The document discusses the theory of plate tectonics and provides evidence that supports continental drift, including matching fossil and rock formations found on different continents. It also describes different types of plate boundaries and associated geological phenomena like earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building. Finally, it discusses how plate tectonics has influenced Earth's climate over geological history.

1. The Restless Earth

2. Why are some locations
vulnerable?

3. Continental Drift
 Alfred Wegener
1880 - 1930
 Meteorologist
1915 “The Origin of Continents and Oceans”


4. Pangaea

5. Earth’s interior

6. Earth’s interior

7. Plate tectonics
Evidence:
Mesosaurus fossils
Glossopteris ferns
“puzzle pieces”
Glacial debris

8. Mesosaurus & Glossopteris

9. Gemstones

10. Jigsaw Puzzle pieces

11. Sea Floor magnetization

12. Plate tectonics

13. Tectonic Plate Motion

14. Plate boundaries
Divergent

Convergent

Lateral Transform


15. Divergent plates
Mid-Atlantic Ridge


16. Convergent boundary
 Nazca/S. American
plates
 Himalayas
 Orogeny

17. Lateral Transform
San Andreas


18. Fault Rupture
1906

Bolinas


19. Seismic Waves
P waves

faster
move
through
land &
water
S waves

do not pass through liquids

20. Seismic waves

21. Seismograph

22. Triangulation
3 locations

Measure arrival times

of P and S waves
P: 6 - 6.7 km/s
S: 3 - 4 km/s

23. Triangulating epicenters

24. Epicenter

25. Richter scale
1935 Charles Richter

(Cal Tech)

26. Richter Scale
Logarithmic

scale
7.2 quake has

amplitude
10x greater than
6.2
30x energy released

27. Richter values

28. Mercalli scale

29. Tsunamis
Not tidal waves

High velocity

silent


30. December 26, 2004
9.2 earthquake

250,000 deaths


31. December 26, 2004

32. Predicting Earthquakes
May 12, 2008


33. Ancient Earthquakes
Jericho

Red Sea


34. Decade of Earthquakes
London

Feb 8, 1750
March 6, 1750

35. Lisbon
Nov 1 1755

All Saints Day

tsunami


36. Rev. Charles Davy

“Every parish

church, convent, nunnery, palace, and
public edifice, with an infinite number of
private houses, were either thrown down or
so miserably shattered that it was rendered
dangerous to pass by them.
The whole number of persons that
perished, including those who were burnt
or afterwards crushed to death whilst
digging in the ruins, is supposed, on the
lowest calculation, to amount to more than
sixty thousand;”

37. New Madrid, MO 1811

38. San Francisco 1906

39. SF Earthquake 1906
 April 18, 1906
5:12 am
 7.8 - 8.2
 42 seconds
of shaking

40. Bay Area quakes
 1836 7.0
 1838 7.0
 1858 6.4
 1861 6.1
 1865 6.6
 1868 6.9

41. San Francisco 1905
Dennis Sullivan

1851 “Great Fire”

1900 City Hall


42. April 18, 1906
Caruso @ Palace Hotel


43. Fire
 Ruptured gas lines
 74 hours
 490 blocks
damaged
 $500 million

44. Aftermath
40,000+

Homeless
Chinatown

500 - 3000 deaths


45. 1906 - 1989

46. Loma Prieta 1989
 Oct 17, 1989
5:04 pm
 7.2
 15 - 20 seconds

47. 1989
Battle of the Bay

Game 3


48. Bay Bridge

49. Cypress Street Viaduct

50. SF Marina

51. Liquefaction

52. Santa Cruz
Garden Mall


53. Loma Prieta 1989
67 deaths,

3800 injured
12,000 homeless

$6 Billion


54. Benefits?
Stopped Hayward

creep
Raised mountains

retrofitting


55. The Next Quake
70% probability

in the next 20-30
years

56. Northridge 1994
Jan 17, 1994

4:30 am
61 deaths,

9,000 injured
$20 Billion


57. Palm Desert
Oct 16, 1999

6.9 magnitude


58. Seattle 2001
Feb 28, 2001

6.8 magnitude


59. Pacific Northwest
Potential?

tsunami


60. Plate tectonics

61. Vulcanism

62. Hot spots

63. Hawaiian Islands

64. Ring of Fire

65. Magma Pressure

66. Volcanic Gases
VOG

(volcanic smog)

67. Benefits?
Fertile soil

Land creation


68. Geothermal Energy

69. Extinct vs. Dormant vs. Active
Extinct

(Devil’s Tower)
Dormant

(Mt. Fuji)
Active

(Kilauea)

70. Iceland

71. Historic Eruptions
Toba 74,000 yrs ago


72. Caldera
MT. Mazama

Aka Crater Lake

73. Santorini
1628 BC

Atlantis?


