CHAPTER 2
LIVING WITH
TECTONIC HAZARDS
Risk or Opportunity?
CHECK-IN: Mount Merapi
• The biggest eruption of Mount
Merapi in Java, Indonesia
occurred on 5 November
2010.
• More than 350 people were
killed and over 300,000
people were forced to leave
their homes.
• However, despite several
warnings leading up to the
eruption, some stayed behind
to care for their cattle.
• On Java itself, there are 30
volcanoes. Despite this,
people have settled down and
established croplands in areas
prone to natural hazards such
as earthquakes and floods.
• What do you think draws
people to these places?
CHECK-IN: Mount Vesuvius
• Mount Vesuvius, in
Italy, is one of the
world’s most
dangerous volcanoes.
• Mount Vesuvius has
had 30 major
eruptions ever since it
wiped out the city of
Pompeii in CE 79.
• Despite a 27 per cent
prediction of Mount
Vesuvius erupting in
the next 100 years,
about 600,000 people
continue to live near
the volcano, within
the ‘danger zone’.
• Why do you think this
is so?
CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH
TECTONIC HAZARDS
In this Chapter, you will explore three
key questions:
1.Why are some areas more prone to
tectonic hazards?
2.What landforms and associated tectonic
phenomena are found at plate boundaries?
3.How do people prepare for and respond to
earthquakes?
CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH
TECTONIC HAZARDS
KQ1: Why are some area more prone to tectonic
hazards?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
What is a natural hazard?
What is the internal structure of the Earth?
What is a tectonic plate?
Why do tectonic plates move?
What are the different types of plate boundaries?
a. What is a natural hazard?
• A natural hazard is a natural event that threatens human
lives and causes damage to property.
• Read the article in the next slide.
– Is this incident a natural hazard? Why?
a. What is a natural hazard?
NEA confirms it was raining hailstones in Singapore
From Channel NewsAsia, 27 March 2008
SINGAPORE: The sudden downpour on Thursday afternoon
brought more than just heavy rain. Hailstones were raining down
in some parts of Singapore, according to callers to Channel
NewsAsia’s hotline. The National Environment Agency later
confirmed that hailstones were reported in central Singapore
between 3.15 pm and 3.45 pm.
Callers said the hailstones were the size of 5 cent coins. They were
seen mainly in Bishan, Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio.
a. What is a natural hazard?
What about the
picture on the right?
Does it show the
impacts of a natural
hazard?
If so, why?
And what hazard
could have caused
this?
a. What is a natural hazard?
Distribution of natural hazards
Figure 2.7
a. What is a natural hazard?
Observing patterns and relationships
From Figure 2.7
1.Describe the distribution of earthquakes and
volcanoes.
2.Compare the areas prone to volcanic activity,
earthquakes and storms. How similar or different are
their distribution?
a. What is a natural hazard?
Types of natural hazards:
• Tectonic hazards
• Climate-related hazards
Impacts of natural hazards:
• Large scale
• Small scale
a. What is a natural hazard?
Classify the following types of hazards into
tectonic hazards and climate-related hazards.
Droughts
Earthquakes
Tsunamis
Floods
Volcanic eruptions
Storms
a. What is a natural hazard?
Examples of Natural Hazards
• Tectonic
hazards
• Earthquakes
• Volcanic eruptions
• Tsunamis
• Climaterelated
hazards
• Droughts
• Floods
• Storms
a. What is a natural hazard?
• Tectonic hazards are caused by movements in the
Earth’s crust.
• Examples:
– Earthquakes
– Volcanic eruptions
– Tsunamis
a. What is a natural hazard?
Name some areas that are more prone to tectonic hazards.
a. What is a natural hazard?
Do you know the latest…
tectonic hazard
that just happened?
Visit: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/
a. What is a natural hazard?
Why are some areas more prone to tectonic hazards?
a. What is a natural hazard?
