Oil Disaster

The explosion was caused by a fire that had started on the oil rig. The Gulf Coast is being affected by the oil spill but Louisiana is being hurt the most. Some of the environmental problems forming from the oil spill is water pollution, damage to ecosystems and coastline regions. 42,000 gallons of oil are leaking out into the Gulf Coast region everyday. They are trying to stop the oil leak by placing a box shaped container over it. So far all attempts to slow or stop the oil are failing.

Website Link Info: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604308.html
Author: Steven Mufson

Kennecott or Not

A mine in the Upper Peninsula has been approved to begin mining operations but many locals and environmentalists have concerns. One of these concerns is that AMD could result from the mining. AMD is when acids seep into the ground and poses a risk of contaminating local groundwater, rivers and wildlife. The mining will destroy local forests that have a large tourist interest that would hurt the local economy.

The owners of the new mine are going to use an old mill that had been closed down. Before they reopen the mill they are going to do a brownfield cleanup which means they are going to cleanup all of the chemicals and pollutants that were already at the mill to begin with. Other benefits of opening the mine are employment for the locals. Many people in the UP are unemployed from all of the old mines that shut down so this could help put people back to work and revitalize the economies up there.

After the owners do the brownfield cleanup they are going to build a new water treatment facility to ensure that no chemicals and pollutants endanger local wildlife such as trout.

Website Links and Info:
http://www.northwoodswild.org/projects/sulfide-and-uranium-mining
http://www.eagle-project.com/library/media/Heartland_Institute.pdf
NorthWoods Wilderness Recovery
Bruce Edward Walker

The Iceland Volcano

There is a volcano erupting in Iceland because of a fault that runs through the region.

This volcano is grounding air traffic because it sent so much volcanic ash into the atmosphere that its disrupting the planes engines, putting them at risk of crashing. Another negative effect of the eruption is the disruption to the local ecosystems and agriculture.

The volcano isn't affecting the United States because of its location and wind patterns.

Website Link and Info: http://www.pdc.org/PDCNewsWebArticles/2010/Iceland/eruption.htm
Title: Pacific Disaster Center

Wind Farms

The pros of the proposed wind farm project are an alternate source of energy and it has zero carbon emmisions. The cons of it are it has never been done on a fresh water source which means we don't know what it will do to the environment. I think they should put up a couple of the windfarms and see how it effects the environment. If you oppose the project you could write to the US government and see if they oppose the Canadians decision.

Website Link:http://www.freep.com/article/20100226/NEWS06/2260374/1322/Storm-brews-over-Ontario-winds
Author: Tina Lam

The Ring of Fire

We know about the tectonic plates that make up the Earth's surface. These plates are strongly related to earthquakes and volcanoes. Earthquakes happen because of plate boundaries pushing up against each other. Volcanoes are also related to these plates because they take up magma and release it on the Earth's outer surface and cause the eruption of a volcano.
The type of plate boundaries that are associated with volcanoes include:
Ocean-continent convergent boundary
Ocean-ocean convergent boundary
Continent-continent convergent boundary
Ocean-ocean divergent boundary
Transform-fault boundary

Author - Kelly Stroker
Website Link:http://map.ngdc.noaa.gov/website/seg/hazards/viewer.htm

Plate Tectonics

Pangea was 226 million years ago.
The continental break up in Michigan happened 1.1 billion years ago.
The rock type that filled it up was basalt.

The period when Michigan was on the equator, was the late Cambrian period which was 514 million years ago.

In 250 million years North America will be joined together with South America and Europe.

Seismic monitor

There were a total of five earthquakes today, the date is 2/1/10.
The most recent earthquake was in Baja California on 2/1/10.
California tends to have the most earthquakes nationwide.

In South America the magority of the earthquakes occur on the west coast. When you go from weast to east the depth of the earthquakes decreases.

Website Info:
http://www.iris.edu/seismon/
Website Title: Seismic Moniter
http://www.iris.washington.edu/servlet/eventserver/map.do
Website Title: IRIS Earthquake Browser