Earth 103 Laboratory Workbook

EARTH 103 LABORATORY WORKBOOK

Module 10 Lab 2 Submission

The goal of this lab exercise is to use flood maps to make predictions about the future of areas in the US and elsewhere that will be impacted by sea level rise.

Part 1.

Prediction of the extent of flooding that results from sea level rise is much simpler than predicting the absolute amount of sea level rise that will occur over coming decades. Flooding predictions are based on digital elevation maps that have great accuracy and resolution.

Answer the questions below based on the following flood maps (Note: the map may take several seconds to load, so please be patient):

You will see a global map with regions you can zoom into. There is a slider in the top left which controls sea level.

1. When you look at the loops for the southeastern US, you will appreciate that certain areas will flood much earlier as sea level rises between 0 and 6 ft above present.
   From the maps, determine which of the following areas floods the latest and which the earliest: (a) the region south of New Orleans; (b) the region between Galveston and Houston; and (c) the area to the west of Miami.

Note: 1= floods the latest 3 = floods the earliest

1. How much does sea level need to rise for much of the area south of New Orleans (e.g. St Charles and La Forche) to flood? (answer to the nearest ft)

1. How much does sea level need to rise for much of South Florida west of Miami to flood? (answer to the nearest ft)

1. How much does sea level need to rise for much of South-East Virginia (e.g. Virginia Beach) to flood? (answer to the nearest ft)

1. Which areas will have the highest socioeconomic vulnerability when the sea level is 6ft SLR?

1. Find all of the following cities on a world population density map: (a) Venice, (b) Rotterdam, (c) the area around Dhaka, Bangladesh. Rank these 3 regions according to the number of people affected by a 6 m sea level rise.

Note: 1 = smallest population affected --> 3 = largest population affected

1. How would the Florida Keys be affected by a 6 m sea level rise?

Part 2.

In this section, you will look at detailed morphology of the Mississippi River in the area around New Orleans and make observations about the processes that have shaped prominent features.

First look at: Digital Elevation Model Discovery Portal. Click on the Map Interface to DEMs link on the left side of the window.

Spend some time looking at the software and controls. Zoom in on the area around New Orleans, making sure you have clicked on the Local (High Resolution) box along the right side, and answer the following questions:

1. Travel up and down the Mississippi river from New Orleans till where it enters the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the delta. How does the trajectory or path of the channel change (relative to further upstream) as you approach the mouth? Does the width of the channel look natural? What do you think has occurred?