Env 111- FInal
About how many earthquakes occur in Japan each year?
1,000
When Charles Keeling began monitoring CO2 at the Mauna Loa Observatory in 1960, he recorded CO2 levels at around 320 ppm. What is the rate of change in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels between 1960 and 2017?
1.5 ppm/yr
Increases in precipitation lead to increased landslide risk. On average, how many landslide-related deaths occur in Nepal during each monsoon season?
100
The October 1963 Vajont Dam landslide killed around 2,500 people. How long did it take for the mass movement to flow out of the reservoir, over the dam, and into the valley below?
12 minutes
Approximately when did the rapid increase in human-produced atmospheric CO2 begin?
1800s
Between 20,000 - 800,000 years ago, there were several ice ages (periods of global cooling interspersed with periods of warming). During these extended periods of cooling (we call these glaciations), ice advanced over the land and CO2 concentrations decreased. During warming periods (we call these interglacials) CO2 concentrations increased. What was the average atmospheric CO2 concentration during the ice ages?
185 ppm
Approximately what year did CO2 levels start to noticeably increase from the pre-industrial levels? This part of the animation moves quickly so you will have to pause and rewind.
1850
After scientists installed seismographs, how many earthquakes per week did they record?
25
How long before a flood can someone purchase insurance from the National Flood Insurance program?
30 days
An unusually wet summer was the primary cause of the 1993 Flood. The jet stream became locked over the midwest and ____ inches of rain fell over ____ months.
30, 6
Over the last 800,000 years before industrialization (between the year 1800 and 800,000 BCE), what was the largest amount of CO2 during that time?
300 ppm
Over the last 800,000 years before industrialization (between the year 1800 and 800,000 BCE), when was the largest peak of CO2?
325,000 yrs ago
As of 2017, what is the approximate CO2 level in Earth's atmosphere?
400 ppm
What was the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere in January, 2017?
406 ppm
According to the video, how many people died in the oso landslides?
43
How many US states are affected by landslides?
50
During the 1993 flood, Quincey, Illinois experienced flooding at the ______ recurrence interval.
500 years
Yellowstone's most recent eruption was _____. There is evidence that Yellowstone has errupted _____ in the alst 2.3 million years.
600,000 years ago, 3 times
What is the elevation of the city of New Orleans?
7-10 feet below sea level
What would the Volcanic Explosivity Index be if Yellowstone Erupts?
8
How many states were directly affected by the 1993 flood?
9
why did mount st. helens erupt in a lateral blast on May 18, 1980?
A bulge formed on the flank of the mountain. An earthquake triggered a landslide that that dislodged the bulge, triggering a lateral eruption.
It was assumed that Yellowstone's heat source was an extinct volcano. What event made scientists realize that Yellowstone was still active and prompted them to take a closer look at the seismic activity of the national park?
A large earthquake in Yellowstone National Park in 1959
What is the difference in a storm surge and a tsunami?
A storm surge is caused by a combination of high water resulting from a low pressure system at sea and strong onshore winds, whereas a tsunami is caused by an underwater disturbance, such as an earthquake, to the ocean floor.
Fill in the blanks in the following four statements. 1. [A] crust is denser and thinner than (B] crust. 2. The [C] is the weak layer in the mantle that allows the tectonic plates to slip, collide, and separate. 3. Oceanic lithosphere is created at [D] and returns to the mantle at [E]. 4. At convergent plate boundaries, the subducting oceanic plate grinds along the base of the overriding plate, generating large [F].
A. Oceanic B. Continental C.Asthenosphere D. Mid-ocean ridges E. Subduction Zone F. Earthquakes
Which gas is thought to have the greatest effect on global warming or increasing global temperatures?
Carbon dioxide
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase every year but there are large annual fluctuations in the northern mid-latitudes (red dot/line) but not in the southern high latitudes (blue dot/line). What causes this oscillation?