74. Yellowstone

75. Krakatoa
August 27, 1883


76. Krakatoa
Localized tsunami Sumatra/Java


77. Mt. Pelee
Martinique, May 1902

nuee ardente
(pyroclastic flow)

78. Mt St Helens
May 1980

$3 Billion damage


79. Mt St Helens
Lahar

Infrastructure

damage

80. Cascade Volcanoes

81. Predicting Eruptions
Earthquakes

Ground temperatures

Chouet


82. Silent Killers 1986
Lake Nyos

Cameroon

83. El Chichon 1982

84. Mt. Pinatubo 1991

85. Mt Pinatubo

86. Mt. Tambora 1815

87. “The Year without a Summer”
 1816
“Darkness” (Lord Byron)

“I had a dream, which was not all a
dream.
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the
stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the
moonless air;
Morn came and went--and came, and
brought no day”

88. Franklin 1783-4
Laki, Iceland

Asama, Japan

89. 1816
Jefferson’s Journal


90. Volcanoes and Climate
Volume of debris

Height of Column

Gases emitted


91. Volumes of Eruption Debris
Volcanic Explosivity Index

(VEI)
Eruption Year VEI Casualties
Nevado del 1985 3 25,000
Ruiz
Mt. Pelee 1902 4 30,000
Krakatau 1883 6 36,000
Tambora 1815 7 92,000
Unzen 1792 3 15,000
Laki 1783 4 9,000
Kelut 1586 4 10,000

92. Climate effects

93. Earth’s climate
Habitable zone

Sufficient Gravity

Water


94. Early Earth
3 Billion years ago
initially H2& He
Nitrogen (N2),
Carbon dioxide(CO2)
from volcanoes

95. Photosynthesis
CO2 + H2O -----> O2 + Glucose

96. Earth’s atmosphere
N2 78%
O2 20.9%
Ar 0.93 %
CO2 0.038%

97. Carbon Dioxide levels

98. Global Temperatures

99. Historic Climate Eras

100. Medieval Warm Period
 Population Boom
 Viking Travel
 England exported
wine
 Steppe Drought

101. The Little Ice Age
 Grain production
 Ergot Blight
 Plague
 Patagonian
icefields

102. Climate Cycles
 Ice Ages and Interglacials

103. Ice Age - Glacial Maximum

104. Tree Rings - Dendrochronology

105. Assessing Historic Climates
Glacial Ice Cores


106. Glacial Ice Cores
 Air composition
 Volcanic ash
pollen
 Oxygen isotope
distribution

107. Oxygen Isotopes -16O, 18O

108. Isotope data

109. Causes of Climate Cycles
Orbital variation

Tilt change

Solar flux


110. Orbital Variation
100,000 year cycle

111. Obliquity of the Earth’s Axis
Tilt = 23.5o


112. Changes in the Earth’s Tilt
41,000 year cycle

Greater tilt: Interglacial

Less tilt: Glaciation


113. Precession
26,000 year cycle


114. Solar Forcing
Changes in Flux


115. Sunspots

116. Maunder Minimum

117. Comparison

118. Cosmic Rays

119. Cloud Cover

120. Greenhouse gases

121. Greenhouse Gases

122. Greenhouse Gases

123. Greenhouse Gases

124. Venus
800 K temp
90x atmosphere
96% CO2

125. Global Warming
 Glacial Melting
 Permafrost thaw
 Increased evaporation
 Coral reef bleaching
 Seasonal change

126. Glacial Melting

127. Polar Ice Caps

128. Greenland

129. Antarctic Ice

130. Sea Level Rising

131. Coastlines Affected

132. One to Five meter rise

133. Since the last Glacial Maximum

134. Consequences

135. San Francisco

136. Increased Evaporation Rates
Severe Storms
Coastal Erosion
Fires

137. Tropical Storm Formation

138. 2005
Katrina

Rita
Wilma

139. Coastal Erosion

140. 2005 Coastal Erosion
Hurricane Rita

141. Saltwater Intrusion

142. Ocean Heat Penetration

143. El Niño

144. El Niño 1998

145. El Niño Frequency

146. Permafrost Thaw

147. Coral Reef Bleaching

148. Wildlife Habitats

149. Already Extinct

150. Expanded Pest Ranges

151. Expanded Pest Populations

152. Ocean Conveyor Belt

153. Salinity Decrease

154. Day After Tomorrow?
Abrupt Climate

change

155. Climate Flip Flop
Positive

feedback

156. Abrupt Climate Change

157. Younger Dryas
 12,800 - 11,400 yo
 Thermohaline
reversal?
 Agriculture?

158. The New Ice Age

159. The New Interglacial

160. The New Interglacial Climate

161. Locations Affected

162. What is affected?
 Agriculture
 Transportation
 Population distribution
 Energy needs

163. Oceanic Overturning

164. Carbon Content

165. Carbon Capture & Storage

166. Marine Sequestration

167. Photosynthesis
CO2 + H2O -----> O2 + Glucose

168. Reforestation

169. Chemical Conversion
 Carbon dioxide
---->
formic acid
 Preservative
 Perfume
 Scale removal
 Fuel cells

170. CO2 to Fuel
Using

gallium
phosphide

171. CO2 absorption
Peridotite

(Oman)

172. CO2 Consumption by Algae
GreenFuel Technologies


173. Lower Emissions

174. Carbon - Free?

175. Hydrogen Fuel Cells

176. Fuel Cell Hybrids