EENS 3050

Natural Disasters

Fall 2018
Instructor: Dr. Stephen A. Nelson
Office Hours - by appointment,  Room 208, Blessey Hall

e-mail - snelson@tulane.edu         Office Phone 862-3194
Required Textbook: Natural Hazards, Earth's Proceesses as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes 4th Edition by E.A. Keller and D.E. DeVecchio
Available in Tulane Bookstore
Course Grading:  Your grade in this course will be determined on the following percentage distribution:

 

Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 30%
Homework 25%
Disaster Summary 20%

 

 

 

Web Site:
Further course materials, including a copy of this syllabus, all homework assignments, lecture notes, disaster summary information, announcements from the instructor, and useful internet links can be found on the Internet at:   http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/Natural_Disasters/  Be sure to check this web page regularly throughout the course for important announcements and updates. In addition, slides from the lectures will be posted on Canvas, but only after the lecture has been finished in class.

Homework and Exams:
The midterm and final exams will be mostly objective in nature with questions coming from the reading material, lectures, and homework assignments. No make-up exams will be given. The Final Exam will be cumulative. Homework assignments consist of exercises designed to help the student gain practical experience in examining information about the occurrence and effects of natural disasters. All homework answers must be typewritten. Due dates are listed in the schedule below.  All homework is due by the end of the class period on the due date.  Due dates and times are firm.  Late assignments will be subject to a 50% penalty and will not be graded in detail. Turning in homework by email is discouraged because it requires extra work for the instructor.

 

Disaster Summary:
Students will be required to find information on major natural disasters that occur during the time period of the course. Information for this summary will be found in newspapers, magazines, and on the internet. On the last day of class, each student will turn in a short summary of the 10 worst disasters that occurred during the course. This summary should include information on the type, details, effects, death/injury toll, and economic impact of each of these 10 disasters. Further information on the disaster summary can be found HERE.

Honor Code:
All students are expected to follow the Tulane Honor Code.  If you are unfamiliar with the Honor Code or have any questions about it, get a copy of the Honor Code from your Dean's office or view it at: https://college.tulane.edu/code-of-academic-conduct.  In short, the Honor Code states that all work turned in for credit must be your own work in your own words, unless clear and explicit acknowledgement of the sources of the work is given.  This does not mean that collaboration on assignments is discouraged.  You may collaborate, just make sure that the work you turn in is in your own words, and not just a copy of the work of your collaborators.

Course Goals and Objectives

  1. The student will gain an understanding of the geologic and atmospheric processes responsible for natural hazards, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, drought, and asteroid impacts.
  2. The student will gain an understanding of the areas susceptible to natural hazards and the frequency which these hazards become natural disasters.
  3. The student will gain an understanding of practical ways to minimize the effects of natural disasters and mitigate the effects in areas where they are likely to occur.

Schedule of Lectures and Assignments

Date

Topic

Readings
Jan. 16

Intro and Natural Disasters & Assessing Hazards and Risk

Homework Assigned: I. Disaster Info on the Internet

Preface

Ch. 1
Jan. 23  

Natural Disasters & Assessing Hazards and Risk

Earth Structure, Materials, Systems, and Cycles


Ch.1 & 2.

 
Jan. 25

Earth Structure, Materials, Systems, and Cycles

Ch. 2
Jan. 30

Earthquakes: Causes and Measurements

Homework I Due

Homework Assigned: II. Earthquake Exercises

 Ch. 3
Feb. 1

Earthquake Hazards and Risks

 Ch 3
Feb. 6

Earthquake Prediction, Mitigation, and Control

 Ch. 3
Feb. 8

Earthquake Case Histories

 Ch. 3
Feb. 13 MARDI GRAS  NO CLASS  
Feb. 15

Tsunami

Homework II Due

 Ch. 4
Feb. 20

Tsunami

Homework Assigned: III. Volcanological Exercises

 Ch. 4
Feb. 22

Volcanoes, Magma, and Volcanic Eruptions

 Ch. 5
Feb. 27

Volcanic Landforms, Volcanoes and Plate Tectonics

 Ch. 5
Mar. 1

Volcanic Hazards, Beneficial Aspects, and Predicting Eruptions

Homework III Due

 Ch. 5
Mar. 6

Volcanic Case Histories

Ch. 5
Mar. 8

Midterm Exam

  
Mar. 13

River Systems & Causes of Flooding

Homework Assigned: IV Flooding Exercises

 Ch. 6
Mar. 15 River Flooding Ch. 6
Mar. 20 Flooding Hazards, Prediction and Human Intervention Ch. 6
Mar. 22

Flooding Case History

 Ch. 6
Mar. 27 & 29

SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS

 Ch. 7
Apr. 3

Mass Movements and Mass Movement Process

Homework IV Due
Homework Assigned: V. Mass Movement Exercises

  
Apr. 5 Slope Stability, Triggering Events, Mass Movement Hazards Ch. 7
Apr. 10

Subsidence: Dissolution & Human Related Causes

 Ch. 8
Apr. 12

The Ocean-Atmosphere System

Homework V Due

Homework Assigned: VI Weather Exercises

 Ch. 9 & 12
Apr. 17

Thunderstorms & Tornadoes

 Ch. 9
Apr 19 Tropical Cyclones Ch. 10
Apr. 24

Tropical Cyclones

 Ch. 10
Apr. 26

Tropical Cyclones

Coastal Hazards

Homework VI Due

Ch. 10

Ch. 11
May 1

Meteorites & Impacting Events

Disaster Summary Due

 Ch.14
May 10 FINAL EXAMINATION 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM  
Obtain a PDF version of the Syllabus

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