VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTIVITY
Refection:
The study of how our continents and oceanic formation occur and the movement of our earth crust by plate tectonic are exciting. The earth as we know it has been a process of enormous pressure and movements of giant crust plates over a period of billions of years. It is exciting to see some of these processes in real time by earthquake and volcanic eruptions. As an example we can see what Mt Saint Helen, looked like before it erupted in 1980, and the aftermath of the top of the mountain no longer part of the original formation but is now forming a caldera bowl. This event has changed the topography of the earth as we knew it.
By studying the earth crust movements we can see how earth developed land formations. Today an active volcano on Hawaiian islands is developing additional land mass to our planet, as it continues to spew slow moving lava that is cooling to form new earth crust. In a thousand years we will have a new Hawaiian island that can become inhabited by man.
By doing this geology project I was surprised to see the number of earthquakes we had in Utah on weekly bases. I have grown up in the state. I was taught, as a child, we are protected in our valley and would not experience natural disasters such as tornados and large scale earthquakes. Seeing the amount of pressure that can build up and is continually released in Utah’s minor earthquakes, gives me an idea that we cannot predict with any certainty what can or cannot happen in our state. As the earth is in constant motion we may not see effects for thousand to millions of years.
