AQA - Geography GCSE A Case Studies (Physical Geography)
- Created by: thebav
- Created on: 05-01-14 16:43
Likely Effects of a Supervolcano Eruption
- Yellowstone Supervolcano
- 87000 deaths predicted within area of eruption
- 10,000 km^2 land destroyed
- 15cm of ash covering buildings within 10,000 km
- Ash cloud rising 40-50 km into the atmosphere
- Flights suspended
- Constant snow cover in America and Asia for 3 years
- Monsoon rains would fail
- 40% of population suffering starvation
Earthquake in MEDC : Kobe Earthquake
- 5:46am on 17th Jan 1995 at Nojima fault line
- Earthquake measuring 7.2 on Richter Scale
- 6,500 dead
- 40,000 seriously injured
- 300,000 homeless
- Huge damage to buildings (30% of Osaka to Kobe tracks left)
- Hanshin Expressway destroyed
- 1 million homes without water for 10 days
- $220 billion worth of damage
- Responses
- Emergency services searched for survivors in rubble
- Hospitals working non-stop
- Motorola gave telephone connections for free
- New laws for building of earthquake proof buildings
Earthquake in LEDC : The Sichuan Earthquake
- 12 May 2008, 2:28pm. Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian Plate along Longmenshan fault line.
- 7.9 on the Richter Scale, tremors lasting 120 seconds
- 70,000 dead + 20,000 missing
- 400,000 injured
- 10 million homeless
- 80% buildings collapsed due to cheap building materials
- Lack of communications, limited access by roads due to landslides, and flooding
- $75 million worth of damage
- Responses
- 20 helicopters assingned to rescuse survivors
- Provisions of shelter, water and food
- £100 million of donations by the Red Cross
- Debts of survivors written off
Volcanic Eruption : Mt St Helens
- 8:32am, 18 May 1980
The were signs of an eruption in March 1980, so evacuation had been carried out
- Magnitude: 5.1
- Caused the biggest landslide ever recorded
- All living organisms 27km to the north of volcano wiped out.
- 57 dead
- Responses
- Helicopters mobilised for search and rescue
- Ash was cleared from roads within 3 days
- Masks provided to locals to aid breathing
- Housing reconstructed
- Forest replanted + Road rebuilt
- Over time, animals like elks returned
- Much more fertile soils left behind
Indian Ocean Tsunami
- 26 December 2004, when Indo-Australian Plate subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate
- Earthquake measured 9.1 on Richter Scale
- Highest wave : 25m
- 220,000 dead ; 650,000 seriously injured ; 2 million homeless
- Responses
- Vast area affected meant that rescue services could not help everyone
- Diseases spread and wounds worsened
- Fresh water + food and shelter provided
- £372 million donations from UK
- Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System set up in June 2006
- Specific Areas Afffected
- Banda Aceh in Sumatra - people swept away
- Two-thirds of the Maldives' low lying capital, Male, inundated
The Andes
- Uses
- Farming
- Mountain slopes used for subsidence farming, such as potatoes
- Terraces used to retain water and make farming easier. Most farming in the lower valleys
- Using llamas to carry materials for irrigation and for meat, milk and wool
- Mining
- Range of important minerals - Tin from Peru and Bolivia ; Gold from Peru (Yanacocha goldmine)
- Provides jobs
- Hydroelectric Power
- Steep slopes used to generate hydroelectric power, eg Yuncan project dams the Paucartambo and Huachon rivers
- Tourism
- Trails for hiking : Inca Trail ; Heritage Sites : Machu Picchu
Tourism in the Alps: Chamonix
- Located in the north-westerly part of the Alps in France. 100,000 visitors every day
- Winter Attractions
- Skiing + Snowboarding + Ice Climbing + Paragliding
- Hotels, Restaurants, Heated swimming pools and Museums within Chamonix
- Summer Attractions
- Montenvers railway takes visitors to the Mer de Glace (glacier) with ice caves
- 350km of hiking trails + Boating + Rock Climbing
- Live music, cafes and flowers within Chamonix
- Impact of tourists
- Employment + Improvement of local facilities and town appearence
- Noisy + Congested at times due to small roads.
- Erosion of mountain footpaths
- Shops become expensive for locals
- Conflicts can arise beteen tourists and locals.
