Landslides can occur for different reasons and in different areas. They usually occur when an earthquake strikes where a slope is too steep. When the earthquake occurs, the soil slips and causes a landslide. Landslides can also be triggered by heavy rainfall. This happens when the soil becomes completely saturated. This also means that areas where houses are located on a hill, can be tremendously affected and result in a huge amount of property damage. Landslides have an effect on public safety, economics, scientific exploration, and urban planning. They require a geologist for many reasons. Houses built on a hill can be ruined due to a landslide. Landslides cause property damage, death, injury, and can even effect our resources. Roads can also be damaged and can take forever to be rebuilt or fixed. This effects the economy because not only is it expensive to repair roadways, but it is also a hassle to find a new transportation route. If property is damaged, this can also result in the loss of property value. Landslides in general, come with cost. Geologists are needed to determine whether or not a certain hill is safe enough to be built on. If it is determined to be unsafe, then this means that houses cannot be built because they are aware that a landslide will eventually occur and cause damage in the future. One might say that an easier way to prevent a landslide is by avoiding the problem or relocating a road to avoid a future landslide. However, geologists can also study the area to see if it is prone to earthquakes, aftershocks and landslides. They can study the soil, erosion processes, steepness of the slope, and types of rocks that are making the bedding planes. This will help with eliminating risk factors that endanger...
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..., then it could be that the area is in low permeability clay-like soils. This can lead to a landslide after a number of rain storms that eventually lead to a final rainfall session that causes the landslide. The groundwater pressure affects the slope stability of the area. If a landslide was in fact occurring because of rainfall, we would see a wave of material suddenly appearing. You would be able to measure how fast it’s going because rainfall does affect the speed of the landslide. The ground will get waterlogged by the heavy rain. If the landslide were occurring because of an earthquake, you would be able to feel the land vibrate from the movement. These landslides can typically begin to carry objects like cars, houses, and trees. The earthquake may cause a lower amount of frictional resistance and a difference in the pore water pressure caused by an earthquake.
The film “When the Levees Broke” of spike lee is a four part series covering the events that took place before and after the devastation of Katrina on New Orleans and its residents. In August 2005, New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina. People were unprepared for the disaster. As the city was flooding, levees safeguard failed the city, which caused the city to go underwater. In the film, part 1 shows hurricane Katrina and it’s impact. The flooding, rescue efforts and people trying to survive the disaster. Part 2 shows the aftermath with people that were evacuated waiting for help to come to the city. It was a very slow response to help and everyone was just waiting. Part 3 shows how people started to recover. Many hoped to return to their
The House of Sand and Fog exemplifies the American Dream from different angles, based on the characters portrayed in the novel. The three main characters have individual concepts of what is meant by the American Dream. Mr. Behrani is an ex-Iranian Colonel with a strong connection to his culture and family values. He wants the best for his family. Kathy is a newly separated women. She has a distant relationship with her family, but is connected by the home left in her possession by her deceased father. Lester has a much diluted sense of values, family and the American Dream. He has a sense of self fulfillment, disregarding the needs of most other people. The characters all want the American Dream, but their definition and method of obtaining the American Dream differ from one another.
The catastrophic damage left by Hurricane Katrina resulted in the majority of New Orleans being engulfed in water with countless other complications. Katrina, despite being a level five hurricane, did not cause the flood but rather the levees breaching due to the water overtopping from the meteorological event. The reason for the levee breach was the fact that they were not built for a case like Hurricane Katrina even though they should have been. The levees were built to withstand level 3s and below but Katrina scored a 5 making the structure insufficient to face the storm (11 Facts About Hurricane Katrina). The Army Corp of Engineers were the people responsible for the construction of the site, maintenance and inspection so it goes without saying that they deserve the majority of the responsibility even though it was a matter of chance. The unsatisfactory endeavors by the Army Corp of Engineers prior to this event made the floods possible thus each one gave its own weight on
Mr. Adams describes the San Francisco earthquake as his most profound human suffering experience because the horror of shaking floors, parts of his mom’s house collapse to the floor, and got a broken nose from stumbling into a brick wall (Ansel Adams & The 1906 Earthquake 2008). Earthquakes are part of natural disasters of the earth and normally caused by shaking ground and rapid movement of one block of rock slipping past another a long fractures in the earth crust called faults. Faults that are usually locked excluding abrupt movements, which slippage creates an earthquake (Lutgens, F. & Tarbuck, E.
