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So I was bored today, so when i am bored, I like to choose random science topics to research. I love sceince and seeing how things happen, and why. Nature and mans affect on and with it are amazing..
ugh, I can not edit my next comment. -_-
I moved sinkholes to the end of this comment. Instead, here is directory to the different subjects:
2/23/2014 #1 Sinkholes – This comment
4/21/2014 #2 Volcanoes – http://windstoneeditions.com/forum/science-topics-volcanoes-32114#comment-844004
5/23/2014 #3 Hurricanes – http://windstoneeditions.com/forum/science-topics-hurricanes-52314#comment-846413
6/19/2014 #4 Ocean Trenches-http://windstoneeditions.com/forum/science-topics-hurricanes-52314#comment-848429 (poorly written)
Today’s subject: Sinkholes and wow, I never knew half of these! So for those who like science and other random things, here is some stuff. I’d love some links to other stuff like this! Always so many topics to look at.. maybe I’ll look at thunderstorms next..
What are sinkholes?
A sinkhole, also known as a sink-hole,[1] sink, swallow hole, shakehole,[2] swallet or doline, is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. Some are caused by karst processes—for example, the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks[3] or suffosion processes.[4]
Sinkholes may vary in size from 1 to 600 m (3.3 to 2,000 ft) both in diameter and depth, and vary in form from soil-lined bowls to bedrock-edged chasms. Sinkholes may be formed gradually or suddenly, and are found worldwide. The different terms for sinkholes are often used interchangeably(from wikipedia)
Why do they happen?
There are two basic kinds. One is called a cover-subsidence sinkhole. You find these in places like the Shenandoah Valley, or in sandier soils where you’ve got a void underground. As the soil above transports itself into that cave in the rock, the ground slowly subsides. So it’s not catastrophic. It subsides over time. It could be over years; it could be over hundreds of thousands of years.The other kind is what we call a cover-collapse sinkhole. This is the one that makes the news. It tends to occur in clay, because clay holds soil together like glue. As with cover subsidence, soil is leaching into a cave below, but it creates a void in the soil that moves upward. You can’t see it on the surface. Then, all of a sudden, the bridge over top of that void can’t hold anymore and it collapses
Some famous sinkholes:
Sinkhole in Daisetta Texas
Winterpark FL
Blue Hole, Belize
Holes created by man:
The Lake Peigneur Sinkhole- A big drill and a big oops, I would say!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlrGkeOzsI
The New Guatemala City Sinkhole
Recently married to the ever lovable BiPolarBear (little John)
www.weaselsoneasels.com | www.facebook.com/weaselsoneaselsAs seen on This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN (2018) !
Always open for pyo commissions, repairs and fine artwork! Email me for current prices! awier(@)weaselsoneasels.comWell! You sure find interesting things when you’re bored.
The Lake Peigneur Sinkhole story is both disturbing and marvellous.
Thanks for sharing these storie and photos. I learned a lot this afternoon.
Life is beautiful.
They have got to be scarier than anything.It is happening in the bayou country too.
Every act matters.No matter how small💞
(Wanted......Brimstone Lap)
Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.Hah! I live about 10-15 miles from the Winter Park sink, and I remember when it happened. There are still several Porsches somewhere on the bottom. (it swallowed a garage, amongst other businesses and a chunk of busy Fairbanks Ave.) It’s a park with an innocent looking lake now.
Most of the naturally occurring lakes/ponds here in Central Florida; most (and there are a LOT) are old sinks. We get lots of sinks in general; Florida is nothing but a limestone spine with a high aquifer filling its numerous caverns and spaces- anything that causes the water table to change (like sucking out too much water for the overdevelopment) often results in the collapse of a cavern whose roof was supported by that water. Many though are small, and don’t eat city blocks and result in deep lakes.
