Human impact on natural processes. Caused by human activity Explain how minerals differ from rocks

Remember

• Why are earthquakes and volcanic eruptions dangerous for humans? Why do these dangerous phenomena occur most often in the mountains? What minerals do you know? Give examples of solid, liquid and gaseous minerals.

How does the earth's crust affect a person. The earth's crust is a stone foundation that is necessary for human existence. People settle and manage, adapting to the relief. On the plains it is easier to build buildings and roads, to Agriculture, so 8/10 of the total population of the planet lives on the plains. Only 1% of humanity lives in the mountains above 2000 m above sea level.

Terrible and destructive natural phenomena are often observed in the mountains, complicating human life. These are not only earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, which you already know about, but also collapses, landslides (Fig. 75, 76).

Rice. 75. Crash

A collapse is a separation from steep slopes and a collapse down of huge masses rocks.

The causes of collapses and landslides can be both natural (earthquakes, erosion of slopes) and anthropogenic (construction of heavy buildings, laying roads, destruction of vegetation on slopes). Landslides and landslides occur suddenly and often lead to great destruction and loss of life.

Mountain landslides often dam rivers that overflow and form lakes. So in the Pamir Mountains, Lake Sarez was formed, and in the Caucasus - Lake Ritsa.

Due to the difficult terrain, harsh climate and dangerous natural phenomena cities and industrial enterprises in the mountains are located at altitudes up to 1500 m above sea level. Above, people are engaged only in agriculture and mining. Picturesque areas of high mountains are used for mountaineering and skiing.

Rice. 76. Landslide

A landslide is the sliding of rocks down slopes.

How does one intervene in life? earth's crust . Human activity is increasingly affecting the earth's crust. Mining has the biggest impact. Like any rocks, minerals are sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. Accumulations of minerals in the earth's crust form deposits. Deposits of sedimentary minerals (coal, oil, gas, salt) are confined to the plains. Igneous minerals, such as non-ferrous metal ores, are formed most often in mountains.

Rice. 77. Oil and gas production

Minerals are extracted from the subsoil in various ways. Oil and gas are extracted through wells (Fig. 77), solid minerals - in mines (Fig. 78). For the extraction of many minerals, open pits are arranged. But mining in them is possible only where minerals do not lie very deep from the surface.

Open pits, mines and underground structures create large voids. They upset the balance of the earth's crust and cause subsidence and collapse of the earth's surface. Subsidence of the earth's crust also occurs under growing cities, especially large ones. Buildings in cities press the surface of the earth. The speed of artificial subsidence is commensurate with the speed of natural vertical movements of the earth's crust and even exceeds it. So, some parts of Tokyo (Japan) fall by 20 cm per year, and Mexico City (Mexico) even by 30 cm.

Rice. 78. Mining in a mine

The mine is a very expensive building. It is difficult for people to work underground.

Large dams and reservoirs created during the construction of hydroelectric power plants also put enormous pressure on the surface. Due to these loads, mobility increases earth layers and artificial earthquakes occur. They are noted in many countries - Italy, France, Russia.

During mining and construction work, a huge mass of rocks is extracted from the bowels of the Earth - 20 tons per inhabitant of the planet per year. After the processing of minerals, waste rock is poured onto the surface. This is how artificial mountains are formed - dumps and waste heaps (Fig. 79). They disfigure the surface and pollute the surrounding area.

Rice. 79. Formation of dumps and waste heaps

The wind raises dust over dumps and waste heaps. This dust sometimes contains toxic substances. People living nearby often suffer from chronic diseases.

To reduce the damage to nature, rocks extracted from the depths must be used. Recycling waste is much more profitable than putting it in dumps. Rocks from dumps serve building material, they fall asleep ravines and quarries.

In terms of its scale, human impact on the earth's crust is already comparable to natural processes. To prevent the adverse consequences of economic activity, the earth's crust must be protected in the same way as other natural objects.

Questions and tasks

1. Give examples of destructive, unfavorable natural phenomena in the earth's crust.
2. How are minerals extracted from the earth's crust? Does it harm the environment?
3. Can human activity be considered a geological force?
4. What types of economic activities that affect the earth's crust are carried out in your area?

Final questions and tasks

Performance plan

1. The name of the landform.
2. Geographical position:
   1. in what part of the country is it located;
   2. what other major forms it borders on;
   3. how it is located relative to the seas and large rivers;
   4. between what meridians and parallels is located;
   5. in what direction it stretches and for what distance (how many kilometers).
3. Main properties:
   1. what absolute height it has and to which height group it belongs;
   2. in what direction is it decreasing (increasing);
   3. the highest (lowest) point of the surface, its name and geographic coordinates.
4. Peculiarities economic use: the presence of settlements, roads, minerals.
5. Surface disturbances caused by human activities.
1. Draw a schematic cross-section of the floor of any ocean of your choice. On the section, draw the main landforms and sign the names of those that are indicated on the map of the hemispheres.
2. Tell us about the phenomena that occur in the earth's crust and on its surface under the influence of human activity.

Now man in the biosphere is new force, a new factor For example, due to the work of thousands of radio stations, television transmitters, relay, etc. The Earth radiates more energy in the radio range (at meter wavelengths x) than the Sun. Today, as a result of human activity, about 50,000 varieties of chemicals that are completely uncharacteristic of nature have entered the biosphere. According to V. I. Vernadsky, human influence on the biosphere can be reduced to the following main forms:

The change in the structure of the earth's surface is due to the plowing of the steppes, deforestation, the creation of artificial reservoirs, etc.;

Changes in the composition of the biosphere, cycles and the balance of substances that make up it, is a consequence of the extraction of minerals from the bowels, emissions of various harmful substances into the atmosphere and water bodies and so on. For example, human extraction of energy resources leads to disturbance of soils, vegetation, pollution of water bodies and the atmosphere;

As a result of violent human activity, changes in the energy balance of individual regions of the globe occur, which are dangerous for the entire planet;

Significant changes in biota occur as a result of the destruction of some species, the creation of new breeds of animals and plant varieties, and their movement to new places of residence.

Table. Possible consequences anthropogenic-technogenic human impact on the biosphere.

Anthropogenic factors

Biosphere

Human

Changing the properties of the main elements of the biosphere

Geophysical and geochemical implications and effects

Ecological consequences of ecosystem disturbance

Impact on human health

Social Consequences

Emissions into the biosphere of chemically and physically active substances

Changes in the composition and properties of the atmosphere

Atmospheric and oceanic circulation changes

Changes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, violation of their stability

Performance deterioration

Changes in food production

Emissions into the biosphere of inert material

Changes in the composition and properties of land waters

Weather and climate change

Changing ocean ecosystems

Aesthetic damage, mood deterioration

Changing the structure of energy consumption

Direct biosphere heating

Changes in the composition and properties of the waters of the World Ocean

Redistribution and change of water and climate resources

Genetic Effects

Illness, stress

Changing the economy

Physical impact (urbanization, plowing, erosion, fire)

Changing the state of the biota

Deterioration of the ozone layer, ionosphere

The disappearance of existing species and the emergence of new ones

Genetic Effects

The possibility of disrupting the development of society

Biological impact (development of agrocenoses, introduction of species, etc.)

Changes in the lithosphere (mechanical disturbances, waste accumulation)

Change in the transparency of the atmosphere, deterioration in the passage of solar radiation

Decline in bioproductivity, population decline, forest degradation, etc.

Decreased life expectancy

Withdrawal and destruction of resources (renewable and non-renewable)

Cryosphere changes

Erosion and change in the albedo of the earth's surface

Soil degradation, desertification

Decline in population growth

Anthropogenic flows of matter (transport)

Changes in land surface and soil properties

Violation of natural geochemical cycles, cycles of various elements

Change in the ability of the biosphere to produce resources, depletion of non-renewable resources

Population decline at different scales

The most characteristic features of modern anthropogenic transformations on the scale of the biosphere are: deforestation, plowing, various types of soil erosion, desertification of vast territories; depletion of species diversity of plants and animals; eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems due to surface runoff from contaminated areas; technogenic pollution of surface and groundwater, etc. In the historical aspect, anthropogenic transformations of the biosphere can be chronologically divided into the following stages:

First stage - initial- the stage of the initial impact on the number of individuals of certain plant and animal species, used by man to satisfy his vital needs, it lasted tens of thousands of years, and began over 40-50 thousand years BC - in the Upper Neolithic.

Second phase - continental- the stage of gradual increase in the influence of production activities on the structure of populations of exploited plant and animal species, as well as on the biogeocenotic cover of land due to the development of hunting, fishing, cattle breeding, agriculture and various crafts, its duration - several millennia - from the Bronze Age (4-2 millennia BC) to the industrial revolution at the end of the 18th century.

Third stage - oceanic- the stage of rapid and significant transformation of the "film of life" in connection with the development of the machine industry, communications, transport, mining, urbanization, agriculture, etc., its duration did not exceed 150-170 years and occupied the gap between the industrial revolution and the scientific technical revolution in the 1950s.

Fourth stage - global- the stage that began after the scientific and technological revolution, which led to the production of machines and mechanisms of a new generation. This made it possible to manufacture huge stocks of thermonuclear weapons, explore space and deep layers of the lithosphere, curb various human diseases, and also caused significant pollution natural environment synthetic toxic substances, heavy and metals, radionuclides, carcinogens, etc. On the other hand, this is also the deployment phase international cooperation on the protection of the environment, the gene pool and biological diversity of the Earth, the management of global and demographic, socio-economic, environmental and other processes. It was at this stage that the biosphere, according to V. I. Vernadsky, passed into the noospheric stage of its development.

Fifth stage - space(founded at the end of the 20th century) - the stage of structural and functional changes in the biosphere Humanity not only continues the intensive exploitation of biotic resources and beneficial functions of ecosystems, it begins to directly affect the functional indicators of the biosphere due to space pollution, the destruction of the ozone screen, the creation of a greenhouse effect and transforms film of life" into an object of direct industrial use without taking into account its defining organizational role in the biosphere. The most important problem of the global plan is to ensure sustainable development and effective management of ecological, economic and other processes. This is the stage when human production activity goes beyond the biosphere.

Now man has a variety of means of influencing the structural and functional organization of the biosphere and its subordinate ecosystems within their homeostasis. This is manifested, for example, in deforestation, shooting of game animals, procurement of medicinal raw materials, etc. A person is able to modify or even rebuild the regulatory mechanisms of these ecosystems, for example, to cross beneficial species and form artificial populations, change dominant species in ecosystems, etc. In addition, man has learned to create artificial living systems - rice fields in steppe zone, space laboratories for the existence of living beings in outer space. But these systems can function only if man artificially maintains the appropriate conditions for the existence of biota.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

State educational institution

Higher professional education

ORENBURG STATE UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Geology and Geography

Department of Geology

COURSE WORK

In the discipline "General Geology"

And its consequences

Orenburg 2007

Introduction

Fundamentals of the scientific worldview

Geological human activity

The science of human geological activity

What is technogenesis

Change in the structure of the earth's crust

Impact of mining and technical activities

Combined impact of engineering and construction and mining activities

Technogenesis management

Human strength

Human-technique system

Science - a guide to action

Limited technogenesis

Management principles

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

Formation of human self-consciousness

The Lower (Early) Paleolithic left very few traces of human geological activity: mainly isolated processed stones. These tools serve as a source of information - not always understood by us - about the labor activity, thinking and lifestyle of the most ancient people.

By the end of the Lower Paleolithic, stone axes were made, which could be used as an ax, saw, scraper.

Judging by the remains of animal bones - products of hunting - there was often a very narrow specialization of tribes that hunted almost exclusively mammoths, or reindeer, or wild donkeys, or bison. The reason for specialization is the peculiarities of equipment adapted for a certain production.

A person imagined in advance the field of activity where the manufactured tool would find application, understood the usefulness of a stone tool, its durability. But man's thought did not go further than the immediate goals, connected mainly with the extraction of food.

