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Student Edition
Instructor Edition
Natural Disasters, 4/e
Patrick L. Abbott, San Diego State University

ISBN: 0072528095
Copyright year: 2004

Table of Contents


Chapter 1 - Natural Disasters and Their Energy Sources
  • Human Fatalities in Natural Disasters
  • Economic Losses from Natural Disasters
    • Insured Portion of Economic Losses
  • Natural Hazards
    • Popocatepetl Volcano, Mexico
    • Magnitude, Frequency, and Return Period
  • Energy Sources of Disasters
    • Impacts with Asteroids and Comets
    • Origin of the Sun and Planets
    • Impact Origin of the Moon
  • Gravity
  • Internal Sources of Energy
    • Impact Energy and Gravitational Energy
    • Radioactive Elements
      • Age of the Earth
  • External Sources of Energy
    • The Sun
      • The Hydrologic Cycle
      • Heat Capacity, Latent Heat, and Energy Transfer
  • Forces of Construction Versus Destruction
Chapter 2 - Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes
  • Earth History
  • The Layered Earth
  • Isostasy
  • Plate Tectonics
  • Development of the Plate Tectonics Concept
  • Magnetization of Volcanic Rocks
  • Magnetization Patterns on the Sea Floors
  • Some Other Evidence of Plate Tectonics
    • Earthquake Epicenters Outline Plates
    • Oceanic Mountain Ranges and Deep Trenches
    • Deep Earthquakes
    • Ages from the Ocean Basins
    • Systematic Increases in Seafloor Depth
    • The Fit of the Continents
      • Changing Positions of the Continents
  • The Grand Unifying Theory
  • Uniformitarianism
  • Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes
  • Spreading Centers and Earthquakes
    • Iceland
    • Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
  • Convergent Zones and Earthquakes
    • Subduction Zones
      • Tokyo, Japan, 1923
    • Continent-Continent Collisions
      • Gujarat, India, 2001
      • Shaanxi Province, China, 1556
      • Tangshan, China, 1976
  • Transform Faults and Earthquakes
      • Turkey, 1999
  • The Arabian Plate
    • Continent-Continent Collision Earthquakes
      • Armenia, December 1988
    • Transform Fault Earthquakes
      • Dead Sea Fault Zone
Chapter 3 - Basic Principles of Earthquake Geology, Seismology and Tsunami
  • The Lisbon Earthquake of 1755
  • What Is an Earthquake?
  • Faults and Geologic Mapping
  • Types of Faults
    • Dip-Slip Faults
    • Strike-Slip Faults
      • Steps in Strike-Slip Faults
    • Transform Faults
  • Development of Seismology
  • Waves
  • Seismic Waves
    • Body Waves
      • Primary Waves
      • Secondary Waves
    • Seismic Waves and the Earth's Interior
    • Surface Waves
      • Love Waves
      • Rayleigh Waves
    • Sound Waves and Seismic Waves
  • Locating the Source of an Earthquake
  • Magnitude of Earthquakes
    • Richter Scale
    • Other Measures of Earthquake Size
      • Moment Magnitude Scale
  • Ground Motion during Earthquakes
    • Acceleration
    • Periods of Buildings and Geologic Foundations
  • Earthquake Intensity - What We Feel during an Earthquake
      • Shake Maps
    • Mercalli Scale Variables
      • Earthquake Magnitude
      • Distance from Hypocenter/Epicenter
      • Foundation Materials
      • Building Style
      • Duration of the Shaking
  • A Case History of Mercalli Variables
    • The San Fernando Valley, California, Earthquake of 1971
      • Earthquake Magnitude
      • Distance from Epicenter
      • Foundation Materials
      • Building Style
      • Duration of Shaking
      • Learning from the Past, Planning for the Future
  • Tsunami
    • Tsunami versus Wind-Caused Waves
      • At the Shoreline
  • Tsunami Case Histories
    • Alaska, 1 April 1946
    • Chile, 22 May 1960
    • Alaska, 27 March 1964
    • Nicaragua, 1 September 1992
    • Papua New Guinea, 17 July 1998
    • Tsunami Hazards from Landslides
Chapter 4 - Some Earthquakes in Western North America
  • Subduction Zone Earthquakes
    • The Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska, 1964
    • Mexico City, 1985
      • Earthquakes Don't Kill, Buildings Do
    • Pacific Northwest, The Upcoming Earthquake
      • Earthquake in 1700
  • Spreading-Center Earthquakes
  • Transform Fault Earthquakes in California
    • San Francisco, 1906
    • San Andreas Fault Earthquakes
    • World Series (Loma Prieta) Earthquake, 1989
      • Earthquakes Don't Kill, Buildings Do
      • Marina District
      • Interstate 880
    • Bay Area Earthquakes - Past and Future
      • Pattern 1
      • Pattern 2
      • Pattern 3
    • Kobe, Japan, 1995 vs. Oakland, California, 20??
