COURSE OBJECTIVES:
The course Geohazards aims to educate students about geological processes that pose a danger or threat (hazard), and how such processes may affect people and their activities in a world that is increasingly facing complex environmental problems. Students will become aware of the consequences of geological hazards on human lives and property, as well as their broader socio-economic effects. The frequency and spatial occurrence of specific geohazards will be discussed, as well as their mechanisms, anthropogenic impact, associated risks, and mitigation measures. Students will gain the basic knowledge necessary for many modern practical applications, such as risk assessment, spatial planning, and the preparation of environmental impact studies.
COURSE CONTENT:
LECTURES AND SEMINARS
1) Introduction to geological hazards (natural and anthropogenic hazards, disasters, risk, vulnerability, hazard and risk assessment, effects of hazard processes, classification of geological hazards, roles and responsibilities of scientists, local government, and population/individuals). These aspects are considered for each type of geological hazard throughout the semester;
2) Earthquakes (earthquake physics, types of earthquakes and seismic waves, earthquake measurement, effects of earthquakes, role of terrain structure, examples);
3) Earthquakes (seismic hazard and risk, earthquake prediction, earthquakes in Croatia, appropriate actions before, during, and after earthquakes, examples);
4) Slope processes (causes, triggers, and types of slope processes, types and elements of landslides, rockfalls, types of sediment flow, effects of slope processes, prediction and assessment of hazards and risks, slope processes in Croatia, protection measures, examples);
5) Subsidence (causes of subsidence, rapid subsidence and sinkholes, slow subsidence and hydrocompaction, sinking cities, effects of subsidence, prediction and reduction of subsidence risk, examples);
6) Floods (general characteristics of river systems and drainage basins, water level and discharge, causes, types and effects of floods, floods in Croatia, flood prediction, flood protection measures, examples);
7) Volcanic hazards (magma and lava, pyroclasts, pyroclastic flows, gases, volcanic ash, causes of volcanism, types of volcanic eruptions, types of volcanoes, examples);
8) Volcanic hazards (effects of volcanic eruptions, supervolcanoes and their effects, prediction of volcanic eruptions, control and mitigation of volcanic and supervolcanic hazards and risks, examples);
9) Impacts (impactors, types of impacts - terrestrial, marine, and atmospheric; impact craters, frequency and effects of impacts, risk assessment, prediction and warning, examples);
10) Tsunamis (physical properties of tsunamis, causes of tsunamis, megatsunamis, tsunamis in the Adriatic Sea, effects of tsunamis, measurement of tsunamis, control and mitigation, tsunami protection measures, examples);
11) Coastal hazards (coastal processes, waves, longshore currents, storms, sea-level changes, types, causes and effects of coastal hazards, coastal hazards in Croatia, coastal erosion, protection measures, soil salinization, examples);
12) Wind and deflation, hazards related to the transport and deposition of sand and dust;
13-15) Student presentations on selected geohazard topics.
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Geological Hazards: their assesment, avoidance and mitigation, F.G. Bell, Geological Hazards: their assessment, avoidance and mitigation (CRC Press, 2003), F.G. Bell, CRC Press, 2003.
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Environmental Hazards: Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster, K. Smith, Environmental Hazards: Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster (Routledge, London, 2001), K. Smith, Routledge, London, 2001.
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Pristupačnost
