement to reopen a transport corridor is an example of __________
Mitigation - ANSWER Long term actions taken to reduce risk
Structural Mitigation - ANSWER Building protective infrastructure such as dams, dykes and floodways is an example of __________
Structural Mitigation - ANSWER Schools in Victoria, BC currently being strengthened in order to better withstand earthquakes is an example of
Non Structural Mitigation - ANSWER Land use policies, severe weather warnings, National Building Code of Canada, and education including evacuation drills are all example of __________
Preparedness - ANSWER Planning for disasters by putting in place resources to cope with them when they occur
Preparedness - ANSWER Putting together a home emergency kit is an example of __________
All Hazards Emergency Management - ANSWER Increases efficiency by recognizing and integrating common emergency management elements across hazard types
Climate Change - ANSWER __________ increases the frequency and magnitude
of hydro-meteorological hazards
Meteoroid - ANSWER Extraterrestrial debris orbiting the sun, seen as a potential impactor with earth
Meteor - ANSWER An impactor entering the Earth's atmosphere and becoming incandescent because of friction
Meteroids - ANSWER Most __________ are fragments from asteroids
Asteroid - ANSWER A small, rocky body orbiting the Sun
Main Asteroid Belt - ANSWER Located between Mars and Jupiter occupied by numerous irregularly shaped asteroid bodies
Asteroids - ANSWER Collisions between __________ in the main asteroid belt send a few fragments to impact earth
Planetesimals - ANSWER A minute planet or body that has the ability to come together with many others under gravitation to form a planet
Ceres - ANSWER Largest asteroid/dwarf planet in the main asteroid belt with a diameter of about 900 kilometers
Near Earth Asteroids - ANSWER Asteroids crossing the orbits of Earth or Mars; Apollo and Aten Asteroids
Comet - ANSWER A small object composed of stable water ice and rock debris moving through outer space very far away from the sun
Sublimate - ANSWER Comet ice can __________ from solid to gas near the sun forming an atmosphere and sometimes a tail of dust or gas
Halleys Comet - ANSWER A comet that crosses earth's orbit
farmer mowing hay
Grimsby Meteorite - ANSWER Latest Canadian meteorite occurring on September 25, 2009 estimated to be about 100 kg
Extra Terrestrial - ANSWER Meteorites contain information about __________ rock forming processes
3D Laser Imaging - ANSWER Non contact approach used to map surface features and create 3D images
Chelyabink - ANSWER Massive meteor stuck this Siberian city in 2013, accompanied by another unrelated meteorite, barely missing earth
Tunguska - ANSWER Massive fireball in the sky over Siberia in 1908 which created no crater
Gigaannum - ANSWER Equal to one billion years (Ga)
Ma - ANSWER The time unit used in geology equal to one million years
Creaceous Paleogene (K/Pg) - ANSWER Event that caused the extinction of 65% of all species in a short period of time including the dinosaurs
Iridium - ANSWER Key observation of the K/Pg boundary event where a world wide __________ rich layer was found
Iridium - ANSWER Known to be locally associated with impacts
Short - ANSWER K/Pg boundary marks a __________ episode of mass extinction of a few million years
Volcanism - ANSWER Stress on life from extensive __________ caused by the K/Pg boundary event
Cretaceous - ANSWER At the end of the __________ period, dramatic climate variations had brought many lifeforms on the brink of extinction
Torino Scale - ANSWER A method for categorizing the impact hazard associated with near earth objects (NEOs) such as asteroids or comets
NEOSSat - ANSWER Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite; microsatellite about the size of a suitcase launched on February 25, 2013 to track near earth asteroids and identify space debris from decommissioned satellites
Astrobleme - ANSWER An eroded remnant of a large crater made by the impact of a meteorite or comet; synonym for impact crater
20 - ANSWER An impact crater diameter is __________ times the diameter of the impactor
Meteorites - ANSWER Craters with a diameter of greater than 5 kilometers do not contain __________ as the impactor vaporized on impact
Steep Sided - ANSWER An impact crater is __________ and closed
Rim Rocks - ANSWER __________ are tilted away from the impact crater
Pentlandite - ANSWER A nickel ore deposited from impact
Wanapitei - ANSWER Impact crater that lies entirely within the original limits of the Sudbury Impactor, however is much younger
Co Located - ANSWER The Sudbury and Wanapitei crates are __________
Gravity - ANSWER A spherical, homogenous, non-rotating force pointing vertically downwards towards the earth's center
Gravimeter - ANSWER An instrument used to make gravity measurements in the field
Heterogeneities - ANSWER Gravity data is processed to map ___________ in the subsurface of the earth
High - ANSWER A region is denser than the surrounding material when it has a ___________ gravity value
Metallic Minerals - ANSWER An area containing rock with a high concentration of ___________ will have a high gravity value
