Blog Post #5: Favorite Projects (take 2)

The presentations this 9-weeks period were all very different in their relations to the environment. Some projects discussed weather phenomenon like storms and clouds. Other projects focused on interesting natural landmarks formed from different weathering processes, and others concerned the impacts of humans on their environment, like pollution. My three favorite projects, however, would have to be Cave of Swallows, Artificial Clouds, and Glaciers. 

The Cave of Swallows is an interesting underground chamber formed by water erosion in the municipality of Aquismon, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. I like the fact that it was a landmark that I had never heard of before because it was more fascinating to learn about. The presenters of this project are always entertaining, although their presentation this time was tamer than their dinosaur one from last time... However, it was still presented well with accurate and easy to find information, which made filling out the worksheet much easier. The video they provided was captivating! I would never jump into a dark cave deep enough to engulf the Empire State Building...just no. Watching other people leap into the dark abyss with parachutes on their backs was definitely thrilling. I cannot imagine what the inside of the cave looks like because it was so dark in the video, but the birds that live there must be cool!

The Artificial Clouds presentation dealt with a concept that no other project in the class did. It discussed the efforts of scientists who are creating man-made clouds in order to help our global warming situation. The clouds are made of water vapor and other chemicals that are similar to those of normal clouds. The goal would be to provide more shade for planet Earth and help reflect more of the sun's rays from the surface. However, the artificial clouds are causing damage to Earth's ozone layer and affecting the atmosphere. That is unfortunate, but it is still an interesting idea that scientists came up with in an effort to help global warming. Maybe a few tweaks will lead to non-harmful artificial clouds in the future! The conspiracy theories about these clouds was interesting too...makes you think harder about the true goals of the government, but they also seem a bit farfetched.

The presentation on glaciers was very well put together in my opinion because I never gave much thought to these icy landforms, and was unaware of their many different types. I thought they were just all big blocks of ice...However, it turns out there are many different types, even one described as a tongue. Interesting, but my favorite glacier was the cirque glaciers because they looked fluffy and soft. I also thought the presenter's handout was unique because it was the only one with a crossword! That was fun to complete, and I learned a lot more about glaciers...they are more than just big, bulky blocks of ice. 

Blog Post #4: Canyon Lake Gorge

Canyon Lake Gorge was an amazing experience! We encountered so much of Earth's past events and history on just a small part of Texas! One interesting thing that we learned at the very beginning of our tour was that the words 'canyon' and 'gorge' both mean the same thing. So, the name "Canyon Lake Gorge is redundant. Our guide compared it to saying, "Lake pond." Throughout the journey our guide shared many interesting facts about the gorge and its beginnings, with some mild, nerdy humor to keep us attentive.

The Glen Rose Limestone that exists throughout Texas was deposited over millions of years during the Cretaceous Era, an era when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. After the Flood Event of 2002, in just a matter of weeks, powerful water carved a gorge into the landscape below the Canyon Lake Spillway. Canyon Lake Gorge was formed in all its glory, taking more than one hundred million years total!

The gorge is home to hundreds of thousands of fossils and remains of different once living organisms. Molds, casts, and even trace fossils such as the footprints from different dinosaurs living during the time period, can be found throughout the landscape. Although we did not get to see any T-Rex impressions, we discovered the tracks of a carnivorous beast similar to the Tyrannosaurus Rex, as well as, those of a common long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur. The footprints were definitely the coolest pieces of history I have ever seen! Our guide taught us how scientists determine characteristics of a dinosaur based on its footprints and feet alone. You could determine not only their style of walking, but also how big they were and what they most likely ate.

It still amazes me that we had the opportunity to stand in an area of rocks, faults, and fossils, that used to be part of an ocean! I could just visualize all the creatures that would have been swimming around us, even though I would have been scared out of my mind to be among them! But our world is just too amazing to ignore! We literally walked on history as we investigated the different fossils beneath our feet. We held evidence of the past in our hands and took pictures that would last a life time! Overall, Canyon Lake (Gorge) was a one of a kind field trip that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Blog Post #3: Hurricane Mitch vs Typhoon Tip

A tropical cyclone is a large, rotating, low-pressure storm that commonly occurs in the topics during the summer and fall seasons. The different words used to describe this storm-hurricane, cyclone, typhoon-represent the same weather phenomenon, but are used based on location. The term hurricane is used in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific around the United States. Typhoon is used to portray the storm in the Northwest Pacific near Asia, and cyclone is used for illustration in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean.

Tropical cyclones are formed and created by two main components: warm, tropical oceans and a pre-existing weather disturbance. If these proper conditions remain long enough, then moisture and relatively light winds will turn into violent winds, magnificent waves, torrential downpours, and floods that are all associated with this type of storm. Cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons thrive on tremendous amounts of energy in warm, tropical oceans. As water evaporates from the ocean surface, latent heat, or stored energy in water vapor that is not released to warm the atmosphere until condensation takes place, is stored. The latent heat is released when air begins to rise and water vapor condenses into clouds and rain. As the disturbances produce more precipitation, more energy is released. The rising air creates an area of low pressure at the ocean's surface. More warm air moves toward the low-pressure center to replace the risen air in a process known as the Coriolis Effect. The Coriolis Effect causes moving air to turn counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. This is the characteristic, cyclonic rotation of a tropical cyclone.

As the moving air approaches the center of the growing storm, it rises, then rotates faster and faster,
increasing in speed as more energy is released through condensation. The air pressure in the center of the system continues to decrease, while the surface wind speeds continue to increase. This process will continue as long as atmospheric conditions allow warm air to be fed into the system at the surface, and removed from the system in the upper atmosphere.

Many of the world's oceans are home to subtropical high-pressure systems. In the deep tropics, tropical cyclones are often caught up in the circulation of these high-pressure systems. As the storms grow and develop, they move gradually toward the west then eventually turn poleward as they reach the far edges of the high-pressure systems. The storms are guided by prevailing westerlies and interact with mid-latitude systems. At this point, the interaction of various winds and weather systems makes the movement of the storms unpredictable.