Mekong River

Picture by Michael S. Yamashita


Becca and myself visited the Mekong River in Southeastern Asia to examine the human environmental interactions in the lower basin area. There are over 1,300 species of fish in the twelfth longest river in the world. But, we found out much more then what we came for. We also found out how much the river impacts the lives and cultures of the native people living around the river. The upper Mekong river is fed from melting snow from surrounding mountains. The lower Mekong River is fed by tributaries and monsoons. This river flows through the countries China, Tibet, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar. This lower basin is the main support for about 6 million people. But, there are many more who are affected because of trading of fish from the River. The water that nourishes the farm land in Thailand is seasonal but the amount of crop produced is enough to support them and the surrounding trading countries for a whole year. There are many skilled fishermen along the Mekong river that know many different techniques for catching fish that are traded all around the world. This river helps many survive and if anything were to happen to it, the millions that depend on it as a resource would suffer greatly. The human environment interaction is healthy because they are taking care of the river, they don't deplete the river's supply of fish, and they don't have trash dumps in the Mekong River. This is a beautiful place with rich soil, healthy animals, and many plants. The healthy features are key to the survival of humans in this area and many surrounding areas.

Earthquake Webquest

1a. Earthquakes generally occur along the faults where the plates meet.

1b. Earthquakes occur more specifically along the western coast of the Americas and along the eastern coast of Asia.

2. I think that these are the areas that earthquakes occur because faults occur where plates meet and as the plates move along the faults pressure is created and when it is released it creates waves causing earthquakes.

3. This area is called the Ring of Fire.

4a. The earthquake that is closest to Manitou Springs was at Hahns Peak.





4b. The earthquake had a magnitude of 3.2 and it happened on January 15, 2009 at 7:10 pm.





4c. People would not have been able to feel this earthquake because of its low magnitude.





4d. The ground shaking from this earthquake would cause minor damage while the ground shaking from a magnitude 1 earthquake would not be felt.





4e. The energy released from this earthquake is 1000 times greater than the energy released from a earthquake with a magnitude of 1.

5. One earthquake that happened in the last seven days is one in Chiapas, Mexico. This Southern Mexico and Central America area has high earthquake activity. It had had a magnitude of 5.8. It was felt in many surrounding areas in Southern Mexico as well as in Antigua, Guatemala.

6. People can protect themselves from earthquakes by having non-perishable food, emergency supplies, clothing, blankets, water, first aid supplies, sanitation supplies, and cooking supplies.

Weather Fronts

Cold Front: In a cold front the cold air pushes the against the warm air and causes it to rise. The reaction causes a storm.

Warm Front: In a warm front the warm air goes over the cold air and causes a storm.

Stationary Front: In a stationary front warm air and cold air push against each other but neither has enough force to push the other away and a storm is caused.

Occluded Front: In an occluded front warm air is caught between two cold air masses and is forced over it causing a storm.

Which type of front occurred this week to bring the cold weather and then snow?
The front this week was a stationary front because it was warm then cold quickly and it caused a storm with snow.

Cloud Formation Diagram

San Fransisco, USA 45N to Sydney, Australia 35S

Travel Time:12 days
Direction Traveled: South West
Were you successful? Yes
How many attempts? 2
What winds did you take advantage of or compete with during your travel? I used the trade winds and the doldrums were working against me.

Lima, Cuba 10S to Cape Town, South Africa 35S

Travel Time:15 days
Direction Traveled:South and North East
Were you successful? Yes
How many attempts? 1
What winds did you take advantage of or compete with during your travel? I used the prevailing westerlies and the doldrums worked against me in slowing down the trip.

Havana, Cuba 25N to London, England 50N

Travel Time: 9 days
Direction Traveled: North East
Were you successful? Yes
How many attempts? 3
What winds did you take advantage of or compete with during your travel? I used the trade winds and the prevailing westerlies to complete my trip.