Bio 1 _ Lesson 6

Earth Science

Earthquakes

Earthquakes, evidence of present day tectonic activity, are ground motions of Earth caused
when accumulating tectonic stress is relieved by the sudden displacement of rocks along a
fault. The abrupt, lurching movement of crustal blocks past one another to new positions
releases energy that moves through Earth as traveling seismic waves. Seismic waves help us
understand the characteristics of Earth’s interior , but they also have a great impact on Earth’s
surface. Seismic waves passing along the crustal exterior or merging at Earth’s surface from
below cause the damage , injury , and loss of life that we associate with major tremors. The vast
majority of earthquakes are so light that we cannot feel them and they produce no injuries or
damage.

The subsurface location where rock displacement and the resulting earthquake originate
is the earthquake focus, which may be located anywhere from near the surface to a depth of
700 kilometers (435mi). The earthquake epicenter is the point on Earth’s surface that lies
directly above the focus, and it is where the strongest shock is normally felt. Most earthquakes
occur at a focus deep enough that no displacement is visible at Earth’s surface. Other cause
mild shaking that rattles a few dishes. A few earthquakes are so strong that they topple
buildings and break power lines, gas mains, and water pipes. In addition to their impact on the
part of our environment built by people, ground shaking or surface offset during an earthquake
can trigger rockfalls, landslides, and avalanches. Earthquakes that occur beneath or near the
ocean, moreover, are one of the main causes of tsunamis, which are sets of large ocean waves
generated by the sudden displacement of water. Aftershocks commonly follow a large
earthquake as crustal adjustments continue to occur, and foreshocks sometimes precede larger
earthquakes.

Measuring Earthquake Size

Scientists express the severity of an earthquake in two distinct ways:

1. the size of the event as a physical Earth process

2. the degree of its impact of humans

These two characteristics are sometimes related because, all other factors being equal ,
Powerful earthquakes should have a greater effect on humans than smaller earthquakes that
strike densely populated areas can cause considerable damage and suffering. Many factors
other than earthquake size affect the damage and loss of human life resulting from a tremor.
Measuring the physical size of earthquakes and, separately , their effects on people help
scientists and planners understand local and regional earthquake hazard potential.

In 1935 Charles F. Richter developed a numeric scale of earthquake magnitude to

express the size of earthquakes as recorded by seismographs, sensitive instruments that
measure ground shaking. Earthquake magnitude is reported as a number, generally with one
decimal place, that represents the amount of energy released in an earthquake. As established
by Richter, any whole number increase in earthquake magnitude ( for example ,from 5.0 to 6.0)
represents a 10 times increase in amplitude on the seismograph trace, but the actual energy
released is about .32 times greater.

Over the last several decades , scientists have derived alternative ways for calculating
earthquake magnitude from seismograph data. Today the energy released in most moderate
and major earthquakes is determined using formulas for the more accurate moment
magnitude instead of using Richter’s original procedure ( Richter magnitude ). Regardless of
how it is calculated, earthquake magnitude is reported using the same numeric scheme devised
by Richter, where a whole number increase in magnitude represent 10 times greater amplitude
and approximately 32 times greater energy released.

A very different type of scale is that used to record and investigate patterns of
earthquake intensity, the damage caused by an earthquake and the degree of its impact on
people and their property. The modified Mercalli scale of earthquake intensity uses categories
numbered from 1 to XII (Table 4-1 ) to describe the effects of an earthquake on humans and the
spatial variation of those impact. The categories are represented with Roman numerals to avoid
confusion with earthquake magnitude. Although a maximum intensity typically produces a
variety of intensity levels, depending on varying local conditions. These conditions include
distance from the epicenter, how long shaking lasted, the severity of shaking as influenced by
local surface materials, population density, and building construction in the affected area. After
an earthquake, observers gather information about Mercalli intensity levels by noting the
damage and talking to residents about their experiences. The variation in intensity levels is then
mapped so that geographic patterns of damage and shaking intensity can be analyzed.
Understanding the spatial patterns of damage and ground response helps us plan and prepare
so that we can reduce the hazards of future earthquakes.

Table 4-1 ] Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale

I Not felt except by a very few under especially favorable condition
II Felt only by a few person at rest, especially on upper floors of buildings
III Felt quite noticeably by persons indoors , especially on upper floors of buildings. Many
people do not recognize it as an earthquake. . Standing motor cars may rock slightly.
 Vibrations similar to the passing of a truck . Duration estimated.
IV Felt indoors by many , outdoors by few during the day. At night , some awakened. Dishes,
windows , doors disturbed ; walls make cracking sound. Sensation like heavy truck striking
building motor cars rocked noticeably.
V Felt by nearly everyone , many awakened. Some dishes, windows broken. Unstable
objects overtuned. Pendulum clocks may stop
VI Felt by all, many frightened . Some heavy furniture moved; a few instances of fallen plate
plaster. Damage slight.
VII Damage negligible in buildings of good design and construction; slight to moderate in
well- built ordinary structures; considerable in poorly built or badly designed structures;
some chimneys broken.
VII Damage slight in specially designed structures; considerable damage in ordinary
I substantial buildings with partial collapse. Damage great in poorly built structures. Fall of
chimneys, factory stacks, columns, monuments, walls. Heavy furniture overturned.
IX Damage considerable in specially designed structures; well-designed frame structures
thrown out of plumb. Damage great in substantial buildings, with partial collapse.
Buildings shifted off foundations.
X S.ome well- built wooden structures destroyed ; most masonry and frame structures
destroyed with foundations. Rails bent
XI Few, if any (masonry) structures remain standing. Bridges destroyed . Rails bent greatly.
XII Damage total . Lines of sight and level are distorted. Objects thrown into the air.

