San Francisco

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Transamerica_Pyramid_from_Columbus_St._1.JPG

My adventure starts out in San Francisco at latitude: 37.795379° longitude: -122.402786°

I've just started out my job at the Transamerican pyramid in San Francisco as an accountant for a travel company . The view from this place is awesome!

http://blogging.la/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/OnDeck-400x600.jpg

While I'm still in San Francisco, I can study the fault line that is very close to San Francisco, the San Andreas fault line!

The San Andreas fault is fault that runs for 810 miles through California. It is a transform fault. This means that two plate tectonics are rubbing against each other.

First of all, what the heck are plate tectonics? Plate tectonics are humungous plates of rock that move under the surface of the earth. They interact with each other and do different things. Some push the land mass that is on top of them into other plate tectonics, which pushes the land up to form mountain, and some push themselves under other plates, some pull apart, and some rub against each other.

http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/images/tectonics-collide.jpg

The San Andreas faultline is a continental transform fault line, the two tectonic plates are rubbing against each other, and this causes many earthquakes to happen.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Sanandreas.jpg/220px-Sanandreas.jpg

One of the worst natural disasters in US history is caused by this fault line the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. 80% of San Francisco was destroyed, and about 3245 died from fires from the earthquake. Now San Francisco have very strict earthquake resistance building codes to avoid further casualties.

Tokyo

Wow! Devron has just sent me on a business trip to Tokyo! This is awesome, although I don't know Japanese. Luckily, they didn't stick me in one of the "modern" hotels like this:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXt4XgiHQYYx-Bn9grk8X24FDKnM7diCNTnbrR57MQIknmuK10gsn6EPQzmsXrNa6i-VZ-4BJvDcdPMpU5oSpKBJQ_HX1rkvGrL_0jTYJcuvbFmNbPkyUfHqrChRdGS8MyT11NbKNXq2dK/s1600/capsakihabara-hotel1.jpg

My actual hotel looks like this:

http://myi2.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/hotel-room-2.jpeg

I now need to visit every suggested tour site for our guest. What tiring work! ;)

Anyways,  there is a subduction zone very near Tokyo. This means that the tectonic plate which makes up the ocean is pushing against the tectonic plate Japans is on, and because Japan's plate is lighter or less dense, it floats higher in the water that that of the oceanic plate ,and therefore it slides under Japan's plate. The area where the oceanic plate starts disappearing under the continental plate is called the trench.

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/images/convection.gif

Everest

My next stop in my journey is Mount Everest!

http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/climbing-mount-everest-5.jpg

This is the highest peak in the world at 27°59′17″N 86°55′31″E. 
Of course I'm not actually going to climb it, imagine the liability our company would need
to have, and the risk of injury on a trip like that! I was able to see the camp at the base of 
the mountain.


 

http://www.mount-everest.net/images/2-everest-base-camp.jpg

Anyways, back to plate tectonics. Mount Everest and all the Himalayas are the result of 
collision boundaries. Collision boundaries are places where two tectonic plates collide, and
both push upwards, creating mountains.A long time ago, Asia collided with India to create 
the Himalayas. This is and illustration of a collision boundary.

http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/images/tectonics-collide.jpg

There was a catastrophic earthquake 10km from Mount Everest in 1934. It was the worst in 
India's history (although Mt Everest is in Nepal). Some say around 30,000 people died.

Tonga

My company has now sent me to Sheraton resort in Tonga! I'll finally have some time for peace and relaxation.The sun shines almost everyday here, and the water is so warm.

http://www.cntraveler.com/cn_image_5.size.sheraton-Tonga-resort-nadi-nadi-tonga-110130-6.jpg

Its fun to swim around in the sea near the hotel, I see the most amazing flora and fauna! I went scuba diving for the first time there, and boy does it feel wonderful. It's just as if you were flying over an alien world! You can easily see the hierarchy of the fish in this ocean. The ones that hide in the rocks whenever they see something move, and the ones that don't care and just swim around, like the fish below.  (It's very poisonous!)

http://www.divetrip.com/photos/tonga_lion.jpg

Tonga is located at 18°10′S 178°27′E .

Divergent boundaries surround the island. This makes it very prone to earthquakes. Anyways, 
divergent boundaries are places where two tectonic plates are moving apart. This causes magma
from the Earth's core to come up and fill up the gap that is being made, creating new rock, this is
called ridge push. Over time, the plates push farther apart, and the gap is reopened. Imagine it as
if you get hurt and you get a wound on your arm. Blood would leak out of it, and over time, it would
harden. The same concept applies to divergent boundaries, except that the would keeps on opening,
magma spills out and keeps hardening. This process repeats forever.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUiFrnC6oMJSav9_6Qy55Dt2CDyIFcWoWJAFWhdWuxn8OZe-cherpDPhN3n6ehLppLGr2DCLyWycEHCdhbjW47hPJ94sqoDOpIatERQHHAkeqeFXfXAN_1yhqrt805041x2dIgi4JD57t/s1600/ridge.jpg

Recently, there was a chain of underwater volcanic eruptions. It didn't hurt anyone, but it did show an impressive display of ash!

Seattle

My last and final stop is Seattle in the State of Washington. This place is amazing, (although it does rain a lot) I love the buildings they have there! I've just finished watching a performance at the Benoraya hall in downtown Seattle, and the Seattle Symphony was great!

http://www.flyinghouse.org/store/venues/benaroya-interior.jpg

This city is located near a subduction zone, which means that the tectonic plate is sliding under the one Seattle is on. There has been a recent earthquake, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake happened at Seattle on February 28, 2001 there was lots of property damages and injuries, but apparently no deaths were caused by the earthquake.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9b/Hwy302_after_the_Nisqually_earthquake.jpg
 

There are a couple potentially active volcanoes in Washington state, but the most recent Volcanic activity was at Mount St. Helens. There was lots of property damage, and it completely changed the scenery near the mountain.

Oh well, it's been a great adventure traveling around the world with you guys! I hope you liked all my locations, and be sure to ring me up at the Transamerican pyramid so I can schedule you a trip with the Devron travel company!

Bye,
Max