Alaska - Humans in Glacial Landscapes Case Study
- Created by: IssyCalderwood
- Created on: 18-03-19 13:37
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- Alaska - Humans in glacial landscapes Case study
- Opportunities for development
- Oil & gas
- Over 1/2 countries income
- Most in tundra
- Prudhoe bay = oil explotation
- Trans-Alaskan pipeline links Prudhoe bay w/ Valdez = oil shipped to customers
- Mineral resources
- Tintina gold belt = $2.2 bil to GDP 2013
- Fishing
- Employs 79,000 & $5bil to economy
- Largest fishing ports = Aleutian Island & Kodiak Island
- Tourism
- Wilderness scenery
- 2 mil tourists = money & employment
- Oil & gas
- Facts
- Periglacial landforms
- Northern parts of Alaska in Arctic circle
- Upland = glaciers
- Challenges to development
- Environmental conditions
- Cold - Prudhoe bay = -9 degrees
- Snow & strong winds
- Exposure = injury or death
- Healthcare= long away
- Exposure = injury or death
- Dark all time = hard to live & work
- Inaccessibility
- Extremely remote & mountainous = difficult & expensive
- Winter = only accessible by air or ice roads
- Summer = ground too soft = no roads
- Oil = hundreds kilometres from nearest town
- Pop = small & scattered = long way from employment
- Largest state by area = smallest pop
- Most people live near coast = warmer & less remote
- Challenges for building & infrastructure
- Construction work only in summer
- Days longer, warmer
- Development = long & expensive
- Permafrost = solid base to build on
- If it melts = unstable = buildings collapse or pipelines fracture
- Construction work only in summer
- Environmental conditions
- Responses to cold conditions
- Resilience
- Emergency generators if power fails
- However, remote communities = vulnerable if emergency generator break down = no power at all
- Emergency food supplies, 40,000 people, 7 days
- Dalton highway damaged = roll-ons cross tundra w/ fuel supplies = limited supply = prices rise
- Mitigation
- Utilidors = above ground corridors w/ water & sewage
- Avoids digging in permafrost& risk melting = expensive & may still freeze
- Buildings on thick gravel/stilts = no thawing permafrost below
- Trans-alaskan oil pipeline on stilts to prevent permafrost damage = expensive
- Utilidors = above ground corridors w/ water & sewage
- Adaptation
- Working in cold = burn calories = employers make food available 24/7
- Working practices adapted to weather = warming up breaks prevent frostbite & hypothermia
- As often as every 20 mins
- Isn't productive or economically viable
- As often as every 20 mins
- Many people run engines constantly, (hard to start in cold)
- Resilience
- Opportunities for development
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