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Case History: Island of

Hispaniola
Introduction to • Good site for comparative study:
Dominican Republic versus Haiti
Environmental Geology, • Biophysical differences: Rainfall, topography,
5e land use/land cover
• Socioeconomic differences: History,
Chapter 1 population, economic activities, GDP
Philosophy and output
Fundamental • Reasons for degradation of Haiti’s
Concepts environment and subsequent inability to
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community quickly rebuild after the 2010 large
College earthquake

Case History: Island of

Hispaniola

Haiti -2010

Figure 1.1&1.2

Table 1.1

Earth’s Place in Space Earth History

• Earth: Geospatially isolated in the universe Inception: 4.6 billion yrs
• Origin of the universe and solar system
Uniformitarianism
• Origin of Earth system: Lithosphere
(geosphere), atmosphere, hydrosphere, -versus
and biosphere
• Facing limited resources: Energy, soil, Catastrophism
freshwater, forests, ocean fisheries, rangelands
• Global environment: Dynamic conflicts
and integrated resolutions

Figure 1.A

1

Earth Environment (1)
• James Hutton (1785): Earth as a superorganism
…the oceans are the heart of Earth’s global
system, and the forests are the lungs…
• James Lovelock (1985): Gaia hypothesis
– Earth is an organism
– Life significantly affects Earth’s environment
– Life modifies the environment for the betterment
of life
– Life deliberately or consciously controls the
global environment
– Interdisciplinary thinking
Environmental Geology
• Geology:
– Study of processes related to the
composition, structure, and history of
Earth.
– Relies on chemistry, physics, and biology.
• Environmental geology knowledge: applied geology
– To better understand environmental problems
– Geologic knowledge for problem solving
– Minimize environmental degradation
– Optimize the use of resources to
maximize environmental benefits for
the society
Fundamental Concepts
• Five fundamental concepts
– Population growth
– Sustainability
– System and change
– Hazardous Earth processes
– Scientific knowledge and values
• Other concepts in environmental
geology
– Finite resources, health, obligation to future
9/23/2012
Environmental Sciences
• Environment: A complex system with physical,
biological, geological, ecological, and geopolitical
aspects.
• Requires multidisciplinary research: Environmental
geology, environmental chemistry, global climate
change, biological diversity and ecosystems,
environmental economics, environmental ethics,
environmental law, etc.
• Environmental crisis: Population, environmental
hazards, resource limitations and contaminations,
environment ownership (both in space and over time)
Environmental Geology Components
Figure 1.3
Human Population Growth (1)
• Number one environmental problem: Nearly
7
billion by the year 2010
• “Population bomb?” Exponential growth
• Exponential growth
– Growth rate (G): Measured as a percentage
– Doubling time (D): D = 70/G
• Above Earth’s comfortable carrying
capacity: Implications to- resources,
land, waste
• Earth as the only current suitable habitat
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Human Population Growth (2) Human Population Growth (3)

Uneven growth both spatially and temporally.

Figure 1.4 Figure 1.5a/b

Human Population Growth (4) Human Population Growth (5)

Uneven growing pace and distribution
• By 2050, 3 billions more people
• Almost all of the growth in developing countries
• No easy answer to the population problems
• Education is paramount, especially woman’s
education. As people become more
educated, the population growth rate tends to
decrease
• Good news: The rate of population
growth is decreasing
Why is it important to monitor and
potentially “control” population growth?
Why might population growth in the future
be difficult to predict?
How does the number of people on this Earth
affect your quality of life?

Sustainability (1) Sustainability (2)

Measuring sustainability
Sustainability: The environmental objective
• Use and consumption of
• An evolving concept non- renewable resources
• Expectation and reality • Natural replenishment
• Criteria variations in space and over time and renewable rates
• Global consumption
• Is a long-term concept and has long- versus replenishment of
term implications resources
• Requiring careful resources allocation, large- • Development and
scale development of new technology for improvement of human
resource use, recycling, and waste disposal environment versus viable
environment
• Doesn’t result in crisis

Figure 1.9A & 9B

3

Sustainability: The Death of Aral Sea
(3)
• Once a prosperous vacation spot in
1960
• Water diversion for agriculture
• Dying sea surrounded by salt flats
Earth’s Systems and Changes (2)
• System conditions: open vs. closed
• System input-output analysis
• System changes: rates of change, types of
change,
scale of change…
• For example, rate of change: average
residence time for measurable item-
– T = S/F
– Where, T=residence time, S=total size of
stock, F=average rate of transfer
– See Figure 1.12, ‘residence time of water’
Predicting Future Changes
• Uniformitarianism
– The present is the key to the past
– The present is the key to the future
– Changes of frequency and magnitude:
Geological processes and human activities
• Environmental unity: Chain of actions and reactions
…both locally and globally.
• Earth system
– Gaia hypothesis: Earth is a living organism
– Complex and interrelated subsystems
– Global perspective on environment
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Earth’s Systems and Changes
(1)
• Earth is a dynamic system
Figure 1.B
• Earth processes are driven by two heat
sources: internal and external…
• Four interconnected subsystems:
– Geosphere (lithosphere in your book)
– Hydrosphere
– Atmosphere
– Biosphere
• Four subsystems mutually adjust to function
as a whole…for now…
Figure 1.B
Earth’s Systems and Changes (3)
Figure 1.11
Hazardous Earth Processes (1)
Hazardous Earth processes and risk statistics
for
the past two decades:
• Annual loss of life: About 150,000
• Financial loss: > $20 billion
• Millions of lives lost during the past 20
years, from a major natural disaster in a
developing countries (2003 Iran quake,
~30,000 people, 2004 Asia tsunamis,
~300,000)…famine.
• More property damage occurs in a
more developed country
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Hazardous Earth Processes (2) Hazardous Earth Processes (3)

Risk Assessment Plan:
• Hazard identification
• Risk assessment – type, probability,
and consequence of impact
• Risk management and mitigation

Risk Perception:
• Public attitude and acceptance of risk How has the impact of natural disasters
• Public awareness and action changed in the last 50-100 years?

Scientific Knowledge and Values

Science and Solution
(1)
• Science: Accumulated knowledge
• Knowledge: Basis for decision making
• Scientific methods: Formulate Most scientists
possible solutions to environmental are motivated
problems
by a basic
• Scientific design: Structure more suitable for curiosity about
certain environmental settings how things
• Scientific info: Public awareness
work…
and environmental regulations

Figure 1.14

Closer Look: Knowledge, Imagination,

Scientific Knowledge and Values (2)
• 3-D environmental problems
• Changes of environment in the 4-D (time)
– Expansiveness of geologic time
– Broad spectrum of geologic processes
– Great variations in rates of geologic processes
(see table 1.4 for examples)
and Critical Thinking
• Knowledge: What is known
• Imagination: No limits, leading to out-of-the-
box thinking of the unknown
• Scientific investigation: Needs critical thinking
• Critical thinking: Significance, logic flow,
relevance, breadth and depth, clarity, fair test

• Scientific methods for complex,

multidisiplinary environmental
problems

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Geological Time Dimension Culture and Environmental

• The important variable that distinguishes Awareness
geology from other sciences
• Varied rate and size of geological processes: • Land ethic “…we are responsible to the
f
total environment, the larger
mm/yr to km/s and micrometers to kilometers
community…”
• Humans are a super agent of change
– Holocene epoch with industrialization and global • Precautionary principle – recognizes that
h scientific proof is not always possible,
environmental ange and management practices are needed
c s
to reduce or eliminate environmental
issues.
Figure 1.15 – Lead to a proactive approach with an emphasis on
environmental unity

Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?

Solving Environmental Problems Applied and Critical Thinking Topics

• Difficult processes • Why are people in Haiti so vulnerable to
• Environmental problems tend to be complex major natural hazards?
• Rapid changes, slow recognition, slower actions • Would an exponential negative growth
• Some changes are of irreversible nature of human population be a solution to
• Environmental policy links to many environmental problems?
environmental economics in infancy • What is sustainability?
• Is it quality or quantity?
• Are there any conflicts between global
environmental unity and regional
Figure 1.D (b)
economic development?

Chapter Two Overview

Chapter 2 • Basic internal structure
Internal Structure of Earth and processes of Earth
and Plate Tectonics • Basic ideas and
evidence o plate
tectonics
Introduction to • Mechanism of
Environmental Geology, plate tectonics
• Relate plate tectonics
5e to environmental
geology
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community College

Figure 2.2a

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Case History: Two Major CA

Cities
• San Andreas fault: a transform plate boundary
San Andreas
between the North American and the Pacific
plates
Fault System
• Two major cities on the opposite sides of the
fault: Los Angeles and San Francisco
• Many major earthquakes related to fault system
• Loss of many lives and billions of property
damages due to earthquakes
• New construction and retrofitting of
infrastructures has become more expensive
• When will be the next “big one” and what to
do? How to deal with the potential Figure 2.1
consequence?

Internal Structure of Earth Internal Structure of Earth

• The Earth is layered and dynamic:
Interior differentiation and concentric
layers.
• Chemical model by composition and
density (heavy or light): Crust, mantle, and
core. Moho discontinuity between the
crust and mantle.
• Physical property model (solid or liquid,
weak or strong): Lithosphere (crust and
upper rigid mantle), asthenosphere,
mesosphere, liquid outer core, inner solid
core.
• Chemically different layers:
– Crust – outermost layer, solid, embedded in top
of lithosphere, consists of either ocean crust or
continental crust, and made up of 8 major
elements plus many minor.
– Mantle – mostly composed of iron and
other magnesium bearing silicate
minerals
– Core – interior of the Earth, metallic,
mostly composed of iron

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Internal Structure of Earth Model of Earth’s Inte

rior
• Physically different layers; Magma likely generated in the
– Lithosphere – outer layer, cold, rigid rock, asthenosphere.
makes up oceanic and continental plates
– Asthenosphere – upper zone of mantle, hot, Slabs of lithosphere have apparently
slow- flowing, weak rock sunk deep into the mantle.
– Mesosphere – middle zone, hot, fast-
flowing fluid/rock Variability of lithosphere
– Outer core – fluid, very hot, convective flow thickness reflects
changes in age and
– Inner core – behaves like a solid, as hot as history of the plate.
the Sun’s surface, about the size of the
moon
Figure 2.2b & 2.3

Study of Earth’s Interior Structure Seismic P Wave

• Knowledge primarily through the
study of seismology
– Seismology: Study of earthquakes and seismic
waves
• Examining the paths and speeds of seismic
waves through reflection and refraction
– Two basic types of seismic waves:
• Body waves: primary (P) and secondary (S) waves
• Surface waves
• Primary or push-pull wave, travels like sound
wave
• Direction of rock particle vibration parallel to
that of wave propagation
• Fastest rates of propagation, first arrival to
the seismograph
• Body wave travels through Earth interior
and all media— solid and liquid

Seismic S-Wave Seismic Waves and Internal

Structures
• Secondary or shear waves

• The direction of particle vibration • Earth’s interior boundaries: Sudden changes

perpendicular to that of propagation
• Propagates slower than P waves
• Body wave, propagating through Earth’s
interior, but not its liquid layers
in the speed and direction of seismic waves
– Different characteristics: Different rates and
paths of wave propagation
– P waves travel slower in liquids.
– P waves refract in materials with different densities
• Asthenosphere: Low velocity zone, major
source of Earth magma

• Outer Core: Liquid, no S wave transmits through

it

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Internal Dynamics of Earth Dynamic Earth—Evidence

• Evidence • Mountain belts…continental mountain
– Earth’s landscape ranges and oceanic ridges
– Dynamic phenomena: earthquakes, volcanoes • Many earthquakes occur in
specific, concentrated zones
• Plate Tectonics: Hypothesis and Theory and times
– Continental drift • Most volcanism occurs specific,
– Seafloor spreading concentrated zones and times
– Plate tectonics – a unifying theory • Visibly detect plate boundaries by
observing volcanism and earthquake
occurrence
• Continental drift and seafloor spreading

Earthquakes and Volcanoes Continental Drift

• 1910s Alfred Wegener proposed idea
– Rock types match, fossils match,
paleoclimate evidence match, continental
‘fit’
• Pangaea (Pan-jee-ah): All land, unified
super- continent, fully formed about 250
mya
• Two parts of Pangaea: Laurasia (N)
and Gondwana (S)
Figure 2.4 • Pangaea drifting apart: ~ 200 mya

Continental Drift Continental Drift

Hess couldn’t
indicate a
mechanism…

Figure 2.18

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Plate Tectonics Plate Tectonics

• A unified theory: Study the dynamic Three major types of plate boundaries
creation, movement, and destruction
processes of plates • Divergent: plates moving apart and
new lithosphere produced in mid-
• Plate are fragments of lithosphere oceanic ridge
• Plates move in relation to others at varied
• Convergent: plates collide, subduction
rates and mountain building (3 sub-types)
• No major tectonic movements within plates
• Transform: two plates slide past one another
• Actions concentrated along plate boundaries
• Plate boundaries: plates come together. Earth interior convection is the mechanism
for plate tectonics.
Defined by areas of concentrated seismic
and volcanic activity, rifts, faults, and
mountain ridges

Plate Movement - Tectonics Plate Tectonics - Mechanism

Driving force behind
plate tectonics…
• Earth’s internal
heat and
convection
• Ridge-push and
slab- pull motion
• Motion made
‘easier’ by changes
in density and
temperature of crust
Figure
Figure 2.20

Plate Tectonics Plate Tectonics (3)

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Plate Tectonics - Divergent Plate Tectonics - Convergent

Divergent Plate Boundary:
• Plates move away from each other
• Mid-ocean ridges
• Continental rift valleys
• Creative force – generates new material
• Exhibits extensional, normal stress
• Produces shallow earthquakes
• Basaltic volcanism
Convergent Plate Boundary
• Plates collide with each other
• Destructive force, recycles old material
• Exhibits compressional, reverse stress
• Produces shallow, intermediate, and
deep earthquakes
• Various types of
volcanism…depending on plate
material

Plate Tectonics - Convergent Plate Tectonics - Convergent

Convergent plate boundary – 3 sub-types:
• C-C boundary: Major young mountain
belts and shallow earthquakes
• C-O boundary: Major volcanic mountain
belts, subduction zone and oceanic
trench, earthquakes
• O-O boundary: Subduction zone, deep
oceanic trench, volcanic island arc, wide
earthquake zones

Figure 2.8

Plate Tectonics - Transform Plate Tectonics

Transform plate boundary
• Locations where the edges of two plates
slide past one another
• Spreading zone is not a single,
continuous rift offset by transform faults
• Most transform plate boundaries are
within oceanic crust, some occur within
continents
• Famous transform plate boundary on
land is the San Andreas fault
Figure 2.10 & 2.11

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Plate Boundary Plate Motion

• Plates move a few centimeters per year: about
the growth rate of human fingernails
• The rates of movement changes over time
• North American plate along the San Andreas fault about
3.5 cm (1.4 in.) per year
• When rough edges along the plate move
quickly, an earthquake may be produced
• Often slow creeping movement
• The direction of movement changes too (see Figure
2.4a)
• Wilson Cycle: The cyclic nature of plate tectonics
Figure 2.5

Seafloor Spreading Seafloor Spreading

• 1950s and early 1960s, ocean
expedition increased knowledge of
oceanography
• In 1960s, Harry Hess proposed seafloor
spreading
– Seafloor not a single static piece
– Mid-oceanic ridges, or spreading centers where
new crust is formed and seafloor spreads
• Age of seafloor rocks: Progressively
younger toward the mid-oceanic ridge
• Thickness of seafloor sediments:
Figure 2.15
Progressively thinner toward the ridge

Seafloor Spreading Hot Spots

• Places on Earth: Volcanic centers with
• Paleomagnetic data: magma source from deep mantle, perhaps
– Dipolar magnetic field (~ last 3 million years) near the core- mantle boundary
– Magnetic field direction is recorded by • Hot spots can be on continents and oceans,
iron- bearing igneous rocks Yellowstone and Hawaii
– Striking symmetric • Forming a chain of volcanoes over a
al magnetic anomaly
strips stationary hot spot: Example, the Hawaiian–
Emperor Chain in the Pacific Ocean
– The bend of a seamount chain over a hot spot
representing the change of plate motion
Figure 2.12 & 2.14

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Hot Spot
s

Figure 2.16a
Figure 2.16

Wilso Tectonics and Environmental Geology

n
Cycle

Figure 2.4b

Figure 2.23

Plate Tectonics and Environmental Critical-Thinking Topics

Geology
• Significance of tectonic plate motion
– Global zones of resources
• Oil, gas, hydrothermal energy, mineral resources
– Global belts of catastrophic hazards
from volcanoes and earthquakes
– Impacts on the landscape and global climates
– Geologic knowledge of plate tectonics
as a foundation for:
• Urban development, hazard mitigation,
resource management
• Assume the Pangaea never broke up, how might
today’s environments be different?
• What are the major differences in plate tectonic
settings between the U.S. eastern and western
coasts?
• Will the tectonic cycle ever stop? Why or why not?
• Why is most seismic and volcanic energy released
along the Pacific rim?
• Does plate tectonics play a role in shaping your
local environment?

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Chapter 3
Chapter Three: Overview
Minerals and Rocks • Introduction to minerals: chemistry & structure
• Introduction to major rock-forming minerals
• Know the rock cycle and interaction with
Introduction to plate tectonics
Environmental Geology, • Discuss three ‘rock laws’
5e • Introduction to basic rock types
and environmental significance
• Know basic rock structures

Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community College

Case History: Asbestos Importance of Rocks and

• A group of silicate minerals
• Some are hazardous to human health:
Causing fatal lung diseases
• Useful mineral Material: Fire retardant
property for brake lining and insulations
• Fibrous minerals: White asbestos (less harmful),
blue asbestos (hazardous)
• Removal of asbestos: Depending upon the
properties of the asbestos used and the
context in which they are used
Minerals
• Fundamental building blocks of Earth
• Various uses for modern
economic developments
• Important clues for interpreting Earth’s history
• Knowledge of minerals & rocks is the
first important step to better manage
Earth’s resources
• Important to our health and environment

Basic Chemistry Review Rock-Forming Mineral Groups

• All matter, including minerals and rocks,
made of atoms
• Atom structure: Nucleus (proton and
neutron) and surrounding electrons
• Atomic number: The unique number of
protons in an element’s nucleus
• Atomic mass number: The sum of the
member of protons and neutrons

Figure 3.2

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Basic Chemistry Review Mineral Definitive Properties

• Ion: Charged atom particles, reactions • Made of an element or a chemical compound
between different types of atoms
• Isotopes: Atoms of the same element with • Definitive chemical composition
varied number of neutrons
• Orderly, regular repeating internal
• Chemical bonding atomic arrangement (i.e., crystalline
– Ionic bonds structure)
– Covalent bonds
– Metallic bonds • Inorganic solids
– van der Waals bond
• Formed by natural (geologic) processes

Crystalline Structure Mineral Diagnostic Properties

• Color and streak

• Luster

• Crystal form

• Cleavage

• Hardness

• Special properties (taste, smell, feel,

tenacity, reaction to acid, magnetism)
Figure 3

Important Rock-Forming Important Rock-Forming

Minerals
• More than 4000 known minerals
• Only a few dozen are common
constituents of rocks at or near Earth’s
surface
• Hand specimen identification
involves appearance and physical
properties
– Mineral properties summarized in Appendix A
• Weathering
– Physical and chemical breakdown of rocks at or
near Earth’s surface
– Important in forming sediments and soils
Minerals
• Common mineral groups are primarily
classified by chemical composition
– Silicates: Contain Si-O tetrahedron fundamental
building unit, the most abundant mineral group
– Silcates: comprise most of Earth’s crust
made up of O, Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, and
K.
– Common mineral groups: quartz, feldspar
group, mica group, and ferromagnesian
groups.

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Rock-Forming Mineral Groups Rock-Forming Mineral Groups

• Other common non-silicate mineral groups:
– Carbonates: contain containing the
carbonate ion CO32- [calcite and dolomite for
building]
– Oxides: Contain oxygen atoms bonded to an
atom
of another element [hematite for iron]
– Sulfides: Contain sulfur atoms bonded to
one or more metallic elements [sphalerite
for zinc]
Table 3.2
– Native elements: Made of single element

Rock
s Rock
Cycl
• Aggregated solids of minerals, organics,
and/or fossil fragments
• Three major types of rocks classified by
origin, the way the rocks formed
• Fundamental links between rocks and
environment (resources, sources for acid
rain drainage, land subsidence, structure
foundation failures, etc.)

