Chemical spill at Scottish school puts two staff members in hospital.

Two members of staff have been hospitalized after a chemical spill at a school in Perth, Scotland, on Thursday 7 January 2015. The incident happened after school hours at the St John's Roman Catholic Academy in North Inch, when about a liter of the chemical methanal was spilled in a classroom. No pupils were present at the time, but two members of the school's cleaning staff were overcome by fumes after attempting to deal with the problem themselves. The spill was eventually tackled by crew from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service wearing specialist breathing equipment and the school was able to reopen on Friday 8 January.

Fire and Rescue personnel in specialist clothing tackle a chemical spill at a school in Scotland on 7 January 2015. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Methanal is the simplest member of the aldehyde group of chemicals, with a chemical formula of CH₂O. It is highly toxic to all animal life, and can cause death at relatively low levels if injected. Solutions of Methanal are also highly corrosive. Methanal fumes can aggravate the mucus membranes in the eyes at very low levels of concentration, causing extremely watery eyes. At higher levels fumes cause headaches, burning sensations in the throat and lungs and can trigger asthma and allergy symptoms; they are also considered to be carcinogenic (likely to cause cancer) and may cause reproductive problems in women, including abnormal menstrual cycles and spontaneous abortions.

See also...

Dairy wastewater spill kills hundreds of Fish in Alabama creek.                                            A spill of dairy wastewater has killed several hundred Fish in the Shades Creek at Homewood, Alabama, close to West Homewood Park, on Monday 19 October 2015. The comprised about 380 liters of wastewater from the Mayfield Creamery, which turned the creek a...

Toxic cloud over Barcelona.                   Residents of five towns in the Province of Barcelona, Spain, were forced to stay inside for much of the morning of Thursday 12 February 2015, after an explosion at the Simarsa chemicals plant  resulted in...

2.4 million without tapwater in Gansu Province, China, after oil leak contaminates supply.                                                        Around 2.4 million people in the city of Lanzhou in northwest Gansu Province after an oil pipeline operated by the Lanzhou Petrochemical Co., a subsidiary...

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.

 

Magnitude 2.7 Earthquake under Glen Lyon, Perth & Kinross.

The British Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 2.7 Earthquake at a depth of 2 km, beneath Glen Lyon in Perth & Kinross, Scotland, slightly after 11.05 am British Summertime (slightly after 10.05 am GMT) on Tuesday 27 August 2013. This is not a large quake, and is highly unlikely to have caused any damage or injuries, but was apparently felt locally.

The approximate location of the 27 August 2013 Glen Lyon Earthquake. Google Maps.

As a rough rule of thumb, when you travel further to the north and west in Great Britain Earthquakes become more frequent, making Scotland (in particular western Scotland) the most quake prone area of the country. The precise causes of British Earthquakes can be hard to determine, as the country is not close to any active plate boundary, but is subject to tectonic stresses from a number of different sources.

Scotland (along with the rest of Eurasia) is being pushed to the east by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean and to the north by the impact of Africa into Europe from the South. Closer to home there are lesser centers of expansion beneath the North Sea, the Rhine Valley and the Bay of Biscay, all of which excerpt pressure on Scottish rocks. Finally there is glacial rebound; until about 10 000 years ago much of the UK was covered by a thick layer of ice, pushing the rocks of the lithosphere down into the underlying mantle; this ice is now gone and the rocks are (slowly) rebounding, causing the occasional Earthquake in the process.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the rock structures that cause them. If you felt either of these quakes you can report it to the British Geological Survey here. If you were in the area but did not feel the quakes then this information is also potentially useful and can also be reported.

See also Magnitude 1.3 Earthquake of the Isle of the Isle of Arran, Earthquake on the Rinns of Islay, Earthquake on the Morvern Peninsula, Earthquake beneath Loch Maree and Earthquake on the Isle of Jura.

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.

Two Earthquakes in Perthshire in two days.

On Friday 21 September 2012, a few seconds before 10.30 am British Summertime (a few seconds before 9.30 am GMT) the British Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 1.4 Earthquake 2 km beneath the village of Comrie in west Perthshire, Scotland. Less than a day later, slightly before 8.40 am British Summertime (slightly before 7.40 am GMT) on Saturday 22 September, a second Earthquake, with a magnitude of 1.1, was recorded at a similar depth, 1.2 km to the northeast. These are small quakes, unlikely to cause any damage or casualties, and quite often to small to be noticed; although on this occasion the first was definitely recorded by witnesses in the village.

Map showing the location of the 21 & 22 September 2012 quakes. Google Maps.

As a rough rule of thumb, when you travel further to the north and west in Great Britain Earthquakes become more frequent, making Scotland (in particular western Scotland) the most quake prone area of the country. The precise causes of British Earthquakes can be hard to determine, as the country is not close to any active plate boundary, but is subject to tectonic stresses from a number of different sources.

Comrie lies on the Highland Boundary Fault; a suture that formed with the closure of the ancient Iapetus Ocean, roughly 500 million years ago, welding the ancient continents of Laurentia and Avelonia together as part of the Pangean Supercontinent, and incidentally causing the uplift and folding that formed the Caledonian Mountains. Prior to this event Scotland north of the fault formed part of Laurentia, an ancient continent mostly now part of North America, whereas Scotland to the south, was attached to Avelonia, along with England, Southern Europe and America east of the Catskills. However this is ancient history even by geological standards, and the fault is unlikely to be a cause of contemporary Earthquakes.

Map showing the location of the Highland Boundary Fault. British Geological Survey.

Scotland (along with the rest of Eurasia) is being pushed to the east by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean and to the north by the impact of Africa into Europe from the South. Closer to home there are lesser centers of expansion beneath the North Sea, the Rhine Valley and the Bay of Biscay, all of which excerpt pressure on Scottish rocks. Finally there is glacial rebound; until about 10 000 years ago much of the UK was covered by a thick layer of ice, pushing the rocks of the lithosphere down into the underlying mantle; this ice is now gone and the rocks are (slowly) rebounding, causing the occasional Earthquake in the process.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the rock structures that cause them. If you felt either of these quakes you can report it to the British Geological Survey here. If you were in the area but did not feel the quakes then this information is also potentially useful and can also be reported.

See also Small Earthquake in the Western Highlands, Small Earthquake on Islay, Argyle and Bute, Earthquake in Argyllshire, west Scotland, Isle of Islay shaken by two Earthquakes in two days and Earthquakes on Sciency Thoughts YouTube.

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.