Day 32 - The Andes 32°39'10S 70°0'40W

I arrived at the airport in Santiago, Chile and met my friend Eric. I could no thank him enough for the opportunity he gave me as he drove across the beautiful country. After getting dinner, I settled down for night, eagerly awaiting the morning.

argentinaphotogallery.blogspot.com

I was woken up at 6:00 AM in the morning by the shake of two hands. Eric insisted we leave early if we wanted to be the only ones on the mountain. The car ride went through old towns and modern cities until the all we could see was forest. We winded through a small dirt road until we came upon them. The Andes. They loomed over us, blotted out the sun and obscuring the clear blue sky.

After checking in with our leader and harnessing our selves into our ropes, we were hoisted up above the ground. My hands gripped the cold stone as I climbed higher and higher into the misty air. I reached the lip of a ledge, and then stopped to rest. Eric came a few minutes after me, panting and sweating through his t-shirt. We sat and ate lunch atop the ledge, eating lunch as I looked out across the teeming landscape.

We climbed for a few more hours before scaling back down the mountain. Overall, this was an excellent day to warup-up my cross-continental journey!

pubs.usgs.gov

The Andes were formed through a process called ocean-continent subduction, where and oceanic plate converges with a continental plate. In this process, the denser oceanic plate subducts beneath the less-dense continental plate. Like an ocean-ocean subduction, a deep sea trench is formed, and a mountain chain and volcanoes are formed on the the coast of the overriding continental plate. The Andes are formed as a result of subduction of the Nazca Plate and Antarctic Plate underneath the South American Plate. The results are the Peru-Chile trench, the Andes mountain range, and several areas of volcanic activity.

Day 30 - Wait!

As I was about to board my flight heading back to Seattle, I received a call from my friend Eric. He was visiting South America, and would fly me out. To the Andes! The longest mountain range in the world! How could I say no? Rock climbing on the Andes was always a dream of mine, and it was unreal to think that this dream could come true. I texted him back immediately. YES!

He also sent me a picture of the view:

destination360.com

Day 27 - San Andreas Fault 35°07'N 119°39'W

After a month in foreign countries, I finally landed in  the United States of America. I landed in Taft, California and made my way from the airport to my hotel. After resting for a couple days I contacted my Rental Car company. I picked up my off-road ATV and was ready to go.

http://www.sanandreasfault.org/Pictures.html

My destination was 20 miles west of Taft; the Sand Andreas Fault. I drove through miles of sandy hills, with dust blowing through my face, until I arrived after an hour of driving. The ATV was caked in dirt, and the paint was bleach white from the sun. I tried not to worry about the damage as I took a look at my destination. It was incredible! The Earth looked like it was just teared in half. The ground was cracked and the surface was rough and uneven.

The Sand Andreas Fault Line is a transform boundary that runs 810 miles through California. A transform boundary is a boundary between two plates that are sliding past each other. In the San Andreas Fault, the North American Plate and the Pacific Plates are sliding past each other at a rate of up to 5 centimeters every year. Southwestern California is part of the Pacific plate, which moves northwest, while the rest of the US is part of the North American Plate, which moves southeast. The result of these plates sliding past each other results in earthquake activity. Living in this area can be very dangerous, and in August 27, 2011, this part of California was hit with hundreds of earthquakes, some measuring a 5.5 magnitude!

http://www.gweaver.net/

Day 20 - The Red Sea Rift 31°20'N 35°30'E

I arrived in Israel yesterday, where I was greeted by my close friend David. He showed me around the city; the temples, the beaches, Masada, and the Ba'hai Gardens. Everything was so beautiful, but I needed to rest for my long road trip tomorrow.

We set off very early in the morning, and David drove as I slept for most of the time. When I awoke, David told me that we were fifteen minutes outside of the Dead Sea, and peaking my head out the window, I caught a glimpse of it. I was spectacular, unlike any body of water I had ever seen. The water was crystal clear, and the banks of the river shone white with salt.

Red Sea Rift - http://www.geology.ohio-state.edu

We arrived at the Dead Sea Spa, and after a mineral bath we were on a truck heading for the beach. The truck cluttered over the ground as everyone waiting anxiously in their bright bathing suits. When the truck arrived, I ran down a wooden platform until I was face to face with the ocean. The ground beneath my feet was hard as rock; it was all salt! The salinity of the Dead Sea is so high, that no animals inhabit it, and people just float without swimming!

Although I was tempted, I didn't go into the water. I was hear on account of science, not fun.

