Peru's mass wasting

Peru’s exotic mountains and valleys currently continue to be victims of mass wasting. Mass wasting is the down sloping movement of rocks caused by gravity. This process helps eroding material get from high elevations to low elevations. Although erosion may not sound complex or harmful, it has created fear in Peruvian civilians. Peruvians has been victims to landslides and avalanches due to earthquakes.

Process's of mass wasting

Landslides are when mass movements of rocks, debris, and soil travel down a slope taking weak lose objects in its way. Even though landslides occur as a natural environmental hazard, recent activities have been due to human activity.

mud landsliding occurring

Avalanches can occur under different circumstances. The most common way is through vibrations or silent movements like echoes. They also occur when it rains or snow starts to melt. The liquid starts to roll down the slope causing it to bring down small portions of snow that turn into avalanches.   

Avalanche

In conclusion to mass wasting, it is most unfortunate to see the environments natural occurrences create fatal consequences. It is especially sad to see how some people can be left without a home in a matter of seconds. In Peru mass wasting continues to conquer small villages and towns near the Andean mountain range.  

home eroded by landslides

Peru's Ubinas Volcano

Peru is one of the hosts for the Andes Mountain Range. The Andes are a Mesozoic-Tertiary orogenic belt formed along the Pacific Ring of Fire, formed during the Cretaceous period about 138 million years ago to 65 million years ago.  The Andes were caused by the subduction of the oceans crust beneath the Southern American plate.  

The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area where a number of earthquakes and volcanic activity goes on. The Ubinas volcano is one of the most active volcanoes located in this area (Peru).  The most recent eruption was in 2010 and continues to create disruptions.  Ubinas is a strato-volcano also known as a composite volcano with a summit elevation of 18,609 ft. Ubines has a 1.4-km-wide caldera cut. 

A strato or composite volcano is a tall conical volcano, made up of my strata layers of harden lava and other rock fragments.  A caldera is a large chunk that collapses back in the volcano when an eruption occurs. 

Ubinas active eruptions have left the area bare of no trees, no plants and no wild life. In some cases the hazardous chemicals released by the volcano has caused savior illnesses upon nearby residents.