The Neanderthal influenced (sometimes significantly) the species composition and abundance of animals. He has not yet made any noticeable geological transformations, however, he appreciated the meaning and usefulness of tools and labor skills.

The appearance of Cro-Magnon man 30-40 thousand years ago, anatomically similar to us, is associated with a new stage in the development of civilization. The time has come for man to touch the stars with his thought and feel the underground depths under his feet.

Behind the visible phenomena of the world, a person began to imagine implicit images, essences, relationships.

Primitive man, feeling his dependence on the outside world, also understood his ability to actively invade this world, showing will, skill, knowledge, spiritual and physical strength.

The Late Paleolithic is the era of the first of the known negative human impacts on nature, caused by the peculiarities of his psyche, his, as they say now, predatory attitude to natural resources. During the excavations of the Amvrosievka site, located in the steppe zone, the remains of teeth killed during hunting were found in such a quantity that clearly exceeded the needs of the tribe: 983 bison with a population of about 100 people in the site.

Cro-Magnon man likened the objects of nature to man (cosmos-megaman), recognizing a spiritual, strong-willed, rational principle behind many natural phenomena.

In the Neolithic, man first appeared as an additive geological force. This was expressed primarily in the diversity and increase in the impact on the environment. Cattle breeding, agriculture, the construction of large settlements - all this, although locally, however, significantly influenced landscapes, forming special ecosystems directly or indirectly related to human activity. Neolithic man processed and moved large stones, built large houses, built piled settlements and the first irrigation systems, mined flint in chalk layers using inclined mines, etc.

Man created new breeds of animals, new varieties of plants, new structures not found in nature. He created a new technogenic world in the ancient world. Man felt the inevitable conflicts between his activities and nature.

In the period of a developed primitive society, magic was considered the best way to control the natural elements.

Neolithic man, who by his real activity achieved tremendous success in restructuring some elements of the environment, began to assume his absolute power over the earthly elements. While steady technological progress continued, ideas about power over nature increasingly came into conflict with facts and led to a deep spiritual crisis.

Pre-scientific ideas about human activities

The appearance of the first "classical" religions dates back to the III-I millennium BC (Sumer, Babylon, Ancient India, Judea, Greece). They are systematized, recognize a higher will that dominates nature; and a man with all his knowledge and technique is assigned a rather modest place in the world.

Characteristic is the reference to those who exalt human activity as the cause, the highest goal of nature or the gods.

Awareness of one's ignorance is, perhaps, the main result of the centuries-old evolution of the religious worldview.

Genetically, people's ideas about the world, of course, were determined by being. In the history of civilizations, this situation has become much more complicated. After all, man began to consciously, purposefully rebuild the surrounding nature, i.e. consciousness began to enter an essential part of human existence and to a large extent determine it. This was clearly shown in Egypt. Majestic pyramids and luxurious burials were caused by the idea of ​​the afterlife. Here, technical activity was clearly determined by the mind, although the mind itself and the cult of ancestors arose in the process of technogenesis.

For many millennia, the technical capabilities of mankind were relatively small.

Greece became a filter that separated philosophy from religion, freed scientific thought from captivity, in which Sumerian, Babylonian and Egyptian priests consciously kept it - a powerful bureaucratic caste that used knowledge as a tool in political, economic, military struggle, turning knowledge into a kind of "military secret". in the name of strengthening his dominance.

Heraclitus wrote about a universal logos that transcends and includes the human mind.

The development of human society took place, according to Democritus, through natural evolution: “... need itself served as a teacher for people in everything, instructing them accordingly in the knowledge of each [thing]. hands and the sharpness of the soul.

The Greek democratic city-states of the classical heyday of ancient philosophy did not cause significant damage to the environment due to their small size, the lack of citizens' desire for luxury, and the insignificant use of the physical strength of slaves. Later, during the period of monarchies, and especially during the time of the Roman Empire, the situation changed dramatically. Cutting down and uprooting forests, draining swamps and irrigating arid lands, building roads and bridges, aqueducts, water pipes, palaces and temples, thermal baths and coliseums, mining building materials and ores - in a word, all forms of implementing the scientific and technological achievements of antiquity reached their peak, taking hypertrophied forms in the Roman Empire, which based its power on military force, discipline, the enslavement of peoples and the widespread use of slave labor. The Roman society of that time can be called the first "consumer society". The crisis of this became at the same time a crisis of the natural environment, which led to desolation of many once flourishing areas.

One can really prove that the world is dominated by the forces of goodness, creation, and order. Indeed, despite all the catastrophes in geological history, living beings as a whole became more complex, mastered the planet, improved their organs and organization, and acquired a brain. All the horrors of human history fade into the background before the technical and spiritual achievements of people.

The activities of mankind were presented in a new light, as a natural process similar to the activities of living beings: “What only our abilities cannot be found in the actions of animals! Is there a more comfortable society with a more diverse distribution of labor and duties, with a more rigid schedule than bees? .. Everything I have said should confirm the similarity between the position of man and the position of animals, linking man with the rest of the mass of living beings ”(M. Montaigne ).

Fundamentals of the scientific worldview

The success of industry contributed to the revival of ideas about the subordination of nature to man.

More popular were the ideas of steady scientific and technological progress, due to which the well-being of people increases, the prerequisites for future fundamental social transformations are created.

C. Montesquieu began to develop the concept of a close organic relationship between nature and society. On the one hand, he emphasized the dependence of human society on natural conditions, believing that the geographical environment largely forms the structure of society. On the other hand, he pointed to the reasonable transformations of nature by man: “Through labor and good laws, people made the Earth more comfortable for living. Rivers flow where there were only lakes and swamps. This is a good that is not created by nature, but is supported by it.

The connection of man with nature was analyzed on the basis of particular examples of the history of individual states and peoples; compared outside the specific social situation of society at various stages of development, having a different class structure, etc. As a result, supposedly objective laws of the process of interaction between man and nature were deduced. Human activity was considered abstractly, as activity in general, and this was also a manifestation of a narrow class approach, leading to the constant substitution of some forms of human activity for others, to the mechanical transfer of the laws of nature into social relations, to the spread of the laws of intrasocial relations to nature. Therefore, a person was considered either the ruler or her slave. Thanks to the development of technology and production, a person gets the opportunity to more fully develop natural resources. "Mass production - cooperation on a large scale with the use of machines - for the first time on a large scale subordinates to the direct process of production the forces of nature: wind, water, steam, electricity, turns them into agents of social labor."

Along with technical progress, the active interaction of man and nature is determined by science, which in this sense turns into the direct productive force of society: “... the development of science, this ideal and at the same time practical wealth, is only one of the sides, one of the forms in which development of human productive forces…”.

Marxism emphasizes the generalized aspect of the problem of the interaction of society with the environment. It raises and resolves the issue on the scale of all mankind, which exchanges substances with nature. It can be said that the planetary (geological) essence of man as a transformer of the environment and as a consumer of natural resources is revealed here. Otherwise it can not be. These are the requirements of the biological nature of man.

Considering particular aspects of human activity, one could limit oneself to planetary scales or the scales of an individual organism. The novelty of Marxist views on the problem of the interaction between man and nature lies precisely in the fact that here such aspects of human activity are revealed that do not fit into the framework of natural science.

So, “history can be considered from two sides, it can be divided into the history of nature and the history of people. However, both these sides are inextricably linked; as long as there are people, the history of nature and the history of people mutually determine each other.

Geological human activity

Within the framework of the topic “Geological activity of man”, let us pay attention to the unconditional recognition by Marxism of constant scientific and technological progress, the creation of ever larger industries. “... The only possible economic basis of socialism,” wrote Lenin, “is a large-scale machine industry.”

Consequently, the scale of human impact on the environment, the scale of its transformation and, taking into account the feedback, the impact of the changed environment on humans should also increase. This harmonious unity, achieved on the basis of science in the absence of antagonistic contradictions within society, will mean that people will approach communism, which "is the true resolution of the contradiction between man and nature, man and man."

Finally, we especially note the extremely important generalization of F. Engels, which directly concerns the geological (planetary) activity of man. Speaking about the transformation of nature, Engels singled out, in addition to purposeful, beneficial changes for humans, unforeseen harmful consequences. He warned man against being carried away by his technical power and “victories” over nature: “Each of these victories has, however, first of all the consequences that we expected, but secondly and thirdly, completely different, unforeseen consequences, which very often destroy the meaning of the former.

The science of human geological activity

Until the 19th century, the topic of "man and nature" was studied almost exclusively within the framework of philosophy. The relevant facts were not systematized. The classification of forms of human impact on nature has not been carried out. Regularities and final results of these influences were not investigated.

Since the middle of the 19th century, since the publication of the works of C. Lyell, D. Page, C. Kingsley and, most importantly, the generalizing monograph by G. Marsh "Man and Nature, or on the Influence of Man on the Change in the Physical and Geographical Conditions of Nature", the problem of geological activities of mankind by the methods of the Earth sciences. Thus, humanity was assigned a place in the series of geological forces as one of the phenomena of nature, although very peculiar in its internal structure, driving forces, etc. True, C. Lyell, classifying the activity of mankind as geological forces, compared the physical capabilities of people with the action of certain natural agents (volcanoes), giving absolute primacy to the latter. Here the excessive "biologism" in the analysis of the problem affected. It was about the biological capabilities of man as one of the animal species, while man is distinguished precisely by the use of tools, that is, technical activity. Therefore, already in the time of Lyell it was possible to compare the results of the planetary technical activity of man with the action of other geological forces in terms of scale.

Of particular note is the book by G. Marsh. The ideas developed in it have received the widest popularity. G. Marsh was the first to speak about the unforeseen harmful consequences of the transformation of the environment. He especially noted the decisive role of the capitalist economic system in the destruction of natural complexes and pollution of water and air. Here is how the author outlined the range of issues raised by him: “The purpose of this book is to indicate the nature and, approximately, the dimensions of the changes made by man in the physical conditions of the planet he inhabits; reveal the dangers of imprudence and the need for caution when it comes to interference on a large scale in the direct orders of the organic or inorganic world; ascertain the possibility and importance of restoring broken orders, as well as the importance and possibility of material improvement in vast depleted countries; and finally, by the way, to clarify the truth that the force manifested by man, both in kind and degree, belongs to a higher order than the forces manifested by other forms of life participating together with man at the feast of generous nature.

The gigantic transformations of nature and the need to use natural resources most fully and with the least harm to oneself raised the question of detailed scientific development of certain aspects of the interaction between society and nature.

In our century, special reports have appeared summarizing information about the geological activity of people on the planet (V.I. Vernadsky, A.E. Fersman, E. Fisher, R. Sherlock). Soviet scientists were the first to study the geochemical features of human activity - the most promising and developed direction of technogeology (this is apparently the name of the doctrine of geological human activity).

Scientists have evaluated the geological activity of man in different aspects. For example, Ch. Kingsley, whose works were of a popular science nature, paid attention primarily to the use of natural building materials by man. A. Findlay and S. Arrhenius wrote about the importance of chemistry in human life, about the synthesis of new materials, preparations, etc. Both of these authors were chemists, far from a global geological approach to human activity. In contrast to them, the English oceanologist D. Merey, describing the spheres of the Earth, emphasized the planetary nature of human activity, transforming and comprehending the world around us with the mind. This idea was later developed by the French scientists E. Le Roy and Teilhard de Chardin, mainly from the point of view of anthropology and philosophy.