- Management
- Promotion of responsible tourism + Offers eco-friendly transport
- Espace Mont-Blanc Initiative and Tomorrow's Valley Organisation
Temperate Deciduous Forest: Epping Forest
- North-east of London; covers 2,500 ha (19km long x 4km wide)
- Wide variety of environments such as woodland, grasslands and marshes
- Early Uses and Managment
- Hunting; Collecting wood; Grazing
- Pollarding; Made a conservation site to prevent people buying it
- Recent Management
- 1,500 ha designated as an SSSI
- Provision of facilities for tourists like car parks and toilets to limit damage to forest
- Controlling some forms of recreation to limit damage
- Preserving ancient trees by pllarding (1,000 trees repollarded since 1981)
- Preserving animals living there
- Encouraging grazing to maintain soil fertility
Deforestation of a tropical rainforest: Malasiya
- Located south-east Asia. 63% of Malasiya is tropical rainforest
- Dangers
- 150,000ha of forest lost every year
- Clear felling of trees leads to total destruction of rainforest
- $2bn Bakun Dam project resulted in the flooding of 1000s of hectares of rainforest
- 250 km^2 of virgin rainforest cut down
- 9,000 indigenous people forced to move from the area but not supplied with rehousing
- Areas of rainforest cleared for mining, leading to pollution of land and rivers
- Drilling has started in Borneo, as well as deforestation for palm oil plantations
- Land cleared for countryside population
- Fires are common due to "slash and burn" methods
Desert in LEDC: Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India
- Economic Uses
- Susidence farming of basic crop, as well as hunters
- Irrigation and Commercial Farming
- Indira Gandhi Canal - 650km long - irrigates 3,500 km^2 of land in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, allowing commercial farming of wheat and provides drinking water to people in the desert
- Mining Industry
- Rajasthan has a good supply of kaolin and gypsum
- At Jaisalmer, the Sanu limestone, the main source of limestone for Indian steel works
- Rock marble quarried near Jodhpur
- Tourism
- Desert safaris on camels at Jaisalmer.
- Problems and Management
- Growing population leads to the destruction of land and ecosystems
- Salinisation has occured due to excessive irrigation + Soil erosion due to over grazing
- Desert Development Program started to preserve ecological balance of the desert and stabilising sand dunes
- The Thar Desert National Park has been created to protect 3,000 km^2 of land
Desert in MEDC : Sonoran Desert, Arizona, USA
- 300+ mm of rainfall every year
- Air conditioning is used to deal with heat, preventing the need to convert the land
- Good water supply can be used for irrigation and drinking supplies
- Clean air and open spaces allows tourist sites to be built to generate money
- Manara, a town in the Sonoran Desert
- Population of 30,000
- In 1920, a new irrigation system allowed the commercial farming of cotton, wheat and barley
- Since 1990s, farming has decline and replaced by housing and a heritage park has been opened
- The town has become a wealthy business community and hosts golfs Matchplay Championship
- Management
- 1998, Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan initiated to conserve resources
- Led to the creation of buffer zones of ecological significance
- Provides home design recommendations to conserve energy and water
- 1998, Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan initiated to conserve resources
Khumbu Glacier, Nepal
- Starts on the Western corrie on the slopes of Mt. Everest
- Largest glacier in Nepal - 4km long
- Since 1980, the glaciers have been retreating. The process increased in 1995
- Between 1976 and 2007, scientists found that the Khumbu glacier retreated by 18m a year
- Melting glaciers causes rivers flowing through Nepal and India can flood
- In 2010, cameras were set up in Mount Everest to monitor glaciers for 2 years.
- This will allow scientists to plan for the future of Nepal
Management of Malaysia Rainforest
- Management
- National Forestry Act - banning of sale of raw timer ; timber processing to reduce demand for raw timber; increase awareness of forests
- Selective Management System - A system in which scientists decide which trees should be felled and in which direction. After felling, the trees are replanted and allowed to grow
- Permanent Forest Estates - ban commercial activity in virgin rainforest areas
- Forest Stewardship Council - promotes the purchase of wood from sustailable sources, rather than rare hardwood
- Ecotourism - allows locals to make a living without damaging the environment
- Debt Relief - Paying countries to maintain rainforests or cutting their debts in exchange for rainforest maintainence
- Carbon Sinks - Large forests maintained to reduce CO2 in the air. Eg Gola Forest in Sierra Leone (supported by European Commission and the French government)
Fragile Environment : Abondance, France
- The resort has had over 15 years of unreliable snowfall.
- People are considering: Developing other forms of winter sports or add summer activities to make the resort availiable all year round.
- New developments:
- High Alps are being built on to make more resorts
- Roads, housing and ski lifts are damaging habitats and the ecosystem
- Trees are cut down (they bind the soil), which can make avalanches more likely
- Footpath erosion can leave scars on the landscape.
- Increasing visual and noise pollution reduces the attractiveness of the resort
- In Austria, the Gepatsch Glacier is being opened for skiing
- Cable cars are being used to transport skiers upland
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