Geography Case Stuides

Casestudy: Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland

Plate boundary: Constructive

Plates: North American and Eurasian

Dates: 20th March 2010 (eruptions began), 14th-19th April 2010 (new explosive phase)

Primary impacts: ash covered everything, farmland ruined, ash cloud, 800 people were         evacuated                                                                                                                           lava and ash have nutrients = fertile soil, rocks can be used for buildings                                       

Secondary impacts: eruption occured beneath a glacier, it melted = flooding, water supplies contaminated with fluorine                                                                                                  Eyjafjallajokull has become a tourist attraction, geothermal energy                                         can be used for electricity and hot water

Responses: Emergency services and residents were prepared, good warning system in place, high-tech equipment used, residents evacuated quickly, further research carried out.

Case study: Yellow stone national park

Characteristics: big scale, can emit atleast 10,000km³ of material, have large depressions called Calderas

Evidence that another eruption could happen: the magma beneath it is shifting, the caldera is bulging up and there's increasing activity at Norris Geyser, the ground has risen 70cm in places

Local impacts: lives at risk (87,000 people could die) people would have to evacuate (atleast 100miles away), ash and debris everywhere.

National impacts: north-west America would be ruined                                                                                         pyroclastic flows 50km away                                                                                                     people could inhale ash and debris                                                  

Global impacts: Ash cloud could cover the sun -> becomes dark                                                                         air traffic would stop                                                                                                               climate change -> become cold

Case study: The Andes

Location: Along the west of South America. It runs through 7 countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

Plates: Nazca plate (moving east) and South American plate (moving west)

Plate margin: destructive subduction margin

Dimensions: 7000km in length, 4000km high, 300km wide

Uses: Farming, Mining (Yanacocha Gold Mine), Tourism, HEP (hydroelectric power)

Case study: Kobe, Japan 17th January 1995

Epicentre: roughly 20km away from Kobe, Awaji Island. It had a shallow focus at a depth of 15-30km which caused a lot of damage.

Magnitude: 7.2 on the Richter scale, lasted 20 seconds

Primary effects: About 6,000 people died, 40,000 people were injured, 300,000 made homeless                             75,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed                                                                             Bridges and roads collapsed                                                                                                     Railway lines were destroyed

Secondary effects: Fires broke out across parts of the city                                                                                     Gas pipes broken, water pipes fractured                                                                                    Damaged roads (hard to get supplies)                                                                                      Some people slept in cars in winter conditions (-2)

Responses: Emergency services searched for survivors, hospitals treated people in corridors, 7-Eleven provided essentials, new laws passed to make more buildings earthquake proof.

Case study: Haiti, 12th January 2010

Epicentre: near the town of Leogane, roughly 25km west of the capital Port-Au-Prince. The focus was 13km underground

Magnitude: 7.0 on the Richter scale, by 24th January at least 52 aftershocks had been recorded

Primary effects: 220,000 people killed, 300,000 injured                                                                                     1million made homeless, 100,000 homes destroyed, 200,000 damaged in capital                         Main port badly damaged, roads, buildings, vehicles destroyed                           

Secondary effects: over 2million left with no food and water, looting became a big problem                                      Gov couldn't control Haiti, police forced collapsed                                                                      Supplies couldn't get through (ports), frequent power-cuts                                                        People moved into tents, disease spread, dead bodies   

Responses: search and rescue teams helped, aid from other countries -> America (water, food,                   medicine), field hospitals set up, Gov moved 235,000

Case study: Indian Ocean Tsunami, 26th December 2004

Description: an earthquake with a 9.1 magnitude hit Sumatra Island, waves reached 30metres

Margin: destructive plate margin along west coast of Indonesia. 20mile fault line below sea                   ruptured forcing one plate upwards.

Primary effects: Tsunami effected these countries: Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.                                 230,000 killed, 1.7 million people homeless, infrastructures damaged.

Secondary effects: 5-6million people needed emergency food, water and medicine, massive                                    economic damage, millions of fishermen lost their livelihoods, tourism                                      suffered (people scared), environment damage.

Responses: hundreds of millions of pounds were given by gov, charities, individuals and       businesses, foreign countries sent ships, planes, soldiers, specialist rescue teams to distritbute food and water and clear up. Billions of pounds have been pledged to help rebuild the infrastructures, programmes have been set up to rebuild houses and get people back to work, a tsunami warning system and disaster management  has been put in place.