Sciency Thoughts: County Antrim

Showing posts with label County Antrim. Show all posts

Sunday, 23 September 2018

Atlantic Storm Ali kills two in Ireland.

Two people died in different parts of Ireland and several people were injured across Ireland and the UK as Atlantic Storm Ali swept in from the Atlantic on Wednesday 19 September 2018. In County Galway, in the Republic of Ireland, Swiss tourist Elvira Ferrari, 56, was killed when the caravan she was staying in was swept off a cliff by high winds, while in County Armagh Mathew Campbell, 24, was killed when a falling tree struck him and a companion, who was also injured. In Scotland several children were injured when they were struck by flying debris in Dumfries and Galloway, un un-named person was injered when blown over by high winds in Dundee, a Highland Main Line was derailed after striking branches fallen from a tree and a cruise ship slipped its moorings in Greenock, Inverclyde. Both incidents led to passengers and crew needing to be evacuated, though neither resulted in any casualties. In England a woman recieved serious injuries after her car was struck by a falling tree in Crewe, Cheshire.

The remains of a caravan swept off a cliff in County Galway on Wednesday 19 September 2018. Niall Carson/PA.

Niall Carson/PA

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/20/tributes-paid-to-swiss-tourist-killed-in-ireland-after-caravan-blown-off-cliff-during-storm-ali-7963939/?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/N

Ocean storms form due to heating of air over the sea in tropical zones. As the air is heated the the air pressure drops and the air rises, causing new air to rush in from outside the forming storm zone. If this zone is sufficiently large, then it will be influenced by the Coriolis Effect, which loosely speaking means the winds closer to the equator will be faster than those further away, causing the storm to rotate, clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere.

Whilst the high winds associated these storms is extremely dangerous, the real danger from such storms is often the flooding. Each millibar drop in air pressure can lead to a 1 cm rise in sea level, and large storms can be accompanied by storm surges several meters high. This tends to be accompanied by high levels of rainfall, caused by water picked up by the storm while still at sea, which can lead to flooding, swollen rivers and landslides; which occur when waterlogged soils on hill slopes lose their cohesion and slump downwards, over whatever happens to be in their path.

Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Landslide kills twenty three Sheep in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

A farmer in County Antrim, Northern Ireland has lost twenty three sheep after a landslide dumped several tonnes of rock and soil onto his land on Tuesday 5 January 2015. The incident happened on Dermot McDonnell's farm at Kilmore, near Glenariff following a day of heavy rain. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall. As well as the immediate loss of livestock the event has left a large amount of debris on the farm, including large boulders which are likely to be difficult to remove and which present a potential threat to McDonell's home and road below the farm.

Debris on a farm in County Antrim following the 5 January 2015 landslide. Dermot McDonnell.

Ireland and the United Kingdom have been struck by a series of severe Atlantic storms this winter, bringing widespread flooding and triggering a number of landslip and subsidence events. This is due to exceptionally high temperatures over the Atlantic Ocean this year; ocean storms form due to heating of air over the sea, as the air is heated the the air pressure drops and the air rises, causing new air to rush in from outside the forming storm zone. If this zone is sufficiently large, then it will be influenced by the Coriolis Effect, which loosely speaking means the winds closer to the equator will be faster than those further away, causing the storm to rotate, clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere.

Whilst the high winds associated these storms is extremely dangerous, the real danger from such storms is often the flooding. Each millibar drop in air pressure can lead to a 1 cm rise in sea level, and large storms can be accompanied by storm surges several meters high. This tends to be accompanied by high levels of rainfall, caused by water picked up by the storm while still at sea, which can lead to flooding, swollen rivers and landslides; which occur when waterlogged soils on hill slopes lose their cohesion and slump downwards, over whatever happens to be in their path.

See also...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/atlantic-storm-desmond-causes-three.html

Atlantic Storm Desmond causes three fatalities, widespread flooding. Three fatalities have been confirmed in the wake of Atlantic Storm Desmond, which passed over the UK and Ireland on Saturday 5-Sunday 6 December...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/18-500-without-power-after-atlantic.html

18 500 without power after Atlantic Storm Barny hits UK and Ireland. About 28 500 homes have been left without power after Atlantic Storm Barny hit the UK and Ireland on Tuesday 17 November 2015. The majority of those affected...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/magnitude-13-earthquake-off-north-coast.html

Magnitude 1.3 Earthquake off the north coast of Ireland. The British Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 1.3 Earthquake at a depth of 3 km roughly 2.5 km off the coast of Carrick-A-Rede on the north coast of Ireland...

