Physical Geology 1403
Lab Exercise 1
Ana Almeida

Part.1
1. Mt. St. Helens
It is an active volcano that is located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The last eruption killed 57 people, in the lateral blast, ashfall, and lahars. Those people died due to asphyxiation, thermal injuries, and trauma. Also, indirect death were caused by a cropduster hitting powerlines during the ashfall, a traffic accident during poor visibility, and two heart attacks from shoveling ash. An article about Mt. St. Helens says " For a limited time, some people living near the eruption suffered from post traumatic syndrome: depression, trouble sleep, irritability, and a sense of powerlessness.". Basically the impacts a volcano has in humans life are related to heatlh, and economical problems. Each time a volcano erupts lives can be in dangerous.
2. Kilauea Volcano
It is a shield volcano located in the Hawaiian Islands, it is also the most active of the five volcanos that form the Hawaii island.
The effect that it can have in humans lives is the same as the Mt.St.Helens, people are in dangerous because the volcano can erupt any time. One time the lava flows from the Kilauea volcanoes has destroyed a couple of towns and cut the highway on the east cost of the Big Island of Hawaii. The lava flowing into the sea is causing the island to grow, very slowly; also, the sulfurous fumes of the volcano are corrosive and toxic, and because of that hundreds of people were forced to evacuate.

3. Crater Lake
It is a caldera lake in te western United States, located in the south-central Oregon. It is the maind feautur of Crater Lake National Park. Internationally famous for its deep blue color and water clarity.
After some research I could conclude that this feature has no impact in humans lives , also humans can not affect Crater lake because there are some laws that do not allow people to hunt. Also the Crater Lake is strictly protected by law.
4.Sierra Nevada Batholith
The Sierra Nevada Batholith is a large batholith which forms the core of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, USA, exposed at the surface as granite. I could not find anything that affects people's lives related with Sierra Nevada Batholith.
5. Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided carved by the Colorado River in the United States, in the State of Arizona. Also, it is contained within and managed by Grand Canyon National Park, the Hualpai Tribal Nation, and the Havasupai Tribe. I could find an article online, that explains how Grand Canyon affects humans lives : " Because of tourism, the local community is greatly affected by large numbers of people and their use of the area for touring and recreation. The native Americans who lived in the area would have difficulty living their chosen lifestyle with the presence of so many outsiders infringing on their environment.
The area did feature prominently in history when the decision was made to divert the Colorado River which runs through the canyon so it would provide water for the Southwest. Several dams were built which altered the river as well as provide more lakes for recreational purposes. The dams were built in the early 1900's and into the 1930's.". Basically, the fact of many of tourist go there is good in the way that helps the economy of the state, on the other hand people that go there bother the local communities.
6. Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains are a system of mountains in the eastern North America, West Virginia. I could not find any effects in humans lives related to Appalachian Mountains.

7. San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault The is a continantal transform fault that extends roughly 810 miles through California in the United States. The tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate is formed by the San Andreas Fault. The fault divides into three segments, each with different characteristics, and a different degree of earthquake risk. Although the most significant (Southern) segment only dates back about 5 million years, the oldest sections were formed by the subduction of a spreading ridge 30 million years ago. This feature does not affect humans lives, one proof of that is the fact that humans built three major cities in the middle of it, are they San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
8.Mammoth Cave
The Mammoth Cave National Park is a U.S. National Park in central Kentucky, and the longest cave system known in the world. The official name of the system is the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System for the ridge under which the cave has formed. Related to how it affects people's lives I couldn't find anything that can negatively affect human beings. However, I could find on an article that there is a disease called white-nose syndrome that has been spreading through the eastern United States, killing bat populations. Fortunately, this disease does not affect humans.
.9. Mississipi River Delta
The Mississipi River Delta is the modern area of a land built up by alluvium." It is a biologically significant region, comprising 3 million acres (12,000 km²) of coastal wetlands and 40% of the salt marsh in the contiguous United States. It is also a commercially significant region, supporting the economy of New Orleans with significant shipping traffic, providing 16 to 18% of the oil supply in the U.S., and providing 16% of the fisheries harvest in the U.S., including shrimp, crabs, and crayfish." Some ways this river can affects humans lives is by the fact that the probability of flooding is really high, due to geological conditions. Flooding can destroy crops, equipment, buildings and also kill people.

10. Death Valley
The Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Its specific location is within the Mojave Desert, it is the lowest and driest area in North America, and currently the hottest in the world.
This feature does not affects people's lives.
Part.2
9.Ring of fire
On this area a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occurs in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. The communities that live near to this ring have to deal with high temperatures, sunrise and sunshine occur quite fast, also they live in imminent risk of volcano eruptions and tsunamis.
10.Himalays
The Himalayas is a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The Himalayas hurt India by isolating them from the rest of the world, however, it also helped them by protecting India from people looking to invade it.
11. Great barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, it is composed of 900 islands streching, over 2.900 individual reefs. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The Great barrier Reef re-moves carbon Dioxide, protects the land from harsh weather, raise 6 billion dollars in tourist money, may provide medicines in the future and provides a great learning to when it comes to the scientific community.

12. Mt. Pinatubo
The Mount Pinatubo is an active volcano that is located on the island of Luzon, near to the tri-point of the Philippine provinces of Zambales, Rarlac and Pampanga. As a volcano, each time that its erupt people's lives are in danger.

Sources : http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/what-were-effects-people-when-mt-st-helens-erupted http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wild-Places/Mississippi-River-Delta.aspx http://appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/community/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River_Delta