Catch my Drift?

Map shows major plates, boundaries, and plate
movement (whybecasuescience.com)

Have you ever wondered why Earth's continents look like they should fit together, almost like a puzzle? Thanks to Geologist Alfred Wegener's, we now know that each continent is embedded in one of  the earth's tectonic plates, and that these plates are constantly moving. We call these broken up plates the lithosphere. According to Keller and DeVecchio, (Natural Hazards, 33-34), the lithospheric plates move over another layer called the asthenosphere.

In a Divergent boundary, two plates are moving away
from each other, while hot mantle is rising up from the center
forming a rift. (Keller and DeVecchio)

Great Britain is located on the Eurasian plate, yet it is not close to the division of the plates. To its right lies a Divergent boundary line (pictured right), which according to the British Geological Survey is responsible for creating more lithosphere as plates move away from each other.

However,  because it does rest on some fault lines, Great Britain experiences a few minor earthquakes each year. The earthquakes are caused by stress in the crust below Britain, which is caused by the shifting of the Eurasian plate.

Yours, Mines, and Ours

From the jewelry we wear to the salt on our table, we use rocks and minerals in our everyday lives. But where are these resources from? Great Britain happens to be a major contributor to the world's rock and mineral supplies, and has been since around 2,300 BC. In fact, according to George Ryback, author of Eighth Supplementary list of British Isles Minerals (1988) claims that 580 species of minerals have been found in England, and 850 found in the entire British Isles.

 According to the University of Manchester, Great Britain's rocks and minerals are mainly mined within three districts: Cumbria, Caldbeck Falls, and the Pennine Orefield.

In Cumbria, mines calcite and barite, while in Caldbeck Falls, lead, copper and zinc are commonly mined. The Pennine Orefield brings in the fluorite, barium, barytocalcite and alstonite. 

Photo (calcite) : http://www.rock-site.co.uk/cms.php?id_cms=15

Photo (copper) : http://www.rocksforkids.com/R&M/copper.htm

Hazards, Disasters, Catastrophes, oh my!

Located in the North Atlantic ocean just west of the European continent lies the island of Great Britain. Although the country's history of disasters isn't quite as dramatic as some, Great Britain has still had its share of naturally occurring mishaps over the years, including massive storms, floods and earthquakes.

The natural processes which occur in Britain can be categorized into three groups: Hazards, disasters, and catastrophes. 

A natural hazard can be defined as that which threatens the lives and property of people on a small scale. Natural hazards, such as floods, cyclones and volcanic eruptions only have the potential to become dangerous. When a natural hazard actually causes physical damage to human lives or the environment for a limited amount of time, we call is a natural disaster. When a disaster requires large portions of money and greater amounts of time to heal, we call it a catastrophe.