How likely do you think the major
destructions caused by volcanic eruptions
of Mount Merapi and Mount Vesuvius
will be repeated?
CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH
TECTONIC HAZARDS
KQ1: Why are some area more prone to tectonic
hazards?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
What is a natural hazard?
What is the internal structure of the Earth?
What is a tectonic plate?
Why do tectonic plates move?
What are the different types of plate boundaries?
b. What is the internal structure of the Earth?
b. What is the internal structure of the Earth?
b. What is the internal structure of the Earth?
Think, Pair, Share…
How is
a Ferrero Rocher®
chocolate
similar to
the internal structure of
the earth?
b. What is the internal structure of the Earth?
Core
•Composed mostly of iron and nickel
•Divided into inner core + outer core
1. Inner core
– about 1,200 km thick
– solid layer
2. Outer core
– about 2,100 km thick
– liquid layer
•Temperature between 3,000⁰C and 5,000⁰C
b. What is the internal structure of the Earth?
Mantle
•Mostly solid rock (flows under high temperature and
pressure)
•2,900 km thick
•Divided into uppermost mantle + asthenosphere
1. Uppermost mantle
– a layer of solid rock
2. Asthenosphere
– below uppermost mantle
– rocks close to melting point, easily deformed
•Temperature between 800⁰C and 3,000⁰C
b. What is the internal structure of the Earth?
Crust
•Outermost layer on which we live
•Oceanic crust is found beneath oceans
•Continental crust is found beneath the
continents
•Thickness ranges from a few km to more than
70 km
b. What is the internal structure of the Earth?
Lithosphere
= Crust + Uppermost mantle
• Makes up the Earth’s
rigid outer shell
• When the rocks in the
lithosphere melt, hot
molten rock called
magma is formed.
b. What is the internal structure of the Earth?
Recap through the video at:
http://www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/stru
cture.html
CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH
TECTONIC HAZARDS
KQ1: Why are some area more prone to tectonic
hazards?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
What is a natural hazard?
What is the internal structure of the Earth?
What is a tectonic plate?
Why do tectonic plates move?
What are the different types of plate boundaries?
c. What is a tectonic plate?
• A tectonic plate is made up of the lithosphere
(i.e. crust + uppermost mantle).
• The earth’s crust is broken into several pieces of
tectonic plates.
• These plates move in relation to one another.
• Tectonic plates can be made up of:
– oceanic crust
– continental crust or
– a combination of both
c. What is a tectonic plate?
Point out the differences between the oceanic
crust and continental crust.
c. What is a tectonic plate?
Oceanic crust vs Continental crust
Oceanic Crust
• Located beneath deep
ocean
• Very thin — between 5
and 8 km
• Denser (e.g. basalt)
Continental Crust
• Located beneath land
masses and under
shallow seas
• Very thick — between 30
and 60 km
• Less dense (e.g. granite)
CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH
TECTONIC HAZARDS
KQ1: Why are some area more prone to tectonic
hazards?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
What is a natural hazard?
What is the internal structure of the Earth?
What is a tectonic plate?
Why do tectonic plates move?
What are the different types of plate boundaries?
d. Why do tectonic plates move?
1. Convection currents
2. Slab-pull force
d. Why do tectonic plates move?
1. Convection currents
• Convection currents are movements of
heat within the mantle.
• Material in the mantle is heated by the
core.
• This causes convection currents in the
molten mantle material.
• Mantle expands, rises and spreads out
beneath the plates.
• Plates are dragged along and move
away from each other.
d. Why do tectonic plates move?
1. Convection currents
•Subsequently, the hot molten mantle
cools slightly and sinks, pulling the
plates along
•Hence plates move towards each
other.
•The sinking mantle material heats up
again as it nears the core and the whole
process repeats.
d. Why do tectonic plates move?
Plates moving away from each other
Ocean floor
Plates
Mantle
Figure
2.8a)
Core
Tectonic plates float on molten mantle, driven by heat
energy/convection currents
d. Why do tectonic plates move?