      • Kobe, Japan, 1995
      • Oakland, California, 20??
  • How Faults Work
    • Old View
    • Newer View
      • Landers, California, 1992
    • Southern San Andreas Fault
  • Thrust Fault Earthquakes in Southern California
    • Northridge, California, 1994
  • The Big One
Chapter 5 - More United States and Canadian Earthquakes
  • Western North America: Plate Tectonic-Related Earthquakes
    • Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia
      • Puget Sound, Washington, 1949 and 1965
      • Puget Sound Update, 2001
      • Future Earthquakes in the Washington Region
    • Western Great Basin: Eastern California, Western Nevada
      • Owens Valley, California, 1872
      • The Western Great Basin Seismic Trend
    • Intermountain Belt: Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana
      • Hebgen Lake, Montana, 1959
      • Borah Peak, Idaho, 1983
      • The Intermountain Seismic Belt
    • Rio Grande Rift: New Mexico, Colorado, Westernmost Texas, Mexico
  • Intraplate Earthquakes: "Stable" Central United States
    • New Madrid, Missouri, 1811-1812
    • Reelfoot Rift: Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois
    • Ancient Rifts in the Central United States
  • Intraplate Earthquakes: Eastern United States
    • New England Earthquakes
    • St. Lawrence River Valley Earthquakes
  • Fracture-Zone Hypothesis of Major Earthquakes
    • Charleston, South Carolina, 1886
  • Earthquakes and Volcanism in Hawaii
Chapter 6 - Volcanic Eruptions: Plate Tectonics and Magmas
  • How We Understand Volcanic Eruptions
  • Plate-Tectonic Setting of Volcanoes
  • Chemical and Mineral Composition of Magmas
  • Viscosity, Temperature and Water Content of Magmas
    • Plate-Tectonic Setting of Volcanoes Revisited
  • How a Volcano Erupts
    • Some Volcanic Materials
      • Nonexplosive Eruptions
      • Explosive Eruptions
  • Volcanic Landforms and Eruption Styles
    • Shield Volcanoes: Low Viscosity, Low Volatiles, Large Volume
      • Hawaiian-type Eruptions
      • Killer Event of 1790
    • Flood Basalts: Low Viscosity, Low Volatiles, Very Large Volume
    • Scoria Cones: Low Viscosity, Medium Volatiles, Small Volume
      • Strombolian-type Eruptions
    • Stratovolcanoes: High Viscosity, High Volatiles, Large Volume
      • Vulcanian-type Eruptions
      • Plinian-type Eruptions
      • Vesuvius, 79 C.E.