There was one near Tampa last year or the year before- it occurred a bit after 11PM under a house whose family was asleep; one man’s bedroom went in and they never were able to recover his body. There were some pictures of part of the mattress sticking out of the side of the sink’s wall. They happen that fast and with that little warning sometimes.Edit I just watched the Lake Piegneur O.o. There was a lake in Orlando about 5 years ago that was eaten by a sink opening up underneath it. Sucked up all the water and left a bunch of dead fish and a little hole in the ground.
Edited the thread. Now it is open for random science topic discussion. Ya know, anything you may think is interesting, if you like research like me. For those who do not like to research, just browse if ya want to, or feel like learning something. You never know, you might find something interesting that you want to learn more about.
I’ll gladly research any topics somebody may be interested in. Feel free to comment with some or any topics you are curious, I’ll do my best to find it, and I love doing that kinda stuff anyways!
Recently married to the ever lovable BiPolarBear (little John)
www.weaselsoneasels.com | www.facebook.com/weaselsoneaselsAs seen on This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN (2018) !
Always open for pyo commissions, repairs and fine artwork! Email me for current prices! awier(@)weaselsoneasels.comI will do one topic each month. These are open for discussion. 🙂
Also would anybody prefer one of these specific topics next?
-Thunderstorms
-Hurricanes
-Ocean currents
-Bermuda Triangle( s )
-Flight Dynamics (what makes a plane and birds fly)
Just a few ideas
Recently married to the ever lovable BiPolarBear (little John)
www.weaselsoneasels.com | www.facebook.com/weaselsoneaselsAs seen on This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN (2018) !
Always open for pyo commissions, repairs and fine artwork! Email me for current prices! awier(@)weaselsoneasels.comGosh darn autofill…
Volcanoes
Tonight’s topic is volcanoes. When asked what a volcanoe is, most people would probably think of Mt. St. Helens or the volcanoes in Hawaii, I am sure many of you know what volcanoes are: large gaping explosive holes full of magma. Though you may not know it, these only brush the surface of what volcanoes actually are, how they behave and what causes them. Here are some things you may not know about volcanoes:
NOTE: This consists of information compiled of online articles and personal knowledge drilled in to my brain from when I took Earth Science in 9th grade. This was a senior class that I managed to convince the councilor to let me join. I was the only student to finish with a grade above a c+. I aced the class and still have a fluent love for the science of volcanic activity. About 70% was from basic knowledge with reinforce researched definitions. This is very long and has quite a few pictures and a small video at the end. Enjoy!
First, What is a volcano?
Volcanoes are awesome manifestations of the fiery power contained deep within the Earth. These formations are essentially vents on the Earth’s surface where molten rock, debris, and gases from the planet’s interior are emitted.
When thick magma and large amounts of gas build up under the surface, eruptions can be explosive, expelling lava, rocks and ash into the air. Less gas and more viscous magma usually mean a less dramatic eruption, often causing streams of lava to ooze from the vent.
1. There are actually many different kinds of volcanoes:
There many different types of volcanoes, all with their characteristics and properties. Some of the differing types include: Shield Volcanoes, Cinder cones, Lava domes and Composite volcanoes are a few types that you will find on the surface.
Shield Volcano:
Shield volcanoes are named for their long, shallow sloping sides. These volcanoes are generally no so explosive and one of the calmest types of volcanoes. This does mean that they are not dangerous as any volcanoes carries the capacity to form destructive and violent eruptions. Shield volcanoes slowly build over time as lava, known as magma on the surface, flows gently and freely along surface in throught the volcanoes through constant and/or periodic eruptions.
Cinder Cones:
Cinder cones are named for the ash filled and explosive eruptions and can be much more explosion-happy than shield volcanoes. Volcanic cones or cinder cones result from eruptions of mostly small pieces of scoria and pyroclastics (both resemble cinders, hence the name of this volcano type) that build up around the vent. These can be relatively short-lived eruptions that produce a cone-shaped hill perhaps 30 to 400 meters high. Most cinder cones erupt only once. Cinder cones may form as flank vents on larger volcanoes, or occur on their own.