Carbon dioxide level changes with the seasons primarily due to photosynthesis
Which towns levee failure was credited with saving St. Louis MO from flooding?
Columbia, IL
What is the major difference between oceanic crust and continental crust?
Continental crust is less dense than oceanic crust
Which of the following is true according to the diagram below?
Deeper earthquakes are generally further from the trench than shallower earthquakes.
Which of the following did not occur during the Dec. 16, 1811, New Madrid earthquake?
Downed power lines caused numerous small fires along the Mississippi river
Select the 3 methods inspired by the 1993 Flood to prevent future damage and loss from flooding.
Elevating homes above flood level returning ag land to natural wetlands leaving crop residue on the land to reduce soil erosion and run-off
T or F: Earthquakes occur in association with convergent and transform fault boundaries, but not divergent boundaries.
False
T or F: The terms 'tsunami' and 'tidal wave' mean the same thing and are interchangeable when discussing a seismic sea wave.
False
The force of the October 1963 Vajont landslide was enough to _____.
Force water to flow over the dam at a height of 250 m above the top of the dam Raise roofs on two story buildings caused the water from the reservoir to flow upstream as a giant wave
What was unique about the 2014 Oso Landslide?
Given the height of the slope, the slide debris traveled 5 times farther than it should have.
According to the intensity map of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the greatest intensity experienced during this earthquake was ______.
IX
Which proxy records are used in reconstructing the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations before modern direct measurements and monitoring stations?
Ice Cores
If you are at the beach and feel a large earthquake, what should you do, and when should you do it?
Immediately run up slope as far as possible.
The 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes occured________.
In the New Madrid Seismic Zone. in a region known as the Reelfoot Rift. in an ancient rift that formed over 700 million years ago.
Conditions causing a rock to melt.
Increase in temp with pressure remaining the same high water content Decreasing pressure with temp remaining the same
Eye witness accounts reported that the Mississippi River flowed backward during at least one of the larger earthquakes during the New Madrid 1811-1812 earthquake swarm. What is the best explanation for why the river 'flowed backward?'
Intense shaking along the river caused water to bounce from one side of the river to the other. This formed waves that flowed upriver, making it appear that the river was flowing backwards.
The New Madrid Seismic Zone does not include which of the following states?
Iowa
Select all the methods used to mitigate or reduce impact of natural hazards to people.
Land use planning Public Education Insurance
What kind of natural hazards are not normally insurable?
Landslides
Which is the product of a non-explosive style of eruption?
Lava flows
After the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over New Orleans, why did the flood waters continue to rise in the low-lying areas of the city?
Levee along two canals failed and water from Lake Ponchartrain drained into the city center.
What makes Houston susceptible to flooding?
More frequent, intense rainfall events Development/urbanization that increases runoff Houston is located in a coastal and subtropical portion of Texas
What do the red and blue dots represent of the graph and small map?
NOAA observatory stations
Which earthquake waves travel the fastest and are felt first and appear first on a seismogram?
P waves
How does pahoehoe lava differ from aa lava?
Pahoehoe is ropy-looking, and aa is clinkery.
Which ton's levee withstood the flood?
Prairie du Rocher, IL
What causes caverns or open spaces to form in limestone?
Rainwater mixes with carbon dioxide to make weak carbonic acid that dissolves limestone.
What type of volcano is associated with volcanic arcs build over subeditor zones?
Strato-volcanoes
Why does a delta form when a river meets the ocean?
Stream flow rate decreases as the stream reaches its base level Sediment is deposited at the mouth of the river Deposition exceeds coastline erosion
The Midcontinental Rift which underlise part of Iowa is evidence of what past geological event
The Midcontinent Rift is evidence that the central part of the North American continent was once the site of a divergent boundary that failed.
Which of the following would be a modern analogy to the Reelfoot Rift when it was active?
The San Andreas fault
Which of the following is not true with respect to the San Andreas fault?
The San Andreas fault represents the convergent boundary between the North American and the Pacific plates.