Earthquake Hazards

Unfortunately, there is plenty of evidence concerning the deadlines of earthquakes. The

Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 left almost 28,000 people missing or
confirmed dead. In 2010 the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti killed approximately 225,000,
injured 300,000, and displaced 1.3 million people, whereas the 8.5 magnitude quake in Chile
killed hundreds, injured thousands, and displaced 800,000 people.In 2008 a magnitude 7.9
earthquake devastated extensive areas of eastern Sichuan, China, causing 68,800 fatalities. A
magnitude 7.6 tremor in Pakistan in 2005 resulted in 86,000 deaths.

IGNEOUS PROCESS AND LANDFORMS

Landforms resulting from igneous processes are related to eruption s of extrusive igneous rock
material or emplacements of intrusive igneous rock. Volcanism refers to the intrusion of rock
matter from Earth’s subsurface to the exterior and the creation of surface terrain features as a
result. Volcanoes are mountains or hills that form in this way. Plutonism refers to igneous
processes that occur below Earth’s surface , including the cooling of magma to form intrusive
igneous rock and rock masses. Some masses of intrusive igneous rock are eventually exposed
at Earth’s surface where they comprise landforms of distinctive shapes and properties.

Volcanic Eruptions

Few spectacles in nature are as awesome as a volcanic eruption. Although large violent
eruptions tend to be infrequent events, they can devastate the surrounding environment and
completely change the nearby terrain. Yet volcanic eruptions are natural processes and should
not be unexpected by people who live or travel in the vicinity of active volcanoes.

Eruptions vary greatly in their size and character, and the volcanic landforms that result
are extremely diverse . Explosive eruptions violently blast pieces of molten and solid rock into
the air, whereas molten rock pours less violently onto the surface as flowing streams of lava in
effusive eruptions. Variation in eruptive style and in the landforms produced by volcanism stem
mainly from the differences in the viscosity, that is, resistance to flowing, of the magma feeding
the eruption, and in its gas content. Viscosity and gas content are determined especially by the
chemical properties of the magma, but temperature is also involved.

Magma viscosity influences the explosiveness of a volcanic eruption through its effect
on the gas content of the magma . Magma contain large amounts of gases that remain
dissolved when under high pressure at great depth . As molten rock rises closer to the surface ,
the decrease in pressure from above releases expanding gases from the magma. The gases
move with comparative ease through low viscosity , mafic magma into adjacent rocks and
through cracks into the atmosphere relieving the eruptive pressure of the expanding gases. The
relief in gas pressure delays eruption , often allowing the magma to become hotter , which
further reduces its viscosity.

Explosive eruptions hurl into the air fragments of solidified lava, clots of molten lava
that solidifying in flight, or molten clots that solidify once they land . All of these represent
pyroclastic materials ( fire fragments), also referred to as tephra. These rock fragments erupt in
the range size from volcanic ash. Which is sand –sized or smaller ( <2mm), to cinders (2-4mm),
lapilli(4-64mm), and blocks (>64mm). Pyroclastic materials include volcanic”bombs” large
spindled shape clast that solidified while flying through the air.

Plutonism and Intrusions

Bodies of magma that exist beneath the surface of Earth or masses of intrusive igneous
rock that cooled and solidified beneath the surface are igneous intrusions or plutons. A great
variety of shapes and sizes of magma bodies result from intrusive igneous activity,also known
as plutonism. When they are first formed , smaller plutons have little or no effect on the surface
terrain. During their formation, larger plutons may be associated with uplift of the land surface
under which they are intruded.
The many different kinds of intrusions are classified by their size , shape , and
relationship to the surrounding rocks. After million of years of uplift and erosion of overlying
rocks , even small intrusion may be exposed at the surface to become part of the landscape.
Uplifted plutons that crop out at the surface tend to stand higher than the surrounding
landscape because intrusive igneous rocks that constitute the plutons , such bas granite , have a
existence to weathering and erosion exceeding that of many other kinds of rocks.

When exposed at Earth’s surface , an irregularly shaped intrusion is a stock if it covers an

area less than 100 square kilometer (40 sq.mi ); if larger, it is known as a batholith. Batholiths
are complex masses of solidified magma, usually granite . Batholiths represent large plutons
that that, during their development kilometers beneath Earth’s surface, melted,
metamorphosed, or pushed aside other rocks.

Magma creates other kinds of igneous intrusions by forcing its way into fractures and
between rock layers without melting the surrounding rock. A laccolith is a mushroom shaped
intrusion that develops where molten magma pushes its way between preexisting horizontal
layers of other rock, causing the overlying strata to bulge upward as the intrusion grows.
Laccoliths have a mushroom –like shape because the upper dome part is usually connected to
the magma source by a narrower pipe or stem-like component.

DISTRIBUTION OF ENDOGENIC PROCESSES

The geographic distribution of earthquake and volcanic activity are quite similar, and plate
tectonics determines where such of that activity occurs. The greatest tectonic forces, most
extensive faults, most dangerous earthquakes, largest mountain ranges, and most of the
world’s volcanic activity are concentrated in relatively narrow zones along the boundaries of
lithospheric plates. Recent major earthquakes in Japan, Haiti, Chile, and Indonesia, for example,
occurred along faults associated with plate boundaries. Likewise , recent volcanic eruptions in
Iceland, Indonesia, Central America, and the Andes of South America highlight the geographic
relationship between volcanic forces and plate margins.