List of Catastrophes for EART 80A Term Paper
Topics
Extraterrestial Events:
- Meteor Crater, Arizona, USA, 40,000 yrs b.p.
- Tunguska Comet Explosion, Siberia, 1908
Huge blast devastates extensive forest
- Supernova 1987a
First supernova observed sinced 1604
- Tycho's Star, 1572
Supernova that erodes earth centered cosmos ideas
- Shoemaker-Levy 9- Impacts on Jupiter, 1995
- Discovery of New planetary systems, 1995
Extinctions
- Permian-Triassic
The Great Death, almost all life goes under
- Cretaceous-Tertiary
Volcanoes or Bolides, what did in the dinos?
- South American Land Bridge-Tertiary
Continental collision wipes out S. American faunas
Volcanic Eruptions
- Tambora, Indonesia, 1815 Largest eruption in historic
times
- Krakatau, Indonesia, 1883
Loudest eruption in historic times, and what a wave!
- Mount Pelee, 1902
nuee ardente; hot rocks
- Mount Vesuvius, Italy, 79 A.D.
Pompeii and Herculaneum become famous
- Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA, 1980
Landslide, explosion, and ash; this event has it all!
- Nevada del Ruiz, Colombia, 1985
Mudslides and failure to heed warnings
- Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, 1991
Massive eruption that was accurately forecast, saving billions
$
- Crater Lake/Mt. Mazama, Oregon, USA, 7000 yrs b.p.
Large volcanic eruption spreads ash over western U.S.
- Long Valley Caldera, CA, USA 700,000 yrs b.p.
Mammoth eruption, produces Bishop tuff. Repeat would do in
U.S.
Earthquakes
- 1960 Chile
The largest event recorded, magnitude 9.5!
- 1964 Alaska
The second-largest event recorded, magnitude 9.4!
- 1906 San Francisco
San Andreas rupture over 400 km long segment
- 1976 Tangshan, China
250,000 people killed in one minute
- 1811-1812 New Madrid, MO
They changed the course of the Mississippi river!
- 1923 Kanto, Japan
Great fire kills 100,000
- 1872 Owens Valley, CA
8.2 event helps the Sierra Nevada go up
- 1886 Charleston, SC
Massive east-coast event! Why?
- 1956 Hegben Lake
earthquake begats avalanche, begats flood!
- 1992 Landers/Big Bear
Largest California event in 40 years
- 1985 Mexico earthquake
100 miles from destruction in Mexico City
- 1989 Loma Prieta, Santa Cruz Mountains
magnitude 6.9 causes $10 billion in damage
- 1994 Northridge, LA basin
magnitude 6.7 causes $30 billion in damage
- 1995 Kobe, Japan
magnitude 6.2 causes $100 billion in damage!
- 1993 Killari, India
rare mid-plate event devastates towns
- 1992 Nicaragua,
gentle event barely rattles windows, then 30 foot wave hits
- 1992 Mendocino earthquakes
at triple junction of 3 plates!
Hydrological/Climatic Events
- Bonneville Flood, Utak USA, 15 kyrs b.p.
Mammoth flood into Snake River
- Missoula Floods, Lake Missoula, Idaho/Wash, USA
Creates scablands with largest floods known
- 1982 El Nino, Santa Cruz CA
floods, debris flows, and Love Creek slide; local effects
- Hurricane Hugo, SE US, 1990
it was a big one!
- Hurricane Gilbert, Sept. 1988
Another big one!
- Hurricane Andrew, 1992
Massive damage in S.E. U.S.
- Hurricane Iniki, Sept. 1992
Devastates the Garden Isle of Kauai
- 1995 Salinas Floods
Largest local floods in 100 years
- 1985 Ohio-Pennsylvania Tornado Swarm
Hundreds of twisters!
- San Joaquin dust storm, 1977
100-200 mph winds erode the valley
- Yellow River levee failures, 1938
Human-induced floods in warfare
- SanOsceola mudflow, Tacoma, WA
Prehistoric mudflow from Mt. Rainier to Tacoma
- Big Thompson Flash Flood, CO 1976
Big Thompson Canyon, Estes Park wash away
- Gros Ventre Landslide, Wyoming, 1925
Slide creates lake, which then floods out
- Huascaran Landslide
Killer slide in Peru
OTHER
- Nyos lake gas poisoning
volcanic lake in the Cameroon lets out a deadly stench
- Russell fjord flood, Alaska
Glacially dammed fjord with freshwater cap fails in flood
- Global Warming
carbon dioxide release is heating up the planet?
- Ozone Hole
CFC's are going to give us all a sunburn!
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