Environmental Considerations: Aftermath of Tectonic Activities

Effects/impacts of earthquakes

There are many effects of earthquakes including, but not limited to the following
Shaking and ground rupture Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally resulting in more or less severe damage to buildings or other rigid structures. The severity of the local effects depends on the complex combination of the earthquake magnitude, the distance from epicenter, and the local geological and geomorphological conditions, which may amplify or reduce wave propagation. The ground-shaking is measured by ground acceleration.

Specific local geological, geomorphological, and geostructural features can induce high levels of shaking on the ground surface even from lowintensity earthquakes. This effect is called site or local amplification. It is principally due to the transfer of the seismic motion from hard deep soils to soft superficial soils and to effects of seismic energy focalization owing to typical geometrical setting of the deposits

Landslides and avalanches Earthquakes can cause landslides and avalanches, which may cause damage in hilly and mountainous areas.
Fires Following an earthquake, fires can be generated by break of the electrical power or gas lines. In the event of water mains rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may also become difficult to stop the spread of a fire once it has started.

Soil liquefaction Soil liquefaction occurs when, because of the shaking, water-saturated granular material temporarily loses its strength and transforms from a solid to a liquid. Soil liquefaction may cause rigid structures, as buildings or bridges, to tilt or sink into the liquefied deposits.
Tsunamis Undersea earthquakes and earthquake-triggered landslides into the sea, can cause Tsunamis. See, for example, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Human impacts Earthquakes may result in disease, lack of basic necessities, loss of life, higher insurance premiums, general property damage, road and bridge damage, and collapse of buildings or destabilization of the base of buildings which may lead to collapse in future earthquakes.

Mechanical and Chemical Weathering

Since igneous rocks form at high temperatures, and under pressure conditions ranging from one to several atmospheres. However, the conditions at the Earth's surface are somewhat different than the conditions at which most rocks and minerals form. Therefore, the materials are no longer at equilibrium when they are exposed to surface conditions. Under these conditions, there is a tendency for all ordered systems to seek lower levels of energy or order. This is all done through weathering

Weathering - the disintegration and decomposition of rock at or near the surface of the earth. It affects the rocks in place and no transport is involved. This distinguishes weathering from erosion.
Mechanical/physical weathering - physical disintegration of a rock into smaller fragments, each with the same properties as the original. Occurs mainly by temperature and pressure changes.

A. Physical or mechanical weathering

Frost wedging - water expands when it freezes

Exfoliation or unloading

rock breaks off into leaves or sheets along joints which parallel the ground surface; caused by expansion of rock due to uplift and erosion; removal of pressure of deep burial;

Thermal expansion repeated daily heating and cooling of rock;

heat causes expansion; cooling causes contraction. different minerals expand and contract at different rates causing stresses along mineral boundaries.

B. Chemical weathering

Rock reacts with water, gases and solutions (may be acidic); will add or remove elements from minerals.

Dissolution (or solution)

Several common minerals dissolve in water

halite calcite

Limestone and marble contain calcite and are soluble in acidic water

Marble tombstones and carvings are particularly susceptible to chemical weathering by dissolution. Note that the urn and tops of ledges are heavily weathered, but the inscriptions are somewhat sheltered and remain legible.

Caves and caverns typically form in limestone speleothems are cave formations
speleothems are made of calcite form a rock called travertine *stalactites - hang from ceiling
*stalagmites - on the ground

Karst topography forms on limestone terrain and is characterized by: caves/caverns, sinkholes, disappearing streams, springs

Oxidation Oxygen combines with iron-bearing silicate minerals causing "rusting"

olivine pyroxene amphibole biotite limonite hematite goethite

Iron oxides are produced

Iron oxides are red, orange, or brown in color Mafic rocks such as basalt (which may contain olivine, pyroxene, or amphibole) weather by oxidation to an orange color "Georgia Red Clay" derives its color from the oxidation of iron bearing minerals

Hydrolysis

Silicate minerals weather by hydrolysis to form CLAY. Feldspar alters to clay (kaolinite) plus dissolved materials (ions)

Feldspars are stable at high temperatures and pressures (but not at the temperatures and pressures of the Earth's surface) Clays are stable under conditions at the Earth's surface Feldspars and clays are similar in composition. Feldspar readily alters to clay when in contact with acid and water.

Iron-bearing silicate minerals weather to form clays by hydrolysis (in addition to iron oxides)

C. Biological weathering

Organisms can assist in breaking down rock into sediment or soil

Roots of trees and other plants Lichens, fungi, and other micro-organisms Animals (including humans)

Soils and Soil Formation

Dependence of weathering type on the mean temperature and annual rainfall. Weathering rates depend on the composition of the rock, temperature range and rainfall amount. Weathering produces soils. Soils may or may not remain in place, and any soil may be a combination of residual and transported material.

Residual soil: Remains in place; has not been transported (gruss). Transported soil: Transported by wind or water and deposited

A complete soil profile will have the following components: O horizon: Organic debris and leaf litter on the surface. A horizon: Topsoil - leaching, water movement down, Organic and Mineral material transported downward.

B horizon: Subsoil - accumulation of dissolved material and fine clays, hardpan.

C horizon: Partially altered parent rock material.

Bedrock: Unweathered parent rock material.

These horizons are not present in all soil profiles. In areas of rapid erosion, B & C may be present or C only. In some areas no soil profile will develop at all.

Factors in Soil Formation Climate: The greater the rainfall amount, the more rapid the rate of erosion and leaching. Laterites form in humid climates where only Al2O3 (Bauxite) and Fe(OH)3 remain. Topography: The steeper the surface slope, the more likely any eroded material is to be transported out of the system.

Parent Material: Granites are more resistant to weathering than gabbros. Sandstones are more resistant to weathering than limestones in humid climates, but limestones are more resistant than sandstones in arid climates. Plant and Animal activity: Plant and animal activity produces humic acids that are powerful erosion agents. Plants can physically erode as well as chemically erode. Plants stabilize soil profiles, Animals (including man) tend to destabilize the soil profile, increasing erosion.

Time: Reaction rates are slow, the longer a rock unit has been exposed, the more likely it is to be weathered.
These factors can be remembered by the acronym ClORPT - Climate, Organic activity (plants and animals), Relief (topography), Parent material, and Time.

END OF PRESENTATION

COPYRIGHT BY DR. TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 2007