physical geography case study

Question 1

In what state is Mt St Helens situated?

Answer 1

Washington at the Cascade Range.

Question 2

When did the Mt St Helens eruption happen?

Answer 2

18th May 1980 at 8:32

Question 3

What caused the Mt St Helens quake?

Answer 3

Juan De Fuca subducts under the North American plate. Cryptodome increased pressure and caused eruption out the secondary vent which led to a lateral blast.

Question 4

Primary effects of the Mt St Helens eruption?

Answer 4

57 died

27km wipe out zone

500 year cedar forest destroyed

Debris collects in Spirit Lake
and Toutle River

Local Truman and USGS scientist Johnston died

Question 5

Secondary effects of the Mt St Helens?

Answer 5

Lahars (rain mixed with
ash to create volcanic
mudflows)

Question 6

Immediate responses to the Mt St Helens?

Answer 6

8km exclusion zone
State of national
emergency declared
Army search and rescue
Helicopters mobilised
2 million gas masks

Question 7

Long term responses of the Mt St Helens eruption?

Answer 7

USGS monitor volcano
(GPS, tiltmeters,
seismographs, COSPEC,
digital cameras)
Spirit Lake cleared

Question 8

Where is Kobe?

Answer 8

South coast of Japan

Question 9

Date of the Kobe earthquake

Answer 9

17th January 1995 5:46am

Question 10

What were the primary effects of the Kobe earthquake?

Answer 10

6000 died
35000 injured
Older suburbs pancaked
Hanshin Expressway collapsed
Liquefaction in Osaka Bay

Question 11

What were the secondary effects of the Kobe earthquake?

Answer 11

Fire
Hypothermia, pneumonia
300,000 homeless
2 million people left without electricity

Question 12

What are the causes of the Kobe Earthquake?

Answer 12

At 5.46am on January 17th 1995 the Phillipines plate was pushing beneath the Eurasian plate along the destructive fault line that runs beneath Kobe. An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the richter scale, with tremors lasting 20 seconds.

Question 13

What are the primary responses to the Kobe earthquake?

Answer 13

3000 army troops
Sniffer dogs, 
thermal imaging equipment,
hearing equipment, 
Jaws of Life

Question 14

What are the secondary responses to the Kobe earthquake?

Answer 14

Retro-engineering (Osaka Bay Tower)
Building spacing
Shock absorbers/15m steel rods on Hanshin
City rebuilt in 2 years

Question 15

Where did the Haiti earthquake occur?

Answer 15

25km west of the capital, Port Au Prince.

Question 16

When did the Haiti earthquake occur?

Answer 16

13th January 2010

Question 17

What were the primary effects of the Haiti earthquake?`

Answer 17

250,000 died
1/3 buildings collapsed
Infrastructure destroyed
1.5 homeless
Airport out for 2 days, port for 5
days

Question 18

What were the secondary effects of the Haiti earthquake?`

Answer 18

Hypothermia
Cholera
Looting, violence, rape

Question 19

What are the primary responses to the Haiti earthquake?

Answer 19

Aid slow to arrive, people left to help themselves
UN/charities hampered by fear
1 ambulance for city
Only 130 pulled from rubble

Question 20

What are the secondary responses to the Haiti earthquake?

Answer 20

City not rebuilt in 2012

Charities accused of not spending all their money (MercyCorps spent 1/3 of $45million)

Nepalese UN accused of cholera outbreak

Question 21

What was the cause of the Japanese tsunami and where did it occur?

Answer 21

It was due to a 9.0 megathrust earthquake at a destructive plate margin. This then caused 10m high waves( 10m at Sendai). It occurred in the Pacific ocean.

Question 22

When did the Japanese Tsunami occur?

Answer 22

11th March 2011

Question 23

What were the primary effects of the Japanese Tsunami?

Answer 23

15,000 people confirmed dead.

530,000 people displaced.

4,700 destroyed houses

50,000 damaged houses

Coastal areas flooded

Power outages to 4 million
homes

Question 24

What were the secondary effects to the Japanese Tsunami?

Answer 24

Fukushima nuclear power plant leak.

The currency – the yen - fell
sharply. Tokyo stocks fell.

Question 25

What were the immediate responses to the Japanese Tsunami?

Answer 25

Tsunami warning issued 3 minutes after the earthquake. Meteorological Agency official appeared on TV urging those affected by the quake not to return home Japanese military forces sent in to help. Fukushima power plant shut down 59 search and rescue experts, four medics and two sniffer dogs flew out on a private charter plane with 11 tonnes of equipment on board.

Question 26

What were the secondary responses to the Japanese Tsunami?

Answer 26

91 countries offered aid | New-age innovations, such as Twitter brought updates on the situation far earlier than the media

Question 27

What is the fold mountain case study and where is this fold mountain located?

Answer 27

Livigno, Italian Alps

Question 28

How have the people of Livigno taken advantage of the fold mountain?

Answer 28

* Invested heavily in the ski industry – 115 km of slopes, 33 ski lifts, duty free shopping (diff to reach in winter so poor in History) * Farmland has been converted to ski slopes – which brings in higher income (this is called farm diversification) * Skiing now forms over 90% of Livigno’s economy. • Developed alpine infrastructure to overcome limited communications: – Swiss built road and tunnel network linking Livigno to outside world. – Cable cars and ski lifts improve access to slopes. – Roads are built with snow sheds to ensure year round access to town. – Hairpins (highly sinuous roads) built to reduce gradient/steepness of roads easing the descent for cars and road users. * Transhumance has been stopped in favour of valley farming. * Avalanche threat is combated by the use of controlled avalanche detonation and the use of avalanche gates.

Question 29

What is the coastal flooding case study?

Answer 29

Tuvalu, a Polynesian island located in the pacific ocean.

Question 30

What are the threats/causes to Tuvalu?

Answer 30

King tides - The highest waves Tuvalu have. They are growing at 5mm per year. Storm surges - strong storms occur in the pacific. This moves water up to the coast and as they hit the land the surface area rises, flooding the land. Groundwater flooding - the coral soils, which Tuvalu is built on are porous. Salt water comes up and contaminates the soils.

Question 31

What are the environmental impacts of sea level rise in Tuvalu?

Answer 31

- Salt is left behind when land floods. This is known as salt water intrusion. - Flooding and storm surges erode soils. Therefore the soils support less animals and plants. - Coral reefs are also being damaged. Warmer temperatures kill it and the organisms living there. -

Question 32

What are the social impacts of sea level rise in Tuvalu?

Answer 32

- Many tuvaluans are being forced from their home(4,000) now live in New Zealand) - Families are ripped apart - cultures and traditions are dying. - Health diseases(such as cholera are more common)

Question 33

What are the economical impacts of sea level rise in Tuvalu?

Answer 33

-Two major industries are being hit -Bleaching of the coral reef ecosystems are killing fish and affecting that industry -Salt water intrusion is affecting the fertility of crops cash crops such as Pulaka are dying due to contaminated groundwater.