Composite Volcanoes:
Stratovolcanoes or composite volcanoes are tall conical mountains composed of lava flows and other ejecta in alternate layers, the strata that give rise to the name. Stratovolcanoes are also known as composite volcanoes, created from several structures during different kinds of eruptions. Strato/composite volcanoes are made of cinders, ash and lava. Cinders and ash pile on top of each other, lava flows on top of the ash, where it cools and hardens, and then the process begins again. Classic examples include Mt. Fuji in Japan, Mayon Volcano in the Philippines, and Mount Vesuvius and Stromboli in Italy.
Throughout recorded history, ash produced by the explosive eruption of stratovolcanoes has posed the greatest hazard to civilizations as compared to other types of volcanoes. Shield volcanos have smaller pressure buildup from the underlying lava flow as compared to stratovolcanoes
Mount St Helens is a well known Composite volcano:
Lava domes:
Lava domes are built by slow eruptions of highly viscous lavas. They are sometimes formed within the crater of a previous volcanic eruption (as in Mount Saint Helens), but can also form independently, as in the case of Lassen Peak. Like stratovolcanoes, they can produce violent, explosive eruptions, but their lavas generally do not flow far from the originating vent
However, not all types of volcanoes are on the surface of the earth. There are many vast volcanic networks underneath the choppy, salty waves of the earth’s oceans. These types of volcanoes include undersea vents and submarine volcanoes.
Volcanoes can even be found underneath glaciers and in cracks in the earths surface known as fissures.
2. Just as there are different kinds of volcanoes, there are different types of magma and eruptions.
Two types of lava are named according to the surface texture: ʻAʻa (pronounced [ˈʔaʔa]) and pāhoehoe ([paːˈho.eˈho.e]), both Hawaiian words. ʻAʻa is characterized by a rough, clinkery surface and is the typical texture of viscous lava flows. However, even basaltic or mafic flows can be erupted as ʻaʻa flows, particularly if the eruption rate is high and the slope is steep.
Pāhoehoe is characterized by its smooth and often ropey or wrinkly surface and is generally formed from more fluid lava flows. Usually, only mafic flows will erupt as pāhoehoe, since they often erupt at higher temperatures or have the proper chemical make-up to allow them to flow with greater fluidity.
Not all volcanic eruptions are explosive. When most people think volcanoes, the first thing they think of is Mt. St Helen’s or Mt. Pinatubo. Most volcanic eruptions consist of slow volcanic flow, much of it occurring underground and through volcanic tubes underneath the surface of volcanoes slowly build the slopes over time. This is very often seen in shield volcanoes and lava domes. Composite cones also very commonly produce this type of eruption pattern.
3. 90% of volcanoes are located in the pacific ocean along a boundary of tectonic plates called the “Ring of Fire”.
Most volcanoes lay along the boundaries of tectonic plates. So what is a Tectonic plate? Tectonic plates are large plates in the crust of the earths surface. As plates float across the molten mantel of the earth, they rub and press against each other. These plates boundaries are where magma is often pushed from under the crust seeping from the mantel below and onto the crust of the earth. This is what forms volcanoes. One of the largest plates, know as the pacific plates has a very large collection of volcanic activity along its boundaries leading the it’s name.
4. Not all volcanoes are located on tectonic plates.
Even though the majority of volcanoes are found lining tectonic plates, many are found in the middle of them. These volcanoes are called hot spots, holes and vents in the middle of plates that have high volcanic activity and may erupt continuously. The Hawaiian islands and Yellowstone are both common know examples of hot spots.
“Hotspots” is the name given to volcanic provinces postulated to be formed by mantle plumes. These are postulated to comprise columns of hot material that rise from the core-mantle boundary. They are suggested to be hot, causing large-volume melting, and to be fixed in space. Because the tectonic plates move across them, each volcano becomes dormant after a while and a new volcano is then formed as the plate shifts over the postulated plume. The Hawaiian Islands have been suggested to have been formed in such a manner, as well as the Snake River Plain, with the Yellowstone Caldera being the part of the North American plate currently above the hot spot.
