Earth Systems Links

“Heaven and Earth were created all together in the same instant on October 23^rd 4004 BC at 9 o’ clock in the morning’

(later changed to October 22nd in the evening, as the Bible says "the evening and the morning were the first day...")

Dedicated to the work of Alfred Wegener, J Tuzo Wilson, Arthur Holmes and Harry Hess.

LESSON PLANS & RESOURCES (31 and counting...)

Get a map of the world with latitude and longitude lines marked on, and go to the NEIC Earthquake bulletin site. Then plot the most recent earthquakes, and you'll see that they start to form lines. Need to appreciate the patterns in relation to plates. Notice that they are offset from the actual coast or border - this is where the island arcs form. Apparently most plates move at a rate of around 4 inches (10 cm a year), although there are variations in the speed of movement. This is variously described as the rate of growth of fingernails or human hair. The general trend is for a widening of the Atlantic Ocean and a narrowing of the Pacific Ocean - crustal material has to be both created AND destroyed or the world would be getting larger.

Pangaea was the name coined by Alfred Wegener in his 1915 book: "On the origin of Continents and Oceans". Other people had also had similar ideas including Antonio Snider Pelligini, Eduard Suess and Frank Taylor.

2. As a case study of the effects of an eruption, I use the island of MONTSERRAT. There is a page I have put together all about the situation on MONTSERRAT here which you may find useful in setting up an activity. This is used for the SYNOPTIC link too. There are some new questions too, which relate to a GEOFILE Online article from 2001. This would make a useful difference in case study material from the old favourite Mount Saint Helens.

4. INTRUSIVE FEATURES form where magma tries to get to the surface, but doesn't quite get there...

5. Benefits of living near volcanoes 1

6. BENEFITS OF TECTONIC ACTIVITY 2

Subscribe to GEO PROJECTS to see an article I wrote on this issue....

Some useful information on the particular vulnerability of islands to disasters explained in ISLAND VULNERABILITY website.

(Make sure that you know the various forms that volcanic cones can take, and the various types of material ejected from the volcano: tephra, types of lava (felsic, mafic), volatiles etc.)

One of those places every Geographer should visit. Includes some excellent images of Heimaey.

14. Watch these pupil-produced ANIMATIONS showing Weathering processes from Noel Jenkins' site. Great fun - must have a go at making them some day! I've downloaded the necessary software but they need a little bit of attention to make them special, so enjoy what Noel's given us instead!

15. The Earth is actually expanding as a result of plate tectonics claims THIS SITE. After all, it the continents are getting further apart there must be a wider ocean. A good read, but is it true ?

OK: the theory goes that HOT SPOTS are an example of a 'mantle thermal anomaly' - the crustal plate moves over the hot spot, and is melted. Magma moves to the surface and produces either an active seamount or a dome. The theory was part of the development of the theory of Plate tectonics. Hawaii and other locations (including Iceland and the Canary Islands) are formed by these 'hot spots'.

This was all going fine, until MARCH 2003, when an article was published in the NEW SCIENTIST. The article made the front cover: and was called CRACKED PLANET. It suggested that HOT SPOT theory doesn't work.... Get hold of a copy, and read it.

Sheet produced by colleague Mr. Nunnerley which relates to the production of a revision booklet on the processes and features found at Plate Boundaries, and the different types of Plate Boundaries. This requires the use of textbooks and the recommended websites.

The classic video and instructions on this topic were put together by the husband and wife vulcanologists Maurice and Katia Krafft, who witnessed well over 100 eruptions, but were caught out by a pyroclastic flow on Mount Unzen in 1991. It can be ordered from various American sites.

Some basic notes which you could use. These will be added too shortly. I have bulging files of material to add to the website but no time!

Go to VOLCANOLIVE.COM and download the video of John Seach descending into the crater. A student of ours recently saw his phone number on the website during a lesson, got out his mobile and the next thing we heard was: "Hello, is that John Seach ?...." - don't want to think about the time difference, or the cost. He had a bit of a chat with him.

24. BAMDIARY: a blog produced by people working in the aftermath of the Boxing Day 2003 earthquake in Iran. For an excellent SATELLITE IMAGE showing the devastation of the citadel, follow the link. You'll find several other excellent images linked to from here, including ones of Uluru, hurricane and tornado damage, Arc de Triomphe, glaciers in Pakistan, Venice and Mount Everest

26. S.E. ASIA TSUNAMI PAGE

A selection of resources, and links to other sites where you can obtain animations and other materials relating to this natural disaster. In mid January 2005, 'The Times' posted an update on the casualty figures..

Total deaths: 225 000

Total money pledged by governments: $4 billion

This year (2006) will see an important centenary: the anniversary of the great quake of April 18th 1906.

Remember one of the best sources of information for here: "NATURAL HAZARDS" by Simon Ross in the Stanley Thornes EPICS series.

28. VESUVIUS VIRTUAL FIELDTRIP

New for December 2006

Thanks to John Tomlinson for posting on SLN FORUM which led me here. Has a movie introduction, followed by some tasks, which are accompanied by a PDF download of a Student Handbook.

http://www.gso.uri.edu/131_Site/Vesuvius/Instructions/instruct.html - click the link to head for the site - needs a BROADBAND connection and a few PLUG INs which you may have check for first

There are some issues with the management plan for evacuating the city - will everyone get out in time ?

Could look at the whole idea of RISK in this area. National Geographic Magazine for September 2007 has some very useful resources too: images and a great article on the possibility of an eruption soon...

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0709/vesuvius/vesuvius-eruption.html http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0709/vesuvius/clark-photography.html

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/visions-of-earth/visions-of-earth.html

Also have some images of Vesuvius taken by friends...

30. CHECK OUT ROB CHAMBERS' RESOURCES !

Click the picture or HERE to go to the page. This features links to some excellent materials for our specification: these include a COURSE OVERVIEW, and details on each of the MODULES at AS which have games, notes, activities etc.

This is a great site, which I discovered this month. Since been on a number of blogs too. Interesting how things appear and then circulate quickly, a bit like Richard Dawkins' idea of MEMES ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme )

It has a series of games which allow you to explore and develop strategies for coping with various disasters. These include: WILDFIRE, EARTHQUAKE, TSUNAMI, HURRICANES and FLOODS.

Among the notes there is a link to an excellent video which shows Tilly Smith: the 10 year old schoolgirl who was on the beach at Phuket and correctly identified that a tsunami was about to happen and saved lots of people. The important information had been included, of course, as part of a GEOGRAPHY lesson.

Mapping of ISLAND ARCS, FOLD MOUNTAINS (Old), FOLD MOUNTAINS (Young), OCEAN TRENCHES and MID ATLANTIC RIDGES. You need to be able to name the main examples for the exam... Remember 2006 when the students had to identify JAPAN.

'AS' EARTH SYSTEMS LINKS

LESSON PLANS & RESOURCES (31 and counting...)