• Rocks identified by mineralogy and texture Figure 3.13

Three Fundamental Rock Laws Igneous Rocks

• The law of crosscutting relationships
• Cooled, crystallized/solidified from magma
– Rock is younger than the one is cuts across • Records of Earth’s thermal cooling history

• The law of original horizontality

– Sedimentary rock layers generally for
at near horizontal under normal
conditions
• The law of superposition
– Rocks become progressively younger towards
the top in an undisturbed/undeformed rock
unit
• Intrusive rocks: Crystallized/solidified beneath
the Earth surface
• Extrusive rocks: Crystallized/solidified at or
near the Earth surface
• Classification- Based on:
– Texture (cooling rate and environment)
– Composition (what minerals make up the rock)

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Igneous Rock Texture Intrusive Igneous Rocks

• Dictated by the rates of magma or lava cooling
• Slower rates of cooling beneath the surface
…faster rates of cooling at or near the surface
• The slower the magma cools, the
coarser the mineral particles in igneous
rocks
• Igneous rocks formed from two stages of
cooling having distinctive, different-sized
particles (minerals)
• Cool slowly and crystallizes well below the
surface to form course grains (phaneritic)
• Mineral grains can be seen with naked eye
• Phenocrysts - crystals larger than
surrounding crystals (matrix)
• Inclusions are pieces of surrounding
rock incorporated into crystallizing
magma
• Batholiths and plutons
– Batholiths are the largest masses of igneous rock,
often exceeding thousands of cubic
kilometers…plutons are small intrusions

Extrusive Igneous Rocks Igneous Rock Texture

• Cool quickly at or near the surface of Earth
• Form from lava or pyroclastic debris • Phaneritic
• Fine-grained because rapidly cooled • Aphanitic
(aphanitic) • Porphyritic
• Porphyritic textures have large • Vitreous or glassy
crystals surrounded by smaller • Vesicular or frothy
crystals • Pyroclastic
• Volcanic breccia
– Lava flow mixed with cemented fragments of
broken lava and ash Figure 3.16a
• Pyroclastic debris forms tuff and agglomerate

Igneous Rock Composition Common Igneous Rocks

• Depending on the composition of magma

• Felsic/granitic: silica-rich, typically

related to continental crust, lighter colors,
lower density
• Intermediate/andesitic: 50:50
composition, commonly associated with
convergent plate boundaries along the
Pacific rim, eruptive volcanism
• Mafic/basaltic: silica poor, usually
related to oceanic crust, darker colors,
higher density Figure 3.15

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Common Igneous Igneous Rocks and the Environment

Composition
Rocks
Felsic Intermediate Mafic

Texture • Intrusive rocks are generally strong and

Intrusive Granite Diorite Gabbro
more resistant to weathering
• Lava flows often exhibit columnar jointing
and lava tubes, both of which impart
Extrusive Rhyolite Andesite Basalt
weaknesses
• Tuff is generally a soft, weak rock
Figure 3.16c • Careful field investigation is always
necessary before large structures are
built on igneous rocks

Figure 3.16b

Sedimentary Rocks Detrital Sedimentary Rocks

• Form at or near surface environments
• Constitutes about 75% of all rocks
exposed at the surface
• Contains records of present and past
surface environments (landscape and
climate)
• Diagenesis - processes that take place after
sediment comes to rest and forms rock
• Two major types of sedimentary rock:
– Detrital
– Chemical
• Compacted and cemented from sediments
• ‘Clastic’ texture…made of pieces of
mineral or other rock fragments
• Formation process: transportation,
deposition, compaction, and
cementation
• Fossil-fuel bearing rocks (shale…sandstone)
• Classified by size of the particle/grain
• Shale: the most abundant clastic rock

Figure 3.22 .21 4

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Chemical Sedimentary Rocks

• Precipitated from chemical solutions
and/or an accumulation of chemical or
biological matter in water
• Classified based on composition and
texture (clastic or nonclastic)
• Common textural terms are:
crystalline, skeletal, oolitic, massive
(microcrystalline)
• Limestone: the most abundant
chemical sedimentary rock

Common Sedimentary Rocks

Table 3.3a

Sedimentary Structure and

Common Sedimentary Rocks
Environment
• Stratification: Law of original horizontality,
law of supposition

• Cross-bedding: Movement direction of

ancient currents

• Fossil content: Environment setting

(continental, marine, or transitional)

Table 3.3b

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Sedimentary Rocks and the

Environment Metamorphic Rocks
• Changed rocks from preexisting rocks
• Three primary environmental concerns:
under solid state (not re-melted)
– shale, mudstone, and siltstone are often
very weak
– limestone generally not well suited for human • Changes in mineralogy and rock textures
use and activity, because of weathering
characteristics
– cementation may be weak
• Agents of changes: temperature, pressure
(both confining and differential), and
• Tends to contain fossil fuel and ore deposits chemically active fluids
• Reservoir rock for groundwater supply
• Fine-grained clastic rocks and • Records of Earth’s dynamic processes:
limestone in humid region: Very weak Tectonic movement and igneous intrusion
rocks causing environmental
problems

Metamorphic Rock Texture

• Foliation: Preferred alignment of
platy minerals or particles
– Minerals align perpendicular to stress
– Rocks typically classified by texture: Slate,
phyllite, schist, gneiss (fine to course grained)

• Nonfoliation: Random arranged and

interlocked minerals or particles
– Fine grained or coarse grained
– Typically classified by composition:
Marble, quartzite
Figure 3.24

Metamorphic Rocks and the

Metamorphic Environment
Foliation and • Foundation materials
Weakness – Slate is excellent for foundation material
and other uses
– Schist is poor because of soft minerals
– Gneiss usually of suitable strength

• Foliation planes are potential

planes of weakness
• Rock foliation and strength: site stability
Figure 3.B for facilities (nuclear power plants,
dams,

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Rock Structure and Strength

Rock Structure
• Deformation in response to stress (pressure
and or temperature)
• Brittle deformation: fractures, joints, and faults
– Conduits for fluid movement, possibly pollutants
– Weak surfaces for landslide, earthquake, and
failures of infrastructure
• Ductile deformation: folds (anticline &
syncline)
– Mountainous terrain
– Related to active plate boundaries,
linked to environmental problems
• Deformation encourages weathering

Rock Structure
• Unconformity: Contact structure of rocks

• Representing geologic time gap in

geologic records, ancient erosion
surface
– Types: Nonconformity, angular unconformity, and
disconformity

• Clues for ancient geologic environment

Figure 3.3 a/c

Critical-Thinking Topics
• Discuss different ways that rocks and minerals are
used to benefit or to harm the environment

• What rock property and rock structure factors should

you consider for a major engineering site selection?

• How can the composition and texture of a rock

contribute to environmental risks?

• What factors contributed to the failure of the St.

Francis Dam?

Figure 3.35

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Chapter Four: Overview

• Linkages between geology with
ecology and relationships with
Introduction to biodiversity
Environmental Geology,
• Factors that increase or decrease
5e biodiversity
Chapter 4
• Human domination of ecosystems and
Ecology and Geology reducing the human footprint

Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community College

• Ecological restoration and processes

Case History: Endangered Trout Fish Habitat: It’s About Geology

• A study to evaluate the steelhead habitat
in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los
Angeles
• Steelhead trout are born in mountain
streams and travel to the ocean, enjoy
gravel-laden streams and low summer
flow
• The eggs hatch in the gravel of the stream
• Groundwater emerges to the surface as
seeps
and springs along faults
• The geology (rock types and structures) Figure 4.1
and groundwater are important in
understanding fish habitat.

Ecology and Geology Linkage Fundamental Ecology Terms

Ecology-
The study of relationships between living
things and their environments; the study
of control factors over the distribution,
abundance, and health conditions of
living things.
Environmental Geology
The study of geological processes
and their effects on the environment.
What are some examples of linkage?
• Species: A group of individuals
capable of interbreeding
• Population: A group of individuals of the
same species living in the same area
• Community: A group of the
populations of different species living
in the same area
• Biota: All organisms living in an area or a
region
• Biosphere: The part of Earth where
organisms exist and function

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Fundamental Ecology Terms What is an Ecosystem?

• Habitat: where a particular species lives An ecological
• Niche: how a species makes a living; its role community and
in the ecosystem its surrounding
environments in
• Indigenous species: found in the area
which the flows of
where they evolved
energy and cycles
• Exotic species: brought into an area or of chemicals
region by humans for a variety of purposes support the living
or as accidentals community.
• Invasive species: exotic species
compete with indigenous species and
may displace them Figure 4.2

Human Constructed Ecosystem-

Types of Ecosystem Bioremediation
• Natural Indigenous: Ecosystem as the
result of completely natural evolutional
processes, rarely exist on land
• Human modified: The one modified by
human use and interest, almost all the
major ecosystems
• Human constructed: Man-made
ecosystem for many different purposes
at many sites, such as ponds, canals,
wastewater treatment pools

Natural Service Functions of

Ecosystems
• Processes responsible for producing
clean air, water, and living matter
• Direct functions:
– Cycle of chemical elements (CO2, O2, CH4)
– Flow of energy and nutrients
– Removal of pollutants
Buffering functions: providing
protection from natural hazards –
wetlands against coastal erosion and
flooding
Biodiversity
Biodiversity- The number or abundance of species in an
ecosystem or ecological community.
• Species richness: The number of species
• Species evenness: Relative proportion of species
• Species dominance: One of multiple species
more common than others
• Keystone species: Exerting a stronger community
effect disproportionate to their abundance

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North America & Europe Tree Diversity

Geology and Biodiversity
• Geology affects the overall
environmental conditions of an
ecosystem
– Changes in topography (e.g., mountain building
and slope movement)
– Plate tectonics and ecosystem barrier (e.g., North
America and Europe tree diversity vs. mountain
range distribution)
– Occurrence of major natural disasters
(volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and
tsunamis, floods)
– Changes in climate: Ice age, glaciation, and
global warming

Keystone Species – ex: Wolves Keystone Species

(2)
• Keystone species: Species exert a
strong community effects
disproportionate to their abundance
• Case study: Wolf, elk and mountain
stream system in the Yellowstone
National Park
– 1960s–mid-1990s: Elk overgrazed the
riparian vegetation, affected the stream
ecosystem
– Late 1990s: Reintroduced wolves that hunted
elks and promoted the regrowth of riparian
vegetation, water quality, and stream
ecosystem

Keystone Species - Otters

• Sea otters, urchins, and kelp
• Kelp forests: Three parts – root-like
holdfast, stem (stipe), and blades
(leaves)
• Holdfast attached to boulders or the
rocky bottom, part of the active
geological environment
• Urchins fed on the holdfast of kelp
• Sea otters fed on urchins, kelp forests
restored
.

4

Sea Otters, Urchins, and
Kelp
Figure 4.7, 4th ed.
Factors To Increase Biodiversity
• Highly modified biologically
productive environment with diverse
habitat and niches
• Favored geological environment
– Moderate amount of disturbance – hazards
creating or renewing habitats
– Harsh environments for certain unique
specialized species, increasing biodiversity at
regional scale
• Relatively constant environmental
conditions, such as T, P, precipitation,
and elevation
• Evolutionary capabilities
Human Domination
Human activities exerting dominant
community Effects (both locally and
regionally):
• Dominate almost all ecosystems on Earth
• Massive land use transformation – urban,
agriculture, recreation and industry
development
• Global climate changes
• Changes in biogeochemical cycles – O,
CO2, CH4, energy, and nutrients
• Most rapid extinction of many species
during the last 2000 years
10/7/2012
Figure 4.8, 4th ed.
Factors To Reduce Biodiversity
• Extreme geological environment
– Extreme disturbances damage habitats
– Limit the number of habitats and ecological
niches at a local scale
– Pollution and other stresses restricting the
flow of energy and nutrients
• Fragmentation of ecosystems by land use
transformation
• Intrusion of invasive exotic species
• Habitat simplification (engineering
structure) or migration barriers
Case Study: Seawalls & Biodiversity
• Seawall: structures made of concrete,
large boulders, or wood parallel to the
shore with the objective of stopping
coastal erosion
– Beach space narrowed
– Gradient increase of offshore slope
– Waves (and their energy) are reflected
– Fewer animals in the sand, fewer insects,
fewer birds to feed and rest on the beach
– Biodiversity reduced
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 10/7/2012

Case
Study:
Seawalls
and
Biodiversity

Figure 4.B

The Golden Rule of the Environment:

All About Timing…Human vs. Earth
Reduce the Human Footprint
• Geological processes on Earth time scale • Total footprint: The product of the
• Human activities and expectations on footprint per person times the total
human time scale number of persons
• Need to operate with an • Human population reduction
appropriate environmental ethic
• More efficient use of resources
• We need to achieve a more compatible
• Better management of our waste
relationship with the Earth
• Disrespect and disregard • Better understanding of ecosystems
resulting environmental • The importance of human-dominated
degradation ecosystems and other types of
ecosystems
”…sustaining Earth systems that we
depend on for our health and well-being.”

Ecological Restoration -
Ecological Restoration Kissimmee River
The process of altering a site or area with the The process of altering a site or area to
objective of reestablishing indigenous, reestablish indigenous historical
historical ecosystems.
ecosystems. Change a degraded – Prior to 1940, wide floodplain with diverse
ecosystem so that it wetland plants, wading birds, waterfowl, fish,
resembles a less and other wildlife
Potential restoration projects: human-disturbed – 1942–1971: Two-thirds of the floodplain drained,
River restoration ecosystem and degraded ecosystem functions and reduction of
contains the structure, birds and fish population
Dam removal – 1992: Restoration project authorized by the
function, diversity, and
Floodplain restoration processes of the Congress - 12 km straight channel restored to a
Mining remediation…etc. desired ecosystem. more natural meander

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Figure 4.C
The project reflects our
values in maintaining
biological diversity and
providing for recreational
activities in a more natural
environment.
Figure 4.C
Figure 4.D

Everglades Ecosystem
Everglades Ecological Restoration
• Since 1900, urban development, much of
the Everglades drained
• One of the most valuable wetland ecosystem
– 11,000 species of plants
– 100s species of birds, fish, marine mammals
– 70 threatened or endangered species
• Multi-level partnership restoration project
• Reduce pollution, remove invasive exotic
species, and apply the precautionary principle
• Future plans- control human population,
development, and access

Everglades Ecosystem Important Restoration Aspects

30 years • Hydrologic process: surface water and
$10 billion ground water interactions are critical
• Soil and Rock: Geological conditions
(rock and soil type, slope, landscape)
• Vegetation: The cover materials on land
and wetland and nutrient cyclers
• Socio-economic shareholders: Interests
Figure 4.E2 and start points
Moral • Science: Restoration goals and endpoints
Obligation? Why
should you care?
Figure 4.E, 4th ed.

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Biological Engineering in Ecologic

Restoration Process and Procedure Restoration
• Using vegetation in engineering
projects to achieve specific ecological
goals
– i.e., plants to clean pollutants in wetlands
• Designing and constructing modified
ecosystems
• Modifying functions of ecosystems
– Planting or restoring native species
– Restricting and removing invasive species
– Restoring hydrologic conditions
– Removing accumulated waste

CA Dunes and the S. African Ice Plant Critical Thinking and Applied Questions
• An ecosystem consists of both living
community and its nonliving environment.
Is one component more important?
• Based upon the linkage between
ecology and geology, what is the
importance of interdisciplinary
collaborations in ecological
restoration?
• What are the critical ecological challenges in
your
area?
• Are there any positive impact of
Figure 4F land transformation on your local
ecosystems?

Spokane Hazards???
Chapter 5 • Discuss 3 possible hazards, disasters, or
natural processes Spokane residents
Introduction to Natural might be affected by.
Hazards • For each:
– Discuss how humans might have increased
the risk.
Introduction – Discuss how humans might attempt to control
and reduce the risk.
to – How are you personally prepared for
Environment each of these?
al Geology,
5e
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community College

1
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Chapter 5: Overview Case History: Hurricane Katrina

• Increasing population and land use
increase losses from a natural disaster
• Know why some Earth processes
are hazardous (or beneficial) to
humans
• Look at historic hazards and future
risk assessment in determining
threats
• Human perception and adjustment to
hazards
• Discuss stages of recovery following
disasters
• Made landfall 8/29/05, east of New Orleans
• Storm surge: 3-6m (9-20ft)
• Diameter of serious damage: About 100 mi
• 80% of New Orleans under water
• Official number of deaths: 1,836
• Property damages: Tens of billions
• Estimated costs for recovering and
rebuilding: hundreds of billions

Case History: Hurricane Katrina

• Regional subsidence: 1-4m (3-12ft) per 100 yr
• Sea level rise: 20cm (8in) last 100 years
due to global warming and resource
extraction
• Geographic location: hurricanes, storms, flood
• Awarness of risks and warnings in place
• Insufficient funds for monitoring and
maintaining levees and floodwalls
• Poor coordination in initial emergency response
• Rebuild: better design and planning,
technology, broader awareness

Figure 5.2

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Hurricane Natural Disaster

Katrina • Criteria: A particular event in which 10 or more
people are killed; one hundred or more people are
affected; a declaration of emergency is issued, or
there is a request for international assistance
• Dangerous natural processes:
– Earthquakes
– Floods
– Volcanic activities
– Landslides
– Storms
• Impact risks, depending on the nature of
hazards, spatial and temporal relations to human
environment

Figure 5.1

Types of Natural Hazards Why Natural Processes Become

Hazards
Earthquakes, floods, • Natural processes become hazardous:
cyclones (hurricanes)
killed several million
When people live or work in areas where
people, with an they occur.
average worldwide – Population growth
annual loss of life of • Land-use changes, such as
about 150,000 people. urbanization or deforestation, removal
Annual average
of wetlands.
property damage – Environmental damages
exceeds $50 billion. • Consumption of energy resources and climate
From NOAA 99044-CD changes (not just CO2).
• Better environmental planning: DO NOT
build on floodplains, earthquake prone
areas

Hazard Magnitude and

Frequency
• Magnitude: Intensity of a natural hazard in
terms of the amount of energy released
Impact risk:
• Frequency: Recurrence interval of a
disastrous event…how often the event Controlled by
occurs both natural
• Magnitude and Frequency:
and human
– Generally an inverse relation between them factors.
– Largely controlled by natural factors
• Low-magnitude and high-frequency
hazards- not always destructive, a high-
magnitude one almost certainly catastrophic

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Benefits of Natural Hazards Damages of Natural Hazards

• Not all hazardous processes exert • Death and damages: Great loss of human
harmful or deadly consequences. Some life, grave damages to property, changes in
are supportive. properties of Earth materials.
• Benefits: Creating new land,
• More life loss from a major natural disaster
supplying nutrients to soil, flushing in a developing country; more property
away pollutants, changing local damage in a more developed country.
landscape
• Catastrophe: Disastrous situations
Fault gouge has formed requiring a long process to recovery from
groundwater barriers, grave damages
producing natural
subsurface dams and
water resources.

Figure 5.7a

Expansive, clay-rich soils are one of the

most costly hazards = >$3 billion in Catastrophic Potential of
damages
Hazards

Figure 5.10
Table 5.1

Catstrophic
potential?

Drought versus
tornado.

4

Hazard Evaluation
Fundamental Principles:
• Most natural hazards are predictable
from scientific evaluation
• Risk analysis – a critical component in
understanding impacts
• Different hazards are linked
• Hazardous events are often repetitive
and increasing in magnitude
• Importance of hazard planning and
hazard mitigation…to minimize
consequences
Hazard Evaluation
Studying linkages: spatial and temporal links
Linkages between adjacent locations
Linkages between past, present, and
future conditions
Linkages between hazards (volcano
and mudflow…or hurricane and
flooding)
Geologic setting and hazards (rock
fractures orearthquakes and landslides)
Forecast, Prediction, and
Warning
• Locations, precursors, probability of
occurring
• Determining the probabilities of a
hazardous event at a given magnitude
• Observing precursor events or signs
Forecast – Predict - Warn
10/12/2012
Hazard Evaluation
The Role of History:
Occurrence and recurrence intervals
Location and effects of past hazards
Observations of present conditions
Measuring the changes or rates of change
Historic trends of hazards
Studying the history of repetitive
events supports any hazard
reduction plan.
Figure 5.11
Forecast, Prediction, and
Warning
• Forecast: The certainty of the event is
given as the percent chance of happening
• Prediction: Sometimes possible to
accurately predict when, where, type and
size of the certain natural hazardous events
• Warning: A hazardous event has been
predicted or a forecast has been made, the
public must be warned
Disaster Prediction and
Warning
The media are generally more
interested in the impact of a
particular event on people than
in its scientific aspects.
Good relations between
scientists and the news media is
a difficult goal.
Scientists have an obligation to
provide the public with
information about all natural
hazards in the area.
Figure 5.14
5

Risk Assessment
• Risk determination
– Type, location, probability, consequences
– Risk estimate: product of the probability of that
event’s occurring multiplied by the consequences
should it actually occur
• Risk Threshold: Acceptable risks
– Put probability and consequences into perspective
– Society’s perception and willingness
• The risk that an individual is willing to
endure is dependent upon the situation and
the individual.
Risk Impact
Risk impact estimation:
• To human life: Potential loss and injury of life
• To property: Damage and destruction
• To society: Services and functions of society
• To economy: Manufacture, mining,
commercial, real estate, etc.
• To natural environment: Direct or
indirect adverse impact
Human Response to Hazards
Reactive response and recovery priority
• Critical needs: Emergency operations, critical
infrastructure, hospitals, shelter, food, and
water supply
• Essential function: Transportation,
communication, education, and other services
• Improvement and development: Rebuild
damaged structures and develop better
structures
10/12/2012
Risk Impact
Hazardous Earth processes and risk
impact statistics for the past two
decades.
• Annual loss of life: About 150,000
• Financial loss: > $50 billions
• More life loss from a major natural disaster
in a developing country (2003 Iran quake,
~30,000 people killed)
• More property damage occurs in a
more developed country
Human Response to Hazards
Reactive response
• Primarily after the hazardous event
• Recovery phases: Search response,
rescue, restoration, and
reconstruction
• Recovery period: Recovery length
depending on the magnitude of hazard and
impact intensity
Human Response to Hazards
Anticipatory Response: response to a
hazardous event with an intention to avoid
or minimize its damages.
• Effective land-use planning
• Insurance and other regulations for
safety measures
• Evacuation
• Disaster awareness and preparedness:
–Individuals, families, cities, states, or
even entire nations can practice
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Human Response to Hazards

General response in a given location
• Combination of reactive and
anticipatory response

• Artificial control of natural processes

• Taking no or little action, being optimistic

about chances of making it through
disasters
Figure .1

Global Climate and Hazards Global Climate and Hazards

• Increasing sea level
• Increasing ocean temperature
• Increasing rates of coastal erosion
• Generating food production shifts
• Change in amount and location of
precipitation
• Desertification
• Increasing the impact of storm events
Figure 5.19

Land-Use Change and Natural

Population Growth and Natural
Hazards
Is population growth a cause for natural disasters?
• Under debate – population may be a trigger for
some natural disasters, e.g., floodplains
• In certainty – human settlement and
development into danger zones is critical
• Mexico City – 23 million people in ~890 mi 2
(Spokane is 210k in ~60 mi2)
Are we fully capable of artificially controlling
natural hazards?
Hazards
Land-use change amplifying the impact risks of
natural hazards:
• Deforestation and fire-
– Honduras before Hurricane Mitch, 11,000+ deaths
• Massive deforestation in major river
basin-
– 85% forest loss in Yangtze River, 4000+
deaths)
• Inappropriate construction code in
tectonic earthquake zone-
– 2003 Iran earthquake, ~300,000 deaths
• Poor construction and urban planning-
– Haiti, 2010 earthquake, above 300,000 death

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Land-Use Change and Increase in

Natural Hazards

Figure 5.20
Figure 5.21

Applied and Critical Thinking

Nevado del Ruiz:
1. Discuss why this natural hazard
became a catastrophe.
2. Discuss the aspects of the
hazard preparedness plan.

