Evaluating the risks of Mountain Rainier
Mount Rainier is an active stratum and composite volcano. It is located in a zone of subduction where colliding oceanic and continental plates cause geothermal and seismic activities regularly (Wood & Soulard, 2009).This study will be an evaluation in collaboration with the National Park Service. It will be aimed at investigating the various risks that could be caused by the volcano of Mountain.
How I would go about my study
My study of the mountain would involve many personnel. Group work will be the most successful way of conduction the study. The team will work together to obtain information from the mountain and to look at already done research about the mountain. Some of the members of the study team will carry out interviews with the people who live around the slopes of the mountain.
The kinds of data I would collect
My data will include pictures and drawings of the glaciers found at the top of the mountain. The people living around the mountain will also be interviewed as part of the study data. Communities will be interviewed on the frequencies of lahars and earthquakes experienced around the region (Wood & Soulard, 2009). In addition, data collection would also include relying on information from previous studies, especially such as U.S geological surveys.
Creation of hazard mitigation plan for potentially affected communities
The data obtained will be used as follows to create a hazard mitigation plan for likely to be affected communities as follows: The pictures and drawings of the mountain would show regions mostly eroded by glaciers and the slope. The communities would be moved away from such regions as they posed greatest risk and settled in places less affected by the glaciers and less steep areas. The geological survey information would be useful in revealing the regions with old lahars (Chester et.al, 2000). Moreover, it would provide information on the People would be advised to settle away from such areas. The interviews would help know areas already experiencing dangerous earthquakes resulting due to magma flow below the mountain.
Figure 1- Volcanic activity at the Mountain https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=x-raw-image.
Figure 2 -Mount Rainier and surrounding areas https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fgeology.com%2Fusgs%2Frainier%2Frainier-lahar-flow-map-
References
Chester, D. K., Degg, M., Duncan, A. M., & Guest, J. E. (2000). The increasing exposure of cities to the effects of volcanic eruptions: a global survey. Global Environmental Change Part B: Environmental Hazards, 2(3), 89-103.
Wood, N., & Soulard, C. (2009). Variations in population exposure and sensitivity to lahar hazards from Mount Rainier, Washington. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 188(4), 367-378.