EOSC114 VO Reading Assignment-Fall2023

EOSC 114 Reading Assignment, Fall 2023: Volcanoes (Copyright notice 1 ) Student ID:___________________ Introduction Today’s reading involves an article of ~1000 words in the prestigious journal Nature Geoscience by S. Self and R. Gertisser, 2015 , https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ubc.ca?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fngeo2403 2 For free access and to download this article from the UBC Library, you will need your CWL. Data cited in this article will be briefly examined. Finally, data from Figures comparing volcanoes from another article, in the Journal of Geophysical Research by Chaochao, G. et al., 2006, http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1097&context=ers_facpub , will be examined without requiring you to read any of it. After completing this assignment, you should be able to: 1. Describe the kinds of data or observations that help estimate recurrence intervals and ejecta volumes of past very large volcanic eruptions. 2. Justify the need for further research regarding very large volcanic eruptions by referring to difficulties associated with obtaining the kinds of data or observations described in the previous goal. 3. Examine and interpret data in a citation, without worrying about details of the entire cited article. 4. Obtain various details about any volcano on Earth, from a database of Earth’s volcanoes. 5. Characterize this scientific reading in terms of its type, reliability of sources and the authors’ intent. 6. Characterize the claims made by authors in terms of arguments and various types of supporting evidence. Instructions 1. FIRST, skim all the questions in this Worksheet to find out what to expect. 2. DOWNLOAD the article Nature Geoscience by S. Self and R. Gertisser, 2015 here (NOTE: you will need your CWL to login): https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ubc.ca?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fngeo2403 3. Then write your answers to the Worksheet questions during or after reading the article. 4. AFTER you have answered all the Worksheet questions, write the Reading Assignment Quiz. All the questions in this Quiz will be taken from the questions in this Worksheet. a. There is a time limit to complete the Reading Assignment Quiz, so you MUST do the reading and complete the Worksheet BEFORE starting the Quiz; b. The questions on the Quiz are automatically graded versions of SELECTED Worksheet questions, which will include fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, ordering/ranking, and True/False question types; c. Each student will get a slightly different set of questions. d. The worksheet itself does not have to be turned in. Writing the Reading Assignment Quiz is what we consider as “turning in” your homework. 5. Important notes a. Regarding EOSC 114 Homework from past terms : This reading assignment AND the questions for the Reading Assignment Quiz are different from EOSC 114 homework from past terms 1 . b. THE MOST COMMON ERROR in the Reading Assignment Quiz is not reading the questions in the Quiz carefully. The order in which questions are posed in the Quiz may differ from the worksheet, the answer options are randomized, AND each student gets a different subset of questions. Please write your Quiz carefully, with your worksheet beside you. c. Working with peers on homework is OK, but copying the work of others is cheating and will not help you succeed. Read UBC’s Students Code of Conduct at https://students.ubc.ca/campus-life/student-code-conduct and our strict rules regarding academic integrity at https://academicintegrity.ubc.ca/about-academic-integrity/ d. Note there may be one or more questions about this assignment in future Quizzes or Final Exam. 1This Worksheet copyright © 2019, F. Jones, L. Porritt and UBC. All rights reserved. Re-distribution to anyone or the web is against copyright law. See UBC intellectual property rights at https://copyright.ubc.ca/guidelines-and-resources/faq/ 2“ Tying down eruption risk”. Self, S. and R. Gertisser, Nature Geoscience , 04/2015, Volume 8, Issue 4 Page 1 of 9

