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INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL:
The introductory material leading up to the first exam will cover a variety of topics
associated with (1) the Earth's development through time, (2) the energy sources for
natural disasters, (3) geologic time, (4) the nature of rocks and minerals, and (4) the plate
tectonic concept. This will provide a framework for understanding our mobile Earth and
the science behind natural disasters. We will not discuss any specific natural disaster
events during this time, and therefore, I will not include such readings here. However, a
few relevant diagrams are given for you below.

EARTH'S INTERIOR

EARTH'S MAJOR PHYSIOGRAPHIC PROVINCES

It was once thought that the earth's surface was static and immobile, and that mountain
ranges formed from shrinking of the earth like skin on a dried apple. We now know that
the earth is a dynamic and mobile planet. To understand this mobility we first have to look
at the earth's main physiographic features:
(1) Stable, continental interiors and young mountain belts
(2) Continental margins:
a. Wide continental shelves (extended continental crust)
b. Oceanic trenches (up to 11 km deep)
(3) deep ocean basins

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(4) Oceanic ridges

(1) Mid-Oceanic Ridges

(2) Continental Shelf

(3) Oceanic Trench and Subduction Zone

PLATE TECTONICS
Plate tectonic therory is recognized as the major scientific revolution in the earth sciences.
A lot of unexplained geologic observations finally made sense when applied to the plate
tectonic model (tectonics refers to large-scale deformation of the lithosphere). It's based

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on the idea that the lithosphere is broken into numerous pieces, called plates, and that the
plate boundaries are areas were the crust of the earth is continuously being created or
destroyed. The plates themselves are rigid, and the plate-boundaries can be considered
as three types:
(1) Divergent boundaries -- Here plates move apart and oceanic crust is creaated.
Magma rises from the asthenosphere and solidifies to form oceanic (basaltic) crust. These
boundaries correspond with large mid-oceanic ridges that form in all the major oceans.
(2) Convergent boundaries -- Here plates move together and oceanic crust is
consumed, or destroyed. The dense oceanic lithosphere sinks back down into the mantle,
thus consuming oceanic crust back down into the mantle. This area of consumption is
refered to as a subduction zone. Subduction zones correspond with deep oceanic
trenches which are common along the periphery of many large oceans. Where a
lithosphere descends beneath subduction zones, it eventually melts. The magma then
rises back to the surface to form linear belts of volcanoes that always occur adjacent to
oceanic trenches. The Andean and Cascade volcanoes are good examples.
(3) Transform boundaries -- Here plates slide past one another in a lateral (i.e.,
horizontal) sense. Oceanic crust is neither created nor destroyed. The San Andreas fault
is a transform boundary where the Pacific and North American plates are sliding past one
another.

PLATE TECTONC CONFIGURATION OF NORTH AMERICA

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Convection Cells Driving Plate motion

Polar wandering paths for Europe and North America

(the first verifiable proof for the breakup of Pangea)

The eight tectonic plates and several smaller Plates

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BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SEVERE WEATHER:

Atmospheric Heating -- Solar radiation provides the energy for wind and all forms of
weather in the form of heat energy. The transfer of this heat energy produces wind in the
form of moving air masses. A large amount of incoming solar radiation is absorbed in the
equatorial belt (~30o N and S of the Equator). However, the polar latitudes receive
significantly less solar radiation. In fact, there is a net cooling of the earth in the polar
latitudes as the earth radiates away more heat energy there than it absorbs. Thus, there is
a transfer of heat in the earth's lower atmosphere from the equatorial regions to the polar
regions (cold air flows toward the equator and warm air toward the poles).

Coriolis Effect -- This overall movement of air masses is also affected by the earth's
rotation. As the earth rotates, it moves out from all moving objects (such as wind and
airplanes). This rapid rotation results in air masses in the N-hemisphere sliding off to the
right, and air masses in the S-hemisphere sliding off to the left. This veering off of objects
above the rotating earth produces is called the Coriolis Effect. The effect is negligible for
small-scale phenomena, such as the formation of a thundercloud, but it is an important
ingredient in determining the paths of large wind systems.