Perhaps the most complete works of their time on the geological activity of man belong to the English geologist R. Sherlock and the American geochemist E. Fisher. Thus, R. Sherlock noted that a person, as a result of his labor activity, not only changed his appearance, but actively rebuilt the surrounding nature, adapting it to his needs. In addition, R. Sherlock shrewdly pointed out the human tendency to exaggerate the stability of nature and not to take into account that minor violations of the natural balance (Sherlock called them "small catastrophes") can lead to serious negative consequences. R. Sherlock was one of the first to classify human activity according to the principle of classifying other natural processes, highlighting, in particular, denudation accumulative work

Depending on the level of economic development and social relations, on the historical stage of civilization and the dominant ideology of man, he considers himself either the master of nature or its slave. The formation of such views is influenced by the social structure: in a class society, where there are rigid ties of the type of domination-submission, a similar connection is involuntarily assumed between nature and man. Apparently, at the first stages of the formation of a new social structure, the idea of ​​subordinating nature to man prevails. At this time, new, more powerful tools of labor, more advanced technologies appear, new territories are being developed, new production relations are taking shape. This, one might say, is a heroic period, when a person especially clearly feels his strength and manifests it. More fully mastering natural resources, a person actually knows his power over the surrounding nature. And only later is he destined to feel the sad consequences of the first victories.

The doctrine of the interaction of man and nature, of the geological activity of man is directly connected with our practical activities, with the fate of people and the planet. It began to be developed quite recently, and it obviously has a great future. This is exactly the bridgehead on which the sciences of space, Earth, life, man, and society meet.

What is Technogenesis?

The most diverse activity, usually very active and leading to significant planetary changes, distinguishes all living beings. This is biogenesis, a powerful geological process. As a geological term, "biogenesis" is on a par with such definitions generally accepted by geologists as "hypergenesis", "diagenesis", "halogenesis", etc., as well as with the less commonly used "technogenesis".

As soon as a person began to consciously, purposefully manufacture tools and use them, he began to actively and in his own way transform the environment.

Mankind, on the basis of reason, knowledge and moral and ethical standards, regulates a new geological process - technogenesis.

The term "technogenesis" was first proposed by A.E. Fersman: “By the name of technogenesis, we mean the totality of chemical and technical processes produced by human activity and leading to the redistribution of the chemical masses of the earth's crust. Technogenesis is the geochemical activity of human industry.

Thus,

Technogenesis - the geological activity of mankind, equipped with technology; a purposeful (based on reason, knowledge, scientific achievements, material and spiritual needs, moral and ethical standards) process of restructuring the biosphere, the earth's crust and near-Earth space in the interests of mankind.

The process of technogenesis causes numerous phenomena called technogenic, forms a variety of technogenic objects, and also affects the person himself.

First of all, it must be remembered that technogenesis is the geological activity of man. In other words, it is a manifestation of human activity that actively influences natural conditions and the environment. Man acts here as a geological force.

Geological activity is one of the many functions of mankind. However, it would be false to assert that the geological activity of mankind lies completely outside the plane of social and state relations.

During the First World War, many millions of tons of shells, cartridges, and explosives were used up by the belligerents. Huge masses of soil were dug up during fortification work, embankments, trenches, etc. were built. The microrelief of the area often changed. Geologists refer to similar processes as "military erosion". Its dimensions can be truly global.

Now imagine a geomorphologist who examines traces of military erosion and marks them on the map. It is not at all necessary for him to find out the causes of the war and restore the course of hostilities. He sees the final result of the process and for his special purposes he is forced to confine himself to this. Otherwise, instead of a terrain map, he will create a map of the deployment of troops and combat operations.

Another aspect of global technogenesis associated with social factors. For US industry, there are not enough reserves of atmospheric oxygen produced on the territory of this country. This means that the United States is already using the oxygen reserves of other regions of the globe. A particular manifestation of technogenesis in the capitalist system becomes a global factor, and the shortcomings of capitalism affect the global technogenesis.

Thus, in terms of its inner essence, driving forces, and certain regularities, geological activity under the conditions of the capitalist and socialist economic systems has significant, fundamental differences. But this does not mean that we should limit ourselves to considering two manifestations of technogenesis: under socialism and under capitalism, excluding the problem of global technogenesis.

Modern humanity, divided into states, divided into classes, exists within a single, spatially limited biosphere. The unity of space and time determines the legitimacy of the generalized to technogenesis. This does not mean that in generalization the lines separating the progressive socialist economic system from the capitalist one are inevitably erased and blurred. No, these differences remain. But in relation to the entire biosphere of the Earth, in relation to the geological environment of the Earth, we have the total impact of all existing countries, no matter how good or bad they may be. This, in particular, is seen as one of the serious aspects of the peaceful coexistence of states.

Recently, very often write about the interaction of man and nature in a generalized sense, i.e. we are talking about humanity and the biosphere. The modern scale of technogenesis is truly global! - make such a statement of the question completely legitimate.

Is it possible to classify technogenesis as an objective natural process? Is it right to include technogenesis in the category of geological phenomena?

If we are talking about the process itself, in its inner essence, then, of course, it includes the will and desire of a person and can be programmed, reasonably limited, etc. However, in relation to the environment, man's technical activity develops as an objective process; there are a number of objective laws to which it obeys. Finally, only very recently man began to notice and recognize his geological function (and partly consciously regulate technogenesis), i.e. technogenesis has been developing spontaneously for a million years. We cannot stop it if we are going to continue to live on Earth, using natural resources for our own benefit. But we must learn to manage it. And for this it is necessary to study it in detail and comprehensively.

Change in the structure of the earth's crust

Tectonic phenomena are violations of the natural balance in the structure of the earth's crust. The causes of such violations are very diverse and interrelated. They are mainly due to the action of geophysical and geological forces of both endogenous (internal) and exogenous (external) origin. In recent centuries, the impact of man on the surface of the lithosphere has become so tangible that we now have the right to talk about the appearance of tectonic, which can be called anthropogenic, i.e. created by man. Sometimes disorders develop slowly, over decades, less often centuries. Such processes spread, as a rule, over relatively large areas, covering tens and hundreds of square kilometers and penetrating hundreds of meters deep into the earth's crust. Rapid disturbances last days and months, are most often limited in area, penetrate deep into units, tens and sometimes hundreds of meters. It is also possible to identify the main groups of causes that cause anthropogenic tectonic changes in the earth's crust.

External causes are caused, as a rule, by the impact of surface loads that disturb the natural balance in the underlying earth masses, and are most often created by engineering and construction activities.

Internal causes arise when mineral substances are withdrawn from the bowels. At the same time, the natural balance is also disturbed, mainly of the overlying masses. Such reasons are mainly generated by mining activities.

Complex causes are a combination of external and internal. In this case, the natural balance is disturbed most intensively. There is, as it were, a summation of artificially created processes, caused mainly by mechanical action that violates the original structure of the composition of rocks. In other words, we are talking about changes that could not have occurred without human intervention. Upon closer examination, it is possible to identify elements not only of mechanical action, but also of chemical action, which actively influences the course of these processes.

Impact of engineering and construction activities

This human activity leads to the creation of predominantly external factors, constant variables. They are presented in the form of additional loads on the earth masses and, as a rule, cause disturbances limited in the impact zone.

When buildings, dams and other structures are erected, conditions are created for the emergence of anthropogenic tectonic processes.

Such processes are especially clearly manifested in the rapid disruption of the structure of the earth masses during hydraulic engineering construction. In France in 1878-1881. in the Vosges department, near the city of Epinal, the Buzey dam was erected in order to create a reservoir with a capacity of over 7 million m3. Soon cracks appeared in the dam, and the flow began. And on April 27, 1895, when the water was at its maximum level, a catastrophe occurred. Part of the dam, 181 m long, suddenly capsized. The accident cost the lives of many people and brought great losses. Permeable fractured sandstone lay under the structure. He could not withstand the artificially created external load. If the dam had been built taking into account possible tectonic disturbances and their corresponding warning, this would not have happened.

Thus, a change in the stress state of the earth's crust massifs was observed. Exceeding the critical voltage limit led to catastrophic disturbances such as surface earthquakes. But these are exceptional phenomena. As a rule, external constant loads lead to gradual deformations of the surface sections of the lithosphere.

Urban, especially high-rise, construction creates zones of compression and shear under buildings. The depth of the zones reaches 2-50 m. A sedimentary funnel is formed under each building. The amount of precipitation fluctuates from 0 to 6 m, most often 0.1-0.3 m. Catastrophic consequences occur only in cases where the static load exceeds the compressive strength.

Research confirms that not only individual buildings, but cities as a whole affect the behavior of the upper parts of the earth's crust with their mass. These areas periodically rise and fall, most often due to frost heaving.

Thus, constant surface loads created by engineering and construction activities contribute to a rapid change in the structure of the earth masses in the upper part of the lithosphere. If natural conditions were preserved, such disturbances would be impossible.

It should be noted that these loads can be considered as constant only for non-industrial structures. In most cases, industrial facilities are characterized by the presence of variable loads, which are sometimes not taken into account. For example, vibration. This variety of loads, different in strength and frequency, is created by the work of heavy mechanisms, moving vehicles, explosions, etc. Vibrations are artificial earthquakes of a non-catastrophic nature. They can be the cause of structural disturbances in individual sections of the lithosphere.

Dynamic loads lead to lowering in cities and industrial sites not only of small areas of the surface, but also of larger areas. It has been established that the vibrations of urban transport can penetrate to a depth of up to 70 m. Therefore, in some cities in Holland, houses adjacent to old motorways are inclined towards the highway.

According to C. Terzaghi and R. Peck, the maximum draft occurs at vibration frequencies from 500 to 2500 per minute.

Explosions are used more and more in construction. Their power is growing. One of the largest non-nuclear explosions occurred on April 5, 1958. Between about. Vancouver and Western Canada. Here, in a tunnel dug in a large underwater rock, 1250 tons of explosives were laid. Tremors from the explosion were recorded at a distance of over 1000 km. This shaking of the earth masses has led to the destruction of the original structure of the rocks in the zone, the dimensions of which are very large. Thermonuclear explosive energy is even more effective in its effect. Powerful underground atomic explosions cause seismic vibrations, noted even in remote corners of the globe.

In this regard, it should be emphasized that if for builders the directional ejection of the earth mass is of primary importance in order to create an excavation of a certain size, then for the engineering and geological justification of the feasibility of such measures, an appropriate study of the composition and properties of rocks subject to rapid movement is required.

Thus, disturbances in the near-surface part of the lithosphere as a result of engineering and construction activities, due to their causes and consequences, can be diverse. They should be the object of a special in-depth study.

Impact of mining activities

These activities, which directly affect the subsoil, are usually associated with more complex processes. Under natural conditions, their well-known analogues are disturbances caused by karst phenomena, suffusions, etc., in which dips and subsidence of the earth's surface occur due to the formation of underground voids. Human activity associated with the creation of such voids is primarily manifested in the selection of minerals from the bowels.

Here we are dealing either with artificially created voids during underground mining of solid minerals, or with the consequences of the removal of liquid or gaseous fillers from voids that previously existed in the earth's crust.

Catastrophic failures have also been noted. They were observed in the Long Beach harbor near San Francisco (California) on the third largest US oil structure - Wilmington. By 1957, the area's surface had sunk by almost 8 m. A peculiar elliptical deflection of the area had arisen with axes 10 and 65 km long. Buildings, bridges, roads and industrial facilities collapsed. The damage exceeded 100 million dollars.

The settling rate corresponded to the rate of oil production, the pressure in the operated wells decreased from 150 to 15-22 kgf/cm2. Groundwater was obtained here from a depth of 550 m or less, so it was believed that in this case pumping of water did not have such a significant effect on surface subsidence. Although the coastal region of California is a zone of modern movements of the earth's crust, however, an increase in tectonic movements due to natural factors has not been recorded recently. The reason, of course, lies in the economic activity of man.

This example, which did not take into account the possibility of a total impact on the surface of the Earth, disturbances caused by man and at the same time by natural geological forces.

With enhanced selection of liquid and gaseous minerals, one of the main problems is maintaining the initial pressure in the reservoirs. It contributes to the maximum extraction of the necessary minerals and the preservation of the stable state of certain parts of the earth's crust.

As a result of the artificial release of voids during the exploitation of groundwater, liquid and gaseous minerals occurring, as a rule, in sedimentary rocks, the processes of changing in-situ pressure entail a chain reaction of other disturbances: the thermal, gas and geochemical regime changes in the upper part of the lithosphere.