    • Lava Domes: High Viscosity, Low Volatiles, Small Volume
    • Calderas: High Viscosity, High Volatiles, Very Large Volume
      • Crater Lake (Mount Mazama), Oregon
      • Krakatau, Indonesia, 1883
      • Santorini and the Lost Continent of Atlantis
      • Resurgent Calderas
      • Yellowstone National Park
      • Eruptive Sequence of a Resurgent Caldera
Chapter 7 - Volcanic Eruptions Continue
  • Volcanism at Spreading Centers
    • Iceland
      • Icelandic-type Eruptions
      • Lava Flows of 1973
      • Jokulhlaup of 1996
  • Volcanism at Subduction Zones
    • Cascade Range, Pacific Coast United States and Canada
      • Mount St. Helens, Washington, 1980
      • Lassen Peak, California, 1914-17
      • Mount Shasta, California
  • Killer Events and Processes
    • The Historic Record of Volcano Fatalities
    • Pyroclastic Flows
      • Mount Mayon, Philippines, 1968
      • El Chichon, Mexico, 1982
      • Mount Unzen, Japan, 1991
      • Mont Pelee, 1902-1903, 1929-1932
      • Mont Pelee, Martinique, 1902
      • Krakatau, Indonesia 1883
    • Tsunami
      • Mt. Unzen, Japan 1792
    • Lahars
      • Kelut, Indonesia, 1586, 1919
      • Nevado Del Ruiz, Colombia, 1985
      • Mount Rainier, Washington - On alert
    • Indirect - Famine
      • Laki, Iceland Fissure Eruption of 1783
      • Tambora, Indonesia, 1815
    • Gas
      • Killer Lakes of Cameroon, Africa
    • Lava Flows
      • Nyiragongo, Zaire 2002
  • VEIs of Some Killer Eruptions
    • Volcano Monitoring and Warning
      • Long Valley, California, 1982
      • Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, 1991
Chapter 8 - Mass Movements
  • The Role of Gravity
  • Creep
  • External Causes of Slope Failures
  • Internal Causes of Slope Failures
    • Inherently Weak Materials
      • Canadian Quick-Clay Slope Failures
    • Water in Its Different Roles
    • Decreases in Cohesion
    • Adverse Geologic Structures
    • Triggers of Mass Movements
  • Classification of Mass Movements
  • Falls
      • Yosemite National Park, California
  • Slides
    • Rotational Slides
      • Ensenada, Baja California
    • Translational Slides
      • Point Ferman, California
      • Vaiont, Italy, 1963
      • Gros Ventre, Wyoming, 1925
      • Turnagain Heights, Anchorage, Alaska, 1964
  • Flows
    • Gansu Province, China, Loess Flow
    • Portuguese Bend, California, Earthflow
    • Long-Runout Debris Flows
      • Blackhawk Event, California
      • Elm Event, Switzerland, 1881
      • Turtle Mountain, Alberta, Canada, 1903
      • Movement of Highly Fluidized Rock Flows (Sturzstroms)
      • Nevados Huascaran Events, Peru
    • Snow Avalanches
    • Submarine Mass Movements
  • Subsidence
    • Slow Subsidence
      • Delta Compaction, Mississippi River, Louisiana
      • Oil Withdrawal, Houston-Galveston Region, Texas
      • Groundwater Withdrawal, Mexico City
    • Catastrophic Subsidence
      • Limestone Sinkholes, Southeastern United States
Chapter 9 - Climate Change
  • Climate
  • Early Earth Climate - A Runaway Greenhouse
  • Climate History of the Earth: Time Scale in Millions of Years
    • Late Paleozoic Ice Age
    • Late Paleocene Torrid Age
    • Late Cenozoic Ice Age
      • The Last 3 Million Years
  • Glacial Advance and Retreat: Time Scale in Thousands of Years
  • Climate Variations: Time Scale in Hundreds of Years
    • The Last Thousand Years
  • Shorter-Term Climatic Changes: Time Scale in Multiyears
    • El Nino
    • La Nina
  • Volcanism and Climate
      • El Chicon, 1982
      • Mount Pinatubo, 1991
      • Tambora, 1815
      • Toba, Indonesia, ~ 74,000 years ago
    • Volcanic Climate Effects
  • Drought and Famine
    • U.S. Dust Bowl, 1930s
    • Sub-Sahelian Africa, 1968-1975
  • The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
    • The Greenhouse Effect Today
      • Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
      • Methane (CH4)
      • Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