Can humans eventually control the impact

risks of natural hazards? Explain your
rationale.

Chapter 6: Overview
• Understand earthquakes, faulting,
and estimation of magnitude
Introduction to
• Know earthquake types, seismic risk,
Environmental Geology, and major effects of earthquakes
5e • Understand earthquake cycles and
methods of prediction
Chapter 6 • Understand process of hazard reduction
Earthquakes and perceived risk to humans

Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community

College

1

Case History: Earthquake
• On January 12, 2010, a magnitude 7.0
earthquake struck Haiti and killed about
300,000 people
• A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the
midlevel town of L’Aqila in 2009, many of
the buildings collapsed, killing about 300
people.
• In Chili (February 27, 2010), a
magnitude 8.8 earthquake, about 500
times as strong as the Haiti
earthquake, killed about 800 people
• Buildings are not designed to withstand
shaking or are built improperly, causing
far more deaths
Selected Major Earthquakes in the
U.S.
Table 6.1
10/19/2012
Earthquakes
• Violent ground-shaking phenomenon by
the sudden release of strain energy
stored in rocks
• One of the most catastrophic and devastating
hazards
• Globally, most earthquakes are
concentrated along plate boundaries
• USGS estimated about 1 million quakes
annually
• Millions of people killed and billions of
dollars in damage by catastrophic
earthquakes
Causes for Earthquakes
• Stress and strain…exerted pressure.
• Stress: A force exerted per unit area within
rocks or other Earth materials
• Strain: Deformation (size, shape, and
orientation) of rock materials caused by
stress
• Rock strength: Rock’s ability to stand a
magnitude level of stress before rupture
• Earthquake: Strain accumulated beyond
rock strength producing eventual release
of energy
2
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Causes for Earthquakes Earthquake Magnitude

Earthquake: Sudden release of strain energy
caused by rock rupture (through faulting)
– Brittle deformation
Earthquakes induced by human activities:
– Much smaller magnitude
– Reservoir-induced earthquakes
– Deep waste disposal and earthquake
– Nuclear explosions (underground testing)
• Focus: The point at depth where the rocks
ruptured to produce the earthquake.
• Epicenter: The location on the surface of Earth above the
focus.
• Moment magnitude: Measure of the energy
released by the earthquake. Estimated by examining
the records from seismographs. More appropriate for
large EQs.
• Richter magnitude: Describes the energy
released by an earthquake. It is based upon the
amplitude or size of the largest seismic wave
produced by an earthquake.

Earthquake Magnitude Scale

• Richter scale: amplitude of ground motion-
Focus
– Increasing one order in magnitude =
Epicenter
tenfold increase in amplitude
• Moment magnitude scale:
Fault
– Measuring the amount of strain energy
Fault plane released
– Based on the amount of fault displacement
– Applicable over a wider range
of ground motions than the
Richter scale
Figure 6.3 • Earthquake energy: Increase one order
in magnitude, about a 32-times increase
in energy

Earthquake Intensity Scale

Modified Mercalli Scale
• Qualitative severity measurement of
damages and ground movement
• Based on ground observations,
instead of instrument measurement
• Scale depending on earthquake’s
magnitude, duration, distance from the
epicenter, site geological conditions, and
conditions of infrastructures (age,
building code, etc.)

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USGS Did You Feel It - Intensity Table

6.4a

Plate Boundary and Plate Boundary and

Earthquakes Earthquakes
• Most earthquakes concentrated along plate
boundaries (nearly all catastrophic earthquakes
are shallow earthquakes). Some interplate.
• Divergent plate boundary: Shallow earthquakes
• Transform plate boundary: Shallow to
intermediate earthquakes
• Convergent plate boundary: Wide zone of
shallow, intermediate, and deep earthquakes.
– ~ 80% of seismic energy released along the
earthquake zone around the Pacific rim.
Figure 6.5

Major Intraplate Earthquakes Major Intraplate Earthquakes

Intraplate earthquakes: earthquakes occurs 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquake; M >8.0
within the plate, away from plate boundaries . • Destroyed New Madrid, unknown loss of life
• Rang church bells as far away as Boston
• In the eastern United States are generally
• Forests flattened
more damaging due to stronger rocks that
transmit earthquake waves more efficiently
than rocks in the west. 1886 Charleston earthquake; M 7.5
• Killed 60 people
• Even in the “stable” interior of the North
• Damaged or destroyed most buildings
American plate, the possibility of future • Impacted area beyond 1000km (620mi)
damage demands that the earthquake
hazard should be considered when
constructing power plants and dams.

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 10/19/2012

Earthquake Processes
• Fault types: dip-slip (normal, reverse, thrust)
and strike-slip (left- or right-lateral)
• Fault activity: active, potentially active (1.65mya-
10k), and inactive (prior to 1.65mya)
• Fault-related tectonic creep
Slip rate: The long-term rate of movement,
recorded as millimeters per year (mm/yr) or
meters per 1,000 years (m/ky)

Locations:
• Global plate boundaries
• Regional
• Local
Figure 6.6 a/b

Fault Earthquake Processes

s Faults almost never occur as a single
rupture. Rather, they form fault zones.
• Most long faults or fault zones, such as the
San Andreas fault zone, are segmented
– Earthquake segment: Part of a fault
zone has ruptured as a unit during
Figure 6.8
historic and prehistoric earthquakes.
• Paleoseismology: The study of
paleoseismicity (prehistoric seismic
activity) from the geologic environment.

Figure 6.7

Seismic Waves
• Generated from the earthquake focus
• P-waves: compression waves, travel
faster through all physical states of
media
• S-waves: shear waves, travel slower
than P waves, but faster than surface
waves, only propagate through solid
materials
• Surface waves: moving along Earth’s
surface, travel slowest, but cause most of
the damage

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 10/19/2012

Measuring Seismic Waves

• Seismograph or seismometer: Device to
record the seismic waves
• Seismogram: The record of an earthquake
• Amplitude of seismic waves: Amplitude of
ground vibration. (wave height)
• First arrival of seismic waves
– Determine the time of earthquake
– Distance to epicenter from a
seismograph based on the difference in
arrival time between
P waves and S waves

Material Amplification
• Seismic waves travel differently through different
rock materials.
– Propagate faster through dense and solid rocks
• Material amplification: Intensity (amplitude of
vertical movement) of ground shaking more
severe in unconsolidated materials.
– Seismic energy attenuated more and propagated less
distance in unconsolidated materials
• Directivity: Another amplification effect, the intensity
of seismic shaking increases in the direction of the
fault rupture

Material Amplification

Figure 6.13

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Ground Acceleration
• Ground motion is related to the amplitude of
seismic waves and its accelerations.
– Acceleration is the rate of velocity change with
time.
• Measured by accelometers in terms of the
acceleration of gravity -(1g) is equal to 9.8
m/sec2
• Both vertical and horizontal accelerations
• M 6.0 to M 6.9 can have 0.3 to 0.7 g

Figure 6.14 • Structure designs target to withstand 0.6 to 0.7 g

Earthquakes and Depth of Earthquake Cycles

Focus • Elastic strain – non-permanent deformation.
• Elastic rebound – ‘snap’ of rocks back to
original shape as elastic strain is
recovered.

Stages of earthquake cycle:

• Aftershock stage and inactivity
• Stress accumulation stage
• Foreshocks
• Main shock ( major earthquake)

Effects of Earthquakes
Primary Effects –
• Ground shaking, tilting, and ground rupture
• Loss of life and collapse of
infrastructure Secondary Effects –
• Landslides, liquefaction, and tsunamis
• Fires, floods, and Figure 6.23

diseases Tertiary Effects

–
• Social and psychological impacts
Figure 6.20a

7
 10/19/2012

Figure 6.24

Figure 6.26
Figure 6.27

Effects of Earthquakes:
Tsunami
• Triggered by earthquake, submarine volcanic
eruption, underwater landslide, asteroid impact
• Recent tsunami examples:
– 1883 Eruption of Krakatoa, 36,000 deaths
– 1960 (M 9.5) Chile earthquake, 61 deaths in
Hawaii
– 1964 (M 9.2) Alaska earthquake, 130 deaths in
AK/CA
– 1993 (M 7.8) earthquake Japan, 120 deaths in
Japan
– 1998 (M 7.1) Papua New Guinea earthquake,
2100 deaths
– 2004 (M 9.1) Indonesian earthquake, about
230,000 deaths
– 2010 (M 8.8) Chile earthquake, about 20
coastal deaths
– 2011 (M 9.0) Japan earthquake, about 15,700
deaths

Figure 6.A B, 4th edition

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 10/19/2012

Earthquake Risks
• Probabilistic methods for a given
magnitude or intensity of a period of time
• Earthquake risk of an area
• Earthquake risk of a fault segment
• Possible sequencing of earthquakes on
segments along a fault?

Construction of seismic hazard maps

Conditional probabilities for future
earthquakes

Figure 6.28a

Earthquake Prediction
• Long-term prediction
– Earthquake hazard risk mapping

• Short-term prediction (forecast)

– Frequency and distribution pattern of
foreshocks
– Deformation of the ground surface:
Tilting, elevation changes
– Emission of radon gas Figure 6.17
– Seismic gap along faults
– Abnormal animal activities?
Figure 6.28b

Figure 6.30 Figure 6.35, 4th edition

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Response to Earthquake Response to Earthquake

Hazards
Hazard Reduction Programs:
• Develop a better understanding of the
source and processes of earthquake
• Determine earthquake risk potential
Hazards
Adjustments to earthquake activities:
• Site selection for critical facilities
• Structure reinforcement and protection

• Predict effects of earthquakes • Land-use regulation and planning

• Apply research results • Emergency planning and

management: Insurance and relief
measures

Earthquake Warning Systems Perception of the Earthquake

• Technically feasible: ~ 1 minute warning
• Network of seismometers, sensing the
first earthquake motion and sending a
warning to critical facilities and public
Hazard
• Public education and preparedness for the
earthquake potential, even psychologically
• Pre-earthquake planning: what to do when struck

• Warning system • During-earthquake: understand the situation

– Not a prediction tool and formulate a good strategy
– Can create a false alarm • Post-earthquake emergency response
• Better prediction and better warning system? • Better engineering structural designs to minimize
the future hazard risks

Applied and Critical-Thinking

Topics
• What is the main lesson from the recent earthquakes in
Italy and Haiti? How important is the wealth of a
country to reducing the earthquake hazard?

• From your point of view, what can an individual citizen

do to minimize the earthquake impact risks?

• What would be your approach to present info on

earthquake hazard to people who knew very little about
earthquake?

• Propose geologic scenarios that may change the

global earthquake distribution patterns.

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Chapter 8: Overview
• Know the major volcano types, their
rocks, and plate tectonic settings
Introduction to
• Understand the effects of volcanic activity:
Environmental Geology, – Lava flows
5e – Pyroclastic activity
– Debris flows and mudflows (lahars)
Chapter 8 • Understand the methods of volcanic
Volcanic Activity activity monitoring

Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community College

Case History: Mt. Unzen, 1991

• One of the 19 active volcanoes in Japan
• Erupted and killed approximately 15,000 people
200 years ago
• Erupted violently on June 3, 1991
• Thousands of ash flows by the end of 1993,
getting the dubious honor of the king of the ash
flow centers
• 44 people killed, including Harry Glicken, a U.S.
volcanologist who escaped death in the May 18,
1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens

Figur

Introduction to Volcanic Hazards Introduction to Volcanic Hazards

• ~ 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth
• 400 erupted in the last century
• ~ 50 eruptions per year
• Most activity concentrated along major
plate boundaries
• Impact risks depend on the types of
volcanoes
• ~ 500 million people living near volcanoes
• ~ 100,000 deaths during the last 125 years
• 23,000 lives lost in the last 20 years
• Densely populated countries in the volcanic
zones include:
– Japan, Mexico, Philippines, and Indonesia
• Some major cities (~ 350,000 people)
located near volcanoes

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Introduction to Volcanic Hazards

• Highly related to
plate tectonic
movement
• Approximately 2/3rd of
the active volcanoes are
concentrated along the
Pacific “ring of fire”
• In the US: Alaska,
Cascades, and Hawaii
are generally
experiencing 2-3
eruptions a year
Table 8.1

Global Volcanism
(2)

Figure 8.4 Figure 8.3

How Magma Forms Molten Material

• Most magmas come from the asthenosphere
• Temperature: Increases with depth
close to the temperature at which rocks
melt, two additional factors:
• Decompression melting: Occurs when
the overlying pressure exerted on hot
rock within the asthenosphere is
decreased
• Addition of volatiles: Lowers the
melting temperature of rocks
Volcanism is derived from partially melted
Earth
materials:
– Magma below Earth’s surface
– Lava (plus ash, etc.) above Earth’s surface
• Magma and lava is generally composed of:
– Melt – liquid parts
– Solids – crystallized minerals
– Volatiles – dissolved gases (H2O, CO2, SO2)

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Volcano Types Shield Volcanoes

• Shield, composite (stratovolcano), cinder
cone
• Volcanic eruption style
– Depending on lava’s viscosity and amount
of dissolved gas (volatiles) content
– Viscosity: Liquid’s resistance to flow
• Determined by silica content (lava composition)
and lava temperature
– Quiet flow (low viscous basalt flow) to
violent explosion (high viscous lava
eruption)
• The largest volcanoes
• Common in Hawaii, Iceland, Indian Ocean
islands
• Shaped like a shield
• Lava tends to flow down sides of volcano
rather than exploding violently, because of
low viscosity
• Common rock type is basalt…some tephra (ash)
• Lava tubes often move magma
underground for many kilometers
• Typically have summit caldera

Shield Volcano – Mauna Loa Composite or Stratovolcano

• Known for beautiful cone shape
• United States examples include Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier
• Magma with intermediate composition, moderate viscosity
• Erupt with mixture of pyroclastic activity and lava
flows, producing layers of pyroclastic deposits and
lava flows
• Most deadly and destructive volcanic hazards

Volcanic domes
• Usually fills craters of composite volcanoes
• Viscous magma (rhyolite) with relatively high silica content
Figure 8.5 & 8.6 • Activity is mostly explosive

Composite Volcano – Mt. Rainier Cinder Cone - Paricutin

• Relatively small
• Formed from
tephra
accumulated near
volcanic vent
• Often found along
flanks of:
– Larger shield volcanoes
– Normal faults
– Cracks or fissures

Figure 7.

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Volcanic Origin
• Mid-ocean ridge volcanism produces basalt
– Wells up directly from asthenosphere
• Shield volcanoes form above hot spots
– Example: Hawaiian Islands
• Composite volcanoes
– Andesitic rocks
– Subduction zones: rising magma mixes with
oceanic and or continental crust
– Most common volcanoes on Pacific Rim
• Caldera-forming eruptions
– Extremely violent and explosive
– typically rhyolitic magma produced when magma
moves upward and mixes with continental crust
Table 8.2

Volcanic Origin and Plate Boundary

Figure 8.11 Figure 8.13

Volcanic Features Columbia

• Craters (opening <1km diameter) and vents River Basalts
• Volcanic domes
• Calderas (opening >1km diameter) –
collapsed crater typically from explosive
eruptions
• Hot springs and geysers
Old Faithful
• Fissure line – basaltic lava flows from Yellowstone
crack in crust

Figure 8.14 and 8.15a

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Yellowstone – Grand Prismatic

Spring

Figure 7.16a/b and 7.17b

Volcanic Hazards & Impact Volcanic Hazards & Impact

Risks Risks
Lava flows: from the
Both ‘direct’
vent or a crater or
and ‘indirect’ along a line of a
effects: fissure
Lava Flows • Most common and
abundant type:
basaltic
Pyroclastic – Pahoehoe lava –
less viscous,
higher
activity temperature, with
a smooth ropy
surface texture
Poisonous – Aa lava – more
viscous and slow
moving, lover
temperature, with a Figure 8.19
gases

Debris flows and mudflows (lahars)

Volcanic Hazards & Impact
Figure 8.20a Volcanic Impact Risks
Risks
Pyroclastic flow
– Large amount of rock fragments, volcanic
glass fragments, and volcanic bombs
Basaltic Lava Flows – Associated with explosive volcanic eruptions
– Ash fall, from a more vertical ash eruption
– More deadly if lateral blast
– Pyroclastic hot avalanches, nueé ardentes,
French for “glowing cloud”
– Hot temperature and fire hazards

Figure 8.18a/b

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During the May 18, 1980

• 17 separate pyroclastic Volcanic Impact Risks
flows descended the
flanks of Mount St.
Helens.
• Pyroclastic flows can • More on ash fall and ash flow
move at speeds of over – Covering large area, 100s or 1,000s of km2
60 mph
• Temperatures up to – Wider impact if ash flows reach
800 Degrees upper atmosphere
Fahrenheit
– Hot temp (nueé ardentes) ash and moving at
Photographed here, a rapid speed (100 km/h)
pyroclastic flow from the
August 7, 1980 eruption – Harm to human health and structures
stretches from Mount St.
Helens' crater to the – Blocking away solar radiation
valley floor below. – Hazardous for air traffic
USGS Photograph taken
on August 7, 1980, by
Peter W. Lipman.

Volcanic Impact Risks (4)

Poisonous Gases:
• Volcanic gases – H2O, CO2, CO, SO2, H2S
• Floating in air
• Dissolved in water
• Danger to health, plants, and animals
• Produces smog air (vog), acid rain (lead
contamination from construction
materials), and toxic soils
• Health effects of vog – breathing
problems, headaches, sore throats,
watery eyes 2

Volcanic Impact Risks (5)

Debris Flows and Mudflows: 5,000 year-old Osceola
• Most serious secondary volcanic hazards mudflow flowed N
– 50 mi from source
• Collectively called “lahar”
– Debris equivalent to
• From the collapse of volcano sides 5-mi2 at depth of
492’
• From sudden melting of snow and glaciers
• Far-reaching distance – tens of miles
500 year-old Electron
from volcano mudflow flowed NW
• Rapid downslope flow rates of ~25 mph – 35 mi from source
• Can trigger submarine avalanche and
tsunami Figure 8.24

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Case Study – Mt. Pinatubo

Philipines Evacuation of
250,000
• June 15–16, 1991
people within
• Killed 350 people and destroyed a U.S.
military base
a radius of
19-mi saved
• Nearly 1-ft depth of ash covered buildings
over a 40-km radius thousands of
lives.
• Huge cloud of ash 400 km wide into
nearly 40-km elevation
• Affected global climate (cooler summer the
next year; global temp differences −0.5°C,
~1°F) Figure 8.26

Case Study – Mount St. Helens
Washington, USA
• May 18, 1980 eruption after 120 years
• Earthquake (M 5.1) precursor
– Triggered massive landslide
– Displaced water in Spirit Lake
– Traveled ~11-mi down Toutle River
• Lateral blast moved at 621 mph and
impacted
area 19-mi from the source
• Mudflows reached nearly 60 miles
away to Cowlitz and Columbia Rivers
Case Study – Mount St. Helens
• Eruption of material for over 9 hours
• Ash column over 12-mi in elevation
• Ash (tephra) materials spread over
WA, ID, and west MT
• Volcanic peak reduced by over 1,476 feet
• Killed 54 people, damaged 100 homes and
800 million feet of timber
– Total cost $3 billion

Figure 8.28

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Forecasting Volcanic Activity

• Seismic activities: earthquakes as precursors
Figure 8.27 b/c • Thermal, magnetic, and hydrologic conditions
• Amount of volcanic gas emission, both rate
and
composition
• Topographic monitoring: tilting and bulging
• Remote sensing: radar 3-D interferometry
• Geologic history of the volcano

Volcanic Alert or
Warning

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/ Table
Figure 8.33 a/b
8.3

Public Perception and Adjustment Applied and Critical-Thinking Topics

Perception of the volcanic hazards
• Age and residence time affecting one’s
perception
• No other choices as where to live
• Optimistic and accepting risks
Adjustment
• Public awareness and education
• Improvement in education
• Better scientific info dissemination
• Timely and orderly evacuation
• What are the possible reasons why people
live
near a volcano?
• Is your area vulnerable to the impact
risks of volcanic activities?
• How do political and economic
factors influence people’s attitude
toward the volcanic hazard?
• How to develop a public relations
program that could alert people to a
potential volcanic hazard?

