Keeping Your Advantage: Terrain and You [Weds, 3rd Period]

[atreideslioness]

Class met in the Danger Shop today, and when students arrived, they'd find themselves in a landscape that looked like something from a science fiction film. "Good morning, class," Ghanima said. "And welcome to Mount St. Helens."

"Mount St. Helens is is an active stratovolcano, most famous for its catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 am PDT which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States," she stated. "Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. A massive debris avalanche caused an eruption, reducing the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 ft to 8,365 ft and replacing it with a 1 mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater."

"This little planet may look like a single solid mass, but it’s really made up of several massive plates of earth and rock. These crustal plates are constantly moving and colliding with one another, creating earthquakes and the pressure zones that lead to volcanic eruptions. Underneath those sliding and colliding plates is hot, melted rock known as magma; it sometimes collects in areas of high pressure called, naturally enough, magma chambers. When this pressure builds up and becomes too great, the magma sometimes explodes upward in a great cataclysmic event. This is a volcano."

"Unfortunately, there is not much an individual can do to prepare for a volcanic eruption, but it is always good to have a good knowledge of this phenomenon. Be aware of the hazards that can come with an eruption: the flying debris, hot gases, lava flows, potential for explosion, mudslides, avalanches, and geothermal areas. Prepare provisions, water, food, blankets, and medical supplies if you live around a volcano before anything happens. Also be ready to get up and outrun flowing lava . . . and yes, I'm quite serious. Above all, use caution when near an active volcanoes. Do not venture toward any activity, and consult local experts on the area. Follow all recommendations, regulations, or requests of officials."

"If you do become trapped near an active volcano, there are things you can watch out for. Stay away from lava flows. Not all of them will be red-hot and obvious; some move very slowly and appear as dark and solid, but are liquid beneath the surface. Also, do not try to cross an active flow; you might get trapped by multiple lava streams. Keep an eye on the Colcanic domes - Volcanic domes and plugs in craters may seem harmless, but they can explode without warning. Footing and glassy rocks can also be very dangerous. Some cooled lava of this sort can resemble jagged pieces of glass. Wear good, solid hiking boots on the mountain - never go barefoot. Be sure of your step."

"Be careful when crossing lahar - debris - flows, for they can gush in large and small floods. And above all, avoid areas where volcanic gas is released. Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide can kill quickly and silently. You may not be able to hold your breath long enough. If you see a location around an active volcano with dead vegetation, carcasses, or bones, do not enter it."

"How can you prepare? If you live in an active volcanic zone, always assume that you may have to deal with the effects of an eruption. If you are in an area that could experience a lava flow during a volcanic eruption, know a quick route to safe ground. Once the eruption begins, if you're in a safe place, save water in your bath, basin, containers or cylinders at an early stage - supplies may become polluted. Stay indoors with as much as possible and wear mask and goggles if you go outside, to keep volcanic ash out of your eyes and lungs, and keep below ridge lines in hilly terrain - the hills will offer some protection from flying volcanic debris."

Today you have two options. You may explore the crater here for Mount St. Helens and ponder the destructive forces that destroyed half a mountain, or you can create your own miniature volcano to study the unpredictability of these geological giants."

Comments

Activitiy: Explore

[atreideslioness]

Wander around a virtual recreation of modern Mount St. Helens. Ghani is slightly sad that the school board wouldn't let her take all of you to the real thing for your first field trip.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Elsa could build a tiny volcano any time if she wanted to - the ingredients were easy enough to come across, after all. What she couldn't do whenever she felt like it was explore an active volcano. And so of course she was going to go this particular route, careful to not get too close to anything she couldn't easily get away from. Yes, it was still just a simulation, but that was no excuse for taking silly risks.

She was going to have to invest in a pair of proper hiking boots, she supposed. Even if she only ever used them for this class, as her usual shoes really wouldn't do.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

Jalian nodded at Elsa. "Do those clothes provide a benefit when working with different terrains?" she asked. They looked impractical to her, but you never knew.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Not even remotely," Elsa admitted, offering Jalian a wry smile. "Honestly, I wouldn't know where to start, looking for clothing that might. Navigating varied terrain wasn't exactly a concern for me, growing up."

At all. Even remotely. Unless not slipping on ice counted.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

"Did you live in a city?" Because that would be fascinating!

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"I lived in a castle," Elsa clarified. "There was a town around it, with a port and plenty of people besides, but I never really had a chance to get out and really see it."

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

"A castle - that's a large building, like the school?" Jalian asked. She had thought she'd picked up that term, but she'd never heard of anybody living only in one building before!

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"It's incredible, this high up, isn't it?" Eleanor asked with a smile.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Breathtaking," Elsa agreed. "I'm used to spectacular views, but I've never been so close to something with so much capacity for destruction, before."

... Herself excluded, though she was hardly aware of just how much damage she could do.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Really, half the school was probably capable of this level of destruction. They ought to form a club.

"There were geothermal vents down in Rapture," Eleanor said. "Harnessing this sort of power for energy. Not nearly as pretty to look at."

(fleeing for work and SP-ness!)

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"And Arendelle has mountains," Elsa replied. "I could see them from my bedroom window. But none of them had a tendency of exploding from time to time. At least, not that I was aware of."

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[gavegoodface]

After reading the instructions and discovering that the didn't use any kind of actual explosives, Face took the exploring the volcano option.

You know, for science.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four was Dauntless, and therefore under a practically moral obligation to explore something that looked ready to blow up in his face at any moment.

He didn't look particularly happy about doing so, but he explored.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

Jalian looked at Four's face and laughed. "Grumpy, is that one of your factions?" she teased.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four smiled. "Suprisingly, no, though Erudite comes closest in general."

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

"Why are they grumpy?" Jalian asked. "Why are you? It's a pleasant enough day, even if it isn't real."

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four gestured around them. "I'm not exactly used to the gases and potential of my boots melting."

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[not_every_mage]

Anders picked his way about the recreation, pausing now and then to prod at bits of cooled lava or other debris. It was magnificent to be this close to something this powerful and destructive.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Eleanor said, taking another deep breath of the air. It felt amazing in her lungs. "Are you collecting souvenirs?"

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[not_every_mage]

Anders sat back on his heels, startled. He'd been so absorbed in his explorations he hadn't heard Eleanor come up.

"I didn't know if they would last," he said, with a quick smile. "If they will, I should. You can always use a chunk of lava."

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"Keep it to stare at," Eleanor suggested. "Here is fire, slowed down to a rock. There's power there."

It seemed as though solid fire ought to be magical, somehow. Mother would roll her eyes at such an unscientific phrasing.

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[not_every_mage]

"Fire in the form of a rock," Anders said, picking up a rock to gaze at it. "I like that. There's poetry there."

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[notconflicted]

Sia would always choose to explore, albeit carefully. There was a family history with lava, all right?

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

Making a toy of this thing seemed rather less interesting than exploring the real thing, so Jalian was going to walk about and see what she could discover.

"How large is the active volcano zone?" she asked. "How do you know if you're in one, unless you're told?"

Re: Activitiy: Explore

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor took a deep breath -- not out of trepidation, but because the air smelled so much sweeter up here. She'd never tire of the outdoors, of high altitudes, of not having stale air piped in.

And then, to explore.