      • Ozone (O3)
      • Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
      • Twentieth Century Greenhouse Gas Increases
    • The Twenty First Century
Chapter 10 - Severe Weather
  • Weather Principles
    • Water and Heat
    • Atmospheric Heating
    • Coriolis Effect
      • The Merry-Go-Round Analogy
    • Global Wind Pattern
    • Jet Streams
    • Air Masses
    • Fronts
    • Rotating Air Bodies
  • Midlatitude Cyclones
    • The Eastern U.S. "White Hurricane" of 1993
    • Blizzards
      • Northeastern United States, 6-8 January 1996
    • Ice Storms
      • Canadian Ice Storm, 5-9 January 1998
    • How a Thunderstorm Works
      • Microbursts: An Airplane's Enemy
  • Thunderstorms in the Conterminous United States
    • Heavy Rains and Flash Floods
      • Central Texas
    • Hail
    • Lightning
      • How Lightning Works
      • Don't Get Stuck
    • Winds
      • Straight-line Winds
      • Ontario to New York Derecho, 15 July 1995
  • Tornadoes
    • Tri-State Tornado, 18 March 1925
    • How a Tornado Works
    • Tornadoes in the United States and Canada
    • The Super Outbreak, 3-4 April 1974
    • Tornadoes and Cities
      • Safe Rooms
  • Extreme Heat
    • Heat Wave
      • Heat Wave in Chicago, July 1995
Chapter 11 - Hurricanes and the Coastline
  • Hurricanes
    • Andrew, August 1992
  • How a Hurricane Works
    • Hurricane Energy Release
    • The Eye
  • Hurricane Origins
  • North Atlantic Ocean Hurricanes
    • Cape Verde-type Hurricanes
      • Hurricane Paths
    • Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico-type Hurricanes
      • Mitch, October 1998
    • Forecasting the Hurricane Season
    • Hurricane Damages
      • Storm Surges
      • Heavy Rains
      • Nelson County, Virginia, 1969, Mudflows and Debris Avalanches
  • Hurricanes and the Gulf of Mexico Coastline
    • Galveston, Texas, September 1900
    • Gulf of Mexico Coast Example: Texas
  • Hurricanes and the Atlantic Coastline
    • Hugo, September 1989
  • The Evacuation Dilemma
  • Reduction of Hurricane Damages
    • Building Codes
      • Roofs
      • Impact of Wind-borne Debris
    • Land-Use Planning
    • Coastal Development Restrictions
  • Global Rise in Sea Level
  • Hurricanes and the Pacific Coastline
    • Pauline, October 1997
    • Iniki, September 1992
  • Cyclones and Bangladesh
  • Coastline
  • Waves in Water
    • Rogue Waves
  • Waves on the Coastline
    • Why a Wave Breaks
    • Summer Versus Winter Beaches
      • Beach Sand as Coastal Protection
    • Wave Refraction
    • Longshore Drift
    • Submarine Canyons
  • Human Effects on the Coast
    • Dams
      • Cliff Protection
      • Groins
      • Jetties
      • Mission Bay, San Diego, California
    • Breakwaters
Chapter 12 - Floods
  • Floods
  • How Rivers and Streams Work
    • Longitudinal Cross Section of a Stream
    • The Equilibrium Stream
      • Case 1 - Too Much Discharge
      • Case 2 - Too Much Load
      • Graded Stream Theory
  • The Floodplain
  • Flood Frequency
  • Flood Styles
  • Flash Floods
      • Antelope Canyon, Arizona, 1997
      • Big Thompson Canyon, Colorado, 1976
      • Rapid Creek, Black Hills, South Dakota, 1972
  • Regional Floods
    • Red River of the North
    • Mississippi River System
      • Some Historic Floods
      • The Great Midwestern Flood of 1993
      • Weather Conditions
      • Role of Levees
    • China
  • Societal Responses to Flood Hazards
    • Dams
    • Levees
    • Sandbagging
    • Forecasting
    • Zoning and Land Use
    • Insurance
    • Presidential Disaster Declarations
  • Urbanization and Floods
    • Hydrographs
    • Flood Frequencies
    • Channelization
      • The Extreme Approach: Los Angeles
      • The Binational Approach: Tijuana and San Diego
      • The Uncoordinated Approach: San Diego
      • The Hit-and-Miss Approach: Tucson
  • The Biggest Floods
    • Ancient Tales of Deluge
      • Black Sea Deluge
      • Ice-Dam Failure Floods
Chapter 13 - Fire
  • What Is Fire?
