Category: Geography Notes PPT

Rutile is a type of titanium oxide mineral with the chemical formula TiO2. It can be found worldwide in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. Rutile can also be found in other minerals as needle-shaped crystals. Rutile has a high specific gravity and is frequently concentrated in “heavy mineral sands” found today in both onshore and offshore deposits by stream and wave action. These sands provide a significant portion of the world’s rutile supply. Rutile is a titanium ore that is ground into a white powder and used as a paint pigment. It is also processed for use in a variety of items. The “eyes” and “stars” in many gems, such as star ruby and star sapphire, are made up of networks of needle-shaped rutile crystals.

Occurrence of Rutile

Rutile is found in plutonic igneous rocks like granite and deep-source igneous rocks like peridotite and lamproite as an accessory mineral. Rutile is a natural accessory mineral in metamorphic rocks such as gneiss, schist, and eclogite. Rutile crystals with a good shape can be found in pegmatite and skarn. Rutile and many other metallic ore minerals are mined together in sedimentary deposits called “heavy mineral sands.” The weathering of igneous and metamorphic rocks that contain abundant tiny grains of high-specific-gravity minerals such as rutile, ilmenite, anatase, brookite, leucoxene, perovskite, and titanite results in these sediments (also known as sphene). The more resistant mineral particles in these rocks are washed into the marine coastal environment as they weather, where they are sorted and concentrated according to density by wave and current action. These sediments may become mineable deposits if the conditions are correct and heavy minerals are abundant.

Synthetic Rutile

Rutile has an adamantine lustre, a high refractive index, and a heavy dispersion. There are optical properties that can make a perfect gemstone, and rutile’s properties are comparable to or better than diamond. Natural rutile, on the other hand, rarely has the clarity and colour needed to be used as a diamond substitute. Synthetic rutile, on the other hand, can be produced nearly colourless and with exceptional clarity. It was cut into gems and marketed as a diamond simulant called “Titania” when it was first manufactured in the 1940s and 1950s. It gained an early period of popularity before buyers discovered that synthetic rutile was susceptible to abrasion injuries in a short period of time – rutile has a Mohs hardness of 6 compared to diamond’s hardness of 10. Synthetic rutile was first manufactured in 1948 and is marketed under a number of different names. The Becher process can be used to make it from titanium ore ilmenite. In large parts, very pure synthetic rutile is translucent and almost colourless, with a slight yellow tint. Synthetic rutile can be doped to produce a range of colours.

Rutile in powder and thin film form is frequently fabricated in laboratory conditions by solution-based routes using inorganic or organometallic precursors, as a result of the research interest in the photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide in both anatase and rutile phases. The metastable anatase phase can crystallise first, depending on synthesis conditions, and can then be converted to the equilibrium rutile phase through thermal treatment. Dopants are often used to modify the physical properties of rutile in order to enhance photocatalytic activity by improving photo-generated charge carrier separation, altering electronic band structures, and improving surface reactivity.

Titanium Rutile

In comparison to all widely used materials for paper filling or coating systems, titanium dioxide pigments are finely divided white rutile powders that are chemically inert or unreactive, and are used to increase opacity. Titanium dioxide is known as anatase or rutile depending on its crystalline arrangement. This pigment is suitable for achieving high opacity because of its high light reflectivity, low light absorption, and small particle size. These pigments are very deeply white in their finely separated form. Titanium dioxide pigments, with this property, contribute significantly to the optical output of paper in terms of brightness and opacity, even at low concentration levels. Calcium carbonate is a more cost-effective pigment if only brightness is needed.

Rutile Mining

Ships dredge up sediments, separate out the heavy mineral grains, keep the heavy minerals on board, and discharge the lighter sediment fraction down to the bottom to mine heavy mineral sands in shallow marine environments. On ground, heavy mineral sands can be found in sedimentary deposits that formed when sea levels were much higher than they are now. These sediments are mined, treated to extract the heavy minerals, and then added to the original topography of the landscape.

Rutile and Gemology

Rutile, maybe more than any other mineral, prefers to form prism-shaped crystals within other minerals. Rutile long prisms can be found in a variety of gem minerals. Some of the more well-known minerals include quartz, corundum (ruby and sapphire), garnet, and andalusite. As seen in many rutilated quartz specimens, these needles can be coarse and noticeable inside the gem. When the colour and arrangement of these needles are pleasing, they create attractive and fascinating novelty gems. 

