Subsidence - Atmospheric Subsidence, Geologic Subsidence, Human Causes Of Subsidence, Effects Of Subsidence
air materials sinking refers
The term subsidence is used in both atmospheric and geological sciences. Atmospheric subsidence refers to the sinking of air that is denser (heavier) than the air below. As it subsides, increasing air pressure compresses the air parcel, causing it to warm. Geologic subsidence is a form of mass wasting that refers to the sinking of geologic materials (rocks or sediments) as underlying materials are removed or change their position.
Additional Topics
Atmospheric subsidence occurs when the normal upward flow of air in the atmosphere, known as atmospheric convection, is disturbed. To understand what happens during convection, imagine a parcel of air located immediately above the ground during sunrise. As solar energy warms the earth, heat is transferred to that parcel of air. Warm air is less dense than cold air, so the heated parcel has a tende…
Geological subsidence involves the settling or sinking of a body of rock or sediment. Subsidence is a type of mass wasting, or mass movement-transport of large volumes of earth material primarily by gravity. Subsidence may occur as the result of either natural or human-caused events. Earthquakes are commonly associated with subsidence. When two blocks of the earth's crust slide against each…
Many forms of human activities can result in subsidence. One of the most widespread of these problems involves the removal of groundwater for agricultural, municipal, and other purposes. In large parts of the United States, for example, farmers and ranchers depend heavily on water removed from underground aquifers to irrigate their crops and water their livestock. Such activities have now been goi…
Whether caused by natural or human activities, subsidence often has a number of serious consequences for human societies. Probably the most dramatic, of course, is the disappearance of whole sections of land, as occurred in Alaska's Good Friday earthquake. Today, the sudden appearance of sinkholes in Florida is no longer unusual news. In many cases, these sinkholes appear because the remova…
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments