Wednesday, September 29. 2021

Today's schedule is BADC 

B Block Physical Geography - Don't forget, you'll need to define anticline & syncline, and work on questions 4 - 5 from page 412 in your Geosystems text. To help, we'll watch a bit of Geologic Journey to understand the Wrangellia Terrane (focusing on the Mg rich Karmutsen Formation that formed on the ocean basin 230 mya and arrived on the west coast of Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii about 100 mya) along with folding (the Rockies). The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau is a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks (geological shield) that forms the ancient geological core of the North American continent (the North American Craton or Laurentia). Some of the rocks in the Canadian Shield are over 3.96 billion years old, and Laurentia has been together in its present form for the last billion years.
FMI:
Behind the Canadian Shield
Geological History of Canada
Sweet!

For more on Plate Tectonics check out:
Earth Floor: Plate Tectonics
UCal Berkeley Plate Tectonics animated Gifs
NASA: Our Restless Planet animation library
Plate Tectonics Earth View
UCAR - University of Michigan - Plate Tectonics
Essentials of Geology textbook Plate Tectonics animations
 

A Block Criminology - Today we will focus on the impact that crime has on victims. We'll try to examine the impacts of crime on victims (both short and long term)




I'll go over some notes with you on this and we'll try to understand how violence and violent crime (out next topic in the course) is a traumatic event that impacts human lives. I'd like you to read through the "Nature of Victimization" on pages 53-5 and 57-58  and "Theories of Victimization" dealing with Victim Precipitation, Lifestyle, and Routine Activities on pages 59-62 in the CRIM text. After discussing these sections your job will be to complete the following:

1. Briefly outline and explain the patterns we've identified in victimization (social ecology, household, personal characteristics and repeat victimization)
2. Explain and compare the three theories of crime victimization. 

D & C Blocks - Social & Environmental Sciences - All Benton this afternoon. Since you didn't get to it yesterday, you'll look at how the ecology of the Colorado River is changing. First we'll study adaptations and the status of endemic/endangered fish populations and secondly we'll look at Tamarisk, an introduced species, to see effects on the river and riparian zone. (What is the value of biodiversity?) From Discover Moab

Riparian lands in the Western U.S. have been severely impacted by many human-related actions, but none so much as the introduction of tamarisk, an invasive and non-native plant. Tamarisk plants hoard light, water and nutrients, and can impact natural systems and destroy native wildlife habitat. The Colorado River Corridor is an ecosystem that has been out of balance for several decades, and now the tamarisk has spread to such an extent that it has effectively altered the natural functions and processes of the ecosystem. The issue is widespread and complex, and there are no easy answers or solutions. 

For more on the Tamarisk check out:
The Battle Over the Tamarisk Tree: Ecologists seek balance as one non-native species eradicates another.
Photos: Colorado River battle against a serious enemy -- invasive tamarisk
NPS Grand Canyon Exotic Tamarisk Management
 

For the second part of class you'll look at the source of the Colorado River, the snowpack in the Rockies. Nearly all the water flowing in the Colorado River originates in the headwater states, most of all Colorado, and mostly as snow. In 2020, the snowpack in the upper basin was 114% of average. That snowpack yielded only 55% of average runoff. This is partially due to the fact that less snow has been making it to spring (because it melts during the winter months) and that means less water flowing in rivers come summer. Melting before April 1 has increased at almost half of the stations by an average 3.5% per decade. This so-called winter melting has been most prominent in November and March, although it has occurred in all months. So what does this mean? The mountains have often been described as the water tower of the West, akin to the tanks that stand over many small communities. The snow melts rapidly during spring, of course, but then slowly melts well into summer. Now, there’s less snow to melt. The tank on the hill has less water...the early melt means less storage over the entire year which means less water in the system for runoff (there's a sciency article titled Winter melt trends portend widespread declines in snow water resources that explains this in sciency detail).

 Benton will have a graph for you to work on and take a look at the following:

The progression of snow water equivalent, an indicator of snowpack, in 2021 in the Colorado River Basin compared to other years. (Natural Resources Conservation Service)

Colorado River Basin’s snowpack season earns low grades: Bad news for water in the West

Colorado’s Snowpack Was Almost Normal This Winter, But It May Not Be Enough Water For The Year

Melting Snow Usually Means Water For The West. But This Year, It Might Not Be Enough

Snow drought is worsening the American West’s water woes

Snow drought impacts have intensified as snow melted weeks early this spring.

Colorado Snowpack National Weather Service