Reflections of light from a network of fine rutile crystals inside a properly cut cabochon create a beautiful “star” of light on the gem’s surface in certain gems, such as ruby and sapphire. The occurrence of the star is known as “asterism,” and gem rubies and gem sapphires with this star are known in the trade as “phenomenal gems.” In certain gems, one direction of parallel crystals forms a light line on the gem’s surface known as a “cat’s-eye.” Chatoyance is the phenomenon that causes a cat’s-eye, and gems that show this phenomenon are considered to be “chatoyant.” Cat’s-eye chrysoberyl is the most well-known gem for its chatoyance.

Rutile Uses

The primary applications of rutile and titanium oxide made from rutile are the manufacture of titanium oxide pigments, refractory ceramics, and titanium metal. Rutile is a bright white powder that can be finely ground and refined to eliminate impurities, making it an excellent pigment. By suspending the powder in a liquid, it is used to produce paint. The liquid acts as a carrier for the paint, and when it evaporates, it leaves a coating of titanium oxide on the painted object. When the United States government banned the use of lead-based pigments in consumer paint goods in 1978, titanium oxide pigments became very popular in the paint industry. Titanium oxide pigments are used to render high-brightness paper and to create white colour in plastics. These materials have a fading-resistant colour thanks to titanium oxide. Titanium oxide is also chemically inert and nontoxic. Because of these properties, it can be used as a pigment in food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and a variety of consumer goods, including toothpaste.

Fun Fact

Rutile Hematite is thought to lift self-imposed limits, restore self-esteem, and boost willpower, all while emitting a strong, but quiet energy. It can deflect harmful energies from the atmosphere and aid in ascension by assisting in the integration of high vibrations into the physical body. By boosting self-confidence and cultivating concentration, hematite will help you find calm in the midst of chaos.

Conclusion

Rutile is a fascinating mineral because it has such a wide range of different habits and colours. It has a variety of distinct crystal shapes, as well as distinct colours, patterns, and associations. Rutile crystals can vary in appearance from mirror-like metallic crystals to dark reddish sub-metallic crystals and bright golden-yellow needles. Under backlighting, even the opaque metallic-looking forms become transparent around the edges, with a dark red translucent tinge. Rutile is famous for forming needle-like inclusions in other minerals, especially Quartz, in the form of long and slender yellow straw-like crystals. Within a host mineral, these inclusions can range from scattered needles to thick parallel fibres. Rutilated Quartz is the name given to this mixture of minerals, which is used as a collector’s mineral and a gemstone. Some gemstones, such as Star Sapphire, have asterism or chatoyancy effects caused by rutile inclusions. These unusual optical effects are created by small, parallel Rutile fibres that develop within the host mineral. The mineral rutile is the most common titanium dioxide mineral. Brookite and Anatase are two rarer polymorphs that each have their own distinct crystals.

Sedimentary rocks alongside the metamorphic and igneous rocks are the three basic types of rocks that constitute Earth’s surface. The sedimentary rocks often develop through layers and finally form on Earth’s surface or close to the same. For weathering and Erosion, the agents are wind and rain – that forms these kinds of rocks. The precipitation and lithification processes involve the formation of sedimentary rocks by the emergence of new components, rocks and minerals. 

      

Types of Sedimentary Rocks

The sedimentary rocks can be classified into three sorts – The Clastic sedimentary rocks – the types of stones that are formed from the remains and fragmentation of other rocks that existed earlier are the clastic sedimentary rocks. The chemical sedimentary rocks – these are the kind of rocks that develop from sediments that precipitate in a solution. The organic sedimentary rocks – These are the kinds of rocks that form from animal and plant remains or debris. 

Elaborating the Structure of Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentary structures, observed under a microscope, show different sedimentary rocks, such as mud cracks, bedding, fossil trails and tracks, ripple marks, etcetera. Sedimentary structures can be broken into four kinds, depending on their time of genesis.

• Primary Sedimentary Structures: The structures that develop alongside the development of the sedimentary rock that houses it.

• Chemical Sedimentary Structures – these are the structures within a sedimentary rock that is formed from chemical processes. 

• Secondary Sedimentary Structures: these are the structures in a sedimentary rock that develops from deposition and penecontemporaneous alterations.