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Chapter 9: Overview
• Understand basic river processes.
• Understand the nature of the flood hazard.
Introduction to • Understand the effects of urbanization
Environmental Geology, on flooding in small drainage basins.
5e • Know the major adjustments to flooding
and which are environmentally
Chapter 9 preferable.
• Know the potential adverse
Rivers and Flooding
environmental effects of channelization
and the benefits of channel restoration.
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community College

Case History: Pakistan Floods of Case History: Implications

2010
• The number of people killed or affected, along
with economic loss, is the greatest in Asia
• A monsoon refers to a seasonal shift in air
pressure and precipitation patterns (dry winter to
wet summer)
• August of 2010, the greatest monsoon rains in
decades, caused catastrophic flooding in
Pakistan
• July 29th, 12 inches of rain fell in the Upper Indus
• The population of Pakistan has grown from about 34
million in 1951 to 170 million in 2010
• Most people in Pakistan live close to the river
• About 20 percent of Pakistan was flooded in 2010
How to compare this catastrophe with the US:
• Rethink our philosophy of how we adjust to the
flood hazard in the United States as population
grows
• Plans for future flood hazard reduction that do not
require massive evacuation from flood prone areas
– Avoid the hazard through land use instead of evacuation

• Killed about 1,600 people, 20 million people

were affected, 1.4 million acres were flooded

Case r Rivers: Historical Use

Histo y • For more than 200 years, Americans have
lived and worked on floodplains,
depending on soil, water supply, ease of
waste disposal, and the commerce
• If the floodplain and its relation to the river
are not recognized, flood control and
drainage of wetlands become prime
concerns
• The pioneers moved west modifying the
land: cutting and burning the trees, and then
modifying the natural drainage

Figure 9.2a/b

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Streams and Rivers

Part of the hydrologic cycle:
• Streams = Small rivers
• River components-
Floodplain: the flat
– Network of streams
surface adjacent to the
river channel that is – Watershed or drainage basin
periodically inundated by – Base level and slope/gradient
floodwater. – Latitudinal profile
– Longitudinal profile
– Grading processes

Figure 9.3 a/b

Streams and s Sediment in Rivers

River
Stream total load = total amount of
sediments
• Bed load: coarse particles moving
along the bottom of river channel,
<10% of total load
• Suspended load: accounts for about 90%
of a river’s total
-
load,
2-
river
2+
can
+
look
+
such
muddy as HCO 3 , SO4 , Ca , Na ,
Mg
• Dissolved load: carried in chemical
sollutions

River - Fluid Dynamics Sediment in Rivers

• Continuity equation
– Discharge: the volume of water passing through a
given location of a river per unit of time (cfs)
Q=WxDxV
• Gradient: vertical drop over horizontal
flowing distance, expressed in
percentage, ft/mi, or degree of the slope
• Stream velocity: largely depending on the
stream gradient, discharge, channel shape,
and channel roughness
Stream competence and capacity –
• Competence: measuring the maximum size
of the sediments transported by a river
– The largest size particle transported
• Capacity: total amount of sediments a
river is capable of transporting
– Volume-how many truckloads of material
transported

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River Erosion
Figure 9.6 – Alluvial fan • Methods of erosion –
– Abrasion by sediments transported by river
– Hydraulic action of moving water
– Chemical corrosion (weathering and dissolution)

• Location of erosion –
– Downcutting
– Lateral…on outer bends
– Headward erosion

Figure 9.7 - Delta

River Erosion Effectiveness River Sediment Deposition

• Stream velocity – speed of the water
• Stream discharge – volume of water wrt time
• Stream load – volume of sediment
• Nature of the rocks – geology & rock type
• Regional topographic relief – steep or flat
• Base level – mountain or near ocean
• Climatic conditions – rain amounts or snow
Conditions for deposition = reduction in velocity
• Decrease of stream gradient
• Decrease of velocity
• Decrease of discharge
• Change of channel shape – wide,flat
• Change in the amount of stream load (usually
due
to land-use changes) – suspended load
• Change of geologic setting (rock types
along the river)

River Sediment Deposition River Erosion and Deposition

• Ever-changing processes: Time and
Deposition features:
rate of erosion and deposition
• Floodplain
• Natural levee • Reasons for the changes — complex, but
• Point bar related to:
• Island bar – Changes in river channel (width, depth, and slope)
– Composition of channel bed and banks
• Alluvial fan – Vegetation cover
• Delta – Variations of weather and climate pattern
– Human activities, particularly land-use changes
Figure 9.12a – Climatic variations

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Effects of Land-Use Changes

• Changes in infiltration rate: Change of Land
the amount of water flowing into a
river
use
• Soil erosion: Change in the
change
amount of sediments in a river s
• Amount of water and sediments in
Figure 9.9 & 9.10
river: Changes in the velocity of
water flow
• Changes in river’s velocity:
Leading the change in river
dynamics

Effects of Land-Use Changes Channel Patterns and Floodplain

Forest to farmland
• Increases soil erosion, stream deposition
• Increases gradient and velocity
• Increases river-channel erosion
Urban build-up
• Increases impervious cover
• Increases lower-magnitude flood frequency
• Reduces the lag time of flood
Formation
• Braided: river’s longitudinal profile is steep and
there is an abundance of coarse bed load
sediment
– Braided channels tend to be wide and shallow compared
with meandering rivers
– Associated with steep rivers being rapidly uplifted by
tectonic processes or rivers receiving water from
melting glaciers
• Meandering: channels often contain a series of
regularly spaced pools and riffles
– Meanders migrate laterally by erosion on the cut banks
and by deposition on point bars

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River Flooding Flooding Data Measurement

• Flooding: Overbank flow condition,

discharge greater than channel’s holding
capacity
• Stage: The height of the water level in a
river at a given location at a given time
• Hydrograph: Graphic representation
of a river’s discharge over time
• Lag time: The amount of time between
the occurrence of peak rainfall and the
onset of flooding

Frequency and Magnitude of Flood

Recurrence interval:
• R = (N + 1)/M … where N is the number of
years of record, M is the rank of individual flow
within the recorded years
The probability of a given magnitude flood:
• P = 1/R
Statistical probability versus reality:
• Probability; one 25-year flood on average
• Reality; two 25-year floods consecutively

Figure 9.E

Types of Flooding
• By stream location
– Upstream flood: Shorter duration, smaller area
– Downstream flood: Longer duration, greater
magnitude, larger area

• By duration
– Flash flood: High volume of flooding water in very
short duration, characteristic short lag time, usually in
upstream
– Non-flash flood

• By magnitude/recurrence interval
– 100-year, 50-year, 25-year, 10-year floods

Figure 9.14

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Factors Affecting Amount of Flood Urbanization and Flooding

Damage
• Regional land-use changes, such as
urban development, deforestation, soil
erosion, etc.
• Land use on the floodplain
• Frequency and magnitude of flooding
• Lag time and duration of flooding
• Sediment load
• Effectiveness of forecasting, warning,
and emergency management
• Impact on frequency and magnitude
– Increase in both frequency and
magnitude, especially in small drainage
basins
• Impact on a river’s discharge
– Increase in runoff, without an increase
in precipitation
• Significant reduction in lag time
• May cause flash flooding

Impervious Cover Urbanization and

Flooding
Figure 9.20 & 9.22

Figure 9.19

Nature and Extent of Flood Hazard Effects of Flooding

Factors causing flood damage: Primary effects
• Type of land use on the floodplain • Injury and loss of life, damage and
destruction of property, erosion and
• Magnitude and frequency of flood deposition of sediments
• Rate and duration of flood
• Season of the flood Secondary effects
• Water pollution
• Population density
• Fire
• Public awareness • Diseases
• Effectiveness of forecasting, warning, • Displacement of people
and emergency planning • Interruption of social and economic activities

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Adjustments to Flood Hazards Artificial Levee

• The structural approach:
– Physical/Engineering barriers: Levee
augmentation
– Channelization
– River-channel restoration

• Flood insurance: Shared responsibility

and accountability
• Flood-proofing: Raised foundation,
floodwalls, waterproof doors and
windows, pumps Figur

Channelization Retention Pond

Figure 9.25 Figure 9.24

Stream Restoration Closer Look: Mississippi Flood

• Two major recent floods, 1973 and 1993
• 1973 spring flood
– Evacuation of tens of thousands
– Inundation of thousands km2 of farmland
– $1.2 billion in property damage
• 1993 summer flood
– Century flood in magnitude
– From climatic anomaly, unusual precipitation & snowmelt
– Lasted from late June to early August
– 50 deaths, $10 billion in damage
– Levees can provide a false sense of security

8

Adjustments to Flood Hazards
• Floodplain regulation: Obtaining the
most beneficial use of floodplains
– Flood-hazard mapping
– Floodplain zoning
• Government buyout and relocating people
from
floodplain
• Personal adjustments
Perception of Flooding
• Individual level: Variable in their
knowledge of flooding, anticipation of
future flooding, and willingness to accept
adjustments
• Local and state level: Mitigation plans
• Federal government level
– Mapping of flood-prone areas
– Floodplain management plans
– Public outreach
11/6/2012
Levee failure in Illinois
Figure 9.H & 9.I
Floodplain Zoning
Figure 9.30 & 9.33
Critical Thinking Topics
• As a planner, outline a plan of action working for a
community that is expanding into the headwater
portions of drainage basins.
• What is the largest floods ever occurred in your area?
• With the global warming, what do you think the
frequency and magnitude of flooding would change?
• Differentiate between competency and capacity.
Does a stream’s competency and capacity change
over time?
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Chapter 13: Overview

• Understand the water cycle and supply
Introduction to • Understand the main types of water use
• Know basic surface and
Environmental Geology, groundwater processes
5e • Be able to discuss principles of
water management
Chapter 13
• Know why we are facing a global
Water Resources water shortage linked to food
supply
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community College

Case History: Long Island Case History: Long

• GW pollution – serious problem on western end
Island
of the island since beginning of 20th century
• GW below Nassau County is extensive, yet
intense pumping has caused ~15m decline in
water level.
• Water needs for 3 million people.
• Salt water intrusion due to decline in water level
• Urbanization triggered more serious water pollution
– urban runoff, sewage, fertilizers, road salt,
industrial and other waste, landfills

Figure 13.2

Water: A Global Perspective Global Water Cycle

• Cyclic, dynamic nature • Water’s vertical movement
– Global movement of water between different – Upflow: Evaporation, transpiration
water storage compartments
– Downflow: Precipitation and infiltration
• Global distribution
– Abundance is not necessarily the problem
– Distribution in space and over time is an issue • Water’s horizontal movement
– Supply versus usage is an issue – Surface runoff
– Water quality is an issue – Shallow subsurface through flow
• Major processes: evaporation, – Groundwater flow
precipitation, transpiration, surface runoff,
groundwater flow

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H Global Water Supply

Water as a resource -
• Found in liquid, solid,
or gaseous state on or
near Earth surface
• Residence time varies
depending upon
location
• More than 99% of
Earth’s water
unavailable or
unsuitable for human
Figure 13.3
use

Figure 13.4

Global Water Supply Surface Water

Surface runoff:
• Drainage basin
or watershed
• Drainage divide
• Stream order
• Drainage density
• Runoff affects
erosion and
trans- port of
All people compete for <1% of the worlds water supply.
material
Table 13.1
Figure 13.6

Surface Water
Factors affecting runoff and sediment yield:
• Geologic factors – type and structure of soils
and local rocks.
– Drainage density is high on shale and low on
sandstone.
• Topographic factors – relief and slope gradient
• Climatic factors – type, intensity, duration,
and distribution of precipitation
• Vegetation factors – type, size, and distribution
• Land-use factors
– Agriculture, grazing, and urbanization
Figure 13.7 a/b

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Groundwater Groundwater
Water found beneath the surface of Earth within
the zone of saturation. Factors influencing
• Vadose zone (unsaturated zone or rate of infiltration:
zone of aeration): pores mostly filled – Topography
with air – Soil and rock type
• Zone of saturation: pores mostly filled with H2O – Amount and
• Water table: the boundary between the intensity of
zone of saturation and zone of aeration precipitation
• Perched water table: local water table – Vegetation
above a regional water table – Land use

Figure 13.9

Groundwater Groundwater
Process
• Aquifer: a unit capable of supplying water
at an econimically useful rate
• Aquitard or aquiclude: a confining layer or
unit restricting and retarding GW flow
• Unconfined aquifer: no overlying confining
layer
• Confined aquifer: has an overlying aquitard
layer
• Perched aquifer: local zone of saturation
above a regional water table

Groundwater Groundwater
Groundwater recharge and discharge – Groundwater pressure
• Recharge zone: area where water surface: generally
declining from
infiltrates downward from the surface to source along the
GW flow from recharge
• Discharge zone: area where GW is removed area to discharge
from and aquifer (spring, well, river) area
• Influent stream: above the water table, Artesian well: water
self-rising above
recharge water to GW, may be intermittent the land surface in
• Effluent stream: perennial stream with a confined aquifer
the addition of GW when precipitation
is low Figure 13.11 a/b

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Groundwater Groundwater Movement

• Hydraulic gradient: the gradient of water
table, generally follows the topographic
Cone of depression: gradient
drawdown cone of
• Hydraulic conductivity: ability of rock or
groundwater in a
well. materials to transmit water (m3/day/m2)
• Porosity: percentage of void (empty)
Water table drops. space in sediment or rock to store water
• Permeability: measuring the
interconnected- ness of pores in a rock
Figure 13.13
material or sediment
• Darcy’s Law: rate of flow of GW

Groundwater Movement Groundwater Use and Supply

• Groundwater as primary drinking water
source for ~50 percent of the U.S.
population.
• Groundwater overdraft* problems in
many parts of the country.
– *Extraction rate exceeding recharging rate
• Estimated 5 percent of groundwater
depleted, but water level declined more
than 15 m (50 ft) in some areas.
– “Groundwater mining”
Table 13.2 – Ogallala Aquifer in the U.S.

Ogallala
Water-bearing sands
and gravels.

Water use is 20
times natural
recharge rate.

Cities facing shortage.

May need to return

to dry farming.

Figure 13.14b

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Interactions Between
SW and GW Interactions Surface Water and
• Overdraft of GW leads to lower water
Groundwater
levels in streams, lakes, and reservoirs
• Overuse of SW yields lower discharge
rates of GW (discharge…volume of water
per unit time)
• Effluent stream (in GW discharge zone):
tends to be perennial
• Influent stream (in GW recharge zone
above water table): often intermittent
• “Special linkages” – karst terrains

Karst Topography Problems

Water pollution occurs where sinkholes
have been used for waste disposal.
• Cavern systems prone to collapse-
– sinkholes may form in areas that damage buildings on the
ground surface, roads, and other facilities

• Areas underlain by limestone.

• As a result of the mining, important karst springs Sinkholes
where water emerges from caverns are being
changed, causing a reduction in biodiversity
& Caverns
Figure 13.16 & 13.18

Water Use Water Use

• Desalination: reduction of salt content in water
– High cost and high consumption of energy
• Offstream use: removal or diversion from
SW or GW sources temporarily ( irrigation,
hydroelectric, and industrial use)
• Consumptive use: type of offstream use of
water without intermediate return to SW or
GW system (transpiration and human use)
• Instream use: navigation, fish and wildlife,
and recreational uses
Figure 13.19

6
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Water Use Trends in Water Use

Association with major urban areas:
• Overwithdrawal of groundwater
• Overuse of local surface water
• Threats of local urban landfills to the
water supply (Long Island, NY)
• Water import issues and problems:
– What is the distance to transport?
– How much water is available? From where?
– Conflicts with other areas for water rights?
– Long-range planning? Population growth?
Quality?
Based on the data from 1950–1995
• Surface water use far greater than groundwater
use
• The rate of water use decreased and
leveled off since 1980
• Irrigation and thermoelectric are major
fresh consumptive water use
• Less fresh water use since 1980 due to new
tech and water recycling
• Water use in rural and urban areas is up

Figure 13.20 a/b

Trends in Water Use Trends in Water Use

Water Conservation Conservation of Water at the Global

Scale
• Engineering technology and structure (canals)
– Regulating irrigation and reducing evaporation
• Engineering technology and structure
(canals): Regulating irrigation and
reducing evaporation
• Better technologies in power plants and
other industries to reduce or reuse.
– Less use of water due to improved efficiency
• Increased water reuse and recycling
• Domestic water use (10% of total
national withdrawals) poses a threat to
local supplies

7

Water Management
Needs for water management
• Increasing demand for water use (population
and economic development)
• Water supply problems in semiarid to arid
regions
• Water supply problems in mega cities of
humid regions. Water quality is also an
issue.
• Water traded as a commodity: Capital, market,
and regulations?
Management of the Colorado River
Managing the water
• Water appropriation to seven states in the
United States and to Mexico
• Local needs versus regional needs (Colorado
River compact of 1922)
• The United States versus Mexico (Treaty
with Mexico in 1944)
• Human use versus needs of lands (1974
Salinity Control Act)
11/6/2012
Water Management
Aspects to be considered: Leopold philosophy
• Natural environmental factors:
Geologic, geographic, and climatic
• Human environmental factors: Economic,
social, and political issues.
• Strategies:
– More SW use in wet years, more GW use in dry
years
– Reuse and recycle water regular basis as
well as emergencies
Management of the Colorado River
Managing the river:
• Dam construction
• Impact on flood frequency
• Impact on sediment distribution,
particularly downstream
• Impact on wildlife habitats
• Controlled and planned floods
Water and Ecosystems
• Ecosystems: changes in response to climate,
nutrient input, soils, and hydrology
• General tendency: increased human
use of water, increased degradation of
natural ecosystems
• Reconciliation between multiple water uses
– Dams, reservoirs, canals – and associated
impact on surface water environment
– Reconcile uses of water – agriculture,
industry, urbanization, and recreation
– Protection of wetlands and water resources
8
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2

Emerging Global Water Shortage

• Global patterns of water shortage
• Depleted water resources: over-drafted aquifers,
dried lakes (Aral Sea), troubled streams (Colorado
and Yellow River)
• Polluted, limited water resources due to
development and increased wastes
• Demands for water resources tripled as
population more than doubled in the last 50 yr
• Climate change…causing more problems
Critical Thinking Topics
• In your area, which type of water
source (surface water or
groundwater) is more important?
Why? Why not?
• If we change the ways we use water, what
would be the impact on the global water
cycle?
• What sort of wetlands are found in your
region? Any changes over the years?
• Which continent will the global warming
have a greater impact on its water
resources?

Chapter 13: Overview

• Define water pollution
Introduction to • Discuss some of the common water pollutants
• Understand methods for
Environmental Geology groundwater pollution treatment
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls • Understand important processes related
Community College to wastewater treatment and
management

Case History: NC Bay of Pigs

• Hurricane Floyd hit NC in September 1999
• Catastrophic water pollution as a result of
the floodwater from Hurricane Floyd
• More than 38 pig waste lagoons washed
out, 250 million gallons of pig wastes into
creeks, rivers, and wetlands
• Approx. 250 pig operations flooded out
• Polluted water through schools,
churches, homes, and businesses
• Estimated 30,000 hogs, 2 million chickens,
and 735,000 turkeys died
Figures 14.1, 14.2, 14.3

1

Case History: NC Bay of Pigs
• In 1997, a state law was enacted that prohibited
building new waste lagoons and sewage plants on
floodplains
• In the spring of 1999, the governor proposed a
10-year plan that would phase out the state’s 4,000
animal waste lagoons
• Hurricane Floyd occurred before these changes
could be enacted
• In 2007, the state passed legislation to ban
construction or expansion of new lagoons and
spray fields
• On-site treatment facilities to replace swine lagoons
11/13/201
2
Water Pollution
• Degradation of water quality as
measured by biological, chemical, or
physical criteria
• Judged according to the intended use of the water
• A pollutant is a substance that, in excess, is
known to be harmful to living organisms
Primary water pollution problem worldwide:
• Lack of clean drinking water free of disease-
causing organisms or substances
• Particularly acute in developing world
2
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2

Water Pollution Common Pollutants

• Water pollution: Refers to degradation of water Oxygen-demanding
quality as measured by biological, chemical, or waste
physical criteria
• Pathogenic waste
• Pollutants: Any substance that, in excess, is known
to be harmful to desirable living organisms
• Nutrients
• The greatest water pollution problem in the world • Petroleum
today is lack of disease-free drinking water for • Toxic waste
about 20 percent of the world’s population • Sediment
• Waterborne diseases that kill about 2 million • Thermal plumes
people a year, and most of the deaths are of
children under the age of 5

Common Pollutants
Oxygen-demanding waste:
• Dead organic matter decomposed by
bacteria, an oxygen-demanding process
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): High BOD
associated with high level of decaying organic
matter in water, reducing DO (dissolved O) for
other healthy organisms
Sources of oxygen-demanding waste: natural
processes, agricultural applications (~33%),
urban sewage, and runoff (storm events)

Figure 14.5

Common Pollutants Common Pollutants

Pathogenic Microbes:
• Fecal coliform bacteria
• Harmful risks from E. coli
• Billions exposed to waterborne diseases
– Especially in poor, underdeveloped countries
– Outbreaks in developed countries: GA water park
‘98, Walkerton public water supply in Ontario ‘00,
CA spinach contamination ‘06
• Epidemic risks of waterborne disease
during natural disasters (earthquake,
tsunami, flood)
Nutrients:
• Two important nutrients: nitrogen (N) and
phosphorus (P), in the form of phosphates,
PO42-
• Cultural eutrophication –
– Algae bloom, triggering BOD problem
– Reducing environment releases heavy metals
• Major sources of nutrients –
– Fertilizers, feedlots, domestic use, discharge
from wastewater treatment plants
• Areas of land use risk…agriculture and urban

3
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2

Dead Zone - < 2mg/L DO Common Pollutants

Oil (hydrocarbon):
• Major problems –
– Water pollution
– Ecosystem damage
– Interrupted socioeconomic conditions in community
• Major sources –
– Oil spills from tankers and pipelines
– On- or offshore production plants
– War (e.g., Gulf war, 2006 Lebanon)
– Deepwater Horizon 2010 in Gulf of Mexico

Figure 13.6

Exxon Valdez, AK

Figure 14.8

Common Pollutants
Toxic waste:
• Synthetic organic chemicals…up to
100,000 chemicals in use, especially
POP’s (persistent organic pollutants)
– Carbon-based, often contains reactive chlorine
– Synthetic, don’t break down,
accumulate in tissues
• Heavy metals: Pb, Hg, Zn, Cd
• Radioactive materials

Figu

4

Common Pollutants
Thermal pollution:
• Temperature increases, less dissolved oxygen
• Adverse changes to the habitats of organisms
• Economic impacts
• Major sources –
– Hot water discharge from industrial processes
– Power plants (hydroelectric)
– Abnormal ocean currents
SW Pollution and Treatment
Point sources of pollution:
• Point sources are discrete, confined, and
more readily identifiable
• Common sources –
– Landfills, discharge from wastewater treatment
plants, discharge from industries, power plants,
storm water runoff, etc.
• Identify sources then provide on-site
treatment and mitigation…prevention
would be best
11/13/201
2
Sediment Pollutants
Sediment pollution:
• Sand and smaller particles
• Polluted streams, lakes reservoirs, ocean
• Major sources –
– Soil erosion, dust storms, floods, and mudflows
• Greatest water pollutant by volume
• May deposit undesirable materials
on productive croplands
Figure 14.14
SW Pollution and Treatment
Nonpoint sources of pollution:
• Nonpoint sources are diffused,
intermittent, and hard to specifically
identify
• Causes of nonpoint pollution are
often regional, cumulative, and
compounded
• Influenced by land use, climate,
hydrology, topography, and geology
• Common sources –
– Urban runoff, agriculture, mining (acid drainage)
Kellogg, ID
5
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2

Acid Mine Drainage

• Acid mine drainage: refers to acidic water with elevated
concentrations of dissolved metals that drains from
coal or metal mines
• Acid mine drainage is water with a high
concentration of sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
• Acid mine drainage is produced by complex
geochemical and microbial reactions
• The acid water is extremely toxic to plants and
animals in aquatic ecosystems
• The Tar Creek area in Oklahoma was at one time
designated by the EPA as the nation’s worst example of
acid mine drainage

Figure 14.15

GW Pollution and Treatment

Why care about groundwater pollution?
• GW is the most abundant freshwater source
• ~50% of people in U.S. depend on
GW for drinking water
• Effects of chronic exposure to low pollutant
levels
are not known
• United States Geological Survey in 1991
started program to assess water quality
nationwide
• Triggers other environmental problems:
– SW pollution, subsidence, saltwater intrusion, etc.
Figu e 3.

