This is a country profile of Tanzania looking at its area, population, government, trade, history, colonialism & independence, political structure, military & economic alliances, health & education.
2,925 words (approx. 11.7 pages), 7 sources, 1986, $ 127.95
From the Paper "A. United Republic of Tanzania (Tanzania).
B. Area: 931,082 square kilometers (363,708 square miles), with
boundaries of Mozambique to the southeast, Zambia and Malawi to the southwest, Zaire to the west, Burundi and Rwanda and Uganda to the northwest, Kenya to the north and the Indian Ocean on the east.
Population: A total of more than 18 million people, coming from a total of roughly 120 diverse tribal backgrounds, including more than 120,000 Asians, 100,000 Arabs and more than 25,000 whites. There are four principal areas within the country: the hot and humid coastal lowlands, the hot and arid zone of the broad central plateau, the high inland mountain and lake region including Mount Kilimanjaro, and the temperate highlands of the(...)"
From the Paper " The evidence of numerous ancient cultures suggests that gold played an important role in determining the course of history. Part of the reason why gold is so influential lies in its unique nature. Because of its purity, rarity and resistance to corrosion, it was commonly thought to be the ultimate metal and as a consequence became associated with eternity, divinity, royalty and wealth. Different civilizations used gold in a variety of ways to enhance their own existence. With gold, they adorned temples, built idols of their gods and monuments to their rulers and made jewelry and other decorative pieces for themselves. Throughout antiquity, it was the metal of choice for use by the rich, the powerful and the religious."
From the Paper "As the earth cooled from its molten beginnings, water seeped out of it and collected in the rough rock basins on its surface. The result vas the earth's ocean which has existed ever since as an integral part of life. No other planet in the solar system has such a body of water. The purpose of this paper will be to discuss the ocean as a key resource to human existence. Included in this will be a review of the various elements involved such as food, energy, oxygen and mineral wealth. In addition, the research will address the question of the ocean's survivability into the future as a result of human disregard for their environment.
While the earth is around 4.6 billion years old, the ocean has existed for about 2.5 billion years. Its total volume, which has maintained a steady state since its formation, ... "
From the Paper "The idea that the unique scourings of the earth along with the strange positionings of rocks found in Switzerland were a result of the Biblical Flood had long prevailed in science. It took a persuasive individual, highly respected in his profession, to finally turn that belief around, to realize that the real explanation was glaciation. The purpose of this paper will be to discuss the theory of glaciation in light of the contributions provided to the science by Louis Agassiz. The research will include a brief biography of the man as well as the impact he had on the concept of glaciation.
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was born in 1807 in Switzerland among the spectacular mountains that were to play a significant role in his life. Originally planning to become a physician, Agassiz' love of nature eventually redirected his training. By..."
From the Paper "Lepidolite
Abstract
The mineral lepidolite has many uses, both aesthetic and economic, in society today. Those uses are described within, along with the chemical content of the mineral, its many properties, its description in general, and the locations where it is to be found.
INTRODUCTION
This paper is a discussion of the mineral lepidolite. Different aspects of the mineral lepidolite will be discussed here concerning the mineral's symmetry, physical description and distinguishing features, the manner in which the mineral forms and the rocks in which it is found, and important sites in which lepidolite is found. Also to be discussed are lepidolite's..."
From the Paper "In the fall of 1987, a fairly large earthquake struck the Whittier Narrows fault in Southern California. The damage from that quake showed that the California State University at Los Angeles is located near the Whittier Narrows fault line (Kimball, 1988, p. 54). During that earthquake, a facade fell from a campus parking structure and crushed a young female student to death. In addition, severe structural damage was sustained in the university's library building. If another large earthquake were to hit the Whittier Narrows fault or any of the other surrounding faults, further damage and injury to human life could result. It is important that the staff and students at CSULA be prepared to deal with this type of emergency. One of the reasons for this importance is the fact that the university is a vital social and economic institution within the Los Angeles community."
From the Paper "Destruction Caused by Miners in the 1800s
To say that the gold miners in California of the 1800s had a devastating impact on the land is a great understatement. As Robert Kelly says in his book, Gold vs Grain, "They tore up the underbrush, stripped off overburden, and even uprooted soaring pines in their search for gold.". The miners pitched camp anywhere and everywhere, never mindful of the precious and fragile environment which they encountered. All forms of their mining contributed to the destruction of woodland, including sluices, booming, placer mining, dredging, drift mining, mercury and chloride processing, and hydraulic mining. Even their sheep took a toll on the vegetation of California.
Droughts and floods increased because of miners' damage to the land. Miners would callously divert streams for their use ..."
From the Paper "Cirques
Glaciers are formed in areas where the annual accumulation of snow exceeds the amount melting or evaporating each year (4:80). This snow, under the pressure of its own weight, eventually turns to ice (4:80). When the ice becomes sufficiently thick, it begins to flow under the influence of gravity (4:80). Of the various types of glaciers, those found in mountainous areas show considerable variation in size (4:80.82). One of the smaller glacier types commonly found at higher elevations is known as a cirque glacier (4:79).