• Organic Sedimentary Structures: these are the structures formed from organic sources, that can be considered under any – primary, secondary or chemical structures are called the organic structures. 

Although sedimentary rocks’ external structure in a sedimentary rock diagram may look just like concentric layers arranged one after the other, in actuality, the design is pretty complex. The recurring word while describing the structure of sedimentary rock is ‘bedding’. 

What is Bedding  of Sedimentary Structures? 

It is the many layers of rock that constitute the mother rock. These beds are formed of different materials and are of varying sizes and shapes. It is characteristic of sedimentary rock to house beddings of varying sizes, from thin laminas to thick strata. Although the bedding in these rocks may appear in a range of arrangements, they are primarily found in horizontal configurations, signifying a tendency of deposition by the many agents – wind, air, water, etcetera flat-lying or horizontal layers. Imbricate bedding is the type of bedding formed out of tougher pebbles and stones that are flattened into layers. Other than these, some other structures include deformations during the many processes of sedimentary rock formations. 

Features of Sedimentary Rocks

Some of the traits that are commonly observed in sedimentary rocks are, 

• Mud Cracks: Mud cracks are the fissures created when the water in sediments dry out. These cracks might get filled with water or other minerals sometimes. 

• Bedding: The characteristic structure of a sedimentary rock that gives it a distinctive look is from the bedding or the layers of varying sizes that form the rocks.

• Fossils: Sedimentary rocks often contain matters such as shells, bones and other remains from living organisms in their layers.

• Distinctive Colour: The sedimentary rocks possess a distinct colour, that is, from the minerals involved in its creation or some external source during the same. Generally, the three primary colours seen in sedimentary rocks are white, black and red. 

• Rain Prints: Often, the raindrops create impressions on the sedimentary rocks that might persist in the structure if preserved. 

• Ripple Marks: the marks on the rocks that travel along water currents get ripple. These marks, thereby, are called ripple marks.

• Cross-Bedding- whimsical and strong currents give rise to two beddings, a normal one and a shorter one, that exists in an intertwined pattern. These are called cross-bedding. 

• Rill Marks: the types of slits created by waves that return to the ocean after hitting the shore are called rill marks.

According to experts, if one wants to define sleet, then it can be explained as transparent ice pellets. The shape of these ice pellets is usually globular and their diameter is usually around 5 mm or 0.2 inches. The size of sleet can also be smaller as it is formed as a result of freezing raindrops or the freezing of mostly melted snowflakes.

Students should remember that larger frozen particles are known as hail or hailstone. In most cases, sleet weather tends to occur when a warm layer of air lies on top of a layer of air that has a below-freezing temperature at the surface of the Earth.

In locations like Great Britain and some parts of the United States of America (USA), a mixture of snow and rain is referred to as team sleet. This term can also be used for identifying a type of clear ice on objects. However, according to experts, this should be correctly referred to as glaze.

Students should know that brief sleet is a type of precipitation. And precipitation is a process that occurs after the condensation of water vapors in the atmosphere. These water vapors fall down under the influence of gravity from the sky. As a result, precipitations like rain and snow are formed. One can also read other papers of brief sleet meaning.

Some experts also refer to precipitation as a chemical reaction that occurs when two solutions of two ionic substances and a solid ionic substance of precipitate are formed together.

For example, precipitation usually occurs when a part of the atmosphere is saturated with water vapors and the correct temperature is present. This results in condensation and the occurrence of precipitation. Also, the two processes that saturate the air are known as the cooling of air molecules and the cooling of the water vapors. If you want to know the difference between sleet, snow, and freezing rain through visual aid, then you can also refer to the image that is attached below.

What are the Other Classifications of Precipitations?

As mentioned above, there are different types of precipitations. And those types of precipitations can be classified into different categories on the basis of their method of formation. These categories of classification are mentioned below.

Raindrops are the most common type of precipitation. It is formed when large water droplets combine with each other to form an even larger water droplet. These water droplets freeze into a crystal of ice. This process is known as coalescence. The rate of the fall is usually considered to be negligible. This is one of the reasons why the clouds do not fall off the sky.

It should be noted that precipitation is only possible in cases when the water droplets will form into larger drops. This is done through a process of coalescence with the help of turbulence in which a collision occurs between the water droplets. This produces even larger droplets. With time, the droplets eventually descend and become heavier because of coalescence and resistance. This is when the water droplets finally fall as rain.