Step 1: Processes and predictions o What is the location of Tambora, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia? Enter the nearest whole number values with no decimals for LONGITUDE ______ degrees East, and for LATITUDE ______ degrees North. Use a negative number if longitude is West of the meridian or if latitude is South of the equator. o This major eruption occurred in the year ______ o How many years ago was this eruption prior to the article’s publication (2015) ______? (Enter numbers only, no words.) o The article said the number of fatalities was probably [“ similar to ” / “ smaller than ” / “ greater than ”] the actual number of fatalities (choose one). o What was the rough number of direct fatalities quoted? ______ (Enter numbers only, no words.)  What is the plate-tectonic setting of the Mount Tambora volcano? Look this up by searching the internet.  near a tectonic spreading center  a continent-continent collision zone  on the over-riding plate above a subduction zone  on the subducting plate just before it starts being pulled down under the over-riding plate.  in the middle of a continental plate  in the middle of an oceanic plate  What is the plate-tectonic setting of the Kuwae volcano in Vanuatu? Look this up by searching the internet (watch your spelling carefully).  near a tectonic spreading center  a continent-continent collision zone  on the over-riding plate above a subduction zone  on the subducting plate just before it starts being pulled down under the over-riding plate.  in the middle of a continental plate  in the middle of an oceanic plate o All of the following statements refer to real difficulties associated with understanding very large volcanic eruptions. Which one represents the most fundamental or comprehensive (overarching) difficulty with estimating volume of ejected materials ?  Locations of submarine volcanic caldera may be hard to identify.  Large volcanic eruption events are rare.  The size of calderas may be the result of several eruptions.  Thorough geochronological analysis of eruption deposits is rare.  Not all volcanoes emit enough sulphur to cause acidity spikes in ice cores.  Detecting eruption events in ice cores does not yield an origin or source of the event.  Erupted ash or pumice may become dispersed or redistributed by various processes during eruption. o How long ago since 2020 does the article say these very large eruptions occurred? Roughly:  Kikai: ______ years ago  Kuwae: ______ years ago  Samalas: ______ years ago o Search Google images for “______ caldera”, where “______” is each of the volcanoes named below, to find out whether the caldera would be collecting seawater (i.e. is connected to the ocean) or freshwater (i.e. is not connected to the ocean).  Kikai __________ Page 2 of 9

 offer social commentary to any reader  provide news for the general public  explain some scientific matters to the general public  provide information for a person or organization who requested it  present and discuss recommendations about scientific priorities in the peer-reviewed literature  communicate new scientific methods, procedures or discoveries to experts in the subject o What writing strategies were used in this article? Choose YES or NO for each (i.e., YES = “was used”, NO = “was not used”).  YES / NO assertions and arguments supported by evidence based on observations, measurements or experiments done by scientists other than the author(s)  YES / NO assertions and arguments supported by evidence based on scientific observations, measurements or experiments done by the author(s)  YES / NO narrative or personal stories  YES / NO targeted human emotion  YES / NO descriptions of “aesthetic” aspects like scenes, views and impressions  YES / NO identified at least some uncertainties, incomplete aspects or needs for further work o An essential characteristic of scientific writing is that authors will make (or state) claims and support those claims using arguments. Each argument will consist of logic and reasoning that depends upon reproducible observations, evidence and data. What is the most reasonable way of describing each of the following statements paraphrased from this article? Choose from options i to iv . i. an observation or quantity measured with instruments ii. a result based on calculations using parameters and assumptions that could be varied to yield a range of values iii. a conclusion, theory or ‘understanding’ that is well established, based on a variety of consistent observations and/or experiments and logical inferences iv. a suggested explanation that was (or is) not well established by a variety of observations or experiments  ______ “The event was the most disastrous volcanic eruption in recent history.”  ______ “ Ice-core evidence for a giant eruption at this time has been available since the 1990s. ”  ______ “T he Tambora eruption has been assigned a magnitude of 6–7 ” o Which one of these statements most clearly articulates the overarching claim of this article?  Single huge eruptions can impact people all over the world.  The number of fatalities directly attributable to magnitude 6 or more volcanoes can be huge.  Kuwae was discovered by finding a relatively young caldera and identifying a volcanism-induced acidity spike in ice-core records.  We need better records of size and occurrence if we are to predict future large eruptions more accurately.  Statistical models have yielded estimates of the recurrence interval for very large eruptions. o Was each of the following claims supported with arguments or discussions presented in this article? Choose: YES = it was supported by arguments or discussions or NO = it was just stated .  YES / NO “… estimates of the recurrence interval for Tambora-size eruptions range from 780 years for low-end approximations ”  YES / NO “ Recent estimates of the volume of magma erupted from Tambora during the April 1815 event range from 30 to 50 km 3 ” Page 4 of 9

