Top 3 Places For Tectonic Activity
By Jeremy Flies, Nick Tarney, and Spencer Boardman
Intro
St. Helens
The City
Vancouver, Washington. City of over 160,000 is only 47 short miles away from the volcano named Mount St. Helens. Besides having a volcano next door Vancouver is a very scenic city with the other mountains connected to St. Helens. Along with the scenic view comes the cost. The average house price in Vancouver is $161,200. While the average price of living here is 4.00% higher than the rest of the country. The school systems in Vancouver spend $4,548 per student which is about $1,000 lower than the national average. As for the climate in Vancouver, the average high (80 degrees) is a little lower than the national average (86.5). Although the average low (33 degrees) is a little higher than the national average low (22.5).
Tectonic Plate
Vancouver lies on the Ring of Fire in Washington State on the Pacific Ocean. The plate that the city lies on is the North American plate. Some other places that lie on this plate that have tectonic activity would be western coast of California, NW coast of Mexico, and the western coast of Canada. Right across the Pacific ocean is the Eastern side of Eurasian plate. This plate is also one of the most active plates.
Plate Activity
This is the most common area in the world for Volcanic/Earthquake activity. Aside from that, 47 miles away from Vancouver is Mount St. Helens. Mount St. Helens is one of the world’s deadliest volcanos. Along with being deadly this volcano is also, in volcano terms, very active. Vancouver is also prone to earthquakes since it is in the Ring of Fire. Vancouver has a history of tectonic activity. Its first major one was the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. A few months prior to the eruption there had been a 4.2 magnitude earthquake setting up the volcano for an eruption. By now the side of the mountain had developed a bulge. The day of the eruption a 5.1 magnitude earthquake set off the volcano and caused the eruption. When St. Helens did finally erupt it literally blew its top off and made a huge crater in the mountain. Years later in 2004 the mountain started to vent steam out of the crater. It did this on and off for 4 years but luckily never erupted.
Krakatoa, Indonesia
The island of Krakatoa is islands that use to be a Dutch colony that is now part
and Sumatra. The Island of Krakatoa and its surrounding area has a population of 3,000.
The Volcano of Krakatoa has been dormant for a few hundred years making it seem
safe. Krakatoa being on the Pacific Ocean there is palm trees, beautiful white beaches.
Tectonic Activity
The volcano of Krakatoa is in the Pacific Ocean and is part of the Ring of Fire.Krakatoa is on the Indo-Australian and the Eurasian plate boundaries where the Indo-Australian subducts under the Eurasian plate. Krakatoa being on a subduction zone and also part of the ring of fire makes this island and the area around it makes it have a lot
of tectonic activity.
Plate Activity
Krakatoa has erupted one before ranking it the fifth most dangerous explosion in history. After the eruption the weather was changed in creation areas, also it dropped the global temperature by a few degrees. Sense it has erupted it has gone dormant again building up more power suggesting that it will one day have another big eruption. Because of this Krakatoa is one of the most dangerous places to live.
China
China is located on the eastern side of Asia, about 7,200 miles from the United States. There are many reason that people live in China, things like the delicious food, the job opportunities, and the beautiful landscapes. Chinese cuisine tastes great, and has many varieties of flavor. There are many big businesses that need workers in china, and the crime rate in china is lower than the United States making it a safe place to live. There are also many scenic places to go, overall China is a great place to live.
Tectonic Activity
China lies on the eastern side of the Eurasian plate and the western side of the Ring of Fire making it have a lot of tectonic plate activity. Since they lie on 2 different plates earthquakes and volcanic activity is not uncommon. The average magnitude in China is about 7.0 for the larger earthquakes.
Plate Activity
China has a large history with earthquakes, in fact natural disasters have cause over 50 percent of the death toll in China since 1900. Over 550,000 people have been killed from earthquakes alone. Since 1950 there has been about 100 destructive earthquakes, some of those affecting an area of 300,000 square kilometers. Most of the time in China the biggest fear is being hit with an earthquake do to the frequency and intensity of them.
Conclusion
Sources
2. "Mount St. Helens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." 2003. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_St._Helens>
3. "Famous Wonders of the World – Best Places to Visit & Travel." 2008. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://famouswonders.com/>
4. "Quoi de neuf en SVT ? par Maître Corydon Muttaburrasaurus." 2012. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://svtmarcq.blogspot.com/>
5. "Krakatoa Volcano - Universe Today." 2010. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://www.universetoday.com/53097/krakatoa-volcano/>
6. "Witness Account - Scholastic.com | Online Activities: Weather Watch." 2005. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/volcanoes/witnesses.htm>
7. "How Volcanoes Work - Krakatau, Indonesia." 2002. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Krakatau.html>
8. "Earthquakes in China." 2006. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://www.kepu.net.cn/english/quake/outline/index.html>
9. "geografie." 2005. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://www.law.kuleuven.be/chineesrecht/webterras/geografi1.htm>