5. Not all volcanoes are active
In fact there are actually three different classifications of volcanic activity: Active, dormant and extinct.
There is no consensus among volcanologists on how to define an “active” volcano. The lifespan of a volcano can vary from months to several million years, making such a distinction sometimes meaningless when compared to the lifespans of humans or even civilizations. For example, many of Earth’s volcanoes have erupted dozens of times in the past few thousand years but are not currently showing signs of eruption.
Extinct volcanoes are those that scientists consider unlikely to erupt again, because the volcano no longer has a magma supply. Examples of extinct volcanoes are many volcanoes on the Hawaiian – Emperor seamount chain in the Pacific Ocean, Hohentwiel, Shiprock and the Zuidwal volcano in the Netherlands. Edinburgh Castle in Scotland is famously located atop an extinct volcano. Otherwise, whether a volcano is truly extinct is often difficult to determine. Since “supervolcano” calderas can have eruptive lifespans sometimes measured in millions of years, a caldera that has not produced an eruption in tens of thousands of years is likely to be considered dormant instead of extinct. Some volcanologists refer to extinct volcanoes as inactive, though the term is now more commonly used for dormant volcanoes once thought to be extinct.
It is difficult to distinguish an extinct volcano from a dormant (inactive) one. Volcanoes are often considered to be extinct if there are no written records of its activity. Nevertheless, volcanoes may remain dormant for a long period of time. For example, Yellowstone has a repose/recharge period of around 700,000 years, and Toba of around 380,000 years.[13] Vesuvius was described by Roman writers as having been covered with gardens and vineyards before its eruption of AD 79, which destroyed the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Before its catastrophic eruption of 1991, Pinatubo was an inconspicuous volcano, unknown to most people in the surrounding areas. Two other examples are the long-dormant Soufrière Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat, thought to be extinct before activity resumed in 1995 and Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska, which, before its September 2006 eruption, had not erupted since before 8000 BC and had long been thought to be extinct.
Common Volcanic Terminology:
Pyroclastic Flow:
Pyroclastic flow is a large cloud of ash and burning hot volcanic ashes and rock spewing and blowing down the side if a volcanic eruption. These are very often found with violent, explosive eruptions and can travel up to 450 mph reaching temperatures of up to 1,830 *F.
Acid Rain:
Acid rain is formed when the acidic ash clouds spewing from the tops of erupting volcanoes mix with moisture and cloud formations. As the particals become heavy and rain begins to fall, the acidic ash mixes with the moisture forming a highly acidic rain that can be devastating on the environment, crops and urban areas.Acid Lakes:
Lakes covering active (fumarolic) volcanic vents are sometimes known as volcanic lakes, and the water within them is often acidic, saturated with volcanic gases, and cloudy with a strong greenish color. For example the crater lake of Kawah Ijen in Indonesia has a pH of under 0.5.
Pummice:
Pummice is rough, often light, holey stone thrown from the mouths of erupting volcanoes. Pumice is created when super-heated, highly pressurized rock is violently ejected from a volcano. The unusual foamy configuration of pumice happens because of simultaneous rapid cooling and rapid depressurization.
Obsidian (black or volcanic glass):
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.
It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth. Obsidian is commonly found within the margins of rhyolitic lava flows known as obsidian flows, where the chemical composition (high silica content) induces a high viscosity and polymerization degree of the lavaVent:
A vent is an opening or fissure found around and on the surfaces of volcanoes that often release pressurized gases trapped under the surfaces of volcanoes. Lava can often be seen pouring from these vents, and they may run over the tops of lava tubes.
Lava Tubes
A lava tube is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava which moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. Tubes can be actively draining lava from a volcano during an eruption, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long, cave-like channel.Magma:
Magma is liquid, molten rock found underneath the earths surface. The upper mantel consists of magma.