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Global Wind Pattern -- To understand the pattern of global winds, consider what happens
at the equator. The intense solar radiation received in the equatorial belt causes the air to
heat and rise. As it rises, it expands and cools, which is conducive to the formation of
clouds by condensation. Thus, the tropical equatorial region is an area of high precipitation.
Since the warm air rises, the equatorial region is also an area of low-P as air rushes into
the vacuum created by the rising air mass (the Doldrums). Around 30o N and S of the
equator, the (already dry) air cools and begins to descend again. This causes the air to be
compressed and warm, which is not conducive to cloud-formation, but rather conducive to
clear skies. Thus, these low-latitudes (horse latitudes) are typically areas of high-P and
desert or semi-arid conditions. These convection cells thus created by the low latitude
high-P and equatorial low-P conditions are called Hadley cells. In addition, Ferrel cells
occur between the horse latitudes and another low-P band at ~60o N and S of the equator,
and Polar cells occur at latitudes greater than 60o.

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Air masses and weather fronts -- Several large air masses move across North America.
Those that gather over land are dry; those over oceans are moist (transparency: mP =
polar moist; cP = polar dry {cont}; mT = tropical moist; cT = tropical dry). -- The dominant
direction of air movement across U.S. is from west-to-east. It is controlled by high-speed
winds (up to 600 km/hr) in the upper atmosphere called the polar jet stream (occurs at
interface of polar and tropical air masses; it moves in the direction of the earth's rotation).
This west-to-east air movement means that the polar air mass in the north Pacific will have
a greater effect on the U.S. than the polar air mass in the north Atlantic.

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Types of Fronts. Air masses are separated along boundaries called fronts. Fronts are
commonly associated with severe weather and storms. There are three main types of
fronts:

Cold Front -- Advance of a cold air mass produces a relatively steep, wedgeshaped front that lifts warmer air above it to higher altitudes. When the warm air is
also moist, the uplift can produce tall clouds over a relatively small area diretly
above the front. These are often thick and produce thunderstorms.

Warm Front -- Warm air mass rises over (stationary) cool air mass. This type of
front results in a flatter wedge than displayed by a cold air front. As warm air
rises above the gentler slope it cools and produces a broad region of clouds
(more widespread and overcast). These do not usually result in large
thunderstorms.

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Occluded Front -- Here, an advancing cold front takes over a slower moving warm
front. Three air masses are involved: warm, cool, and cold. When these three masses
come together an occluded front is formed, with air boundaries above the ground as
well as below it.

SEVERE WEATHER STORMS:

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TORNADOES - Most tornadoes in the U.S. are generated east of the Rocky
Mountain front range, where warm mT (marine tropical) air moves northward from
the Gulf of Mexico where it interfaces with cold cP (contintental polar) air moving
south from Canada. Cold fronts are generated where these air masses meet
resulting in the common development of cumulus clouds and thunderstorms. The

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jet stream represents then third air mass necessary to generate tornadoes. This
high-velocity current of air generates shearing forces in the upper part of the
cumulus cloud which in turn produces the vortex motion required for a tornado.
As the vortex increases in speed and intensity it appears below the underbelly of
the cloud thus generating a full-fledged tornado.

The Tri-State Tornado (1925) -- The largest tornado ever recorded touched down across
the tri-state area of Missouri-Illinois-and-Indiana at 1 p.m. on March 18 1925. It was an
unusually broad tornado moving at about 60 mph in a NE direction. It was so wide that it
destroyed everything in nearly a one-mile wide path. The residents of Annapolis, Missouri
described the sound of the approaching tornado as "like a thousand freight trains." The
tornado traveled right down main street and leveled the entire town. It then headed toward
Murphysboro, Illinois (pop. 11,000) where it killed 210 people by both the tornado force and
ensuing fires that broke out. Many people were trapped in their wrecked homes and
businesses. Firefighters watched helplessly because the tornado destroyed the water
supply system so that the fires could not be extinguished. On a lighter note, the tornado
plucked the business cards of the Rev. H.W. Abbot and delivered them to Palistine, Illinois,
over 200 miles away.
The funnel was now loaded with debris of uprooted trees, broken houses and auto parts. It
then headed toward Desoto, Illinois where it spun toward the town's school and tore off its
roof and walls, killing 88 of 125 students and teachers. The dead students were laid out on
the school lawn, but many parents were unable to claim their bodies, because they too
were dead.
Shortly thereafter, a railroad engineer found himself facing the killer tornado coming down
the railroad tracks directly toward his moving train. He responded by accelerating as fast as
possible and trying to blast through the tornado. Miraculously, he succeeded, but the roofs
of all the train cars were ripped off like lids off sardine cans. In total, the "Tri-State tornado"
claimed 689 lives and devastated 23 cities over a mile-wide path that was about 220 miles
long (353 km).