Groundwater Pollution
• It is estimated that 75 percent of the 175,000
known waste-disposal sites in the country may
be producing plumes, or bodies of
contaminated groundwater

• Groundwater pollution hazard impact depends on

– Amount of contaminant discharged
– Chemical concentration or toxicity
– Degree and duration of exposure of people or
other organisms to the pollution

Table 14.3

6
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2

GW Pollution and Treatment GW Treatment

GW pollution hazard impact:
• Amount of contaminant discharged
• Chemical concentration and toxicity
• Degree and duration of exposure of people
or other organisms to the pollution
• Rate of movement and direction of
pollution plume
Pretreatment studies:
• Identify contaminants and their
characteristics of transport behavior
• Identify the characteristics of aquifer
geology (factors controlling GW flow—
physical dimensions, structure)
Determine the hydrologic characteristics of
polluted aquifer(s)—flow direction, flow rates,
discharge and recharge conditions
Select treatment strategies and methods

GW Pollution and Treatment GW vs. SW Pollution and

Saltwater intrusion
Treatment
• Results from
over- pumping of GW pollution versus SW pollution:
GW in coastal
areas • Residence time difference
• Caused problems
in New York, • Environmental conditions – inflow, flow rate,
Florida, California, dissolved oxygen, sunlight, temperature
and others
• Cone of depression • Difficult to track pollution sources
forms in freshwater, and expensive to clean up
a cone of
ascension develops • Can pose long-term risks to
in adjacent entire environment
saltwater

Figure 14.19

National Water-Quality Assessment

Program
• In the past 25 years, great improvements in
manufacturing, processing, and wastewater-treatment
facilities

• The program integrates both surface-water and

groundwater systems that monitor and study aquatic
ecosystems

• The goals of the program are to:

– Carefully describe current water-quality conditions for many of
the freshwater streams and aquifers in the United States
– Monitor and describe water-quality changes over time
– Increase understanding concerning the human and natural factors
that affect the nation’s water quality

7
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2

Water Quality Standards Water Quality Standards

• Health effects of chronic exposure to very
low levels of chemical contaminants is
unknown
• Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974
– Expanded in 1986 to include 83 contaminants
• EPA has set standards for many contaminants
– Only coliform bacteria and nitrate are thought
to pose immediate health hazard
• National Primary Drinking Water
Standards (Table 14.5)
• MCLs – maximum contaminant levels
• Permissible for 83 contaminants
• MCLGs – maximum contaminant level goals
– The maximum level at which no adverse health
effects from a lifelong exposure
• SMCLs – no enforceable limits for
contaminants that affect aesthetic qualities
in drinking water

Water Quality and Stream

Ecosystems in the United
States

Figure 14.18

Wastewater Treatment
• Used wastewater must be treated…it’s the law
• Break the potential cycle of wastewater
entering the general water cycle
• Tier treatment and reuse system:
– Septic system – rural residential areas
– Water treatment plant for towns and cities
– Innovative ways for recycling and
reclaiming wastewater (golf courses,
agriculture)
– New technologies for innovative
wastewater treatment

8
 11/15/2012

Figure 14.21

Wetlands as Treatment Sites

• Both natural and human-constructed
wetlands: good places to treat or
partially treat wastewater (WW)
• For communities with difficulty
purchasing expensive WW treatment
plants or desire a good alternative
• Warm-humid and hot-dry climates
had successful experiences

Wastewater Renovation and Conservation Federal Legislation

Cycle
Rewriting of major environmental laws
• 1990s: debate and controversy regarding
water pollution
• Purpose of amendments was to provide
greater flexibility to industry
• Strong public support for clean air and water
caused backlash
Imposition of new rules
• Clinton imposed new pollution controls in 2000
– Focused on non-point source pollution
– Will take at least 15 years to implement fully

1

Reduce Effects of Water
Pollution
• Develop and refine better ways to evaluate
water pollution problems and their impact
on aquatic life and the health of people
• Implement new and innovative, cost-
effective water treatment technologies
• Develop products and processes that
minimize production of water pollutants and
their release into the environment
Introduction to
Environmental Geology,
5e
Chapter 15
Mineral Resources and Environment
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community College
Case History: Mine Transformation
• An award-winning golf course near Golden,
Colorado, is now located on land where used
to be an open-pit quarry for 100 years
• The mine produced clay from layers between
the limestone beds to make bricks
• The bricks were used as a building material for
buildings in the Denver area, including the
Colorado governor’s mansion
• Fossil Trace Golf Club: A unique instance of
mine reclamation
11/15/2012
Critical Thinking Topics
• What can individual citizens do to
reduce groundwater pollutants?
• Does surface water contamination
automatically trigger groundwater pollution at
a given location?
• What are the major point and nonpoint
sources of water pollution in your
community?
• What current water laws and legislation are
you familiar with? Are there any problems
with them?
Chapter 15: Overview
• Understand the relationship between human population
and resource utilization
• Understand why minerals are so important to modern society
• Understand the difference between a resource and a reserve
• Know factors that control the availability of mineral resources
• Understand environmental impact of mineral development
• Know the potential benefits of biotechnology
• Understand the economic and environmental role of
recycling mineral resources and sustainability
Minerals and Human Use
• Backbone of modern societies
• Availability of mineral resources as a
measure of the wealth of a society
• Important in people’s daily life as well
as in overall economy
• Processed materials from minerals
accounting for 5 % of the U.S. GDP
• Mineral resources are nonrenewable
2
 11/15/2012

Mineral Resources and Reserves

• Mineral resources: Usable economic
commodity (profitable) extracted from
naturally formed material (elements,
compounds, minerals, or rocks)

• Reserve: Portion of a resource that is

identified
and currently available to be extracted legally

• Defining factors: Geologic,

technological, economic, and legal
factors

3
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Types of Mineral Resources Mineral Resources Problems

Based on how we use them:
• Materials for metal production and technology
• Construction materials
• Agricultural industry (fertilizers)
• Mineral resources for chemical industry
• Others (gem stones, cosmetics, food, etc.)
• Energy mineral resources
• Nonrenewable resources
• Finite amount of mineral resources and
growing demands of the resources
• Supply shortage due to the growing
global industrialization.
– More developed countries consuming disproportionate
share of mineral resources.
• Erratic distribution and uneven consumption
of resources.
– Highly developed countries use the most of the resources

Responses to Limited Availability Geology of Mineral Resources

• Use less and make more efficient use of Metallic ore: Useful metallic minerals that
what is available can be mined for a profit
• Find more sources • Mining potential depending upon technology,
• Find a substitute economics, and politics with an emphasis on
profitability, technological feasibility, and
• Recycle demands
• Do without
• Concentration factor: Concentration
necessary for profitable mining (e.g., for gold
is about 5,000)
– Variable with types of metals
– Variable over time

Common Use of Mineral Products Geologic Process of Formation

• Igneous
• Metamorphic
• Sedimentary
• Biological
• Weathering

Table 15.1

4
 11/15/2012

Types of Mineral Resources

Igneous

Kimberlite
-
Diamonds

Table
15.3
Figure 15.3

Igneous/Metamorphic Hydrothermal-
Metals Sedimentary Evaporite Deposits

Figure 15.7
Figure 15.5

Biologic Weathering Bauxite- Al

Figure 15.10 Figure 15.11

5
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Plate Tectonics and Minerals Igneous Subduction Zone- Hg

• Plate tectonic boundaries related to the origins of
many ore deposits, Fe, Au, Cu, and Hg, etc.
• Plate tectonic processes (high temp, high
pressure, and partial melting) promoting release
and enrichment of metals along plate boundaries
• Ore deposits at divergent boundaries is related
to the migration (movement) of ocean water
• Ore deposits at convergent boundaries: Related to
partial melting of seawater-saturated rocks of the
oceanic lithosphere in a subduction zone

Figure 1

Plate Tectonics and Minerals Other Minerals from the Sea

Mineral resources on the bottom of the ocean are vast
• Sulfide deposits: sulfide deposits containing zinc, copper,
iron, and trace amounts of silver are produced at the
black smokers along the oceanic ridges.
• Manganese oxide nodules: cover vast areas of the deep-
ocean floor (up to 50 percent in certain area), containing
manganese (24 percent) and iron (14 percent), with
secondary copper (1 percent), nickel (1 percent), and
cobalt (0.25 percent).
• Cobalt-enriched manganese crusts: Present in the
mid- and southwest Pacific, on flanks of seamounts,
volcanic ridges, and islands
Figure 15.A

Mineral Resources
Hydrothermal Vents - Ocean and Environmental
Impact
Environmental impact:
• From mineral exploration and testing
• From mineral mining
• From mineral resource refining
(smelting, leaching, etc.)
• From mining waste disposal and
subsequent contamination of
environment
Figure 5.1
Figure 14.A

6
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Environment Impact Impact from Exploration and Testing

The impact depends upon many factors:
• Mining procedures
• Hydrologic conditions
• Climate factors
• Types of rocks and soils
• Topography
Mineral exploration and testing:
– Surface mapping, geochemical, geophysical,
and remote-sensing data collection
– Test drilling
• Impact
– Generally minimal impact
– More planning and care needed for sensitive
areas (arid, wetlands, and permafrost areas)

Impact of Mineral Extraction Impact of Mineral Extraction

and Processing and Processing
General impact from Impact from mining operations:
mineral mining:
• Direct impact on land, • Land disturbances from access, surface mining
water, air, and • Waste from mines: 40% of the mining area for
biological environment
waste disposal, mining waste 40% of all solid
• Indirect impact on the
environment: wastes
Topographic effect, • Special mining (e.g., chemical leaching from Au
transportation of
materials, etc. mining)
• Impact on social • Mining acid drainage, during mining and post mining
environment: Increased • Water pollution, such as smelting emissions of SO2
demands for housing
and services • Biological environment
Figure 15.17

Impact of Mineral Extraction Impact of Mineral Extraction

and Processing and Processing
Water pollution:
• Trace elements leaching out into water,
such as Cd, Co, Cu, Pb, Mo, Zn

• Flooding of abandoned mine

• Acid mine drainage from tailings

• Acidic and toxic mining wastewater

7

Impact of Mineral Extraction
and Processing
Other pollution:
• Air pollution: Both extraction and
processing operations have adverse
effects on air quality; smelting has
released enormous quantities of
pollutants; toxic gases from abandoned
mines
• Pollution to overall biological environment:
Physical and chemical changes in the
land, soil, water, and air associated with
mining directly and indirectly affect the
biological environment
Environmental Degradation
Recycling Mineral Resources
Why recycle? Consider the impact of
the wastes:
• Toxic to humans
• Dangerous to natural ecosystem
• Degradation of air, water, and soil
• Use of land for disposal
• Aesthetically undesirable
11/15/2012
Minimizing the Impact of Mining
• Knowledge and technology transfer:
Developed countries to developing
countries
• Environmental regulations: forbid bad mining
practices, Clean Air Act, and on- and offsite
treatment of wastes
• Land reclamation: About 50 percent of land
used in mining industry reclaimed
• Use of new biotechnology in mining: Bio-
oxidation, bioleaching, biosorption, genetic
engineering
• Practicing the three Rs of waste management
Biote hnology
c
Figure 15.20
Recycling Mineral Resources
Figure 15.21
8

Recycling Mineral Resources
• Waste contains recyclable materials
• Saves energy, money, land, raw mineral
resources from more mining
• Saves energy and money when recycling
instead of refining raw ore materials
• Recycling has been proven to be profitable
and workable
Minerals and Sustainability
• Sustainability: Long term strategy for consuming
the resources
• Find an alternative materials for the metal (e.g., glass
fiber cable for copper wires)
• Use raw materials more efficiently. The time available
for finding a solution to the depletion of a
nonrenewable mineral is the R/C ratio, where R is the
known reserve and C is the rate of consumption
• More R&D on innovative substitutes or ways to keep
the R/C ratio, a solution to the depletion of
nonrenewable resources
Introduction to
Environmental Geology,
5e
Chapter 16
Energy Resources
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community
College
11/26/201
2
Recycling Mineral Resources
• Most-recycled metals: iron and steel, 90 percent by
weight. Requires 1/3rd less energy.
• One third as much energy needed to produce steel
from recycled scrap as from original ore
• In 2006, the total value of recycled steel in the United
States was about $18.5 billion, recycling of iron and
steel amounted to approximately 50 percent
• Lead (73 %), aluminum (43 %), copper (32 %), nickel
(43 %), and titanium (47 %)
Critical Thinking
• Considering the fact that mineral resources are
nonrenewable, do you believe that technology will
eventually help meet the growing demand for
mineral resources? If yes, explain.
• Biotechnology shows the potential for cleaner
minerals extraction and waste disposal. Will
biotechnology bring about any environmental
problems?
• What types of environmental impact would there
be if we increasingly extract more mineral
resources from seafloor?
Chapter 16: Overview
• Understand peak oil and the impact to social and
economic environment
• Know U.S. energy consumption
• Know types of fuel or energy: fossil, nuclear,
and geothermal
• Know types of alternative, renewable energy
• Know issues regarding energy policy and
the concept of sustainable energy
development
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2

Case History: Energy Transition 1800–

Present
• The amount of fossil fuels in the Earth is finite
• Energy transformation in the United States from
wood in the mid-1800s to fossil fuels in the mid- Case
1900s
History:
• Shortages of wood in 1812 in Philadelphia Energy
led to experiments of burning coal
Transition
– The first oil well was completed in 1858
1800–
• Peak oil production (when about one-half of
Earth’s recoverable oil will have been produced
Present
and used) is likely to occur sometime between
2020 and 2050

Figure 16.1

Energy Shocks Past and Present Peak Oil

• 2000 years ago, affluent Roman citizens had central
heating that consumed vast amounts of wood—
perhaps as much as 125 kg (275 lb) every hour
– Romans had to import wood from up to 1600 km (995 mi)
– They turned to solar energy as an alternative
• During the summer of 2008, U.S. citizens were shocked
by the rapid price increase of gasoline
• “California energy crisis” with its rolling blackouts, in 2001
occurred ahead of the gasoline price increase
• Energy crisis: Not new, occurred in historic times
• Benefits of oil: Undeniable
• Problems associated with oil: Unquestionable
• Peak oil: The time when half of Earth’s oil
extracted and used
• Oil: Nonrenewable and being consumed too fast
• Consequences: Growing demands, water
pollution, air pollution, global warming;
global, economic, and political instability

2

Peak Oil
Figure 16.2
Energy Resources Introduction
• Fundamental lifeblood for industrialization
• Disproportionate amount of energy
resources demanded and consumed in
developed countries
• Growing challenges: How to break
energy dependency, yet sustain
development and high standard of living
• Energy shocks: constant worries from
past to present and to the future over
the price, dependency, power failures
Energy
Supply and
Demand
Figure 16.5
11/26/201
2
Peak Oil
Figure 16.2
Energy Supply and Demand
• Fossil fuels: 90% of U.S. energy
consumption (10% from hydropower and
nuclear power)
• Fossil fuels nonrenewable resources
• Fossil fuel peak discoveries in 1960s
• U.S. energy consumption increasing over
time. Rate of increase variable: peak increase
during 1950–74, then rate of increase rose
again in late 1990s
Energy and Energy Units
• Types of energy: Light, electrical,
chemical, thermal, mechanical, and
nuclear
• Energy unit: Energy capacity to do work
 Joules (J): 1 Newton force applied over 1
m
 1 gigajoule (GJ) = 109 J,
 1 exajoule (EJ) = 1018 J ,
 1 quad (1015 BTU) = 1.055 EJ
• Power: Rate of energy transferred or used
– Watt (W): 1 joule per second (1 J/sec)
– MW (megawatt): 1000 W
3
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2

Fossil Fuels Coal Resources

• Origin of fossil fuels is intimately related to
the geologic cycle – stored in rock materials
• Fossil fuels are solar energy stored in the
form of organic material transformed after
burial
• Types: coal, petroleum, natural gas
• Environmental impact from exploration,
production, processing, and distribution of
fossil fuels should be weighed against
benefits
– Athabasca oil sands, Canada
• America has more coal than any other
fossil- fuel resource
• 20% of total U.S. energy consumption
• The United States has more coal reserves
than any other single country in the world
• 1/4 of all the known coal in the world is in
the United States
• Large coal deposits can be found in 38 of
the 50 states

Geology of Coal Geology of

• Coal: transformed plant matter from Carbon content and Coal
ancient swampland caloric value- 4 types:
– Present environment: estuary, lagoon, low- Lignite,
subbituminous,
lying coastal plains, delta bituminous, anthracite
• Coal forming process: With the increase in
– massive dead plants  rank-
– buried in anaerobic (O-deficient) environment  Higher carbon content
– peat  Higher caloric values
Less volatile gas
– prolonged burial and transformation to Less moisture content
increase carbon content  coal Based on sulfur content:
Low (<1%), medium (1–3%), and
high (>3%)
*(see figure 16.7)

Coal Distribution and Consumption

• World reserves about 1000 BMT (billion metric

tons)
• Evenly distributed throughout the world
• U.S. reserves: 25% of the world reserves
• Annual global consumption 5 BMT
• China, U.S., and Russia account for 50% of
total CO2 released from combustion of coal

Figure 16.8a

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2

Environmental Impact of Coal

• Land disturbance from open-pit and strip mining
• Acid mine drainage and sludge ponds
• Subsidence over subsurface mines
• Surface water and groundwater pollution
• Air pollution from processing plants
• Disposal of coal ash (5–20% of original coal)
• Area ecosystem degradation due to
mining practices and inadequate land
reclamation afterward

Figure 16.8b

Hydrocarbons: Oil and Gas Geology of Oil and Gas

• Oil and gas (O&G): Hydrocarbons due Formation of oil and gas:
to chemical composition of C, H, and Rapid burial 
O Anaerobic environment 
• Natural gas: Mostly methane (CH4) Biogenic or thermogenic transformation 
• O&G: Formed from transformation of Oil window (approximately 3–6 km depth)
organic matter Formation of oil and gas 
• Heavily mined through production wells O&G trapped over geologic time in
certain structures
• Other forms: oil shale and tar sands

Geology of Oil and

Gas
Geologic conditions:
• Source rock: fine-grained
Geology organic-rich sedimentary
rock
of Oil and – O & G migrate up
Gas • Reservoir rock: porous
and permeable rock
• Cap rock: impermeable rock
as barrier to trap O & G

Figure 16.14
Figure 16.13

5

Distribution of Oil and Gas
• Almost exclusively from sedimentary
rocks younger than 500 MY
• ~85% of the total production in less than
5% of production fields
• ~65% of the total production from about
1% of the giant fields
• Most giant O&G fields near recently
active plate boundaries in the last 70 MY
Natural Gas
• Larger global reserves, lasting 100 years
at current rate of consumption
• Most reserves in Russia and Middle East
• Cleaner fuel than oil and coal
• Coal-bed methane: stored in surfaces
of organic matter in coal beds
• Methane hydrate: ice-like material made of
molecules of CH4 ‘caged’ by frozen H2O
– may be future alternative energy source
Methane Hydrate
• Potential good source
of natural gas
• Exists at depths of
1000 m (3300 ft)
beneath the sea and
under perma-frost land
areas
• Complicated processes
for exploration and
production due to
highly pressurized
conditions
• More studies need to
be done for exploiting it
11/26/201
2
Distribution of Oil and Gas
Figure
Coal-Bed Methane
• Coal containing a large amount of methane
• The methane reserves in WY sufficient for
U.S. natural gas use for 5 years
• Most coal-bed methane shallow and
more economical to drill
• Concerns over extraction processing
and transportation
• Environmental problems associated with
production: disposal of salty water, a
flammable process, erosion
Impact of Exploration and
Production
• Land disturbance: Access, drilling
• Environmental impact: Production,
transportation, and emissions from refineries
• By-products: Salty brine water, evaporation,
and waste disposal problems
• Oil field development in sensitive areas
• Blow-outs or fires at oil and gas wells
• Acid rain from air pollutants
• Combustion releases greenhouse gases
6
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Shales and Tar Sands Future of Oil

• Marcellus Shale in NE USA holds ~500 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas
• Best-known oil shale in the United States
found in Green River Formation
– Approximate 44,000 km2 in CO, UT, and WY
• Tar sands contain tar oil and asphalt and other
semi- solid or solid petroleum products
• Tar sands not necessarily sandstone, can be
shale, limestone, or unconsolidated sediments
• Largest tar sands: the Athabasca Tar Sands in
Alberta, Canada, ~ 78,000 km2 (2 trillion BOL)
• Approaching the peak oil time
• About 3 trillion barrels of oil may be recovered
• World current consumption rate: 30
billion barrels/yr
• Estimated peak production 2020–2050
• Significant oil production in the U.S. may
not extend beyond 2090
• Planning, education, research &
development on alternative energy sources

Fossil Fuels and Acid Rain Fossil Fuel and Acid Rain
• Regional to global
problem related to fossil
fuel burning and
generation of acid rain
– Reaction of sulfur and
nitrogen oxides with water
• Effects of acid rain:
– Effects depend upon
bedrock, soils, and water
characteristics
– Damage to vegetation, lake
ecosystems, human
Figure 16.22
structures

Figure 16.20

Nuclear Energy Geology and Distribution of U

• 440 nuclear reactors • Average natural concentration 2 ppm
provide 16% global • Must have a concentration factor of 400 to
electricity needs 2500 times to be mined at a profit
• Mostly from fission of U- • Three types of common deposits:
235, 0.7% concentration Sandstone impregnated with U, veins of U-
n
naturally, enriched to 3%a bearing materials, and old placer deposits
before used i reactor • U-235: only naturally occurring fissile material
• Fission of 1 kg of uranium • U-238 not fissionable, but neutron
equivalent to the burning 16 bombardment converts it to fissionable
of metric tons of coal Plutonium-239

Figure 15.20

7
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2

Reactors
• Most of the reactors: burner reactors
• Four main components of burner reactors: Pressurized
Core, control rods, coolant, and reactor
vessel Water Reactor
• Trend of smaller reactors with less
complex design and gravity-influenced
cooling system (passively safe)
• Pressurized water reactors gaining
popularity in Europe with improved safety
measures.