o Arguments that support claims. For each of the following, choose TRUE if the statement given in italics is part of an argument that supports the corresponding claim (as paraphrased from the article). If not, choose FALSE .  TRUE / FALSE The statement: “ Climate change is affecting our abilities to estimate size and recurrence intervals ” is part of an argument that supports the claim: “We need better records of size and occurrence if we are to predict future large eruptions more accuratel y.”  TRUE / FALSE The statement: “global climate can be significantly affected by such eruptions” is part of an argument that supports the claim: “estimating the size or volume of eruptions is difficult ” o Estimating the volume of material erupted is challenging. Which of the following reasons contributing to this claim were discussed in the article ? Select YES = was discussed in this article or NO = was NOT mentioned in this article  YES / NO In some cases, ejected ash, rock fragments and particles land on the sea and either sink or get carried away by currents. Was this mentioned in our article as one reason why estimating erupted volume is challenging?  YES / NO The size and shape of a caldera may not remain constant for very long. Was this mentioned in our article as one reason why estimating erupted volume is challenging? o Estimating recurrence intervals for mega-volcanoes is challenging. Which of the following reasons contributing to this claim were discussed in the article ? Select YES = was discussed in this article or NO = was NOT mentioned in this article  YES / NO Some mega volcanoes (eg. submarine volcanoes) are not even visible  YES / NO Some mega volcanoes are simply eroded to the point where they are not recognizable as mega volcanoes. o Arguments supported by data. Was each of the following arguments supported by describing or citing data, methods, or people responsible for the information? Select YES = data, methods or people were mentioned or referenced or NO = data, methods or people were neither mentioned nor referenced . (HINT: use “search” in the article, to find each of these phrases.)  YES / NO “Only eruptions that emitted large volumes of sulphur will generate acidity layers in ice cores."  YES / NO “…many more magnitude 6–7 eruptions may not be recognized in existing records”  YES / NO “The event was the most disastrous volcanic eruption in recent history” o Consider the various types of data mentioned in this article. What is the most reasonable way of describing each of the following statements paraphrased from this article? Choose from options i to v . i. measured with instruments of some sort ii. observed – i.e. seen or noticed, not measured with instruments iii. simulated, modelled or calculated iv. gathered – i.e. needing to be collected from people, archives, records etc. v. not really data  ______ “acidity of ice”  ______ “areas of land covered in ash and pumice, or tephra”  ______ “higher food prices, attributed to colder climate in 1815”  ______ “pattern of communities affected by ash-falls, lava flows or other destructive processes” Page 5 of 9

o What is the horizontal axis for graphs in Figure 3 and 4 ?  Time (i.e. years)  Location (i.e. where in the hemisphere)  Acidity  Electrical conductivity  some other parameter o Fill in the blanks with NUMBERS not words: Figure 4 shows ______ ice cores from the NORTHERN Hemisphere that contain records of “sulfate flux” (i.e. basically the amount of sulphur causing acidity), and ______ ice cores that provided records of “electrical conductivity” (increased conductivity also implies increased acidity). Of these ice core records, ______ appear to have spikes of greatly increased acidity at times directly related to some event that occurred between 1450 and 1455. Page 7 of 9

Figure 5 represents a compilation of many data sets to emphasize certain interpretations. The two parts give estimates of sulfate flux (i.e. acidity) based on either SOUTHERN (SH) or NORTHERN (NH) hemisphere data. o What is the maximum number of years following Kuwae’s eruption for which greater than zero acidity of ice was found in either north or south locations?  less than 1 year  1 year  2 years  3 years  4 years  5 or more years o How did acidity of ice measured one year after eruption in the SOUTHERN hemisphere compare to acidity of similarly aged ice in the NORTHERN hemisphere?  more acidic  similarly acidic  less acidic o Which of the two volcanoes made ice in the SOUTHERN hemisphere the most acidic one year after its eruption? (Ignore “Kuwae adjusted” data.)  Kuwae  Tambora  Both caused similar acidity of ice o How did acidity of ice following the Tambora eruption compare to acidity of ice following the Kuwae eruption?  The Kuwae eruption caused ice to be more acid than did the Tambora eruption.  The Kuwae eruption caused ice to be less acid than did the Tambora eruption.  Acidity of ice following BOTH eruptions seems to be roughly similar.  Comparison depends upon the location of the ice.  Comparison depends upon the timing of samples following eruptions. Step 4: Smithsonian Institution’s Database Let us finish with an introduction to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program’s web page in order to learn a little more about the Tambora eruption. Go to https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=264040 You will see a photo with some location details and a Google Map clip, followed by a section headed by nine gray tabs providing access to information. Find the following details from this database: o From the “Eruptive History” tab, in what year was the most recent confirmed volcanic activity? ______ o From the “Eruptive History” tab, the oldest confirmed volcanic activity was in the year ______ BCE. o The type of evidence used for dating the oldest confirmed activity was ______. o Tambora is considered to be what type of volcano? ______ IMPORTANT REMINDERS: Page 8 of 9