links between hazardous earth + earths life support systems

Question 1

carbon cycle + volcanoes

Answer 1

volcanic eruptions produce huge amounts of CO2 from ash clouds etc -> greenhouse gases trap heat radiated from earth’s surface = increased atmospheric temp
-> volcanoes emit avg 260 mill metric tonnes of CO2 per year

Question 2

carbon cycle + landslides

Answer 2

landslides + lahars decrease the biomass with their forces + decrease carbon stored in the lithosphere

Question 3

carbon cycle + super volcanoes

Answer 3

eg Yellowstone release huge ash clouds, decrease sunlight, decrease photosynthesis and increase CO2

Question 4

water cycle + liquefaction

Answer 4

affects water table as sediments below, temporarily lose their strength + behave as viscous liquids rather than a solid
-> 1995 Kobe earthquake

Question 5

water cycle + lahars and landslides

Answer 5

increase floods eg Merapi which increases water table

landslides increase run off rates

they reduce tree cover, decreasing evapotranspiration + interception thus increasing flooding

Question 6

water cycle + ash clouds

Answer 6

they attract water particles means more clouds + intense rainfall is localised, more precipitation, more run off

Question 7

however, weaker links

Answer 7

• likely to be on a local scale thus impact not always global
• natural events are part of global system eg natural hazards
• natural systems cannot be influenced (to an extent) by human activity so need to mitigate against impacts
• humans produce 100x more co2

Question 8

volcanoes + water vapour

Answer 8

intense heating underground evaporates underground water stores + increases pressure -> results in steam eruptions (phreatic eruptions)
water is transferred from ground water stores into atmosphere
-> 7.8% of gases released are water vapour
-> Japan, Ontake - couldn’t predict it, steam was on the move

Question 9

ash + water cycle

Answer 9

high amounts of ash can block out sunlight, low amounts of sunlight can reduce rates of photosynthesis + NPP rates fall
eg 1883 Krakatoa

Question 10

carbon in soils + volcanoes

Answer 10

carbon stored in rocks in slow carbon cycle is melted due to high temps due to tectonic activity + carbon is transferred into atmospheric stores during volcanic eruption