Spain’s Natural Resources and Hazards: An Overview
Spain’s Natural Resources and Hazards
1. Natural Environment as a Resource
1.1 Resources and Visibility
- Visibility of the Spanish mainland and resources related to human activities.
- Influences settlements.
- Important in farming.
- Provides mineral and energy resources.
- Subsequent communications.
- The terrain’s peculiarities can be a tourist attraction.
- The coastal relief is unfavorable for port installation due to the predominance of rectilinear forms, and fishery resources are affected by the narrow continental
Understanding Landslide Types, Factors, and Prevention
Landslides are movements of materials down a slope. They occur on hillsides and slopes due to the force of gravity. The main types of movements are landslides, flows, and avalanches.
Controlling Factors of Landslides
The factors can be internal and external:
- Internal Factors:
- Intrinsic:
- Lithological: Rock type, degree of consolidation, thickness of mulch and soil.
- Structural: Failures, diaclases, bedding planes.
- Extrinsic:
- Environment: Climatic, freeze-thaw cycle, changes in vegetation type, water table
- Intrinsic:
Understanding Divergent, Convergent, and Transform Edges
Divergent Edges: Most of the diverging edges that produce the expansion of the plates are located along the crests of oceanic ridges. The plates move away from the ridge axis, and fractures once created are filled with molten rock rising from the hot asthenosphere beneath. The expansion of the plates and the ascent of magma add a new oceanic crust (lithosphere) between diverging plates. The extension of the crust is accompanied by alternating episodes of failure and volcanic formation. Adjacent
Read MoreCelestial Hierarchy: From Atoms to Galaxy Clusters
Due to the expansion of the universe, its temperature was 3000 K (Weinberg, 1977).
Evolution of Stellar Clusters and Galaxies
Matter in the universe is organized in a hierarchy of celestial bodies, listed below in descending order of size:
- Clusters of galaxies
- Galaxies
- Stars, pulsars, and black holes
- Planets and satellites
- Comets
- Asteroids
- Meteoroids
- Dust
- Molecules
- H and He atoms
On the subatomic scale, the space between stars and galaxies is filled with cosmic rays (nuclear particles) and photons (light).
Stars
Read MoreClimate Types, Ecosystems, and Adaptations
Climate Types and Characteristics
I Equatorial climate: constant daily oscillation. II Tropical with summer rains. III Subtropical arid, hot deserts. IV Mediterranean with summer drought. Hyperoceanic. V Temperate laurel forests. VI Typical temperate deciduous forests. VII Warm, dry, cold steppes and deserts. VIII Boreal taiga forests. IX Arctic tundra.
Ecological Concepts
Minimum Activity (Min Act): Activity is limited by an organism due to a resource available in low quantities relative to the
Read MoreEarthquakes and Volcanoes: Manifestations and Distribution
Manifestations of Earthquakes
Earthquakes occur when energy accumulated in the interior of the Earth is suddenly released.
- Focus or hypocenter: The point within the Earth where the earthquake originates.
- Epicenter: The point on the Earth’s surface directly above the hypocenter.
- Faults: Fractures in the Earth’s crust where two blocks of rock move relative to each other.
- Seismic waves: Generated by earthquakes and captured by seismographs.
- Seismographs: Devices that record seismic activity in a specific