Risks with Fission Reactors Radioactive Waste Management

• Various amounts of radiation to
environment, from mining, processing,
transportation, and before transportation
• Potential nuclear reactor accidents,
Three Mile Island & Chernobyl
• Nuclear weapons, terrorist activity,
and possibly war
• Disposal of nuclear wastes
• Critical placement – Japanese tsunami
• Safe disposal of nuclear waste a
significant environmental issue
• Low-level radioactive waste
• Transuranic waste
• High-level radioactive wastes
– The scope of the high-level disposal problem
– Disposal of high-level waste in the
geologic environment
– Long-term safety

Geothermal Energy
• Extracting energy associated with heat
and
pressure from natural hot water and steam
• Generating electricity at many sites in the
world or heating energy for buildings, etc.
• Vast amount of geothermal energy:
– If only 1% could be captured from upper 10 km it
would equal about 500 times oil and gas
resources

Figure 16.26

8
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2

Geology of Geothermal Energy Geothermal Energy Risks

• Concentrations largely associated with • Overall, enviro-
tectonic processes friendly with a
• Especially prevalent at divergent and great potential for
convergent boundaries energy
• Geothermal gradient – avg 30-45° per 1km • Expensive production
• Thermal pollution
• Two common systems:
from hot
– Hydrothermal convection systems wastewaters
– Groundwater systems • Land subsidence
• At present,
relatively local and
regional operations
Figure 16.27

Renewable Energy Sources

• Solar energy: Growing rapidly
• Hydrogen: fuel cells
• Hydropower: hydroelectric, tidal power
• Biofuels: wood, charcoal, burning of
municipal waste, currently only 1% of U.S.
municipal wastes recovered for energy and
10% can be extracted, 30–50% of wastes
used for energy in western Europe
• Wind power: Less than 1% global
electricity demand, but 10% potential in
a few decades

Conservation, Efficiency, and

Cogeneration
• Highly variable future supply of and demand
for energy
• Need to minimize energy demand and adjust
energy uses
• Increase energy efficiency through improved
or new technologies
• Cogeneration: Capture and use some of
the waste heat, rather than direct release
to the atmosphere
Energy Policy for the Future
Hard path: Continuing “business as
usual”:
Environmental problems due to use of
local resources, and industrialization and
technology bringing solutions to the
problems
Dominate energy planning in the U.S.
Soft path: Emphasis on energy
alternatives:
Renewable, flexible, decentralized, and
environmentally more benign than those of
the hard path

9

Sustainable Energy Policy
• Energy planning for the future is complicated
• Necessary to find useful long-term sources
of energy without causing atmospheric
pollution
• Transition from the hard path to the soft path
involving continued use of fossil fuel
• Energy path: Satisfying needs of modern
society without endangering the planet
Introduction to
Environmental Geology,
5e
Chapter 17
Soils and Environment
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community
College
Case History: Times Beach, MO
• River town with pop. 2400, west of St. Louis
• In 1983, the town evacuated and
purchased by government for $36 million
• Entire town contaminated with dioxin from the
oil sprayed on the road to control dust
• Dioxin: Composed of oxygen, hydrogen,
carbon, and chlorine, extremely toxic to
mammals and a carcinogen in humans;
about 75 types of dioxin
• Controversy concerning the effects of
human exposure to dioxin, the
evacuation an overreaction?
11/28/201
2
Critical Thinking Topics
• Sustainable energy development means an energy
policy and energy sources without harming the
environment. Do you think this is possible?
• Is it possible that new technology will be able to
make fossil-fuel burning a clean process? Explain
• Speculate the possibility of power plants in space
• List specific actions that an individual citizen
can take to conserve energy and reduce
environmental impact
Chapter 17: Overview
• Understand soil terminology and the
processes responsible for the
development of soils
• Understand soil fertility and the
interactions of water in soil processes
• Become familiar with soil classification
• Know primary engineering properties of soils
• Know relationships between land use and soils
• Know sediment pollution and management
• Understand how soils affect land-use
planning, and how we can sustain soil
resources
Soil
• Supporting rooted plant life: Solid Earth
materials altered by physical, chemical,
and biological processes
• Land-use planning: Soil suitability is large
part of land capability
• Waste disposal: Soil properties are critical
• Impact of natural hazards: Affected by soil
properties
• Climatic signal: clues to the past climate
1
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Soi Soil Profile

l
Soil profiles: Soil horizons: Soil horizon:
• Weathering • Movement of materials in distinct layers
• Physical and soil creates distinct
chemical horizons parallel to the roughly
breakdown of rocks land surface parallel to the
• Residual soil • Soil profile consists of surface as soil
• Transported soil soil horizons:
– O horizon develops over
• Soils are open
systems
– A horizon time
– E horizon
– B horizon
– C horizon
– R horizon

Figure 17.3 A

2
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2

Soil’s General Properties

• Color: Depending on the amount of
organic matter, iron oxides, and soil Soil
water retention Textur
• Texture: Relative proportions of sand, silt,
and clay-sized particles affect soil’s
e
strength and ability to retain water and
nutrients
• Structure:
– Aggregates of soil as peds
– The more developed with time, the more
complex a soil’s structure, from granular to
blocky to prismatic
Figure 17.4

Soil Structure Soil Fertility

• Soil’s capability to supply nutrients needed
for plant growth, such as N, P, K
• A complex ecosystem in itself, containing
millions of living things in a single cubic
meter
• Fertility changes:
 Increase: Applying fertilizers or
mixing materials to improve soil
texture
 Decrease: Leaching or soil erosion

Soil Water Soil Classification

• Soil pores filled with air or liquid (water)
• Soil in saturated condition, if filled with water;
otherwise unsaturated
• The saturation level of soil water changes
with climate (hardly saturated in arid climate)
and seasons (deficit vs. surplus conditions)
• Movement of water: important in pollution
monitoring and management
• Soil classification based on physical
and chemical properties of the soil
profile
• Unified soil classification system: widely
used in engineering practice, based on
particle size, abundance of organic
material, and odor
• Useful for agricultural, environmental
engineering, and land use planning (see
Table
17.1 for properties of soil order)

3

Engineering Properties of Soils
• Strength: Soil’s ability to resist
deformation, function of cohesive
and frictional forces between soil
particles
• Sensitivity: Measuring the changes in
soil strength from disturbances
• Compressibility: Soil’s tendency to
consolidate or decrease in volume
Engineering Properties of Soils
• Erodibility: The ease with which
soil is removed by wind or water
• Hydraulic conductivity: The ease of
soil to allow water to move through
• Corrosion potential: Depending on
the chemistry of soil, soil-water
content, and type of buried materials
in the soil
11/28/201
2
Engineering
Properties
of Soils
Table 17.3a
Strength and
Compressibility
Figure 17.8 and 17.10
Engineering Properties of Soils
• Ease of excavation: The degree of
ease to remove soil using certain
equipment during construction
• Shrink-swell potential: Soil’s
tendency to gain or lose water -
– Expansive soils: Causing significant
environmental problems in the U.S.
– Changes in moisture content
– Topography and drainage also significant
4
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2

Soil Strength
Expansiv • Soil strength: The ability of a soil to resist deformation
e Soils • Function of cohesive and frictional forces
• Cohesion due to surface tension caused by the
attraction of water molecules to each other at the
surface or between soil grain
• The total frictional force is a function of the density,
size, and shape of the soil particles and of the weight
of overlying particles that force the grains together,
usually the result of both cohesion and internal
friction and vegetation

Rates of Soil Erosion Soil Erosion

• Volume, mass, or weight of soil removed
from a specific area during a specific • Urbanization: Rapid development
period of time, kilograms per year per and construction
hectare • Desertification: Overgrazed or disturbed
• The Universal Soil Loss Equation: A = RKLSCP
A: Long-term average annual soil loss for the • Deforestation: Forest over-logged or burned
site R: Long-term rainfall runoff erosion factor • Surface mining: in 2000, 65% coal
K: Soil erodibility index produced from surface mining
factor L: Hillslope/length • Soil erosion and deposition: by natural
factor
hazards, such as floods
S: Hillslope/gradient
factor C: Soil cover factor
P: Soil erosion-control practice factor

Sediment Pollution Sediment Control Basin

One of greatest pollutants…
– Chokes streams
– Fills lakes, reservoirs,
river channels, etc.
– Buries vegetation
– Creates nuisance
that is difficult to
remove
Need better land-use
and urban
development
planning and
sediment control
basins to prevent
excess pollution.
Figure 17.12

5
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2

Land-Use and Soil Problems

• Influencing the pattern, amount, and
intensity of surface-water runoff, erosion, and
sedimentation
• Agriculture: Estimated 10% of the world has
best agricultural land damaged due to soil
erosion and overuse during the last 50 years
• Better practice to sustain soils:
– Contour plowing
– No-till agriculture (no plowing)
– Terracing slopes, retaining walls
– Planting more than one crop, particularly in tropical
areas or crop rotation.

Land-Use and Soil Problems

• Urbanization: Conversion of
agricultural, forest, and rural lands
• Soil scraped off and lost
• Changes of soil properties
• Soil pollution: Use of chemicals
• Changes of surface runoff, sediment yield, and
stream dynamics affecting soil and soil erosion

Figure 17.17 and 17.18

Land-Use and Soil Problems

• Off-road vehicles: recreation, tourism, etc.
• In deserts, coastal dunes, forested
mountains, lake-side, etc.
• Cause changes in rates of soil erosion,
hydrology, habitats of plants and animals
• Impacts from the increased number of
mountain bikes in parks, national forests, etc.

6

Soil Pollution
• Soil pollution: By any materials detrimental
to human and other living organisms, such
as organic chemicals, inorganic chemicals,
toxic substances
• Intentionally or accidentally applied to soils
• Inappropriate disposal of waste materials
• Treatment: Excavation, disposal,
incineration, and bioremediation
Soil Survey and Land-Use
Planning
• Soil survey: Providing important
information about soils
• Soil properties: Critical for the best use of
land; specific soils suitable for certain land
use
• Soil’s engineering properties: Necessary info
for identifying potential problems before
construction
• Detailed soil maps: Helpful and important
in land use planning
Introduction to
Environmental Geology,
5e
Chapter 18
Global Climate Change
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community
College
12/1/201
2
Bioremediation of Polluted Soil
Critical Thinking Topics
• Defend the statement that soil erosion
is an environmental problem that could
seriously damage, or even cause the
collapse of, our civilization.
• What are things an individual citizen can
do to prevent soil erosion?
• Does the impact of soil erosion go beyond
where it occurs? Explain your answer
• Are the soil problems more severe in
developed countries or developing
countries?
Chapter 18: Overview
• Know the tools used for studying Earth
system science and global change
• Understand climate change and
global warming
• Know the important linkages associated
with global change
• Know some of the potential impacts of
global warming and how they might be
minimized
1
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Case History: Potential Consequences Case History: Potential Consequences

of Global Warming
• Approximate 300 year period (1000 to 1300), Earth
was considerably warmer than normal, known as
the Medieval Warming Period (MWP)
• Followed by the Little Ice Age (LIA): Mid 1400 to
1700, difficult for people in Southeast Asia and
Western Europe
• Crop failures in Western Europe during the LIA,
the population devastated by the Black Plague
about 1400
of Global Warming
• Famous Viking explorer Eric the Red’s voyage near the
end of tenth century, a period of warm climate
(Medieval Warming period)
• The Vikings colonized Iceland, Greenland, and
northern North America
• Sea temperature probably 4°C (7°F) warmer than now
• Little Ice Age started early fourteenth century,
creating treacherous sea conditions, famine,
spread of the Black Plague
• Climate changes believed to cause the
abandonment of Viking settlements in North
America and Greenland

Global Climate Change Tools for Studying Global

• Climate changes: contributing to the
Change
complex evolutionary history of the Earth
system The geologic record:
• Earth system: interactions between the • Sediments
atmosphere, the oceans, solid Earth, and – Sedimentary structures
the biosphere – Paleoenvironments
• The effects of human activities: extensive on • Organic material
a global scale – Fossils, tracks, etc.
• Apply a better understanding to better • Glacial ice
manage the environment – Trapped air bubbles and dust particles
– CO2 bubbles as old as 800k years

2
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Geologi Tools for Studying Global

c Change
Record Real-time monitoring:
• Regular collection of data for a specific purpose
• Methods vary with subject being measured
• Good for testing models and predictions
from prehistoric records
Glacial Ice
Mathematical models
• Numerical methods to represent real-
world phenomena and linkages between
Figure 18.2 processes
Figure 18.3 • Global (General) Circulation Models

Modeling the Climate Atmosphere and Climate Change

• Atmosphere as a complex chemical factory:
many little-understood chemical reactions
• Mix of N, O2, trace gases, other compounds
• Climate: characteristic atmospheric
conditions over time scales of seasons to
decades
• Climate change: change of atmospheric
conditions and its relationships with
lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere
– Changes in greenhouse gases, variable temp,
Figure 18.4
and water vapor

EARTH’S Climate & Atmosphere

Climatic Zones: Controlled by global circulation and movement of air masses

Figure 18.5b

3

Atmosphere
Figure 18.6 & 18.7
Figure 18.8
Study Past Climate Change
• The Instrumental Record: Started in 1860s,
today temperature measured at about 7,000
stations around the world
• The Historical Record: Books, newspapers,
journal
articles, personal journals
• The Paleo-Proxy Record: Proxy data refers to
data that is not strictly climatic but that can be
correlated with climate, such as temperature of
the land or sea: ice core, tree rings, pollen,
corals, carbon-14, carbon dioxide, and methane
data
12/1/201
2
Global Warming
• Temperature of Earth varies by three factors:
– The amount of sunlight received
– The amount of solar energy reflected and absorbed
– The amount of heat retention by atmosphere
• Earth: absorbing the short wavelength
solar energy, then radiating longer
wavelength IR (infrared radiation)
• Global warming: “Greenhouse Effect”
– trapping of heat by atmospheric gases
including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrates,
and CFCs
– Anthropogenic gases
Global Warming
• Global warming: The observed increase in the
average temperature of the near-surface land
and ocean environments of Earth
• Human processes (in the past 100 years), as well as
natural ones (over geologic time) contributed
significantly to global warming
• Recent global warming is believed to be due in a large
part to human emissions of greenhouse gases
• Based on equivalent amount of the global warming
potential (GWP), carbon dioxide accounted for
85.1 percent, methane 8.2 percent, nitrous oxide
4.6 percent, and chlorofluorocarbons 2.2 percent
4
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2

Carbon Dioxide Climate Conditions 800k BP

in
the Atmosphere

Temperature
Change
Figure 18.15

Figure 18.12 & 18.14

Increase in Greenhouse Gasses Global Temperature Change

• The Pleistocene Ice Age: ~2 MYA,
peaked at 18,000 years ago
• Numerous changes in Earth’s mean annual
temperature since then
• Warming trend over last 150 yrs,
especially since 1940s with the warmest
since 1990s
o o
• Mean temp increased about 0.8 C (1.36 F)
in the past 100 years

Natural Climate Variation

Orbital Variations:
Change in • Changes in long cycles (100k years) separated
by short cycles (41k to 26k years)
Global
• Identified in 1920s, Milankovitch hypothesis
Temperatur • ‘Eccentricity’ (long cycle): the variability in Earth’s
e orbit around the Sun
• ‘Obliquity’ and ‘Precession’ (short cycles): the tilt
of Earth’s axis and wobble effect of Earth’s axis

Figure 18.18

5
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2

Natural Climate Variation Ocean Conveyor Belt

• Climate system unstable even in shorter
cycles, a few decades
• The ocean conveyor belt: global
circulation of ocean water, contributes to
the change
• Discernible human influence, mean temp
likely 1.5–4.5oC (2.6–7.8oF) warmer in 21st
century
• Global warming: Need to consider major
forcing variables—solar, volcanic, and
Figure 18.21
anthropogenic gases

Natural Climate Variation

Solar Forcing:
• Historic record of the past 1000 years
showing the variability of solar energy
• Medieval Warm Period (A.D. 1000–
1300) corresponding to a time of
increased solar radiation
• The Little Ice Age (14th century)
corresponding to the minimum solar activity
• The effect relatively small, .25%

Solar Flare Activity

Natural Climate Variation Anthropogenic Forcing

Volcanic Forcing: • Natural variability failing to explain the
• Volcanic eruption: warming at end of the 20th century
aerosol & ash particles • Mathematical modeling on anthropogenic
into the atmosphere forcing: increase of temperature 2oC due to
– Reduce solar radiation the doubling of CO2
to Earth’s surface • Significant global warming as a result of
• Episodes of volcanic human activities:
eruptions likely – Air pollution reduced incoming solar energy by
contributed to cooling 10%, which offsets up to 50% of the expected
of the Little Ice Age global warming

Figure 18.22

6

Negative
Forcing
from
Aerosols
Glaciers and Global Warming
• Loose snow has about 90 percent air compared to firm,
with about 25 percent air to glacial ice with less than
20 percent air as bubbles
• Transform snow to glacial ice: 10s to 1000s of years
• Global warming: Accelerated melting of glacial ice
• Exposed bare ground after glacial ice melts produces a
positive feedback cycle: The more ice that melts, the
faster the warming and increased melting
• The lowest extent of sea ice in the Atlantic Ocean in 2007
• The Antarctic Peninsula: One of the most rapidly
warming regions on Earth
Sea Level Rise and Global Warming
• An estimated 40 to 200 cm (16 to 80 in.),
wide range of rise in sea level for the next
century
• Increases in coastal erosion: Up to 260 ft on
open beaches by stronger wave actions
• Landward shift of existing estuaries
• Disastrous impact on the existing
developments along coastal zones
12/1/201
2
Potential Effects of Global Climate
Change
• Doubling the greenhouse gases, 1.5–
o o
4.5 C (2.6−7.8 F) increase in average
global temp
• Significant rise of sea level and melting of
glacial ice due to the increase in temp
• The number of retreating glaciers accelerating
in many areas of the world
• Change in SW and GW conditions
• Changes in the biosphere
• Significant effects on global climate patterns
Extent of Sea Ice
Figure 18.31
Change in Climate Patterns
• Global warming leads to significant changes
of rainfall and soil moisture (drought and
flood)
• Agricultural activities (crop growth cycle)
and world food supplies affected greatly by
climatic factors (desertification)
• Global warming affects the frequency,
intensity, and distribution of natural
hazards, such as hurricanes and other
storms
7
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Change
in
Climate
Patterns

Figure 18A

Figure 18.C

Change in Climate Patterns Changes in the Biosphere

• Causing a number of changes in the biosphere
- both for people and overall ecosystem
• Risk of species extinction due to land-
use change and habitat shift
• Spread of infectious and other diseases due
to migration of organisms
• Both land and oceanic components affected:
from plants, to polar bears, to the bleaching
of coral reefs