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Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Fireball over Northern Ireland.

The Irish Astronomical Association has reported a fireball over County Antrim in Northern Ireland at about 5.30 pm GMT on Tuesday 18 November 2014. The meteor was reportedly brighter than the Moon, and was spotted by a member of the society employed at the Met Office at Aldergrove in County Antrim. Several people also reported seeing the object to the BBC, and David Moore of Astronomy Ireland has suggested that if reports of the brightness of the object are true, then it is likely that fragments of the object may have reached the Earth's surface.

Fireball over County Antrim. Belfast Telegraph.

A fireball is defined as a meteor (shooting star) brighter than the planet Venus. These are typically caused by pieces of rock burning up in the atmosphere, but can be the result of man-made space-junk burning up on re-entry.

Objects of this size probably enter the Earth's atmosphere several times a year, though unless they do so over populated areas they are unlikely to be noticed. They are officially described as fireballs if they produce a light brighter than the planet Venus. It is possible, though unlikely, that this object will have produced meteorites that reached the surface (an object visible in the sky is a meteor, a rock that falls from the sky and can be physically held and examined is a meteorite), though most meteorites come from larger objects that penetrate further into the atmosphere before exploding, and therefore have a better chance of producing fragments that reach the surface.

Witness reports can help astronomers to understand these events. If you witnessed this fireball you can report it to the Astronomy Ireland here.

See also...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/is-occurrence-of-multi-kiloton-impact.html

Is the occurrence of multi-kiloton impact events on Earth truly random?

In 1984 palaeontologists David Raup and Jack Sepkowski of the Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-nature-of-nathdwara-meteorite.html

The nature of the Nathdwara Meteorite. On 25 December 2012 at about 6.20 pm local time a single meteorite fell in a field near the town of Nathdwara in southern Rajastan. The meteorite was an oblong shape, 12 cm along its longest axis, and weighed about 1.5 kg. It was covered by a dark fusion crust, formed by melting of its outer surfaces by friction as it passed through the atmosphere, and when broken apart by local villagers the interior was found to be a grey rocky material.

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/fireball-over-southern-ontario.html

Fireball over southern Ontario. Witnesses reported seeing a fireball over southern Ontario slightly after 4.15 pm local time on Sunday 4 May 2014. The incident was also captures on a number of cameras, and Peter Brown of the Meteor Physics Group at Western University has suggested that it was probably caused by a 50-100 cm asteroid exploding in the upper atmosphere due to friction. Such an object would cause an explosion equivalent to...

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Monday, 4 November 2013

Magnitude 1.3 Earthquake off the north coast of Ireland.

The British Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 1.3 Earthquake at a depth of 3 km roughly 2.5 km off the coast of Carrick-A-Rede on the north coast of Ireland, at about 9.45 am GMT on Saturday 26 October 2013. A quake of this size is highly unlikely to have caused any damage or injuries, though it may have been felt locally.

The approximate location of the 26 October 2013 Irish north coast Earthquake. Google Maps.

Earthquakes are far less common in Ireland than Great Britain (geographical, not political definitions; London, Cardiff and Edinburgh are on the island of Great Britain, Dublin and Belfast on Ireland), but the northern tip of the island is more prone to tremors than the rest of the country.

The precise cause of Earthquakes in Britain and Ireland can be hard to determine, and there are not obvious centers of geological activity close to the countries. Along with the rest of Europe they are being pushed to the east by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean and to the north by the impact of Europe from the south. There are also lesser centers of expansion beneath the North Sea, the Rhine Valley and the Bay of Biscay, all of which exert some tectonic pressure, but these are all a long way from County Donegal. Finally there is glacial rebound; until about 10 000 years ago much of the north of Britain and Ireland were covered by thick ice, pushing the rocks of the Lithosphere down into the underlying Mantle. Now this ice is gone and the rocks are slowly rebounding, causing the occasional Earthquake as they do so.

See also Magnitude 1.3 Earthquake of the Isle of the Isle of Arran, Earthquake on the Rinns of Islay, Earthquake on the Isle of Jura, Earthquake in County Donegal and Earthquake off the coast of County Mayo, Ireland.

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