West coast of South America
1.
A case study of one range of fold mountains.
7000km long, 300km wide,
average height 4000m
How do people use an area of fold mountains?
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile
Farming (at lower heights due to snow)

Steep slopes are terraced, to provide flat
land which retains water. Crops include:
rice, cotton, soybean.

Llamas are important for transport, their
wool, milk and meat.

Much subsistence farming still takes place,
especially in Bolivia.
Mining (GOLD)

Top ten producers of Tin (Peru + Bolivia),
Nickel (Colombia), Silver (Peru + Chile).

Largest gold mine in the world
YANACOCHA GOLD MINE (Peru) , where
the local town grew from 30,000 to
240,000 by 2005
On 2 June 2000, a truck carrying mercury from
South America's largest gold mine spilled some
of its load, and turned Choropampa into an
environmental disaster. Five years later, the
residents of this Andean village say they are
still suffering the effects of mercury poisoning.
Hydroelectric power
Narrow valleys and steep slopes.
Melting snow increases flow in spring
YUNCAN Dam on the rivers Huachon, East
Peru
Toursim
Attractions include: mountains, volcanoes, glaciers,
early civilizations (INCA), Machu Picchu.
INCA TRAIL:
250 species of Orchid.
1 of 23 UNESCO world heritage sites.
Finishes at Machu Picchu.
One of the most popular 10 things to see before you die experiences – Machu Picchu
Altitudes up to 4,200m, 4 days to walk.
Also known as the Coca-Cola Trail.
2. A case study of a volcanic eruption (cause, impact and response)
Mt. St. Helens, Washington State, USA
Cause
Destructive plate
boundary
Impact
Response
Monitoring,
Prediction
61 Dead, burns
Immediate responses:
Change in shapes and size.
Asphyxiation.
Search and rescue helicopters
used.
Tilt meters.
GPS to track 1mm changes in
shape.
Juan de Fuca plate vs N.
American plate
200 houses + cabins
destroyed
Explosive composite
volcano, produces
Pyroclastic flows
185 miles of
highways, 15 miles of
railway.
Re-directed traffic whilst bridge
and roads were repaired
Satellite imagery.
Active magma chamber
which creates a
kryptodome, which
grows at 1.5m/day.
27 bridges
Long term responses:
Gas composition analysis.
$1.1 billion in
damage.
Increase in soil fertility
Seismographs
Harmonic magmatic
tremors lead to a
magmatic earthquake of
5.1 on Richter scale.
7000 big game
animals including
deer, elk and bear
Lateral directed blast on
NE side of the volcano.
Initially tourism
suffered but then saw
a boom
Air conditioning system
blogged.
Time-lapse photos.
Replanting of forest
Unclogging of watercourses
blocked by debris and timber.
Designated a National Volcanic
Monument, and receives $1.4
million in investment
3. A case study of an earthquake in a rich part of the world and one from a poorer area
China (1428, 12thMay 2008) vs Kobe (0546, 17th January 1995)
Effects
69,000 or more dead (China conceals the real figure)
5-11 million homeless.
All telecom communications stopped plus widespread landslides.
$75 million damage
80% of buildings collapsed near epicentre
900 pupils killed in Juyuan Middle School
6434 Dead
300,000 homeless
Widespread city fires
$220 billion damage
70% of rail network damaged
1 million homes without water for 10 days
Responses
Troops parachute in due to earthquake making area inaccessible.
14 May China requests international help from Japan, Russia, S.
Korea
Red Cross donations exceed £100 m within a fortnight.
Chinese banks wrote off debts from people who lost homes.
20 helicopters assigned to rescue efforts.
Widespread criticism of the government for poor building quality
in public buildings such as schools.
“7 Eleven” help provide basics.
Buildings built before 1960 collapsed, which led to changes in
planning rules. New buildings are further apart.
Railways 80% operational within 1 month
High rise buildings had to have flexible steel frames.
Motorola maintained free mobile phone network.
1 year later the port is 80% operational, although much of
the container shipping business was lost.
4. A case study of a Tsunami.
Tsunami: 2004 Boxing Day, Indian Ocean
Effects:
9.1 RS
Largest wave 25m
220,000 dead
650,000 seriously injured
1,500 settlements in Aceh (pronounced “at chay”)
province in Sumatra were completely wiped out.
Responses:

UK government pledged £75m, and public donations,
rose to £100m – a year later this reached £370m.

The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System was set up
in June 2006

USS Abraham Lincoln sent in P3C Orion patrol planes to
survey the damage and sailors provided immediate help.


Many responses were ineffective e.g. a container of teddy bears.
Due to the large volumes of money sent, a considerable amount was lost in bureaucracy.