Cirque glaciers are characterized by the rocky hollows, or cirques, that contain them (4:80). The glacial ice tends to erode backwards and downwards forming a depression that accumulates snow (4:80). The formation of these glaciers is..."
Many terms have been used to describe playas. In general, a playa is a closed body of water which occurs in a desert environment Playa salinity ranges from high to solute saturated--some lakes being completely ephemeral. In all playas evaporation will usually exceed input. These lakes are distinguished according to the presence or absence of groundwater influx. Dry playas are periodically flooded by surface waters and tend to be floored by silt and clay. When groundwater lies between 1 and 3 meters from the playa crust, capillary movement may form a puffy surface. When groundwater discharges into a basin it creates a moist playa. Moist playas are characterized by salt crystallization that tends to be deposited in outer carbonate zones, middle sulphate zones, and inner chloride zones. Present..."
The plate tectonic theory is now widely accepted as a unifying basis for the physical geology of the earth as a whole. Not only does it explain most of the tectonic phenomena on Earth, but a number of key points have been well substantiated by paleomagnetic and seismologic studies (4). Venus, Earth's nearest neighbor, and similar in size, density, and age (8) might be expected to have similar tectonic activity. Indeed Soviet and U.S. explorations of Venus during the 60's and 70's revealed several features that could be interpreted as past or ongoing tectonism (Fig. 1). These included large calderas and arachnoids suggesting volcanism, dome uplifts, low ridge belts on planes, high mountain belts, heavily deformed areas called tesserae, and the circular coronae unique to Venus (9). Now that the..."
From the Paper "Mass Wasting in Southern California
More mass movement occurs in southern California than in any other region of the United States. Multiple factors contribute to this slope instability. Some of these include the area's steep hillsides, weak bedrock materials, adverse geologic structures, and heavy episodic precipitation. Recent landslides in Pacific Palisades, Palos Verdes, San Clemente, and Anaheim Hills have caused millions of dollars in damage. Moreover, as development continues to expand, southern California's landslide problem is only expected to worsen.
Mass earth movements are highly variable. Typically, they occur within the following spectrum: e.g., from movements which are dependent upon some fluid, to those which are not. In subaerial environments, this spectrum comprises falls, slides..."
This paper discusses primarily California earthquakes: Major faults, research, geology, potential for disaster, safety measures and Midwest quake dangers.
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 4 sources, 1994, $ 55.95
From the Paper "For decades, Californians have lived with the knowledge that the San Andreas Fault could produce a magnitude eight earthquake. However, California's most recent earthquake, in early 1994, measuring 6.6 on the moment-magnitude scale--a measure of earthquake energy that has largely replaced the Richter scale--did not come from the San Andreas Fault. It was caused by a smaller fault in the San Fernando Valley that lay hidden deep underground, some nine miles down. While this was not considered the Big One, it still caused widespread damage: collapsed buildings and freeway bridges, fires, deaths and injuries, utility outages, and damage to property.
Soon after the first tremor, seismologists began trying to map out the newly revealed fault to determine how it is connected to other fissures in the region. To complete this task, the ... "
From the Paper "In the United States, extensive barrier.beach systems occur along major portions of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. These fragile coast lines are in a continual state of flux. Beach erosion and accretion can result from both natural and man.made causes. Sea level change, storms, and development may all significantly impact these environments. On Long Island, New York, beach stabilization has repeatedly been attempted. Such efforts typically meet with varied success. In fact, many believe that the island's past stabilization projects have actually contributed to its current erosion problems. Geologically, Long Island consists of moraine sediments deposited by glacial drift. This mixture of crystalline gravel and boulders was scraped up in New England, carried several ... "
From the Paper "During the past century, considerable advances have been made in the field of geology. The discovery of plate tectonics has provided researchers with a unifying theory that explains many fundamental earth processes. Of the various hypotheses that led to plate tectonic theory, the most important was proposed by Alfred Wegener. Wegener's ideas on continental drift were supported by much evidence. However, perhaps because of its overwhelming implications, the theory was met with considerable resistance. Only in recent decades has scientific investigation collected sufficient evidence to definitively establish the validity of the continental drift hypothesis.
The theory of plate tectonics describes a lithosphere consisting of approximately the Earth's outer 100 kilometers.... "
For most Americans, January 17, 1994 was a holiday. The date marked the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. Government offices were closed and observance ceremonies were attended. For the residents of Los Angeles, however, January 17 was be spent quite differently. On that particular Monday morning, the city awoke to natural disaster. The temblor struck at 4:31 a.m. local time. It had been roughly six decades since a major earthquake had occurred directly under an urban area in the United States. The event resulted in the loss of life, thousands of injuries, and enormous damage. Indeed, the Northridge earthquake eventually proved to be the costliest natural disaster in the nation's history.
California earthquakes are tectonic in nature. They result ..."
