El Nino

http://www1.fccj.org/pacrews/restless_ocean2.htm

http://www1.fccj.org/pacrews/el_nino_and_hurricanes.htm

Chapter 12- Tsunami

12.9 pg 348

1. Know and be able to explain the differences between tsunami, seiches, tidal waves, and wind-blown waves.

   http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/general/physics/physics.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiche

Wave Comparison Chart

from

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/activities/3208_tsunami.html

http://www.ess.washington.edu/tsunami/index.html

3. Understand the danger that tsunami momentum brings across the shore and well inland.

http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/tsunami/basics.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,1380592,00.html

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 Chapter 4  -   Earthquake Geology and Seismology

        Earthquake Causes

            http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olc/dl/192440/f16_04plummerphysicalge.swf

        Faults and Fractures

        types of faults - http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olc/dl/192440/f15_21plummerphysicalge.swf

        a. dip slip faults

        normal fault http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olc/dl/192440/f15_23plummerphysicalge.swf

        reverse fault http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olc/dl/192440/f15_25plummerphysicalge.swf

        b.  strike slip faults

          right lateral fault - page 84

          left lateral fault - make a left lateral fault

        c. oblique slip - horizontal and vertical movement

        Seismic Waves

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olc/dl/192440/f16_05plummerphysicalge.swf

           Shadow Zone

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olc/dl/192440/f17_02plummerphysicalge.swf

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olc/dl/192440/f17_0817_09plummerphysi.swf

        Seismograms / seismographs

                http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olc/dl/192440/f16_06plummerphysicalge.swf

                http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olc/dl/192440/f16_07plummerphysicalge.swf

        Earthquake Magnitude

            Richter Scale - pg 94

            Moment Magnitude Scale - based on the amt of movement        along a fault

(shear strength of the rock x rupture area x average displacement)

            Modified Mercalli Scale - pg 98

            Lab: Locating Earthquakes

                http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olc/dl/192440/f16_0816_0916_10plummer.swf

                http://www.sciencecourseware.org/eec/Earthquake/

Chapter 12 - Climate Change and Severe Weather

1.      Understand the ways in which climate has varied over a) the last few thousand years, and b) the last few years. Be able to provide examples of each. Know how scientists are able to infer climate change over geological time, and how they can measure the magnitude of such change.

            a) Medieval Maximum (1000-1300 ) -  warm period

Historic records show that Europeans moved to Iceland and Greenland. Wine Grapes were grown and harvested in England.

                Little Ice Age (1400-1900) – cold period

Reduced crop yields led to famine. Weeks of sea ice slowed the fishing industry in Iceland.

Maunder Minimum (1645-1715)  - Minimal sunspot activity indicates a weaker sun.

Causes – changes in the Earth’s orbital patterns, weaker sun, volcanism, sea-air –ice interactions

Milankovitch Cyles

http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/geo/earth/

b) 1910-1944 – hotter sun and a lack of global volcanism

1977-present – greenhouse gases

      Measuring Climate Change – tree rings, planktonic forams and coral growth rings and ice cores.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/warnings/stories/

2.      Understand the relationship between volcanism and climate.

When fine ash is blasted above the troposphere, it can float for years and block sunlight. (sulfur dioxide combines with oxygen and water to form sulfuric acid which produces a haze. The haze blocks the sunlight resulting in global cooling). The haze may increase the probability for El Nino. Low latitude eruptions have a bigger effect than high latitude eruptions.

3.      Know what greenhouse gases contribute to global warming over the last and next century.

      Carbon Dioxide – added by burning of fossil fuels, removed by photosynthesis, and ocean water

Methane – traps heat at a 21 times  higher rate than carbon dioxide added by cattle digestive systems and decomposition of vegetation in oxygen poor environments, termites and mud volcanoes

Youtube video of Indonesian mud volcano http://www.youtube.com/

Indonesian Oil Well Blowout

Icy methane hydrates on the sea floor could melt producing a runaway green house effect. (occurred 65 million years ago)

 Nitrous Oxide – added through agricultural activities and vehicle combustions

 Ozone – ground level ozone contributes to the green house effect, stratospheric ozone protects us from ultraviolet radiation. As greenhouse gases trap heat, the ozone layer in the stratosphere gets cooler which makes it less effective

 CFCs – a minor greenhouse gas that also destroys the stratospheric ozone layer.