  • The Need for Fire
      • The Fire Triangle
      • Fuel Categories
  • The Stages of Fire
  • The Spread of Fire
      • Fuel
      • Wind
      • Topography
      • Fire Behavior
  • Fire Weather
    • Winds of Fire
      • Cold-front Winds
      • Foehn Winds
      • Local Winds
    • Great Lakes Region
      • Peshtigo, Wisconsin
      • Chicago, Illinois
    • California
      • Oakland and Berkeley Hills
      • Southern California
  • Home Style and Fire
  • Fire Suppression
    • Yellowstone National Park
      • Ten Years Later
    • California versus Baja California: Pay Now or Pay Later
    • The Western and Southern United States In 2000
      • La Nina
    • Prescribed Fires
      • Los Alamos, New Mexico, May 2000
    • Australia
  • The Similarities of Fire and Flood
Chapter 14 - The Great Dyings
  • Early Understanding of Extinctions and Geologic Time
    • Brief History of Life
  • Species and the Fossil Record
  • The Tropical Reef Example
  • Mass Extinctions During Phanerozoic Time
  • Possible Causes of Mass Extinctions
    • Plate-Tectonic Causes
      • Changes in Seafloor Spreading Rates
      • Sea-Level Changes
      • Numbers and Sizes of Continents
      • Continental Position and Glaciation
    • Volcanic Causes
      • Changes in Atmospheric Composition
    • Climate Change Causes
    • Ocean Composition Causes
    • Extraterrestrial Causes
    • Biologic Causes
      • Species-Area Effects
      • Random Extinction
      • Predation and Epidemic Disease
    • Multiple Causes of Mass Extinction
  • Examples of Mass Extinctions
    • Closing of Permian Time (Ended 251 Million Years Ago)
      • Formation of the Supercontinent Pangaea
      • Sea-Level Fall
      • Climate Changes
      • Ocean Composition Changes
      • Siberian Traps Flood Basalt
      • Duration of the Extinction Events
      • Life at the End of Permian Time
    • Close of Cretaceous Time (Ended 65 Million Years Ago)
      • Sea-Level Fall
      • Deccan Traps Flood Basalt
      • Chicxulub Impact
    • Quaternary Extinctions
Chapter 15 - Impacts with Space Objects
  • Impact Scars
  • Sources of Extraterrestrial Debris
    • Asteroids
    • Comets
  • Rates of Meteoroid Influx
    • Cosmic Dust
    • Shooting Stars
    • Meteorites
  • Crater-Forming Impacts
    • Meteor Crater, Arizona
  • The Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary Event
      • Evidence of the K/T Impact
      • Site of the K/T Impact
      • Angle of Impact
  • Problems for Life from Impacts
  • The Crater-Forming Process
  • Impact Origin of Chesapeake Bay
  • Biggest Event of the Twentieth Century
    • Tunguska, Siberia, 1908
  • Biggest "Near Events" of the Twentieth Century
  • Frequency of Large Impacts
    • A Defense Plan
Chapter 16 - Population Growth
  • Overview of Human Population History
  • The Power of an Exponent on Growth
  • The Last 10,000 Years of Human History
  • The Human Population Today
    • Carrying Capacity
    • Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
  • Demographic Transition Model
    • Population History of Mesopotamia
  • World Population Data
  • Future World Population

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