Violent Earth - Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Mudslides, Tsunamis

VIOLENT smithsonian VIOLENT ROBERT DINWIDDIE SIMON LAMB ROSS REYNOLDS LONDON, NEW YORK, MELBOURNE, MUNICH AND DELHI CONTENTS Smithsonian consultants Paul Kimberly, Dr Don E Wilson, Dr M G (Jerry) Harasewych Editorial consultant David Rothery Project editors Nicola Hodgson, Scarlett O’Hara Project art editors Mandy Earey, Richard Horsford, Clare Marshall Editors Shaila Brown, Jenny Finch, Wendy Horobin, Ashwin Khurana Designers Daniela Boraschi, Vicky Short US editors Shannon Beatty, Rebecca Warren Picture researchers Myriam Megharbi, Roland and Sarah Smithies Illustrators Peter Bull Art Studio, Barry Croucher/The Art Agency, Mike Garland, Mick Posen/The Art Agency Cartography Encompass Graphics Ltd, Simon Mumford Production editor John Goldsmid Production controller Erica Pepe Managing editor Julie Ferris Managing art editor Owen Peyton Jones Associate publishing director Liz Wheeler Art director Phil Ormerod Publishing director Jonathan Metcalf DK INDIA Editorial manager Rohan Sinha Senior editors Kingshuk Ghoshal, Garima Sharma Editors Megha Gupta, Shatarupa Chaudhuri, Samira Sood Design consultant Shefali Upadhyay Design manager Arunesh Talapatra Senior designer Sudakshina Basu Designers Arijit Ganguly, Amit Malhotra, Nidhi Mehra, Kavita Dutta, Zaurin Thoidingjam Production manager Pankaj Sharma DTP manager Balwant Singh DTP designers Nand Kishor Acharya, Bimlesh Tiwary First American Edition, 2011 Published in the United States by DK Publishing, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 11 12 13 14 15 10 001—178093—Oct/2011 Copyright © 2011 Dorling Kindersley Limited All rights reserved Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 978-0-7566-8685-7 DK books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use For details, contact: DK Publishing Special Markets, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 or SpecialSales@dk.com Printed and bound in China by LEO Discover more at www.dk.com THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Established in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution—the world’s largest museum and research complex—includes 19 museums and galleries and the National Zoological Park The total number of objects, works of art, and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collections is estimated at 137 million, the bulk of which is contained in the National Museum of Natural History, which holds more than 126 million specimens and objects The Smithsonian is a renowned research center, dedicated to public education, national service, and scholarship in the arts, sciences, and history The Urals Transantarctic Mountains DYNAMIC PLANET Earth’s origin First land and oceans Earth’s structure The core and mantle Earth’s outer shell Tectonic plates Development of modern landmasses Earth’s plates today Plate boundaries Hotspots Geothermal energy Measuring plate movements The geologic time scale 10 12 14 16 20 22 26 28 32 34 36 40 MOUNTAIN BUILDING Mountains of the world The roots of mountains How mountains form Mountains on the move Lifecycle of mountains Himalayas The Southern Alps The Andes Transverse Ranges Basin and Range The Rockies East African Rift The Alps 44 46 48 50 52 56 58 60 62 66 68 70 74 76 80 VOLCANOES What is a volcano? The world’s volcanoes Volcanic eruptions Eruption types Volcano types Lava Aerial products Pyroclastic flows and surges Volcanic mudflows Continental volcanic arcs Volcanic island arcs Volcanic island chains Shield volcanoes Cinder cones Stratovolcanoes Etna Merapi eruption 2010 Calderas Supervolcanoes Maars Exploding lakes Tuff rings and cones Lava domes and spines Volcanic fields Volcanic complexes Fissure eruptions Hawaiian-style eruptions 84 86 88 90 94 96 100 102 106 108 110 112 114 116 120 122 124 126 128 130 132 134 136 138 140 142 144 Strombolian eruptions Vulcanian eruptions Peléan eruptions Plinian eruptions Vesuvius Novarupta 1912 Mount St Helens Phreatic eruptions Subglacial volcanoes Eyjafjallajökull Antarctic volcanoes African Rift volcanoes Nyiragongo disaster Volcanic remnants Monitoring volcanoes Living with volcanoes Volcanic hot springs Fumaroles Geysers Mud volcanoes The Lusi disaster 148 150 152 154 156 158 160 164 166 168 172 174 176 178 180 182 186 188 192 196 198 EARTHQUAKES What is an earthquake? Earthquake zones Causes of earthquakes Haiti 2010 Movements and faults Measuring earthquakes Subduction earthquakes Concepción 2010 202 204 206 208 210 212 216 218 Sichuan, China 2008 Strike-slip earthquakes Izmit 1999 Christchurch 2011 Seismic destruction Bam 2003 Quake-triggered landslides Living with earthquakes RESTLESS OCEANS How an ocean originates The ocean floor Sea floor tectonics Subsea smokers Submarine volcanoes Ephemeral islands Surtsey 1963 Atolls, seamounts, and guyots Rogue waves and extreme tides Tsunamis Indian Ocean tsunami 2004 Japanese tsunami 2011 220 224 226 228 232 234 236 238 242 244 246 250 252 254 256 258 260 262 264 266 EXTREME WEATHER What is weather? Global pressure Winds around the world Fronts and jet streams 272 274 276 278 Precipitation El Niño and La Niña Queensland floods 2010 Monsoons Pakistan floods 2010 Tropical cyclones Cyclone Nargis 2008 Hurricane Katrina 2005 Extratropical cyclones The Perfect Storm 1991 Snowstorms and blizzards Galtür avalanche 1999 Ice storms Thunderstorms Tornadoes Oklahoma 1999 Sandstorms and dust storms Chinese dust storm 2010 Wildfires Black Saturday bushfires 2009 Climate change 280 284 286 288 290 292 296 298 302 304 306 308 310 312 318 320 324 326 328 330 332 REFERENCE Earth Mountains Oceans Volcanoes Earthquakes Weather Glossary Index 336 338 339 340 342 344 346 349 DYNAMIC PLANET