Introduction to the Research Problem

Earthquakes

One of the most frightening and destructive phenomena of nature is a severe earthquake and its after-effects. An earthquake is a sudden movement of the earth, caused by the abrupt release of strain that has accumulated over a long time. For hundreds of millions of years, the forces of plate tectonics have shaped the earth as the huge plates that form the earth's surface slowly move over, under, and past each other. Sometimes the movement is gradual. At other times, the plates are locked together, unable to release the accumulating energy. When the accumulated energy grows strong enough, the plates move in a sudden motion. This motion causes compression and lateral waves that move through rock. If the earthquake occurs in a densely-populated area, it may cause many deaths, injuries, and extensive property damage.

Today we are challenging the assumption that earthquakes must present an uncontrollable and unpredictable hazard to life and property. Scientists have begun to estimate the locations and likelihoods of future damaging earthquakes. Sites of greatest hazard are being identified, and definite progress is being made in designing structures that will withstand the effects of earthquakes.

How many earthquakes do you think are recorded each day in the world? Visit the USGS earthquake center to find out!

Geographic Information Systems

A Geographic Information System is a set of hardware, software, data, and a "thinking explorer" to analyze data about the real world and make decisions about it.

Imagine that you are...

• The regional manager for Arby's restaurants. You have to decide where to locate a new restaurant. How do you decide? You need to know where your competitors are, where the land is zoned for commercial establishments, where the vacant land and available land is, where the busiest streets are, where the population likely to patronize your restaurant live... all these requirements have a geographic component. They each can be map layers that you will use to make your decision.

• A state natural resources planner. You have to decide why a certain type of animal is disappearing from a region in your state. How do you decide? You need to know the current habitat of the animal, and then assess the environmental and human factors that determine this habitat range. These might require you to generate digital layers of information about climate, soil, water availability, vegetation, the habitat of predators to your animal, and human settlement (roads, houses, powerlines). These will be layers that you will use for you to determine the habitat and how to best preserve that habitat.

• A map user. You want to be able to zoom in and zoom out on your maps, change the fonts on the text, and change the colors and symbols on the rivers, roads, and other features. On a paper map, these items have been predetermined for you by the cartographer who made the map. When you have the map layers in a GIS, you can change all of this information to make it more useful to you. You can also add your own information. Let's say you want soils, wildlife habitat, or hazards information. You can add this information on top of the other layers and produce your own map for you or others to make decisions from.

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