Low - ANSWER A region is less dense than the surrounding material when it has a ___________ gravity value
Cavity - ANSWER A ___________ region has a low gravity value
Impact Craters - ANSWER ___________ usually correspond to low gravity anomalies because it has been filled with material less dense than the host rocks
Semicircular - ANSWER The Wanapitei crater has a distinct ___________ feature
Charlevoix - ANSWER A semi-circular impact area on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River
Scars - ANSWER Impact ___________ act as zone of weakness in the Earth's crust in Charlevoix, QC; associated with earthquake activity
Charlevoix - ANSWER A semi-circular shape and shatter cones are distinctive features of the ___________ impact zone
tectonics
Random - ANSWER Earthquakes and volcanoes do not occur at ___________ locations
Crust - ANSWER The earth's ___________ is rich in silicon and oxygen
Mantle - ANSWER The earth's ___________ is rich in magnesium and iron
Core - ANSWER The earth's ___________ is rich in iron
Continental Crust - ANSWER ___________ has lower density than oceanic crust
Lithosphere - ANSWER The low density and rigid ___________ floats on top of the denser and plastic asthenosphere
100 km - ANSWER The lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary occurs at a depth of about ___________
Convection - ANSWER Heat transfer by fluid circulation
Convection Cell - ANSWER A distinct volume of circulating fluid that is heated from below and cooled from above
Tectonic - ANSWER Related to the deformation forces acting on the earth's lithosphere and responsible for the creation of mountain ranges and faults
Tectonic Cycle - ANSWER An episode of large scale deformation of the earth's surface
Laterally - ANSWER Continents move ___________, as part of rigid lithospheric plates that slide over a plastic asthenosphere
Lithosphere - ANSWER Continential and ocean crust; rigid upper mantle
Asthenosphere - ANSWER Convecting upper mantle
Convection - ANSWER ___________ is the driving force in the asthenosphere
Subduction - ANSWER Process in which a lithospheric plate descends beneath another, pulled down by gravity
Rigid - ANSWER No earthquakes occur below 600 km because the material is not ___________ enough
Epicenter - ANSWER The point on the earth's surface directly above the hypocenter
Pangea - ANSWER The supercontinent that began breaking apart about 200 Ma ago
Pacific Plate - ANSWER The largest tectonic plate in the world
Himalayas - ANSWER The home of the largest continent-continent collision
North American - ANSWER Ottawa is located at the center of the ___________ plate
Tension - ANSWER Force that pulls a body apart
Compression - ANSWER Force that shortens a body
Shear - ANSWER Force applied parallel to the surface, causing slippage
Spreading Center - ANSWER An elongated region where two plates are being pulled away from eachother
Tension - ANSWER The dominant force behind the spreading center
Lithosphere - ANSWER New ___________ is formed as molten asthenosphere is forced upward into the gap
Convergent Zone - ANSWER Region where two tectonic plates collide
Compression - ANSWER The dominant force behind the formation of convergent zones
Continent Collision Zone - ANSWER Occurs when two continents collide; both plates are too buoyant to subduct, therefore the plates compress and crumple causing the crust to thicken
Subduction Zone - ANSWER Occurs when an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate, or where two oceanic plates collide
Triple Junction - ANSWER Three zones of tension meet at the Afar ___________
Convergent Zone - ANSWER A region where two tectonic plates collide caused by compression; result in infrequent and great earthquakes
Crustal Earthquakes - ANSWER ___________ occur due to compression in both overriding and subducting plates at depths of less than 30 km
Megathrust Earthquakes - ANSWER ___________ occur due to shear stress at the contact between overriding and subducting plates at depth less than 30 km
Megathrust Fault - ANSWER The boundary between the subducting and overriding plates
Intra Slab Earthquakes - ANSWER ___________ occur due to cold rock being consumed into the hot asthenosphere at depths greater than 100 km
Megathrust Earthquakes - ANSWER The worlds largest earthquakes are ___________ with shallow hypocenters
Cascadia - ANSWER The Juan de Fuca and North American plates are the
epicenters of the ___________ subduction zone
Largest - ANSWER The ___________ risk in the Cascadia subduction zone is due to crustal earthquakes
Catastrophic - ANSWER ___________ risk in the Cascadia subduction zone is due to megathrust earthquakes
9 - ANSWER The largest earthquake in Canadian History was the Cascadia Earthquake of 1700, having a magnitude of _____
San Andreas Fault - ANSWER The transform fault accommodating horizontal movement between the Pacific and North American Plates
Shear - ANSWER The San Andreas fault is dominated by ___________ deformation forces
Locked Portions - ANSWER Areas deficient in earthquake activity
Creeping Portions - ANSWER Areas with frequent to moderate earthquakes which release stress