Figure 18.D

Adaptation of Species to Global Reducing the Impact of Global

Warming Warming
• During the past 25 years or so, plants and
animals shifted their ranges by about 6 • Identify historic changes that have occurred
kilometers per decade toward the polar • Predict the potential changes in the future
areas • Reduce greenhouse gases
• Spring arriving earlier, migrating birds • Political commitment: reconciling the
arriving earlier, about 2.3 days per conflicts between the environmental need for
decade reduction of greenhouse gases and the
• In Costa Rica, over 60 species of frogs may economic demands for more fossil fuel
have gone extinct
• Assist migration of some species – cause
extinction of some species unable to migrate
with climate change – creating an invasive
species

8

Reducing the Impact of Global
Warming
Reduce CO2 levels in atmosphere:
• Improved engineering technologies of
fuel- burning power plants
• Use fossil fuels releasing less CO 2 (table 18.2)
• Conservation of energy
• Store CO2 in forests, soils and rocks, depleted
oil and gas fields, saltwater aquifers
(sequestration of CO2)
• Use alternative, renewable sources of energy
Coupling of Global Change
Processes –
Negative Forcing
• The coupling of the greenhouse and
ozone depletion problems from CFCs
• Burning of fossil fuels and acid rain problems
• Use of fossil fuels and volcanic eruption
problems and atmospheric cooling
Introduction to
Environmental Geology,
5e
Chapter 19
Geology, Society, and the Future
Jennifer Barson – Spokane Falls Community
College
12/4/201
2
Reducing the Impact of
Global
Warming
The Kyoto Protocol, international
agreement to reduce emissions
of greenhouse gases, signed by
166 nations, became formal
international treaty in 2/05.
Even if carbon emissions
were reduced to zero,
warming will continue this
century.
There is 0.5° to 1.0°C warming in
the Figure
system. 18.36
Critical Thinking Topics
• Have a discussion with your parents or grandparents
and write down the major changes that have occurred
in their lifetime as well as yours
• Rapid economic development in developing
countries occurs at the expense of environment.
Should people put environment issues first? Why or
why not?
• Will new technologies be part of solution on
problems in global warming? Explain
• What are the major ways to reduce emission of CO2?
Chapter 19: Overview
• Know geologic aspects of environmental health.
• Understand the geologist’s role in evaluating
land
for appropriate uses.
• Understand environmental impact analysis.
• Know the process of law; the use of mediation
and negotiation to solve environmental
conflicts.
• Be able to discuss what steps are necessary
to attain the goal of sustainability.
1
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2

Case History
Radon Gas: The Stanley Watrus Environmental Geology and
Story Society
• In December of 1984, scientists discovered that radon
(a radioactive gas) from soil and rock may enter the Overall challenges:
home and possibly present a serious health hazard • How to balance between economic
• Stanley Watras lived in Boyertown, PA, the radiation development and environmental
level of the indoor air at his house was 3,200 pCi/l, 800 sustainability
times higher than the level of 4 pCi/l, a threshold set
by the EPA • How to form an ecological equilibrium
• Held the highest record in early 1980s, until a home by meeting the needs of a society
in Whispering Hills, New Jersey, reached a radiation • Ultimate goal for the future: creating a
level of 3,500 pCi/l harmonious state between the
• Increased awareness of the radon gas problem general environment and human
in the United States since 1985 society

Geology and Environmental Lead in the Environment

Health
• Disease: an imbalance from poor
adjustment of an individual to the
environment
• Environmental toxin and toxicology: study
of poisons/toxins and potential effects on
people and ecosystems, as well as
associated clinical, economic, industrial,
and legal problems
• Carcinogen: toxin that causes cancer
• Disastrous effects from minute amount of
toxin measured in ppm, ppb, mg/L, or
pCi/L (radioactive toxin)
• Lead poisoning: geologic, cultural,
political, and economical factors involved
• Effects: anemia, mental retardation, palsy, and
even behavioral problems
• Sources: in past used in gasoline, paints,
some moonshine whiskey, and other
products
• Widespread lead poisoning suggested for
the reason behind the fall of the Roman
Empire

2
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Geologic Factors of Chronic Disease and the Geologic

Environmental Health
• Soil: Foundation for agriculture, homes,
and industries
• Water: Used for drinking, agriculture,
and industries
• Air: Indispensable for life
• “Natural” or “virgin” or “pure” environment
not necessarily good as widely perceived
• Human activities: Detrimental or
beneficial processes for the
environmental quality
Environment
• Geologic processes: operate on geologic time
• Diseases: occur and measured on biologic time
• Regional and local variations in chronic diseases
• Challenges: cause-and-effect hypothesis not
specific enough, difficulties in obtaining
reliable and comparable data, hard to
differentiate environmental causes vs.
genetic factors

Heart Disease and the Geologic

Environment Heart Disease and the Water
• Heart disease: coronary heart disease
and cardiovascular disease
• Possible link between water chemistry
and heart disease
• Higher rate of heart disease in
communities with relatively soft water,
based on studies in Japan, England,
Wales, Sweden, and the U.S.
– Soft water is more acidic than hard water.
• Uncertain relationships between
water hardness and heart disease

Cancer and the Geochemical

Environment
Carcinogenic materials: carcinogenic
substances arise from natural and
anthropogenic sources
• Naturally occurring in air (radon gas), soil, water
• Human activities: industrial products
and processes
• Industrial waste: threats to water and air quality
• Potential problems with present
water treatment
using chlorine
Radon Gas
• Colorless, odorless, and tasteless
• Released from uranium-bearing rocks
• Exposure to radon gas of elevated concentration
leading to higher risk of lung cancer, EPA
estimated lung cancer deaths related to
exposure to radon gas (7k-30k deaths are
related)
• Exposure to both radon gas and tobacco 10
times as hazardous as exposure to one alone
• No definitive conclusion on cause-and-effect
relationship between lung cancer and radon
gas

3
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Geology of Radon Gas

• The actual amount of radon that reaches the surface
of the Earth is related to the concentration of uranium
in the rock and soil
Radon
• Some regions of the United States contain bedrock
with an above-average natural concentration of Gas in
uranium, PA, NJ, and NY etc. the
• Geologic structures, such as shear zones, fracture Home
zones, and faults, commonly enriched with uranium
• The amount of radon gas, escaping from bedrock
and soil particles, influenced by water content.
• Movement of radon gas from fractures in rock and
pore spaces in soil facilitated by relatively low
moisture content
Figure 19.C

Reducing Concentrations of Air Pollution: Geologic Perspective

Radon • Pollutants in the atmosphere  pollutants in
the hydrologic and geochemical cycles
• Improve home ventilation
• Air pollution: Serious health hazard in many
• Locate and stop the entry point of radon gas large cities
to homes or buildings
• Construct a venting system • Effects on human artifacts: Effects of air
pollution on buildings and monuments
• Recognizing the whole picture and knowing
that the problem is solvable • Aesthetic effects: Reducing visual range
and atmospheric clarity

Sources of Air Pollution Air Pollutants

• Stationary
– Point sources: Discreet and defined
location, such as power plant
– Fugitive sources: From an open area
such as construction site, farmland
– Area sources: Several sources within a well-
defined area, such as an urban area
• Mobile
– Moving sources, such as automobiles, aircrafts
• Physical state
– Gaseous form: SO2, NOx , CO, O3, volatile
organic compounds (VOCs)
– Solid or liquid form: Particulates, PM 10 (less
than 10 µm or PM 2.5 (less than 2.5 µm)
• Air Toxins: Pollutants causing cancer or other
serious health problems
• Pathway to air
– Primary pollutants: Emitted directly into the air
– Secondary pollutants: From the reactions of
primary pollutants with atmospheric compounds

4
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Particulate Matter Urban Air

• PM 2.5 and PM 10: Diameters less than 2.5
Pollution
µm and 10 µm respectively
• Air pollution not
distributed
uniformly, mostly
• 90 percent particulates from natural resources concentrated
around urban areas
• Sources: Desertification, volcanic eruption, fire, • Sources of pollution: In
and farm lands and around urban areas
such as automobiles,
industry emission
• Industrial sources: Asbestos dust and heavy
metals (As, Cu, Pb, Zn) • Form of air
pollution: Urban
smog
Figure
19.4
• Affected by
meteorology and
topography

Influence Factors in
Urban Air Potential for Urban Air Pollution
Pollution
Depends on several factors:
• Sources and emission rates of pollution • Rate of pollutant emissions
• Distance of air mass moving through urban
• Topography: Mountains as barriers for air air pollution source
movement, forming temp inversion layer • Speed and duration of the wind
and promoting pollution over certain areas
• Height of the mixing layer
• Atmospheric conditions: Temperature, cloud
cover, and wind affecting the transportation
or dispersion of pollutants

Indoor Air Pollution Waste Management

• Environmental health hazards at homes
and workplaces
• A variety of substances: Smoke,
chemicals, microbes, and radon
• The United States and the rest of the world
face a tremendous solid waste disposal
problem
• Urban waste disposal running out of space, half
the cities in the United States

• Different sources: Asbestos insulation fibers,
wood products, poisonous gases—carbon
monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, paint,
cleaning chemicals
• Cost for landfill disposal skyrocketed, $20 billion
plus industry
• Too much and too many kinds of waste
produced in modern societies
• Issues about social justice and environmental justice

5

Integrated Waste Management
• IWM emerged in 1980s
• Including reduction, recycling, reuse,
composting, landfill, and incineration
• Three Rs approach (reduction, recycle,
reuse): Reducing urban refuse by 50
percent
• More notable success with recycling, but
less successful with reducing waste
production
Solid Waste Disposal
Solid waste (SW)
• Primarily an urban problem
• Paper by far the most abundant solid waste
• Plastics: 60 percent increase since 1986
• Much toxic and infectious wastes:
Disposed in large sanitary urban landfills
Site Selection and Design are Key
Figure 19.10
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Materials Management
• Combining sustainable use of materials
with resources conservation
• New goal: “zero waste” known as
industrial ecology through subsidies,
penalties, and incentives.
• Industrial ecology: Producing natural urban
and industrial ecosystem through material
management, waste from one part of the
system as a resource for another part
Solid Waste: Sanitary Landfills
• Defined by the American Society of
Civil Engineering, emerged in
1930s
• Potential hazards: Leachate entering
water system
• The concentration of pollutants in leachate
much higher than in raw sewage
• Uncontrolled production and release of
methane gas, growing trend in producing
and selling methane as a resource
Hazardous Waste Management
• Toxic, inflammable, corrosive, chemically
unstable
• ~1,000 new chemicals marketed annually
• ~50,000 chemicals currently on the market
• The United States currently generating more
than 150 million metric tons of hazardous
waste each year
• Uncontrolled or illegal dumping in the past
6

HW: Responsible Management
• Many hazardous chemical waste
management options such as recycling, on-
site processing, high temperature
decomposition, etc.
• Surface impoundment: Monitor risk of air
and water pollution
• Deep well disposal: Consider earthquake risks
• Incineration of hazardous chemical waste
• Secure landfill
Environmental Planning: Site
Selection
• Site selection: evaluation process to see
if the environment supports human
activities
• Set site-selection criteria: ensure site
developments compatible with both the
possibilities and limitations of natural
environment
• Providing geologic info: crucial info on rock
types, rock structure, soil properties,
hydrologic characteristics, topography, and
hazardous events
• Environmental engineering perspectives on
testing, design, and prediction
Environmental Impact Analysis
Negative declarations:
• Filed when a particular project is viewed not
to cause a significant adverse environmental
impact
• Provide detailed info to support the
contention of no significant negative impact
on the environment
• Present a complete and comprehensive
statement regarding potential
environmental problems
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Hazard Waste: Secure Landfill
Figure 19.13
Environmental Impact Analysis
• 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for
all federal actions: potential impact on the
quality of the human environment
• Scoping: identifying important
environmental issues to be evaluated in
detail
• Mitigation: identifying action plans to avoid,
lessen, or compensate for anticipated
adverse environmental impacts of the
project
Land Use Planning
• Conversion of agricultural lands to
urban development intensifying
existing urban environmental problems
• Good land-use planning essential for:
– Sound economic development
– Avoiding hazards and conflicts between
different land uses
– Managing land and resources efficiently
– Maintaining a sustainable high quality of life
7
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Land Use Planning Process Scenic Resources

• Identify and define issues, problems,
goals, and objectives
• Collect, analyze, and interpret data on
hazards and resources
• Develop and test alternatives
• Formulate land use plans
• Review, adopt, and implement plans
• Revise and amend plans
• Scenery in the U.S. recognized as
natural resource since 1864, when the
first park is established
• Landscapes’ varying degrees of scenic
value recognized by general public
• Growing awareness of and concern for
the scenic values of the “everyday”
nonurban landscape beyond traditional
views of recreation and preservation

Sequential Land Use Sequential Land Use

• Sequential land use vs. traditional
permanent and exclusive land use practice
• Conform with the general principle
“The effects of land use are
cumulative”
• Responsible land use: Obligation to future
generations and land reclamation after
waste disposal or mining
• Reclamation of impacted land for subsequent
use…
Figure 19.16

Multiple Land Use

• Use land for multiple purposes, e.g.,
– Forests for recreation and timber harvesting
– Reservoirs for irrigation, flood control, fishery,
and recreation
• Meet the challenges of maximizing
benefits for multiple land-use purposes
• Requires well-thought-out,
comprehensive land-use planning

8
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Environmental Law Geology, Environment, & the Future

• Important for environmental
planning implementation and
problem solving
• Emerging focus: emphasis on problem
solving, mediation through negotiation
• The process of law: consultation, negotiation,
and mediation have proven more successful
than traditional confrontational and
adversarial strategies
• Important to recognize the difference
b/w comprehensive collaboration and
simple compromise
Avoiding an environmental crisis
(Lester Brown):
• Avoid a potential food shortage for the near
and intermediate term
• Control global population growth
• Conserve and sustain water resources,
especially groundwater
• Control carbon emission and global warming

Attaining Sustainability for the Future Critical Thinking Topics

Ensuring and attaining sustainability
for the future:
• Ensure renewable resources are
available for future generations
• Evaluate and adjust values and lifestyles
• Set sustainable development as a global
issue and priority
• Make a long-term plan: proactive
prevention, rather than reactive problem
solving after surprises or shocks
• For the region in which you live, identify
potential hazardous wastes that are produced
by homes, businesses, and industry or
agriculture
• Do you think the steps stated by Lester
Brown are necessary to avoid an
environmental crisis?
• Discuss how an environmental crisis in China
would affect the global environment. What could
China do to avoid some of the environmental
damages of industrial growth?
• What are the critical relationships between
geology, environment, and the future?

Name:

Locating the Epicenter and Determining the Magnitude of an Earthquake

Locating the Epicenter
Measuring the S-P time interval
There are hundreds of seismic data recording stations throughout
the United States and the rest of the world. In order to locate the
epicenter of an earthquake, you need to estimate the time interval
between the arrival of the P and S waves (the S-P interval) on the
seismograms from at least three different stations. You have to
measure the interval to the closest second and then use a graph to
convert the S-P interval to the epicentral distance. On the sample
seismogram at the right the vertical lines are spaced at 2 second
intervals. The S-P time interval is about 36 seconds.
Determining the Earthquake Distance
You can now determine the distance from each seismic recording station
to the earthquake's epicenter using the known times of travel of the S
and P waves.

Examine the graph of seismic wave travel times (middle graph on this
page). There are three curves on the graph: The upper curve shows S wave
travel-time graphed versus distance, the center one shows P wave travel
time versus distance, and the lower one shows the variation in distance with
the difference of the S and P travel times. It takes an S wave approximately
70 seconds to travel 300 kilometers.

How long does it take the P wave to travel this same distance? 9
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For the rest of this exercise you won't be needing the individual S and P
curves, only the S-P curve. Using the example from above, the 36
second S-P interval corresponds to a distance of about 355 km.

To determine the epicentral distance, we need a graph with greater

resolution and detail. The bottom graph shows an expanded part of the
S-P curve. Use the bottom graph for the exercises.

Finding the Epicenter on a Map

Once you have the epicentral distances, you can draw circles to
represent each distance on a map. The radius of each circle
corresponds to the epicentral distance for each seismic recording
station. Once you have drawn all three circles and located the point
where all three intersect, you will have successfully located
(triangulated) the epicenter of the earthquake.

Using this method to determine an earthquake's epicenter may not

result in an exact point for some earthquakes. Discounting measurement
errors, there are a number of factors that affect the speed of earthquake
waves. Among other factors, variations in rock types through which the
waves travel will change the actual travel times and hence the S-P
intervals.
36
sec

355
km

1
0
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The earthquake seismograms for this exercise are below

Eureka, CA seismograph station Elko, NV seismograph station

Amplitude

Amplitude
Time (seconds) Time (seconds)

Las Vegas, NV seismograph station Which seismogram shows the greatest amplitude?

Using just the amplitude, which seismograph

station is probably closest to the epicenter?
Amplitude

(assume all three stations are located on

bedrock.)

Complete the table below.

Use the seismograph recordings to
determine the time interval between the
Time (seconds) arrival of the P- and S- waves. Next, use
these time intervals and the bottom graph on
page 1 to determine the distance from the
epicenter for each seismograph station.
S-P Distance from
Station
Time Inteveral Epicenter
Eureka,
CA seconds Km

Elko,
NV seconds Km

Las Vegas
NV seconds Km

The last step is drawing circles on the map

to the left to represent the distance from the
epicenter for each station. The radius of
each circle should equal the corresponding
distance from the epicenter. To know how
large to draw each circle, use the scale on
the map.

Miles
0 100 200 400 600
The location where all three circles overlap
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
(or nearly overlap) is the location where the
Kilometers earthquake occurred.
Page 2
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Where is
the
epicenter?

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Determining the Richter Magnitude

Magnitude Explained
So far you have worked on locating the epicenter of an
earthquake. The next questions to ask are "How strong was

Amplitude
this particular earthquake and how does it compare to other
earthquakes?"

There are many ways that one could evaluate the relative
strength of an earthquake: from the cost of repairs resulting
from damage, from the length of rupture of the earthquake
fault, from the amount of ground shaking, etc. But
determining the strength of an earthquake using these kinds
of "estimators" is full of potential problems and subjectivity.
For example, the
cost of repairs resulting from a strong earthquake in a remote region would be muchTime
less (seconds)
than that of a moderate
earthquake in a populated area. Furthermore, the degree of damage would depend greatly on the quality of construction.
Also, only a few earthquakes produce actual ground ruptures at the surface.

A well-known scale used to compare the strengths of earthquakes involves using the records (the seismograms) of an
earthquake's shock waves. The scale, known as the Richter Magnitude Scale, was introduced into the science of
seismology in 1935 by Dr. C. F. Richter of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The magnitude of an
earthquake is an estimate of the total amount of energy released during fault rupture. The Richter magnitude of an
earthquake is a number: about 3 for earthquakes that are strong enough for people to feel and about 8
for the Earth's strongest earthquakes. Although the Richter
scale has no upper nor lower limits,
earthquakes greater than 9 in Richter magnitude are
unlikely. The most sensitive seismographs can record D
nearby earthquakes with magnitude of about -2 which is the
equivalent of stamping your foot on the floor.

The Richter magnitude determination is based on C

measurements made on seisograms. Two measurements
are needed: the S-P time interval and the Maximum
Amplitude of the Seismic waves. The
illustration at the top right on this page shows how to B
make the measurement of the S wave's maximum
amplitude. The blue horizontal grid lines are spaced at 10
millimeter intervals. In this example the maximum
amplitude is about 185 mm. A
The Richter Nomogram
Although the relationship between Richter magnitude
and the measured amplitude and S-P interval is
complex, a graphical device (a nomogram) can be used
to simplify the process and to estimate magnitude from
distance and amplitude.

In the diagram to the right, the horizontal dotted line (A)

represents the "standard" Richter earthquake. This
standard earthquake is 100 km away and produces 1 Step 1: Mark
mm of amplitude on the seismogram. It is assigned a the distance Step 2:
magnitude of 3. Other earthquakes can then be Step 3: Draw Mark the
referenced to this standard. a line and amplitude
read off the
magnitude

Page 4
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The Richter Nomogram - continued

Complete the table below. First, copy the
Note that a 100 km-away earthquake of magnitude 4 would
distances from page 2. Then use the
produce 10 mm of amplitude (line B) and a magnitude 5 seismograph recordings on page 2 to
would produce 100 mm of amplitude (line C) at the same determine the maximum S-wave
distance. 1, 10 and 100 are all powers of 10 and this is
why the Richter Scale is said to be "exponential." A change
amplitude for each earthquake.
of one unit in magnitude (say from 4 to 5) increases the
maximum amplitude by a factor of 10. The last line drawn, Distance from S-wave
line D, shows the result for an earthquake that produces an Station
Epicenter Amplitude
amplitude of 150 at a distance of 600 km.
Eureka,
CA Km millimeters
Although only one amplitude measurement is necessary to
estimate the magnitude of an earthquake, it is better to use
measurements from several seismograph stations. This Elko,
NV Km millimeters
enables you to determine the magnitude value as an
average of several values, thus increasing the likelihood
that you are accurate in your estimate. Las Vegas
NV Km millimeters

Last, use the amplitude and distance data

to draw a line for each seismograph
recording on the nomogram below.

What is the magnitude of the earthquake?

Modified by S. Kuehn from Virtual Earthquake exercise of Geology Labs On-Line
<http://www.sciencecourseware.com/VirtualEarthquake/VQuakeExecute.html>.
Original exercise developed by Gary Novak, CSU-LA.

This is revision 5 dated 8-February-2006.