It has been established that a decrease in the piezometric level of groundwater for every 10 m of the aquifer increases the load of overlying rocks by an average of 1 kgf/cm2.

The most durable rocks. They practically do not shrink. Clay formations, silts, sapropels, peat give large precipitation. Their degree of compaction depends on many factors: age, origin, humidity, etc. Where such rocks occur, the most noticeable subsidence of the surface is noted - tectonic disturbances associated with human economic activity.

Combined impact of engineering and construction and mining activities

Man influences the near-surface part of the lithosphere most often bilaterally. Where he is engaged in engineering and construction activities, subsoil is often exploited. This is especially true for mining areas. The undermining of built-up territories sometimes forces the transfer of settlements, and sometimes cities, to new places or raises the question of stopping the extraction of minerals.

Near-surface areas on the territory of such large settlements can be deformed due to a number of reasons. This is the extraction of building minerals and the construction of underground structures, lowering the level of groundwater during water supply, compression and loosening of earth masses under the influence of drainage and moisture or decomposition of organic substances, the amount of which is constantly increasing in the so-called cultural deposits.

Most of these causes lead to the lowering of built-up areas. The situation is aggravated by the fact that deformations do not occur simultaneously. According to the degree of impact, the main causes of violations can be identified.

Lowering of the level of free-flowing and pressure-bearing aquifers in urban areas. The radius of precipitation here reaches thousands of meters. The resulting local subsidence tend to merge and become regional, as water consumption is constantly increasing.

Globalization of social, cultural, economic and political processes in modern world. Global problems. Elements of the ecological crisis.

Characteristics of the essence of dynamics and types of stability: inertial, resistant (elastic), adaptive or adaptations (tolerance, tolerance, plasticity). Landscape succession. History and directions of anthropogenization of the landscape sphere of the Earth.

The landscape, according to the modern view, performs environment-forming, resource-containing and resource-reproducing functions. Natural resource potential landscape is a measure of the possible performance of these functions. Human impact on landscapes.

It can be argued that hydrogeology is the most ecologically oriented area of ​​the Earth sciences. A typical example in this respect is the problem of substantiating the quality of groundwater.

Statement of the question Ecology, and, accordingly, aspects of environmental hazard, are usually considered within the framework of biospheric processes in their interaction with man and his activities.

Historical geology is a branch of geological sciences, where the geological past of the Earth is considered in chronological order. Formation of historical geology in the 18th century. Development of geology at the present stage: stratigraphy, paleogeography and tectonics.

The place of ecological geology in the system of sciences, its tasks solved with the help of various methods. Special methods of ecological geology. Ecological and geological mapping, modeling, monitoring. Functional analysis of ecological and geological conditions.

Causes and classification, examples and forecast of earthquakes. Denudation, volcanic, tectonic earthquakes. Seaquakes, the formation of formidable sea waves - tsunamis. Establishment of observation points for precursors in seismically hazardous areas.

One of the most impressive examples of sedimentary rock can be seen in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, where brightly colored rocks are stacked layer upon layer, with millions of years of geological history in between.

And many smaller lakes. Vegetation is characterized by altitudinal zonality.

1. Geological structure and relief

The Andes consist mainly of submeridional parallel ridges - the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes (or Cordillera Oriental), the Central Cordillera of the Andes (or Cordillera Central), the Western Cordillera of the Andes (or Cordillera Occidental), the Coastal Cordillera of the Andes (or coastal range), between which lie internal plateaus and plateaus (total - Puna, its part in Bolivia and Peru is called the Altiplano) and depressions. Through the considerable length of the Andes, their individual landscape parts differ significantly from each other. By the nature of the relief and other natural differences, three main regions are usually distinguished - Northern, Central And Southern Andes.

Andes - revived mountains created by the latest uplifts on the site of the so-called Andean (Cordillera) folded geosynclinal belt; The Andes are one of the largest Alpine folding systems on the planet (on the Paleozoic and partially Baikal folded basement). The mountain system is characterized by troughs, which were formed during the Triassic period, subsequently filled with layers of sedimentary and volcanic rocks of considerable thickness. Large arrays The main Cordillera and the coast of Chile, like the Coast Range of Peru, are Cretaceous granitic intrusions. Intermountain and marginal troughs (Altiplano, Maracaibo, etc.) formed in Paleogene and Neogene times. Tectonic movements, accompanied by seismic and volcanic activity, continue in our time.

1.1. Northern Andes

The main system of the Andes consists of parallel ridges stretching in the meridional direction, separated by internal plateaus or depressions. Only the Caribbean Andes, located within Venezuela, which belong to the Northern Andes, stretch sublatitudinally along the Caribbean coast. This is a young and relatively low section of the Andes (up to 2765 m). The northern Andes also include the Ecuadorian Andes (in Ecuador) and the Northwestern Andes (in western Venezuela and Colombia). The highest ridges of the Northern Andes have small modern glaciers, and eternal snows on volcanic cones. The islands of Aruba, Bonheur and Curaçao in the Caribbean are the peaks of the continuation of the Caribbean Andes, sinking into the sea.

In the Northwestern Andes, which fan out to the north from 1 w. sh., there are three main Cordillera (mountain ranges) - Eastern, Central and Western. All of them are high, sloping and have a structure of deep folds. They are characterized by faults, uplifts and subsidences of modern times. The main Cordilleras are separated by large depressions - the valleys of the rivers Magdalena and Kauki - Pati.

The Eastern Cordillera has the highest height in its northeastern part (Mount Ritacuba Blanco, 5493 m) in the center of the Eastern Cordillera - an ancient lake plateau (prevailing heights - 2.5 - 2.7 thousand m) for the Eastern Cordillera, large surfaces are generally characteristic alignment. There are numerous glaciers in the highlands. In the north of the Eastern Cordillera, the Cordillera de Merida ridges (the highest point is Mount Pico Bolívar, 5007 m) and the Sierra de Perija (reaches a height of 3540 m) continue, between these ridges in a vast low-lying depression lies Lake Maracaibo. In the far north - the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta massif with altitudes up to 5800 m (Mount Cristobal Colon).

The valley of the Magdalena River separates the Eastern Cordillera from the Central Cordillera, which is relatively narrow and high; in the Central Cordillera (especially in its southern part) there are many volcanoes (Huila, 5750 m; Ruiz, 5321 m, etc.), some of which are active (Kumbal, 4890 m). To the north, the Cordillera Central declines somewhat and forms the Antioquia massif, heavily dissected by river valleys. The Western Cordillera, separated from the Central by the Cauca River Valley, has lower elevations (up to 4200 m) in the south of the Western Cordillera - still active volcanism. Further to the west is the low (up to 1810 m) ridge Serrania de Baudo, passing in the north into the mountains of Panama. To the north and west of the Northwest Andes - Caribbean and Pacific alluvial lowlands.

To the south is a wide part of the Andes - the Central Andiysk Highlands (width up to 750 km), where arid geomorphological processes predominate. A significant part of the highlands is occupied by the Puna plateau, often identified with the entire highlands, with heights of 3.5 - 4.8 thousand meters. Puna is characterized by drainless basins ("Bolson"), occupied by lakes (Titicaca, Poopo and others) and salt marshes (Atacama , Koipas, Uyuni, etc.). Between the Altiplano plateau (northern part of Pugni) and the Cordillera Real, at an altitude of 3700 m, is the city of La Paz, one of the capitals of Bolivia, the highest mountain capital in the world.

To the east of the Cordillera Real - subandyan folded ridges of the Eastern Cordillera, reaching up to 23 S.l. The southern extension of the Cordillera Real is the Central Cordillera, as well as several rock masses (the highest point is Mount El Libertador or Cachi, 6380 m). From the west, Pune is framed by the Western Cordillera with intrusive peaks and numerous volcanic peaks (Lullyaillaco, 6739 m; San Pedro, 6145 m; City, 5821 m; etc.), which are part of the second volcanic region of the Andes. South of 19 S the western slopes of the Western Cordillera go to the tectonic depression of the longitudinal valley, the south of which is occupied by the Atacama Desert. Along the longitudinal valley - low (up to 1500 m) intrusive Coastal Cordillera, which is characterized by arid sculptural forms of relief.

In Pune and in the western part of the Central Andes there is a very high snow line (in some places above 6500 m), therefore snow is noted only on high volcanic cones, and there are glaciers only in the Ojos del Salado massif (up to 6880 m high).

1.3. Southern Andes

Andes near the Argentine-Chile border

In the Southern Andes, which stretch south of 28 S, there are two parts - the northern (Chile-Argentine or Subtropical Andes) and the southern (Patagonian Andes). In the Chilean-Argentine Andes, tapering to the south and reaching 39 41 "S, a pronounced three-member structure - Coastal Range, Longitudinal Valley and Main Cordillera. Within the latter, also known as the Cordillera Front, is the highest peak of the Andes, Mount Aconcagua (6962 m), as well as the significant peaks of Tupungato (6570 m) and Mercedario (6720 m).The snow line here is very high (under 32 40 S - 6000 m).East of the Main Cordillera - the ancient Precordillera.South of 33 south latitude (and up to 52 south latitude) is the third volcanic region of the Andes, where there are many active volcanoes(mainly in the Main Cordillera and to the west of it) and extinct (Tupungato, Maipo, etc.).

When moving south, the snow line gradually decreases and about 41 S.l. reaches a mark of 1460 m. High ridges acquire the features of an alpine type, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern glaciation increases, and numerous glacial lakes appear. South of 40 S the Patagonian Andes begin with lower than in the Chilean-Argentine Andes, ridges (the highest point is Mount San Valentin - 4058 m) and active volcanism in the north. In the area of ​​Reloncawi Bay, about 42 S.l. the heavily dissected Coastal Range plunges into the ocean, and its peaks form a chain of rocky islands and archipelagos (the largest is the island of Chiloe). The longitudinal valley turns into a system of channels, reaching the western part of the Strait of Magellan.

In the region of the Strait of Magellan, the Andes (here called the Andes of Tierra del Fuego) deviate sharply to the east. In the Patagonian Andes, the height of the snow line barely exceeds 1500 m (in the extreme south it is 500-700 m, and from 46 30 S glaciers descend to ocean level), glacial landforms predominate. South of 47 S there was a powerful Patagonian ice sheet, which is now split into two, with a total area of ​​​​more than 20 thousand km, from where many kilometers of ice descend to the west and east glacial tongues. Some of the valley glaciers on the eastern slopes end in large lakes. Along the coast, heavily indented by fjords, young volcanic cones rise (Corcovado and others). The Andes of Tierra del Fuego are relatively low (up to 2469 m).

2. Climate

2.1. Northern Andes

The northern part of the Andes belongs to the subequatorial zone of the Northern Hemisphere, here, as in the sub equatorial belt The southern hemisphere is manifested by the duty of wet and dry seasons. Precipitation falls from May to November, but in the most northern regions the wet season is shorter. The eastern slopes are much more humid than the western slopes; precipitation (up to 1000 mm per year) falls mainly in summer. In the Caribbean Andes, located on the verge of the tropical and subequatorial belts, tropical air dominates all year round, there is little precipitation (often more than 500 mm per year); the rivers are short with characteristic summer floods.

In the equatorial belt, seasonal fluctuations are practically absent; for example, in the capital of Ecuador, Quito, the change in average monthly temperatures per year is only 0.4 C. Precipitation is plentiful (up to 10,000 mm per year, although the usual 2500-7000 mm per year) and are more evenly distributed over the slopes than in the subequatorial belt. Clearly expressed altitudinal zonality. In the lower part of the mountains - a hot and humid climate, precipitation falls almost daily; in the depressions there are numerous swamps. With altitude, the amount of precipitation decreases, but at the same time, the thickness of the snow cover increases. Up to heights of 2500-3000 mm, temperatures rarely drop below 15 C, seasonal temperature fluctuations are insignificant. There are already large daily temperature fluctuations (up to 20 C), the weather can change dramatically during the day. At altitudes of 3500-3800 m, daily temperatures already fluctuate around 10 C. Even higher - a harsh climate with frequent snowstorms and snowfalls; daily temperatures above zero, and at night there are severe frosts. The climate is dry, because with a lot of evaporation, little precipitation falls. Above 4500 m - eternal snow.

