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The weight of construction - 4/18/2008 7:33:25 AM   
Aneirin


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I was just reading WaratahBlossoms post on the earth quake  and got to thinking  about  them. I do understand  that  earthquakes are due to techtonic plates grinding against each other as the planet continues to evolve.

But then another thought, is it possible we are adding to the problem. ? 

I say this because of construction, the structures we build,  we move thousand, perhaps millions of tonnes of materials around the world, extracted from one place and moved to another, and sometimes what might as a material to have covered a large area, becomes concentrated in one place, a building for example.

Now as I understand it, the techtonic plates 'float' on a sea of magma, is it possible that if something say as a material from a wide area is scraped and there piled up in another area, could this not disturb the balance of these floating  plates?

Look at the most densest most built up modern city, there try to estimate the weight of materials, stone and concrete of all those structures  in that area,  the smaller the area, and the weight there concentrated, could that not be a  possible problem to see ?

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RE: The weight of construction - 4/18/2008 8:08:44 AM   
RCdc


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No I don't believe it matters.  The only thing we are 'adding' to and its no so much 'adding' but being stupid enough to build on known plates, flood areas etc.
 
the.dark.

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RE: The weight of construction - 4/18/2008 8:08:49 AM   
pahunkboy


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No.  I doubt it.

IMO it is a larger mass of people- living where folks had not lived before.  Thats why more are affected by weather.

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RE: The weight of construction - 4/18/2008 8:15:36 AM   
LadyEllen


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http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/structure/crust/index.php

The crust is pretty thick - thick enough that even a lot of buildings arent going to add much to the whole weight bearing down in any one point at the mantle I'd have thought?

E

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RE: The weight of construction - 4/18/2008 8:18:17 AM   
Zensee


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The weight of construction is miniscule in comparison to the forces in even a small earthquake.

There have been concerns expressed though that some oil extraction processes, those involving pumping mud and water underground, may lubricate fault lines and encourage earthquakes. If this is true it might not be a bad thing though - lots of small earthquakes are preferable to one big one.


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RE: The weight of construction - 4/18/2008 8:20:48 AM   
subtee


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Sheesh I was gonna get a taco pizza for lunch...maybe I'll just stick with my little yogurt.

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RE: The weight of construction - 4/18/2008 8:45:22 AM   
Termyn8or


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While the OP's argument is valid, when put in perspective the conclusion is not reasonable. I would agree that there is an effect, but that effect is probably minscule. It's somewhat like the global warming thing. It is true that just about anything we do produces heat, even if it is a byproduct. But the actual impact is most likely so infinitesimal that it could be disregarded for most purposes.

Even if we consider each area between fault lines as a sort of "sub-techtonic" plate, we are talking at the very least a ratio of thousands of tons vs billions of tons. If anything, something was just about ready, and we brought it on sooner. This would be akin to the straw that broke the camel's back. So it's not that it couldn't happen, it's just pretty unlikely.

T

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RE: The weight of construction - 4/18/2008 11:15:29 AM   
FullCircle


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Aneirin
Now as I understand it, the techtonic plates 'float' on a sea of magma, is it possible that if something say as a material from a wide area is scraped and there piled up in another area, could this not disturb the balance of these floating  plates?


The Earth's crust occupies less than 1% of the Earth's volume, I think we are safe.

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