What is the tectonic reason for the Sunda Strait?
The Sunda Strait formed as a result of the wrenching motion caused by the north-northeast motion of the island of Sumatra and the east motion of the island of Java.
Transform plate boundary
The edges of the plates slide past eachother
In the spring of 2003, some unusual events occurred in Yellowstone that caused some to worry that Yellowstone might erupt. Select the 3 events that occurred in 2003.
The ground heated up and cracks opened up A pack of bison died from poisonous gas Steamboat Geyser, a geyser that can be dormant for up to 50 years, began erupting.
Which of the following statements is NOT true with respect to Earth's mechanical layers?
The lithosphere contains the crust and the upper part of the plastic asthenosphere.
Which of the following was the main reason why most scientists did not believe in the concept of continental drift?
The originator of the concept of continental drift did not adequately explain how the continents could move.
Convergent plate boundary
The plates are colliding with each other, and oceanic plates subduct under continental plates.
Divergent plate boundary
The plates are moving away from each other at mid-ocean ridges.
What was the origin of the pumice rafts associated with the 1883 eruption of Krakatau?
The pumice rafts formed when hot ash from pyroclastic flows encountered cold seawater.
Which of the following did not occur as a result of the eruption of Krakatau?
The sound of the explosions could be heard as far away as San Francisco, California.
What caused the Industrial Canal & Intercoastal Waterway levees to fail?
The storm surge sent a huge wave of water up the Intercoastal Waterway, over-topping the canal walls and scouring away the earthen levees.
Which of the following is not true with respect to the strongest aftershock during the 1811-1812 earthquakes?
The strongest aftershock caused the formation of the bluffs along the Missouri River near Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Why is it warmer in the northern hemisphere in july than it is in december?
The sun's rays shine more directly on the north hemisphere in the summer than in the winter
The wetlands surrounding New Orleans are rapidly disappearing. Why?
The wetlands surrounding New Orleans are being destroyed by ocean saltwater. Man-made levees do not allow the Mississippi River to flood, starving the wetlands of sediments.
Why would a home build on the floodplain behind a levee be safe from flooding?
This statement is not true
In a coastal area, why build a groin? (a series of groins are shown in the picture)
To stop longshore drift and trap sand to extend the beach.
The most recent supervolcano to erupt was _________ and it occurred ________ years ago. This volcano may have nearly ended human life on earth.
Toba; 74,000
T or F: A rapid retreat of the shoreline can indicate a tsunami is imminent.
True
T or F: Much of the initial problems associated with the nuclear reactors was due to flooding of the generators, brought on by the tsunami.
True
T or F: Natural gas was the largest source of electricity/ power in the US in 2016.
True
T or F: The Reelfoot Rift formed when the supercontinent of Pangaea began to split apart around 700 million years ago.
True
T or F: The Vajont River valley is underlain by rocks that dip (tilt) into the valley.
True
T or F: The island of Hispaniola, which Haiti is a part of, has a history of devastating earthquakes.
True
According the Case Study, what do residents of Houston blame for exacerbating flooding in their neighborhoods?
Unregulated development/building in the area
Why did the 17th Street and London Street canals fail?
Water soaked into the underlying peat layer and weakened the soft sediments beneath the levee wall.
What is yellowstone?
Yellowstone is a caldera that overlies an active magma chmaber
What is the source of yellowstone's volcanism?
Yellowstone sits on a hotspot.
Earthquakes
`occur on faults when rocks rupture, releasing stored up stress as energy
beach nourishment
a coastal engineering method that replenishes the sand to provide a recreation beach and helps protect coastal properties from erosion by widening the beach
What is Anak Krakatau?
a small volcano that has formed over the site of the original Krakatau.
Like all hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Katrina began as _____.
a storm off the west coast of Africa.
The boundary between the Gonave microplate and the Caribbean plate is _____.
a strike slip fault
VEI stands for
a volcano's explosivity index.