2.2. Central Andes

Between 5 and 28 y. sh. there is a pronounced asymmetry in the distribution of precipitation along the slopes: the western slopes are much less moistened than the eastern ones.

West of the Cordillera Main - deserted tropical climate(the formation of which is greatly facilitated by the cold Peruvian current), there are very few rivers. If in the northern part of the Central Andes 200-250 mm of precipitation falls per year, then to the south their amount decreases and in some places does not exceed 50 mm per year. In this part of the Andes is Atacama - the driest desert in the world. Deserts rise in places up to 3000 m above sea level. A few oases are located mainly in the valleys of small rivers fed by the waters of mountain glaciers. The average temperature in the coastal areas ranges from 24 C in the north to 19 C in the south, and the average temperature ranges from 19 C in the north to 13 C in the south. Above 3000 m, in a dry puna, there is also little precipitation (rarely more than 250 mm per year). Characteristic arrivals of cold winds, when the temperature can drop to -20 C. The average temperature does not exceed 15 C.

On not high altitudes, with an extremely small amount of rain, significant (up to 80%) air humidity, therefore fogs and dews are frequent. The Puna Plateau (including the Altiplano) has a very harsh climate, average annual temperatures do not exceed 10 C. Large Lake Titicaca has a moderating effect on the climate of the surrounding areas - in the lakeside areas, temperature fluctuations are not as significant as in other parts of the plateau. To the east of the Main Cordillera - a large (3000 - 6000 mm per year) amount of precipitation (brought mainly in summer east winds), dense river network. Through the valleys air masses With Atlantic Ocean cross the Eastern Cordillera, moistening its western slope. Above 6000 m in the north and 5000 m in the south - negative average annual temperatures; due to the dry climate, there are few glaciers.

2.3. Southern Andes

In the Chilean-Argentine Andes, the climate is subtropical, and the humidification of the western slopes - due to winter cyclones - is greater than in the subequatorial zone. As you move south, the annual precipitation on the western slopes increases rapidly. Summer is dry, winter is wet. As you move away from the ocean, the continentality of the climate increases, and seasonal temperature fluctuations increase. In the city of Santiago, located in the Longitudinal Valley, the average temperature of the warm month is 20 C, cold - 7-8 C; there is little precipitation in Santiago, 350 mm per year (to the south, in Valdivia, there is more precipitation - 750 mm per year). On the western slopes of the Main Cordillera, precipitation is more than in the Longitudinal Valley (but less than on the Pacific coast).

When moving south subtropical climate On the western slopes, it smoothly transitions to the oceanic climate of temperate latitudes: annual precipitation increases, differences in seasonal moisture decrease. Strong westerly winds bring to the coast a large number of precipitation (up to 6000 mm per year, although usually 2000-3000 mm). More than 200 days a year it rains heavily, thick fogs often fall on the coast, while the sea is constantly stormy; the climate is unfavorable for living. The eastern slopes (between 28 and 38 S) are arid than the western (and only in temperate zone, south of 37 S, due to the influence of westerly winds, their moisture increases, although they remain less humid compared to westerlies). The average temperature of the warmest month on the western slopes is only 10-15 C (cold - 3-7 C).

In the extreme southern part of the Andes, on Tierra del Fuego, there is a very humid climate, which is formed by strong humid western and southwestern winds. Precipitation (up to 3000 mm) falls mainly in the form of drizzle (which occurs most days of the year). Only in the easternmost part of the archipelago is much less precipitation. Throughout the year are low temperatures(although temperature fluctuations by season are extremely small).

3. Wildlife

3.1. Vegetation and soils

The soil and vegetation cover of the Andes is very diverse. This is due to the high altitudes of the mountains and a significant difference in the moisture content of the western and eastern slopes. Altitudinal zonality in the Andes is pronounced. There are three altitudinal zones - Thierry caliente- (hot Earth), Thierry fria (cold earth) And Thierry elyada(ice land).

In the Caribbean Andes, on the territory of Venezuela, deciduous (during the winter drought) forests and shrubs grow on mountain red soils. The lower parts of the windward slopes from the Northwest Andes and Central Andes are covered with montane moist equatorial and tropical forests on lateritic soils (mountain rainforest), as well as mixed forests of evergreen and deciduous species. Appearance equatorial forests little different from appearance these forests in the flat part of the mainland. These forests are characterized by palms, ficuses, bananas, cocoa and other species. Higher (up to altitudes of 2500-3000 m), the nature of the vegetation changes, here are typical bamboos, tree ferns, coca bush (which is the source of cocaine), cinchona. Between 3000 m and 3800 m - alpine rainforest with stunted trees and shrubs; epiphytes and creepers, characteristic bamboos, tree ferns, evergreen oaks, myrtle, heather are common. Above - predominantly xerophytic vegetation, Paramo, along with numerous asters, at these heights there are also moss swamps in flat areas and lifeless rocky spaces on steep slopes. Above 4500 m - a belt of eternal snow and ice.

To the south, in the subtropical Chilean Andes - evergreen shrubs on brown soils. In the Longitudinal Valley - soils resembling chernozem in composition. The vegetation of the alpine plateaus: in the north - equatorial alpine meadows or paramos, in the Peruvian Andes and in the east of Pune - dry alpine-tropical steppes of halka, in the west of Pune and in the entire Pacific west between 5-28 south latitude - desert types of vegetation (in the Atacama Desert - succulent vegetation, including cacti). Many surfaces are saline, hindering the development of vegetation, and such areas are dominated by sagebrush and ephedra.

Above 3000 m (up to about 4500 m) - semi-desert vegetation, called dry puna. Here grow dwarf shrubs, thin-legged (feather grass, reed grass), lichens, cacti. To the east of the Main Cordillera, where there is more rainfall, there is steppe vegetation (puna and puna moisture) with numerous fine-legged (fescue, feather grass, reed grass) and cushion-shaped shrubs. On the wet slopes of the Eastern Cordillera rainforests(palm trees, cinchona) rise to 1500 m, up to 3000 m low-growing evergreen forests dominated by bamboo, ferns, lianas, at high altitudes - alpine meadows.

In the middle part of Chile, the forests were largely reduced when the forests rose along the Main Cordillera to altitudes of 2500-3000 m (mountain meadows with alpine grasses and shrubs, as well as rare peat bogs, began higher), but now the mountain slopes are practically bare. Now forests are found only in the form of individual groves (pine, Chilean araucaria, eucalyptus, beech and plane tree, in the undergrowth - gorse and geranium).

On the slopes of the Patagonian Andes south of 38 S.l. - subarctic multi-layered forests of tall trees and shrubs, preferably evergreen, on brown forest (podzolized to the south) soils; there are many mosses, lichens and lianas in the forests. South of 42 S - mixed forests(in the region of 42 south latitude there is an array of araucaria forests). Beeches, magnolias, tree ferns, tall conifers, and bamboos grow here. On the eastern slopes of the Patagonian Andes - mostly beech forests. In the extreme south of the Patagonian Andes - tundra vegetation.

In the extreme southern part of the Andes, on Tierra del Fuego, forests (of deciduous and evergreen trees - for example, southern beech and canelo) occupy only a narrow coastal strip in the west; above the forest line, the snow belt begins almost immediately. In the east and in places in the west, subantarctic mountain meadows and peat bogs are common.

3.3. Ecology

One of the main environmental issues Andes is the reduction of forests, which are no longer renewed; The humid tropical forests of Colombia have been especially hard hit, and plantations of cinchona and kava trees and rubber trees are intensively being built.

With a developed agriculture, the Andean countries face the problems of soil degradation, soil pollution with chemicals, erosion and desertification of land due to overgrazing (especially in Argentina).

Environmental problems of coastal zones - pollution of sea water near ports and large cities (caused not least by the release of sewage and industrial waste into the ocean), uncontrolled overfishing.

As in the rest of the world, the Andes are facing an acute problem of greenhouse gas emissions (mainly from electricity generation, but also from the iron and steel industry). Oil refineries, oil wells and mines also make a significant contribution to environmental pollution (their activities lead to soil erosion, groundwater pollution, the activity of mines in Patagonia adversely affected the biota of the area).

Due to a number of environmental problems, many species of animals and plants in the Andes are endangered.

4. Population

4.1. Story

The Andean area was settled relatively recently, with the oldest known remains of human activity ranging from 12,000 to 15,000 years old, although it is likely that people came to the region earlier. Presov, probably white inhabited precisely in the highlands, the remnants of societies of this time, engaged in hunting and gathering, were found in the mountains of the modern Peruvian regions of Ayacucho and Ancash. The most remnants of the early period (Lauricocha culture) are preserved in the caves of Laricocha, Pacaicas and Guitarrero. The first cultivated plants South America are about 12,000 years old, included plants from both the highlands and the Amazonian lowland. The distribution of these plants indicates a constant culture on the exchange of Mie populations of the coast, the Amazon and the highlands. Irrigation agriculture appeared in the valleys about 6,000 years ago.

The oldest significant settlement in the Andes is probably Chavín de Huantar in central Peru dating back 2800 years and characterized by the monumental architecture of the Chavin culture.

After the decline of the Chavin culture, several local cultures emerged in the Andes. The most important of these were Mochica and Nazca. The Moche culture is little centered on the city of Moche on Peru's beer coast, and is known for its highly realistic ceramic figurines. human heads, which were used as jugs, and beautiful monumental architecture. So, the Temple of the Sun in Mocha looked like a stepped pyramid 41 m high and was made of adobe (adobe). Simultaneously with Mochica, the Nazca culture arose in southern Peru, famous for its pottery and elaborate textiles. One of the very remnants of the culture was the so-called Nazca Lines. These images have gigantic size(so fully visible only from an airplane) and made on large coastal plateaus. These lines were both geometric patterns and the image of man and animals, and were created by removing the brown soil of the surface, leaving a light undersoil. The purpose of creating these lines remains unknown.

The second center of the Andean civilization after Chavin de Huantar, influencing large area, became the city of Tiwanaku near Lake Titicaca at an altitude of 4300 m above sea level, became an important center of population concentration and, arose about 2400 years ago, there were more than 1400. Soon after the creation of Tiwanaku, its rival state Huari arose, which, however, had a shorter heyday. It declined around 800, leaving Tiwanaku as the only great power until the 11th century.

Already after the flourishing of the high-mountain civilizations of Tiwanaku and Huari, the Sikan culture developed on the coast, in the region of the former Mochica culture. Its center was the city of Batan Grande, a pilgrimage center with several monumental pyramids. The decline of this culture occurred as a result of a major flood in the 12th century. Simultaneously with this culture, somewhat to the south and also under the influence of the Mochica culture, the Chimu culture arose, with a center in the city of Chan Chan, founded around 900. This city was the largest among the pre-Columbian cities of the Andes, covering an area of ​​​​about 22 km 2. The heyday of culture was based on the use of an advanced irrigation system, which made it possible to obtain significant crops in the arid coastal lands of Peru. Until the 14th century, the state of Chimu stretched over a large stretch of coast from Ecuador to Chile.

the largest public education The Andes became Tawantisuyu ("four lands") or the Inca Empire, which took shape about a century before the arrival of Europeans. This state had its center in Cuzco, on the territory of modern Peru. According to the historian Garcilaso de la Vega, the founder of the Empire, Manco Capac, and the first Incas came from the region of Lake Titicaca, probably Tiwanaku. The Inca state covered the entire central part of the Andes, and stretched from southern Colombia (where the Incas were stopped by the Chibcha forces) to the Maule River in Patagonia (where the Inca advance was held back by the Mapuche forces).

