Lesson 1 – Tectonic Hazards Distribution
The Earth is structured like an onion, in
layers.
Tectonic Hazards can either be seismic or volcanic. The location of these
is far from random
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, Volcanoes
- Volcanoes are less densely distributed than earthquakes. This is
because there needs to be some kind of melting of the mantle
occurring or a route for the magma to travel.
- The majority of volcanoes occur along plate boundaries
- About 70% of all active volcanoes can be found along the ‘Ring of
Fire’ in the Pacific Ocean
- Some volcanic activity can occur near the centre of some plates
(hotspots) where plumes of magma rise up, such as in Hawaii.
However, they occur more strictly on boundaries with less intra-
plate distribution.
Earthquakes
- Earthquake distribution is much wider globally than Volcanoes and
Tsunamis because in any plate movement direction compressional
or tension forces can be built up and released.
- The main earthquake zones are often in clusters along plate
boundaries
- About 90% of all earthquakes are associated with convergent or
conservative boundaries
- There is a belt of tectonic activity along the oceanic fracture zone
(OFZ) – a belt of activity through oceans along mid-ocean ridges
- There is a belt of tectonic activity along the continental fracture
zone (CFZ) – a belt of volcanic activity following the mountain
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