2. Slab-pull force
•This occurs when an oceanic plate (denser) subducts
(see E in Figure 2.8b) under a less dense plate and pulls
the rest of the plate along
•The subducting plate drives the downward-moving
portion of convection currents (see F in Figure 2.8b)
•While mantle material away from the subduction zone
(see G in Figure 2.8b) drives the rising portion of
convection currents
d. Why do tectonic plates move?
Plates moving away from each other
Ocean floor
E
F
G
Mantle
Core
Figure 2.8b)
Plates
d. Why do tectonic plates move?
Imagine this…
On average, tectonic plates move a few
centimetres a year.
This is about the rate your nail grows.
How long will your nails be if…
you don’t cut it for a year?
d. Why do tectonic plates move?
Changing positions of the Earth’s
continents
• Plate movements have altered the
distribution of the Earth’s land masses
over several hundred million years.
CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH
TECTONIC HAZARDS
KQ1: Why are some area more prone to tectonic
hazards?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
What is a natural hazard?
What is the internal structure of the Earth?
What is a tectonic plate?
Why do tectonic plates move?
What are the different types of plate boundaries?
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
Figure
2.12
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
Observing plate movements
From Figure 2.12
1. In which direction is the Indian Plate moving?
2. In which direction is the Nazca Plate moving? Which
plate would it converge with?
3. What type of plate movement occurs between the
Juan De Fuca Plate and Pacific Plate?
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
• Divergent: where plates move away from each
other
• Convergent: where plates move towards each
other
• Transform: where plates move past each other
Within plates, there is also evidence of plate
movement in different directions and fractures.
These are known as developing plate
boundaries.
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
Divergent Plate Boundaries
1. Oceanic-oceanic plate divergence
2. Continental-continental plate divergence
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
1. Oceanic-oceanic plate divergence
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
1. Oceanic-oceanic plate divergence
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
• Magma rises from the mantle to fill the gap
between the plates as they diverge.
• New sea floor is formed when the magma cools
and solidifies. This process is called sea-floor
spreading.
• Magma rises at the zone of
divergence/spreading zone to form a ridge of
new ocean floor called mid-oceanic ridge.
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
• The newly formed (youngest) rocks are closest to
the middle of the ridge/plate boundaries.
• At various points along the ridge, magma builds up
above the ocean to form volcanic islands.
• E.g. the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is found in the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean cutting across Iceland, a volcanic
island.
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
E.g. Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Iceland
NORTH
AMERICAN
PLATE
EURASIAN
PLATE
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Atlantic
Ocean
IT Link
•Formation of Iceland:
http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=_rG6q2Npw8Y&fe
ature=related
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
2. Continental–continental plate divergence
•Can result in the breakup of continents
•E.g. Great Rift Valley (East Africa)
– a lowland with steep sides and flat valley floor
– formed by Somalian boundary of the African Plate moving
away from the Nubia plate boundary of the African Plate
(Figure 2.15)
– 6,000 kilometres long
– between 30 to 100 kilometres wide
– Evidence of tectonic activity: active volcanoes and earthquake
fractures found
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
E.g. East African Rift Valley
1. Draw arrows to indicate the
direction of plate movement on
Figure 2.15.
2. Account for the shape of the lakes
around the rift valley.
Figure 2.15
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
• Can result in the formation of linear sea
• E.g. Red Sea and Gulf of Aden near the Great
Rift Valley
– Elongated/linear shape
– 1,900 km long
– 300 km at its widest stretch
– Average depth of 500 m
– Evidence of tectonic activity — formation of new
volcanic island in Red Sea
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
E.g. East African Rift Valley
Figure 2.15
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
Formation of the Red Sea
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
Convergent Plate Boundaries
1.
2.
3.
Oceanic–oceanic plate convergence
Continental–oceanic plate convergence
Continental–continental plate convergence
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
1. Oceanic–Oceanic Plate Convergence
• When two oceanic plates converge, one subducts
under the other.