The Spanish Empire collapsed at the beginning of the 19th century as a result of the Napoleonic Wars. The ideas of the French Revolution and the independence of the United States led to an independent movement among the wealthy Creole nobility of the colonies, whose representatives seized power almost throughout their territory. Weak Spain could not resist these forces, and the wars of independence, which continued throughout the colonies from 1808 to 1824, ended with the victory of the local nobility, which established republican governments in the new countries, largely copied from the US device. With minor changes, the same system of government remains today.

4.2. Population distribution

Air expansion at high altitudes above 4,000 m requires a certain physiological adaptation of the organism. However, now people are able to live permanently at altitudes up to 5,200 m (shepherds of Peru) and temporarily up to 6,000 m (Carasco mine, Chile).

The southern part of the Andes from Patagonia to the southern border of the Bolivian Altiplano is sparsely populated. Only small groups of shepherds and farmers live here, living mainly on the low slopes and foothills. In the north, from Bolivia to Colombia, most of the population is concentrated, all the main cities of the mountain system and most of the most important cities of the Andean countries are located here. In particular, in Peru and Bolivia, a significant part of the population lives at altitudes of more than 3300 m.

Approximately half of the population of Bolivia are Amerindians who speak the languages

We talked about some of the most significant disasters in the history of our planet. Let's see how likely such events are in the future. Of course, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis will continue to occur. We cannot rule out accidental falls of large meteorites or even asteroids.

However, there is no doubt that with each decade, human control over these natural disasters will become more effective, and in the near future, the consequences of disasters that are dangerous for the inhabitants of our planet can be almost completely prevented.

EARTHQUAKE FORECAST

none disaster does not happen as suddenly as an earthquake. Its peculiar feature is that it destroys mainly artificial buildings erected by human hand. Of course, during strong earthquakes, mountain collapses, landslides, and sometimes rivers dam up, but such phenomena are relatively rare, limited to small areas and usually confined to steep mountain slopes where there are no human dwellings.

The degree of danger of an earthquake varied significantly depending on the level and conditions of development of human society. When primitive He obtained his food by hunting, he did not build permanent dwellings, so earthquakes were not a threat to him. Earthquakes are not afraid of pastoralists either: their portable felt yurts withstood any seismic catastrophe,

Since ancient times, there has been a certain zoning on Earth in the distribution of the danger that an earthquake posed for people. This zonality was controlled primarily by climatic zonality.

IN tropical zone, where people live all year round in a bamboo or reed hut, earthquakes are not terrible. The plagues and yarangas of the inhabitants of the polar countries, built with the help of poles and animal skins, do not react to tremors. Underground impacts also slightly affect the buildings of the temperate forest zone of the planet. Chopped wooden houses are very stable and collapse (but do not collapse) only during very strong earthquakes.

Only one climatic zone of the Earth - the area of ​​steppes suitable for plowing and the oases of irrigated agriculture in full measure feel the horror of seismic catastrophes. Earth and brick buildings, which dominate this belt, are the most susceptible to seismic shocks. Even shocks of medium strength destroy the walls of stone buildings, which leads to the death of people in the house. Only in the last 100-120 years, due to the rapid growth of cities in all climatic zones, such earthquakes as Lisbon (1755), San Francisco (1906), Messina (1908), Tokyo (1923), Ashgabat (1948), there were almost no similar ones, with the exception of the territory of Eastern China, in ancient times and in the Middle Ages.

If the San Francisco earthquake had happened 100 years earlier, it would have caused almost no damage. On the site of this city in 1806 there were only wooden buildings of a small Russian colony.

In the near future, the growth of old cities and the construction of new ones will be even more intensive. Does this mean that the danger of earthquakes will also increase proportionally? Far from it. Earthquakes will be less and less terrible, because technical means already now allow the construction of residential buildings of any number of storeys and the construction of industrial structures of any size that are not threatened by strong earthquakes. Now, earthquakes mainly affect buildings built long ago, erected without the use of special anti-seismic belts and other structures that enhance strength.

The fight against the earthquake began a long time ago. The man faced two problems: how to make the building so that it does not collapse from underground shocks, and how to identify areas where earthquakes occur and where there are no strong underground shocks. An attempt to answer these questions led to the emergence of seismology - a science that studies earthquakes and the behavior of artificial structures during underground shocks. Civil engineers began to develop designs for residential buildings and industrial structures that could withstand a seismic disaster. In the Tien Shan mountains, on the Naryn River, the Toktogul high-altitude dam and a 1200 MW hydroelectric power station were built. The hydrotechnical unit was built in such a way that it can withstand even catastrophic earthquakes.

To determine seismic areas, it is necessary to know exactly where earthquakes occur. The most complete data on an underground shock can be obtained by registering with instruments the elastic waves that appear in the earth during an earthquake. Seismologists have learned to determine the coordinates of the earthquake, the depth of its source, the strength of the underground shock. This made it possible to map the epicenters of earthquakes, to outline the zones where tremors of one or another force occurred. Comparing earthquake epicenters with geological structure territory, geologists have identified those places where earthquakes have not yet been, but, judging by the similar structure with places subjected to underground shocks, are possible in the near future. Thus was born the prediction of the location of earthquakes and their maximum strength. Our country is the first in the world where the seismic zoning map, as it is officially called, was approved for the first time as a mandatory document for all design and construction organizations. In seismically hazardous areas, builders should erect only such residential and administrative buildings and industrial facilities that would withstand an earthquake of the strength shown on the map. Of course, earthquake prediction maps cannot be considered perfect. Over time, as data accumulates, they are revised and refined. On fig. 30 shows one of the variants of such a map compiled at the Institute of Physics of the Earth of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Rice. 30. Map of seismic zoning of the territory of the USSR

The seismic zoning map shows in what places of our country and what maximum strength earthquakes are possible. For design organizations and builders, such a map serves as an important and necessary document, but for the population living in a seismic zone, it is much more important to know exactly when an earthquake will occur. Note that in last years This question is of more and more interest to builders. In addition, design organizations need to know whether strong earthquakes occur once every millennium or every 20 years. In the first case, anti-seismic structures reinforcing structures should be used only in the construction of some long-term facilities (unless, of course, these are residential premises). In the second - for all buildings.

The prediction of the time of occurrence of an earthquake is currently divided into long-term and the identification of precursors, a few hours or minutes warning of an impending catastrophe.

The long-term forecast is based on the following physical assumptions. In a simplified scheme, the process of preparation and manifestation of earthquakes can be imagined as the accumulation and redistribution in a certain area of ​​the earth's crust of potential energy - the energy of elastic stresses. At the moment of an earthquake, this energy is partially or completely released. In order for the next earthquake to happen, a new portion of energy is needed; therefore, time must pass before the energy accumulates. In some cases, this is a few days or months, but more often tens or even hundreds of years. As mentioned, in Ashgabat in 1948, the Annau mosque was destroyed, which had stood for more than 600 years.

Based on a detailed study of the seismicity of the Kuril-Kamchatka zone, S.A. Fedotov proposed an approximate long-term forecast of earthquakes over five years. The forecast contains probabilistic estimates of the manifestation of strong earthquakes, areas where catastrophic shaking is currently possible are highlighted. Later, the same forecast was developed for California (USA). In particular, it was shown that destructive earthquakes with a magnitude of 8 can occur once every 100 years, and weaker ones - once every 20 years. Although such a forecast does not completely solve the problem, it helps to produce seismic zoning maps with a rough estimate of the frequency of earthquakes.

It is even more important to detect the precursors of an earthquake, directly announcing the approaching seismic catastrophe. It has long been noticed that animals feel the approach of an underground shock. A few minutes before the earthquake, livestock, dogs, cats, rats are restless, trying to get out of enclosed spaces. Before the earthquake in Naples, ants left their homes. Two days before the earthquake in coastal areas Japanese islands repeatedly appeared unusual fish six meters long - mustachioed cod living at great depths. According to Japanese mythology, earthquakes are caused by a huge Namazu fish, which supposedly tickles the seabed with its whiskers. Images of her have long been pasted on the windows as a spell from tremors. Japanese scientists believe that this superstition was generated by the appearance of a legendary fish near the shore on the eve of major earthquakes.

All these facts indicate that some physical phenomena precede the earthquake. But if they are felt by animals, then they can be fixed by devices. It is assumed that in the area of ​​the future earthquake source there is a change in the physical parameters of the medium. As a result, the earth's surface is deformed, the elastic, magnetic, electrical properties of rocks, etc., change. The success of the experiment depends primarily on how close the instruments will be to the epicenter of the predicted earthquake, since the values ​​characterizing the possible parameters decrease in proportion to the square of the distance from the source. Therefore, to solve the problem of forecasting, it is necessary to find places where earthquakes occur quite often.

The search for earthquake precursors is now being conducted in several directions. Perhaps one of the first attempts to "predict" an earthquake was the study of the so-called foreshocks - weak shocks, sometimes preceding a strong underground shock.

The oscillation frequencies of foreshocks are noticeably higher than those of aftershocks (shocks following a strong earthquake). The duration of the manifestation of these high-frequency shocks, perhaps, is somehow related to the strength of the upcoming earthquake and can help determine the moment of its occurrence. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. Known big number earthquakes, when a strong blow came quite unexpectedly. Nevertheless, it is possible that for certain types of earthquakes, the study of the nature of the smallest crackles, recorded only by very sensitive instruments, can provide information about the approaching catastrophe.

The next way to detect earthquake precursors is to study the slow movements of the earth's crust - the inclinations of the earth's surface. Tiltmeters of various systems, installed more than 25 years ago on special concrete platforms or in adits cut into the rocks, record the slightest fluctuations of the Earth's surface. Sometimes "storms" of slopes were found before the earthquake. As if a harbinger has been discovered! However, in most cases the tiltmeters were silent. The readings of these devices are influenced by many factors, in particular, a change in atmospheric pressure, long-lasting subsidence of the foundation, etc. It is premature to talk about forecasting with tiltmeters as a reliable method, but some results are still encouraging. A change in the slopes in the Toktogul adit before two earthquakes that occurred near the equipment was discovered. One is very weak (epicenter 2 km) and the second - (epicenter 5 km) with a strength of up to 6 points. In both cases, the change in the nature of the slopes is clearly visible several hours before the earthquake.

IN Lately Another method for earthquake prediction began to be developed. Underground shocks are a discharge of stresses arising in the earth's crust. Obviously, before an earthquake, such stresses increase. This is expressed in a change in the propagation velocity of elastic waves, the ratio of the propagation velocities of longitudinal and transverse waves, and the ratio of their amplitudes. Experiments carried out in the Garm region of the Pamirs have yielded some encouraging results. The following regularity is observed: the stronger the earthquake, the longer the anomalous state lasts.

Finally, another promising direction has recently emerged - the study of changes magnetic field Earth. The permanent magnetic field of our planet consists of two parts. The main part of the field is due to processes in the earth's core, the other part is caused by rocks that have received magnetization during their formation. The magnetic field created by the magnetization of rocks changes with a change in the stresses in which the rocks are in the earth's crust.

The preparation of an earthquake, as we have already noted, consists in the accumulation of stresses in some part of the earth's crust, which inevitably changes the magnetic field on the earth's surface. It was possible to detect a sharp change in the local secular variation of the magnetic field after the earthquake. Experimental estimates of the magnitude of the change in the magnetic field, which should occur at the time of the earthquake, are made. Experiments with artificial explosions confirmed the correctness of these calculations.

Changes in the magnetic field shortly before an earthquake have also been discovered in recent years. For 1 hour. 6 min. before the devastating earthquake that occurred in Alaska in March 1964, there was a disturbance in the Earth's magnetic field. A change in the magnetic field gradient between two points near which a series of earthquakes occurred was observed in 1966. These exceptionally interesting results still need verification, which would confirm the connection of the observed phenomena with earthquakes.

