Essay
A-level geography Volcanic hazards essay
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- AQA
A-Level AQA Geography Volcanic hazards example essay based off of questions from paper 1.
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‘Volcanic hazards will always have a greater impact than storm hazards.’ To what extentdo you agree with this view? [20 marks]
PLAN:
Disagree. Storms can be more impactful.
Eyjafjallajökull – Iceland, little impact due to HIC response, low population. (However, the
physical geography – divergent boundary, mid Atlantic ridge did have a large impact on the
size and threat of the event)
Hurricane Katrina – New Orleans, USA, large impact due to lack of HIC response and high
population. (The category 5 storm itself also had a major impact)
Answer:
I partially disagree with this view as storms can be more impactful and examples of this have
been seen in recent years as a result of climate change which has increased the intensity
and frequency of tropical storms.
In 2010, the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted with a volcanic explosivity index of 4.
The explosivity of this volcanic event was influenced by Iceland’s location on the mid
Atlantic ridge. Eyjafjallajökull is a unique case as it is a stratovolcano when it should be a
shield volcano as it lies on a divergent plate boundary. The cause of this change in volcano
structure type can be found in the mid-Atlantic ridge. The mid Atlantic ridge is constructive
and diverges the north American plate and the Eurasian plate. The two plates are driven by
ridge push which causes faster movement. Additionally, the Mid-Atlantic ridge causes
several magma chambers to combine and create a significant volume of magma which
results in a more explosive eruption and a composite volcano. Another factor that increased
the threat of this event was that seismologists did not predict the eruption and initially
believed that another Icelandic volcano ‘Katya’ would erupt instead. This gave emergency
services and the local government less time to prepare, putting areas and livelihoods at risk.
Whilst the physical structure and lack of prediction of the volcanic event made it a greater
threat than predicted, the overall outcome of the event was that no lives were lost, and no
injuries occurred either. This positive outcome was a result of 700 people being evacuated
from the area at risk around the volcano as well as the fact that Iceland is an HIC with well-
funded and well-trained emergency services that knew how to react to the event.
Preventions such as masks and temporary housing was provided to locals to avoid chocking
from the ash cloud produced from the eruption and to provide shelter for those who were
evacuated. Additionally, Iceland’s small population meant that the event was less likely to
have a large impact on people as the volcano is located in a low populated area.
On the other hand, in 2005 hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane made landfall on the
coast of Florida with winds of 177 mph. The hurricane caused a 6ft storm surge that resulted
in 1,200 people drowning. The city of New Orleans in Louisiana was the most damaged area
due to implications with flood defences that caused extreme flooding across the city.
New Orleans lies 8ft below sea level and is located beside the Mississippi River making it
extremely vulnerable to storms and flooding. In order to combat this vulnerability Levees
were installed either side of the Mississippi river in 1772. After the catastrophe of the great
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