Course: Extreme Geological Events

So far we’ve considered earthquakes, but what about the most extreme version, so called megaquakes. In this course we define extreme events by how frequent they have occurred relative to …

At the start of the course, we introduced the concept of hazard and risk when looking at the Mount Etna eruption of 2017. The hazard that Mount Etna presents are …

In this activity, we’ve looked at extreme events that occurred in the distant past, in some cases before humans were around to witness them. How civilisations understood and described extreme …

We’ve considered the story of the geologist J Harlen Bretz and discussed why he wasn’t believed and how he was eventually able to convince people. Not only is this a …

In this video, Dr Dan Hobley explains the story of how evidence for the Missoula megaflood was discovered. J Harlen Bretz became interested in Eastern Washington State in 1910 when …

One way in which extreme events have been discovered is through myths or the narratives and traditional stories of cultures and peoples. This is based on the thinking that if …

This week we will start to look at events from a new viewpoint. In Weeks 1 and 2 we were keen to stress the importance of looking at events over …

This week we’ve seen extreme versions of four types of events; earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and floods The regular versions of these events will have probably been well known to …

The Missoula floods, sometimes called the Spokane or Bretz floods, are probably the classic example of megafloods. They provide us with an excellent example of how megafloods have caused significant …

In this video, Dr Dan Hobley explains the difference between floods and megafloods. Megafloods are caused by something entirely different than regular floods. Regular floods are caused by rainfall whereas …

We’ve heard about the devastating consequences of tsunamis, but now we’re going to consider the impacts of a megatsunami. In the previous video, we considered the difference between what causes …

In this video, Dr Claire Earlie explains the difference between a tsunami and megatsunami. When looking at the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami we again pose the question; what is regular …

Tsunamis are a regular event on our planet and can have devastating consequences. The International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC) is responsible for monitoring international tsunami warning activities in the Pacific …

As we saw in Week 1, volcanic eruptions played a big role in escaping Snowball Earth as they pump CO2 and other volatiles in the atmosphere. They can have important …