ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY By Dk Nadhirah Ak Jalaluddin Rules & Etiquette TIME MANAGEMENT 1. A student should be punctual: plan to arrive at class on time and to stay for the entire class period (or until dismissed) Student must MEET THE DATELINE for submission of assignments, reports and other course work. EXTENSIONS TO DEADLINES SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED LIGHTLY. ATTENDANCE 1. A student must have a minimum attendance of 80% in a course during a semester, in lectures, tutorials taken together or practical courses (as applicable). Punctuality of attendance is also important. 2. From time to time, attendance to a lecture and classes is not possible because of illness or other pressing social commitments, students are REQUIRED TO PRODUCE EVIDENCE AUTHENTICATING SUCH SITUATION. . STUDENT COMMITMENT 1. A student is COMMITTED to fulfil their academic obligations, such as being serious about their study, always imprint a good impression, be honest and hardworking especially towards their assignments. 2. THE PRESENCE AND USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES 1. 2. 3. Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.” – John Maxwell 4. All mobile phones, smartphones, and other electronic device (e.g. ipods, earphones) must be turned off (or on silent mode) and HIDDEN from view during class times. NO MESSAGING OR RECEIVING CALLS DURING CLASSES. If students have to receive an emergency call, inform their lecturer to be excused. As per UCSF’s mandate and policy, no use of any electronic device (e.g., mobile phones, ipads, smartphones, laptops, etc.) are allowed during exams and other graded in-class assignments Course Learning Outcomes (CLO) • At the end of the course the students will be able to: At the end of the course the students will be able to: CLO1 CLO2 CLO3 CLO4 Criticize contemporary anthropogenic activities and development with regards to environmental geological issues in groups (C4, PLO2) Apply fundamental knowledge on rocks and minerals, earthquakes, volcanoes and flooding on human activities and development (C3, PLO2) Identify geological processes and geohazards in relation with environmental pollution and human activities based on literature (A1, PLO6) Explain geologic knowledge in solving the conflicts between human needs and the environment (C5, PLO2) Assessments Weightage (%) Group Works 20 Midterm Examination 20 Case Study Poster 20 Final Examination 40 TOTAL 100 1. Introduction to Environmental Geology - Hazards, disaster & natural process - Populatton and land use 2. Earthquakes - Earthquake caused by human activities - Earthquake risk and prediction 3. Volcanoes - common location of volcanic activity - Predicting volcanic eruptions 4. Streams and flooding - flooding - Flood hazards 5. Mass movements - Slope stability - Impacts on human activities and prevention measures 6. Groundwater and water resources - Fluid storage and mobility - Groundwater withdrawal and urbanization - Karst and sinkholes - water quality 7. Weathering, erosion and soil resources - Soil formation, properties and classification - Soil and human activities 8. Waste disposal - Municipal solid waste disposal - Toxic waste disposal - Radioactive waste disposal 9. Water pollution - Residence time and pollution - Industrial pollution - Agriculture pollution CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY GEOLOGY APPLIED TO LIVING • The environment is the sum of all the features & conditions surrounding an organism that may influence it. • Physical environment encomposes : GEOLOGY APPLIED TO LIVING • Social environment encomposes : GEOLOGY APPLIED TO LIVING • Geology is the study of the earth. • Environmental geology refer to geology which relates directly to human activities. • Throughout this course, we will examine how geologic processes & hazards influence human activities, the geologic aspects of pollution & waste disposal problems. HAZARDS, DISASTERS & NATURAL PROCESSES • A hazard is a potential source of harm. HAZARDS, DISASTERS & NATURAL PROCESSES • A disaster is an event or fact that has unfortunate consequences. • A natural disaster is a natural event that causes great damage or loss of life. HAZARDS, DISASTERS & NATURAL PROCESSES • • Criteria that define a natural disaster : 10 or more killed 100 or more people affected A declaration of emergency Request for international assistance. Factors of natural disaster : - Increases in human population & urbanization. Poverty in urban regions increases the chances of disaster, as poor people are often pushed into the most hazardous areas on floodplains or steep slopes. - Environmental damage to the land, i.e. deforestation, removal of coastal wetlands & vegetation. - Climate change. HAZARDS, DISASTERS & NATURAL PROCESSES • The environmental geologist should be able to identify potentially hazardous processes, so that the decision makers can formulate various alternatives to avoid or minimize the threat. ❑Magnitude & frequency • The impact of a disastrous event is a function of its magnitude (energy released) & frequency (recurrence interval). • Frequency is inversely related to the magnitude, i.e. the larger a flood, the less frequency such a flood occurs. • Forming the earth’s surface occurs through events of moderate magnitude & frequency, neither through common natural processes of low magnitude & high frequency nor through extreme events of high magnitude & low frequency. HAZARDS, DISASTERS & NATURAL PROCESSES ❑Magnitude & frequency • An analogy : consider the work of reducing the extent of a forest by resident termites, human loggers & elephants. HAZARDS, DISASTERS & NATURAL PROCESSES ❑Magnitude & frequency - The termites do more work but requires longer time to change the forest. - The elephants do less work & bring less change since its not frequent. - It is humans with moderate expenditure of energy & time do the most work & change the forest drastically. • An example : sediment carried by rivers in regions within a subhumid climate is transported by flows of moderate magnitude & frequency. - An exception in arid regions, much of the sediment in normally dry channels may be transported by rare high-magnitude flows produced by intense but unfrequent rainstorms. HAZARDS, DISASTERS & NATURAL PROCESSES ❑ Benefits of natural hazards • Periodic flooding of the Mississippi river supplies nutrients to the floodplain, forming the fertile soils used for farming. • Flooding delivers river sediment to beaches & flushes pollutants from estuaries in the coastal environment. • Landslide debris forms dams, creating lakes in mountainous areas. Dams that remain stable provide valuable water storage & are an important aesthetic resource. • Volcanic eruptions produce catastrophes. They often create new land, i.e. Hawaiian islands. • Nutrient-rich volcanic ash may settle on existing soils & become incorporated, creating soil suitable for wild plants & crops. • When rocks are pulverized during an earthquake, they form an impervious clay zone (fault gouge) along the fault. HAZARDS, DISASTERS & NATURAL PROCESSES ❑ Benefits of natural hazards • Fault gouge has formed groundwater barriers upslope from a fault, producing natural subsurface dams & water resources. • Earthquakes are also important in mountain building & responsible for many of the scenic resources. ❑ Death & damage caused by natural hazards • Natural hazards produce catastrophes. • Catastrophes is any situation in which the damages to people, property or society are sufficient to make recovery or rehabilitation a long, involved process. • The effects of natural hazards change with time due to better hazard forecasting & warning to the public. HAZARDS, DISASTERS & NATURAL PROCESSES ❑ Death & damage caused by natural hazards EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Fundamental principles concerning natural hazards 1. Hazards are known from scientific evaluation. - Identified & studied the natural hazards using the scientific method. - Monitored & mapped the hazardous events & processes. - Evaluated future activity based on frequency of past events, patterns & types of precursor events. 2. Risk analysis in understanding impacts of hazardous processes. - Based on the probability of an event occurring & the consequences. 3. Hazards are linked. - From simple to complex, i.e. earthquakes can produce landslides & giant sea waves. 4. Hazardous events producing catastrophes. - The size & frequency of a natural hazardous event is influenced by human activity. EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Fundamental principles concerning natural hazards 5. Minimize the consequences of hazards. - An integrated approach includes scientific understanding, land use planning & proactive disaster preparedness. ❑ Role of history in understanding hazards • Geologist have the observation skills, tools & training to “read the landscape”. They can evaluate prehistoric evidence for natural hazards & link that information with the modern record to provide the perspective of time on a particular process. • Environmental geologist have the ability to recognize landforms associated with hazardous processes. • Land use changes increase the impact of hazards. Studying the record enables more reliable prediction of future events. EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Disaster forecast, prediction & warning 1. Location - On a global scale, the major zones for earthquakes & volcanic eruptions have been delineated by mapping earthquake foci & the locations of recent volcanic rocks & volcanoes. - On a regional scale, we can predict from past eruptions which areas in the vicinity of certain volcanoes are most likely to be threatened by large mudflows or ash in the event of future eruptions. - On a local scale, detailed work with soils, rocks & hydrology may identify slopes that are likely to fail & cause a landslide or where expansive soils exist. - Flooding is likely to occur from the location of the floodplain & evidence from recent floods, i.e. location of flood debris & high-water lines. EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Disaster