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Tasks and Hints |
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Tasks and Hints
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The New Madrid earthquakes in December and January 1811-1812
are the usual example given in most earth science classes as the example of
mid-continent earthquakes. The threat of the next big one arises on a
regular basis in the media. So far none of the warnings have proven to to be
correct. Are seismologists looking at a footnote in history or does another
large earthquake threaten the Mississippi Valley? Your assignment is to develop a ten slide PowerPoint presentation on how great of threat you perceive from the New Madrid fault and its associated faults. There is probably not a correct answer as you will notice as you conduct your research. However, you must decide if there seems to be a threat of not and provide supporting evidence for your choice. Include, as a minimum, a historical perspective, the tectonic nature of the area, hazards of the quake and the effect on the Mississippi Valley economy. The hazards of the quake are things like structures or hazardous storage sites that might rupture during a large earthquake. For the economy look at what is produced in the valley and how an earthquake might effect this industry. Should you run into difficulty, click on this link for hints. The rubric is available here. |
| Last modified March 12,2004 |