A tsunami may occur when ___.
an earthquake occurs on or near the ocean floor. a volcano erupts underwater an underwater landslide occurs
If a 100-year flood occured this year, when is the next 100-year flood possible?
anytime
Based upon knowledge of landslide physics, where did geologists direct rescue workers to search for survivors?
at all distal edge of the slide
Why are the impacts of coastal hazards such as erosion, storm surge, and flooding so great?
because densely populated areas are located at or near the coasts
Which type or types of seismic waves can travel through the mantle of the Earth and be recorded by seismographs?
both P and S waves
In what way can the construction of dams and levees INCREASE flood damage (both loss of property and life) on a floodplain?
by giving a false sense of security that encourages building and living on the floodplain
An insurance company decides on the cost of a policy for a natural hazard by _______.
calculating the cost of the probable loss times the probability of that event
What contains the largest reservoir of carbon?
carbonate rock
3 Engineering flood control methods
dams levees channelization
select the 3 ENGINEERING flood-control methods
dams levees channelization
The gradual process of subsidence can result from all of the following activities except
digging open-pit mines to mine for coal
Which does NOT control the characteristics or shape of a coastline
dominant wind direction
In the days preceding Hurricane Katrina, many people decide to stay in New Orleans even though they were instructed to evacuate. Why did some people stay in the city? (select all the reasons given in the video)
elderly or sick did not have transportation survived previous hurricanes without evacuating
3 methods inspired by the 1993 flood to prevent future damage and loss.
elevating homes above flood level returning ag land to natural wetlands leaving crop residue on the land to reduce soil erosion and run-off
Select all the things that can occur BEFORE a catastrophic landslide
extensional cracks near the top of a slope slumping of soils and sediments on a slope small landslides
On average, more people die from which type of natural disaster than any other?
flash floods and flooding
The point along a fault where movement first occurs during an earthquake is called the earthquake's ______.
focus
How might global warming exacerbate coastal hazards?
global warming is accompanied by sea level rise
What is the primary cause of landslides?
gravity exceeds strength of the slope
One of the geologists listed some potential precursors to a Yellowstone eruption. The precursors he listed are earthquake swarms, heating of the ground, increasing hydrothermal events, and _____.
ground uplift
What keeps a stream slowing year-round, even though it may not rain for months?
groundwater seepage from the adjacent ground into the stream
Highly explosive magmas are controlled by which of the folling?
high silica content and high water
Select all the factors that contributed to the destabilization of the slope and led to the 2014 landslide.
higher than average precipitation undercutting of the slope by the Stillaguamish River slope composed of glacial sediments with high porosity
A strike-slip fault has what type of motion?
horizontal
Most of Earth's active volcanoes are found ______.
in the ring of fire
As a tsunami approaches land, the height of a tsunami wave ____.
increases primarily because the water depth and velocity decrease
We can see the correlation between the start of industrialization (increasing manufacturing) and the increasing CO2 levels. What activity related to industrialization would add increasingly large amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere?
increasing use of fossil fuels
Earth emits most of its radiation in the _____ part of the electromagnetic spectrum
infrared
Over the last 30 years, hurricanes have become more ______ due to _______.
intense, warmer ocean temperatures
Sendai and the nearby region was hardest hit by the tsunami because _______.
is a coastal city has a gentle slope inland from the sea. was close to the epicenter of the earthquake
All the engineering approaches below are put in place to prevent a river from flooding except...
jetties
Mass wasting or slope failures include:
landslides slumps creep
All the engineering structures below are used to alter or slow coastal wave erosion except...
levee
Select all the engineering systems or structures mentioned in the video that were put in place in New Orleans to deal with potential flooding.
levees flood walls pumps drainage canals
When pore spaces in sediment becomes saturated with water, the sediment loses strength and cohesion. This phenomenon is called __________.
liquifaction
The current flowing parallel to and just offshore of a beach is called
longshore current
What factors contribute to sea-level rise from global warming?
