The Restless Earth

Why are some locations vulnerable?

Continental Drift

Alfred Wegener1880 - 1930

Meteorologist

1915 “The Origin of Continents and Oceans”

Pangaea

Earth’s interior

Earth’s interior

Plate tectonics

Evidence:

Mesosaurus fossils

Glossopteris ferns

“puzzle pieces”

Glacial debris

Mesosaurus & Glossopteris

Gemstones

Jigsaw Puzzle pieces

Sea Floor magnetization

Plate tectonics

Tectonic Plate Motion

Plate boundaries

Divergent

Convergent

Lateral Transform

Divergent plates

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Convergent boundary

Nazca/S. Americanplates

Himalayas

Orogeny

Lateral Transform

San Andreas

Fault Rupture

1906

Bolinas

Seismic Waves

P wavesfastermove throughland &

water

S wavesdo not pass through liquids

Seismic waves

Seismograph

Triangulation

3 locations

Measure arrival timesof P and S waves

P: 6 - 6.7 km/s

S: 3 - 4 km/s

Triangulating epicenters

Epicenter

Richter scale

1935 Charles Richter(Cal Tech)

Richter Scale

Logarithmic scale

7.2 quake hasamplitude10x greater than6.230x energy released

Richter values

Mercalli scale

Tsunamis

Not tidal waves

High velocity

silent

December 26, 2004

9.2 earthquake

250,000 deaths

December 26, 2004

Predicting Earthquakes

May 12, 2008

Ancient Earthquakes

Jericho

Red Sea

Decade of Earthquakes

London

Feb 8, 1750

March 6, 1750

Lisbon

Nov 1 1755

All Saints Day

tsunami

Rev. Charles Davy

“Every parish church, convent, nunnery, palace, and public edifice, with an infinite number of private houses, were either thrown down or so miserably shattered that it was rendered dangerous to pass by them.The whole number of persons that perished, including those who were burnt or afterwards crushed to death whilst digging in the ruins, is supposed, on the lowest calculation, to amount to more than sixty thousand;”

New Madrid, MO 1811

San Francisco 1906

SF Earthquake 1906

April 18, 19065:12 am

7.8 - 8.2

42 secondsof shaking

Bay Area quakes

1836 7.0

1838 7.0

1858 6.4

1861 6.1

1865 6.6

1868 6.9

San Francisco 1905

Dennis Sullivan

1851 “Great Fire”

1900 City Hall

April 18, 1906

Caruso @ Palace Hotel

Fire

Ruptured gas lines

74 hours

490 blocks damaged

$500 million

Aftermath

40,000+ Homeless

Chinatown

500 - 3000 deaths

1906 - 1989

Loma Prieta 1989

Oct 17, 19895:04 pm

7.2

15 - 20 seconds

1989

Battle of the Bay

Game 3

Bay Bridge

Cypress Street Viaduct

SF Marina

Liquefaction

Santa Cruz

Garden Mall

Loma Prieta 1989

67 deaths,3800 injured

12,000 homeless

$6 Billion

Benefits?

Stopped Hayward creep

Raised mountains

retrofitting

The Next Quake

70% probabilityin the next 20-30years

Northridge 1994

Jan 17, 19944:30 am

61 deaths, 9,000 injured

$20 Billion

Palm Desert

Oct 16, 1999

6.9 magnitude

Seattle 2001

Feb 28, 2001

6.8 magnitude

Pacific Northwest

Potential?

tsunami

Plate tectonics

Vulcanism

Hot spots

Hawaiian Islands

Ring of Fire

Magma Pressure

Volcanic Gases

VOG(volcanic smog)

Benefits?

Fertile soil

Land creation

Geothermal Energy

Extinct vs. Dormant vs. Active

Extinct(Devil’s Tower)

Dormant(Mt. Fuji)

Active(Kilauea)

Iceland

Historic Eruptions

Toba 74,000 yrs ago

Caldera

MT. Mazama

Aka Crater Lake

Santorini

1628 BC

Atlantis?

