Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Fiji has many beautiful waterfalls where knickpoints are present. Knickpoints are the areas that more restant rock holds up and makes a wall where the nonresistant rock usually break away. When the nonresistant rock is broken away faster, it is usually from uppercutting from the water, making the rock fall.






















(Water fall in Navua, Fiji where you can see the knickpoints and places where the resistant rock is soon going to breakaway from the nonresistant rock that has been warn away underneath it from water.)


As water tables dissolve limestone, caverns are created and the base level drops. Most caverns are formed by dissolution of the limestone in bedrock. Caverns are in karst or rocky regions and do not always contain entrances.




(Cavern in Suva, Fiji formed by dissolution taking away the limestone.)


Rivers are fluvial processes that cause erosion or deposition on the river beds. Rivers that look muddy are suspended loads which include sediment that is carried in the body of the flow. Since there are pieces of sediment in the water, it is not as clear as dissolved loads.





(Muddy suspended load river going from Nadi to Suva, Fiji)


Fiji has many littoral zones which is from the high water mark to the shore, which is subbmerged in water. In a few areas you can also see tombolos which are depositional landforms that extend from the shore out into the water.





(On this Fiji littoral zone you can see a tombolo which just looks like an extended beach out into the water.)




http://www.riversfiji.com/
http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/119/3-4/476.abstract
http://www.bride.ca/wedding-ideas/index.cfm/2009/7/22/Winter-Honeymoon-Destinations-Fiji
http://www.wiesiu.com/fiji_photos_gene.htm
http://www.fiji.beach-pacific.com/pictures.html

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Fiji weather

Fiji has a warm tropical marine climate. The temperature does not vary much year round, staying pretty warm. ated to the right of Australia and is in the Tropic of Capricorn which makes the temperatures and humidity higher year round. The diurnal temperature tends to stay about the same all year because of this location.)

The wet seasons in Fiji tends to be December through April while the drier season is May through November. (When Fiji changes fromt he wet to dry season, the temperature stays about the same, only dropping at night.)



Being reasonably close to the equator, Fiji usually has maritime equatorial (hot and humid) and maritime tropical (warm and moist) air masses. (The location of Fiji allows some of the islands to be in the mE air masses and other islands are closer to the mT air masses.)


Early mornings in Fiji have some cumulonimbus clouds forming lower and altostratus clouds up a little higher. The cumulonimbus clouds could indicate that there is a little bit of cold air coming into the warm air.
(This picture shows how the clouds that form in the early mornings in Viti Levu, Fiji. There are only two levels of clouds in this picture. Although the altostratus clouds are higher than the cumulonimbus, they are both reasonably low)

Cyclones form when winds from a low pressure system starts to gather clouds and the warm water temperatures and evaporates to form even more clouds. It then pulls the clouds in and rotates them. The Coriolis Effect also helps the cyclones start even though it is weaker near the equator.
(This picture shows a cyclone that is starting to form over Fiji. You can see where the low pressure system is starting to spin the clouds where a cyclone is likely to form.)

The trade winds in Fiji mostly come from the south east. The winds are only moderate winds and seem to pick up in intensity in May to November. The days are hot and the nights tend to be cooled by the winds. (This picture shows the wind speeds blowing west to east against the trade winds and bringing unusual weather to Fiji. Mostly more wind than usual.)


Sources











Thursday, March 3, 2011

Blog 2

Fiji’s warm tropical climate causes weathering and some natural disasters to occur quite often. Basal salt weathering is what causes formations such as the one above, which are considered mushroom rocks. People believe that wind and sand usually cause rocks like this, but it is actually from salt breaking off little pieces off the bottom of rocks. (Weathering caused these rock formations at Lavena Walk in Taveuni, Fiji Islands. Most people believe that wind and sand usually cause rocks like this, but it is actually from salt breaking off little pieces off the bottom of rocks.)
 
 
Debris flows are caused from intensive rain that floods the cities. The flows consist of mud, boulder, and big rocks, which damage all of the homes and the drinking water. These can also be very dangerous for the people who live there. Many have died from these floods. These floods can also be caused from cyclones that happen around the Islands that they occur on.(This picture is a flood in Nadi, Fiji from 4 days of rain. By the way people describe them, they seem to usually be debris flows like the one above.)
 
