Tectonics Flashcards
5 uses of the Alps
Farming, HEP, tourism, mining, logging
Farming in the Alps
Goats - for milk, cheese and meat
Some sunny slopes terraced for vineyards e.g. Lavaux, Switzerland
Animals grazed high up because soil not good for crops
Transhumance
Tourism in the Alps
100 million / year
70% in winter for skiing, in summer offer walking, mountain biking, paragliding and climbing
New villages built to cope with tourism e.g. Tignes in France
HEP in the Alps
60% of Switzerland’s energy comes from HEP in the Alps
Used for local homes and business’ and exported further away
Mining in the Alps
Salt, iron ore, gold, silver and copper were mined but cheaper imports have taken over
Forestry in the Alps
Scotts pine - copes with goats with kill native saplings
Used for furniture
How do people live in the Alps?
Steep relief - goats farmed, trees and defences used to protect against avalanches and rock slides
Poor soils - animal graze high up
Limited communication - roads built over passes e.g. Brenner pass between Austria and Italy but this takes a long time and can be blocked by snow so tunnels have been made e.g. the Lotschberg
Primary impacts Merapi
Pyroclastic flows spread over 3km
800 deg c gas and volcanic bombs
Ash fell up to 30km away, one village was under 30cm of ash
Secondary impacts Merapi
300,000 people evacuated into 210 centres inc. schools, churches and stadiums
Lahars destroyed bridges
353 deaths due to gas and respiratory problems caused by ash
Animals died and crops destroyed - higher food prices
Spiritual guardian of the mountain died :(
Merapi short term responses
210 evacuation centres set `up
Aid offered from red cross
1600 people part of the response
Merapi long term responses
Nearly 3000 people moved to new houses
New spiritual guardian :)
Money made available by government for new livestock
Prediction Merapi
Seisomometers measured very frequent earthquakes
Tiltmeters measured movement of 11mm per day
Preparation Merapi
10 km danger zone known with evacuation plans
System of giving out warnings
1600 people part of response - well coordinated
Effects if Yellowstone errupts
15cm ash would cover buildings within 1000 km - enough to make roofs collapse - 1 in 3 people in this area would die
Sulphur dioxide would cause global dimming so crops would fail globally
Most of America would be infertile for 10 years
Kobe impacts
Over 6000 killed Infrastructure destroyed $220 billion total damage 300,000 made homeless Fires spread through city - earthquake struck at breakfast time
Haiti impacts
230,000 killed
300,000 buildings collapsed
1.5 million made homeless - cholera killed many in camps
Cost $11.5 billion
Immediate Kobe responses
Refused international aid
Some people stayed with relatives, others camped or put into temporary accommodation
Immediate Haiti responses
Many countries pledged money and people – world bank cancelled debt repayments for 5 years – hard to get people in due to destroyed communication and transport
1.5 million living in camps with poor santitation
Long term Kobe responses
Just over 6 months after the quake all water, electricity, gas, telephone services fully working
By January 1999, 134,000 housing units had been constructed to higher standards but some people were still having to live in temporary accommodation.
Long term Haiti responses
6 months after earthquake 98% of rubble undeclared
Many still homeless and living in camps - no money for new houses
Preparation in Japan
A lot of the buildings in Kobe and Japan made after the 1960s are earthquake proof (necessary by law) with counterweights on the roofs and cross steel frames.
Many of the damaged buildings in Kobe were built before this period and were made of wood, which caught fire.
People are educated on earthquake preparation in Japan.
Prediction in Japan
Japan has the world’s most comprehensive prediction programme with thousands of seismometers and monitoring stations in Japan designed to give warning. Kobe hadn’t had an earthquake in 400 years and had less prediction equipment than other areas of Japan
Planning in Japan
The Japanese rejected international offers of aid and dealt with the earthquake itself.
All of the homeless people were dealt with reasonably quickly and the city recovered thanks to government money.
Schools practice monthly earthquake drills and some have evacuation chutes.
Buildings also hold emergency supplies
Causes of the Indian Ocean Tsunami
The earthquake which caused the tsunami was magnitude 9.
The epicentre was very close to some densely populated coastal communities, eg Indonesia. They had little or no warning. The only sign came just before the tsunami struck when the waterline suddenly retreated, exposing hundreds of metres of beach and seabed.
There was no Indian Ocean tsunami warning system in place. This could have saved more people in other countries further away from the epicentre.
Many of the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean are LEDCs so they could not afford to spend much on preparation and prevention.
In some coastal areas, mangrove forests had been removed to make way for tourist developments and therefore there was less natural protection
Social effects of Indian Ocean
230,000 killed
1.7 million made homeless
1500 villages destroyed in northern Sumatra - loss of traditions
Enviromental effects of Indian Ocean
Rare Mangrove forests, coral reef and wetlands destroyed.
8 million litres of oil escaped from plants in Indonesia – harms other rare wildilfe
Crops destroyed and hard to grow crops – salt water
Economic effects of Indian Ocean
Fishing industry destroyed – 60% of fleet in Sri Lanka
Tourism dropped 80% (20% of Thailand’s GDP)
$15 billion
Short term response to Indian Ocean
Hundreds of millions of pounds pledged by governments, charities, individuals and businesses
Foreign countries sent ships, planes, specialists and soldiers
Long term response to Indian Ocean
Billions pledged to rebuild infrastructure
Tsunami warning system put in place
Disaster management systems created - volunteers trained