Students might already be familiar with the fact that snow crystals often form when the temperature reaches freezing degrees in the tiny cloud droplets. This occurs because the water droplets are larger in number in comparison to ice crystals. The ice crystals can also grow in their size. This occurs at the expense of water droplets because the water vapors cause the droplets to completely evaporate. The droplets also fall from the atmosphere because of the mass of the snowflakes.

Like other types of precipitation, hail also forms in the storm clouds. This happens when the supercooled droplets come in direct contact with things like dirt and dust. The storm also has an updraft that blows the hailstones up and lifts once more after the updraft successfully dissipates.

It should be noted that when it comes to meteorology, any result of atmospheric water vapor condensation that falls under cloud gravity is known as precipitation. The other types of precipitations are drizzle, ice pellets, and graupel. This also means that mist and fog are not precipitations. Instead, mist and fog are known as colloids because in those conditions the water vapors do not condense enough to precipitate.

These two processes also contribute to the phenomenon of the air becoming more saturated. This probably works together by cooling the air or adding water vapors that are present in the air. Precipitation also forms when smaller droplets coalesce through collision with other raindrops or ice crystals within a cloud. Students should remember that the quicker and heavier bursts of rain are known as showers. These often occur in scattered areas.

According to experts, precipitation is a vital component of the water cycle that occurs on Earth. It is responsible for the large supply of freshwater that gets accumulated. Every year around 505,000 cubic kilometers of 121,000 cubic meters of water falls in the form of precipitation.

Out of that amount, 398,000 cubic kilometers of 95,000 cu mi fall directly over the oceans. This means that if one takes the surface area of our planet into account, then the annual precipitation is 990 millimeters of 39 inches. This value is in terms of the global average.

Quick, heavy bursts of rain are called “showers” in scattered areas.

Precipitation is a significant component of the cycle of water and is responsible for the accumulation of much of the planet’s freshwater. Per year, about 505,000 km3 (121,000 mi3) of water falls as precipitation, 398,000 km3 (95,000 cu mi) of it over the oceans. Given the surface area of the Earth, this means that the annual precipitation is 990 millimeters (39 in) globally averaged.

Fun Facts about the Precipitation

Did you know that there are different types of precipitations? This is actually quite true because precipitation plays a vital role in the water cycle on Earth. It helps in bringing in the deposit of freshwater on the planet. This is why experts often divide precipitants into three different categories, depending on their chemical forms. These categories are:

There are also different examples of precipitations that one can witness. Some examples of liquid form precipitations include rain and drizzle. If rain or drizzle comes in contact with the air mass in any sub-freezing temperature, then it can transform into freezing drizzle or freezing rain. There are other kinds of frozen precipitated water, like ice needles, snow, graupel, hail, and sleet. You can also form a sleet sentence.

Stratification is a process that occurs due to layering in most sedimentary rocks and in those igneous rocks which are formed at the surface of the Earth, from lava flows and volcanic fragmental deposits. The layers range from several millimeters to many meters in thickness and greatly differ in shape. The strata may range from thin sheets that cover many square kilometers to thick bodies that extend only a few meters laterally. Stratification planes are the planes of parting or separation between individual rock layers. They are horizontal where deposition of sediments take place as flat-lying layers, and they exhibit inclination where the depositional site is a sloping surface. The bottom surface of this stratum roughly conforms to irregularities of the surface underneath. 

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Formation of Stratified Rocks

Stratification in sedimentary rocks may result from several changes in their texture or composition during this process of deposition. It can also result from pauses in the deposition that allow the older deposits to undergo certain changes before they are covered by additional sediments. A series of color changes are also observed that are resulted from the differences in mineral composition, or merely as layers of almost similar aspects separated by distinct parting planes. There is no direct relationship between the thickness, extent of strata, the rate of deposition, and the time represented. For example, a stratum of limestone which is 2.5 cm thick may take longer to form than a stratum of sandstone which is 3 m in thickness. The most common cause of stratification is the variation in the transporting ability of the agent which causes this deposition to take place.

Stratification in volcanic rocks and sedimentary rocks differs in certain respects. Under the influence of gravity, particle size, and wind, fragmental volcanic material becomes sorted. Falling to the ground, well-sorted layers can be formed. If these sediments fall into any lake or sea, they become layered like any other detrital matter. The process of stratification may also result from continuous flows of liquid lava or alternations between flows and ashfalls.

