Task 1 Narrative
5.5 analyses how current research may
affect people’s lives
Students learn
Students learn to:
a) describe some
about:
5.5 current
recent scientific
issues, research
contributions made
and
by scientists and
developments in discuss the effect of
science
their contributions
Domain:
Skills
A student:
5.16 accesses
information
from a wide
variety of
secondary
sources
Knowledge and Understanding
Prescribed Focus Areas
A student:
Values and Attitudes
A student:
5.26 recognises the role
of science in providing
information about issues
being considered and in
increasing understanding
of the world around
them
Outcome 5.9: A student relates the development of the universe and the dynamic structure of
Earth to models, theories and laws and the influence of time.
5.9.4 Natural Events
f) explain some impacts of natural events
including cyclones, volcanic eruptions and
earthquakes on the atmosphere, hydrosphere,
lithosphere and biosphere.
Rationale:
This narrative addresses the current issue of earthquakes and the huge impact earthquakes
have on people’s lives. Current research and development of geologic science and the affect
it has on people’s lives is considered; i.e. preventative building measures, extent of
liquefaction due to earthquakes. PFA 5.5a) students are asked to research recent analysis
techniques and resultant data collected after recent earthquakes on worksheet 1 question 4
and it also mentions this in the article on Japan.
The student is learning about the impact of earthquakes on the lithosphere, in this case in the
context of liquefaction also relates to the hydrosphere. This is an unusual and interesting
phenomenon which deals with subjects of soil structure, pressure, engineering, plate tectonics
and largely the 5.9 outcome; the dynamic structure of the earth related to the universe.
There is a huge potential for student engagement using this narrative and the worksheets I
have compiled because as follow:
 The worksheets employ a wide variety of activities and media; written articles,
diagrams, images, simulations, video.
 The worksheets ask the student to use a variety of secondary sources to find, collect
and organise information.
 Earthquakes are topical, contemporary, frequently occurring, cause high expenses and
loss of life.
 Earthquakes have affected many peoples life in the modern world.
 Students may be interested in following geologic career paths, important to the
present and future Australian economy.
By: Carmen Perez 3421822
Page |1
'Liquefaction' Key to Much of Japanese
Earthquake Damage
ScienceDaily (Apr. 18, 2011) — The
massive subduction zone earthquake in
Japan caused a significant level of soil
"liquefaction" that has surprised
researchers with its widespread severity, a
new analysis shows.
The findings also raise questions about
whether existing building codes and
engineering technologies are adequately
accounting for this phenomenon in other
vulnerable locations.
A preliminary report about some of the damage in Japan has just been concluded by the
Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance, or GEER advance team, in work supported by
the National Science Foundation. The broad geographic extent of the liquefaction over
hundreds of miles was daunting to experienced engineers who are accustomed to seeing
disaster sites, including the recent earthquakes in Chile and New Zealand.
"We've seen localized examples of soil liquefaction as extreme as this before, but the distance
and extent of damage in Japan were unusually severe," said Scott Ashford, a professor of
geotechnical engineering at Oregon State University and a member of this research team.
"Entire structures were tilted and sinking into the sediments, even while they remained
intact," Ashford said. "The shifts in soil destroyed water, sewer and gas pipelines, crippling
the utilities and infrastructure these communities need
to function.
Some degree of soil liquefaction is common in almost
any major earthquake. It's a phenomenon in which
saturated soils, particularly recent sediments, sand,
gravel or fill, can lose much of their strength and flow
during an earthquake. This can allow structures to shift
or sink and significantly magnify the structural damage
produced by the shaking itself.
But most earthquakes are much shorter than the recent
event in Japan, Ashford said. The length of the Japanese earthquake, as much as five minutes,
may force researchers to reconsider the extent of liquefaction damage possible in situations
such as this.
"With such a long-lasting earthquake, we saw how structures that might have been okay after
30 seconds just continued to sink and tilt as the shaking continued for several more minutes,"
he said. "And it was clear that younger sediments, and especially areas built on recently filled
ground, are much more vulnerable."
The data provided by analyzing the Japanese earthquake, researchers said, should make it
possible to improve the understanding of this soil phenomenon and better prepare for it in the
future. Ashford said it was critical for the team to collect the information quickly, before
damage was removed in the recovery efforts.
By: Carmen Perez 3421822
Page |2
New Zealand earthquake: buildings failed
when ground turned to liquid
Wednesday 23 February 2011 21.16 GMT
The first 5.8-magnitude quake struck
Friday afternoon 26 km north of
Christchurch 4km deep, the U.S.