HURRICANES - Hurricanes get their energy from the equatorial oceans in the summer or
early fall when the seawater is warmest. The begin as tropical depressions, when air that
has been heated by the sun and oceans rises. This rising are creates reduced atmospheric
pressure (low-P = clouds and rain). As the air rises, more warm air comes in toward the
center of the atmospheric low. This central area will eventually become the eye of the
hurricane. A rapid inward rush of air spirals upward toward the center where it condenses
to produce thunderclouds that have a doughnut-shaped inward structure called the eye wall
(here is the greatest wind speeds and the heaviest rainfall). It spirals upward in a
counterclockwise rotation (in N hemisphere) due to the Coriolis effect

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Hurricane Andrew (1992) -- Hurricane Andrew was one of the largest hurricanes ever
recorded and it was the world's costliest in terms of structural damage. The storm was
born on August 13 as a series of thunderstorms over west Africa, just south of the Sahara
Desert. It then moved out over the Atlantic as a low-pressure system of upwardly
converging (i.e. convergence aloft) air that began rotating in a counterclockwise direction.
By August 17, the centrally circulating air mass had intensified into a tropical storm. The
storm moved as a relatively weak system over the Atlantic where it settled for awhile about
1000 miles of the Florida coast and began to increase in wind strength and cloud height. A
high pressure system to the north forced the storm to travel westward across warm, tropical
waters. These energy-yielding waters resulted in increased updrafts and a more powerful
low-pressure system so that it builds to hurricane strength. On August 23 the revitalized
Andrew moved through the northern Bahamas, with wind speeds of 150 mph (240 km/hr),
where it killed four people. The worst was yet to come.
After 3 a.m. on Monday, August 24, Andrew crossed southern Florida with a vengeance. It
laid down a 25-km wide path of destruction across an area occupied by over 350,00
people. A significant amount of destruction came from the storm surge, which was 5.2 m
(17 ft) in height. However, unlike most hurricanes, the greatest damage resulted from its
powerful winds which destroyed 80,000 buildings and killed 33 people. It also demolished
thousands of cars and uprooted trees or stripped them completely of their leaves.
Andrew lost much of its strength as it traveled across the Florida peninsula, due largely to
the cut off of its warm-water energy supply. However, it then entered the warm waters of
the Gulf of Mexico where it was rejuvenated with winds speeds picking up to 120 mph (190
km/hr). It then turned north and attacked the Louisiana coastline where it tore through the
coastal marshlands and churned up the muddy and organic-rich waters of coastal bays and
lakes. This cut off the oxygen supply and suffocated hundreds of millions of fish. It also
devastated numerous sugar cane fields and rural towns, killing an additional 15 people.
Andrew was by far the most destructive hurricane in U.S. history. The damage exceeded
$20 billion. A study of Andrew's damage concluded that up to 40% of the losses could
have been avoided if buildings had been constructed to meet the wind-resistance
standards of the South Florida Building Code. Much of the damage was thus due to poor
construction and lax enforcement of the building codes.
Andrew was the third strongest hurricane in the twentieth century. The only stronger
hurricanes were (1) an unnamed hurricane that crossed the Florida keys in 1935 killing 405
people, and (2) Camille, which slammed into Mississippi in mid-August 1969 with a storm
surge of 7.3 m (24 ft) that killed 256 people.

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