All the sedimentary deposits are not stratified. The ones which are transported by ice only, landslide deposits, and residual soils, for instance, exhibit no stratification. Original stratification may be destroyed by animals and plants or by disturbances after deposition.  

Cross-bedding and Graded Bedding 

When layering within the stratum takes place at an angle to the main bedding plane, cross-bedding is said to take place. Cross-bedding is also known as cross-stratification. Here, the sedimentary structures formed are roughly horizontal units which compose of inclined layers. This process occurs when there is deposition on the inclined surfaces of bedforms like ripples and dunes, and it indicates that the depositional environment contains a flowing medium (mainly wind or water). Some examples of these bedforms are ripples, sand waves, dunes, anti-dunes, bars, and delta slopes. 

A graded bed is a bed that is characterized by a systematic change in grain size from one of its sides to the other. Graded beds represent depositional environments that decrease in transport energy over time, but these beds can also form during rapid depositional movements. They are best represented where the sudden strong current deposits heavy, coarse sediments first with finer particles following them as the current weakens. They can also be formed in terrestrial stream deposits. In reverse or inverse grading, the bed becomes coarse upwards. This type of grading is pretty uncommon. This is also seen in Aeolian processes.

Some Facts on Stratified Rocks

• Limestone is a sedimentary rock which is mainly composed of mineral calcite, which is in the form of calcium carbonate. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica along with amounts of clay, silt, and sand.

• Sandstone is a sedimentary rock that is formed under oceans, lakes, and rivers. They are composed of sand particles such as quartz or feldspar. This natural stone is pretty tough and resistant to weathering. It is also a popular material used in building and paving from ancient times.

• Shale rocks are rocks that are made up of clay-sized particles. They can form in rivers, basins, and oceans. They roughly cover 70% of the Earth’s surface and constitute about 55% of all sedimentary rocks.

Tectonic landforms are a typical geomorphic feature. This landform is generated by the process of surface deformation that is related to the active tectonic structures. Morphogenetic processes are moreover related to regional stress fields that are driven by the lithospheric plates by their relative motion. 

These landforms are particularly quite intense along with the different types of plate margin regions like – convergent, divergent and transform or the conservative types. Crustal deformation associated with the plate tectonics is responsible for the main large-scale morpho-structural elements of the Earth which include the active orogens, the subsiding sedimentary basins, also the extensive plateaus, and the oceanic basins, the mid-ocean ridges, and the oceanic trenches. 

Divergent Boundary Landforms

In these plate tectonics, there is a divergent boundary or a divergent plate boundary which is also known as the constructive boundary or an extensional boundary is a type of linear feature that is present between the two tectonic plates which are moving apart.  

Divergent boundaries situated within the continents originates as rifts, thereafter it becomes rift valleys. The active most divergent plate boundaries occur between the oceanic plates, existing as mid-oceanic plates.  The divergent boundaries also give rise to volcanic islands that occur when the plates shift to produce gaps when the magma rises to fill.

Convergent Boundary Landforms

A convergent boundary or the destructive boundary is a place on Earth where more than two lithospheric plates collide with each other. One of the plates slides under the other and this process is called subduction. This subduction zone is marked by a plane where frequent earthquakes occur, this zone is called the Wadati-Benioff zone. These types of collisions happen on large scales which can lead to volcanism, orogenesis, earthquake, destruction of the lithosphere, and deformation. The convergent boundaries normally occur between the oceanic-oceanic lithosphere, oceanic-continental lithosphere, and also occurs between the continental-continental lithosphere.

Landforms Caused by Plate Tectonics

The activity which occurs when the two tectonic plates come in contact with each other might have a major impact on the landscape of the Earth, this is a known fact. 

Though the process can take millions to zillions of years to form the landforms by plate tectonics, it is all worth the while offer as some of these get formed into the most impressive natural land features in the world. 

Some of These Land Features are as Follows:

Fold Mountains

The compressional forces that exist in a convergent plate boundary, wherein two plates collide with one another, can create fold mountains. This also involves the collision of any two continental plates or collision of the continental plate and an oceanic plate that forces the sedimentary rocks to rise upwards into a series of folds.

