1 DNA tests of skeletal remains have confirmed that the original settlers were of Polynesian descent. 3 These Polynesian voyages are the longest and least documented migrations in history. Due to the islands remote location and lack of proper navigational tools in these ancient times, it is believed that this small group of Polynesians were blown far from their original intended course. 1 The island was renamed “Rapa Nui” in the 19th century by Polynesian sailors because it resembled the Polynesian Island Rapa which is 2,400 miles to the west. 1 The island is volcanic in its origin and home to three extinct volcanoes.
The ironic thing is that the lowest point in N. America is only 84.5 miles East, South-East of Mount Whitney, which coincidently is the highest point in the Contiguous U.S. Death Valley also holds the highest reliable temperature in the Western hemisphere at 134 degrees hich was recorded 1913. Death Valley has a long and complex history of metamorphism, sedimentary deposits, and igneous intrusions throughout its history. The oldest rocks at Death Valley are from the early Proterozoic era during the Precambrian Eon. The basement rocks that are found here are a complex mix of metamorphosed sedimentary and igneous rocks. They are believed to be no older than 1.8 Billion years old (which are the oldest known rocks in the area).
Easter Island Easter Island is a Polynesian Island located in the South Pacific, part of the Polynesian Triangle. It was formed by a group of massive volcanic eruption. It’s a little island, with the area about 63 square miles. Easter Island is one of the most remote places in the world, when the first people found the island there were few resources. One person who discovered the island was Admiral Roggeveen a European on Easter Sunday 1722.
The 2010 Chile earthquake is ranked as the sixth largest earthquake to ever be recorded by a seismograph. It had a magnitude of 8.8, lasted three minutes and could be felt over 1,491 miles away. It hit on Saturday, February 27, 2010 at 03:34 a.m. local time (06:34:14 UTC). The epicenter was located 200 miles southwest of the Chilean capital of Santiago with latitude of -36.122 and longitude of -72.898. The earthquake was 22 miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean from a 300 to 375 mile stretch of the fault that separates the Nazca and South American tectonic plates.
Easter Island is located in the middle of the South Pacific between Chile and Tahiti. Only one airline flies to Easter Island: LanChile, out of Santiago. Flights only come and go every few days, so an overnight stay or day excursion to Easter Island is impossible. The original inhabitants, their language, and the island itself are referred to as Rapa Nui. The Rapa Nui people probably arrived from Polynesia around 400 AD.
Eventually, the friction is overcome and the blocks slip abruptly, releasing pent-up energy with a huge “snap”—an earthquake” (The Plate Tectonic Model – Page 107). Plates diverge at volcanic zones by the ocean basins. These are long huge cracks were lava rises from below and freezes into the Lithosphere (About.com – Geology). In which plates move past each other is call a transform boundary. 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].
Haiti is on the boundary of the Caribbean and North American plates and is an example of a conservative plate boundary. Volcanic eruptions are also one the greatest threats among the natural hazards. The active land, volcanoes of the world occupy are only 0.6% of the total land area. Most volcanoes are spread along the coast, in areas that are also earthquake zones. Mid-ocean volcanic ridges are formed where the ocean floors split and move apart.
Ka Mauli O Ka ‘Aina A He Mauli Kanaka Hawai’i, also known as the Sandwich Islands, is an island chain located in the Pacific Ocean. On August 21, 1959, Hawai’i became the 50th state of the U.S, but the history of Hawai’i goes far back centuries earlier. With only stars to guide them, Polynesians from the Marquesas Islands first set foot on Hawai’i roughly 1,500 years ago. 500 years later, settlers from Tahiti arrived, bringing along with them copious beliefs in Gods and demi-gods and introduced a strict social hierarchy based on a kapu (taboo) system. The culture of Hawai’i blossomed over the years and gave rise to a plethora of traditions such as the art of hula and the sport of surfing.
Associate Program Material Resource Worksheet Use the following table to identify five historical events influenced by the depletion of natural resources. Explain each event in at least 150 words. |Event |What Happened? | |Example: Easter Island |This island, now called Rapa Nui, is most notable for giant rock | | |statues called Moais that look out over the ocean. Easter | | |Island’s native population base is estimated to have peaked | |
The point where the earthquake starts is called the focus. Energy waves disperse rapidly from this point. The point at ground level, directly above the focus, is called the epicentre. On Tuesday 12 January 2010 at 16:53, a huge earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, struck the Caribbean island of Haiti. Haiti is only half of an island, the other half being the Dominican Republic, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and has a history of destructive earthquakes.