forecast, prediction & warning 2. Probability of occurrence - For large rivers, there are sufficient records of flow to develop probability models that can reasonably predict the average no. of floods of a given magnitude that will occur in a given time period. - Droughts may be assigned probability on the basis of past occurrence of rainfall in the region. - The elements of chance is always present, i.e. a 10 year flood may occur on the average of every 10 years, but it is possible for several floods of this magnitude to occur in any one year, just as it is possible to throw 2 straight 6 with a die. EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Disaster forecast, prediction & warning 3. Precursor events - The surface of the ground may creep, or move slowly down a slope, for a period of time before landslides. The rate of creep increases up when the landslide occurs. - Volcanoes sometimes swell or bulge before an eruption. Emissions of volcanic gases accompanied by seismic activity significantly increase in local areas. - Foreshocks & anomalous, or unusual, uplift may precede earthquakes. 4. Forecast - When a forecast of an event is issued, the certainty of the event is given usually as the % chance of something happening. EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Disaster forecast, prediction & warning 5. Prediction - Flooding of the Mississippi river, which occurs in the spring in response to snowmelt or very large regional storm systems, will reach a particular flood stage or water level. - When hurricanes are spotted far out to sea & tracked toward shore, we can predict where & when they will likely strike land. 6. Warning - The public does not always welcome such warnings especially when the predicted event does not come to pass. EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Disaster forecast, prediction & warning 6. Warning EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Disaster forecast, prediction & warning 6. Warning - Example: In 1982, when volcanic eruption was predicted to occur near Mammoth Lakes. The advisory caused a loss of tourist business & apprehension on the part of the residents. The eruption did not occur. - Example: In July 1986, a series of earthquakes occurred over a 4 day period in the vicinity of Bishop, California, in the eastern Sierra Nevada. The initial earthquakes was relatively small & was felt only locally; but a later, larger earthquake causing some damage occurred. A warning had been issued, that there was a high probability of larger quake would occur. Local business owners felt that the warning was irresponsible, in fact, the predicted quake never materialized. - Incidents of this kind have led to some people to conclude that scientific predictions are worthless & warnings should not be issued. EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Disaster forecast, prediction & warning TASK 1 : Although scientific predictions of volcanic eruptions & earthquakes are not always accurate, scientists have a responsibility to publicize their informed judgments. Suggest a few methods to deliver a reliable natural hazard’s warning towards residents. EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Risk assessment • Risk determination - Risk – the probability of that event’s occurring multiplied by the consequences should it actually occur. - Consequences, i.e. damages to people, property, economic activity & public service, may be expressed in a variety of scales. - Example: Considering the risk from earthquakes damage to a nuclear reactor, we may evaluate the consequences in terms of radiation released, damage to people & other living things. • Acceptable risks - The risk that an individual is willing to endure is dependent upon the situation. EVALUATING HAZARDS: HISTORY, LINKAGES, DISASTER PREDICTION & RISK ASSESSMENT ❑ Risk assessment - Example: Nuclear power plants were considered as a high-risk facilities. Even though the probability of a nuclear accident due to a geologic hazard, i.e. earthquake, may be quite low, the associated consequences could be high, resulting in a relatively high risk. • Problems & opportunities for risk assessment - Risk analysis faced problem due to a lack of reliable data available for analyzing the probability of an event. - Example: The concerned on consequences of releasing radiation into the environment requires information to evaluate the radiation’s effects from local biological, geologic, hydrologic & meteorological. The information may be complex & difficult to analyze. - Risk assessment study should be expanded. THE HUMAN RESPONSE TO HAZARDS ❑ Reactive response: Impact of & recovery from disasters • Direct effects felt by individuals - people killed, injured, displaced or damaged by a particular event. • Indirect effects felt by the populace – emotional distress, donation of money or goods, payment of taxes to finance the recovery. THE HUMAN RESPONSE TO HAZARDS ❑ Anticipatory response: Perceiving, avoiding & adjusting to hazards • Insurance - Flood & earthquake insurance are common. - Because