Ocean Trenches

Ocean trenches form in different kinds of convergent plate boundaries. Here a continental and an oceanic plate converge also two oceanic plates can also converge. The oceanic plates are quite denser than that of continental plates and so they plunge beneath them, or “subducts” each other. 

Island Arcs

With the subduction process, an oceanic plate converges with another oceanic plate which can lead to volcanoes that are being formed parallelly like a trench. The volcanic debris and lava which are built upon the ocean floor over a million years eventually result in forming a formerly submarine volcano that rises above sea level to create an island arc. 

Ocean Ridges

At divergent boundaries, the plates move apart from each other, which creates a new crust, while the magma is being pushed up from the mantle. The mid-ocean ridges result from this volcanic swelling and from the eruptions occurring along the divergent boundary. 

Destructive Plate Boundary Landforms

At the area of destructive plate boundary which is also known as the convergent plate boundary – the plates move towards one another. This usually involves the oceanic plate and this is a continental plate. The movement can also cause earthquakes and the occurrence of volcanoes. 

When the plates collide, the oceanic plate forcefully gets beneath the continental plate. This event is known as subduction which results in the formation of an ocean trench. This occurs because the oceanic plate is heavier than the continental plate. When the plate sinks into the mantle it melts to process into magma. The pressure of magma builds up under the Earth’s surface. The magma escapes through the rock cracks and when it rises up through a composite volcano, is known as a stratovolcano. 

Tornadoes are usually recognizable by their funnel clouds. Typically, this dynamic, funnel-shaped cloud moves beneath the main storm system. Tornadoes have a condensation funnel made up of water droplets, dust, dirt, and debris that makes them visible almost all of the time. Tornadoes are known by a variety of names, including “whirlwind,” “windstorm,” “cyclone,” “twister,” and “typhoon,” but they are the most dangerous atmospheric storm.

Formation of Tornadoes

During a supercell storm, the rotation is focused and lowered by downdraughts (descending currents of cold, dense air). In between the formation of tornadoes, rotation may become so concentrated that a narrow column of rapidly spinning air will form. When this violently revolving column of air reaches the ground, a tornado is formed. The presence of a condensation funnel- a funnel-shaped cloud that forms owing to the tornado vortex’s much-lowered pressure- makes the tornado observable in the formation of tornadoes. The tornado’s visibility may be aided by dust and other debris carried by the powerful winds.

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Cause of Tornado

When warm, moist air collides with cold, dry air, tornadoes emerge. Generally, thunderstorms form when cooler, denser air is pushed over warmer air which is the cause of tornadoes. Updrafts are caused by warm air rising through the cold air. Whenever the wind strength or direction changes, the updraft begins to rotate.

Effects of Tornado

Tornadoes in the United States do roughly $400 million of damage each year and kill about 70 people on average. Homes and businesses are torn apart by extremely violent winds. Winds may also rip the bark off trees, collapse bridges, topple trains, send automobiles and trucks flying, and suck all the water out of a riverbed.

Tornadoes and Severe Storms

Tornadoes are funnel-shaped rotating clouds that arise as a result of violent thunderstorms. They stretch from a thunderstorm to the ground with intense winds averaging 30 miles per hour. They can also accelerate from a standstill to 70 mph in a handful of seconds. Tornadoes in the United States are typically 500 feet across and move for five miles on the ground, with a thunderous roar akin to that of a freight train. 

Tornadoes and violent storms pose a threat to the affected regions. Strong wind gusts, lightning strikes, and flash floods are all part of these catastrophic storms. Tornadoes can strike with little or no warning, leaving victims with only seconds to seek shelter. People frequently suffer distresses as a result of tornadoes and severe storms’ unpredictability. There are several adverse effects associated with tornadoes and severe storms.

Where do Tornadoes Occur?

The Great Plains of central America are home to the majority of tornadoes, providing a perfect setting for severe thunderstorm formation. Storms form when dry cold air coming south from Canada collides with warm moist air moving north from the Gulf of Mexico in this area, known as Tornado Alley. Tornadoes can occur at any time of year, but they are most common during the spring and summer months when thunderstorms are present. Tornadoes are most common in May and June.

Did you Know?

• A tornado is a swirling, funnel-shaped cloud with whirling winds that can reach 300 mph that stretches from a thunderstorm to the ground.

• Tornado damage tracks can be more than one mile broad and 50 miles long.

• Once on land, tropical storms and hurricanes can be accompanied by tornadoes.