The earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago from the nebula cloud of gas that created the Sun and the other planets present in the Solar System. Ever since then, the earth’s surface has been constantly changing; the primary reason for this is because of tectonic plates. Even though, humans have existed on Earth for around 200,000 years, humans have been responding to the challenges of living on a planet with a constantly changing surface by using scientific evidence and technology to help them adapt to a constantly changing environment.
Plate tectonics is a unifying theory that the earth’s crust is divided into over dozen plates that float over the mantle; a layer between the crust and the outer core, that represents about 85% of the total
…show more content…
This leads to formulating certain survival procedures, researching new technology and preparing and for an earthquake and volcanic eruptions. To overcome the effects of earthquakes, scientists and engineers have designed earthquake resistant infrastructure. This was created because common infrastructures fail in earthquakes as there are heavy and can 't stand seismic waves. The major cause of death during earthquakes is being killed by a falling building. However, in earthquake resistant building the main concept is to make the building as rigid, strong and out of the lightest material possible so if it does fall individuals have a possibility of surviving. At the bottom of earthquake resistant building, there would be some sort of shock absorber, so it can absorb the seismic waves reducing the impact. Then, the building will incorporate a sheer core and sheer walls, to reduce the rocking movements of an earthquake. Along with this, walls will have two steam beams for added security. In developing countries, a similar type of plan is used but the building is made out of more cheaper and everyday objects. Another defence systems humans use to adapt to earthquakes and volcanoes is monitoring and warning systems. Monitoring and warning systems are usually controlled by local or national governments. In earthquake situations, sensors (which are distributed in the region prone to earthquakes) send information to the alert centre when a seismic wave is detected, there the information is investigated. Afterwards, the information from the alert centre is immediately transmitted to the individuals of the region warning them about the expected intensity and arrival time of earthquake by text message or call. After that, it is advised that individuals turn off all electrical appliances and follow their local earthquake
Chapter 3 is about Earth’s structure and plate tectonics. Earth’s interior is consists of four layers inner and outer core, mantle, and Earth’s crust. Each layer is thicker than the layer above. Millions of years ago Earth was as one continent, but eventually the continents have spread out from each other. Continents are floating in the ocean and constantly moving towards or away from one another. The movement of continents is due to plate tectonics about 1-15 centimeters a year. Different plates move at a different rate. There are about a dozen of tectonic plates on the Earth. The plates have converged, diverged, and slipped past one another since Earth’s crust first solidified and cooled, driven by slow, heat-generated currents rising and
Planit Earth when seen from the vast vacuum of outer space stands as a testament to the remarkable phenomenon called life. When viewed from a far Earth appears resolute like a resting marble. However, in reality, this marble of life is under constant change. This constant change is relatively normal and promotes an equal balance in the ecosystem over time. However, over the past hundred years, this balance has shifted. Human beings are now affecting the environment in major ways. In the past humans have lived their lives in ignorance, unaware of their impact on the earth 's environment. The ignorance of past generations is excusable to a point. However, the idiocracy that exists in society today is unforgivable. For decades, humans have studied
Ocean and atmosphere found in the narrative confusion between continents conflicting answers. Puzzle movement of tectonic plates of the Earth changes as part of the globe, LED itself is interesting that the change in the parameter does not interfere with the ocean circulation
We have been living in the Holocene; a relatively warm, stable period that started at the end of the last ice age some 11700 years ago and still continues today. As the climate became warmer after the Pleistocene Ice Age agriculture was invented and the global population started to increase. Today there are more 7 billion people alive. The increasing population is putting a lot of pressure of our planet, with industrialization still rapidly increasing our skies and waters are becoming more and more polluted and the natural resources becoming exhausted. Planetary boundaries have been identified and if these are crossed the earth will move out of this stable Holocene period, and into what is known as the Anthropocene.
Using the topics provided in the course syllabus, I came up with three categories in total.
There are many known theories to why the position of Earth's continents has changed over time such as the continental drift and sea floor spreading. The continental drift Ione of
Ever since the beginning on time, Humans believed the ground is solid and immobile. But this is not true whatsoever. The Earth is every-changing and continually in motion. The stability of the Earth is not at all what we think it is. Thinking about the rotational axis of the Earth, and possibly of what the Earth may become at a certain point in time, has a great influence on understanding all aspects of living things, either in the past, present, or future. The Theory of Plate tectonics is accredited to most of the creations of Mountain Ranges, the Centennial drifting Theory, for earthquakes, and volcanic activity. Plate tectonics and mountains also play a big part in the Earth and its geological features.
