Natural Disasters

 Earthquakes
 Floods
 Droughts
 Volcanoes
 Tsunamis
 Earthquakes
When the Earth moves
Earthquakes are caused by
the motion of tectonic plates -
individual sections that make
up the Earth's surface like
panels on a football. Immense
strain accumulates along fault
lines where adjacent plates
meet. When the rock
separating the plates give
way, sudden seismic ground-
shaking movement occurs.
 Earthquakes
Of course, if we want to know why earthquakes
happen, we need to dig a little deeper.

Centre of the Earth

The Earth is made up of three main layers:
 The core is at the centre of the Earth
 The mantle is a mobile semi-molten layer around the
core
 The outer-shell of the Earth is called the crust.
Scientists call this the lithosphere - it's the part we're on
now
 Earthquake
s tectonic plates. Below the sea, they can measure
The crust is made up of 12 individual
three to six miles (4km-9.6km) thick and under land this increases to 20-44 miles (32km-
70.8km). Below the crust, radiation from the Earth's core heats the semi-molten mantle
to temperatures of over 5000°C.

All fluids when heated - even molten rock - are affected by a process called convection.
The makes hot liquid rise to displace cooler liquid, creating a current. Tectonic plates
effectively float on the mantle, like croutons in a bowl of super-heated soup. But these
plates and constantly moving due to the convection current.
 Earthquakes
Of course, they creep along very slowly - roughly the same speed your fingernails grow.
Even at this sub snail-pace, the effects can be devastating. The combined annual force
of earthquakes is equal to 100,000 times the power of the atomic bombs that flattened
Hiroshima.

The point where the seismic activity occurs is the epicentre, where the earthquake is
strongest. But it doesn't always end there, seismic waves travel out from the epicentre,
sometimes creating widespread destruction as they pass.
 Floods
When rain starts to fall, it
drains down from the
hillsides into streams,
along rivers and out into
the sea. That's under
normal circumstances
anyway. But when rain
pours for weeks at a
time, the land becomes
saturated. It is called
flood
 Floods

Stormy weather
Low pressure develops on the boundary of
warm and cold air - this is known to
meteorologists as a 'weather front'. The air
here has a natural tendency to rise, and as
air rises, it cools. Any water vapour present
in the air condenses to form clouds.
Consequently, low pressure is generally
associated with wet and windy weather.
 Floods
The upper reaches of rivers quickly fill and force the excess water downstream. In the
lower reaches, water flows slower. Here, the river swells and begins to break its banks.
This is entirely normal - flood plains are part of the river's natural defense mechanism.

These low-lying, wide flat areas in the lower reaches of a river provide relief and take up
the excess water. It's best not to build on them, though sometimes people do.

All kinds of debris gets caught up in a flood - dead cattle, sheep, trees, gravel. If any of
this flotsam gets lodged under a bridge, it creates a dam and backs up the whole system
 Droughts

During a drought, the land

can become starved of
nourishment or
contaminated with mineral
salts and even when it does
rain, often the ground
cannot support growth.

The basic cause of all drought

is insufficient rainfall. This can
be due to global patterns of air
circulation, like the Sahara - or,
it can be created by man.
 Droughts
The effects of dams and irrigation in hot climates
can have a dramatic effect on the environment.
The dams and water irrigation preventing rivers
from running their natural course can dry the
land. This prevents water vapour from rising to
create rain clouds.

In a natural desert like the Sahara, dry air

descends over the region bringing clear skies
and hot sunshine. These hot deserts get little
rain at any season. The problem often lasts for
many years with rainy seasons failing to show.

Short term droughts can also be caused when high

pressure systems persist over an area of land for
several weeks. This blocks the passage of low
pressure systems that bring rain.
 Volcanos

Without doubt, erupting

volcanoes are the most
awesome and terrifying
sights in nature. In fact,
their untamed destructive
firepower has shaped and
influenced many ancient
cultures from Pompeii, to
Japan.
 Volcanoes

How volcanoes occurs

Like earthquakes, volcanoes form at
weak-points in the Earth's crust, known as
'fault-lines'.

When two tectonic plates collide, the event

can provide the catalyst for volcanic
activity. As one section slides on top of the
other, the one beneath is pushed down
into the mantle. Water trapped in the crust
can cause reactions within the mantle.
Why? Well, it's thought that when the
water mixes with the mantle, it lowers the
mantle's melting point, and the solid
mantle melts to form a liquid, known as
'magma'.
 Volcanoes
Under increasing pressure
Since liquid rock is less dense than solid rock,
magma begins to rise through the Earth's crust.
It forces its way up, melting surrounding rock
and increasing the amount of magma.

Magma only stops rising when the pressure

from the rock layer above it becomes too great.
It gathers below the Earth's surface in a
'magma chamber'.

When the pressure increases in the chamber,

the crust finally gives way and magma spews
out onto the Earth's surface forming a volcano.
When it reaches the surface, magma becomes
known as 'lava'.
 Volcanoes

Volcanic eruptions vary in intensity and

appearance depending on two factors:
1. The amount of gas contained in the magma its
viscosity - how runny it is
2. In general, the explosive eruptions come from
high gas levels and high viscosity in the magma.
Whilst lava floes result from magmas with low gas
levels and low viscosity.
 Tsunamis

Tsunamis
A tsunami (pronounced tsoo-nah-
mee) is a chain of fast moving
waves caused by sudden trauma
in the ocean. They can be
generated by earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, or even the
impact of meteorites. Tsunami
are also incorrectly known as
tidal waves, but unlike tidal
waves they are not caused by
changes in the tides.
 Tsunamis
They are most common around the edge of the Pacific, where more than half of the
world's volcanoes are found. These seismic surges can assault coastlines, often with
little or no warning. Rocks weighing as much as 20 metric tonnes have been plucked
from sea walls and carried 180m inland.

Tsunamis aren't like wind-generated waves that rhythmically roll onto a beach. A tsunami
can have a wavelength (ie distance between wave crests) in excess of 100km (60 miles)
and there may be an hour between them. They travel at great speeds across an ocean
with hardly any energy losses and are barely noticeable out at sea.
 Tsunamis
Over the deep Pacific Ocean, a tsunami travels at about 800kph (500mph).

As a tsunami leaves the deep water of the open ocean and travels into the shallower
water near the coast, it behaves like a normal wave - only with more muscle.

Shallow water slows the tsunami and its height grows. Tsunamis batter the coast with
tremendous amounts of energy. They can strip sand from beaches, tearing up trees, and
even obliterating whole towns. Some have been known to reach as much as 30m above
sea level.
Created By :: 10+2 (a)
1. Jaspreet
2. Pawan
3. Riddu Chhabra

Guided By ::
Mr. Parmeet Singh
Miss Poonam Rajpal