4. Understand the atmospheric factors leading to the development of: a) mid-latitude cyclones and associated severe weather, and b) thunderstorms and tornadoes. Be able to provide examples of severe weather and explain how dangerous their occurrence is.

            Map Lab - Isobar Maps    http://profhorn.meteor.wisc.edu/wxwise/contour/contour1.html

a) mid-latitude cyclone

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7s.html

http://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/dstreme/images/sfc_map.gif

b) thunderstorms and tornadoes

Weekly Weather and Climate News – NOAA

http://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/dstreme/learn/news.html

Chapter 13 - Hurricanes and the Coastline

1.      Be able to describe the conditions necessary for hurricane formation and growth.

Spin off your own hurricane at this national geographic site and then list the optimum conditions for hurricane formation and growth.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/forcesofnature/interactive/index.html?section=h

2.      Several basic physical principles, for example latent heat and the Coriolis effect, are essential to understanding how a hurricane works. Be able to explain these principles and how they relate to hurricanes.

Coriolis Effect

3.      As winds converge in a low pressure system, they deflect to the right (due to the Coriolis effect). This causes the low pressure system to spin in a counter-clockwise direction.

Latent Heat:

Condensation has a heating effect, just like evaporation has a cooling effect. As water condenses to form clouds, it gives off heat. This pocket of heat surrounding a cloud forces the next parcel of air to rise even higher, to cool enough for water to condense. The condensation gives off more heat forcing the next parcel even higher. The whole process produces towering cumulonimbus clouds. Without these, there would be no hurricanes.

3. Understand how hurricane winds, waves, rain, and storm surge can cause damage and the strategies people can adopt to minimize such damage.

    What causes storm surge? Wind blowing onshore causes a significant part of it. Experiment with a cup, a plate and a straw to find out what else causes storm surge.

4.      Know the factors that influence wave height, wavelength, breaking, and refraction.

The size of the wavelength, height and period depends on the speed, the duration of the wind and the fetch. Fetch is the distance that the wind travels across open water.

5.      Understand the ways in which waves remove and deposit sediment along coastlines, and the advantages and drawbacks of the methods people have used to control beach erosion and sand transport.

Beach Drift

As water from breaking waves (swash) hits the shoreline at an angle, it carries sand with it. The water then rolls down the slope of the beach (backwash) carrying the sand with it. This results in a zig-zag motion along the shore. This motion carries sand with it.

Longshore Current

The same motion causes water in the surf zone to zig-zag or migrate down the beach, carrying substantially more sand than beach drift. 

The combined effects of beach drift and longshore current create "rivers of sand" that move from north to south down Florida's coastline.

from http://www.maine.gov/doc/nrimc/mgs/explore/hazards/erosion/groins.gif

Ice Core Timeline

1986                                               Radioactive Fallout

1950-65                                                                                Radioactive Fallout, Nitrates, Sulfates

1900                                                                                          Methane, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, Volcanic Sulfates

1400                                                                                          Low concentration of Oxygen and Hydrogen isotopes, high sodium

1167                                                                                          High concentration of Oxygen and Hydrogen isotopes

8, 700 BC                                                Return to normal isotope levels

10,000 BC                                   Abrupt decrease in isotope levels (< 5 years)

11, 300 BC                                  Return to normal isotope levels

25,000 BC                                Isotopes yo-yo

73,000 BC                                   Volcanic Sulfates, low isotope levels

158,000 BC                                 Carbon Dioxide, Methane, low isotope levels