The word tectonic plate comes from the Greek meaning "pertaining to building". This theory tries to explain the movements of the earths lithosphere ever since the past all the way up to now. Essentially, there are three main driving forces for the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates. They are mantle convection, gravity, and the Earth's rotation. Mantle convection is very similar to the theory developed by Holmes in 1929. There are large convection currents of molten material in the Earth's upper mantle. As these currents transmit energy to the Earth's asthenosphere new lithospheric material is pushed up toward the Earth's crust. Gravity is a secondary driving force for the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates. At mid-ocean ridges the elevation is higher than the surrounding ocean floor. As the currents within the Earth cause new lithospheric material to rise and spread away from the ridge, gravity causes the older material to sink toward the ocean floor and aid in the movement of the plates. The Earth's rotation is the final mechanism for the movement of the Earth's plates but it is minor in comparison to mantle convection and gravity.
Living within a dynamic system requires humans to use scientific knowledge to predict and prepare for large scale events, since not a day goes by without a change in the Earth: The continents drifting away, land rising, and faults. This essay will focus on one main thing: earthquakes. An earthquake measured magnitude 6.6, according to United States Geological Survey, which happened in Bam, Iran in the year 2003. This earthquake was caused by a “buried” fault in the Earth, said to rupture every 2,000 years. After rupturing, it will heal over a period of years (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics Space Association, 2009). This earthquake was called a national tragedy by the Iranian President Khatami (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2003). It affected a part of the Iranian society, which leads to the question of how you could prevent similar effects on the society in lethal earthquake situations: this will be the social factor of the devastating earthquake.
Most scientists today have a better understanding of the make-up of the Earth's tectonic plates. There are three main driving forces for the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates. They are mantle convection, gravity and the Earth's rotation. The mantle convection involves the large convection currents of molten material in the Earth's upper mantle. As these currents pass on the energy to the Earth's asthenosphere (the ...
The continental drift theory and plate tectonics theory was first put forward by the German geologist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener at the beginning of the 20th century. He proposed that there was a single continental in 200 million years ago, and the Earth’s crust slowly separate to pieces by the
Earthquakes are vibrations felt at the surface of the earth which are caused by disturbances of the energy in the earth's interior. These vibrations are known as seismic waves. (Skinner Robinson McVerry 1) There are different type sof seisimc waves such as Primary (P) waves, whcih travel the fastest, Secondary (S) waves which cause the earth to vibrate vertically, Surface (L) waves. P and S waves are "affected by changes in the density and the rigidity of the materials through which they pass." (Columbia Encyclopedia) Earthquakes vary in their intensity and duration. Often times they are strong enough to cause massive destriction. Tall buildings often suffer as a result of these natural disasters. In recent years this has become a larger and larger threat with both the number of large buildings, and their number of occupants increasing. In an effort to try to minimize the damage caused by earthquakes many some engineers focus primarily on designing and constructing earthquake resistant buildings. Earthquake engineers have gathered much of their information from analyzing past earthquakes, and learning which buildings can and can't withstand the tremors. The goals of these engineers is to design buildings that can withstand moderate earthquakes and obtain minimal damage, and that the buildings will not collapse lowering the probability of human deaths.
The crust, the outermost layer of the earth, which compares to the shell or skin. The earth kind of looks like a big jawbreaker because it has so many layers. Tectonic plates move in a constant motion, driving them into one another. The plates will meet at a fault. One plate pushes against another one and creates friction, which holds the plates together at the fault line, the rest of the plate remains in motion. Once the pressure grows so strong, the plates slip and release all the built up energy in the form of seismic waves in all directions. The seismic waves travel through the earth making it shake. When they reach the surface, they shake everything else like houses and people (Lisa Wald, 2009). Locating earthquakes is the important key to keeping people
Earthquakes belong to the class of most disastrous natural hazards. They result in unexpected and tremendous earth movements. These movements results from dissemination of an enormous amount of intense energy in form of seismic waves which are detected by use of seismograms. The impact of earthquakes leaves behind several landmarks including: destruction of property, extensive disruption of services like sewer and water lines, loss of life, and causes instability in both economic and social components of the affected nation (Webcache 2).