Mass Wasting

When you think of the word "Mass Wasting",you (and probably me as well) think of extreme pollution and just so much litter to the point its so ridiculous.But  actually,Mass Wasting is a broad array of processes where earth material is transported down a slope by the force of gravity. It is related closely to weathering, which is the breakdown of minerals or rocks at or near Earth's surface through physical, chemical, or biological processes, and to erosion, the transport of material through a variety of agents, most of them flowing media, such as air or water. 

Now there are many different types of mass wasting, but in real life applications, Columbia experiences landslides that are caused by earthquakes and volcanoes show up very often. The landslides really occur in Colombia mainly in Bogotá and Medellin, One of the reasons are because they have had rapid population growth from rural to urban areas. Another reason is the moisture of Colombia soil, with the help of mining coming from most cities in Columbia, the ground has been known to give away with the lack of ground support. In fact city officials have established legislation to go against landslide hazards. Keep in mind, alot of coal mining in the Central Cordillera has causes lot of disaster throughout its country's history. 

Volcanic Activity In Columbia

In the southwestern part of Columbia lies a stratovolcano by the name of Galeras. This volcano is over a million years old. With frequent movements by the Nazca, North Andres and South American plates,Galeras continues to erupt and pose a serious threat towards the city of Pasto. Keep in mind that there is a population of over three thousand people living in this city. Regarding its eruptions, it has been erupting since 2008, but the hasn't been an eruption that posed a extreme threat towards the city. Nevertheless, city generals are ready for when the big eruption will arrive. Looking at its past eruption history, at times it has erupted with a lack of seismic activity. In 1993, a group of volcanologist and visitors toured the active volcano of Pasto.Soon enough without a warning, there was eruption that killed nine people and also injured six people.

Interesting fact from Geology.com. Seismic activity at Galeras has displayed characteristic signals known as "tornillos". "Tornillo" is Spanish for 'screw', and these seismic signals are so named because their shape on a seismograph resembles a screw with a wide head and tapered tail. At Galeras, these signals are generally regarded as short-term precursors to explosive eruptions. 
 Isnt this Ironic or what!!!!
 A picture of the Galeras volcano near the city and community of Pasto.

Over the years,studies shown that the volcano has been active for the past 4,500 years....I know what you're thinking..That's amazing..

A couple weeks there was an article from the webpage,"Wired" stating that there has been a discovery of a new volcano found in central Columbia. Few scientist say that this volcano isn't something you could find in your textbooks. Nevertheless it has revealed what they call a pyroclastic ring that forms a crater. The scientist also found some deposit of pumice near the crater. But as of now, the potential volcano is temporarily know as a hot spring.But there is alot of wonder whether there is magma forming beneath the surface. Personally, I'm looking to see to what happens in the few months with volcano.  
You see that crater is forming! Remember that over time volcanoes like Galeras can eventually grow into something humongous.




http://www.wired.com/2015/02/new-volcano-identified-central-colombia/

http://geology.com/volcanoes/galeras/

Columbia's Plate Converging and Disaster Preparedness

As of late, Columbia has experienced quite a lot of earthquakes.There are few a explanations as to why the country is a victim of so many earthquakes.First, Columbia is near to four plates that converge all at the corner of Columbia. Those plates as you can see in the pictures that are presented are the Nazca,South American,Caribbean and Cocos plate. Not only does the four plates converge but in the latest research, their has been a discovery of a tear in the South American plate. This explains a lot of the question that has rose to the surface about Columbia's geology.

Since Columbia experiences earthquakes, there has been a database set up to monitor and scan for movements,The database has recorded has recorded more than 100,000 Colombian earthquakes.

Columbia has also built a National System for Disaster Management and Prevention, associated a comprehensive National Disaster Prevention and Attention. 

 

For more information regarding Columbia's Disaster Plan, please go check out this link below http://www.gfdrr.org/sites/gfdrr.org/files/Colombia-2010.pdf:

http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/slab-tear-explains-perplexing-colombian-earthquake-activity

Columbian Mining

With Columbia being one of the largest producers in hard coal,they have lots of issues - for example - human rights violations.Nevertheless, they export most of their coal to European markets. Most of their exports from other South American mines are routed through terminals on the Atlantic coast. Columbia is one of the six ports,along with Venezuela. On the Pacific coast, the sole expert terminal is Puerto De Mamonal on the north coast of Columbian.