Noel Jenkins @ Court Fields

Please click here to go to the case study.

syllabus summary tectonics Only one more after this!

Revison websites:
BBC Bitesize on Plate Tectonics

S-cool is probably better for this topic - it mentions fold mountains too. Don’t forget them!

BBC News has nice animations of volcanoes and earthquakes

Flash Cards:
Download these nice flash cards from Geobytes Amazing Mr Chambers has also made some games like this one and this one


Case studies:
Try looking through the entries I’ve made under the Tectonics category.

The Bam earthquake in Iran 2003 was our LEDC example of an earthquake. More info from Geobytes. The Bam earthquake occurred around the same time as a quake in California. A really useful comparison of the two quakes can be found at the RGS site. You might also like to read the Geobytes post on Comparing earthquakes. This is a recurring theme in the exam.

We looked at the volcanic erruptions of Montserrat and Mount St Helens. Geobytes has a great case study on Mt St Helens as well as a number of other excellent revison articles on plate tectonics. We also mentioned Vesuvius and the potential for a major disaster. Vesuvius is a good case study for explaining why people live in areas of tectonic hazard.

Global warming could be put on hold if a major eruption of Vesuvius occurs. The devastation of Pompeii in AD 79 was rather minor compared to the huge Plinian eruption that occurred in the Stone Age 4,000 years ago. A BBC news article discusses whether Italy has made sufficient plans for such an event.

source: Wikipedia

A Plinian eruption can take several days to months, according to Wikipedia. The longer eruptions begin with production of clouds of volcanic ash, optionally with pyroclastic flows. The amount of magma erupted can be so large the top of the volcano may collapse, resulting in a caldera. Fine ash can deposit over large areas.

BBC News reports that

…if Vesuvius erupts as it did 4,000 years ago this will not just be Campania and Italy’s problem, it will be Europe’s as well.There will be three million refugees. It will change climates and weather patterns across the continent.

This is another chance for you to look through the resources from the lesson about the impact of earthquakes in LEDCs.

How do earthquakes happen?
Click here for an outstanding animation from the BBC

Where is Bam?
Here is a Google Earth file (if you have it installed) If not, see the location in Google Maps

What was Bam like before the earthquake in 2003?
click photo to enlarge

There is a good description of Bam before the earthquake at Wikipedia. Download a movie (9.5mb) here (source page) and look at some superb photographs in this gallery.

What was the impact of the earthquake?

• Compare the two satellite images here
• A BBC News report on the earthquake.
• Another BBC report describes the relief effort
• The Wikipedia article also describes the impact of the earthqake
• This BBC article considers the long term impacts

Today’s lesson is a role-play based on events at Montserrat. The volcano is as active as ever. Check the Montserrat Volcano Observatory for the current situation.

I mentioned super volcanoes at the start of the lesson. Here is a link to more information; try not to upset yourself!
The location of volcanoes PowerPoint that I showed in the lesson can be found here

Here is a link for a BBC animated guide to the reasons for volcanic eruptions.

This is a 3D panorama of the view from the top of Mt St Helens.

A good short film of the eruption can be downloaded from here.

More info on Mt St Helens from Wikipedia 

You need to be able to name and locate an example a young fold mountain range. This is the film that I showed in today’s lesson. It’s quite a big download (needs broadband) The film starts by explaining the formation of the Alps, and gos on to describe some of the physical features. Finally it mentions some examples of  human activities  that take place in the Alps.

The 360 panorama of Mt St Helens can be found at this site.