hazards, tectonics

Cards (34)

  • Accretion Wedge
    The accumulation of material at the point of subduction
  • Aseismic Buildings

    Buildings designed to withstand or minimise destruction during an earthquake
  • Asthenosphere
    The upper mantle layer of the Earth, semi-molten and approximately 2000km wide
  • Ash
    Fine particles and dust ejected during an eruption, which can remain airborne as clouds or accumulate on the ground
  • Continental Crust

    Crust that forms the continents of the lithosphere, on average 35km thick
  • Continental Drift

    The movement of tectonic plates, due to varying weights of crust. Slab Pull is thought of as the primary driving force
  • Convection Currents

    The circulation of magma within the mantle (asthenosphere). Magma is heated by radioactive processes in the core and cools at the surface, and so circulates between the two places
  • Degg's Model

    This model shows that a hazard becomes a disaster if it affects a vulnerable population
  • Epicentre
    The point on the surface, directly above the earthquake's origin
  • Focus
    The place in the crust where the pressure/seismic energy is released
  • Hazard Mitigation Cycle
    The sequence of governance of a natural hazard: monitoring & prediction, mitigation, preparedness
  • Hot Spot

    Volcanoes found away from the plate boundary, due to a magma plume closer to the surface
  • Jokulhaup
    A sudden glacial flood caused by a glacier on top of or near a volcano melting due to the heat from the eruption
  • Lahar
    A flow of mud and debris
  • Lithosphere
    The upper crust of the Earth (average thickness = 100km)
  • Love Waves

    A surface earthquake wave with horizontal displacement
  • Mid-Ocean Ridge

    Parting oceanic plates at a constructive plate boundary creates a ridge, with new land at the base of the oceanic valley
  • Moment Magnitude Scale

    A measure of an earthquake's energy released, considered the most accurate measure
  • Oceanic Crust

    Crust, usually thinner than continental crust, that forms the sea floor. It is on average 7km thick
  • Paleomagnetism
    The alternating polarisation of new land created. As magma cools, the magnetic elements within will align with the Earth's magnetic field, which can alternate over thousands of years
  • Park's Model
    A model describing the decline and recovery of a country over time, following a natural disaster
  • Partial Melting
    Elements within the lithosphere have different melting points, and so rock is partially melted, partially solid
  • Primary Waves

    An earthquake wave causing compressions within the body of rock
  • Pyroclastic Flow

    A mixture of gases and rock fragments, at high temperatures travelling at rapid speeds
  • Rayleigh Waves

    A surface earthquake wave causing both horizontal and vertical displacement
  • Richter Scale

    A logarithmic measure of earthquake's intensity
  • Secondary Waves

    An earthquake wave causing vertical displacement within the body of rock
  • Seismic Waves

    The energy released during an earthquake, in the form of Primary, Secondary, Love and Rayleigh Waves
  • Slab Pull

    The force contributing to the movement of tectonic plates. Slab Pull is due to the weight of the plate
  • Subduction
    Oceanic plate is forced below continental plate, due to the oceanic plate being more dense than the continental plate
  • Tsunami
    Initial vertical water displacement (often from a submarine earthquake) creates waves, with large destructive power
  • Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)

    A measure of the magnitude of a volcano's eruptions
  • Volcanic Island Arc
    A series of volcanoes (often in the shape of an arc) that are formed consecutively, as a tectonic plate moves across a magma plume
  • Wadati-Benioff Zone
    A region of the subducting plate, most affected by pressure and friction, where most destructive margin earthquakes originate