19 End Pages
Glossary on Geohazards
In this section, we have presented a list of terms related to geohazards and attempted to provide explanation to them. These terms are collected from various sources not limited to but inclusive of those listed in references. While we thank the sources for their permission to utilize this valuable information, we undertake that the correctness of the terminologies and their meaning is the sole responsibility of the authors alone and not necessarily that of sources.
Accelerograph : Name of an instrument that records the vibrations of earth surface.
Accretionary wedge : Pile of sediments accumulated in subduction zones located between collisional margin of oceanic and continental plates.
Acid rain : Meteoric precipitation with dissolved components drawn from atmospheric pollutants. By dissolving gaseous materials present in atmosphere supplied by automobile, domestic, industrial and other sources, the rainwater becomes weak carbonic acid, nitric acid and sulphuric acid and affects the natural environments.
Active volcano : A volcano, which is currently erupting or has erupted in recorded history.
Active fault : Faults are considered to be active if they have moved during historic times or showing recent evidences of movement along fault plane and or generating seismicity.
Active Beach : Dynamic portion of beach that shows changes in terms of profile, morphology and sediment quantity and texture. Changes may be at the scale of daily, diurnal, seasonal or annual. Waves, tides and currents may effect changes.
Aftershock : Earthquakes that follow the largest shock of seismic activity. They are smaller than the “mainshock” in terms of magnitude and intensity. Minor seismic vibrations that precede major shock are termed “foreshock”.
Agglomerate : Consolidated pyroclastic deposit composed of volcanic fragments and bombs.
Aggradation : It is the process of accumulation of sediment to cause surface elevation and or morphological change of depositional topography/landscape.
Alluvium : Sediment deposits accumulated during since ice age principally under the influence of rivers along channel course during normal flow and all over flood plain during flooding events. Although sediment size varies as a function of sediment load, carrying capacity and energy conditions, a general decrease is discernible from channel bank to regions far away.
Amplification : Response of earth materials depending on their density to the impending seismic waves. It is dependent on intensity and duration of shaking, topography of the region, geometry and velocity structure of rock types, etc.
Glossary on Geohazards
In this section, we have presented a list of terms related to geohazards and attempted to provide explanation to them. These terms are collected from various sources not limited to but inclusive of those listed in references. While we thank the sources for their permission to utilize this valuable information, we undertake that the correctness of the terminologies and their meaning is the sole responsibility of the authors alone and not necessarily that of sources.
Accelerograph : Name of an instrument that records the vibrations of earth surface.
Accretionary wedge : Pile of sediments accumulated in subduction zones located between collisional margin of oceanic and continental plates.
Acid rain : Meteoric precipitation with dissolved components drawn from atmospheric pollutants. By dissolving gaseous materials present in atmosphere supplied by automobile, domestic, industrial and other sources, the rainwater becomes weak carbonic acid, nitric acid and sulphuric acid and affects the natural environments.
Active volcano : A volcano, which is currently erupting or has erupted in recorded history.
Active fault : Faults are considered to be active if they have moved during historic times or showing recent evidences of movement along fault plane and or generating seismicity.
Active Beach : Dynamic portion of beach that shows changes in terms of profile, morphology and sediment quantity and texture. Changes may be at the scale of daily, diurnal, seasonal or annual. Waves, tides and currents may effect changes.
Aftershock : Earthquakes that follow the largest shock of seismic activity. They are smaller than the “mainshock” in terms of magnitude and intensity. Minor seismic vibrations that precede major shock are termed “foreshock”.
Agglomerate : Consolidated pyroclastic deposit composed of volcanic fragments and bombs.
Aggradation : It is the process of accumulation of sediment to cause surface elevation and or morphological change of depositional topography/landscape.
Alluvium : Sediment deposits accumulated during since ice age principally under the influence of rivers along channel course during normal flow and all over flood plain during flooding events. Although sediment size varies as a function of sediment load, carrying capacity and energy conditions, a general decrease is discernible from channel bank to regions far away.
Amplification : Response of earth materials depending on their density to the impending seismic waves. It is dependent on intensity and duration of shaking, topography of the region, geometry and velocity structure of rock types, etc.