Where one is in the United States determines if one is in danger from a natural risk and which hazard. Some natural risks are earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, hurricanes and tornadoes. Document one is a map from the natural Disaster Coalition that shows most natural risks and the areas affected in the United States. Despite showing specifically which regions are affected by certain natural risks, document one is not not complete and does not include all natural risks of the United States, leaving out certain ones like floods, wildfires, blizzards, landslides and numerous others. The west coast of the United States is prone to a lot of earthquakes. Earthquakes destroys infrastructures that leads to numerous deaths and a long recuperation periods.
In the essay, The Baby Boom and the Age of the Subdivision, author Kenneth Jackson tells about the changes in the nation after World War II ended, and there was a spike in baby births. He talks about the creation of the Levittown suburbs to accommodate families in need of housing because of this. While the new rise of suburbs created a new kind of community and family, it also proved to have a changing effect on inner city areas and certain people.
People did many things to prepare for Hurricane Sandy. Many people who lived on or near the coastline were given evacuation orders by government officials. These areas were likely to experience severe flooding. The people who lived in low elevations along the coast were particularly in danger. These people left their homes in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut; some were fortunate enough to find a hotel to stay in or relatives to stay with. Others who weren’t as fortunate waited in community shelters. Organizations such as the American Red Cross opened shelters specifically for people who had to leave their homes because of Hurricane Sandy.
...oncerning the way people live and interact in America today. From why California has so many earthquakes with the San Andreas Fault, to the formation of America’s national treasure Yellowstone Park, and even why certain crops are located where they are, it is important to know just how geology affects the United States. There are many different ways how America has changed throughout time, but the evolution in geology is the changing face of America.
Volcano geodesists study the inner workings of a volcano, basically, its plumbing. While a physical volcanologist and geochemist can study the results of a volcanic eruption, without knowing the inner workings of a volcano, where the magma chambers are located and which direction they go, it is sometimes difficult to know whether or not an eruption will take place at all (Poland, Hamburger, & Newman, 2006). Geophysicists study the Earth and their research regarding seismology is also crucial to volcanology. Many volcanic eruptions are foreshadowed by clusters of earthquakes. The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program and the Volcano Hazards Program, both run by the USGS, monitor the earthquakes and other clues of volcanic activity and release information concerning it.
Firstly, geochemists, according to Prospects, study the amount and distribution of chemical elements in rocks and minerals. Geochemists also study the movement of those elements into soil and water systems. The main purpose of geochemistry is to help guide oil exploration, help improve water quality, and develop plans to clean up toxic waste sites. Many of the typical work activities that geochemists take part in are analyzing the age, nature, and components of rock, soil and other environmental samples, conducting sample tests and checks, including gas chromatography, carbon and isotope data, and viscosity and solvent extraction. Most average geochemists are employed by oil and gas companies, consultant firms, and education institutions.
... although we may never be able to understand exactly what soil failures can occur when a natural disasters take place, as time goes on and testing instruments and materials advance we will hopefully have a better understanding of what we can do to avoid soil failures and come up with a better and more sufficient method of improving the soils structure and strength permanently. While researching the information for this report I feel I have a much better understanding for construction geo-technics and foundations especially regarding the deformation, liquefaction and pile information related to this specific event. I hope to carry the information I have learned from this event into the construction field and apply them towards an authentic project that’s taking place and know that the information, regarding soils, I have given input on will be precise and accurate.
Living in Bangladesh, we have seen quite disastrous mudslides from the past few years. Mudslide is also called a landslide or a land slip. It is a downward mass movement of earth or rock on unstable slopes, including many forms resulting from differences in rock structure, coherence of material involved, degree of slope, amount of included water, extent of natural or artificial undercutting at the base of the slope, relative rate of movement, and relative quantity of material involved. There are numerous facts that can cause a mudslide and there are also numerous effects that it can cause us.
When people think of geology, they usually think of rocks and fossils. However, geology is actually a very large field of study. The knowledge of geologists ranges from rocks and fossils to the moon and other planets (Hammonds 7-8). Geologists use a variety of subjects in their work, but the sciences and math are the most important. Some of the sciences geologists study are physics and chemistry (12). English is also a subject that geologists use when communicating with other scientists, the media, and the public (12) . Because of these tasks, it is important for geologists to have a wide knowledge of these different subjects.
Earthquakes belong to the class of most disastrous natural hazards. They result in unexpected and tremendous earth movements. These movements results from dissemination of an enormous amount of intense energy in form of seismic waves which are detected by use of seismograms. The impact of earthquakes leaves behind several landmarks including: destruction of property, extensive disruption of services like sewer and water lines, loss of life, and causes instability in both economic and social components of the affected nation (Webcache 2).
U.S. Geological Survey. Worldwide Overview of Large Landslides of the 20th and 21st Centuries. 6 December 2010. 3 February 2011 .