Geography

Monday, October 08, 2007 | Posted by Economics Corner

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Friday, October 05, 2007 | Posted by Economics Corner

The map shows part of the urban settlement of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The question actually asked for three pieces of map evidence which suggest that this area is part of a squatter settlement and not occupied by high cost housing.

You were given a photograph of a slum (squatter settlement) in the Prelim. Basically both serve the same purpose - you have to examine them carefully and relate them to the characterics of a squatter or a slum.

You must understand that squatters are occupied mainly by rural migrants who were attracted to the city by the pull factors. However, most of them were unable to attain what they wanted and landed in the slum which they built their own house illegally on government land. You can see on the map that most of the areas are occupied by "self built houses" . Most of these land are not desired by the higher income people as there are normally near to railways, industrial areas, open drains, swamps etc where there is high level of pollution and poor sanitation. In this case here you can clearly the "industrial land" in the south-eastern part of the map as well as the "open drain" and "marshy land" which strectched across the map area.

There is also poor water supply as you can see that there is no piped water but only "water standpipe". The squatter is also accessible by "unmade roads" which are actually muddy roads.

The answer for this question:

many temporary/self-built houses/few concrete houses;
use of standpipes for water/no running water;
open drains/no proper sanitation;
built on undesirable land/close to marshes/factories etc

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Friday, October 05, 2007 | Posted by Economics Corner

I would like to remind all students to study carefully and make use of the sources given in the exam. Some of the diagrams or pictures given in the paper are to help you write out your answers - make use of the words in the figures. Look at the picture below which shows the volcanic eruption of Mt Etna in 1983.

(ii) Identify the main hazard from the volcanic eruption which threatened:
A. Rocca and Ragalna,

B. Nicolosi

Look at the picture carefully - Rocca and Ragalna are located at the foot of the volcano and are along the path of the "present lava flow". Thus they face the threat of the lava flow.

As for Nicolosi, though it is away from the path of the lava flow, you can see the phrase "'ash fall from volcano cloud' written above the name of the settlement. Thus they are threatened by the ash fall. Most of the time, the answers can be found on the picture itself like this one here. Examine the source given and you earn the marks - which is something all of you can achieve if you make the effort to.

(iii) Describe the possible impacts of the volcanic activity shown by the figure on the people who lived close to Mount Etna.

specific health issues;
deaths/injury;
loss of possessions/homes/cars;
homelessness;
need to evacuate area;
damage to workplaces/unable to earn a living;
loss of agricultural produce/damage to farmland;
economic implications of rebuilding etc

(iv) Describe what can be done to protect people from volcanic eruptions.

I am sure all of you would have seen the words "diversion canal" " re-directed lava flow" on the picture- this will help you to include this as one of your answers - redirecting lava flow /by digging diversion canals;

Other points will include:

monitoring/warning population;
evacuation;
halting advance by dropping concrete slabs into flow;
spraying water onto flow
education re procedures/drills etc.

I would also like to highlight to all of you the second picture:

The 2nd picture shows the lava flow of the volcanic eruptions of Mt Etna in the year 1923 and 1983.

Always remember - there must be a reason why certain datas are included. E.g. in this picture, pay attention of the direction of the lava flows - the compass points are given. You would also note that the spot heights are also given in the legend.

The development of minor craters (secondary cones) on the southern and south-eastern side of the volcano would also indicate that this is a composite volcano. Refer to the map of the composite volcano given in paper 1 of 2005 Nov Paper 1 which was also given as a source for paper 2 in the 2006 June paper. If you are given the compass points on the map - you are expected to make use of it. E.g. state the location of the secondary cone.

Question for this picture: Use evidence from the Figure only to compare the lava flows of 1923 and 1983.

Thus your answer must include datas from the map such as the direction of the flows and the altitude which the flow started from.

the 1983 lava flow was more extensive;
1983 lava flow to S/SW whereas 1923 to N/NE;
1983 flow from higher point; 3340 metres, 1923 from 2153 metres

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Friday, October 05, 2007 | Posted by Economics Corner

The Marina Barrage facing the sea

How the Marina Barrage works.

Benefits of the barrage

Top view of the marina barrage across the river mouth (model)












News Articles:

Barrage across Marina

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Tuesday, October 02, 2007 | Posted by Economics Corner

Click on the link below for quick revision on river, plate tectonics, natural vegetation and population.
http://www.sln.org.uk/geography/schools/blythebridge/GCSERevision.htm

Interesting Geography Links:
S Cool Geography
Bite Size Geography
Geography World Quiz
O level Geography Elective by Kheng
O level syllabus and sample papers
More Interactive geography resources from ETD
How does the hurricane get its name?
Learn more about planets. (For Sec 1)
Geo quiz on oceans and continents. (For Sec 1)
Find out the weather - any place(including Singapore) any time (for the past 5 years or the next 5 days):
Download this and see satellite pictures of any place on earth - including your home!
Check out this link - Q & A on Earth Sciences
Physical Geography in animation
Physical Geography
Agriculture
Industries
Population
Human resource
Tourism and sustainable developmen
water issues
Housing
Education and Health
Geography world
Geography links
more links - Singapore map reading
Maps
Bite size Geography
Video clips from Brain Pop
Education Planet

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Monday, October 01, 2007 | Posted by Economics Corner

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Monday, October 01, 2007 | Posted by Economics Corner

The Kobe quake highlighted Japan's lack of disaster preparation. Earthquakes have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the last 100 years and improvements in technology have only slightly reduced the death toll.