• A subduction zone forms, creating a deep oceanic
trench.
• The subduction of the oceanic plate causes the solid
mantle material to melt and magma is formed.
• The magma rises through the mantle and ocean floor
to emerge as volcanoes.
• Eventually a chain or arc of islands called island arc is
formed.
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
1. Oceanic–Oceanic Plate Convergence
• Earthquakes may also occur.
• E.g. the Pacific Plate converging with the slower-moving
Philippine plate (Figure 2.17)
Oceanic crust
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
1. Oceanic–Oceanic Plate Convergence
Mariana Islands
Mariana Trench
Pacific Plate
Oceanic crust
Philippine Plate
Oceanic crust
Uppermost mantle
Asthenosphere
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
What do you observe about the shape and distribution of these
islands?
Correlate these features with plate boundaries.
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
Locate the Indonesia Archipelago and Japan. Explain the
shape and distribution of these islands.
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
2. Continental-continental plate convergence
• Plates made largely of continental crust may collide
with other plates made largely of continental crust.
• However, both plates have similar densities and
hence, resist subduction.
• Instead, the plates break, slide along fractures in the
crust and fold, forming fold mountains.
• E.g. the Himalayas - convergence of the Indian Plate
and the Eurasian Plate (Figure 2.18).
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
E.g. the Himalayas
Figure 2.18
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
Himalayas
EURASIAN
PLATE
Tibetan
Plateau
INDIAN
PLATE
Figure 2.16
Based on evidence
shown in the
animation clip in the
IT Link on the
previous slide and
Figure 2.16, explain
why marine fossils
have been found at
the peak of
Himalayas.
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
E.g. the Alps, Europe
What are the
plates that
converge to
form the
Alps?
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
3.Oceanic-continental plate convergence
• When an oceanic plate meets a continental plate, the
denser oceanic plate subducts under the less dense
continental plate.
• A subduction zone forms, creating a deep oceanic
trench along the plate boundary.
• The subduction of the continental plate causes the
soild mantle material to melt and magma is formed.
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
3.Oceanic-continental plate convergence
• The magma rises through the mantle and crust to
emerge as volcanoes on land.
• The edge of thick continental plate buckles to form
fold mountains.
• Earthquakes may also occur.
• E.g. the Australian Plate subducting under a section
of the Eurasian Plate near Sumatra formed the Sunda
Trench.
e. What are the different types of
plate boundaries?
3.Oceanic-continental plate convergence
Barisan Mountains
EURASIAN
PLATE
AUSTRALIAN PLATE
Oceanic crust
Uppermost mantle
Asthenosphere
Continental
crust
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
3.Oceanic-continental plate convergence
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
Transform Plate Boundaries
• Plates slide past each other.
• As they do so, tremendous stress builds up.
• This stress is eventually released, often as a violent
earthquake.
• E.g. San Andreas Fault, USA & North Anatolian Fault,
Turkey
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
Transform Plate Boundaries
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
E.g. San Andreas Fault, USA
• In 1906, an earthquake occurred in San
Francisco, southern California between
the Pacific Plate and the North American
Plate.
– This caused several hundred
kilometres of North American Plate to
move an average of 2.5 m,
– and at one point almost 7 m all in less
than 1 minute.
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
E.g. San Andreas Fault, USA
e. What are the different types of plate
boundaries?
E.g. North Anatolian Fault, Turkey
How would the plate movement affect the two
cities shown in time to come?
CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH
TECTONIC HAZARDS
KQ1: Why are some area more prone to tectonic
hazards?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
What is a natural hazard?
What is the internal structure of the Earth?
What is a tectonic plate?
Why do tectonic plates move?
What are the different types of plate boundaries?
CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH
TECTONIC HAZARDS
Complete Check Point Question 6 which summarises all
types of plate boundaries and their associated
landforms.