of large losses in several places, i.e. Northridge earthquake, Florida hurricanes, several companies do not offer an insurance to residents of the area. • Evacuation - Through a warning, residents could have sufficient time to evacuate. • Disaster Preparedness - Training to handle large no. of injured people or people attempting to evacuate an area after a warning is issued. THE HUMAN RESPONSE TO HAZARDS ❑ Artificial control of natural processes • Seawalls constructed to control coastal erosion may protect property to some extent but tend to narrow or even eliminate the beach. • Common methods of flood control are channelization & construction of dams & levees. Flood control projects tend to provide floodplain residents with a false sense of security. • No method can be expected to absolutely protect people & their property from high magnitude floods. POPULATION INCREASE, LAND USE CHANGE & NATURAL HAZARDS ❑ Population increase & hazardous events • As population increases, the need for planning to minimize losses from natural disasters also increases. • A greater no. of people is at risk, it also forces more people to settle in hazardous areas, creating additional risks. ❑ Land use change & hazardous events • Human activities increasing the impacts of natural disasters. • 4 of the deadly catastrophes resulting from natural hazards linked to changes in land use were : Hurricane Mitch in Central America (1998), flooding of the Yangtze River in China (1998), hurricane Katrina (2005) & flooding of the Indus River in Pakistan (2010). • China has banned timber harvesting in the upper Yangtze River basin, has prohibited imprudent floodplain land uses, & has allocated several billion dollars for reforestation. Population and Land use Nature and Rate of Population Growth • Animal populations, as well as primitive human populations, are generally quite limited both in the areas that they can occupy and in the extent to which they can grow. They must live near food and water sources. • The climate must be one to which they can adapt. Predators, accidents, and disease take a toll. If the population grows too large, disease and competition for food are particularly likely to cut it back to sustainable levels. The human population grew relatively slowly for hundreds of thousands of years. • Not until the middle of the nineteenth century did the world population reach 1 billion. However, by then, a number of factors had combined to accelerate the rate of population increase. • The second, third, and fourth billion were reached far more quickly; the world population is now over 7 billion and is expected to rise to nearly 10 billion by 2050 (table 1.4) • Humans are no longer constrained to live only where conditions are ideal. We can build habitable quarters even in extreme climates, using heaters or air conditioners to bring the temperature to a level we can tolerate. In addition, people need not live where food can be grown or harvested or where there is abundant fresh water: The food and water can be transported, instead, to where the people choose to live. Growth Rates: Causes and Consequences • On a global scale, the population increases when its birthrate exceeds its death rate. In assessing an individual nation’s or region’s rate of population change, immigration and emigration must also be taken into account. • Improvements in nutrition and health care typically increase life expectancies, decrease mortality rates, and thus increase the rate of population growth. • Increased use of birth-control or family-planning methods reduces birthrates and, therefore, also reduces the rate of population growth; in fact, a population can begin to decrease if birthrates are severely restricted. • High levels of economic development are commonly associated with reduced rates of population growth; conversely, low levels of development are often associated with rapid population growth. • The impact of improved education, which may accompany economic development, can vary: It may lead to better nutrition and prenatal and child care, and thus to increased growth rates, but it may also lead to increased or more effective practice of family-planning methods, thereby reducing growth rates. Growth Rates: Causes and Consequences • There are wide differences in growth rates among region.The reasons for this are many. Religious or social values may cause larger or smaller families to be regarded as desirable in particular regions or cultures • A few governments of nations with large and rapidly growing populations have considered encouraging or mandating family planning is China (0.2 %) and India , But india currently active (1.0 %) Impacts of the Human Population ❑ Farmland and Food Supply • Even with food, the earth's population limit remains unknown. Food production projections need more than just the number of people to feed and the amount of land. • The soil's fertility, water-holding capacity, and appropriateness for cultivation are all important. Productivity and soil character vary greatly. Production projections must also account