Posted on 06/11/2014 8:28:03 PM PDT by JimSEA
Measuring the size or strength of natural events has always been a challenge for natural scientists. They developed the Richter Magnitude scale to estimate the amount of energy released by an earthquake, the Saffir-Simpson scale to estimate a hurricane's potential, and the Fujita scale for rating the intensity of hurricanes. These scales are valuable for comparing different events and for understanding the amount of damage that events of different size can cause.
Measuring the strength of a volcanic eruption is more challenging than collecting wind speed data or measuring ground motion with an instrument. Volcanic eruptions produce different types of products, have different durations and develop in different ways. There is also a problem that some eruptions are explosive (rock materials are blasted from the vent), while other eruptions are effusive (molten rock flows from the vent).
(Excerpt) Read more at geology.com ...
/johnny
The surface of the Earth is peppered with volcanoes. There are massive magma movements beneath a resilient semi-solid crust that is constantly on the move. One might compare it to the surface of a pizza in the oven. There are more volcanoes below the surface of the oceans than there are on land. We don’t necessarily even know when some of them explode. However, they change the landscape radically.
Yellowstone could go off, and the land contours of the continent would change.
All true, are they not ?
So... I wonder why scientists are trying to convince us that the oceans are rising or falling (I guess that depends on where you take your measurements)?
The place I’m watching just now is the Great African Rift, Afar region where some 500 cu. miles of magma is quite neat the surface. We knew very little about this until recently. For obvious reasons, this is a difficult area to study. The human remains folk go in with armed guards to protect a small area.
That place is a wonder, biologically speaking. Tectonically, too, to make the biology so weird and wonderful.
/johnny
Absolutely!! That is really spooky to me anyhow. I’d love to go there for a look (a brief one that is).
Another area is basically a crater cone with a plateau in the center, surrounded by a river... really weird geography, and it affects the animals and people that live there.
Boundary areas are bizarre.
Rift valley in Africa is strange and wonderful.
Russia has similar topography, including semi-active areas where steam and poisonous gas still vent.
We live in a wonderful, complex world.
God must have known that we would be curious.
/johnny
There’s enough to keep me looking for several lifetimes.
/johnny
It could also be a rating scale for heartburn inducing meals.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.