Lava:
Lava is another term for magma that is often associated with magma that is flowing on or dierectly below the surface of the ground.Volcanic eruption from a satellite view:
http://www.livescience.com/42978-volcanic-eruption-snapped-from-space-new-video-visualization.html
Thanks for reading! Any feedback greatly welcomed and I will happily accept any researched topics one may interested in! Just PM me if interested!
CREDITS
wikipedia
nat geo
USGS
And a few others I forgetRecently married to the ever lovable BiPolarBear (little John)
www.weaselsoneasels.com | www.facebook.com/weaselsoneaselsAs seen on This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN (2018) !
Always open for pyo commissions, repairs and fine artwork! Email me for current prices! awier(@)weaselsoneasels.comCool, I have to go back and read what you posted above. I am always trying to learn about new things myself. I once went to Bermuda when I worked on cruise ships and they were talking about the Bermuda Triangle so I researched it after that although that was a few years ago so any of your ideas above could be cool to post about.
Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!
I love the science of volcanoes but damn, they creep me out! Even though I’m an outdoorsman and a hiker, the fact that Yellowstone is a super volcano is such a big turn off of me that I probably will not ever go there. I live in British Columbia which is technically within the ring of fire but luckily for my peace of mind, it seems to be one of the only parts of the ring of fire without actual volcanoes. We’ve a bunch of extinct ones – there’s several within a hundred kilometres of me – but they are REALLY extinct. There’s no lava flowing through them any more. Thank goodness.
I know the likelihood of Yellowstone blowing its top in our life time is slim to none and that the majority of volcanoes in North America are safe 99.9% of the time but I still feel no desire to go anywhere near them haha. It’s why I moved from the west coast too – I don’t want to mess with tectonic plates either. One good snap and – woo! An earthquake and a tsunami takes out a lot of Vancouver! No thanks.
But the interior of British Columbia has its hazards too – potentially disastrous summer wild fires are common, just like in California. One came within fourteen kilometres of my house once! It seems like every geographical region has its own possible natural disaster. 🙂 Fascinating stuff!
Check out my finished artwork at http://falcolf.deviantart.com/ and my sketch/studio blog at http://rosannapbrost.tumblr.com/
Excellent!
Lol, not to spook ya, but isn’t that what they said about Mt St Helens?
Just curious, is it possible to create a poll on a thread like they did for quest 11?
Recently married to the ever lovable BiPolarBear (little John)
www.weaselsoneasels.com | www.facebook.com/weaselsoneaselsAs seen on This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN (2018) !
Always open for pyo commissions, repairs and fine artwork! Email me for current prices! awier(@)weaselsoneasels.comMt St Helens is known to be active since 35,000 years ago – at best it was dormant before the 1980 eruption…The volcanoes of British Columbia have a different origin (continental rifting vs subdubtiing ocean plates) than Mt St Helens and only three of the hundred or so volcanoes have been active in the last 360 years, so they are probably safe (many of them only had one eruption). However, since the source of the volcanism is still active in British Columbia, there is a risk of new volcanoes appearing…Happy nightmares! J) (I live in Southern California and get to deal with earthquake fears – last week we had a 4.4 magnitude quake, no biggie. However, that quake had a 5% chance of being a foreshock for the “Big One” in the first hour after the quake and I spent a few nervous minutes watching my hanging lamps for signs of a larger quake starting….)
Woops! Forgot April! (april fools anyone?) I will continuing later this month with the subject “Hurricanes and Typhoons” unless someone requests a different topic. 🙂
Recently married to the ever lovable BiPolarBear (little John)
www.weaselsoneasels.com | www.facebook.com/weaselsoneaselsAs seen on This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN (2018) !
Always open for pyo commissions, repairs and fine artwork! Email me for current prices! awier(@)weaselsoneasels.comThis is a cool thread. Can’t believe I didn’t see it before. Yay! Some interesting reading to do tonight. I love to learn about deep ocean and outer space topics. Although, sometimes it can be a double edge sword. The things distance stars and even our own sun can do to the Earth at anytime…eeeep! :~
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