Case studies - Physical Geography

Question 1

1995 Monseratt volcanic eruption facts

Answer 1

Located:
- the carrilleon - 12 miles Long, 3km wide
- On the boundary between carribeen and North American Plate - destuctive plate margin
- section of the istand known as soufrère hill
affected, with 50% Population evacuated to the Noth

Stats:
23 died In 1997
2/3 island covered in ash
Port + Aport closed + farmland destroyed +
Forest fires started due to pyroclastic flows
£41 million given in aid by British government

Question 2

2010 Haiti earthquake

Answer 2

Located:
15 miles southwest of Haitian capital Port -au- Prince.
Stats:
Magnitude 7.0 - followed by two aftershocks
magnitude 5.9 and 5.5
220,000 killed, 300,000 injured, 1.5m became homeless
North American plate sliding past Caribbean Plate - conservative plate margin
Focus on 5miles (depth)
Tuesday 12th January 2010
Transport + communication damaged, Poor Sanitation + health, looting occured
80 % of population live on $2 or less per day

Question 3

2011 Japan Earthquake

Answer 3

Location:
- Tohoku - 100km off the coast of Japan

Stats:
- Magnitude 9.0 - 5th strongest globally
- Focus 25km /15 miles
18,000-20,000 killed, 6000 Injured, 300,000 homeless
11th March 2011
convergent plate boundary - oceanic pacific
Plate is subducted beneath Eurasian plate

Response:
Good Education /training for earthquakes
Slow Response from government
70,000 temporary homes built
cost £144 billion
25 million tonnes of debris had to be moved

Question 4

2010 Eyjafjallajokull (E15) Iceland volcanic eruption

Answer 4

Location:
Constructive plate boundary between North American and Eurasian plate

Stats:
Glacier above the volcono caused flooding over 100x capacity
Stopped 100.000 jets in Europe
Horticulture cost £3million a day and Europe lost $2.6 billion GDP
Ash made fertile Soil

Response:
Year after eruption tourist centre was built in Iceland
700 people evacuated
Ash contaminated water and caused respiratory illness

Question 5

Global sea level rise (Eustatic) case study?

Answer 5

Maldives - 50 cm sea level rise would permanently flood 77% of the Maldive Islands’ land area. ​

Question 6

Coastal flooding (locally) case study?

Answer 6

Milton On Sea

Sea level rise and greater frequency and magnitude of storms due to Climate Change​

The beach at Milford is extremely volatile (rapidly changing) and very little sediment is transported here due to the groynes to the west. The beach is not visible at low tide and vulnerable to storm surges and storm tides​

More destructive waves, caused by storms of greater magnitude,are removing sediment from the narrow shingle beach​

The sea wall and other concrete structures are deflecting the waves back on to the beach which is removing more shingle​

The sea wall is in danger of being undermined as shingle is eroded from its base (scouring)​

Flooding is more likely to occur at Hurst Castle Spit because LSD is severely impacted by the groynes at Milford​