Rock falls can happen when the land that the rock is on it too weak and there is detachment. When these happen, the people around are in great danger and roads, houses, and other important things can be destroyed. (This rock fall in Viti Levu, Fiji shut down the highway because of its intensity and size)
The soil in Fiji is consider to be an oxisol which is also laterization. It is common in tropical regions where the temperatures are high and so is the precipitation. This soil is good for the people because it is good for agriculture and can be used as bricks and stuff to build houses. (This picure of the soil in Suva, Fiji shows the red dirt which is good for farming from the organic parent material. )
Sources
Salt Weathering Picture

Monday, February 14, 2011

Not only is does Fiji have beautiful resorts and beaches, which attract tourists, but it is also covered in mountainous terrain. Most of them are previous volcanoes. One of the youngest volcanoes today is the Nabukelevu volcano which is also known as Mt. Washington in West Kadavu. Nabukelevu is an andesite composite volcano and has tall steep sides and is on a presently inactive subduction zone.
(Nabukelevu Volcano)
There is on shore evidence of tephra falls and pyroclastic flows on the Nabukelevu volcano, which have built up the slopes. Although pyroclastic flows are not huge explosions, they are still extremely hot and dangerous. Not only does this fall into the waters of Kadavu, but the people are also in danger if they are around this because it moves fast and is super hot.

(thermal image of pyroclastic flows on the Nabukelevu volcano)


The Fiji plate is located in the middle of the Australian, Pacific, and Fiji plate boundaries. The subduction zones are facing opposing ways and causing stress. This creates transform faults like the Fiji Fracture zone. Also earthquakes are created here from the stress. There has been reported debris avalanches and tsunamis from these fault movements.

(the plates aroung Fiji)

The sea floor around Fiji is spreading quickly in the North Fiji Basin. When the spreading happened a graben was formed as two sides went up and the middle sunk. Since Fiji is full of volcanoes and mountains, it makes it harder to live in certain spots but there are still beautiful rural areas, most of which are close to water.

(Houses on the Coral Coast)





FIJI MOUNTAINS
http://www.weekendsfortwo.com.au/WeekendsEd42/Fiji.html
NABUKELEVU VOLCANO PICTURE
http://www.goexplorenow.com/explore-now-websites/nabukelevu-volcano-mt-washington-fiji/
INFO
http://www.goexplorenow.com/explore-now-websites/nabukelevu-volcano-mt-washington-fiji/
PYROCLASTIC FLOW TERMAL IMAGE
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/2796341475_d3a0a96c4b_o.jpg&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/mvo/2796341475/&usg=__jBeHcSNuqEqqcNOH4Vhdes41UlI=&h=536&w=800&sz=334&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=5XeoTHba3HLmkM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=198&ei=4exSTenQPMSblgfRlpiGCQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3DThermal%2Bpyroclastic%2Bflow%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1433%26bih%3D697%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=464&vpy=82&dur=905&hovh=184&hovw=274&tx=132&ty=80&oei=4exSTenQPMSblgfRlpiGCQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0 PLATE TECTONICS
http://whatonearth.olehnielsen.dk/plates/fiji.asp
HOUSE PICTURE
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Pandabonium/bonium/vatua_loa.jpg&imgrefurl=http://pacific-islander.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html&usg=__AidSkKyF_lxhFQBjpXjP_4STqsc=&h=250&w=350&sz=31&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=bLvh4omD6B3txM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=175&ei=ur9ZTdTaJ8OB8gaJvLiWBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfiji%2Bhouses%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1479%26bih%3D697%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=234&oei=ur9ZTdTaJ8OB8gaJvLiWBw&page=1&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:0&tx=111&ty=78

Friday, January 21, 2011

Fiji Islands



My name is Christina Reed and I am a freshman who is really interested in traveling and the outdoors.

(a picture of Beachcomber Island in Fiji)




The Fiji Islands are a group of more than 330 islands between Hawaii and New Zealand. I chose this location because I have always wanted to visit Fiji due to the warm climate, beaches, and mountains which were formally volcanic, and know more about the processes that caused these forms. I also want to learn just general information about Fiji because I do not know much about it, but would really like to. I am looking forward to this project so that one day I can visit Fiji and actually be able to know all about the beautiful forms that are there and have a greater understanding about how places like this came to be.




(A pictures of Navalla Village in Viti Levu)