Blog 2- Plate boundaries

Plate tectonics are known as a large- scale geographic process that deform Earth's lithosphere resulting in land forms such as ocean basins, continents, and mountains. Plate boundaries are defined as the relative movement of the plates on either side of the boundary. Iran has a micro plate called the Iranian Plate. A micro plate is grouped with an adjacent major group and contains an area less than 1 million square kilometers. The Iranian Plate surrounds Iran and Afghanistan and even parts of Pakistan and Iraq. It is pressed between the Arabian Plate to the south and the Eurasian Plate to the north. Its boundaries are continental- continental. Subduction of ocean lithosphere ultimately leads to convergence of continents. Because continents are too buoyant to subduct, high mountains develop as the continents are forced upwards in the collision zone. This compression causes a great of mountains in its terrain such as the Zagros Mountains, that are continuing to get higher and higher. Unfortunately it creates earthquakes, a life threatening hazard. A subduction zone quake was the strongest earthquake to hit Iran in 50 years. The Khash earthquake ranged 51 miles, where the Arabian plate dives under the massive Eurasian plate. Dozens of people were known to be killed due to the collision of business. Since it is a convergent (collision) flooding and mass wasting can occur.

Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes

Many dangerous circumstances can occur in the world. They are mostly categorized as either hazards, disasters, or catastrophes. Hazards are defined as a danger or risk. A disaster is a sudden event, such as an accident or a natural catastrophe, that causes great damage or loss of life. Catastrophes, on the other hand, are even more severe. I found a few definitions for catastrophe. One, it could be the final event of the dramatic action especially of a tragedy. Second, a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to ruin. Third, a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth or destructive natural event. A hazard is known as a threat to anything living on the earth. Global warming for example is a well known hazard. There are a few different kinds of hazards known as physical, chemical, biological. Disasters are known to have a greater affect on human population. Natural disasters can cause very drastic problems. Some examples of a natural disaster are floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and fires. These are incidents that have a direct impact on the earth. Natural catastrophes and disasters can be very similar except catastrophes have a much greater impact and result.