I came to the Dead Sea because it is the start of the Red Sea Rift. The Red Sea Rift runs from Israel all the way down through the Dead Sea, through the Gulf of Aqaba, and down through the Red Sea with East Africa on the left and Saudia Arabia to the right. A tectonic rift is a divergent boundary, where two lithospheric plates are moving apart. These divergent boundaries lie along the ocean floor and are deep valleys at the center of a mid-ocean ridge. Through a process called sea-floor spreading, magma forces its way up through cracks (rifts) along the valley. The molten rock cools, and hardens into a new oceanic crust. The older crust moves away from the ridge. 

Divergent Boundary - http://ked-guillen.blogspot.com/

The result of Divergent Boundaries include volcanic activity and earthquake activity. The latest report of volcanic activity in the Red Sea Rift occurred on December 19, 2011, when an eruption went off in the Red Sea.

Day 15 - Mount Everest 27°59'N 86°54'E

I landed in Tibet a few days ago, and because of jet-lag, I rested before I made my way to the mountain range. I met with my guide group the day before, and we planned out our journey. Our group leaders would take us up part of Mount Everest, but not very high. When you get to an altitude that high you would start to feel sickness due to the lack of oxygen in the air.

www.explore.himalayas.com

We met with them in the morning. Six of us went up all together, and I had to wear three layers of clothing to protect me from the cold. The base camp is mostly barren land; not much plants grow over the dry soil. But once you start to head up to the mountain, you run into a whole layer of snow. We hiked up for a while in silence, just enjoying the view. The wind whipped at us stronger and stronger as we gained altitude, but I didn't mind. The whole time I was scoping out how I could scale it. It was massive, larger than anything I had even seen! The climb was so dangerous, that many people who had attempted it had never returned.

The mountain range had formed in a collision boundary. A collision boundary is formed when two continents collide and are formed into a single, larger continent. The collision causes the crust to push upward into a mountain range. The reason that the Himalayas are so tall is because the two plates collided with a much stronger force than usual. The Himalayas lie along a collision boundary where India is pushing into China at a rate of 5 centimeters every year. The growth of these mountains result in an increased earthquake activity. The most recent earthquakes occurred in 1897, 1905, 1934, and 1950, all causing tremendous damage. Evidence does show that the earthquake in 1934 did rupture the surface, but just thinking about the damage makes me nervous. I need to get out of here!

Collision Boundarywww.divediscover.whoi.edu

Day 9 - Next Stop

I stayed in the Philippines for a couple more days, exploring the beautiful landscape. Mountainous islands dotted the stretch of ocean, and I explored the open food and flea markets. But I finally left, hesitantly, and boarded the plane that would take me to my new destination; the Himalayas!

Mount Everest - environment.nationalgeographic.com

Day 5 - Mariana Trench 15°10'N 145°45'E

I arrived in the Philippines the other day, and immediately was taken to my hotel to get some rest. When I awoke, I set out to explore the city and find how to get to the trench. While in the city I met with a group of fishermen. They spoke in broken English, but I could still get what they were saying. They told me they were heading to the Mariana Trench and would take me out there on a fishing excursion.  I gladly agreed! This might be the only chance I get.

Sapian Island - environment.nationalgeographic.com

I met with them the next day while the sun was still rising, and set off. These men had been doing this for a long time; they cast and reeled with expertise. After a couple hours of fishing we came upon it. It was magnificent. The water was dark, almost black, and the surface glinted in the sunlight. In the distant I made out a group of islands. They were known as the Mariana Islands, a group of volcanic islands that marked the overriding Philippine Plate.

After fishing, we landed on Sapian Island, an island that is part of the Mariana Islands. The villagers there were very helpful and kind, taking care of our boat and treating us to a feast. I stayed there one night in one of the villagers huts, and then sailed off in the morning. It was such a wonderful experience!

The Mariana Trench formed over millions of years ago through a process called subduction, which occurs when one tectonic plate moves over another. In subduction, the older plate subducts under the newer due to density. In the Mariana Trench, the Pacific Plate subducted under the Philippine Plate, and the Pacific Plate is pulled down to form the Mariana Trench. This process is also responsible for the chain of volcanic islands known as the Mariana Islands. These volcanic islands form when the subducting rock melts due to the extreme temperatures and percolates up towards the surface. Since tectonic plates only move a few centimeters every year, it would have taken tens of thousands of years for the subduction to occur.

Subduction - katherine-tectonictour.blogspot.com