Geology & Brazil

Sea Levels The sea levels along the Brazilian coast is expected to continue to ri se in the decades ahead. This is a major issue because many of their most important and largest cities are located near the coastline . Which mean that a good portion of Brazils citizens are  vulnerability to sea level rise and the other effects of climate change, including the increased frequency and intensity of rainfall. According to a  report titled “Vulnerability and adaptation of Brazilian coastal cities to climate change impacts” published by the Brazilian Panel on Climate Change (PBMC) on June 5, 2017, " the global average sea level rose by 19 cm between 1901 and 2010, varying in the range of 17-21 cm."  Between the years 1993 and 2010 the annual average level increased by over 3.2 mm.  In São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, average sea level has increased 1.8-4.2 mm since 1950 .  According to the same report, climate change and accelerating sea level has a major impact on...

Overview Brazil lies outside of the pathway of hurricanes, earthquakes, and has no volcanic activity, which means it is not  listed as a country that is vulnerable to natural disasters. It is actually ranked 123rd in the world index of countries most susceptible to natural disasters. However Brazil is not at the complete grace of Mother Nature. Around 85% of Brazils disasters are caused by, extensive droughts, flash flooding, and landslides. There is a pattern that comes with the distribution of rainfall in the Brazilian region, and they naturally can vary and cause extreme hydrological events.  Climate Change The Atlantic Forest has suffered extreme amounts of deforestation since the Portuguese colonized Brazil, in the 1500s. First the forest was used for its plentiful amount of hard wood, and then for sugar cane plantations, later it was used for cocoa, pulp, and paper industry. There is an estimated 5%-10% left of the Atlantic Forest in the NE region. Gi...

Mass waisting also known as  mass movement, is the geomorphic process where soil, sand, regolith, and rock move downslope typically as a solid, continuous or discontinuous mass, largely under the force of gravity, frequently with characteristics of a flow as in debris flows and mudflows.  Landslides are natural processes triggered by complex relationships between many conditioning factors. Landslide in 2020 In Rio de Janeiro city, intense rainstorms combined with steep slopes, usually occupied by slums, create the perfect conditions for landslides.  Since January of 2020, heavy   rainstorms   in the   Southeast Region   of Brazil have caused flooding and landslides in the states of   Minas Gerais , Espírito Santo and   Rio de Janeiro.  The state capital of Minas Gerais,   Belo Horizonte , reported that this years rainfall is the highest it has been in over 110 years.   As of late January of 2020, at least 70 people ...

Brazil's Volcanic Activity Brazil is located at the center of the South American plate, which means it is far away from the edges of tectoni c plates. Unlike Chili and other countries located on the continent’s western edge, and are part of the volcanic “Ring of Fire”. This is the reason why there hasn’t been any active volcanoes in Brazil in a while. W hile there hasn’t been any active volcanic eruptions in Brazil in recent years, there are many signs that suggest that the country has experienced volcanic activity in the past. Rio’s Sleeping Giant (O  Gigante Adormecido ) Just above Rio de Janeiro is the “Patole” which is a 60-mile-long sheet of pure granite that was formed by consolidated igneous rock from an ancient volcanic eruption. This was once a massive reservoir of magma but because it never made its way to ground level it instead formed the Serra dos Orgaos mountains. It is believed that in the past the Patole was a gigantic volcano but has since...

Brazils Seismic Risk  Seismic risk is relatively low in Brazil especially compared to other South American countries, such as Chile. Due to the fact that Brazil is located in a stable region with very old topography (the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area)  in the interior of a tectonic plate. However low to medium intensity tremors do happen with a certain frequency in Brazil, and depending on the location in which these happen, they can cause big consequences to the people and the land. Magnitude 3 tremors, occur about twice a month on average in Brazil, magnitude 4 tremors, occur twice a year, while magnitude 5 tremors cause damage and occur once every 50 years. Brazil is more commonly known for its flooding and landslides.  How Brazil Stays Prepared  Around the year 2011 Brazil joined the International Space and Natural Disaster organization Charter, "Space and Major Disasters" whose purpose is to make timely dat...

Brazil is located on the South American Plate. This is the smallest of the major plates and is about 43,600,000km^2 in size. This plate includes the continents of South America and a large part of the Atlantic Ocean. This plate is bounded by the African plate in the east, Nazca plate to the west, Antarctic plate and Scotia plate in the south, and the Caribbean plate and North American plate in the north. The eastern side lies on the Atlantic Ocean at the divergent plate boundary (two plates that are moving away from each other and new crust is forming from magma that rises to the surface between them). On the other hand the west side of the South America experiences many harsh earthquakes because of the convergent plate tectonic boundaries (two plates that are moving toward each other). The South American Plate pulls apart from the African Plate and by doing this they create the youngest oceanic crust in the world (divergent). However on the other side the Nazca plate has overtime c...