Volcanoes & Earthquakes - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the Volcanoes & Earthquakes lecture notes, including hazard definitions, mitigation strategies, eruption terminology, and disaster prediction concepts.

Hazard

A natural process that poses a threat to human life or property.

Catastrophe

A natural event that results in significant loss of life or extensive property damage.

Recurrence Interval

A statistical forecast of the likelihood that a natural event of a given size will occur within a specified time period; not a fixed schedule.

Cyclic Events

Events that occur at predictable, regular intervals.

Noncyclic Events

Events that occur at seemingly random or unpredictable intervals.

Forecast

A probabilistic prediction of the chance that a hazardous event will occur within a certain time frame.

Mitigation

Efforts to prepare for disasters and reduce their damage, including engineering, land-use planning, and public education.

Levee

An engineered barrier built to prevent floodwaters from flooding land.

Land-Use Planning

Restricting or guiding development in areas prone to natural hazards to minimize damage.

Insurance

A policy to transfer risk of loss, usually funded by premiums; availability and cost can vary by risk.

Fractal

A property where patterns look similar across different scales, allowing relationships observed at one scale to be extrapolated to others.

Landslide

The downward movement of rock, soil, and debris down a slope, often triggered by saturation or faulting.

Creep

Slow, gradual downslope movement of soil or rock over time.

Magma

Molten rock beneath the Earth's surface; when erupted, it becomes lava.

Lava

Magma that erupts onto the surface.

Volcano

A vent in the Earth's crust through which magma, ash, and gases are expelled.

Earthquake

Ground shaking caused by the release of energy as rocks fracture and move along faults.

Magnitude

A measure of the size or energy release of an earthquake.

Energy Release

The total amount of energy released by an earthquake or explosive event (often expressed in terms of seismic energy).

Tephra

Volcanic ejecta such as ash, pumice, and fragments blown into the atmosphere.

DRE (Dense Rock Equivalent)

A volume measure of erupted tephra corrected for void spaces; used to compare eruption magnitudes.

Ash Plume

A cloud of volcanic ash expelled into the atmosphere, which can affect air quality and aviation.

Plume Head

The initial, buoyant upwelling part of a mantle plume responsible for large-scale volcanism.

Plume Tail

The trailing portion of a mantle plume that continues to feed volcanism after the plume head.

Lithosphere

The outer rigid shell of the Earth, comprising the crust and the uppermost mantle.

Storm Surge

A rise in sea level during a storm, which can become much higher when it coincides with high tide.

USGS

The U.S. Geological Survey, a government agency involved in hazard research and monitoring.

Gorkha Nepal Earthquake

The 2015 Nepal earthquake; an example of a major natural disaster with widespread impact and damage.

Hurricane/Typhoon Intensity Trends

Severe storms whose intensity and damage potential can be influenced by sea-surface temperatures and climate change.

Volcano-Earthquake Link

Processes and events where the movement of magma can trigger earthquakes and vice versa, reflecting linked geologic activity.

Ash Plume Hazards

Volcanic ash plumes can disrupt aviation, contaminate water and crops, and impact health.

Recurrence Interval vs. Fixed Schedule

Recurrence intervals indicate probabilistic timing (not guarantees) of events within a period.