15 August 2007
At least 437 people are killed in Peru's coastal province of Ica, as a 7.90-magnitude undersea earthquake strikes about 145km (90 miles) south-east of the capital, Lima.

17 July 2006:
A 7.7 magnitude undersea earthquake triggers a tsunami that strikes a 200km (125-mile) stretch of the southern coast of Java, killing more than 650 people on the Indonesian island.

27 May 2006:
Nearly 5,000 people die when a magnitude 6.2 quake hits the Indonesian island of Java, devastating the city of Yogyakarta and surrounding areas.

1 April 2006:
Seventy people are killed and some 1,200 injured when an earthquake measuring 6.0 strikes a remote region of western Iran.

8 October 2005:
An earthquake measuring 7.6 strikes northern Pakistan and the disputed Kashmir region, killing more than 73,000 people and leaving millions homeless.

28 March 2005:
About 1,300 people are killed in an 8.7 magnitude quake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Nias, west of Sumatra.

22 February 2005:
Hundreds die in a 6.4 magnitude quake centred in a remote area near Zarand in Iran's Kerman province.

26 December 2004:Hundreds of thousands are killed across Asia when an earthquake measuring 8.9 triggers sea surges that spread across the region.

24 February 2004:
At least 500 people die in an earthquake which strikes towns on Morocco's Mediterranean coast.

26 December 2003:More than 26,000 people are killed when an earthquake destroys the historic city of Bam in southern Iran.

21 May 2003:Algeria suffers its worst earthquake in more than two decades. More than 2,000 people die and more than 8,000 are injured in a quake felt across the sea in Spain.

1 May 2003:
More than 160 people are killed, including 83 children in a collapsed dormitory, in south-eastern Turkey.

24 February 2003:
More than 260 people die and almost 10,000 homes are destroyed in Xinjiang region, in western China.

31 October 2002:
Italy is traumatised by the loss of an entire class of children, killed in the southern village of San Giuliano di Puglia when their school building collapses on them.

26 January 2001:
An earthquake measuring magnitude 7.9 devastates much of Gujarat state in north-western India, killing nearly 20,000 people and making more than a million homeless. Bhuj and Ahmedabad are among the towns worst hit.

12 November 1999:
Around 400 people die when an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale strikes Ducze, in north-west Turkey.

21 September 1999:Taiwan is hit by a quake measuring 7.6 that kills nearly 2,500 people and causes damage to every town on the island.

17 August 1999:
An magnitude 7.4 earthquake rocks the Turkish cities of Izmit and Istanbul, leaving more than 17,000 dead and many more injured.

30 May 1998:
Northern Afghanistan is hit by a major earthquake, killing 4,000 people.

May 1997:More than 1,600 killed in Birjand, eastern Iran, in an earthquake of magnitude 7.1.

27 May 1995:
The far eastern island of Sakhalin is hit by a massive earthquake, measuring 7.5, which claims the lives of 1,989 Russians.

17 January 1995:
The Hyogo quake hits the city of Kobe in Japan, killing 6,430 people.

30 September 1993:
About 10,000 villagers are killed in western and southern India.

21 June 1990:Around 40,000 people die in a tremor in the northern Iranian province of Gilan.

7 December 1988:
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale devastates north-west Armenia, killing 25,000 people.

19 September 1985:
Mexico City is shaken by a huge earthquake which razes buildings and kills 10,000 people.

28 July 1976:
The Chinese city of Tangshan is reduced to rubble in a quake that claims at least 250,000 lives.

23 December 1972:
Up to 10,000 people are killed in the Nicaraguan capital Managua by an earthquake that measures 6.5 on the Richter scale. The devastation caused by the earthquake was blamed on badly built high-rise buildings that easily collapsed.

31 May 1970:An earthquake high in the Peruvian Andes triggers a landslide burying the town of Yungay and killing 66,000 people.

26 July 1963:
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale strikes the Macedonian capital of Skopje killing 1,000 and leaving 100,000 homeless.

22 May 1960:
The world's strongest recorded earthquake devastates Chile, with a reading of 9.5 on the Richter scale. A tsunami 30ft (10m) high eliminates entire villages in Chile and kills 61 hundreds of miles away in Hawaii.

1 September 1923:
The Great Kanto earthquake, with its epicentre just outside Tokyo, claims the lives of 142,800 people in the Japanese capital.

18 April 1906:
San Francisco is hit by a series of violent shocks which last up to a minute. Between 700 and 3,000 people die either from collapsing buildings or in the subsequent fire.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/2059330.stm

Click here to see a flash on how earthquake happens : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/4126809.stm

Click here to learn more about the formation of tsunamis. http://www.tsunami-alarm-system.com/en/phenomenon-tsunami/phenomenon-tsunami-formation.html

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