Searches are also being made for earthquake precursors by studying the electrical conductivity of rocks in seismic regions. It has been noticed that in some places earthquakes are sometimes accompanied by lightning discharges with lightning. Therefore, the seismic stress is somehow related to the electric field. In Japan, for example, there is an ancient tradition of predicting earthquakes by the unusual occurrence of lightning in clear skies.

Finally, judging by the experience of the Tashkent earthquake, an important indicator of the upcoming strong shock is the change in the content of radon in groundwater. For some time before the push, its concentration noticeably increases. A connection has recently been found between earthquakes and geyser eruptions (periodic eruptions of hot water and steam in some volcanic regions). It turned out that in Yellowstone national park(USA) 2-4 years before each earthquake, the intervals between geyser eruptions decrease, and after the earthquake they increase again.

We dwelled in some detail on the forecast of earthquakes, since this is the most unexpected and complex natural phenomenon. The danger of other possible catastrophes (giant tsunami waves, volcanic eruptions or the fall of large asteroids) is already relatively small and will sharply decrease every 10 years, since we can know in advance about their approach. But in recent years, it has become clear that human activity can cause an earthquake. In the United States, in the state of Colorado, the military department pumped water to a depth of 3 km, in which obsolete poisonous substances were dissolved. Six weeks later, the first earthquake in 70 years hit the area, then the aftershocks began to repeat. Apparently, the water pumped under high pressure contributed to the shift of rocks along the old faults. When they stopped pumping water, the earthquakes gradually stopped. This fact served as the basis for the development of an original method to prevent a strong earthquake. If the flooding of cracks contributes to an earthquake, then with the help of successive pumping of water into different parts of a large fault, it is possible, by a series of weak provoked shocks, to remove the stresses existing in the Earth and thereby prevent a catastrophic earthquake.

In practice, this method means the following: three wells are drilled at a selected fault location at a distance of about 500 m from each other. From the extreme wells are pumped out The groundwater to "lock" the reset at those two points. Then, under pressure, water is pumped into the middle well: a “mini-earthquake” occurs, and stress is relieved in deep rocks. When water is also pumped out of the middle well, the entire area becomes safe, at least for a certain time.

Such processing of a large fault will require the drilling of about 500 wells, each 5 km deep.

Weak earthquakes also occur in areas where large reservoirs were created shortly before. The additional weight of the reservoir water puts pressure on the rocks and thus creates the conditions for the occurrence of tremors. Perhaps this is also facilitated by the penetration of water along the cracks to a depth, which facilitates the displacement of rocks along the faults.

TSUNAMI WARNING SERVICE

Successful human action in the prevention of natural disasters is most evident in the example of the organization in several countries of the Pacific basin, including Far East, emergency tsunami warning services.

Seismic waves from an earthquake propagate in the earth at a speed of about 30 thousand km/h, while a tsunami wave travels at a speed of about 1000 km/h. Using the difference in these speeds, the service of warning about waves from an underwater earthquake is built. Special tsunami stations are equipped with seismographs with signals triggered when a strong earthquake is registered. After the signal, the attendants immediately start processing the received seismograms and determine the position of the earthquake epicenter. If the epicenter is in the ocean, and the earthquake was of sufficient strength, then an alarm is announced on the coast, which is dangerous for a tsunami. Special Service with the help of sirens, loudspeakers and light signaling warns the population about the approaching wave. Residents take refuge in elevated places, inaccessible to the action of waves. Everything is decided by the processing speed of seismograms. Information on dangerous sections of the coast should be transmitted at least 5-10 minutes in advance. before the waves hit the shore. In Japan and especially in Kamchatka and Kuril Islands, which are located in close proximity to the zones of occurrence of underwater earthquakes, the time between the earthquake that caused the tsunami and the arrival of the wave on the shore is measured in minutes. During this period of time, it is necessary to determine the position of the epicenter of the earthquake, the time of arrival of the wave at certain points on the coast, transmit an alarm through communication channels and have time to take people to safe places.

The tsunami warning service was organized in the USA (in the Hawaiian Islands), Japan and the USSR in the 1950s.

Another way to reduce the catastrophic consequences of a tsunami is to produce maps that are somewhat similar to seismic zoning maps. With regard to tsunamis, such zoning is carried out within the coast. When constructing a tsunami-hazard map of the coast, the maximum height of previous tsunamis is taken into account; the nature of the coast, the location of zones where earthquakes occur that cause tsunamis, the distance from them to the coast, etc. are taken into account. Such schemes are important documents in the planning and design of industrial and civil construction. Knowing the possible maximum height of a tsunami and the area of ​​the coast that can be covered by waves, builders place objects under construction beyond the reach of waves.

There is no doubt that in the very next few years the destructive effect of the tsunami will be reduced to almost zero.

PROTECTION FROM VOLCANIC DISASTERS

The greatest danger during volcanic eruptions, according to G. Taziev, is ignimbrite flows. The outpouring of ignimbrites, recorded in Alaska in 1912, spread over 30 km with a flow width of 5 km and a layer thickness of 100 m. The result was the famous Ten Thousand Smoke Valley.

Ignimbrites pour out instantly, bursting out with lightning speed from long cracks that suddenly open in the earth's crust under the pressure of magma, saturated to the limit with gases. They splash out of these cracks at a speed of more than 100 km / h, sometimes reaching 300 km. The composition of the mass erupted from the belly of the Earth is a suspension in which glassy lava fragments and small hot fragments are saturated with hot volcanic gases. This consistency of ignimbrites gives them fluidity, allows them to capture all living things, despite the fact that they harden very quickly. Colossal areas of ignimbrite covers accumulated in the Tertiary and Quaternary periods, indicate that such catastrophes are possible in the future.

About the approach of powerful volcanic eruptions in some cases, the unusual behavior of animals speaks. After the catastrophic eruption of Mont Pele on May 8, 1902, the city was destroyed in a matter of seconds. 30 thousand people died, and a single corpse of a cat was found. It turns out that since mid-April, the animals felt something was wrong. Migratory birds instead of, as usual, making a halt on the lake near the city, they rushed to the south of America. There were many snakes on the slopes of Mont Pele. But already in the second half of April, they began to leave their habitable places. They were followed by other reptiles.

The key to the behavior of animals lies, apparently, in the fact that the increase in soil temperature, the release of gases, slight tremors of the earth and other alarming phenomena that are not captured by the human senses, cause anxiety in animals more susceptible to them.

Creating an extinct volcano eruption forecasting service is now perhaps easier than weather forecasting. Volcanological forecasts are based on fixing changes in the volcano regime. They are carried out by observing certain physical and chemical parameters. The difficulty lies in interpreting the observed measurements.

Six months before the Kilauea eruption in December 1959 - January 1960, seismographs already signaled the awakening of the volcano. Thanks to a network of observation stations on the island of Hawaii, scientists at the Volcano Observatory determined in advance the depth of the foci - 50 km, which was unexpected, since the lower boundary of the earth's crust there lies only 15 km below sea level.

In the following weeks, volcanologists noted a gradual decrease in the depth of the foci and, by measuring the speed of this ascent, established when the magma would begin to come to the surface. Carefully studying all the phenomena associated, judging by the experience of previous studies, with the process of ascent of magma, the volcanologists of the observatory fixed exactly where (the Iki crater) and when the eruption would begin. In their forecasts, they went even further: after a three-week paroxysm, they not only predicted that the eruption had not yet ended and would resume with renewed vigor, but also pointed to the place of the repeated action of the volcano - near the village of Kapoo. As a result, it was possible to evacuate the inhabitants of this village in a timely manner.

It is far from always possible to accurately interpret the readings of seismographs and tiltmeters, especially in relation to stratovolcanoes fraught with dangerous explosions, the number of which is very large within the Pacific ring of fire.

One of the most promising directions in forecasting volcanic eruptions is the study of the evolution of the chemical composition of gases. It has been established that the composition of gases after the eruption changes in the following order: HCl, HF, NH 4 , Cl, H 2 O, CO, O 2 (haloid stage) are first released, then H 2 S, SO 2 , H 2 O, CO , H 2 (sulphurous stage), then - CO 2 , H 2 , H 2 O (carbon dioxide stage) and, finally, barely heated steam. If the activity of the volcano increases, then the composition of the gases changes in the reverse order. Therefore, the constant study of volcanic gases will make it possible to predict the eruption. L.V. Surnin and L.G. Voronin studied the composition of the gases of the Ebeko volcano. In one of its sections (the so-called North-Eastern field), the content of HCl over a number of years changed as follows (in vol.%): 1957 - 0.19; 1960 - 0.28; 1961 - 2.86; 1962 - 5.06. Thus, the amount of hydrogen chloride gradually increased, which indicated the increasing activity of Ebeko, culminating in an eruption in 1963.

In some cases, active protection against volcanic eruptions is possible. It consists of air or artillery bombardment of moving lava flows and crater walls through which lava flows; in the creation of dams and other obstacles to the movement of lava; in conducting tunnels to the craters to drain the water of crater lakes.

Dams and embankments are successfully used to control the liquid lavas of the Hawaiian Islands. During the eruptions of 1956 and 1960. stone embankments resisted even powerful lava flows. The use of dams and embankments is also possible against some mud flows.

To prevent mud flows (lahars), excess water must be drained from the craters. To do this, a drainage tunnel is led into the crater from the outer slope of the volcanic cone. In this way, Kelun was drained, with which the occurrence of destructive lahars is associated.

POSSIBILITY TO PREVENT THE ASTEROID'S ENCOUNTER WITH THE EARTH

In 1967 - early 1968, the question of the possibility of a collision with the Earth of the microplanet Icarus at the time of their closest approach on June 15, 1968 was repeatedly discussed.

In October 1937, the asteroid Hermes passed the Earth only 800 thousand km, i.e. at a distance of just over 100 Earth radii. Icarus in diameter has a size of no more than 1 km. Consequently, its weight should be equal to 3 billion tons. If Icarus collided with the Earth, then the impact would be equal to the explosion of 105 Mt of trinitrotoluene. The destructive effect would be much more significant than, for example, during the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, when the waves that arose in the sea killed 36 thousand people.

Asteroids can be significant large sizes, and consequently, the consequences of their collisions with the Earth are even more terrible.

A very rare, but terrible in terms of catastrophic consequences, collision of the Earth with an asteroid in the near future will be safe for humans. Already the modern level of astronomy and computer technology makes it possible in advance (several months) not only to know the time, but also to accurately determine the place where a space alien fell to Earth. This will make it possible to take the necessary measures in advance, sharply reducing the consequences of the catastrophe (evicting people from the danger zone, calculating the height of waves on the coast in the event of an asteroid falling into the water, etc.). In principle, even now it is possible to destroy an asteroid with rockets some time before it reaches our planet.

FLASH PREVENTION

The possibilities of man's struggle with the insidious destructive forces of nature can be demonstrated by the example of "curbing" the mudflow near the capital of the Kazakh SSR, the city of Alma-Ata. Selle is a wildly rushing through the valley mountain river a stream consisting of mud, rubble and boulders up to a meter or more in size. It is formed as a result of rapid summer snowmelt, when melt water is gradually absorbed by glacial boulder-pebble deposits, and then all this semi-liquid mass rushes down the valley like an avalanche.

In 1921, a monstrous mudflow that fell from the mountains at night onto a sleeping city passed Alma-Ata from end to end, with a front 200 meters wide. Apart from water, mud, tree debris, the stones alone hit the city so much that, according to estimates, they would be enough to load several hundred freight trains. And these echelons, accelerating along the slope, rammed Alma-Ata at express speed, destroying and destroying houses and streets. The mudflow volume was then determined at 1200 thousand m 3 .

The danger of a repeat of such a catastrophe existed constantly. The city of Alma-Ata grew. And every year the disasters from the mudflow could be more and more terrible. The bold idea to block the path of the mudflow with an artificially created dam belonged to Academician M.A. Lavrentiev. He proposed to erect such a dam with the help of a directed explosion.

