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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This page was last reviewed on 3/8/01.