Geological Survey said. Minutes later,
a 5.3-magnitude aftershock hit. About
an hour after that, the city was shaken
by another 5.8-magnitude temblor, the
U.S.G.S. said, though New Zealand's
geological agency GNS Science
recorded that aftershock as a
magnitude-6.0. Both aftershocks were
less than 5 km deep.
The area has recorded more than 7,000 earthquakes since a magnitude-7 quake rocked the
city on Sept. 4, 2010. That quake did not cause any deaths. But the earthquake that hit
Christchurch on Feb. 22 killed 181 and caused damage initially estimated at up to $12
billion. It was the second deadliest quake ever recorded in New Zealand; one in 1931 in
Hawke's Bay killed 256 people.
The USGS told NBC News that the quakes on Friday could be classified as aftershocks of the
February killer.
Robert Yeats, a professor emeritus of geology at Oregon State University, who is an
international earthquake expert says, "The latest New Zealand earthquake hit an area that
wasn't even known to have a fault prior to last September, it's one that had not moved in
thousands of years, but when you combine the shallow depth, proximity to a major city and
soil characteristics, it was capable of immense damage. New Zealand sits near a major
boundary of Earth's great plates -- in this case, the junction of the Australia Plate and the
Pacific Plate. We can learn about earthquakes and help people understand the seismic risks
they face," Yeats said. "But it's still an inexact science, the exact timing of an earthquake
cannot be predicted, and the best thing we can do is prepare for these events before they
happen."
Maurice Lamontagne, a seismologist at the Geological Survey of Canada, said: "What
surprised me most was not seeing the damage to masonry buildings like the cathedral's belltower but to see new concrete buildings crumbling down.
"New Zealand has excellent earthquake standards in its building codes, but those standards
were much more stringent on the Alpine fault to the west of Christchurch than in the city,
where secondary faults are poorly known."
He added: "Experts have been surprised that the town itself has been hit."
John Clague, an expert in natural hazards at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia,
said it was unclear what caused such serious damage to modern buildings, but said the answer
could be the "liquefaction" of the ground when the shaking began.
"Liquefaction is a huge problem in Christchurch because the city is built on an alluvial plain,
on sediments that are vulnerable to liquefaction," Clague said. "When shaken, these
sediments transform into a liquid, causing irregular settlement of the ground, which is
extremely damaging to buildings and buried structures, like water lines."
By: Carmen Perez 3421822
Page |3
Worksheet 1:
use the internet, library and other resources to answer the following questions.
Q1 What is an earthquake and what impact can it have on the ground?
An earthquake is a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves
.
Earthquakes may disrupt normal life by causing injury, death, property damage, infrastructure (road,
water, services) damage, liquefaction which can trigger landslides and cause dams to collapse
.
Q2 Describe soil liquefaction?
Shaking from an earthquake can cause water pressure within saturated soils to increase which breaks
down the structure and strength of the soil causing it to behave more like a liquid than a solid
.
Q3 Identify on this diagram where a subduction zone earthquake would occur? Was this the type
of earthquake experienced in Japan and/or New Zealand? Y/N
Q4 What kinds of scientific analyses could be made from the Japanese and New Zealand
earthquake and what data would be produced as a result? Have there been any advances and
what has there affect been?
Damage reports, size, scale, expense of damage, seismic magnitude…..
.
.
Q5 Find an image or video of liquefaction
Q6 EXTENSION QUESTION: Can scientists predict when and
where an aftershock will occur?
By: Carmen Perez 3421822
Page |4
Worksheet 2: Q1 Match the words to their correct definitions.
1.
a soil in which space between the particles is completely filled
2.
shaking can cause water pressure within saturated soils to increase which
breaks down the structure and strength of the soil causing it to behave
more like a liquid than a solid.
3.
an elastic wave generated by an impulse such as an earthquake or an
explosion
4.
the branch of science that deals with the process by which rigid plates are
moved across hot molten material
5.
amount of force acting per unit area
6.
rigid outermost shell of a rocky planet
7.
sites of convective downwelling of the Earth's lithosphere
pressure, liquefaction, plate tectonics, saturated soil, subduction zone, lithosphere, seismic wave
Q2 Where does the water in liquefaction come from?
Porewater already in the soil between the soil particles…hydrosphere
.
Q3 Explain what you see in these diagrams (note. blue represents water and brown soil)
Soil grains in a saturated soil
Large contact forces between
Liquefaction is occurring as
deposit at normal conditions
individual soil grains
water pressure is increasing
.
.
.
.
http://www.ce.washington.edu/~liquefaction/html/what/what1.html
EXTENSION ACTIVITY: Plate Tectonic Simulation
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tectonics/shockwave.html
By: Carmen Perez 3421822
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