for agriculture degradation from nutrient loss and topsoil erosion. • What crops to plant is another issue. In farmland-rich, energy- and water-rich nations, this is often a matter of taste. The world's population isn't always nourished efficiently. • Genetically engineered cultivars with high yield, disease resistance, and other desired traits are improving food production.These developments have prompted some to say that global food shortages are no longer a concern, even if the population expands by several billion. Two issues remain: One, poor nations struggling to feed their people may not be able to afford designer seed or specially designed animal strains to profit from these breakthroughs. Second, as many small farms utilising multiple, genetically diverse strains of food crops are replaced by enormous areas planted with a single, new variety, a new pest or disease that targets that strain might cause severe losses. ❑ Population and Nonfood Resources • Minerals and energy-Consumption is concentrated in a few industrialised nations. Most mineral and energy resources are consumed more per capita in the US than everywhere else. On average, mineral production would need to quadruple for the world's population to live like the US. There aren't enough resources or production capacity to sustain that level of demand, and as the population expands, the problem gets worse. • Some scholars say we are nearing the earth's carrying capacity, its ability to sustain its population at a basic, healthy, relatively comfortable standard of living. • Population growth drives up pricing and exploration for minerals, energy, and other materials. Exploration finds more oil fields, mineral deposits, and so on, which temporarily increases resource availability. These resources are limited. The faster the world population grows and develops, the faster scarce resources are consumed and exhausted. • Land is essential. 7–100 billion people must be housed. The global average population density is 55 people per square kilometre (140 per square mile), including jungles, deserts, and mountain ranges, except for Antarctica. People outnumber habitable land. Agriculture, manufacturing, electricity, transportation, and other purposes require land. Several people consuming lots of materials produce lots of rubbish. • At present, it is too often true that the ever-growing population settles in areas that are demonstrably unsafe or in which the possible problems are imperfectly known ❑ Uneven Distribution of People and Resources • The US had 213 people per square kilometre of arable land, Canada 79, Australia 52, and Singapore 983,000. Regardless of agricultural availability, such data affect a nation's ability to feed itself • Most highly populated nations are resource-poor. Some countries dominate a resource. • Oil is one example. Hence, economic and political issues affect resource adequacy. One nation's ownership of enough of a commodity to meet the world's requirements does not indicate it will share or distribute it at a reasonable price. Land is immobile and cannot be shared. ❑ Disruption of Natural Systems • Natural systems tend toward a balance or equilibrium among opposing factors or forces. When one factor changes, compensating changes occur in response. If the disruption of the system is relatively small and temporary, the system may, in time, return to its original condition, and evidence of the disturbance will disappear. For example, a coastal storm may wash away beach vegetation and destroy colonies of marine organisms living in a tidal flat, but when the storm has passed, new organisms will start to move back into the area, and new grasses will take root in the dunes. The violent eruption of a volcano like Mount Pinatubo may spew ash and gases high into the atmosphere, partially blocking sunlight and causing the earth to cool, but within a few years, the ash will have settled back to the ground, and normal temperatures will be restored. Dead leaves falling into a lake provide food for the microorganisms that within weeks or months will break the leaves down and eliminate them • Humans can permanently alter natural systems. Human impact on the global environment is proportionate to population and technological development.Pollution makes this clear. • By the time campfire smoke disperses through the atmosphere, its global influence is minor. Nonetheless, 150 years of industrialization have generated considerable increases in pollution. • numerous atmospheric contaminants, and many sources continue to release them. After decades of gradually rising atmospheric CO2 levels, it has become clear that the seas are not as enormous as we imagined. • Seven persons recklessly tossing rubbish into the ocean would not harm that massive volume of water. Yet, 7 billion people doing the same thing is another matter. World population grows by 8500 people each hour. TUTORIAL 1: Search 5 latest case studies related with human population growth. Go into a deep discussion on the environmental issues arise from the factors of human population.
