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Nevada Hazards Research Paper

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Nevada Hazards
Wendy Gurganus
Coastal Carolina Community College One of the geologic hazards in Nevada is the Mountain ranges. The reason these are hazards is because most of the ranges in Nevada have a major fault line on either side of them. Some of these faults have been active within the last 1.6 million years, and have had large earthquakes. This causes the ranges to tilt and shift and raised the ranges to higher levels. As far as seismic activity goes, Nevada is the third most active state in the nation. There is an earthquake in Nevada of a 7 or greater approximately once every thirty years. There are strike slip faults in the northwest region of the state. The border of California had what is called Walker Lane. This area …show more content…

In recorded history, there have been 151 earthquakes in Nevada that were a magnitude of 3.5 or higher. As previously mentioned, the mountain ranges of Nevada are typically bound on one side or the other by a fault. There are quaternary faults that range in ages from less than 150 years to around 1.8 million years in existence. The property damage in Nevada from earthquakes was .2 million dollars between 1196 and 2014 based on information from department of energy for the state. As we studied in our textbook, earthquakes can by a number of things, such as shifting faults, or volcanic …show more content…

Especially in the area around the Great Basin, since that covers most of the state. This area is surrounded by the mountain ranges and gets all the run off . This water helps with the water shortage throughout the year but at the time it is too much for the area to handle as there is no drainage to the ocean from this area. Groundwater is used throughout the state. Sometimes, the water is pumped out faster than it can be replenished. When this happens, the land surface can be affected. There are many cracks in the ground near Las Vegas, and in some places the land has sunken in over six feet within the last sixty years. An increase in the population of the state is to blame for the increased demand on the groundwater and therefore, the increased damage being done to the landscape as a whole. More people, more water, more land being developed, means less of the natural preservers being available. Also, with these floods the state sees landslides. The rocks of the area show the different ways the terrain was built

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