EOSC 114 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1&2: Latent Heat, Return Period, Gorky Motorcycle Plant

• School: UBC
• Department: Earth and Ocean Sciences
• Course: EOSC 114
• Professor: Sarah Bean Sherman

Document Summary

Density is mass/volume, or how much mass fits into a space. Density relates to stratification because less dense materials float on top of denser materials; therefore, the atmosphere, the ocean and the earth are all layered in terms of density. Explain why disaster scales are based on the order-of-magnitude concept, and interpret graphs with logarithmic scales. Disaster scales are based on the order-of-magnitude concept because the power indicates intensity of the disaster. Graphs are interpreted with logarithmic scales because most of the graph is off the scale if we use an exponential curve; a log graph is much nicer. Relate natural disaster risk and intensity to frequency, return period and consequences (costs). More intense disasters occur less frequently, less intense disasters occur more frequently. The return period, or rp, is the average number of years between disaster events of the same magnitude (m). Rp(m) = (time span of data)/(# of cases of mag.