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Throughout history, awesome floods, devastating earthquakes, disastrous volcanoes and other catastrophic activities have demonstrated nature's inexplicable power. This title provides coverage of the processes that produce natural catastrophes. An introductory chapter details the dynamic forces at work beneath the Earth's crust, while the subsequent nine chapters - each dedicated to a single type of disaster - explain causes and myriad effects of these disturbances, enhanced with numerous examples. Photographs and line drawings depict the carnage wrought by these natural disasters, as well as what is happpening to the Earth's surface while they occur. Chapters include coverage of: earthquakes; volcanic eruptions; earth movements; catastrophic collapse; floods; dust storms; glaciers; impact cratering; and mass extinctions.
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QUAKES, ERUPTIONS, AND OTHER GEOLOGIC CATACLYSMS REVEALING THE EARTH’S HAZARDS Revised Edition
Jon erickson Foreword by ALEXANDER E. GATES, PH.D
QUAKES, ERUPTIONS, AND OTHER GEOLOGIC CATACLYSMS Revealing the Earth’s Hazards, Revised Edition Copyright © 2001, 1994 by Jon Erickson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Erickson, Jon, 1948– Quakes, eruptions, and other geologic cataclysms : revealing the earth’s hazards / Jon Erickson.—Rev. ed./foreword [by] Alexander E. Gates. p. cm.—(The living earth) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8160-4516-X (acid-free paper) 1. Natural disasters. I.Title. GB5014.E75 2001 550—dc21
2001023055
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CONTENTS
Tables Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction
v vi vii ix
1 THE DYNAMIC EARTH: PLATE TECTONIC ACTIVITY The New Geology ■ The Active Crust ■ Mantle Convection Seafloor Spreading ■ Subduction Zones ■ Plate Interactions 2 EARTHQUAKES: THE SHAKING OF THE GROUND Major Quakes ■ Areas at Risk ■ Earthquake Faults ■ Earthquake Causes ■ Earthquake Damage ■ Tsunamis 3 VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS: THE VENTING OF THE EARTH Violent Volcanoes ■ The Fire Below ■ Volcanic Activity Gas Explosions ■ Hazardous Volcanoes
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28
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57
4 EARTH MOVEMENTS: THE FAILURE OF SLOPE MATERIALS Landslides ■ Rockslides ■ Soil Slides ■ Mudflows Submarine Slides ■ Soil Erosion
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5 CATASTROPHIC COLLAPSE: THE SINKING OF THE LAND The Sinking Earth ■ Ground Failures ■ Subsidence Resurgent Calderas ■ Collapse Structures
85
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110
6 FLOODS: RIVER OVERFLOWS Hazardous Floods ■ Flood Types ■ The Hydrologic Cycle Surface Runoff ■ Drainage Basins ■ Flood-Prone Areas ■ Hydrologic Mapping ■ Flood Control 7 DUST STORMS: SAND IN MOTION Desert Regions ■ Desertification ■ Desert Erosion Haboobs ■ Sand Dunes ■ Dust Bowls
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8 GLACIERS: ICE ON THE RUN Glaciation ■ The Polar Ice Caps ■ Continental Glaciers Ice Streams ■ Glacial Surge ■ Rising Sea Levels
164
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9 IMPACT CRATERING: COSMIC INVAS