The Colorado River

The Colorado River is in the southwest of America, and flows through the Grand Canyon. The river must be managed in order to restore the ecosystems which were devastated in 1963. Wikipedia has some useful background information on the Colorado, as well as some information on the Glen Canyon which caused the devastation of the ecosystems. I have also found some other sites which have some interesting information on them. This site has some facts and figures, and these sites have some useful information if you click on the links.

Wetland Ecosystems

In class at the moment, we have been studying wetland ecosystems. I have found a site all about these ecosystems, with information about what they are, the importance of them, and the threats to them.

Tsunami hits Hawaii

On Wednesday, a very small tsunami hit the island of Hawaii, after and earthquake in Japan. The tsunami hit Hawaii about 6 hours after the earthquake near Japan, measuring 8.1 on the Richtor Scale. There was very little damage caused, but it was an opportunity to test the warning systems in place in the Pacific. Click here for more information about this event.

For information on how tsunamis happen, there is a good site here.

World's Forests Rebounding, Study Suggests

A new study claims that the world's forests are no longer decreasin in size... but increasing in size! The study shows that over the past 15 years the amount of woodland has increased in 22 of the world's 50 most forested nations. It suggests that many forests are now recovering from deforestation. There is an article here, and another here.

Boscastle Floods

In class at the moment, we are studying the floods that devastated the village of Boscastle in Cornwall on the 16th August 2004. The floods caused millions of pounds worth of damage to the village in its peak season, as a popular tourist location. For more information on the causes and effects of the flooding, click here.This wikipedia site also has some useful information, and this site has a diagram showing some of the causes of the flooding.
Radio Bodmin have recently broadcast a show with experts Lucy Davey, Kathryn Moyse and Jake Deakin all about Boscastle floods.

Formation of River Features

In class at the moment, we are studying the different features that you find in the upper, middle and lower courses of a river. I have found some simple animations showing the formations of some of these features. For waterfalls, click here, here for ox bow lakes, and here for v-shaped valleys and interlocking spurs. There is also a powerpoint presentation that I found on the internet here, that talks about some different river formations. Here is a good wikipedia page on waterfalls. There also some good articles about other river features on wikipedia if you search for them.