Yellowstone

Krakatoa

August 27, 1883

Krakatoa

Localized tsunami Sumatra/Java

Mt. Pelee

Martinique, May 1902nuee ardente(pyroclastic flow)

Mt St Helens

May 1980

$3 Billion damage

Mt St Helens

Lahar

Infrastructuredamage

Cascade Volcanoes

Predicting Eruptions

Earthquakes

Ground temperatures

Chouet

Silent Killers 1986

Lake NyosCameroon

El Chichon 1982

Mt. Pinatubo 1991

Mt Pinatubo

Mt. Tambora 1815

“The Year without a Summer” 1816

“Darkness” (Lord Byron)

“I had a dream, which was not all a dream.The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the starsDid wander darkling in the eternal space,Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earthSwung blind and blackening in the moonless air;Morn came and went--and came, and brought no day”

Franklin 1783-4

Laki, Iceland

Asama, Japan

1816

Jefferson’s Journal

Volcanoes and Climate

Volume of debris

Height of Column

Gases emitted

Volumes of Eruption Debris

Volcanic Explosivity Index(VEI)

Eruption Year VEI Casualties

Nevado del Ruiz

1985 3 25,000

Mt. Pelee 1902 4 30,000

Krakatau 1883 6 36,000

Tambora 1815 7 92,000

Unzen 1792 3 15,000

Laki 1783 4 9,000

Kelut 1586 4 10,000

Climate effects

Earth’s climate

Habitable zone

Sufficient Gravity

Water

Early Earth

3 Billion years agoinitially H2 & He

Nitrogen (N2),

Carbon dioxide(CO2)

from volcanoes

Photosynthesis

CO2 + H2O -----> O2 + Glucose

Earth’s atmosphere

N2 78%

O2 20.9%

Ar 0.93 %

CO2 0.038%

Carbon Dioxide levels

Global Temperatures

Historic Climate Eras

Medieval Warm Period

Population Boom

Viking Travel

England exported wine

Steppe Drought

The Little Ice Age

Grain production

Ergot Blight

Plague

Patagonianicefields

Climate Cycles

Ice Ages and Interglacials

Ice Age - Glacial Maximum

Tree Rings - Dendrochronology

Assessing Historic Climates

Glacial Ice Cores

Glacial Ice Cores

Air composition

Volcanic ashpollen

Oxygen isotopedistribution

Oxygen Isotopes -16O, 18O

Isotope data

Causes of Climate Cycles

Orbital variation

Tilt change

Solar flux

Orbital Variation

100,000 year cycle

Obliquity of the Earth’s Axis

Tilt = 23.5o

Changes in the Earth’s Tilt

41,000 year cycle

Greater tilt: Interglacial

Less tilt: Glaciation

Precession

26,000 year cycle

Solar Forcing

Changes in Flux

Sunspots

Maunder Minimum

Comparison

Cosmic Rays

Cloud Cover

Greenhouse gases

Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse Gases

Venus

800 K temp

90x atmosphere

96% CO2

Global Warming

Glacial Melting

Permafrost thaw

Increased evaporation

Coral reef bleaching

Seasonal change

Glacial Melting

Polar Ice Caps

Greenland

Antarctic Ice

Sea Level Rising

Coastlines Affected

One to Five meter rise

Since the last Glacial Maximum

Consequences

San Francisco

Increased Evaporation Rates

Severe Storms

Coastal Erosion

Fires

Tropical Storm Formation

2005

KatrinaRitaWilma

Coastal Erosion

2005 Coastal Erosion

Hurricane Rita

Saltwater Intrusion

Ocean Heat Penetration

El Niño

El Niño 1998

El Niño Frequency

Permafrost Thaw

Coral Reef Bleaching

Wildlife Habitats

Already Extinct

Expanded Pest Ranges

Expanded Pest Populations

Ocean Conveyor Belt

Salinity Decrease

Day After Tomorrow?

Abrupt Climatechange

Climate Flip Flop

Positive feedback

Abrupt Climate Change

Younger Dryas

12,800 - 11,400 yo

Thermohaline reversal?

Agriculture?

The New Ice Age

The New Interglacial

The New Interglacial Climate

Locations Affected

What is affected?

Agriculture

Transportation

Population distribution

Energy needs

Oceanic Overturning

Carbon Content

Carbon Capture & Storage

Marine Sequestration

Photosynthesis

CO2 + H2O -----> O2 + Glucose

Reforestation

Chemical Conversion

Carbon dioxide---->formic acid

Preservative Perfume Scale removal Fuel cells

CO2 to Fuel

Usinggalliumphosphide

CO2 absorption

Peridotite(Oman)

CO2 Consumption by Algae

GreenFuel Technologies

Lower Emissions

Carbon - Free?

Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Fuel Cell Hybrids