The towns there are being threatened and damaged, and there have been many villages to be washed into the sea along this stretch of the eastern coastline. Here are some photographs to back up this point further: (Sources 1, 2 & 3) Why is the coastline eroding at such a fast rate? The Holderness coast is made up mostly of clay and chalk so naturally the coast is likely to erode faster than areas of coastline made of hard rock. However, at Holderness, the rock is much weaker and gets eroded at a much higher rate. Yet, in some places, groynes have been put in place to trap sediment and protect these areas of weak coast, largely the areas with major towns.
The clouds remained stationary over North Cornwall meaning the rain fell quickly and steadily. The small catchment area contributed to the flood as it is about 23km squared and includes the relatively impermeable upland area of Bodmin moors steep sided valleys coverage as they run towards the sea, funnelling water towards Boscastle. After surface run off quickly reaches the rivers it increases the likelihood of
These are not that common as the converge or diverge plates and the most common one is the San Andreas fault of California [About.com – Geology]. The Pacific Coast of the US is the region most susceptible to earthquakes [essortment.com]. Recently, there has been more activity specifically in the Caribbean plate (Haiti), the West Coast of South America (Chile), the Pacific Islands and other areas in the Asia continent. As I understand it when there is one shift in the plates this creates a global shifting to the other plates in
Explain the distribution of the worlds major geophysical hazards Some parts of our planet are more often and more severely afflicted by natural hazards than others. This is due firstly to the geological structure of the Earth and secondly due to climate zones. Earthquakes like the Kashmir, Haiti and New Zealand occur in areas where oceanic plates and continental plates move against each other and collide. The long arc of islands that make up Japan and the stretch of the Andes located inside the coast of Chile are collision zones and therefore more often affected by earthquakes than in Finland, Brazil or Canada. Haiti is on the boundary of the Caribbean and North American plates and is an example of a conservative plate boundary.
These types of lava are very viscous due to its high silica content. This is because the lava rises from the subduction zone through continental lithosphere which has a low density and is filled with air spaces containing gases which become incorporated into the lava. This very viscous lava often blocks off vents of volcanoes and when the pressure building up in the vent is eventually released, the top of the volcano can be blown off leaving a huge crater, such as in the 2002 eruption of Mount Etna in Sicily. When the two plates involved are oceanic, explosions tend to be less violent than this as the melted lithosphere which forms the lava is denser and so contains fewer gases. At constructive boundaries where plates are moving apart from one another, basaltic lava is erupted between the gaps.
The one service that was damaged the most was the Northway airport – this was the effect of ‘liquefaction’ caused by the rupture transforming water saturated sediments into a liquid slurry. The population of this area is 1893 which works out as a population density of 0.1 people sq/mi. This earthquake caused no fatalities. This can be represented by using the realisation of a hazard model (figure 1) which suggests that Denali was more prepared with a lower population and a higher GDP per capita which means that investment into research and response into earthquakes is more likely, meaning the population is less vulnerable to the hazard
With a severe earthquake the county could be at risk for a Tsunami. Severe weather and flooding also presents a challenge in this area as annual precipitation reaches an average of 36 inches, and low-lying areas are susceptible to flooding (WCDEM, 2003 & Whatcom County,
It refers to the appearance of colder than average sea surface temperatures in the central and East Equatorial Pacific. It may follow El Nino but it has occurred less frequently. They are both short term climatic changes and are amongst the most powerful phenomena on earth as they affect the climate over almost half of the earth. During a normal year, there is high air pressure off the coast of South America with descending air. In the western Pacific, there is low air pressure as warn, moist air rises, cools and condenses, forming rain clouds which give heavy convectional rainfall.
Explain why coastal California is considered a disaster hotspot? (15marks) A disaster hotspot is a country or area that is vulnerable/ disaster prone due the hazards that are; Geophysical, hydro- meteorological. A human factor that increases the risk is vulnerability which includes- population density, wealth and GDP (gross domestic products) which affects the impact of the natural hazard. California is considered a disaster hotspot as all of these factors contribute to an increased danger to human life, meaning it is susceptible to the following natural hazards: earthquake, tsunamis, volcanoes, droughts, wildfires, fog and smog, hurricanes and landslides. One hazard can often trigger others (e.g.
While both hurricanes and tornados are wind and rain storms, they both are most likely to form at different times of the year. These two storms can become large storms. Each of these two storms is formed differently. A hurricane and a tornado’s wind speed can get very high. A tornado can last a few minutes; however a hurricane can last for a couple of weeks.