At the end of 1966, directed explosions laid 2.5 million tons of stone on the bottom of the Medeo tract. There was a dam that blocked the valley of the river. Almaty. Selya did not have to wait long. In July 1973, hydrological posts reported the possibility of a mudflow.

July 15 at 6 p.m. 45 min. local time, the moraine lake of the Tuyuksu glacier instantly swelled and immediately fell off. There was a characteristic, similar to a hoarse sigh, sound, which immediately grew into an ominous roar. The predicted but always unexpected mudflow rushed down.

It has not yet been determined exactly how much water the original moraine spewed. Apparently, not less than 100 thousand m 3 . But in a few minutes there were no less than 1 million m 3 of water and stones in the village. However, this time the mudflow was blocked by a dam. Here is what an eyewitness who was on the dam at the time of the disaster says.

The day was hot and quiet. Suddenly, a roar came from afar, as if a jet plane was breaking the sound barrier beyond the snowy peak of the ridge. The noise disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. After 10 sec. beyond the fir-covered slope of the mountain, a huge red column of dust rose up, blocking the sky. A huge mound of mud rolled out from around the corner. He immediately hit the firmament of the pit, then jumped back to the opposite slope, falling on him with all his weight. The Medeo dam was hit by a blow of such force as, except for atomic explosions, has never been applied by the creation of human hands. Stones clogged the drainage pipes, and the swollen river added 10-12 m 3 of water to the pit every second. The level of the lake began to rise rapidly. The water threatened to overflow the dam. It is hard to imagine what could have happened if the mudflow, together with the dam, had collapsed from almost a two-kilometer height onto Alma-Ata.

The water in the pit kept coming and coming, but people did not doze off: 16 powerful pumps were hastily installed to pump it out and three pipelines to discharge water into the channel of Malaya Almaatinka, which had become empty after the blockage of the dam. Finally, one diesel engine started working, followed by another. Water rushed into the pipeline and through the dam, along the stepped slope of the mountain - into the channel of Malaya Almaatinka. By morning, the water in the pit began to gradually decrease.

For the first time in the history of Central Asia, the largest natural disaster was not only predicted, but also met according to an exact plan, and then neutralized. Thanks to a scientific forecast, a clear organization of work, and the heroism of people, a victory was won in the first such battle with a formidable element.

The dam has fulfilled its role, but the mudflow may happen again. In the autumn of 1973, work began to strengthen the dam. She climbed 10 m, and in the future she will rise another 30; 3.5 million m 3 of solid soil lay on the body of the "old" dam. In the future, more than 100 moraine lakes located at an altitude of 3000-3500 m above sea level are planned to be diverted.

Can the weather be controlled?

Reliable weather control is an incredibly difficult task. The energy of the processes that heat and cool colossal pools of air or freeze giant masses of water is very high. So far, a person cannot oppose anything to such energy. And yet man is already able to actively influence the weather. We can bring rain or snow, disperse fog, or interrupt hail. Ways to prevent thunderstorms are also being explored. American scientists have developed a special program that provides for sowing thunderclouds metallic threads. In their opinion, this can suppress the thunderstorm activity of the clouds. Scientists Soviet Union with the same purpose, the first experiments were carried out on the use of coarse powders, which were sent to the clouds.

As soon as large clouds approach, special operational locators come into play. Long-range sky scouts predict danger at a distance of up to 300 km. With their help, they determine not only the distance to the target, but also how insidious the cloudiness is, whether it carries hail with it.

At a signal, the more than two-meter-long Cloud rocket, as if slowly, leaves the nest of the installation and heads towards the thunderstorm of the gardens. In her womb is a special chemical reagent - lead iodide. Having met a powerful cloud on the approaches (for 8 km) at an altitude of up to 6 km, the rocket penetrates into it, and then descends to special parachute by spraying the reagent. Minutes pass, and the crystalline formations that could turn into hail are no longer dangerous. Instead of a formidable hail, rain pours into the territory occupied by gardens.

Georgia has developed a combined method of dealing with this disaster. First, it is thrown into the cloud salt, which does not allow water drops to freeze and turn into hail. But if this process has nevertheless begun, then the cloud is fired upon with shells and rockets, which are stuffed with special reagents. A promising way to extinguish forest fires with artificially induced rain.

Experimental work is underway to forecast and control snow avalanches. A network of seismic instruments has been created that register minor fluctuations, probably occurring in the snow mass before it begins to move along the slope. Measurements are being made of snow cover density, ablation (reduction in the mass of a glacier or snow cover as a result of melting), the amount of precipitation, the nature of the snow deposition process, air temperature and wind speed.

In recent years, there has been a real opportunity to at least halve the strength of a hurricane. Since the enormous energy required to "sustain" a hurricane is generated in part by the evaporation of ocean water, the idea arose to reduce this evaporation with a thin film of chemicals.

The artificial film on the surface of the water plays a dual role. First, it reduces wave formation and thereby reduces the surface area from which the liquid evaporates. Secondly, this film, only a few molecules thick, serves as a physical barrier to water evaporation.

The tests used various chemical substances, which were sprayed in separate strips from ships and aircraft in an area of ​​2.6 km 2. These bands, easily visible from the air due to their reduced brightness, were photographed from an aircraft.

A few hours after spraying, the individual streaks coalesced and covered most of the test area. As a result, the magnitude of the will was significantly reduced, and their energy was reduced by 46% compared to the energy of waves on a clean water surface.

Other methods of influencing tropical cyclones are also being developed. Scientists believe that calculated explosions in the path of powerful ascending air currents can, if not extinguish them, then greatly weaken them.

Above, we said that with the development of science and technology, the danger of natural catastrophic phenomena will sharply decrease. Significantly more serious consequences may have relatively rapid climatic and biological changes on the earth's surface caused by human activities. Physical processes on Earth are in a state of unstable equilibrium. In the XVIII - century. merciless felling of timber for industry and construction began. The area of ​​forests on Earth has decreased from 7200 million to 3704 million hectares, and forest plantations, which are used relatively recently, have so far covered only 40 million hectares. Now every person during his life “expends” as much wood as a grove of 300 trees gives. Permanent deforestation can lead to irreversible consequences in nature. Deforestation in the Chilean Andes has resulted in almost 3/4 of agricultural land being eroded.

Intensive industrialization may in the future cause a change in the heat balance of our planet. Currently, the heat generated by industrial enterprises is still small compared to the heat coming from the Sun - 0.01%, but the amount of energy used by man in some cities and industrialized areas is approaching the amount of solar energy falling on the same area. If the current growth rate of energy production (about 10% per year worldwide) continues in the future, the time is not far off when the heat generated on Earth can lead to noticeable climate changes.

Some aspects of climate change will be favorable for National economy, but others may create different difficulties. One of the consequences of such a change in the thermal regime may be first a retreat, and then complete destruction ice sheet in the Arctic Ocean.

Strongly changed by industry chemical composition atmosphere. About 6 billion tons of carbon are released into the atmosphere every year. Over the past century, more than 400 billion tons of carbon have been introduced into the atmosphere during the process of industrialization by burning fuel. The concentration of carbon in the air we breathe has risen by 10% as a result. If you burn all known reserves of oil and coal, it will increase 10 times. Some experts believe that excess carbon now exceeds absorption and could upset the Earth's heat balance through a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect. carbon dioxide leaks Sun rays but retains heat at the Earth's surface. It has been argued that an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can greatly increase the temperature on the earth's surface. However, American scientists S. Rasul and S. Schneider came to the conclusion that as the content of carbon dioxide increases, the temperature rise slows down. Therefore, no catastrophic event is foreseen. Even an eightfold increase in carbon content, which is very unlikely over the next millennia, would increase the temperature of the earth's surface by less than 2 ° C.

Much more important is the effect of increasing dust content in the atmosphere. Over the past 60 years, the total amount of suspended particles in the atmosphere could have doubled. Dust lowers surface temperatures because it blocks solar radiation more effectively than terrestrial radiation. As the amount of dust increases, the decrease in temperature accelerates: thanks to aerosol, the Earth becomes a better reflector of sunlight. As a result of such an avalanche-like negative greenhouse effect, climate change on a large scale is possible.

There is an assumption that over the next 50 years pollution is expected to increase by 6-8 times. If this clogging rate increases the now existing haze opacity by a factor of four, then earth temperature will drop by 3 ° C. Such a significant decrease average temperature of the earth's surface, if it lasts for several years, it will be enough to start an ice age.

According to the Regional Committee for Europe World Organization health care, air pollution has already become an economic, social and health scourge in Europe. In the industrial regions of Germany, from 8 to 15 tons of dust per day settles on each square kilometer of the territory, and the economic damage from dust in the UK amounts to many millions of pounds per year: metal quickly rusts, fabric decays, plants die. The US National Academy of Sciences found that about a quarter of all diseases in large American cities are caused by air pollution from motor vehicles and industry.

In many rivers and lakes, the amount of oxygen decreased, the water lost its transparency, and the organisms that lived here died.

Renowned experts Harper and Allen calculated that over the past 20 centuries, hunters and colonists have destroyed 106 species of large animals and 139 species and subspecies of birds. In the first 1800 years, 33 species became extinct. Then the extermination of the fauna went on at an increasing pace: over the next century, another 33 species were destroyed. In the 19th century 70 animal species have been slaughtered, and in the last 50 years another 40 species have been killed. The prospects for the near future are even more disappointing: 600 species of animals are now on the verge of complete destruction. Apparently, they will not survive until the end of our century.

The extinction of almost a thousand species over two millennia with a duration evolutionary development of organisms, measured in hundreds of millions of years, is a catastrophe more dramatic and faster than the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Mesozoic era.

Even 30 years ago, it seemed to many that the expanses of the World Ocean are so large that it is impossible to pollute it. And it turns out that in the last 10 years, pollution sea ​​waters industrial waste, especially oil and its products, has assumed monstrous proportions.

Oil spilled into the sea spreads on the surface of the water, forming a thin film that disrupts the exchange of water with atmospheric gases and thereby disrupts the life of marine plankton, which creates oxygen and the primary production of organic matter in the ocean. It is estimated that 10 million tons of oil are dumped into ocean water every year as a result of various kinds of accidents. According to the U.S. federal atmospheric and oceanic agency, 665,000 square miles of water on the continental shelf and Caribbean polluted by the waste of American industry. In Escambia Bay, near Pensacola, Florida, 15 million herrings died in one day.

This is not the first time mass death fish as a result of marine pollution by industrial waste. It is believed that the cause of death is a lack of oxygen in the water. Herring suffocated, and lobsters, crabs and fish that can live long in heavily polluted water got "crustacean" tumors and other diseases.

Nature must be preserved and protected. Efforts are now directed towards this in many countries, primarily in the Soviet Union. Specially created permanent commissions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR deal with questions of nature protection. Our state invests heavily in the construction of treatment facilities at chemical and oil refineries, in the creation of shelterbelts, combats soil erosion, protects subsoil, water resources, and so on.

Scientists from many countries are joining forces for a comprehensive study of the Earth as a planet and its individual components - biogenosphere (geographical shell), atmosphere, hydrosphere, etc. The International Biological Program is called upon to play an important role in this respect. Its purpose is to evaluate biological resources the globe, to know the deep patterns in the development of living matter within the entire biogenosphere, to "plan" the use of wildlife for future generations. Work under the plans of the International Hydrological Decade will enrich humanity with accurate data on the quantity, composition and cycle of water on a global scale.

Great is the strength of man in the fight against natural phenomena nature. Reason and technical equipment already make it possible to prevent or significantly reduce many natural disasters. But it should be emphasized that our impact on nature is becoming so tangible that phenomena imperceptible at first glance can cause irreversible processes of a catastrophic nature.

A person is able to prevent a catastrophe, but he can also cause it. From this it is clear that a deep and comprehensive study of natural phenomena in their complex interconnection is becoming one of the main scientific directions. To properly manage nature, you need to know it well.