Credits:

Page 5
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S-P Distance from S-wave

Station
Time Inteveral Epicenter Amplitude
Eureka,
CA 50 seconds 485 Km 285 millimeters

Elko,
NV 72 seconds 705 Km 60 millimeters

Las Vegas
NV
64 seconds 622 Km 100 millimeters

Epicenter location: about 100 km SSE of San Francisco Magnitude: about 7.1

1989 Loma Prieta earthquake

Glaciers and Glaciation

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Glaciers and Earth’s Systems

• A glacier is a large, long-lasting mass

of ice, formed on land, that moves
downhill under its own weight
• Glaciers are part of Earth’s hydrosphere
• Along with sea ice, glaciers are known
as the cryosphere
• About 75% of the world’s supply of
fresh water is locked up in glacial ice
Formation of Glaciers

• Glaciers develop as snow is compacted

and recrystallized, first into firn and
then glacial ice
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• A glacier can only form where more snow accumulates during

the winter than melts away during the spring
and summer
• Two types of glaciated terrains on Earth:
– Alpine glaciation occurs in mountainous regions
in the form of valley glaciers
– Continental glaciation covers large land masses in
Earth’s polar regions in the form of ice sheets
– Glaciation occurs in areas cold enough to allow
accumulated snow to persist from year to year
Anatomy of a Glacier

• An advancing glacier gains more snow

than it loses, has a positive budget
– End or terminus of glacier advances downslope

• A receding glacier has a negative budget

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– Terminus of glacier shrinks back upslope

• Snow is added in the zone of accumulation of glaciers, whereas

melting (and calving of icebergs) occurs in the zone of ablation
• The equilibrium line, which separates accumulation and
ablation zones, will advance or retreat depending on climate

Movement of Glaciers

• Valley glaciers and ice sheets move

downslope under the force of
gravity
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• Movement occurs by basal sliding and plastic flow of the lower

part of the glacier, and passive “riding along” of an overlying rigid
zone
– Crevasses are fractures formed in the upper rigid zone during glacier flow

• Due to friction, glacier flow is fastest at the top center of a glacier

and slowest along its margins
Glacial Erosion

• Glaciers erode underlying

rock by plucking of rock
fragments and abrasion as
they are dragged along
– Basal abrasion polishes and
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striates the underlying rock surface

and produces abundant fine rock
powder known as rock flour
Erosional Landscapes

• Erosional landforms produced by

valley glaciers include:
– U-shaped valleys
– Hanging valleys
• Smaller tributary glacial valleys left stranded
above more quickly eroded central valleys
– Cirques
• Steep-sided, half-bowl-shaped recesses
carved into mountains at the heads of glacial
valleys
– Arêtes
• Sharp ridges separating glacial valleys
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– Horns
• Sharp peaks remaining after cirques have cut back into a mountain on 3+ sides
Erosional Landscapes

• Erosional landforms produced

by valley glaciers include:
– U-shaped valleys – Hanging valleys
• Smaller tributary glacial valleys left stranded above more quickly eroded central
valleys
Erosional Landscapes

• E
r
o
s
i
o
n
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al landforms produced by valley glaciers include:

– Cirques
• Steep-sided, half-bowl-shaped recesses carved into
mountains at the heads of glacial valley
Erosional Landscapes

• Erosional landforms produced by valley

glaciers include: – Arêtes
• Sharp ridges separating glacial valleys
– Horns
•
Sharp peaks
remaining
after cirques
have cut back
into a
mountain on
3+ sides
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Glacial Deposition

• General name for unsorted, unlayered glacial

sediment is
till
– Deposits of till left behind at the
sides and end of a glacier are
called lateral, medial and end
moraines, respectively

• Lateral moraines are

elongate, low mounds of till
along sides of valley glaciers
Glacial Deposition

• Medial moraines are lateral

moraines trapped between adjacent
ice streams
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• End moraines are ridges of till piled up along the front end of a glacier

• Successive end moraines left behind by a retreating glacier are called

recessional moraines
Glacial Deposition

• Large amounts of liquid water flow

over, beneath and away from the ice at
the end of a glacier
• Sediment deposited by this water is
known as glacial outwash
• Sediment-laden streams emerging
from ends of glaciers have braided
channel drainage patterns
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• Outwash landforms include drumlins,

eskers, kettles and kames
• Annual sediment deposition in glacial
lakes produces varves, which can be
counted like tree rings
Glacial Deposition

• Large amounts of liquid water flow

over, beneath and away from the ice at
the end of a glacier
• Sediment deposited by this water is
known as glacial outwash
• Sediment-laden streams emerging from
ends of glaciers have braided channel
drainage patterns
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• Outwash landforms include drumlins,

eskers, kettles and kames
• Annual sediment deposition in glacial
lakes produces varves, which can be
counted like tree rings
Direct Effects of Past Glaciation

• Large-scale glaciation of North

America during the most recent
ice age produced the following
effects:
– Most of the soil and sedimentary
rocks were scraped off underlying
crystalline rock in northern and
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eastern Canada, and lake basins were gouged out of the

bedrock
– Extensive sets of recessional moraines were left behind by
retreating ice sheets in the upper midwestern U.S. and Canada
Indirect Effects of Past Glaciation

• Large pluvial lakes (formed in a period

of abundant rainfall) existed in closed
basins in Utah, Nevada and eastern
California
– Great Salt Lake is remnant of much larger
pluvial Lake Bonneville
– Huge floods emanated as ice-dammed lakes
(e.g., Lake Missoula) drained catastrophically

• Sea level was significantly lowered by

large amounts of water locked up into ice
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sheets, allowing stream channels and glaciers to erode valleys

below presentday sea level
– Fiords are coastal inlets formed by drowning of glacially carved valleys by
rising sea level
Evidence for Older Glaciation

• Rocks called tillites, lithified glacial till, have distinctive textures

that suggest emplacement of sediments by glaciers
– Unsorted rock particles including angular, faceted and striated boulders

• In some areas, old tillites directly overlie polished and striated

crystalline rocks
• Tillites formed during late Paleozoic era in portions of the
southern continents indicate that these landmasses were once
joined
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– strong evidence supporting

Theory of Plate Tectonics
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Volcano refer to the eruption of hot molten

lava from below the surface of earth.

A volcano is a vent in the earth’s crust

through which Lava, Steam, ashes etc.
are expelled.
RING OF FIRE

A zone along
the edge of
Pacific Ocean
that has many
Volcanoes and
Earthquakes.
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The horseshoe shaped 40,000 kilometre

long belt is characterized by higher
volcanic activity.
The Ring of Fire is a string of volcanoes
that runs around the edge of the Pacific
Ocean.
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•A string of 452 volcanoes stretches from the

southern tip of South America, up along the
coast of North America, across the Bering Strait,
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down through Japan, and into New Zealand

sets the foundation for a

volcano. The overlapping of
•

the tectonic plates causes

the magma to break
through the crust, which is
• Whenthe cause of a
volcanoes' temperature and pressure
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rises, the rock melts and moves through the

surface and crust, and releases

gases birth.and magma, volcanic eruption

occurs.
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The narrow opening of a volcano is

called Vent. The upper part of vent is
a cup shaped depression called
Crater.
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The rock material ejected during

volcanic activity is deposited on
surface of Earth. It is called Lava.
Pyroclastic Flow is fluidized mixture of solid
to semi-solid fragments.
It is characterized by hot expanding gases
that flows down the flank of volcanic
edifice.
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• Pyroclastic flows
are mixtures of hot
gas, ash and other
volcanic rocks
travelling very
quickly down the
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slopes of volcanoes. They are one of the

most dangerous hazards posed by
volcanoes.
DEFINITIONS

Viscosity - the property of a fluid that resists the

force tending to cause the fluid to flow
Magma - molten material beneath or within
the earth's crust, from which igneous rock is
formed
Lava - the molten, fluid rock that issues
from a volcano or volcanic vent
Ash - the powdery residue of
matter that
remains after burning
Caldera - A large crater
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formed by volcanic explosion or by

collapse of a volcanic cone.

ONE OF THREE
PHASES:

ACTIVE,
Active volcanoes are ones that

DORMANT, AND have erupted in

the past 10,000 years, and that are likely to
erupt again. An example is Mt. Saint Helens in
EXTINCT. U.S.A.
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Dormant volcanoes are ones that have not erupted

in the past 10,000 years, but still have the
possibility, though unlikely. An example is Mt.
Rainier in the U.S.A.

Extinct volcanoes are one which no eruption has

occurred within historic times and future
occurrences are highly improbable . An example
is Mt. Ashitaka in Japan.
HOT SPRINGS AND GEYSERS

•A natural spring of mineral water at a

temperature of 21°C (70°F) or above,
found in areas of volcanic activity is called
Hotspring.
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•A hot spring that intermittently sends up

fountain like jets of water and steam into the
air is known as a Geyser.
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There are three major

types of Shieldv
olcanoes:
volcanoes

Composite
volcanoes

Cinder cone
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volcanoes
SHIELD VOLCANOES

• The magma inside a shield volcano is

rich in iron and magnesium and is very
fluid.
• Since the magma is very fluid, the lava
coming out of the volcano tends to
flow great distances.
• When shield volcanoes erupt, the
flowing lava gives the volcano the shape
of a gently sloping mountain.
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COMPOSITE VOLCANOES

• The magma inside a composite volcano is

rich in silica and much thicker than
magma from a shield volcano.
• Gases get trapped inside this thicker
magma.
• Eruptions from composite volcanoes can
be flowing lava or explosions. The
explosive eruptions come from the
trapped gases and produce cinders and
ash.
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CINDER CONE VOLCANOES

• The magma inside a cinder cone

volcano has large amounts of gas
trapped in it.
• Eruptions from cinder cone volcanoes
are violent and explosive because of all
the gas trapped in the magma.
• The large amounts of hot ash and lava
thrown out of the vent fall to the
ground forming the cone shape that
these volcanoes have.
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CAUSES OF VOLCANIC ACTIVITY

•When a part of the earth's upper

mantle or lower crust melts, magma
forms. A volcano is essentially an
opening or a vent through which this
magma and the dissolved gases it
contains are discharged.
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SEVERAL PROCESSES
ASSOCIATED
WITH MECHANISM OF VOLCANISM
•A gradual increase of temperature with
increasing depth at the rate of one
deg. Celsius for every 32 minutes.

•Gases and Vapours are formed due to heating

of water, which reaches underground through
percolation.

•The ascent of magma forced by vast volume of

gases and water vapour.
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• The occurrence of Volcanic Eruption

EFFECTS OF VOLCANIC
ERUPTIONS
• The effects of volcanic eruptions can be divided into
primary and secondary effects.

• The primary effects are immediate and come from the

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eruption itself.

•The secondary effects result from the primary

effects.
Volcanic gases: All magma contains
dissolved gases. These gases are mainly
steam, carbon dioxide and compounds of
sulphur and chlorine.
Lava flows: These are streams of molten
rock.
Pyroclastic flows - These are high speed
avalanches of hot ash, rock fragments and
gas which move down the sides of a
volcano. These flows occur when the vent
area or ash column collapses.
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Lahars - These are

mixtures of water,
rock, ash, sand and
mud that originate
from the slopes of a
volcano. Lahars
often happen
because of heavy
rainfall eroding
volcanic deposits.
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Landslides - Heat from cooling magma

can cause hydrothermal alteration of
the rocks, turning sections of them into
clay. This weakens the rocks and
increases the risk of slope failures.

Flooding - Explosive eruptions can

change the surface areas around a
volcano and disrupt drainage patterns,
leading to long- term flooding.
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Other secondary effects include:

Food / water supply interrupted.

Homelessness.
Businesses forced to close.
Cost of insurance claims.
Unemployment. Long-
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term issues with the

tourism industry.

•Volcanoes are caused when molten rock (magma) flows out

onto the earth’s surface through fissures that are caused
due to the movement of plates

•Though volcanic eruptions are threats to human life, the

areas where the eruptions have taken place are useful
too. They have helped to create beautiful Hawaiian
Islands.
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•These areas are rich in minerals.

•Volcanic Eruption cause heavy damage to human life
and property.
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PRA G A TI SING HA M
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Contents

⚫Introduction
⚫Causes
⚫Effect
⚫Flood prone areas
⚫Flood management
⚫Flood management scope
⚫Conclusion
 Introductio 12/4/201
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n
Introduction
⚫ Flood is overflow of excess water that submerges land
and inflow of tide onto land.

⚫ Most frequent and deadliest

Occurs when the geomorphic

equilibrium in the river system
is disturbed because of-
⚫ Intrinsic threshold
⚫ Extrinsic threshold
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Causes of flood

Natural
⚫Heavy rains
⚫Melting of ice during volcano eruption
⚫Undersea earthquake
⚫Marine landslip Meltwater + Volcanic ash &
other debris
LAHAR
Man-made
⚫ Bank erosion
⚫ Breach of dam/barrage/embankment
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Effects of flood
PRIMARY SECONDAR TERTIARY
Y

Due to combined
Due to direct Due to result effect of primary &
contact of flood of primary secondary effect
water effect

Disruption of Long term

Physical essential effect
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Effects of flood
Primary effect Secondary effect Tertiary effect
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Flood
management
Cannot be absolutely controlled only managed

Aims of flood management

⚫ Protection of people & property
⚫ Reduction of flood risk
⚫ Monitoring, research, forecasting & warning
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FLOOD MANAGMENT
Soft engineering
Hard engineering (Non-structural)
(Structural)

⚫Flood plain zoning

⚫Embankments ⚫Flood preparedness
⚫Dams & reservoirs ⚫Flood forecasting
⚫Channel improvement ⚫Afforestation
⚫Drainage improvement ⚫Public relief
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⚫Diversion of flood rivers

Flood management (Hard engineering)

⚫Embankments

⚫Dams & reservoirs

Flood management (Hard engineering)
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Drainage improvement

Diversion of flood river

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Flood management
(SoftEFlonogdipnlaeinerZionngin)g
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Flood management(Soft
EFlonogdipnreepearriendnge)ss
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Flood management (Soft

Engineering)

• Flood Forecasting
• Indian forecasting network
⚫Covers major and inter state basins
⚫166 stations

• Forecasting consists of 4 steps:

1. Data collection
2. Data transmission
3. Data analysis and forecast
formulation
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4. Dissemination
Flood management (Soft Engineering)

Flood Forecasting (contd..)

3. Data analysis and forecast formulation

⚫Estimation of total rainfall from hurricane

Flood management (Soft EFlonogdiFnoe (contd..)

reec⚫rRecurrence Intervalflood height can be expected to
returna isntigng) : Frequency with which a particular
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⚫ Established from past records

⚫ Recurrence interval = no of peaks in list + 1

ranked position of discharge x
Flood management scope

⚫Use of remote sensing GIS (Geographic

Information System)
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⚫Flood forecast (FF) modelling

⚫Simulation
Conclusion

Although flood is the most

deadliest disaster still, but it has
some benefits like:

⚫Recharges ground water

⚫Fresh water flood help in maintaining food plain
ecosystem
⚫Boost in food production for birds
⚫Facilitation of weather fish to new habitat
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Water water everywhere but not a drop to

drink
That is of course until this lovely ship sinks
-Jim(1999)
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RISKS AND VULNERABILITIES FROM

GLACIAL LAKE OUTBURST
FLOODS (GLOF) IN
NORTHERN PAKISTAN

What is A glof ?
• A Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) can
occur when a lake contained by a glacier or
a terminal moraine dam fails, and massively
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displaces the waters in a glacial lake at its

base.
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Glof triggering factors..

• Avalanche
• Heavy rains
• Rising temperatures
• Rock fall or land slides
• Glacier falling into lakes
• Earthquake
• Volcanic Eruption
• Water pressures on weak moraines

Glof potentials of Pakistan..

• Over 7,000 glaciers in Pakistan
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• 3044 Glacial Lakes

• 36 lakes are potentially dangerous
• Rising temperature trends
• Extreme weather events (cloud burst, lightening & heavy rains
etc.)
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Disaster Management..
• GLOF Early Warning System in Bagrot, Bindogol and
Golain valleys should be established
• Glacial Lake Inventory of Pakistan should be updated
• GLOF Risk Assessment in all target valleys
should be completed
• Risk reduction infrastructures; like protection walls,
diversion spurs, path clearance and widening of streams
etc. should be completed
• Safe Havens and Safe Access Routes should be
identified and improved in all target valleys
• GLOF Monitoring Tracks should be notified and
improved
• Community Based DRM Committees and Hazard
Watch
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Groups should be formed, trained and strengthened

• Community Based Disaster Response Cells should be
established and strengthened
• Community Based DRM Funds should established •
Communities should be trained, well aware, equipped .
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) should be developed
and finalized
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Challenges:
• Short Working Season for the field interventions at remote
valleys (only 4-5 months per year)
• Various Expertise Involved (Glaciology, Hydrology, Geologist,
GIS & Remote Sensing Expertise, Adaptation-related
Biological and Engineering Structures, EWS)
• Uncertain Security Situation and logistic issues
• Lack of Baseline Data regarding GLOF
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• THANK YOU • Any

Questions??

Landslides
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Learning Objectives
• Understand basic slope processes and the causes of slope failure

• Understand the role of driving and resisting forces on slopes and how these
are related toslope stability

• Understand how slope angle and topography, vegetation, water, and time
affect both slope processes and the incidence of landslides

• Understand how human use of the land has resulted in landslides

• Know methods of identification, prevention, warning, and correction of

landslides

• Understand processes related to land subsidence

Mass Wasting

• Definition: mass wasting refers to a downslope movement

of rock or soil as a more or less coherent mass.
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• Comprehensive term – all inclusive term for any downslope

movement of earth materials
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Slopes

• Weak and Soft Rock

– Form slope with 3 segements
• Convex upper part
• Straight central segment
• Concave lower part

• Hard Rock
– Form free face with talus slope at base
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Important types of mass wasting

• Slide – downslope movement of coherent block of earth

material
• Slump – is sliding along a curved slip plane producing
slump blocks
• Fall – rocks fall from vertical face
• Flow – Downslope movement of unconsolidated material in
which particles move about and mix within the mass
• Subsidence is the sinking of of a mass of earth material
below the level of surrounding material
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• Landslides are commonly complex

combinations of slding and flowage
– Upper slump block
– Lower flow
Forces on Slopes

• The stability of a slope expresses the

relationship between resisting forces and
driving forces
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• Driving forces – forces which move earth

materials downslope
– Downslope component of weight of material
including vegetation, fill material, or buildings

• Resisting forces – forces which oppose

movement
– Resisting forces include strength of material
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Potential Slip Planes

• Geologic surfaces of weakness in the

slope material – bedding, foliation,
fractures
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Safety Factor

• The ratio of resisting forces to the driving

forces
– RF/DF
SF > 1 Slope is stable
SF < 1 Slope is unstable
Factors Affecting Slope
Stability
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• Type of earth material

• Slope Angle and Topography
• Climate
• Vegetation
• Water
• Time
Rotational Slides
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• Sliding occurs along a curved slip plane

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Translational Slides

• Sliding occurs on a planar surface or on a

slip plane
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• Indicators:
– Scarp
– “Hummocky”
terrain on and
below (earthflow)

Slump (a type of slide)

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Slump

scarp
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Debris Flow

• Debris flows are the downslope flow of relatively

coarse material
• > 50% of particles in a debris flow are coarser than
sand
• Movement may be very slow or very fast,
depending on topographic conditions

• Mudflows, debris avalanches, and debris flows

• Small to moderate magnitude events, occasional
large magnitude events
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Debris Flow
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Rockslide
• Rock moves because there’s nothing holding it back!
• Generally requires a pre-existing low-friction surface...
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Rockslide
• like a clay layer, once it’s wet...
 “Earthquake Lake”, MT
12/4/201
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• 28 deaths in 1959, triggered by earthquake

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Role of Earth Materials

• Slopes formed by weak rocks such as

shale or have thick soil deposits typically
fail by rotational slides
• Slopes formed by hard rocks typically fail
by translational slides
• Soil slips occur above bedrock and fail by
translational slides
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Role of Slope and Topography

• Hillslope angle is a measure of the

steepness of a slope = slope gradient
• Steeper slope = increased driving forces
• Steep slopes associated with rockfalls
• Subarid to arid environments
Role of Vegetation

• In subhumid to humid environments, vegetation is thick

and abundant
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• Landslide activity includes deep complex landslides,

earthflows, and soil creep.
• Vegetation influences slope stability by:
– Providing a cover that cushions the impact of rain
falling on slopes and retards erosion on surface
– Vegetation has root systems that tend to provide an
apparent cohesion which increases resistance to
landsliding
– Vegetation adds weight to the slope increasing the
driving forces
Role of Water

• Water can affect slope stability by:

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– Shallow soil slips can develop during

rainstorms when slopes become saturated
– Slumps or translational slides can develop
months or years after slope is saturated
– Water can erode the base or toe of a slope
decreasing slope stability
Role of Climate

• Climate influences the amount and timing

of water in the form of water or snow
• Influences type and amount of vegetation
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Role of Time

• Physical and chemical weathering can

weaken slope materials decreasing
resisting forces
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Earthflow

• basically a very viscous (thick) debris flow

• slow-moving
– faster in wetter weather
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Earthflow
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Creep
• very slow
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• result of freezing and thawing

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Creep
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Creep

from D. Schwert, NDSU

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Triggers for rapid Mass

Wasting
• Rain
• Oversteepening
– cutting at foot of
slope – piling on head
of slope
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• Deforesting / Devegetating
• Earthquakes
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Landslides
Glaciers and Glac

Glaciers and Earth’s

Systems
• A glacier is a large, long-
lasting mass of ice, formed
on land, that moves
downhill under its own
weight

• Glaciers are part of Earth’s

hydrosphere
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• Along with sea ice, glaciers are known as the

cryosphere

• About 75% of the world’s supply of fresh water is

locked up in glacial ice