melting land ice and heating and expansion of sea water
Rapid global warming my result in all the changes listed below except...
migration of people to coastal areas
Unlike regular ocean waves, tsunami waves are different because they ____.
move much faster
The Dec. 16 1811 earthquake _____.
occured without warning was accompanied by a loud roaring noise was felt as far away as Quebec canada
The epicenter of the 2010 Haiti earthquake was located _____.
on the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault
What was (were) the cause(s) of the La Conchita mudslides of 1995 and 2005?
oversteeepening of the slope during construction of the road in the middle section of the photo removal of toe material during development of the town at the base of sloe heavy winter rains
The massive loss of life in the 2010 Haiti earthquake was primarily due to _____.
poor construction and lack of attention to building design in residential homes.
An unstable marine sediment with a disorganized structure that can flow like water if disturbed is called _________.
quick clay
Which of the following is NOT a common reason cited for building large dams on rivers?
raise groundwater levels
Sand boils and mud volcanoes form when _____.
rocks at depth melt due to the intense pressure during and earthquake. The molten material is then ejected onto the surface as small volcanoes.
Streams receive water from 2 primary sources:
runoff and groundwater
Other than limestone, what types of rocks are soluble in water and can form cavities that collapse?
salt and gypsum
Why are seacliffs so prone to erosion?
seacliffs are exposed to wave action, and they are also steep slopes, which can make them susceptible to landslides
When you watch the segment for 1979-2011, you'll see the CO2 levels fluctuate (most dramatically at monitoring stations in the northern mid and low latitudes - around the equator) during each year. Why is this?
seasonal changes in vegetation photosynthesis
Marin organisms preserve the current oxygen-isotope ration in their _______.
shells
Besides wind, what is the biggest hazard from hurricanes?
storm surge
What are two main causes of tsunami?
subduction-zone earthquakes and landslide into the ocean
Using LIDAR mapping and carbon dating, geologists found evidence that ______.
the area OSO had a history of Landslides
The background in the panting, The Scream, by Edvard Much is evidence of what?
the high amount of sulfur dioxide put into the atmosphere by the eruption of Krakatau in 1883
How does the lithosphere differ from the asthenosphere?
the lithosphere is stronger than the asthenosphere
Why is yellowstone's supervolcano so explosive?
the magma beneath yellowstone is full of gas very vicsous because it is silica-rich
What does the Richter Magnitude Scale depend on?
the maximum amplitude of earthquake waves on a seismograph
How did mountain ranges like the Himalayas, Alps, and Appalachians form?
they all formed along continental- continent convergent plate boundaries
What effect do groins, breakwaters, and jetties have on coastal erosion?
they interrupt the transport of sand down the beach front
The 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes were different from most Califonria earthquakes because
they occurred on a plate boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates
T or F: due to the force of the water that hit the Vajont dam, the dam itself sustained severe damage.
true
A transform plate boundary involves
two plates sliding laterally past eachother
The sun's peak radiation in the _____ part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
visible light
As a result of mass movements on the slope above the Vajont Dam, _______.
water levels in the reservoir were raised and lowered several times in an attempt to reach hydraulic equilibrium between the water level in the reservoir and the nearby rocks.
Using the diagram label:
A: head, B: toe, C: crown, D: main scarp
Seismic waves are used to determine that the interior of the Earth is divided into layers of rock with different properties. Seismic waves will [ Select ] or slow down depending on the [ Select ] of the material they're traveling through. When seismic waves reach the boundary between two layers, some waves will also [ Select ] (bounce) off that boundary and some will [ Select ] (bend) at the boundary.
Accelerate Density Reflect Refract
The meteorologist who originally proposed the idea of continents being able to move around on Earth's surface was _____.
Alfred Wegener
Which agency manages the rivers dams and levees in the US?
Army Corps of Engineers
Which agency manages the rivers, dams, and levees in the United States.?
Army Corps of Engineers